The Bellator president shared his thoughts on Dillon Danis’s announced boxing match with YouTuber KSI in at a recent press conference
Bellator President Scott Coker took a moment during a recent Bellator post-event press conference to weigh in on undefeated MMA personality Dillon Danis’s move to celebrity boxing.
Announced earlier this week, Danis will face YouTuber and aspiring boxer KSI this January at an MF & DAZN X Series event in London. A 2-0 contender in the cage, Danis will be making his first foray into a striking-exclusive combat sport despite his proclivity for the ground game.
It’s official. Dillon Danis will take on KSI at MF & DAZN X Series 004 on Jan 14 in London. #KSIDanis #GP pic.twitter.com/VBRtGQovQQ
— Paradigm Sports (@ParadigmSports) November 20, 2022
A BJJ Black Belt under Marcelo Garcia, Danis made a name for himself first for his grappling prowess and later for his controversial behavior. UFC legend Connor McGregor hired the young Danis as a grappling coach in 2016. Danis signed with Bellator a year later. Making his debut in 2018, Danis ran though both Kyle Walker (2-5) and Max Humphrey (3-3) with back-to-back submissions. The significance of these fights would suffer years later when Danis failed to remember either of his opponents names in a 2021 interview with Ariel Helwani. Neither man has competed professionally since.
Starting with a cageside brawl with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, all of Danis’s post-Humphrey fights have taken place outside of competition. His public spats have ranged from getting pelted with toilet paper by celebrity pugilist Jake Paul, to being physically detained by a bouncer in New Jersey. He’s frequently lobbied to fight either of the Paul brothers, but both have gone on to face higher profile opponents, including Anderson Silva and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Responding to the news of Danis’ boxing endeavors, Coker expressed disappointment in ‘El Jefe’’s career change.
“The thing that is a little frustrating is when you think about Dillon Danis, the guy has a great ground game, he’s one of the best Jiu-Jitsu guys on the planet,” Coker said of Danis in the post-Bellator 288 press conference. “So we signed him, we wanted to develop him, we wanted him to come into our system and start fighting. Fighting tougher guys. But I think he got sidetracked a little bit and other things got in the way. To me, he had a lot of potential. We can’t make him do it, he’s gotta want to do it. Right now he’s doing something else.”
KSI currently sits at a 3-0 record, his first win being a split decision against Logan Paul in 2019. Bloody Elbow has reached out to Danis for comment, and will update the story should he respond.
Episode 208 discussion: UFC Vegas 65 review, Overeem fails drug test, Krause removed from cornering fighters,
Welcome to ‘The Level Change Podcast’, our combat sports themed variety show hosted by Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez. Featuring the news of the week, fight card breakdowns and analysis, a roundup of regional promotions’ cards and fights; and whatever else we decide is important enough or entertaining enough to bring to your ears. Here is a summary of the topics discussed, complete with the time stamps for when each interview or special segment begins. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as we enjoyed recording it.
June M. Williams
EPISODE 208
UFC Vegas 65 storylines – Lewis out of main event, Nzechukwu comeback – 4:49
Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez and our show account The Level Change Podcast. If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice:SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music– For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.
Dustin Poirier defeated Michael Chandler via submission at UFC 281 | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Dustin Poirier changes his mind on a Beneil Dariush fight making a lot of sense
It turns out that, upon reflection, Beneil Dariush does not make a lot of sense for Dustin Poirier’s next fight. At least, that’s how Poirier saw it a few days after his UFC 281 submission win over Michael Chandler.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Poirier walked back his post-UFC 281 comments about a potential matchup with Dariush.
“No disrespect to Beneil,” said Poirier. “Great fighter and he did it the right way. He’s a very respectful guy, hard worker, and he goes in there and handles business, and I respect that. I’ll watch when he fights. When we just talked about the other names I’ve fought recently, that one’s not super exciting when I think about it.”
The other names Poirier fought recently include competitors such as Chandler, Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and Conor McGregor. All of which ended with Poirier walking away with stoppage victories.
With Poirier seeming to dismiss a potential matchup against Dariush, the former interim UFC lightweight champion didn’t have any specific names in mind for his next opponent. Still, he had ideas about the type of matchup he wants.
