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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA — American Top Team (ATT)-trained fighters know how to cut over-the-top promos …

Grant Dawson notched a big win at UFC Vegas 98 last night (Sat., Oct. 12, 2024), battering and bloodying Rafa Garcia to score a technical knockout in the second round from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights). Unfortunately, “KGD” got passed over and didn’t receive “Performance of the Night.”

Nevertheless, while Dawson had an excellent finish — his first since 2022 — his post-fight speech with Michael Bisping stole the show.

“There’s one more person I have to thank- my beautiful, beautiful wife,” Dawson said. “I’m telling you the biggest cheat code I have is having the most supportive wife. The way she supports me is literally my favorite thing about her; well, it’s my second favorite thing about her.

“My first favorite thing is she has a dump truck that you can bounce a quarter off of,” he added, going completely off-script.

I will assume you can figure out what a dump truck is.

Dawson’s wife, Elle Dawson, is a professional Atomweight fighter with Invicta. As a result of the funny post-fight promo, she gained some super thirsty Instagram followers — before the “dump truck” line, Elle had 7,250 followers; as of this writing, she has 8,255.

While it’s not an insane number like 40,000, which Ailin Perez gained after her “twerk” win at UFC Paris, it’s significant.

Nevertheless, “KGD” is now on a two-fight win streak since his shocking knockout loss to Bobby Green.

For complete UFC Vegas 98 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.

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Raquel Pennington may have lost her title because of two judges’ scorecards, but she still believes she’s the champion after UFC 307.

Pennington put her bantamweight title on the line for the first time against longtime rival Julianna Peña in the co-main event of the UFC’s recent pay-per-view card in Salt Lake City. Peña regained the title via split decision, but it came with controversy, as the majority of the MMA community scored the fight for Pennington — including a near-unanimous nod on MMA Decisions.

Not only did the media members that posted cards score it for the now-former champion, but according to Pennington, a number of figureheads — including a couple high up in the UFC hierarchy — saw the fight the same.

“When it comes to these judges, they need to make it very clear because a lot of them say that the damaging shots are what’s scoring,” Pennington told MMA Fighting. “I had the damaging shots [in the first round], and it just gets frustrating. It gets frustrating from just being a competitor and the athlete in that situation, but not even just my fight. I have no idea what the judges were seeing that night in general. I even feel bad for Jose Aldo. His fight was the same thing.

“It’s just crazy to me what these judges do. At the end of the day, you have competitive fights, they go to the decisions, and it just takes that one person to take away everything from somebody and I feel like they just really don’t realize what they’re doing and yet, they’re the ones with the best seat in the house. They’re the ones that are supposed to be doing the best job.

“And it’s crazy to me how every single media outlet, like there wasn’t even one that said Pena [won]. It was every single media outlet [that] said Pennington. I’ve had numerous top athletes reach out to me. I’ve had Dana White, freaking Hunter [Campbell], Joe Rogan, Jon Anik, [Daniel Cormier], everybody who’s sitting right there and everybody is just like, ‘No way. We don’t understand this.’ Nobody understood it. I didn’t understand it.”

The loss put a halt to Pennington’s six-fight win streak.

The final four rounds were easy to score for all who watched — the second and third for Peña, fourth and fifth for Pennington, including a fourth round that saw Pennington hurt Peña with a head kick early and then drop Peña with a big punch shortly thereafter. The first round, which two judges scored for Peña, was the deciding factor.

When it was over, Pennington says she was never more confident she had won the fight, until she heard Bruce Buffer announce Peña as the new champion.

“They had my family lined up ready to come in there and then when they announced it, they were like, ‘Is Bruce like playing a joke here?’” Pennington said. “It was all really weird but I wasn’t the only athlete on that card that situations happen to, and you see it happen in multiple other events. It’s honestly just sad. There should be different qualifications or something for these judges.

“They need to look into it a little bit different because this happens way too often.”

After the win, Peña called for a trilogy fight with the now-retired Amanda Nunes — one of the all-time greats that has teased a possible return — despite the broadcast going to a split-screen with prior UFC 307 winner Kayla Harrison.

In Pennington’s eyes, she believes two things should happen. One, the UFC considers an open scoring model to help with some of the shoddy scorecards that have become more frequent. And also, Pennington feels like the real bantamweight title fight should be between her and Harrison.

