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Last night (Sat., Nov. 9, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home to UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 100. Despite the round numbers involved, UFC never intended for the 100th warehouse event to be a special show. The original fight card was perfectly typical by modern Apex standards, but then the card was ravaged by injuries. The co-main was canceled twice, and the rest of the card underwent significant adjustments as well. Despite all the upheaval, there still ended up being a solid amount of fun fights and quick finishes throughout the evening.

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 100’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Prates Exceeds The Hype

Carlos Prates was downright clinical in his dissection of Neil Magny. Magny deserves some props for fighting aggressively and blending his combos into clinch work into takedowns, but at no point did the Brazilian Muay Thai expert appear bothered. There was a distinct moment midway through the first where Prates shoved Magny off him, zoned in, and decided to knock out his opponent.

The fight didn’t last another two minutes.

It sure feels like Prates has ungodly power. His glancing blows floored Magny. Even the fight-finishing left hand seemed to just barely touch the temple. Magny has stood in there with plenty of hard-hitters, but it took a prime Santiago Ponzinibbio five rounds to actually put him out cold, let alone face-plant him in the first.

Prates is legit! If Jack Della Maddalena is willing to accept the callout, that’s one of the absolute best match ups possible at 170-pounds.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

RDR Strangles GM3 … BUT!

Reinier de Ridder vs. Gerald Meerschaert was a fun fight. The first round was a very classic instance of two BJJ dudes deciding to slug it out. De Ridder has a seriously awkward style of bizarro Dutch kickboxing, in which his utter lack of any defensive movement saw him touched up for most of the round despite a sharp jab. Out of nowhere, he finished the round by badly flooring “GM3” with a lovely series of strikes, evening up the score.

The rest of the fight was an active grappling match, and it ended with a de Ridder submission. On paper, that sounds like a really strong debut, one that inspires confidence in de Ridder’s chances moving forward. Unfortunately for the former One double champ, I’m not so sure that’s the case.

De Ridder made a lot of errors here. He’s worryingly hittable, and his wrestling doesn’t appear calibrated to the UFC cage. He was attempting bad takedowns and falling off top position too often, and “GM3” actually looked like the faster man in round one. How often does that happen?!?

“The Dutch Knight” will surely put on more fun fights, but I don’t think anyone is expecting a run up the ranks after this debut.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

A Standout Middleweight Debut

Mansur Abdul-Malik might be a name to remember moving forward.

At 27 years of age, Abdul-Malik made his UFC debut last night at just 6-0, having beaten absolutely nobody of note in his regional career. That didn’t stop him from absolutely trucking the fairly experienced and plenty competent Dusko Todorovic, however. The power and athleticism differential was absolutely stark. It was immediately clear that Todorovic could not afford to trade with his opponent at all.

Todorovic couldn’t get anything going. The first time he tried to press forward, he got dropped! He actually scored a decent position while attacking a leg lock, but Abdul-Malik casually stepped over the top and retained top position anyway, ignoring his foe’s good work all while slamming home audible ground strikes. When Todorovic scrambled back to his feet, a massive knee floored him a second time in short fashion.

That’s a hell of a first impression.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Short-Notice Smackdown

Debuting on short-notice against Elizeu Zaleski is a really tall task.

Ask Benoit Saint-Denis! The Lightweight contender’s introduction to UFC competition was an absolute pummeling at the hands, feet, and knees of Zaleski … and Saint-Denis has since proven to be quite a talent! The jury is still out on Zachary Scroggin’s ceiling, but his undefeated record disappeared in a flash as soon as Zaleski unleashed a flurry along the fence.

While it’s a hard way to join the UFC roster, at least Scroggin should get a more reasonable match up next. As for Zaleski, he did his job well, and the slugfest vs. Nicholas Dalby should be rebooked ASAP!