“Big fights. Fun fights,” Poirier said. “I don’t know, man. I completed the violence triangle — finished Gaethje, finished Eddie, finished Chandler. There’s a bunch of fights that would be crazy matchups, I just don’t know a name right now.”
“I want those, because those are going to be the fun fights, the crazy fights, potential ‘Fight of the Year’ type of fights,” Poirier added. “But those are also the fights that give me those butterflies in the stomach everyday, or when the contract comes through, and I see his name across from it. I’ve been watching [Chandler] a long time in Bellator, and I know some guys he beat. He’s very explosive, and that danger — it’s always the unknown, no matter how prepared you are. But when you go out there and you’ve got a guy of that caliber, who can finish the fight in a second and hit you with shots, cover distance, a lot of things he does are very dangerous.”
Poirier is currently the No. 2 fighter in the official UFC lightweight rankings. He is 4-1 in his past five outings. His only loss since 2020 was his December 2021 submission setback to then-UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.
Paddy Pimblett at UFC London in July. | Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Want to know how the ‘Baddy’ gets into shape before a fight? Here you go!
Paddy Pimblett is known for his massive weight gains in between fights, but the UFC lightweight still manages to get in shape before his scheduled Octagon appearances without fail.
The question is: how does he do it?
On his official YouTube channel, Pimblett released a vlog that explains his weight-cutting process. This time, he has around 50 pounds to lose before his upcoming fight against Jared Gordon at UFC 282 next month. For the ‘Baddy,’ losing weight is as easy as gaining weight.
“There’s no rocket science to it,” said Pimblett. “It’s not hard. Get yourself in a calorie deficit. Why do you think I get so fat? Because I’ve got to go from eating 1,500 to 2,000 calories a day to eating 8,000 a day. That’s why the weight piles on and that’s why it comes off so easy.”
With the help of his friend Joel McCarthy, Pimblett sheds off most of his weight by eating ‘between 1,400 and 1,700 calories on a day’. And though he has found success with this approach, the Liverpudlian admits he struggled before his fight against Jordan Leavitt at UFC London this past July.
However, Pimblett feels confident that this weight cut is going smoothly, especially since he is nearing the lightweight limit.
“Last camp was one of the worst camps of my life,” said Pimblett. “The day I got back from America, I had, like, seven weeks to make weight. The UFC just announced that [London] date and I was like, ‘I’m going to have to fight on it, aren’t I?’ It’s in the O2. I had seven weeks to lose, like, 20 kilos [approximately 44 pounds], and I did it.
“Where I’m at now, I’ve got, like, nine kilos [approximately 20 pounds] to lose,” continued Pimblett. “I’ve done more than that overnight. I’ve done 8.4 kilos [approximately 18 pounds] overnight before, I can do nine kilos in four weeks.”
Pimblett vs. Gordon is expected to be featured on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 282, which is scheduled for Dec. 10 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Khabib Nurmagomedov trades words with Conor McGregor between rounds at UFC 229. | Photo by Hans Gutknecht/Digital First Media/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images
The Dagestani former lightweight champion had recently parroted McGregor’s “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over” line at a speaking engagement in Toronto.
When it comes to legacies, it’s clear Khabib Nurmagomedov has a lot to be proud of. Not only did the former UFC lightweight champion retire unbeaten, at 20-0, with his title belt still in hand, but he’s also successfully helped guide the careers of a whole new batch of top tier MMA fighters.
Even his old UFC belt is back in-house, with longtime training partner and mentee Islam Makhachev picking up the title with a second-round submission over Charles Oliveira back in October. So it’s no surprise that, during a recent speaking engagement with Class A Events in Toronto, the now-retired mixed martial artist & coach had a little crowing to do.
“Right now we have current UFC & Bellator lightweight champions. And this is amazing, this is amazing,” Nurmagomedov enthused. “I hear, like, long time ago, when one guy was talking about, ‘We’re here to take over.’ But, we’re here to take over.
“And you know, what’s interesting is, I coach not a lot of people. I coach people who was around me, like, when I was active fighter. This is maybe 12, 15 guys? … We 13 people, we have a combined win in MMA of almost 300 fights. And this is crazy. Nobody ever did this in MMA before. This never happen. And I’m very happy because of this, because I know it was my father’s hard work. The way how he invest us, the way how he teach us, the way how he push us was everything. Even now, his legacy keep going.”
