“Ninety percent of the game is half mental” – Yogi Berra – Michael Scott – Chris Rini
Chris RiniHey all, reserve your user name for the new BloodyElbow here because I’ve grown so fond of seeing them in the comments below. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you Monday.
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The former UFC heavyweight title challenger and K-1 World Grand Prix winner has had his latest victory—a 2022 decision over Badr Hari—overturned as a result.
The specter of performance enhancing drugs has long hung over Alistair Overeem’s career, even while direct evidence of their use has been fairly limited. Back in 2012, Overeem was flagged by the NSAC for an extremely elevated T/E (Testosterone/Epitestosterone) ratio—often a sign of steroid use. The ‘Reem’ claimed the drug test results were the result of a prescribed anti-inflammatory medication, but he was suspended from competition for nine months by the Nevada commission nonetheless.
Otherwise, it’s always been about the eye test. How did Overeem go from wiry light heavyweight to massive 265 lb juggernaut? Was it really just a steady schedule of heavy lifting and a high protein diet of horse meat, like he claimed?
Whatever the truth of it was, this latest news won’t help his legacy any. Back in November, GLORY revealed that the 42-year-old had failed an in-competition drug test from his recent decision victory over Badr Hari. While Overeem’s team sounded confident that it wasn’t a “performance enhancing” substance, and hoped he might even be cleared by the B-sample, Beyond Kick now reports that Dutch Anti-Doping Authorities—working alongside GLORY kickboxing—have suspended the former UFC title contender for one year.
It’s still unclear exactly what showed up in Overeem’s tests, but apparently it was in his B-sample too. As a result of the drug test failure, Overeem’s win over Hari has been overturned to a no-contest and he has been fined a portion of his fight purse from the event.
“Alistair Overeem has been removed from the GLORY rankings and his fight again Badr Hari is ruled a “No Contest” due to a violation of GLORY’s anti-doping rules,” the promotion said in a brief statement. “His suspension is for 12 months, starting at his last fight – COLLISION 4. And he must return a percentage of his wages.”
While rumors had surfaced earlier this year that he was considering a jump over to ONE Championship for their openweight tournament, Overeem himself confirmed that he’s under exclusive contract with GLORY. Fans will likely have to wait until at least October if they hope to see him back in action.
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Jennifer Maia is set to face Casey O’Neill at UFC 286.
Flyweight Jennifer Maia sounds like she likes her division’s title picture a whole lot more now that long-reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko has lost the belt. Paired up against Casey O’Neill for a fight at UFC 286, the Brazilian considers the current situation a good opportunity for her to start a new title run.
In a conversation with Ag Fight, Maia praised the new champion, Alexa Grasso, while also explaining how she’s been reinvigorated from seeing a new woman at the top of the division. However, the 34-year-old believes it will be difficult for the Lobo Gym athlete to reign over the weight class for as long as predicessor.
“I did think Valentina was going to have problems, because nobody is unbeatable. I knew Grasso was a very determined athlete and would be a handful for her. It wasn’t a big surprise that she lost the belt, even though she is still the greatest flyweight in history,”
“I was happy Grasso became champion,” Maia said. “It mixes the division a little and that motivates me to try and conquer the title. I think it’s going to be difficult for her to stay the champion for as long as Valentina did, but she’ll do everything she can to keep the belt.”
In her last outing, Maia (20-9-1) scored a unanimous decision win over Maryna Moroz, in November 2022. The victory snapped a two-fight losing skid for the 34-year-old, with unanimous decision losses to Manon Fiorot and Katlyn Chookagian.
Maia is expected to take on O’Neill at UFC 286, on March 18, in London, England. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a rubber match for the welterweight title between champion Leon Edwards and former title-holder Kamaru Usman.
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A running tally of important stats for all UFC events in 2023
On Saturday, Davey Grant joined a short list of fighters who have scored an inverted triangle submission under the UFC banner. Before Grant won his UFC Vegas 71 fight opposite Raphael Assuncao via that technique, only three other UFC competitors had scored submissions in that manner: Jordan Leavitt, Olivier Aubin-Mercier and Cole Miller.
