The UFC president has given his opinion on a recent release.

Back in 2017, the UFC brought a prospect in from Invicta that looked like she was going to be a solid contender in the women’s 135-pound division. Aspen Ladd was 22 at the time with a 5-0 record, and three more solid wins in the Octagon pushed into a headlining fight against Germaine de Randamie.

And it was all downhill from there.

Ladd suffered a quick loss to GDR that night after looking very troubled at the weigh-ins. Over the last three years she ended up missing weight three times, which led to two fights getting canceled. Finally, the UFC had enough and released her following the latest weight miss.

At the Contender Series’ post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White clarified what we all already assumed – that her issues on the scale led to Ladd’s release:

“We tried to work with her. She’s a great kid. She’s a really nice person. It’s never fun when you have someone’s who’s actually talented. She’s a talented fighter, but part of the job is making weight.”

“She’s not made weight so many times. It had to happen. Not something you want to do, but something that had to be done.”

Ladd leaves the promotion with a 4-3 record in the Octagon and a 9-3 record overall.

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Henry Cejudo thinks Alex Pereira will become the new UFC middleweight champion.

Israel Adesanya losing to Alex Pereira twice in kickboxing is enough to convince Henry Cejudo that the latter will get his hands raised against ‘The Last Stylebender’ at UFC 281.

Pereira is a former two-division GLORY kickboxing champion and considered one of the best strikers in MMA, having recently KO’d Sean Strickland with the same left hook he used to floor Adesanya in their kickboxing match at Glory Heroes of 7.

Cejudo expects a similar result at UFC 281 where both fighters will meet again but this time in MMA, with ‘Triple C’ picking ‘Poatan’ to become the first fighter to KO Adesanya in mixed martial arts and kickboxing.

“I think Alex is gonna get it,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel (h/t Drake Riggs of MMA Fighting). “This is why it’s so important that as a mixed martial artist that you become well-rounded. That you’re not just a striker with good defense. Because what happens when you get that other good striker that has better striking than you then you can’t take him down? Cause that’s kinda where we’re at now with Pereira and Adesanya.

“As good as Israel is, Alexander just still has better striking. He knocked him out the last time they fought, he beat him the first time. If this fight goes on its feet, I just gotta go with Pereira.”

“Jose Aldo was the same thing,” he added. “Really good on his feet and great defense. But what happens when you get a better striker like Max Holloway? He put him out. He literally put Jose Aldo out. He put him out because there was nothing else that Jose Aldo had that was a trick in the bag for Max Holloway.

“That’s kind of how I see it in this position with Israel Adesanya and Pereira. I got Pereira by knockout. I think he’s got more diversity and things of that nature. Stop me when I lie.”

UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereira takes place on Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

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While he has the confidence to fight at 145 pounds, Sean O’Malley wants this one thing first before making the jump.

Rising contender Sean O’Malley has so far been making waves in the UFC’s bantamweight division. And as he further moves up in competition, he also sees himself fighting in the weight class above.

In a recent video he uploaded to his YouTube channel, “Sugar” Sean spoke to his trainer Tim Welch about a possible move to featherweight.

“Eventually,” O’Malley said when asked about fighting at featherweight. “I’m 27 years old, I’m gonna be in this sport for ten more years. I think I will bump up to ’45, especially when my jiu-jitsu is at a level that I’m like, ‘f—k with me.’

“I’m very confident in my jiu-jitsu, but once it gets to a point where I feel like Charles (Oliveira) on the ground, I’ll move up to ’45.”

But even without the level of jiu-jitsu prowess he’s going after, O’Malley says he can hold his own at 145 pounds.

“At ’45 right now, people are probably bigger than me. Even now, (if) I go up to ’45, I feel like I could still beat a lot of those turds.

“The top, top guys, I’ll have trouble with right now, but it’s ‘cause I’m trying to keep my weight down and low enough for 135.”

For now, O’Malley has his hands full as he prepares for former champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 on October 22 in Abu Dhabi.

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Here are the results for the week 10 episode of Dana White’s Contender Series 2022.