If Nurmagomedov’s praise for his father’s work seemed like it might have included a little shot at Conor McGregor’s iconic “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over!” line along the way, the ‘Notorious’ Irishman wasn’t about to let that slight go un-noted. Shortly after video of the interview emerged, McGregor took to social media and skipped the shade. Opting instead to take a more direct swipe at his onetime sporting rival.
“I fight on! Your fathers plan is never complete because you quit and ran, brother,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted post to his Twitter account (h/t MMA Fighting). “God bless. I’m still here if you wanna go again. But your fear of defeat means you’ve already lost. Run from it all you want. We all lose in the end. Death takes us all. I fear nothing but God”
While McGregor’s SBG Ireland camp had a long-running feud with members of Nurmagomedov’s Eagles MMA fight team, the two men only met in the Octagon once, back in 2018—for the first defense of Nurmagomedov’s lightweight title reign. McGregor last set foot in the Octagon back in 2021, for a pair of bouts against Dustin Poirier, losing both fights via TKO. He has since been sidelined with an extended injury recovery due to a broken ankle suffered in the second loss.
Nurmagomedov retired suddenly in October of 2020, following his father’s passing and the third defense of his belt. For months afterward UFC president Dana White made serious ovations to try and bring the then-32-year-old back to competition, but Nurmagomedov has remained steadfast in his decision to continue his MMA career exclusively from the sidelines.
Episode 05 discussion: Our latest episode focuses on the Ali Act and how it could benefit MMA fighters
Welcome to Hey Not the Face!, the podcast that provides expert analysis on all aspects of combat sports finance with an intense focus on fighter pay. Hey Not the Face! will also feature updates on both antitrust suits against the UFC, in-depth comparisons of boxing pay vs. MMA pay, thorough examinations of contracts and more. The show is hosted by John Nash and airs twice monthly. No permanent schedule has been worked out, but we’ll make sure to notify everyone via our various social media platforms when new shows are released. As always, we hope you enjoy listening.
June M. Williams
EPISODE 5
What is the Ali Act?
How and why was it passed into law?
What does the Ali Act do?
What does it not do? (Some of the myths)
How is it enforced, or is it even enforced?
What would the Ali Act do if it was expanded to MMA?
Could promoters have their own titles?
Would it destroy the UFC?
How was McGregor going to use the Ali Act to get out of his contract?
How can the Ali Act get expanded to cover MMA?
Do fighters support expansion?
What can be done to fix/improve the Ali Act?
Remember, if you’re looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we’re under the Bloody Elbow Presents name. Follow John’s Twitter account: John Nash. If you enjoy our shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music– For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.
Combat Wombat is hungry for fights, but they’re not on the menu.
Chris Rini
Do you folks watch every fight? Another media member straight up asked me this recently and it felt good to say NO. There are more efficient ways to budget one’s time, especially on a weekend like this most recent one with interesting stakes and fighters from three different orgs. I try to pick the most interesting fights and catch them either live or stay off social media to watch spoiler-free. From there I check out podcasts like the 6th Round or Luke Thomas to find out if any performances stood out from prospects or if there was a notable Fight/round of the Night/year, and I’ll circle back to catch that. I mean, I make a damn book about the fights and it’s nearly impossible to consume them all let alone quantify and draw them. Anyway, I’d love to hear how your combat consumption goes down. Easy, or queasy?
If you’d like more Chris Rini art, I’ve got a YouTube series that updates each Tuesday and Thursday chronicling the making of The Fine Art of Violence book series and a series of large MMA paintings I’m creating for an upcoming exhibition. Here’s a time lapse of Erin Blanchfield vs Molly McCann called “Steamrolled” it’s a 48”x48” painting on wood panel.
View post on imgur.com
Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you Wednesday.
Khamzat Chimaev is pictured ahead of his welterweight fight against Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida. | Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
Enter heavyweight Khamzat Chimaev.
If Khamzat Chimaev’s latest Instagram post is anything to go by, the undefeated Chechen is headed to middleweight (or possibly heavyweight).
The No. 3-ranked UFC welterweight contender whose last fight was fought at 180 pounds is making the rounds on social media after posting a photo in which he appears to have put on a considerable amount of muscle, perhaps hinting that he is leaving 170 lbs. in the rear-view mirror.