Miller was the first UFC fighter to submit his opponent via inverted triangle, stopping Dan Lauzon at UFC 108 in January 2010. The next inverted triangle submission on a UFC card came in October 2014, when Aubin-Mercier stopped Jake Lindsay at UFC Fight Night 54. Leavitt ended a seven-plus year drought of inverted triangle submissions on UFC fight cards in December 2021 when he submitted Matt Sayles at UFC Vegas 45.
Miller, Aubin-Mercier and Grant received fight-night bonuses awards for their rare submission wins.
UFC Vegas 71 also featured a new promotional record. In the evening’s main event, Merab Dvalishvili set a new UFC record with 49 takedown attempts. Dvalishvili defeated former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan by unanimous decision. The victory moved Dvalishvili to the No. 1 spot in the official UFC bantamweight rankings.
UFC Vegas 71 streamed on ESPN+.
Total Fights: 98
Title Fights: 6
Unanimous Decisions: 32
Split Decisions: 7
Majority Decisions: 2
Majority Draws: 2
KOs/TKOs: 25
Submissions: 30
9️⃣ straight wins for The Machine as he takes out #2 in the bantamweight division @MerabDvalishvil! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/FJqtcVK6fT
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Davey Grant with the reverse triangle submission #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/XIPSrJ5Ab8
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 11, 2023
@AlexDragoVolkov is still a threat! #UFCLasVegas live on @ESPNPlus pic.twitter.com/lm9lLrNXFC
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
JOSH FREMD FORCES THE TAP #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/bobvLp65IB
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 11, 2023
The Machine putting it into gear @MerabDvalishvil #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/1uoqItAlaY
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Shortest Five-Round Fight: Jon Jones submits Ciryl Gane at 2:04 of Round 1 via guillotine choke at UFC 285.
Shortest Three-Round Fight: Rinya Nakamura KOs Toshiomi Kazama at 0:33 of Round 1 via punch to head at distance at UFC Vegas 68.
Latest Finish in a Three-Round Fight: Davey Grant submits Raphael Assuncao via inverted triangle from bottom side control at 4:43 of Round 3 at UFC Vegas 71.
Most Takedowns Landed: Loik Radzhabov lands 11 takedowns on 21 attempts vs. Esteban Ribovics at UFC 285 and Merab Dvalishvili lands 11 takedowns on 49 attempts vs. Petr Yan (five round fight) at UFC Vegas 71.
Most Submission Attempts: HyunSung Park three submission attempts against SeungGuk Choi, Jimmy Crute three submission attempts against Alonzo Menifield, Clayton Carpenter with three submission attempts vs. Juancamilo Ronderos and Joe Solecki with three submission attempts vs. Carl Deaton.
Most Knockdowns Landed: Rinya Nakamura scores two knockdowns on Toshiomi Kazama , Alonzo Menifield scores two knockdowns on Jimmy Crute and Trevor Peek with two knockdowns vs. Erick Gonzalez.
Most Significant Strikes Landed in a Three-Round Fight: Jessica Andrade lands 231 of 369 significant strike attempts in unanimous decision win over Lauren Murphy.
Shutouts: Serghei Spivac prevents Derrick Lewis from landing any strikes or takedowns during their UFC Vegas 68 main event fight.
Short night at the office for Bautista #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/1O4LZn7aWu
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 11, 2023
Jon Jones became the eighth double-champion in UFC history.
Jon Jones broke his own UFC record with 15 title fight wins.
Shavkat Rakhmonov became the first UFC welterweight to open his run with the promotion with five straight finishes.
Jamahal Hill lands 232 significant strikes in a UFC light heavyweight fight for a new UFC LHW single-fight record. Hill defeated Glover Teixeira to by unanimous decision to win the UFC light heavyweight title.
Jessica Andrade lands 231 significant strikes in a UFC women’s flyweight fight for a new UFC women’s flyweight record. Andrade defeated Lauren Murphy via unanimous decision.
Jessica Andrade tied Amanda Nunes for most wins in women’s UFC history with her 15th victory with the promotion.
Jim Miller participated in his 41st fight in the UFC. Andrei Arlovski is second to Miller with 39 UFC bouts.
With his one submission attempt vs. Alexander Hernandez, Jim Miller has the most submission attempts in UFC history with 47. Charles Oliveira is second with 40 submission attempts.
Jim Miller has 38 fights in the UFC lightweight division. Three other fighters: Clay Guida, Gleison Tibau and Joe Lauzon are tied for second with 27 fighters each.
