Themba Gorimbo only needed 32 seconds to get his first UFC finish.
Gorimbo faced Pete Rodriguez in a welterweight preliminary bout at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 85 event at the APEX. As Rodriguez was throwing a left hand, Gorimbo countered with a super fast right hand over the top that echoed throughout the building and dropped his opponent. Gorimbo followed up with some ground-and-pound before the fight was waved off via TKO in the opening frame.
Check out video of the finish below.
Themba Gorimbo delivered on his promise of a first-round KO #UFCVegas85
(via @espnmma) pic.twitter.com/N7NcsbGkxG
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) February 3, 2024
It was also revealed by the commentary team that Gorimbo envisioned a first-round knockout, and he certainly delivered with his first finish in nearly three years.
Following the victory, Gorimbo shouted out Dwayne Johnson, better known as “The Rock,” who has formed a relationship with the UFC welterweight, buying him a home in Florida and offering a sponsorship deal through Johnson’s ZOA Energy company. Gorimbo then predicted he would become welterweight champion by the end of the year.
Rodriguez is now 1-2 in the UFC with a pair of first-round stoppage losses, with his lone win coming via knockout against Mike Jackson.
The first of four UFC events this month kicks off at 4 p.m. ET on Feb. 3 from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The UFC Vegas 85 live results begin at 4 p.m. ET on MMAWeekly.com.
The event is headlined by a middleweight bout between ninth-ranked Roman Dolidze (12-2) and eleventh-ranked Nassourdine Imavov (12-4, 1 NC). Dolidze had a four-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing losing to Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision last March. Imavov had a rough 2023, losing to Sean Strickland and having a no contest against Chris Curtis after an accidental clash of heads in his last fight.
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Card Info
Airing on ESPN+ on Saturday 02.03.2024
Main Card @ 7PM ET
Division
Fighters
Middleweight
Roman Dolidze vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Lightweight
Renato Moicano vs. Drew Dober
Welterweight
Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov
Flyweight
Viviane Araujo vs. Natália Silva
Middleweight
Aliaskhab Khizriev vs. Makhmud Muradov
Welterweight
Gilbert Urbina vs. Charles Radtke
Undercard @ 4PM ET
Division
Fighters
Strawweight
Molly McCann vs. Diana Belbiţă
Flyweight
Charles Johnson vs. Azat Maksum
Welterweight
Themba Gorimbo vs. Pete Rodriguez
Featherweight
Blake Bilder vs. Jeong Yeong Lee
Flyweight
Julija Stoliarenko vs. Luana Carolina
Lightweight
Marquel Mederos vs. Landon Quiñones
Heavyweight
Thomas Petersen vs. Jamal Pogues
Fight card order and start times may be inaccurate.
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Natalia Silva | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Natalia Silva expects her teammate Paulo Costa to score a statement win in his return fight against Robert Whittaker. “Borrachinha” meets the former champion on Feb. 17 in the co-main event of UFC 298 in Anaheim, Calif., and Silva sees Costa scoring his first knockout finish since a 2018 drubbing of Uriah Hall.
“If I were going to put my money on it,” Silva said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast, “I believe in a victory by knockout.”
Silva, who competes this Saturday opposite fellow Brazilian flyweight Viviane Araujo at UFC Vegas 85, is looking forward to Costa’s return after multiple fight cancellations.
Costa has only competed twice in the UFC since challenging Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title in Abu Dhabi back in September 2020, losing to Marvin Vettori in a catchweight contest before rebounding with a decision win over Luke Rockhold, the latter of which took place more than 17 months ago.
“Everybody is anxious to see him back,” Silva said. “Paulo is a very strong athlete and always puts on good fights, so we’re always expecting the best. I’m rooting for him, and looking forward to seeing him back. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury last time and couldn’t fight.”
Costa was slated to face bitter rival Khamzat Chimaev in October 2023 but had to withdraw from UFC 294 just days before the Abu Dhabi event due to an elbow infection.
“He was super excited for that fight so it was a very difficult moment for him,” Silva said. “He really wanted that fight. In fact, he was still willing to fight [despite the injury], but now he’s 100 percent again. I believe it’s going to be an incredible fight.”
