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The famed octagon was back at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas for today’s UFC Vegas 87 fight card.

The event was headlined by a heavyweight showdown between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and undefeated Shamil Gaziev.  Following the fights, the big winners will answer questions from the media during the post-fight press conference.  

UFC Vegas 87 Post-Fight Press Conference Video  

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Jorge Masvidal may be a polarizing figure in the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, having sparked feuds with the likes of Nate Diaz, Chael Sonnen, Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, among others, just to name some of his adversaries/enemies. However it’s hard to deny that the promotion he owns (and that bares his nickname) has done a consistently admirable job showcasing some of the biggest names from this world who are outside the confines of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Tonight (Sat., March 2, 2024), starting at 8 p.m. ET live from the Kia Center in Orlando, Fla., the seventh edition of Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA takes place … and the story is no different.

Former UFC Heavyweight champion, Junior dos Santos, and former UFC Middleweight contender, Alan Belcher, will duke it out for the promotion’s inaugural Heavyweight belt. For “JDS,” this has been a slow burn comeback since his fall from grace in UFC. To recap his journey, he took 1.5 years off after his last UFC loss at the hands of Cyril Gane in Dec. 2020. Few could argue with that break, as it was his third technical knockout loss that year. Finally, in 2022, he came back, only to suffer a shoulder injury to Yorgan de Castro and lose in his return (watch highlights). He finally got back into the win column in a rematch against the man who shot him to stardom, Fabricio Werdum.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Belcher, has had a truly remarkable combat sports run since he left UFC after suffering from eye problems during his match with Michael Bisping all the way back in 2013. Seven long years later, Belcher would finally start striking again, taking up boxing in both gloves and of the bareknuckle variety. He has gone a combined 11-0 in the past three years across the two boxing styles and one MMA match against Roy Nelson back in Nov. 2023.

An astonishing second-life track record of success that is rare in Heavyweight combat sports, regardless of the discipline.

In other bouts, we’ve got former UFC fighters galore, including the co-main between Alex Nicholson vs. Chase Sherman. We’ve got MMA OG’s in Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett, Anthony Njokuani and more!

The event will air live on KICK streaming beginning at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT.

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7 Quick Results:

265 lbs.: Junior dos Santos vs. Alan Belcher
265 lbs.: Alex Nicholson vs. Chase Sherman
145 lbs.: Joe Penafiel def. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett — TKO, 3:49, Rd. 3
170 lbs.: Jesse Ronson vs. Anthony Njokuani
155 lbs.: Mandel Nallo vs. TJ Brown
170 lbs.: Brandon Jenkins def. Tyler Hill — TKO, 2:12, Rd. 3
265 lbs.: Maurice Greene vs. Guto Inocente
145 lbs.: Anvar Boynazarov def. Marlon Gonzales — KO, 0:13, Rd. 1

Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA 7 Full Play-By-Play and Results:

Junior dos Santos vs. Alan Belcher for the Inaugural BKMMA Heavyweight belt:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Final result:

Alex Nicholson vs. Chase Sherman

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Final result:

Jesse Ronson vs. Anthony Njokuani

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Final result:

Anvar Boynazarov vs. Marlon Gonzales

Round 1: Left-right by Gonzales and Boynazarov responds with an ENORMOUS flying knee that sits Marlon down. Anvar is raining down punches and the ref can stop this any time now… there it is.

Final result: Anvar Boynazarov defeats Marlon Gonzales via flying knee and punches

Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett vs. Joe Penafiel

Round 1: Technical difficulties made me miss all of the first round. Thanks, Xfinity.

Round 2: Bennett circling away from Penafiel. Joe pops him with a hook and that puts Charles on his butt. He’s bloodied. Penafiel trying for some ground and pound, switches to a front choke at the end of the round, but Bennett saves to the bell.

