Paulo Costa challenges Jake Paul to a boxing match.

UFC middleweight Paulo Costa has responded to Jake Paul after the YouTuber labeled his three-round slugfest with Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 a ‘glorified street fight’ and an embarrassment to mixed martial arts.

Now a free agent, Costa would be more than happy to settle any issues with Paul in the boxing ring. But he doubts the 5-0 boxer would want any part of the matchup, calling ‘The Problem Child’s’ bluff at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference.

“If this is the last one, Jake Paul is very welcome to send an offer or a contract and we can do this boxing fight,” Costa told reporters following his unanimous decision win over Rockhold (h/t MMA Junkie). “I don’t know if he wants this blood, you know? I think he wants to fight wrestlers or something like that, I think.”

Paul is searching for a fresh challenge after his Aug. 6 boxing match with Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-1) was canceled after Rahman failed to make weight. The 25-year-old continues to angle for boxing matches with ex-UFC fighters despite not having fought a professional boxer since making his debut in 2020.

Paul holds standout victories over former Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren and former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, finishing both men via knockout. He and his older brother Logan Paul are two of the hottest commodities in combat sports right now.

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Welterweight Erick Silva hangs up the gloves after a 14-year career.

Welterweight Erick Silva has decided to call it a career after a health scare. At 38 years of age, the UFC and Bellator veteran felt like it was time to retire from mixed martial arts after sustaining a heart attack back in June 2021.

In an interview with Globo Esporte, Silva detailed what it was like to go through the entire process, which even left him in intensive care at the hospital for one week. After the ordeal, which his doctor attributed to a complication from COVID-19, the Brazilian felt like it fighting was too much of a risk at that point.

“Back in June 2021, I had a heart attack,” he said. “I couldn’t train for a year and a half. I had gone for a session with Joilton Peregrino and made too much of an effort. We did a five-round session and I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

“I thought it was just muscle fatigue, I didn’t understand what was going on. I went home, I played with my son in the pool, even while in pain. The pain would only ease off with some breathing exercises. It wouldn’t stop, though. So I got in the car and drove myself to the hospital. We did some tests and they showed that my heart enzymes were too high and I got admitted.”

“I stayed in the ICU for a week.” Silva said. “My cardiologist said it was most likely a consequence of COVID-19, because they had found a thrombus in coronary artery and that was preventing my blood from flowing. I was staying put for a while, then I did some routine exams that showed my heart’s anatomy was perfect. But this was a decisive factor in me deciding not to fight anymore.”

Now working a steady job in the financial market, Erick is back in his homestate of Espirito Santo, Brazil, and feels like he has enough security to provide for his family and give back to the community. Alongside his work, the 38-year-old also runs the Erick Silva Institute, a social project which teaches martial arts to poor children in his hometown of Vila Velha.

During his 14-year career, Erick (20-11-1 NC) shared the Octagon with some notable names of the welterweight divison in his time, including Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Matt Brown and Dong Hyun Kim. Silva’s last outing took place in June 2019, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Paul Daley at Bellator 223.

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“You have to be better than just wrestling and boxing, you know? And I’m a mixed martial artist, I can do it all.”

Leon Edwards never bought into the narrative that Kamaru Usman was the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world heading into their welterweight title fight at UFC 278.

Having shared the cage with Usman in the past, Edwards knew ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ wasn’t unstoppable and that the 35-year-old was possibly a victim of his own hype heading into the rematch.

Edwards reminded Usman and the rest of the world that ‘the belt belongs to nobody’ after flattening the latter with a head kick in the final minute of the fight to mark one of the greatest knockouts (and comebacks) in UFC history.

‘Rocky’ maintains that Usman was never P4P #1 despite what the rankings said and always believed he was the more skilled and well-rounded fighter.

“Like I said, I didn’t build him to be this pound-for-pound GOAT everyone says he is. I’ve said it all week, I don’t believe that he’s the pound-for-pound yet. You have to be better than just wrestling and boxing, you know? And I’m a mixed martial artist, I can do it all.”

“I took him down in the first round, never been took down before. So I broke the 100% record. Took him down, got the back, going for the choke, he did a good job defending the choke. After that for some reason my body just wasn’t reacting. I don’t know whether it’s the altitude or what it was. But even when I was back stage and I was watching other guys fighting, Luke and everyone else. Everyone was getting tired and gassing out. I didn’t understand what it was. But even on my worst night, I beat the pound-for-pound.”