Jim Miller has 6:18:59 of UFC lightweight fight time. Clay Guida is second with 5:10:50.
Jim Miller has 44 submission attempts in UFC lightweight fights. Joe Lauzon is second with 29.
Erin Blanchfield has a control time percentage of 55.4 percent in UFC flyweight fights. Taila Santos is second with 46.3 percent.
Erin Blanchfield has a top position percentage of 48.6 percent in UFC flyweight fights. Gillian Robertson is second at 41.9 percent.
Erin Blanchfield averages 1.57 submissions per 15 minutes of UFC women’s flyweight fight time. Taila Santos is second at 1.5.
Mayra Bueno Silva secures first kneebar submission in UFC women’s bantamweight history.
Stats via UFC Stats
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Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson gives a bit of update on UFC star Conor McGregor.
Conor McGregor and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is a pairing that no one was likely expecting. But as McGregor’s recent social media posts show, the two have been working together in what appears to be the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.
View this post on Instagram
Wonderboy recently sat down for an interview with Submission Radio where he gave a bit of an update on “The Notorious.” What he took note of was how the Irish sports star went ‘back to his roots.’
“Man, for one, for somebody to come up with an injury like that, this guy. Like, his mindset was like it didn’t even happen, that injury didn’t even happen. And he’s getting back to his roots, his karate.
“He’s never taken karate in his life, but he’s trained with a lot of karate fighters, and that’s kind of where he got that movement from. So, for instance, when he fought Jose Aldo, his movement, his wide stance, his speed was on point. Like, he’s back to that, man, at a heavier weight. Which is scary.”
For Thompson, McGregor may have heeded some fan advice regarding his last two fights.
“And if you ever shook Conor’s hand, the dude’s got a bigger fist than I do. Like he’s got a melon of a fist. I’m like, what the heck, man? No wonder he puts people out with that one-hitter quitter punch.
“But he’s back to his movement, man. You’re gonna see a better [Conor]. I think he’s listened to the fans. You know, his last two fights with Poirier were kind of in that boxer mentality.
“He’s gotta get back to his roots of movement, and that’s what we’re gonna see from Conor next time he steps out there.”
McGregor will face Michael Chandler at a still undetermined date this year, but it takes place after TUF 31 where they are the opposing coaches.
Reserve your user name for the new Bloody Elbow before April 1, 2023. Go here for more details (link).
About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)
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The former UFC bantamweight champion suffered a unanimous decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili.
Petr Yan says he has a lot to improve on after UFC Vegas 71 this past Saturday.
Yan suffered the most lopsided defeat of his career to Merab Dvalishvili, the Serra-Longo Fight Team staple who overwhelmed ‘No Mercy’ over the course of five rounds. Despite his attempts to slow the ‘Machine’ down, Yan struggled with the pace and pressure from Dvalishvili.
In his first post-fight comments, Yan reflected on his performance, describing it as ‘annoying ‘ and ‘frustrating’ to watch.
View this post on Instagram
“It hurts to realize what is happening, but what happened cannot be rewound,” wrote Yan on Instagram in Russian. “In general, I was satisfied with the preparation. There were several slowing factors — which I thought and believed I would manage! Flew to the United States, a couple of days after the flight and started working. I felt I needed physical therapy! I worked out every day for a week and believed that everything would be fine.
“A week before the fight, they gave me a 5×5 roast, I breathed well and started [the weight cut],” continued Yan. “I couldn’t think about canceling the fight because I was already on the field! I think it was clear that I could not move or hit! I had to hang on! I know what I can do and I know I can do better. I need to reboot — make adjustments. The photo was taken from a training session at Tiger[Muay Thai] 7 days before departure; that day I thought I could jump and hit anything in the sky. Thank you all for your attention — understanding.”
Though he failed to mention what the ‘several slowing factors’ were, it appears they were significant enough for Yan to consider withdrawing from the fight.
When Yan expects to return to the Octagon remains to be seen. The former UFC bantamweight champion is winless in his past three fights, losing split decisions to Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley at UFC 273 and UFC 280, respectively.
About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)
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Merab Dvalishvili set a UFC record in takedown attempts and a personal best for significant strikes landed vs. Petr Yan.
Merab Dvalishvili’s game plan for his UFC Vegas 71 main event bout opposite former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan was clear before the first frame even ended. Dvalishvili wanted to use pressure via attempted takedowns and strikes to prevent Yan from getting the time and space he needed to mount any offense of his own.