“I feel like something definitely needs to change with it,” Pennington explained. “I know a lot of athletes have spoken about open scoring … that might play out for more exciting fights, which is lighting a fire under people, but something definitely just needs to change, in general.

“But at the end of the day, I mean, it is what it is. I personally don’t feel like I lost that fight at all. My head is high. I do want the rematch, but with that being said, we all know Julianna sits around forever — whether it’s an injury or she just… she tends to sit around forever. I definitely want the rematch and stuff, but at the end of the day, I feel like the real world title fight comes from me and Kayla. I think it would be an exciting fight and a completely different challenge and then let Julianna do whatever the hell she wants to do right now.

“I do want to get back to the world title and I want my belt back. So I don’t know, the frustration’s there, I don’t really have words for it all and whatnot, but at the end of the day it’s competition, they gave her the win. So whatever, congratulations to her. I definitely know I’m going to be back stronger and better than ever, and I’m motivated on a completely different level. I have no injuries. I did go get my hands X-rayed from cracking her so hard. My hands are definitely hurt, but aside from that, I came out of that fight completely healthy. I’ll be back. …

“At the end of the day, like, I still feel like a champion. So it doesn’t matter.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Think you can figure out which UFC fighter we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out.

We’re back for another day of the SB Nation UFC in-5 daily trivia game, and we’re switching to a system of a new article each day for the game.

We tried using a single article for the game, updated with the latest game each day, but it was creating a bit of an unwieldy experience in the comments. So, we’ll have the current day’s game plus the previous three days in each new article. That way, you can catch up if you miss a day.

Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game!

What we need from you

1. Play the game
2. Share your result in the comments and on social media
3. Provide feedback (Google Form or in comments below)

Today’s UFC in-5 game

Saturday’s UFC in-5 game

Friday’s UFC in-5 game

Thursday’s UFC in-5 game

The goal of the game is to guess the correct random UFC fighter player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED FIGHTERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it. It will be a mix of well-known players and some “that guys” that we haven’t thought of in some time. The game will appear in slot #3 of the MMA Fighting layout each morning, with occasional movement later in the day.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media.

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Watch Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol full fight video highlights from their main event showdown Saturday afternoon, courtesy of multiple outlets.

Beterbiev vs. Bivol took place Oct. 12 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Artur Beterbiev (21-0) and Dmitry Bivol (23-1) squared off in the the main event clash. The fight aired live on ESPN+.

Catch all the video highlights below.

For more on Beterbiev vs. Bivol, check out our live blog below.

Round 1: Both men out in orthodox and Bivol starts things quickly with his patented jab. Beterbiev holding the center while Bivol circles around and puts that jab to work. Beterbiev testing a few of his own but staying very tight. Both me just feeling each other out. And now Bivol takes the center and the lead and pumps that jab into Beterbiev’s gloves. Both men have tested the body a few times as well, but defense is the name of the game on both sides early. High, tight guards from both. Bivol searches with a left hook around the guard but Beterbiev catches it.

Very patient round from both me. Then Bivol lands a 1-2 down the pipe as Beterbiev lapsed for a moment. Beterbiev looking to land something meaningful but can’t find it yet and Bivol lands a body shot. Then with short time both me fire combos at each other and Beterbiev looked to have got the better of the final exchance.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Bivol.

Round 2: Beterbiev back out to the center and we’re seeing a pattern early: Bivol with more volume, primarily the jab, while Beterbiev is waiting for bigger moments. Certainly when Beterbiev lands, he does seem to affect Bivol more, at least thus far.

Bivol really putting that jab to work. He’s constantly in Beterbiev’s face with it now. But Beterbiev keeps coming forward, moving Bivol around the ring. Bivol stabs to the body and retreats. Beterbiev having a lot of success backing Bivol down right now but he’s not putting much leather down.

Both men blocking most of the activity now. Beterbiev cornering him and Bivol waiting to fire then moving. Beterbiev lands a good left hook just before the bell.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Bivol, 20-18 Bivol overall.

Round 3: Beterbiev right back to the hunt to start this round. Beterbiev going to pick up the pace a bit it seems as he fires to the body. Bivol giving a lot of ground now and still leaning on that jab.