10-9 Penafiel

Round 3: They trade right hands. Bennett goes for a takedown, gets stuffed on and winds up on bottom. Half guard for Penafiel. He’s advancing and Charles gives up the back to get away. Charles is scrambling well, but Penafiel maintains his balance on top. Bennett regains half guard. He’s getting beaten on now. It looks like Penafiel got a handful of hair for a second, but the ref doesn’t do anything and “Felony” continues to eat punishment. A little over a minute to go and the ref is looking close… he steps in and it’s over.

Final result: Joe Penafiel defeats Charles Bennett via ground & pound

For the latest bareknuckle-related news and notes click here.

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Jairzinho Rozenstruik capped off Saturday’s UFC Vegas 87 event at the APEX with a referee stoppage TKO victory after the fourth round against previously undefeated Shamil Gaziev. While that fight was the main event, the bout with the highest stakes in most people’s minds was the flyweight fight that saw Muhammad Mokaev defeat Alex Perez via unanimous decision. With flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja potentially needing an opponent for UFC 301, did Mokaev do enough to get him that shot?

MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Eric Jackman react to Rozenstruik’s big win and what should be next, if Mokaev’s performance warrants that championship opportunity, and if not, who could be the guy. Additionally, they discuss Umar Nurmagomedov’s win over a game Bekzat Almakhan and if a rebooking against Cory Sandhagen could be in play, Vinicius Oliveira’s knockout of the year contender, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 87 post-fight show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

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UFC veteran Tyson Pedro cited financial concerns as a motivating factor in his decision to retire from MMA.

On Saturday, Pedro came up short in his return to the Octagon, suffering a unanimous decision loss to Vitor Petrino as part of the promotion’s return to The APEX for UFC Vegas 87. Following the fight, Pedro laid down his gloves and made the official announcement.

“I didn’t want to take away from his win, obviously, I had a bit of a different plan going this way, so it wasn’t the best performance,” Pedro said. Thank you to all the fans, I wanted to say thank you very much to UFC for everything they’ve done on this journey, especially thanks to my team, anyone that’s helped me get to this stage of my martial arts career.

“It’s been amazing, but it’s always been my intention to show my daughter that as long as you work your ass off and grind towards what you love, you can do anything you can dream of, and I think my dreams have just changed at this point. So that’s it for me with UFC, thank you to all the fans, from the bottom of my heart, don’t think it’s goodbye it’s see you later. Until then, thanks, everyone” (Sporting News).

Tyson Pedro sheds light on his decision to retire

Appearing at the post-fight press event, the Aussie standout revealed that financial concerns are part of the reason why he decided to close the book on his career.

“It’s been on my mind a little bit lately,” Pedro said. “Mainly just being away from my daughter. I’ve been away for 12 months over the last two and a half years. That’s obviously my choice going over to New Zealand. I know that’s where I’m going to be the best mixed martial artist.

“You put in all the costs and I probably just can’t do it anymore. With all the (tax) deductions and the loss of the fight tonight, I’m probably going to have to rob someone in the car park. … Who’s got the most on them?”

Debuting for the promotion in 2016, Tyson Pedro went 6-5 inside the Octagon with four of his victories coming by way of knockout. His most notable wins came against Khalil Rountree Jr. and Paul Craig.

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This is the UFC Vegas 87 live blog for Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Shamil Gaziev, the heavyweight headliner for Saturday’s UFC event at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

Rozenstruik makes his 13th octagon appearance and looks to bounce back from a first-round submission loss to Jailton Almeida in the main event of UFC Charlotte this past May in his lone appearance of 2023. Prior to that, “Bigi Boi” knocked out Chris Daukaus in just 23 seconds at UFC 282 in December 2022.

Gaziev enters his first promotional main event in just his second UFC appearance. The 34-year-old is 12-0 as a pro with 11 finishes, and earned a contract on the Contender Series with a first-round submission win against Greg Velasco in September. In his octagon debut, Gaziev stopped Martin Buday in the second round via TKO at December’s UFC 296 event.

Check out the UFC Vegas 87 live blog below.

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