With the Team Serra-Longo talent’s bottomless gas tank, the plan was a smashing success. Not only did Dvalishvili’s approach earn him a one-sided unanimous decision win, it also gave him a UFC record in takedown attempts and a career-best in significant strikes landed in a single fight.
Heading into Saturday’s card, Dvalishvili’s UFC career best in significant strikes landed was 73 on 128 attempts in a three-round matchup opposite Gustavo Lopez—on the prelims of the UFC Vegas 2 fight card. Against Yan, ‘The Machine’ connected on 147 of 338 strike attempts over five rounds. As for his UFC record in takedown attempts, Dvalishvili went 11 for 49 in that department, crushing the previous high of 33, which Cain Velasquez set against Junior dos Santos at UFC 155.
Saturday’s fight card was a showcase for the bantamweight division. Not only did Dvalishvili put on a career-best performance, but Jonathan Martinez scored a meaningful win over Said Nurmagomedov, Mario Bautista extended his winning streak to four straight with a submission of Guido Cannetti, Davey Grant scored a rare inverted triangle submission of Raphael Assuncao and Victor Henry picked up a win over Tony Gravely.
Below, we take a deep dive into the stats from Saturday’s UFC event. UFC Vegas 71 took place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. The entire fight card streamed on ESPN+.
Machine like output by @MerabDvalishvil! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/LlIhOyTikJ
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
That’s 2̶6̶ 27 wins by finish for @AlexDragoVolkov! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/ERdkM5WktH
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
It’s 1️⃣ and done for @KrylovUFC! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/9DKSaZjBl2
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Another end to another amazing fight. This card has been #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/t3HsZrvF6R
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Bantamweights beware. #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/ihZBsDe2Il
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
9️⃣ straight wins for The Machine as he takes out #2 in the bantamweight division @MerabDvalishvil! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/FJqtcVK6fT
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Stats via UFC Stats
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Check out all the fights announced over the past week in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
Fights on Tap is a weekly roundup of all the fights booked in the UFC, Bellator and other promotions.
We have a big pay-per-view event on Saturday. UFC 286 features the trilogy between welterweights Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman in the headliner, while a potential No. 1 contender at lightweight in Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev goes down in the co-headliner. But before we can get to that event, let’s take a look at what we have ahead of us on the upcoming schedule.
The UFC either announced or finalized six fights this week, and the reigning bantamweight champion has his next defense set.
Contracts are officially signed for Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo! The much-anticipated bantamweight championship fight is headlining UFC 288, the upcoming pay-per-view event scheduled for May 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Following his second-round TKO of T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 this past October, Sterling pivoted to Cejudo, who was expected to return to competition after a nearly three-year retirement. However, the fight would get postponed, as the ‘Funk Master’ underwent stem cell treatment to help with a bicep injury. Now recovered, Sterling has confirmed his next defense against Cejudo. ’Triple C’ has not fought since defeating Dominick Cruz by second-round TKO at UFC 249.
Lerone Murphy vs. Gabriel Santos — featherweight (First rep. by Marcel Dorff of Eurosport Nederland)
Tamires Vidal vs. Hailey Cowan — women’s bantamweight (First rep. by Nolan King of MMA Junkie)
Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain — featherweight
Nate Maness vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov — flyweight
Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo — bantamweight (First rep. by Sterling on The Weekly Scraps podcast)
Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Miesha Tate — women’s bantamweight (First rep. by Dama de Ferro MMA)
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Ray Borg — flyweight (First rep. by Brett Okamoto of ESPN and later confirmed by Drake Riggs of MMA Mania)
Dakota Ditcheva vs. Malin Hermansson — women’s flyweight
Oliveira Aubin-Mercier vs. Shane Burgos — lightweight
Sadibou Sy vs. Jarrah Al Silwai — welterweight
Natan Schulte vs. Stevie Ray — lightweight
Raush Manfio vs. Alexander Martinez — lightweight
Shane Mitchell vs. TBA — welterweight
Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov vs. Ahmed Amir — lightweight
Clay Collard vs. Yamato Nishikawa — lightweight
Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Don Madge — welterweight
Carlos Leal vs. David Zawada — welterweight
Magomed Umalatov vs. Dilano Taylor — welterweight
Agy Sardari vs. Samuel Blasco — lightweight
Taka Mhandu vs. Benoit Blanc — bantamweight
Dylan Hazan vs. Caolan Loughran — bantamweight
Leon Aliu vs. Darren Stewart — middleweight
Calie Cutler vs. Mayra Cantuária — women’s bantamweight
Diana Sanchez vs. Kendra McIntyre — women’s catchweight (120 lbs.)