Edwards beat Usman to become the second British fighter to win a UFC title after Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold to win the middleweight belt in a similar upset victory back in 2016 at UFC 199.

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Check out the opening odds for a potential trilogy bout between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards.

Kamaru Usman has opened as a big betting favorite over Leon Edwards should the UFC decide to book an immediate rematch following their welterweight title fight at UFC 278.

Usman was knocked out and lost his belt to Edwards in the UFC 278 main event at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena after ‘Rocky’ flattened him with a head kick in the final minute of the fight, tying the score 1-1.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was up 3-1 on the judges’ scorecards heading into the fifth round, with Edwards expected to lose a unanimous decision.

The fact that Edwards got the KO so late in the fight with everyone but his coaches expecting him to lose made for one of the most shocking and iconic knockouts in UFC history, with Edwards becoming only the second British fighter to win a UFC title.

Still, despite such an impressive feat, Edwards opens a +285 underdog in a potential trilogy fight, with BetOnline listing Usman as a -350 favorite.

Edwards would like his first title defense to be in the UK, with UFC president Dana White excited about the possibility of hosting an event at Wembley Stadium.

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A rundown of the biggest headlines and news from the world of competitive grappling.

It’s been a long time in the making, but the minds behind ONE Championship have just pulled the trigger on their submission grappling world titles. The promotion has been working hard to sign some of the greatest grapplers on the planet like Gordon Ryan, Mikey Musumeci, Tainan Dalpra, and many more. Now Musumeci will get the opportunity to become the first ONE champion as he faces Cleber Sousa for the inaugural Flyweight title.

He and Sousa share history together and have split both of their previous matches at black belt, with the record between them sitting at 1-1. This rubber match won’t take place until ONE on Amazon Video 2, but work is still going on in other divisions as well. Renato Canuto will be facing Tommy Langaker at ONE 160 and although no belt is on the line, the winner will be in prime position when matchmaking for the Lightweight title begins.

Injuries create new opportunities for ADCC 2022

As with any major tournament, injuries can often scupper plans for the athletes attending. With ADCC 2022 there will be almost a hundred competitors across seven divisions so naturally, changes will need to be made from time to time. When Jon ‘Thor’ Blank was forced out of the 88kg division, Pedro Marinho moved down in weight to replace him and a newcomer was given a huge opportunity at 99kg.

Luccas Lira Costa will be making his ADCC debut in a stacked division on relatively short notice, but it’ll be exciting to see what he can manage. Returning silver medallist Carina Santi was also forced to withdraw from the women’s over 60kg division and Elisabeth Clay has stepped in to replace her. Although Clay has been a dominant force on the IBJJF scene and is one of the top American prospects, this will also be her ADCC debut.

Aljamain Sterling gets controversial win at High Rollerz 18

High Rollerz is a promotion that has styled itself as an easygoing competitive grappling event with plenty of fun gimmicks throughout. At HR18, the promotion had a huge opportunity fall into their hands when UFC Bantamweight world champion Aljamain Sterling came to watch. He was eager to take a match on short notice and ended up competing against Damien Nitkin, who was actually in the middle of a tournament at the time.

Nitkin was happy to get the chance to compete against a UFC champion and he put up a good fight, but Sterling won the decision thanks to great guard-passing and solid top-pressure throughout. There was a controversial moment in the fight however where Sterling may have tapped to a toehold, and footage from an alternative angle appears to confirm it, but the match was allowed to continue on after Nitkin voluntarily released it.

Kayla Harrison earns spot in third PFL play-off final at PFL 9

The 2022 PFL season is almost over and PFL 9 saw four athletes book their place in the play-off final, putting them just one fight away from a million-dollar grand prize. While the PFL season has been full of surprises from start to finish, one fight in the women’s Lightweight division went exactly as expected. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Judoka Kayla Harrison continued her winning ways and her professional MMA record moved to 15-0.

Harrison hasn’t been in danger at any point in her career so far and had finished eleven of her opponents prior to this fight, with eight of them coming in the very first round. She stepped into the cage against Martina Jindrova and took her down almost immediately, demonstrating incredibly heavy top-pressure. From there Harrison secured an arm-triangle choke and forced her opponent to tap, putting her into the 2022 season final.

Full results for the event can be found here.