Week 10 of Dana White’s Contender Series 2022 is in the books, which wraps up the 6th season of the show with five finishes across five fights, with five contracts being given out. Mateus Mendonca, Rafael Estevam, Jack Jenkins, Sam Patterson, and three time NCAA Div-1 national wrestling champion Bo Nickal have all signed with the UFC.

Closing out the event, Bo Nickal ran right through Donovan Beard with a sub 60-second submission. Nickal opened with a huge overhand right to takedown to quickly get on top. From there, Bo briefly attempted a mounted guillotine, but bailed on the sub just to roll to his back for a smooth triangle transition. Beard offered up a little bit of resistance, but it wasn’t long at all before he started tapping. That’s three professional fights for Nickal, three finishes, and less than a half-a-round of total cage time.

Before that, Sam Patterson overcame being dropped in the opening round to rally and submit Vinicius Cenci in the second stanza. Patterson got his ground game going in the second round, attempting a D’arce and a power guillotine before finally realizing success with a rear-naked choke. With his third finish in a row, Sam is now enjoying a 10-fight unbeaten streak.

Jack Jenkins deployed a ton of ground strikes to stop Emiliano Linares with just 30-seconds to go in the third act. Jenkins cut Linares in the first frame with a splitting elbow, and from there routinely found top position to continue his onslaught of ground and pound. The former rugby player advanced his professional record to 10-2.

Rafael Estevam overcame an early submission spam session to ultimately pound out Joao Elias in the second round. Elias attempted a ton of armbars, but Estevam remained safe and was able to make Joao pay dearly for fighting off of his back. Rafael is now rocking a flawless record of 11-0.

Opening up the night, Mateus Mendonca registered a sporty 48-second knockout on Ashiek Ajim. Mendonca landed a hefty right hand that sat down Ajim, and then only needed a few followup strikes to put Ashiek out cold. Mendonca advances his undefeated record to 10-0.

Bo Nickal def. Donovan Beard by submission (Triangle) at :52 of round 1: Middleweight

Sam Patterson def. Vinicius Cenci by submission (RNC) at 4:18 of round 2: Lightweight

Jack Jenkins def. Emiliano Linares by TKO at 4:30 of round 3: Featherweight

Rafael Estevam def. Joao Elias by TKO at 2:25 of round 2: Flyweight

Mateus Mendonca def. Ashiek Ajim by KO at :48 of round 1: Bantamweight

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The one-time title challenger gave his thoughts on the upcoming UFC middleweight championship fight. 

Who has the advantage between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira at UFC 281? Let Jared Cannonier answer that question.

The ‘Last Stylebender’ is 0-2 against ‘Po Atan’ in kickboxing, losing once by decision and once by knockout. However, with this upcoming fight in MMA, Cannonier told Helen Yee that fans should favor the champ here, especially since he has far more experience in the sport.

“It definitely favors Izzy more,” Cannonier said of the upcoming middleweight title fight. “He’s been here longer. He’s had all these five-round championship fights with the best in our sport, so it’s definitely different. He definitely has the experience in that regard. He’s altered his kickboxing style more for MMA. Alex still has sort of a kickboxing base, if you will, in his stance. Not to say that it’s a detriment to him, but it can be exploited as far as MMA goes. I think the advantage lies with Israel in that regard.”

That said, the ‘Killa Gorilla’ also noted the power of Pereira could be an X-factor. His vaunted left hook has served him well in the ring and the Octagon, so Cannonier would not be surprised to see it on display when he fights Adesanya again.

“The power lies with Alex, for sure,” said Cannonier. “They’re both the same size. Alex is definitely going to be a denser opponent, so he’s probably a little bit heavier. It’s definitely going to be an exciting fight.”

Adesanya defended his UFC middleweight championship for the sixth time against Cannonier, who he bested by unanimous decision at UFC 276 this past July. On that same night, Pereira earned a championship opportunity with a first-round KO of Sean Strickland.

Following their respective losses, Cannonier and Strickland are expected to headline the final UFC event of the year on Dec. 17 at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

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Bellator fighter Dillon Danis appears to be missing in action.