Wojciech Kazieczko vs. Danu Tarchila — featherweight
Kamil Szkaradek vs. Przemysław Górny — bantamweight
Michał Michalski vs. Giorgi Kvelidze — middleweight
Emilia Czerwińska vs. Yasmin Guimarães — women’s flyweight
Marcin Krakowiak vs. Henry Fadipe — middleweight
Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Artur Szpilka — heavyweight
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For Dana White, Merab Dvalishvili would be making a mistake for turning down a title fight against Aljamain Sterling because of friendship.
With a win over former champion Petr Yan on Saturday at UFC Vegas 71, Merab Dvalishvili has inched his way closer to the top. Sitting on that spot, of course, is Aljamain Sterling, a close friend and training partner of Merab’s over at Serra-Longo in Long Island.
During his Octagon interview with Daniel Cormier, Merab stated his willingness to fight for the 135-pound title, but only when “Funkmaster” moves up in weight.
“He’s the real champion,” Merab said of Sterling, who was in his corner that night. “But whenever he decide to go up a weight class, and then fight the next challenger, whoever will be there.
“And then after, I will fight (for) title. Of course, I want to be champion!”
UFC president Dana White was asked about this potential issue during the post-fight scrum, and he had this to say.
“I don’t remember who the hell I was talking to the other day about this, and I was, like, ‘ We don’t have to deal with that bullshit anymore,” he told reporters. “Back in the early days, the camps were so small, you didn’t have a lot of different options. So we had a lot of these guys saying, ‘Oh, he’s my friend, he’s my friend…’
“You can still be friends and want what your friend has. It would be a really bad idea for Merab to go down that path.”
White says the choice is now for Merab to make.
“Does Merab want a shot at the title? Or would Merab rather have people under him jump over him, and him have to take on all these different tough guys when he’s not even getting a title shot when he’s next in line for it.
“That’s a personal decision he needs to make. If that’s what he wants to do, I can tell you how that story ends. It’s not a good ending to that story. But, he’s a big boy, he can figure that out on his own.”
After the win over Yan, Merab is now on a nine-fight win streak with a record of 16-4.
About the author: Milan Ordoñez has been covering combat sports since 2012 and has been part of the Bloody Elbow staff since 2016. He’s also competed in amateur mixed martial arts and submission grappling tournaments. (full bio)
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Bloody Elbow presents its fight week coverage when Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards (20-3), current UFC Welterweight Champ, defends his title agains No. 2 ranked ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman (20-2), in what will be their trilogy match on Saturday, March 18th, from the O2 Arena in London, England. UFC features this title fight headlining their massive action-packed 15-bout UFC 286 PPV (pay-per-view) event.
In their first meet-up at UFC on FOX 17 on July 18, 2015, Edwards lost via Unanimous Decision. Last go around, was just at UFC 279 on August 20, 2022, when Usman lost the belt to Edwards via Head Kick in the fifth round. ‘Rocky’ hopes to hang on to the belt and secure his second victory over Usman, proving himself to be the more dominant welterweight. Meanwhile, Usman intends to get his belt back, for his second victory, proving the same thing.
Our co-main event consists of a Lightweight tilt when No. 7 ranked fight veteran and American fan favorite, Justin ‘The Highlight’ Gaethje (23-4) goes to war with No. 5 ranked streaking up-and-comer, Tiger Muay Thai specialist, Rafael ‘Ataman’ Fiziev (12-1), representing Kyrgyzstan.
Stick with bloodyelbow.com for all the previews, predictions, coverage, odds, & more, right here!
UFC 286’s main PPV card of five bouts airs live on ESPN+, with a start time of 5/2PM ETPT, which are preceded by four Featured Prelim bouts airing at 3/12PM ETPT on ESPN2/ESPN+, and six Early Prelims on UFC FightPass at 1PM/10AM ETPT. Odds for this 15-bout card at: DraftKings Sportsbook.
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