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Additional Thoughts

• Charles Radtke defeats Mathew Semelsberger via first-round knockout: This fight lasted just a few exchanges, which is what happens when a sharp boxer with knockout power takes on a fading brawler who only knows how to trade. Radtke walked Semelsberger into the fence immediately and dinged him with his trademark left hook. Immediately, Semelsberger was hurt, and Radtke followed up with combos until Semelsberger fell to the floor, face-first.
• Da’Mon Blackshear defeats Cody Stamann via first-round rear naked choke (highlights): I think this is the best Blackshear has looked in his six-fight UFC career. Historically, Blackshear is best known for his chain wrestling and quality top game, but it was his stand up that really shined here. Stamann entered with his back against the wall and fought with aggression — he looked quite sharp for a moment actually! — but Blackshear’s size advantage was massive. He was looking to time knees from the first bell, and a jump knee knifed through the guard about midway through the round. A right hand follow up floored Stamann, and Blackshear aggressively attacked the neck until a strangle opened up.
• Tresean Gore defeats Antonio Trocoli via first-round guillotine (highlights): Gore’s guillotine is downright nasty. This fight barely lasted a minute, and Gore won just about every second with an early powerful takedown. When Trocoli worked back to his feet and tried to return the favor, Gore showed off great submission chaining by using a standard guillotine threat to adjust to a power guillotine. He forced the strangle standing, his second standing guillotine in a row! Just 4-2 as a professional after the win, Gore has some clear potential if he can compete consistently into 2025.
• Melissa Mullins defeats Klaudia Sygula via second-round knockout (highlights): Sygula entered this fight as a relatively short-notice replacement who hadn’t fought in 14 months. The two threw down at a competitive clip for a couple minutes, but as soon as Mullins scored a takedown, the tone shifted dramatically. She immediately began doing real damage, and when the bell saved Sygula, Mullins went right back to the wrestling in round two to force a stoppage.

For complete UFC Vegas 100 results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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Reinier de Ridder vs. Gerald Meerschaert squared off in a Middleweight contest earlier tonight (Sat. Nov. 9, 2024) at UFC Vegas 100 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

De Ridder opened the fight with kicks, poking at “GM3” from distance. Meerschaert closed distance and cracked him with a left, prompting a double leg takedown from the Dutch grappler. Meerschaert quickly scrambled back to his feet, and the kickboxing match resumed. Meerschaert definitely held the boxing edge, cracking his foe with a few more punches. De Ridder did show off a sharp, snappy jab when he threw it, but his defense involved moving straight backwards. Towards the end of the round, de Ridder cracked Meerschaert with a long 1-2, and the momentum shifted drastically. Suddenly, it was “The Dutch Knight” surging forward, stinging Meerschaert with another elbow, then flooring him with a left right before the bell.

As few expected, the two jiu-jitsu guys were throwing down!

De Ridder went back to his default game plan early in the second, scoring a smooth trip takedown. Just as de Ridder seemed to be settling into control, “GM3” avoided a choke, returned to his feet, and landed in top position after a failed throw from de Ridder! De Ridder largely accepted bottom position for a couple minutes then wrestled his way back to top position. The two finished the round trading submission attempts, leaving everything up for grabs in round three.

The two clinched up almost immediately, and de Ridder scored the first takedown. “GM3” scrambled hard for a moment but still ended up stuck on bottom, and de Ridder moved into mount. Suddenly, an arm triangle was locked up, and Meerschaert was forced to tap! After a lot of really competitive scrapping, the contest was over in an instant.

This was a strange fight. Meerschaert won a lot of the bout, but he seemed to run out of gas in the third. As soon as de Ridder was able to gain a dominant position and really establish his control, the finish came quickly. Still, submitting Meerschaert is a solid feather in de Ridder’s cap. I wouldn’t bet on him fighting for the title any time soon, but the Dutch athlete appears to be here to stay!

Result: De Ridder defeats Meerschaert via third-round submission

For complete UFC Vegas 100 results and play-by-play, click HERE!