Quick Hits

• A BJJ black belt decided to demonstrate how important the art is for police officers after he took on and defeated two of them at once.
• BJJ black belt Giovanna Eburneo has chosen an unusual career-path as she has just signed with WWE as a professional wrestler.
• Footage surfaced of Hollywood star Tom Hardy competing in the blue belt division of a local tournament and coming away with gold.
• Mike Trihn, a BJJ black belt and former professional MMA fighter was able to use his skills to restrain an alligator that had made it’s way in front of his house.

Technique Corner

Bicep salicer from Spider-web Armbar

Five Guillotine variations

Large inside trip

Meme of the Week

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Leon Edwards dethroned Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 last night.

In the main event of last night’s UFC 278 Leon Edwards completed one of the most epic comebacks in MMA history. Edwards KO’d Kamaru Usman to win the UFC welterweight title in the fifth round, while losing to the now former champ on the scorecards.

The comeback trail for Edwards started back in 2015, when he dropped a decision to Usman. Since then neither man has lost. Usman was able to put together a string of victories that clinched him the title and lead to five defenses. Edwards beat all who was put in front of him, but suffered from injuries, fight cancellations and overall bad luck before finally getting—and taking—his shot at the title.

In his post-fight press conference UFC President Dana White spoke about the wild main event and what could come next for both competitors.

“I thought that Usman fought the perfect fight,” said White (ht MMA Fighting). “It was crazy, because I was listening to the commentary and [Joe] Rogan and [Jon] Anik and [Daniel Cormier] were dead on with everything they were saying on what Edwards needed to do and what he should be doing. As soon as they were saying it, he literally lands the head kick.”

“You think of everything that was on the line for Usman tonight, and Usman fought with absolute and total confidence all night,” White continued. “He fought the perfect fight. It might not be the most fan friendly style, but he was landing big shots to the body, big shots to the head, elbows. Couldn’t have fought a more perfect fight until the last minute.”

White talked up last night’s contest as a perfect example of what makes mixed martial arts a great spectator sport. White also said it served as an example to never count out a title challenger, especially one as skilled as Edwards.

“It’s how crazy this sport is. It’s what makes this sport the greatest sport in the world. That you can sit through four rounds and four minutes and that can happen in a fight. Anything’s possible in this sport. Every time we make a fight and it’s like ‘this is one-sided, lopsided’ — there are no lopsided, one-sided fights in this sport. Anything is possible. I said this week talking to you guys, the problem is people won’t give Leon enough credit and he’s a very dangerous opponent. Wow.

“We’re probably in a situation, there was a minute left in the fight, we probably had people getting up and walking out because it was looking like this was going to be a shutout for Usman and boom, a head kick. It’s what makes this sport so great, so exciting and why it’s so fun. You can never take it for granted and think that something’s over until it’s over.”

As far as what happens next, White is only thinking about one thing: Edwards vs. Usman 3.

“How do you not [do a trilogy]? Yeah [I want to do it in England],” White revealed. “I don’t think [Leon would] have to sit and wait anyway. He wouldn’t have to wait that long. He’d have to go back into camp and start training anyway.

“First of all, we’d have to have the date. I think we’re booked up into January now. There will be no waiting for him, even if it’s a rematch.”

Prior to last night Usman had been discussing the possibly of vacating his welterweight title and moving up in weight. He had claimed that he would try his luck at light heavyweight (skipping middleweight due to his friendship with champion Israel Adesanya).

However, now it seems Usman is likely to stick around at 170 lbs for at least one more fight.

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Kamaru Usman talks about losing his title.

Kamaru Usman looked to be a minute away from winning a decision and adding another dominant title defense to his decorated resume. Leon Edwards though, had other plans.

The Brit feinted and made Usman slip his left hand, perfectly setting him up and to lean into an incoming head kick. The shin connected cleanly to put Usman out cold, and Edwards became the new champion after completing one of the most memorable comebacks in UFC history.

After the knockout loss, Usman was naturally checked by medical staff and didn’t do any post-fight interviews. The now former pound-for-pound king eventually took to twitter to issue his first statements about the loss, making a vow to get back to the top.

The comeback KO loss was the first defeat for Usman in the UFC, after going 15-0 in the promotion. This also ends Usman’s incredible three-year reign at welterweight that saw him win six straight title fights.

Usman and Edwards are now 1-1 against each other.

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Join us today on Bloody Elbow for live results, discussion, round scoring, and play-by-play as UFC 278 from Salt Lake City, Utah.