Khamzat looks huge as he awaits word from the UFC on his next fight, with the Allstar Training Center product itching to get back into the Octagon ASAP, preferably in January.
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A post shared by Khamzat Chimaev (@khamzat_chimaev)
Khamzat last fought at UFC 279 where he submitted former middleweight contender Kevin Holland with a brabo choke in the first round. The bout was contested at a catchweight of 180 pounds after Khamzat missed weight against Nate Diaz and was demoted to the co-main event. He recently called for a rematch with Gilbert Burns in Brazil following his hard-fought decision over ‘Durinho’ in their Fight of the Night at UFC 273.
The UFC returns to Brazil for the first time since the pandemic at the upcoming UFC 283 PPV in Rio de Janeiro on Jan. 21, 2023. The card features a flyweight championship rematch between longtime rivals Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno, which will serve as the main event.
Ricky Turcios punching Kevin Natividad at UFC Vegas 65 | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Get a unique rundown of all the trophies that should have been handed out at UFC Vegas 65 with Dayne Fox’s Unofficial Awards.
It’s not terribly unusual for the UFC to have a fight cancelled on the day of the event. It probably happens about once every four months. However, it’s exceedingly rare to see the main event cancelled as an event is proceeding. Unfortunately that proved to be the case with UFC Vegas 65, as Derrick Lewis fell ill the day of the fight—forcing the cancellation of his main event contest with Sergey Spivak.
In response, the UFC pushed Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Ion Cutelaba into a makeshift main event. There were clues leading up to the announcement that something was amiss. Spivak started trending towards being a heavy favorite as the event progressed. Not wanting a repeat of the Darrick Minner situation from a few weeks ago, it seems the promotion opted to cancel the bout.
While the event did prove to be fun, it lacked the oomph at the top to give it something impactful. While the Lewis-Spivak situation will probably be talked about to death, there’s a whole card’s worth of action to dig into. We’ll do that with my Unofficial Awards….
For a different perspective, click here. For an audio recap of the event, click here.
Biggest Jump in Stock
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCNo bigger jump than that on the night.
This is a hard spot to pick. Several fighters had nice wins, but none of the wins truly appeared to boost anyone in a significantly meaningful way. After careful deliberation, however, I believe I’m picking someone in the curtain jerker for the first time for this prize. It wasn’t a perfect performance for Natalia Silva as she arguably lost the first round, and it was against a debuting opponent, but Silva proved she could overcome adversity and still managed to deliver a highlight reel KO—blasting Bleda with a spinning back-kick to the face. Given Bleda represented a poor stylistic matchup for her, it’s impressive Silva managed to come out on top. At this point, I’d say it is fair to label Silva one of the top prospects in women’s flyweight.
Biggest Fall in Stock
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCAmazingly Fialho didn’t fall from that.
There’s a few names I could insert here, but given that I don’t like putting fighters I think will get cut up for this award, that narrows the list quite a bit. I do believe Andre Fialho is probably safe, so he’s my pick given his mystifying performance. Fialho started out sharp enough, blasting Muslim Salikhov in the first round. However, after Salikhov survived and landed a plethora of hard strikes on Fialho early in the second, the Portuguese fighter seemed to go on autopilot. Aside from the occasional desperation swing, Fialho stood in front of Salikhov and let him tee off. Something must have been knocked loose for the 28-year-old. There was a clear disconnect for him after Salikhov’s flurry. Perhaps he shouldn’t be docked too badly for that, but it’s hard not to question Fialho’s ability to bounce back after being compromised. That can be the type of thing that separates the pretenders from the contenders.
Best Newcomer
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCIt wasn’t her night, but Bleda was scrappy.
There was only one newcomer on this card, making this an obvious choice. While Tereza Bleda ended up with the short end of the stick, she showed enough in her loss to Silva that most would agree the 20-year-old could have a very bright future. Bleda won the opening round on the strength of her wrestling and grappling, but faded hard about the midway point of the second round. Massive for the flyweight division, I have no doubt her future is at bantamweight as her body continues to mature and cutting weight gets more difficult. Given she’s already having issues with her cardio, I’d think it would be smart to make the move to bantamweight sooner rather than later.