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T.J. Dillashaw was once considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA), but now the former UFC bantamweight champion can’t even lift his arm above his shoulder.

It’s no secret that injuries have prevented Dillashaw from coming back to fighting. The most difficult ailment that Dillashaw has had to deal with has been a serious issue with his shoulder. In fact, his last appearance against Aljamain Sterling for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 280 just over two years ago was cut short by a dislocated shoulder. It popped out early into the fight and allowed Sterling to finish Dillashaw with ground-and-pound in the second round.

Earlier this year, Dillashaw revealed that his retirement from fighting is “depressing” and that he doesn’t know if his shoulder is “ever going to be the same again.” The now 38-year-old would probably still be competing in the UFC’s bantamweight division if he could train and fight without issue, but his shoulder is an absolute mess.

Fight fans may not have known the severity of Dillashaw’s shoulder injury until earlier this week when the former UFC champion tried lifting his arm above his head. His shoulder wouldn’t budge. It was an eye-opening moment for one of the better fighters of the past 10 years.

Check it out below:

“It doesn’t hurt. It just doesn’t work,” said Dillashaw.

Unless something changes quickly fight fans will never be able to see Dillashaw compete again. That goes for any other combat sport outside of MMA, including grappling and bare knuckle boxing. The former UFC champion can’t do much of anything with his left arm these days.

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Undefeated boxing prospect Austin DeAnda captured a key unanimous decision win over DeAundre Pettus last night (Fri., Nov. 8, 2024) at “Davis vs. Lemos” from inside Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va., but he had to chop a lump of his hair off to get it done.

Friday’s card was a pretty good one so it was a great chance for DeAnda to extend his unbeaten streak to 16-0 and gain more fans in the process. DeAnda was the betting favorite to take care of business in front of a hometown crowd, but not everything went according to plan for the 21-year-old fighter.

Midway through the fight, DeAnda was in his corner getting advice from his coaches. There seemed to be a brief discussion and then all of a sudden someone started cutting DeAnda’s hair off. It was getting in the way during some of the exchanges, but it’s very rare to see a boxer get a haircut while on the stool in the middle of a fight. The chopped off hair was tossed into the ringside water bucket and the bout went on.

Check out the weird moment in the above video player.

Luckily, DeAnda’s mid-fight haircut paid off. The undefeated prospect went eight full rounds against Pettus and ended up walking away with the unanimous decision win. It was the third victory of 2024 for DeAnda while ending a two-fight win streak for Pettus. The only negative for DeAnda is the fact that he has to grow his hair back out after losing more than half of it on Friday night.

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

It’s been a rough week for Cody Garbrandt. Just a few days removed from his co-main event slot versus Miles Johns at UFC Vegas 100, “No Love” was forced to withdraw with an undisclosed issue. It’s a tough way to end the year, as Garbrandt was aiming to return to the win column after a competitive loss to Deiveson Figueiredo back at UFC 300 (watch here).

There was a time when Garbrandt was on the absolute top of the world. Back in 2015, Garbrandt was an undefeated UFC champion at just 25 years of age. Based on the way he handled Dominick Cruz to capture gold, he looked destined to reign over the Bantamweights for a while. Instead, it was former champion TJ Dillashaw who stopped him in consecutive fights, ending Garbrandt’s time at the top.

On a recent episode of The Casuals MMA, Dillashaw reflected on his rivalry with Garbrandt and also revealed that UFC invested a massive amount of promotion and money into turning “No Love” into the “next Conor McGregor.”

“He had a lot of pressure on him too,” Dillashaw said of Garbrandt. “He had an amazing fight against Cruz. I’ve never seen Cody Garbrandt be that good. His style is perfect for Cruz. He’s by far the fastest human being I’ve ever trained with when it comes to reaction times and how quick he is. He’s got great wrestling, and he’s got power in his hands, so it was a perfect match up for him.