Bellator CEO Scott Coker initially ‘had a lot of high hopes for’ Dillon Danis but he isn’t sure we’ll ever see the BJJ world champion and grappling coach of Conor McGregor fight again.

Danis (2-0 MMA) has had just two professional bouts since signing with Bellator in 2018 and hasn’t fought since a 2019 submission victory over Max Humphrey at Bellator 222.

Coker isn’t sure whether Danis’ future lies in Bellator as he often goes without speaking to the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu standout for months at a time and doesn’t know where ‘El Jefe’s’ head is at.

“Dillon is a kid we had a lot of high hopes for,” Coker said at the Bellator Dublin post-fight press conference (h/t MMA Fighting). “He’s super-talented, jiu-jitsu fighter, but he’s got to stay active, and he’s got to want to come back. He calls me, he wants to come back, and then sometimes, I don’t hear from him for months. If he’s really serious about coming back, we’ll definitely have a spot for him, and we’ll definitely make an opportunity for him.”

Danis made the rounds in 2021 when he got choked out by a bouncer at a bar in Seaside, New Jersey. Check out the video of that encounter here.

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Jake Paul took to social media to slam Floyd Mayweather for announcing his next match against YouTuber Deji instead of Paul himself.

Shortly after Floyd Mayweather knocked out Mikuru Asakura, it was announced that the boxing great will be involved in an upcoming exhibition bout with YouTuber, Deji, in Dubai on November 13th. Jake Paul took to social media to vent his frustrations with “Money” selecting to face Deji instead of Jake himself.

Paul ascertains that Mayweather truly has no clue who his exhibition opponents are, and that he’s merely doing these bouts to raise funds to pay off his tax debts. To be fair, Jake and Floyd currently have very similar business models.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen, picture this. It’s 2022, Floyd Mayweather is ruining his legacy fighting no-name guys, wasting his fan’s money, wasting his fan’s time. He doesn’t even know the name of the guys he’s fighting, and then chooses to fight Comedy Shorts Gamer influencer to make some money to pay his tax bills.”

Paul also complains about Floyd saying that the only way he would scrap with Jake is if the YouTuber came down to Mayweather’s weight. Paul mention’s 140-pounds, but Floyd clocked in at 154-pounds against Conor McGregor, and then at 155-pounds against Logan Paul. Jake stepped on the scale at 192 in his last match with Tyron Woodley, so he would have to do a whole lot more singing in his Muscle Lab cryo sessions, and maybe cut off a leg, if he ever hopes to whittle down to Mayweather’s size.

“Floyd Mayweather telling Jake Paul that he will only fight Jake Paul if he comes down to his weight, 140-pounds or something. I can’t believe what’s going on in the world. I can’t believe this is real. Floyd, I will fight you, and you know that’s one of the biggest fights to make in boxing. I weigh 175, you weigh 165. We can get that done; make a couple hundred million dollars. But what will your excuse be?”

Jake proceeded to jab at Floyd citing his lack of care for what the other Paul brother weighed in at for their exhibition, which happened to be 189.5. He then brought up the ‘got your hat’ moment, and claimed to want to now take Floyd’s perfect record from him.

“You din’t care what my brother weighed, so why do you care what I weigh? Oh, because you know. You know what’s going to happen. I want to say I got your ‘0.’ I don’t just want to say I got your hat. I got your ‘0.’ But you’re going to find a way to dance around this. You know, you said, ‘oh once he fights a professional fighter he’s gonna get destroyed. It’ll be bad for him. Why not let that be you?”

Jake is slated to box MMA legend Anderson Silva on October 29th of this year, and he is on the record saying that he could defeat both Silva and Mayweather in the same night.

Mayweather is 45-years-old and is a 50-0 retired boxer, and although he is still putting on exhibitions, at the RIZIN post-fight presser he made it clear that he isn’t out here to risk damage by facing top tier boxers. He just wants to have fun and entertain people. Of course the paydays are probably nice as well. So at 5-0, Jake Paul seems quite eager to fight him, but the juice might not be worth the squeeze for Mayweather.

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Politician Okuno Takashi had the task of handing a bouquet of flowers to Mayweather before the start of his Rizin bout with Mikuru Asakura, but decided to turn the act into a statement of disrespect.