Saved their Job(s)
Coming off his TUF victory, Ricky Turcios couldn’t have had a more disastrous sophomore UFC effort against Aiemann Zahabi. Turcios indicated he was aware of the criticism and made some good changes. Rather than launching his strikes from a mile away, he had no problem engaging in some wild exchanges with Kevin Natividad and turned in a performance worthy of $ 50K. If Turcios could turn in an effort like that every night, the UFC should be happy to feature him on any card he’s on. Hopefully, he continues to apply the lessons learned from his performance against Zahabi. I’d rather see the best out of everyone.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCA gutsy win for Hiestand.
Speaking of Turcios’ TUF victory, the man he defeated to claim that crown, Brady Hiestand, returned to the cage for the first time since that contest and looked like the time away was well spent. Yes, there was the recovery from a major knee injury, but he also looked sharper on the feet than he ever has. There’s no doubt Hiestand won on the back of his wrestling abilities, but his work on the feet proved it can be a nice compliment to ensure he continues winning.
Start Typing a Resume
An asterisk could be inserted given that he wasn’t in the main event until hours before it was supposed to take place, but Ion Cutelaba could be one of the few to go from being in the main event to being on the cut list. The Moldovan is the ultimate exercise in frustration. He’s far better than his one win in his last seven fights indicates. However, he’s also severely compromised by poor fight IQ. I could see the UFC keeping him around since his level of competition has been relatively high, but his job is to beat who the UFC puts in front of him and he just isn’t doing that. Perhaps he’d get some leeway if the losses were controversial, but that hasn’t been the case either. I wouldn’t be upset if he’s brought back, but it seems like it’s about time he gets the boot.
I’m pissed to be writing about Zhalgas Zhumagulov in this spot. Not because I was rooting for him over Charles Johnson, but because he was on the wrong end of a BS decision. I try not to throw the word robbery around, but I do believe it would be appropriate in this case. Zhumagulov had the advantage in significant strikes over every round and while I acknowledge not all significant strikes are created equal, it isn’t like Johnson’s had that much more oomph to them. Plus, Zhumagulov found some success in the wrestling. The loss drops Zhumagulov to 1-5, the type of record that is near impossible to survive. I would have been in favor of the UFC bringing him back again, but he opted to announce his retirement after the event. Given he’s been on the short end of several close contests, I suppose he figured he’s been yanked around enough.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCZhumagulov just can’t catch a break.
Had he opted to fight the first two rounds against Miles Johns the way he did the third round, I wouldn’t be so sure Vince Morales would be on the chopping block. Unfortunately, Morales turned in a snoozer of a performance in rounds one and two, not letting his hands go nearly enough to make a real argument for victory. What makes it hurt even more is Morales appeared to have put in a lot of time on his takedown defense, a big part of the reason why the fight was there for the taking. I wouldn’t guarantee he’s on the way out, but a 3-5 overall UFC record with two consecutive losses at the age of 32 in a division full of youngsters champing at the bit for their opportunity? That’s a lot working against him.
There’s no doubt Natividad turned in his best UFC performance against Turcios. He hurt the TUF champion on several occasions, secured a plethora of takedowns, and showed all sorts of grit to survive Turcios’ late submission attempt. In the end though, there it wasn’t enough to overcome Turcios’ nonstop scrambling and overwhelming volume. Now sitting at 0-3, it’s likely Natividad is going to be shown the door.
Fernie Garcia isn’t exactly old at 30, but it could be argued he’s in his prime. The fact that he’s not winning fights against fighters who are at the lower level of the totem pole of the division isn’t a good sign for the Fortis MMA product, even if he turned in a competitive contest with Hiestand. He’s in the same spot as Morales and Natividad in terms of there being a plethora of youngsters looking to get their UFC opportunity. He is just 0-2, but given the UFC was willing to give up on the likes of TJ Laramie after just two performances, I don’t see Garcia hanging around.
Biggest WOW Moment
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCWhat a kick!
I’ve already mentioned this finish, but Silva’s spinning back-kick to the face of Bleda was the type of finish that makes it on the Baba O’Reilly reel. About the only way it could have been better is if it landed squarely on the face of Bleda as opposed to the shoulder, but it was still enough to get the job done. The level of its impressiveness is a part of the reason I opted to say Silva’s stock shot up more than anyone else.
Best at Meeting Expectations
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCPure domination from the Aussie.