“Coming off that, UFC was like ‘Hey, this is our next big horse, let’s put some money into him.’ So they market the s—t out of him, put him in a bunch of commercials, got some celebrities behind him. From what I was told, they put like $ 6 million into marketing him before our fight, gave us The Ultimate Fighter. So he went to massive stardom — way bigger than me — fast. They wanted him to be the next Conor McGregor, like run your mouth. I wouldn’t say he was the sharpest tool in the shed to be able to do something like that, so he just like said s—t, and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Whenever Garbrandt does return, he’ll on the final fight of his current UFC contract. Garbrandt is still just 33 years of age, so it’ll be very interesting to see whether or not UFC continues invest in “No Love.”

Insomnia

Did Caio Machado probably deserve the nod against Brendson Ribeiro? Sure. Are either good enough to be UFC fighters? Absolutely not.

I don’t love hearing about fighters and neck surgeries. All the best to Roosevelt Roberts in recovery!

Bo Nickal vs. Shara Magomedov sounds very goofy, and I’m here for that.

Marlon Vera’s excellent cardio has a simple explanation: road work!

It’s rare that an excuse (for a win no less) is revealed five years later.

We need more big MMA fighters doing strongman stuff like bending frying pans.

Petr Yan showing off his footwork:

Think Gable Steveson actually makes the switch?

Slips, rips, and KO clips

UFC Vegas 100 being a complete disaster is only appropriate, but take a moment to remember better times.

A good example of sitting up into the arm-in guillotine:

Body shots on a wounded opponent are almost always a good idea.

Random Land

Pastry is life.

Midnight Music: I love three versions of this song. Here’s the least known one:

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Dana White’s massive combat experiment at UFC 306 from inside The Sphere was not only a success for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but the once-in-a-lifetime event helped fuel a record-setting month for Las Vegas sportsbooks.

This past September, sportsbooks across Nevada ended up winning a whopping $ 80.9 million (per ESPN). This is the most ever in a single month in the history of the state. That’s saying a lot considering Las Vegas is the sports betting capital of the world. Needless to say, the sportsbooks and casinos were happy to see the cash rolling in.

While a large majority of that money comes from the opening weeks of the NFL’s regular season there was about $ 10.4 million calculated under an “Other” category, which consists of soccer, boxing, MMA, auto racing, golf and tennis all lumped into one. Fortunately for bookmakers across the state, September featured a Canelo Alvarez boxing match and UFC 306’s legendary event from inside The Sphere.

According to Derek Stevens, the owner of Circa Sports, UFC 306 was a large contributor to the $ 10 million in winnings. What made things even more profitable for the sportsbooks is the fact that the pay-per-view (PPV) card featured an upset in the main event, which was Merab Dvalishvili outlasting Sean O’Malley to win the undisputed UFC bantamweight championship.

“The volume on that day was tremendous,” said Stevens. “That was the biggest weekend of the whole month.”

While UFC 306 was an overall success for the promotion it didn’t quite bring in the high dollar amount that White had expected. In fact, tickets weren’t selling as fast as they should have and were drastically slashed. This resulted in White reducing the gate for UFC 306 from $ 25-$ 27 million all the way down to $ 21 million (which still set the company record). Keep in mind, it cost UFC around $ 20 million to stage the event in the first place.

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How many times can a card lose its co-main event? If we’re talking about UFC Vegas 100, the answer is two.

UFC Vegas 100 has lost another fight, this time the co-main event just moments after both fighters stepped onto the scales.

UFC Fight Night: Magny vs. Prates goes down this Sat. Nov. 9 from Las Vegas, Nevada. Both Neil Magny and Carlos Prates made weight for their welterweight showdown, and so did co-main fighters Ricky Turcios and Benardo Sopaj. But moments before faceoffs for the event were set to go down, UFC officials made an announcement: Turcios was out due to an undisclosed ‘medical emergency.’