Today’s main event will see Kamaru Usman trying to cement his place as the top P4P fighter in the world when he defends his welterweight title against the only guy with a winning streak almost as long as his, Leon Edwards. The co-main is a grudge match in the middleweight division, with former champ Luke Rockhold returning to the Octagon to take on top contender Paulo Costa. And on top of that, Jose Aldo will meet Merab Dvalishvili in what should be a 135-pound barnburner.

This post will cover the preliminary portion of the card. The featured bout of the prelims will see Alexander Romanov and Marcin Tybura face off in a heavyweight slugfest.

UFC 278 is a standard PPV. There are three early preliminary card fights, which should kick off around 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT. Those will air on big ESPN, ESPN+, and Fight Pass. Things will stay on ESPN/ESPN+ for four more fights at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and then we’ll go over to ESPN+ PPV at 10pm ET/7pm PT as per the norm.

Let’s go!

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The 2022 PFL playoffs are here!

Today (Aug. 20) at the Copper Box Arena in London, England we will see the conclusion of the PFL (Professional Fighter’s League) semifinals. It’s a straightforward deal where the semifinal winners face off against each other in November’s final, so there’s nothing else to really explain.

Headlining this card is none other than two-time PFL women’s lightweight champion Kayla Harrison, whose path to a threepeat continues with a semifinal showdown against Martina Jindrova. The winner of that fight will take on either Larissa Pacheco or Olena Kolesnyk. Meanwhile, UFC veteran Chris Wade and Brendan Loughnane collide in the co-main for the right to go to the featherweight final. Awaiting them will be one of Ryoji Kudo or Bubba Jenkins.

There are also prelims and postlims, with postlims focused on qualifying for the ‘PFL Challenger Series’ in Europe. The prelims begin at 1 PM ET on ESPN+ and followed by the main card at 2 PM ET on ESPN and ESPN+, capped off by the postlims at 5 PM ET on ESPN+. International viewers can find their outlet here.

Main Card (2 PM ET/11 AM PT on ESPN/ESPN+)

Kayla Harrison vs. Martina Jindrova

Chris Wade vs. Brendan Loughnane

Larissa Pacheco def. Olena Kolesnyk via TKO (punches) at 2:09 of Round 1

Bubba Jenkins def. Ryoji Kudo via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:49 of Round 1

Dakota Ditcheva def. Hassna Jaber via submission (strikes) at :58 of Round 1

Simeon Powell def. Joao Paulo Fagundes via TKO (leg kicks) at 1:56 of Round 2

Postlims PFL Europe Qualifiers (5 PM ET/2 PM PT on ESPN+)

Marcin Held vs. Myles Price

Louie Sutherland vs. Abraham Bably

Tayo Odunjo vs. Magnus Iverson

Ali Taleb vs. Darius Mafi

Preliminary Card (1 PM ET/10 AM PT on ESPN+)

Stuart Austin def. Sofiane Boukichou via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Alex Chizov def. Omar Hussein via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:12 of Round 2

Zebenzui Ruiz def. Raphael Uchegbu via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)

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The WBO, WBA, and IBF champion Oleksandr Usyk is favored over Anthony Joshua in today’s rematch.  

The WBO, WBA, and IBF champion, Oleksandr Usyk, will be defending his belts today (August 20th) in Saudi Arabia in a rematch with the man he took the titles from, Anthony Joshua. Let’s go see what the odds have to say about this.

Back in 2021, Anthony Joshua was holding the gold, and was a -250 betting favorite while his challenger, Oleksandr Usyk, was a +225 underdog. Usyk went on to upset Joshua by way of unanimous decision (117-112, 116-112, 115-113) to become the new unified heavyweight king.

Fast forward to present day, and the betting odds tell a very different story. The 19-0 undefeated Oleksandr is getting the rub from the oddsmakers, who have turned their backs on the twice blemished Anthony, who is now 24-2. Usyk is now listed as a -205 favorite, while Joshua is being offered up as a +160 underdog.

The prop bet regarding whether or not this rematch will end early almost mirrors the same line in their initial meeting. Despite going the distance last year, the odds for ‘Fight doesn’t go to decision’ is favored at -168, with a +132 comeback on the ‘Fight goes to decision’ option. What, if anything, will be different this time around?

Check out the betting odds for Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua 2, courtesy of DraftKings:

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