Jack Della Maddalena has the look a future star. The only reason I didn’t give him the jump in stock award is because his dominance of Danny Roberts was expected. Roberts is a skilled striker and even got in some nice shots, delivering a couple of hard knees. However, Della Maddalena ate them like they were candy bars and continued with his attack. It culminated in his third first round stoppage in three appearances. Della Maddalena isn’t going to be a force to be reckoned with; he’s already a force to be reckoned with.
Most Unlikely Win Streak
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCShe’s got a serious groove going.
I would have lost a lot of money if someone asked me whether Vanessa Demopouloscould ever secure a three-fight win streak within the confines of the UFC. Some of it may be due to getting favorable matchups, but that’s also good work on behalf of her management team. Whatever anyone wants to chalk it up to, I know I wouldn’t have been on an island doubting her paths to victory. She has the second shortest reach in the UFC and that it’s been an obvious issue. Nevertheless, she has found a way to work around it and even landed a knockdown against Maria Oliveira. I don’t see Demopoulos becoming a contender, but she has carved out a nice spot on the roster when I feared she might wash out without a single win. Kudos to her for exceeding expectations thus far.
Biggest Robberies
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCThese men went to war.
I have to say robberies as there were two. I’ve already talked about how egregious Zhumagulov’s loss was; he should have been awarded the decision. However, the performances of Turcios and Natividad were well worth a $ 50K bonus. I was actually shocked to see they didn’t get ‘Fight of the Night.’ I would have been more inclined to reward them than either Salikhov or Nzechukwu. Of course, I would have preferred six bonuses being given out, but the UFC can’t do that for every event, right? I’ll be happy to shut my trap if I find out they were given a locker room bonus, but I’ll do so reluctantly, The Performance Bonus awards a degree of prestige that doesn’t come with a locker room bonus.
Bonus Numbers
With the elimination of Lewis from the top of the card, there was a major shortage of fighters with a notable history of winning bonuses. Nobody else entered the card with more than two. Nzechukwu was one of those, and extended his success to three. Della Maddalena and Salikhov brought home their second, while it was the first for Silva.
Out of those who have never won a bonus? Morales extended his streak to eight fights with Zhumagulov not far off with six. In terms of longest overall streak, Cutelaba has now gone eleven fights without a bonus, extending all the way back to December 2016 when he took home FOTN with Jared Cannonier. That was a good enough fight that I don’t need a re-watch to remember how it played out, but I’m sure happy to throw it back on. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it for a fun fight that doesn’t tend to get much attention….
An old series returns with a new twist. Bloody Elbow’s Connor Ruebusch breaks down the strategic missteps in Israel Adesanya’s UFC 281 title defense against longtime nemesis Alex Pereira.
What makes a good gameplan? Is it security? Should a fighter focus his attention on avoiding whatever it is that the opponent does best? Or should he resolve to stick to his own strengths, whether or not it affords the opponent some opportunities?
Last weekend, at UFC 281, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya faced his own personal boogeyman. In his former life as a kickboxer, Adesanya fought Brazilian knockout artist Alex Pereira twice, and lost both times. Five years and five title defenses later, Adesanya entered the Octagon at Madison Square Garden to find his nemesis waiting for him. New sport, new rules–same old nightmare.
It was an epic fight, full of momentum swings and unexpected twists, and when it ended, Alex Pereira had his third victory over Adesanya. It took the Brazilian all of 22 minutes to find the final blows, but he found them in the end, making him the first man to knock Adesanya out–again.
In past instalments in this series I have always fixated on the gameplan used by a challenger to win the title. It’s always good to see preparation pay off on the biggest night of a fighter’s career, and fascinating to reverse engineer their process.
This time, we’re going to do something different. A fight may be won by a good gameplan, but it can just as easily be lost by a bad one. Often, both things happen in the same fight, only in opposite corners.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLCPereira’s power on full display at UFC 281.
Alex Pereira’s gameplan is kind of… unchanging. Built in. He’s a very large man, he hits really hard, and he’s good at finding the right combinations to put that size and power to use. There’s a lot more to it, of course, but as long as Pereira is able to hang around searching for his one big punch, he has more or less succeeded in getting his fight.
The correct gameplan to beat Pereira, therefore, is any gameplan which does not give him the better part of 25 minutes to clean your clock. In other words, the best way to stop Pereira crushing you may just be to crush him first.