This is the fourth fight to be changed leading into the 100th Apex event. Cody Garbrandt vs. Miles Johns was cancelled outright due to a Garbrandt issue, with Johns being rescheduled for UFC Tampa against Felipe Lima. Nicolas Dalby was forced out of his bout with Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos, who now faces Zach Scroggin. And Melissa Mullins’ original opponent Montserrat Rendon was replaced by Klaudia Sygula.

Four fights isn’t a lot when it comes to card changes, but it’s interesting that this is the second co-main event for this card that has been scrapped, along with the ‘featured prelim’ of Dalby vs. Dos Santos. Losing Garbrandt, Dalby, and now Turcios is rough for those who planned on staying home Saturday night to watch the centennial Apex event.

A middleweight bout between Gerald Meerschaert and former ONE double champion Reinier de Ridder has been moved up into the new co-main slot.

We’ll keep you informed of any more last minute changes to UFC Vegas 100 as they happen.

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Ngannou coach Eric Nicksick knows how he’d get ‘The Predator’ to fight Jon Jones, which is why he’s so bummed out the match-up may never happen.

Francis Ngannou is coming off a quick first round knockout over Renan Ferreira in his PFL debut, but don’t expect him to defend his new PFL heavyweight title in the coming months. According to his longtime coach Eric Nicksick, it’s slim pickings as far as viable opponents go in the MMA scene right now.

“I really think the options out there for him are bigger in boxing right now,” he told Kevin Iole in a new interview. “I don’t really know [who in] the heavyweight landscape of free agents or guys in the PFL that could deliver at the moment. I think Renan [Ferreira] was the guy that we thought was gonna be the the biggest name, and then who was gonna be available free agency wise?”

“We saw Derrick Lewis was gonna hit the free agent market. There was a couple names that might have been available. But right now, I think boxing to me might be the best avenue for him as far as name value goes, and of course making that money.”

Derrick Lewis was a free agent for all of one week before re-signing with the UFC, and he recently thanked Ngannou for helping him get a significant pay bump to stay. You gotta get real weird now to find anything compelling for “The Predator” in PFL — a two-sport, two-fight deal with Deontay Wilder has been floated but involves so many moving parts it seems unlikely at this point.

The obvious pick from fans would be a showdown with UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but UFC CEO Dana White has straight-up declared he’ll never do business with Ngannou again. Regardless, Nicksick shared his gameplan for Ngannou if that fight did come together.

“I think you have to put Jon on his back foot,” he said. “You have to put pressure on him. You have to put him up against the corner post, and you can’t get in a technical fight with Jon. You couldn’t allow him to dictate the hand play, where he starts to occupy your hands. That’s a slow pace type of fight where Jon is very technical there, and he starts to pick you apart with elbows and the clinch and the knees and all the things that he does so well.”

“For me, I thought, ‘Make it an ugly fight. Don’t make a technical fight.’ You’re gonna have to make this grimy and try to get out of there. Try to get out of there in the first two, three rounds. I think the longer a fight would have gone between Jon and Francis, it would have favored more Jon. If we put a game plan on him, we’re gonna have to put the pace on him.”

As for how he feels about the low likelihood the two will ever face off, Nicksick admitted he and the whole team were bummed about it.

“Highly disappointed,” he said. “Because we’re all competitors, and it’s about legacy. It’s about putting your best athlete, your best skill set, up against arguably the best to ever do it in Jon Jones. That’s the thing that will bother us, and it bothers me as a coach. I wanted to have that opportunity to try to game plan against who I feel is the best pound-for-pound to ever do it.”

“Just to be able to have that shot, that type of legacy, I think that’s one thing that will always bother Francis.”

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Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Mike Tyson is just a few days away from his return to professional boxing opposite “Problem Child” Jake Paul. The match is set to air live on Netflix next Friday, November 15th. The bout was originally supposed to go down back in July, but a medical emergency aboard an airplane forced the 58-year-old boxer to withdraw. Bare knuckle boxing star Mike Perry filled in for him and was unceremoniously pummeled by Paul.