Meanwhile, Silva looks for her fifth octagon victory when she meets Araujo on Saturday. Silva has won four straight over a span of 14 months, with finishes of Tereza Bleda and Victoria Leonardo, and defeated Andrea Lee via decision in her most recent appearance.
“[This fight] symbolizes another step toward my goal of becoming champion,” Silva said. “Viviane is a super tough athlete and I’m happy to be able to do this fight. I’ve trained so hard because I know it’s going to be a tough fight. This victory gets me closer to my goal, so it’s another step for me. I know it’s going to be a tough fight, but I’m prepared for it.”
Silva declined to predict how she gets the job done, but isn’t taking anything for granted against an opponent like Araujo, who has lost three of her past five UFC bouts.
“When we go to a fight, everything we’ve done stays in the past,” Silva said. “All your wins, all your losses. We’re 0-0 in there, it’s a new game. I’ve trained and gave my all to win. If she’s under pressure or not, I’m not thinking about that. I’m going there to fight, to show the same Natalia Silva that fights with all her heart for the victory.”
On Saturday, it was revealed that Fury vs. Usyk has been rescheduled for May 18th in Saudi Arabia, per Ariel Helwani. If one of the boxers pulls out of the fight again the other gets $ 10 million guaranteed.
Fury-Usyk is now RESCHEDULED to May 18th, still going to be in Saudi Arabia
if someone pulls out of this fight, the other will be given a GUARANTEED $ 10 million
via Turki Alalshikh with Ariel Helwani pic.twitter.com/nEdZR33NQ8
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) February 3, 2024
—- END OF UPDATE —-
Oleksandr Usyk and his team are not happy about Tyson Fury’s recent withdrawal from their previously scheduled heavyweight title fight later this month. In turn, Usyk’s promoter is calling for “Gypsy King” to be stripped of his heavyweight crown and become a “champion in recess.”
On Friday, news surfaced that Fury suffered a nasty cut in sparring and would be forced to withdraw from his long-awaited clash with Usyk on Feb. 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A few hours later, video footage leaked that showed the exact moment Fury was cut in training. It was pretty gnarly and a legitimate reason for the towering English champion to pull out of the fight.
As you could imagine, Usyk and his team were not happy with Fury’s accident in training. Both sides have been trying to book this fight for nearly two years and it was expected to be the biggest boxing match of 2024. Unfortunately, Usyk will now have to sit back and wait for Fury to heal his cut and get back into camp.
On Saturday, Usyk’s promoter, Alex Krassyuk, spoke out and urged for Fury to be stripped of his WBC heavyweight title in light of his injury (shown below). Krassyuk wants Fury to become a “champion in recess” so Usyk can fight someone else for the undisputed heavyweight crown of boxing.
Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk has called for Tyson Fury to be stripped or vacate his WBC heavyweight world title and become a ‘champion in recess’ so Usyk can fight someone else to achieve his undisputed goal.
— Michael Benson (@MichaelBensonn) February 3, 2024
“Oleksandr Usyk’s promoter Alex Krassyuk has called for Tyson Fury to be stripped or vacate his WBC heavyweight world title and become a ‘champion in recess’ so Usyk can fight someone else to achieve his undisputed goal.”
Remember, Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua are set to fight this coming March in a massive heavyweight boxing match. If Fury is not healed and prepared to reschedule his fight with Usyk in short time then the winner of Ngannou vs. Joshua could very well slide in to fight the Ukrainian champion
The highly anticipated heavyweight title unifier between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk has a new date.
During a special breaking news edition of The MMA Hour, Saudi Arabia royal adviser – and Fury vs. Usyk promoter – Turki Alalshikh announced the fight will now take place on May 18. As an incentive, Alalshikh said if either fighter withdraws from the date, they will forfeit $ 10 million of their purse for the fight.
Both Fury and Usyk appeared on the special show and agreed to the new date.
The fight’s location remains the same, with Fury and Usyk set to clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Alalshikh said the Feb. 17 event planned to host the heavyweight fight will not take place.
The bout will crown the undisputed heavyweight champion. Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles, while Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs) holds the WBC title.