And by that metric, it is hard to deny that Israel Adesanya’s gameplan was a failure, even before it ultimately failed.
The Plan
Let’s sum up Adesanya’s approach last weekend as best we can.
Extend the fight. Drag Pereira into the championship rounds.
Chip away from long range. Chop Pereira down with leg kicks, keep him at bay with the jab.
Tie up when necessary. Clinch when Pereira gets too close, and take him down.
Stayaway from the left hook.
And that’s about it.
It is possible that what we saw on Saturday was not, in fact, the fight for which Adesanya prepared. Mike Tyson said every man has a plan till he gets punched in the face–but for Adesanya, that punch landed five years ago. Whatever its lingering effects on his psychology, we have to assume that Izzy did what he had prepared to do, that, for all of 21 minutes, everything was going according to plan.
Obviously, the plan didn’t work–so what should Adesanya have done instead?
Lessons Learned
Adesanya spent a great deal of the lead-up to UFC 281 trying to correct the record. Go back and watch those fights, he told everyone, and you’ll find that I kind of won both of them. And he wasn’t completely wrong. There’s a good case to be made that Adesanya should have taken the first fight, and he was undoubtedly dominating the second right up to the moment Pereira put him to sleep.
Despite the 0-2 record, Adesanya had every reason to believe that the keys to his revenge were contained in those two fights. The question was never, can Adesanya beat Pereira? but, Does he realize–really realize–how close he was to beating him last time?
Of all the rounds Adesanya has shared with Pereira, the second round of fight number two remains his best. It started like this (backup link).
First of all, look at how assertive Adesanya is here. The round starts and Pereira comes forward naturally, looming being a specialty of his. Adesanya respects the danger, but only allows himself to be backed up a few steps before giving Pereira something to think about. That something is a simple feint. It doesn’t draw any big reactions out of Pereira, it doesn’t compel him to throw a wild punch or scurry backward. It puts just the tiniest hitch in his forward momentum, for a split second, and that’s all Adesanya needs.
As soon as Pereira stops advancing, Adesanya gives him a more aggressive feint, stepping right into him and threatening with a jab. And how does the fearsome puncher respond? He backs off! Pereira throws a high kick; easily avoided. His timing is off going backward. He’s uncomfortable. And Adesanya doesn’t let him get away with the miss, either. He does what he has been doing all night: he steps in the moment after Pereira kicks, rushing the big man while he’s still unbalanced.
In this way, the tone for the round is set. Pereira wants pressure, Adesanya doesn’t let him have it. Pereira wants space to kick, Adesanya denies him that, too. This follows the guiding principle of all good gameplans: don’t give the opponent what he wants. Make him squirm. The more time Pereira spends worrying about Adesanya’s offense, the less time he has to think about his own.
But wait, I hear you saying, what about the left hook?!
Yes, Alex Pereira has a devastating left hook. It is, everyone agrees, the most dangerous weapon in an already fearsome arsenal.
Take a look at how Adesanya dealt with it back in 2017 (backup link).
If you were searching for the right word to describe Adesanya’s attitude toward that left hook, “disdainful” would not be far from the mark.
This is late in round two, and the effects of Adesanya’s pressure are clear. Pereira is cornered (a position he in which he rarely found himself last weekend). Adesanya pokes him with a jab and Pereira lunges off the ropes with a 2-3. He throws the punches as if fully expecting Adesanya to flee in fear. Adesanya doesn’t move an inch. Doing so would have only made him a target; instead, both punches go wide. Adesanya checks the left hook with the palm of his right hand. Easy, and effective.
After the break, Adesanya goes right back to pressuring, keeping Pereira nervous. The Brazilian gets tetchy. He bites on a harmless range finder, winging the left hook with no setup and nothing to follow. Adesanya leans back–a worrying tendency, at times, but perfectly effective here; he watches the punch whizz past his nose, and starts firing back before Pereira even has time to realize he’s missed. One, two, three, four punches, none landing clean but every one of them helping to drive Pereira back to the ropes, where, after another brief clinch, he has nothing to offer but the meekest of jabs. No monster left hook. He’s too worried about the right hand Izzy keeps slinging at him. Adesanya slings it at him again, regardless, nailing Pereira on the temple, and again, and again.