Now Bivol opens up with a 1-2 on the counter that connects and earns some respect. Beterbiev still marching him down though, putting a jab on him and closing the space. Bivol’s movement is muting Beterbiev’s offense thus far but for how long?

Beterbiev lands a good right hand as Bivol circles out. Then another. He’s finding the right hand more frequently now and he’s walking Bivol down relentlessly. Bivol decides to dig in and they stand in the phone booth throwing. Beterbiev seems to get the better of it though as Bivol has to retreat before the end of the round.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Beterbiev, 29-28 Bivol overall.

Round 4: Beterbiev right back to the middle and almost immediately lands a thudding jab. Bivol staying on his bike but Beterbiev finding him better now. Well, as I say that, Beterbiev throws a jab and Bivol counters with a solid three-piece. And another counter from Bivol off the jab. Bivol seems to have found something in the timing.

Bivol still moving around and lands to the body. He’s gaining confidence as he counters with a combo and gets back on the move. Beterbiev loops a right hook around the guard of Bivol. Beterbiev then lands a counter right hand in response to a jab.

Bivol really keeping Beterbiev off balance with his changes and bursts of offense. Short time and Beterbiev lands a good 1-2 as Bivol moved against the ropes.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Bivol, 39-37 Bivol overall.

Round 5: Bivol comes out and tries to take the initiative to start this round and it results in the two of them exchanging some heavy leather in the center. Both men land OK but Bivol got the better of that one. Now he’s back on his bike.

Beterbiev just can’t quite get his power shots off yet. Bivol is keeping him off balance by mixing his tactics. And there Bivol lands a nice right hand. Beterbiev unphased though and he keeps coming, putting his own right hook into Bivol.

Oh! BIG jab from Beterbiev snaps Bivol’s head back and that might have hurt Bivol. Bivol retreating more seriously now and Beterbiev is on the hunt. Beterbiev lands a few but Bivol responds with a big left to gain space. Beterbiev resets and comes again though and a hook to the guard sends Bivol moving around the ring.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Beterbiev, 48-47 Bivol overall.

Round 6: Beterbiev back to the center and lands a heavy right hand early. Bivol on his bike but Beterbiev is now throwing power shots. Bivol has blocked them all, but they still physically move Bivol’s body. He clearly is the more powerful man in the ring tonight.

Bivol trying to stymie Beterbiev with movement but he’s slowing a bit in that regard. Bivol standing his ground a little more like he does right now and he lands a good combo. Beterbiev gets right back on him though and he starts landing. Bivol retreating and Beterbiev stalking him. Both men trading jabs in there. And Bivol holding the center with a solid combination of his own.

Snappy left hand from Bivol off a pivot. Beterbiev rips him to the body though. Beterbiev is brimming with confidence right now, charging in with power shots, and another big one lands to the body. Bivol responds up top but Beterbiev slips as the round ends.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Beterbiev, 57-57 overall.

Round 7: Beterbiev right back to work with his jab on the lead but Bivol lands a sharp right hand counter over the top. Beterbiev staying in his face though and sticks the body. Bivol getting back to his jab here, then lands a night long combination after drawing counters from Beterbiev.

Bivol back to the jab as Beterbiev’s output has slowed this round. NASTY counter from Bivol gets Beterbiev moving back! Beterbiev might be hurt! Bivol really tagged him there. But Beterbiev digs in and fired big shots back! If he’s hurt, he doesn’t even know it and now Bivol may have overextended as Beterbiev starts ripping into him. Bivol covering up and retreating.

And Beterbiev lands big shots! Nice little uppercut as Bivol simply covers up until the end fo the round.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Bivol, 67-66 Bivol overall.

Round 8: No idea how to score that last round. Beterbiev got tagged but then Bivol got tagged at the end.

More patient start to this round from both men with Bivol in the center early. Bivol back to his jab, Beterbiev waiting a round a bit. Now he dips to the body as Bivol waits. Then Bivol lands a sharp right to the body. He’s holding the center well this round.