The fight originally was scheduled for Feb. 17, but Fury suffered a bad cut in training and was forced to withdraw. Video released after the news appeared to show Fury cut by an elbow while sparring in the ring.
“Nothing much anyone can do about a cut in sparring – s*** happens,” Fury said on Saturday of his injury, which he added required 11 stitches to close at a hospital. “I’ve never had one before – first time for everything.”
Alalshikh added he has a “special camera” in Fury’s camp to observe his training and verified the champ’s injury. Usyk said he “just smiled” at the news and continued to train. Usy’s manager, Eglis Klimas, wasn’t so convinced.
“Maybe when you want to get cut, you’re going to get cut.” Klimas said. “Because he didn’t want to fight with Usyk. He’s scared.”
“Why would I not want to fight for the biggest payday of my life, and put 10 weeks into a training camp,” Fury fired back. “Why? Why would I not want to fight?”
“That’s why you didn’t want to fight him last time,” replied Klimas.
“[Usyk] pulled out last time,” Fury spat. “You’re a piece of s*** who’s never had a fight in his life, and you’re calling me a coward, you rat bastard.”
Early on, there was talk that Usyk could remain on the Feb. 17 card and face mandatory challenger Filip Hrgovic. But Saudi Arabia royal adviser Turki Alalshikh later announced Fury vs. Usyk “will be rescheduled at a later date and tickets will be refunded to the public.” Alalshikh on Saturday said Hrgovic will have an opportunity to fight on the March 8 fight card.
Fury’s previous opponent, former UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, quickly reacted to the news by proposing his March 8 fight with Anthony Joshua be for the unified title.
Renato Moicano is not amused by Michael Chandler’s desperate attempts to score a fight with Irish megastar Conor McGregor.
On Saturday (February 3), Moicano will return to the Octagon for a co-main event clash with lightweight knockout artist Drew Dober at UFC Vegas 85. Moicano, who sits as the No. 13 ranked fighter at 155, often discusses the goings on in the division via his ‘Money’ Moicano YouTube channel. One of the fights that he finds himself regularly referencing is the on-again-off-again showdown between Conor McGregor and former Bellator MMA champion ‘Iron’ Michael Chandler.
First announced in early 2023, McGregor and Chandler have been jawing back and forth for a full year. They even went toe-to-toe as coaches on the last edition of The Ultimate Fighter. Yet here we are still waiting for an official announcement.
Moicano is by no means a fan of either fighter, but Chandler’s non-stop “begging” has been nothing short of cringeworthy in the eyes of the Brazilian.
“Michael Chandler is so desperate to get this fight,” Moicano told MMA Fighting. “He’s almost begging. He’s almost on his knees, ‘McGregor fight me!’ I just think that’s hilarious.
“We don’t know if that fight’s going to happen. McGregor is full crazy nowadays. He’s making videos eating food and he looks drunk or on drugs or something, I don’t know. But I like McGregor, to be honest with you. I think he’s funny. I think he’s entertaining. Michael Chandler is just trying to get the fight and it’s kind of lame, if you ask me. It is what it is” (h/t MMA Mania).
Renato Moicano Would Love the chance to fight Conor McGregor
Moicano has fought some very big names during his decade-long run with the promotion. Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo, The Korean Zombie, Rafael Fiziev, and Rafael dos Anjos to name a few. He would admittedly love the opportunity to add Conor McGregor’s name to his resume, but he refuses to get down “on his knees” like Chandler.
“Chandler is saying, ‘Yes, yes, of course!’ On his knees all the time,” Moicano said. “[Chandler says,] ‘OK, I can beat you in any fight, I want you at your best version.’ F*ck you, brother. You just want to fight him. It’s fair game. Everyone wants to fight McGregor. If they offered me the fight, of course I would want to fight McGregor. He’s probably the biggest name in MMA and probably of all-time. Everybody knows McGregor.
“But at the same time, I think if Chandler approaches this differently, trying to trash talk, that would be even better. That’s the fight to make. They’re going to make the fight. There’s no other fight for McGregor. Right now, there is no other fight that makes sense and still McGregor tries to play him and he says OK. No, talk trash, talk sh*t about him, because that’s the way we like to watch fights with McGregor.”
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