Make no mistake: what follows would have been a stoppage win under different rules. The moment the referee stepped in to give him the count would have otherwise been the moment the fight ended.
And that is what Israel Adesanya was able to do when he committed to pressuring Pereira, swaggering up to him time after time, daring him to throw his meanest punches, triple-dog-daring him: go on, big boy. Just try it.
There are plenty of things to be scared of in a kickboxing bout; even more in MMA. But a fighter who lets that fear dictate his approach is doomed, one way or the other. Did anyone ever beat Ronda Rousey by obsessing over armbar defense? No. What grappling defense Holly Holm trained was largely preventative, and otherwise she focused on sticking Rousey where she was least comfortable. Amanda Nunes simply went out there and beat her ass before she had the chance to even think about an armbar.
Whatever frightens you about your opponent, you don’t try to avoid it all costs. That only lets him figure out how to make it work. Instead, you make him go for it, and punish him for trying. You turn that fear around on him, make him think, this is my best shot, and I can’t get away with using it. If the opponent has a gun in his hand, you don’t step back 20 feet and practice dodging bullets. You walk right up to the man and take the gun away.
Lessons Learned the Hard Way
Now it’s time to address the 185-pound elephant in the room.
After all, how can I lavish praise on Adesanya’s 2017 performance and condemn the one last Saturday? How can I repeatedly say that this was the right approach, not the other, when both fights ended in exactly the same way?
Because, yes–of course, Pereira knocked Adesanya out just 42 seconds into the third round of that 2017 kickboxing rematch. Knocked him out worse than at UFC 281, in fact. No referee stoppage there; just one punch, then Adesanya lying stiff on the canvas, Pereira leaning over to talk shit in his unconscious face.
I would turn the question around, however. If playing it safe got Adesanya knocked out anyway—ultimately disproving the idea that it was a safe approach in the first place—then why not go for it? Why not make Pereira as uncomfortable as possible? Why not make him think about safety?
It’s not just the fact that Adesanya all but stopped Pereira in 2017–certainly would have stopped him under MMA rules. It’s the fact that he looked perfectly calm and relaxed doing it. He didn’t let Pereira knock him out; he made him do it. That may seem like a meaningless distinction, but it isn’t. Confidence is important in all forms of competition. For fighters, it is vital. At the end of the day, the best gameplan is one the fighter can believe in, one that lets him believe in himself.
A question: did the Adesanya you saw at UFC 281 look like he was having a good time? Did he look confident? Relaxed?
I’d argue the most comfortable Adesanya looked all fight was just after he hurt Pereira in round one. A visible release of tension that bled into the next round and continued right up till he realized that Pereira wasn’t going away, and was not, in fact, remotely afraid of getting hit again. It wasn’t a swell of confidence, but a sigh of momentary relief. Phew, I’m ahead–for now.
That’s because the lesson Adesanya took away from his and Pereira’s first rematch was the wrong one.
Perhaps he was too disdainful of the left hook, swollen with the bravado of a young man still several minutes removed from his first ever KO defeat. But the broader strategy was working brilliantly, and a big punch is only ever a singular, tactical problem. A few tweaks ought to have been enough to solve the problem of Pereira’s hook. Adesanya’s training camp could have been spent deepening his pool of defenses and counters, ways of preventing and punishing that one, big threat, of asserting his authority as champion.
Instead, he proved himself a true MMA fighter by doing what far too many MMA fighters do following a hard loss: he over-corrected. He gave Pereira too much respect, and too much space, hoping to chew him up with kicks the way he has other middleweights, forgetting that Pereira is himself an accomplished kickboxer capable of defending himself at kicking range. He focused on keeping Pereira at bay, allowing the big man—who naturally loves to pressure—to walk him into the fence again and again. He even tried to wrestle, pinning his hopes for victory on Pereira’s least effective phase of the fight, disregarding the fact that he himself is not a wrestler, and dooming himself to moments of escalating panic when the takedowns failed to materialize, while failing to fully capitalize on the one that did.
In short, Israel Adesanya threw out an effective strategy for the sake of a single, tactical error, and in the process allowed Pereira a long, comfortable fight in which the same error was all but certain to recur.
Adesanya can say Pereira was lucky to find the knockout when he did; I say, fighting the way he did, Adesanya would have been lucky to survive.
June M. Williams 
June M. Williams 
Chris Rini 
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
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