All things considered, Floyd Mayweather had a pretty good day this last Sunday, at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. The former undefeated multi-division boxing champion stepped into the ring once more in the main event of Rizin’s ‘Super Rizin’ card for an exhibition bout against former featherweight MMA champ Mikuru Asakura, allegedly picking up a seven figure payday for two rounds of work on his way to a TKO victory.

But not everything came up gumdrops and rainbows. Before the fight even got started, the 45-year-old found himself as a prop for a public figure looking to make a statement.

Yahoo! Japan identified the bespectacled flower dropper as small-time politician, and leader of Japan’s ‘Burdock Party,’ Okuno Takashi. Okuno reportedly got the opportunity to present Mayweather with his bouquet, after winning an auction for a VIP ringside seat and fan experience. In an interview with EastSportsWeb Okuno was unapologetic for the incident, and claimed it as a response to Mayweather’s conduct around his 2018 bout against Tenshin Nasukawa. Notably that ‘Money’ made his opponent wait hours after the bout’s intended start time while he got his hands wrapped and warmed up.

In a post to his Instagram account, Rizin boss Nobuhiko Sakakibara apologized profusely for the floral fracas, calling Okuno a “vile individual.”

“Thank you for all who attended, and tuned in for today’s event,” Sakakibara wrote. “I truly appreciate all 22 fighters from the bottom of my heart.

“And again, we deeply apologize for letting such a vile individual step into the sacred ring.

“We promise that we will make sure such actions will never be taken place ever again.”

For his part, Mayweather hardly seemed to notice, and used his time after the bout to instead thank Japan for hosting him and the event and his opponent for making the fight fun.

“I would like to thank the whole country of Japan,” Mayweather told fans after the fight’s conclusion (transcript via MMA Mania). “Unbelievable country, unbelievable people. An exciting, crazy turnout. Round of applause for this tough competitor.”

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The former boxing champ took on the MMA pioneer in what ended up being an entirely one-sided showcase last Sunday in Brazil.

A battle between two Brazilian combat sports veteran took place at Brazil’s Fight Music Show 2, last Sunday. On a night of fights featuring a YouTuber, a singer, and former Bellator/UFC/Strikeforce/Invicta champion Cris Cyborg, the main event was no less a circus bout.

Former WBO/WMA super featherweight and WBO lightweight boxing champ Acelino ‘Popo’ Freitas took on MMA veteran Jose ‘Pele’ Landi-Jons, in an exhibition boxing match that didn’t make it out of the first round.

Originally scheduled for eight rounds, the headliner ended just 85 seconds into the opening frame, when 47-year-old Popo knocked down the 49-year-old Landi-Jons and then followed it up with a flurry after a quick stand-up and a standing count. Pele went down for good on the followup.

Since it was an exhibition match, the results will not be added to the athletes’ official record, making Popo’s (41-2) latest win still a unanimous decision victory over Gabriel Martinez, in November 2017. Meanwhile, Pele’s (29-16) last MMA fight ended in a knockout loss to Zak Bucia, back in July 2015.

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Sorry cry babies! It’s time for another of our infamous and patented Care/Don’t Care Podcasts, with your talent: Eugene S. Robinson, John S. Nash, & Stephie Haynes. Find out which upcoming fights are hot and which fights are not – for UFC Vegas 61: Dern vs. Yan.

It’s time for another one of our infamous and patented Care/Don’t Care Podcasts, with your talent: the astounding Eugene S. Robinson, author of the ‘Eugene S. Robinson Substack’, the fight book: “Fight: Everything You Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking”, host of the ‘Eugene S. Robinson Show Stomper!’ Podcast, and co-host of the ‘If The Shoes Fit’ Podcast, along with the indubitable John S. Nash, our chief financials columnist and co-host of our ‘Show Money’ Podcast… he is also one of the co-hosts of the ‘If The Shoes Fit’ Podcast; the trio is moderated by the insightful Stephie Haynes, of Bloody Elbow’s ‘The Level Change Podcast’, ’The Mookie & Crookie Show Podcast’ & the ‘Crooklyn’s Corner Podcast’.