The withdrawal was blamed on an ulcer, but there’ve been relatively few details revealed. Paul adamant that there’s no need for a back up opponent, yet a lot of people are legitimately concerned for Tyson’s health and longevity stepping back into the ring at his age.

The recent episode of “Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson” isn’t going to alleviate those concerns. Tyson revealed more details about his ulcer issue, and they’re downright grisly.

“I went to the bathroom and I threw up blood,” Tyson explained (via USAToday). “The next thing I know I’m on the floor. I was defecating tar.’’

According to Tyson, he was suffering from a 2.5 inch bleeding ulcer. In the process of its removal, “Iron” also revealed that he lost an astonishing 26 pounds. Furthermore, Tyson explained that his conversation with the doctor revealed just how dangerous of a situation his ulcer emergency had become.

“I asked the doctor, ‘Am I going to die?’“ Tyson continued. “And she didn’t say no. She said we have options, though. That’s when I got nervous.”

Since July, there’s been no reported health issues for Tyson’s training camp. Hopefully, the legendary boxer is healthy and ready to compete, because his much younger opponent is surely aiming for another knockout.

Insomnia

I don’t know how well it works out for him, but Kamaru Usman taking on Khamzat and Shavkat on short-notice back-to-back would be all-time levels of badass.

Jiri Prochazka continues his world tour in Mexico:

Got ‘em!

I always appreciate a fighter who can laugh at a tough loss. It’s either that or cry!

Michael Johnson is definitely way better than Ottman Azaitar, but will he win? That’ll be up in the air until the literal last second.

Every fighter who weaponizes their cardio should be looking to Max Holloway for liver-destroying inspiration.

UFC Cameraman doesn’t look like a bad gig!

Slips, rips, and KO clips

I did not expect the man who starts the clip by running away to finish with a violent combo.

How does this happen?

You can’t let this happen period, but definitely don’t let it happen in a situation where punches and elbows are allowed.

Random Land

Hold my beer.

Midnight Music: Folk, 1970

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.

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Sorry, Tom Aspinall, you’re not getting “Bones.”

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Jon Jones makes his long-awaited return to the octagon at UFC 309 next weekend (Sat., Nov. 16, 2024) against former Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic from inside the most iconic arena in the world, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

While Jones has Miocic in front of him next week, it seems like the entire mixed martial arts (MMA) world wants to know if “Bones” will fight the current interim Heavyweight champion, Aspinall.

Well, we finally have an answer (that everyone already knew): Probably not.

“More than likely not,” Jones told Kevin Iole when asked if he would fight Aspinall if victorious at UFC 309. “I feel like Tom Aspinall is, I don’t want to say nobody, but he just hasn’t proven anything. He hasn’t done anything. I understand he won his belt against Sergei [Pavlovich], and Sergei just got slaughtered by someone else, so it’s like, I’m not here to gamble someone else making a name off of me. I’m here to compete against the guys where when we look back, you know, 10 years from now, you’ll be like, ‘Jon Jones fought this guy and that guy, this legend, and that champion and this champion.”

Aspinall has indeed proven himself against half of the current Top 10 Heavyweights. In fact, he has finished three of the top five fighters in the 265 lb division, with Ciryl Gane being the only one he hasn’t faced yet.

If Jones does continue to fight after UFC 309 instead of retiring, the current UFC Light Heavyweight champion is the only fighter who interests him.

“If there were to be a fight of a guy that’s still on our UFC roster, that would be not only financially worth it but also legacy worth it- it would be Alex Pereira,” Jones said. “We’re both 37 years old. Right now, I weigh about 235. I’m an incredibly light Heavyweight. I think Pereira walks around at 240. I think that fight would go much farther on my legacy than a young man who’s cool today and may be gone tomorrow.

A fight between Jones and Alex Pereira would undoubtedly be absolutely massive, especially for the casual audience, but a fight with Aspinall would be equally as big—if promoted correctly.

It looks like poor Aspinall will miss fighting the best fighter ever.

Bummer.

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