June M. Williams

Stephie will announce each fight on the upcoming card, as it stands at the time of recording, so the team may quickly comment on which fights are hot, and which fights are not; based on relevancy to the sport as a whole. This format of “Caring” or “Not Caring” about each bout is geared to our listeners who consider themselves to be “Casual MMA Fans”. This effort is in the hopes that we can steer you towards fights that affect rankings, title contention, have significant meaning, or are sure to be “must see tv” fights; therefore saving you the tedium of watching every fight on every card – or perhaps missing out on something you might have otherwise skipped.

*** The team didn’t record an episode of C/DC this week, so this is actually a rebroadcast of only the picks portion of the show they made for this event last Sunday, September 18th. The usual format of the C/DC Podcast will return on Monday, October 3rd, 2022 with a review of UFC Vegas 61: Dern vs. Yan and picks for UFC Vegas 62: Grasso vs Araujo.

UFC Vegas 61: Dern vs. Yan PICKS — 4:55 (made Sun 9/18)

We start off offering you our ‘disclaimer’, then our trio will go about predicting the UFC Vegas 61 Fight Night bout sheet from the bottom up, wrapping up the C/DC quick-picks portion of the show with the Main Event. This UFC on ESPN+ event will take place from the APEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, this coming Saturday, October 1st.

*** We would like to repeat… The team didn’t record an episode of C/DC this week, so this is actually a rebroadcast of only the picks portion of the show they made for this event last Sunday, September 18th. The usual format of the C/DC Podcast will return on Monday, October 3rd, 2022 with a review of UFC Vegas 61 and picks for UFC Vegas 62.

Here’s a look at the fight card & records for the upcoming event via tapology.com, as they stood the morning the show was recorded on Sunday, September, 18th. (bout order subject to further changes)

UFC Vegas 61: (14 Cares)

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | SAT. OCT. 1 — 8/5PM ETPT (8 Cares)
14. 115lbs: Mackenzie Dern (12-2) vs. Yan Xiaonan (15-3) — At 15:43, 3 Cares

13. 170lbs: Randy Brown (15-4) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (28-8) — At 12:12, 3 Cares

12. 135lbs: John Castañeda (19-5) vs. Daniel Santos (9-2) — At 11:55

11. 135lbs: Raoni Barcelos (16-3) vs. Trevin Jones (13-8) — At 11:26, 1 Care (Stephie)

10. 145lbs: Sodiq Yusuff (12-2) vs. Don Shainis (13-3) — At 10:57

9. 155lbs: Mike Davis (9-2) vs. Viacheslav Borshchev (6-2) — At 9:59, 1 Care (Stephie)

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 4/1PM ETPT (6 Cares)
8. 135lbs: Randy Costa (6-3) vs. Guido Cannetti (9-6) — At 9:26

7. 185lbs: Brendan Allen (19-5) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (24-5) — At 7:29, 3 Cares, but split

6. 135lbs: Julija Stoliarenko (10-6) vs. Chelsea Chandler (4-1) — At 7:16

5. 265lbs: Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-4) vs. Chris Daukaus (12-5) — At 6:45, 2 Cares (Stephie & Eugene)

4. 155lbs: Joaquim Silva (11-3) vs. Jesse Ronson (21-11) — At 6:30

3. 205lbs: Maxim Grishin (32-9-2) vs. Philipe Lins (15-5) — At 6:18

2. 265lbs: Aleksei Oleinik (60-16) vs. Ilir Latifi (15-8) — At 5:48, 1 Care (Eugene)

1. 115lbs: Jessica Penne (14-6) vs. Tabatha Ricci (7-1) — At 5:19

June M. Williams

Be sure to follow Eugene on twitter @EugeneSRobinson, John is @heynottheface, and of course you can catch Stephie @CrooklynMMA, and twice a week she’s on @MookieNCrookie AND @LevelChangePod.

If you would like to catch the show on our BE Presents YouTube Channel, join the gang right here:

If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, or give us a “like”, share & subscribe over on whichever BE Presents Podcast Channel happens to be your listening platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, iTunes & Apple TV, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes, check out our playlists on all of our BE Presents channels.

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