Beterbiev goes up top then to the body and that one lands. Bivol fires back and he’s starting to show a bit of wear over his left eye. And Beterbiev comes in to corner him but Bivol pivots out and sticks. Beterbiev lands a nice right and uppercut though. Then a jab. He’s taking control of the round. But Bivol tries to get it back at the end with a combination, Beterbiev blocks them all and then returns fire before the bell.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Beterbiev, 76-76 overall.

Round 9: Beterbiev on the lead this round but Bivol lands nicely to the body. Beterbiev lands a good looping left and Bivol responds to the body. Bivol takes the center and now he’s got Beterbiev backed up.

Only for a moment though as Beterbiev takes the center and back to the dynamic. Bivol upping his workrate this round though. Bivol sticks to the body and moves and again. Then a combination with a nice right hand from Bivol up top. Beterbiev can’t seem to find a comfortable spot right now as Bivol tags him to the body again.

Beterbiev keeps stalking and lands a pair of hooks but Bivol pivots and then fires of some salty punches of his own. Beterbiev bites down and runs him down but he can’t find Bivol in there this round.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Bivol, 86-85 Bivol.

Round 10: Beterbiev right back to the hunt and opens with some power punches. He needs to do this and he keeps it up, putting Bivol on the defensive early. Lands a good right hand and Beterbiev now really showing some urgency in there. Bivol keeps on the move though.

Beterbiev putting both hands on Bivol now. Bivol very defensive thus far as Beterbiev works both levels. Bivol blocking most of this but he’s not getting his own offense off right now. He does take the center but Beterbiev puts a jab on him. Beterbiev misses a right hook and Bivol now bitting down.

Bivol with mean combinations inside and Beterbiev looks to meet force with force. Bivol lands well but Beterbiev does as well and now Bivol has to retreat. Beterbiev chasing Bivol down as the round ends.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Beterbiev, 95-95 overall.

Round 11: Beterbiev back with the urgency to start this round. But Bivol takes the center and puts the jab on him. Bivol draws out a jab and lands a nice right hand. Now he starts trying to draw Beterbiev in and Bivol tags the body. Then a nice right hook up top. Bivol mixing it all well right now.

But Beterbiev lands a right hook the inspires him and now he’s hunting. Mean rip to the body from Beterbiev. Bivol on the retreat but Beterbiev lands another big shot to the body. And a hook up top. Bivol retreating now has to go for a tie up.

Beterbievkeeps chopping that wood. Bivol blocking most of this but it’s clearly still having an effect. Bivol trying to smother him inside but Beterbiev is unloading on him right now. This is nasty business from Beterbiev at the moment.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Beterbiev, 105-14 Beterbiev overall.

Round 12: Bivol showing some swelling over his left eye for real now.

And Beterbiev comes out to the center but Bivol trying to head him off with the jab early. Beterbiev lands a nice right hand over the top though. And another right hand. Bivol looks like he’s trying to manage the round.

Well, then he rips a nice 4-punch combo into Beterbiev. Beterbiev comes in and Bivol rips a nasty shot to the body in his combination. Bivol with another combo on the counter. Beterbiev getting led around a bit.

Big right hand from Beterbiev but Bivol moves off it. He’s on the bike. Beterbiev now getting combinations of his own going and Bivol stands his ground to return fire. Beterbiev comes in and grabs after a weird collision. Beterbiev keeps coming after the break and lands a pair of good rights. Bivol retreating and tying up. Then fires back. 10 seconds left and they both fire but nothing major lands.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Bivol, 114-114 overall.

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Bonus Report
| BJPenn.com

Last night (Sat., Sept. 28, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned home last night (Sat., Oct. 12, 2024) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for UFC Vegas 98. In the main event, Flyweight contenders Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira fought to secure a shot at 125-pound gold. That bout was far and away the most important fight respective to the title mix of any division, but the rest of the fights seem to promise action … but sadly didn’t really deliver much on that end either. All told, there really weren’t a ton of other highlights outside of some quick finishes.

Regardless, let’s take a look back over at UFC Vegas 98’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Royval’s Veteran Win

Brandon Royval vs. Tatsuro Taira was the only fight on the card that delivered elite action for more than a couple minutes. The two Flyweight contenders absolutely went to war, demonstrating their skills and strategies at the expense of the other. Round by round, the momentum swung back-and-forth, making for a fight that was both highly competitive and very easy to score.

Sal D’Amato still somehow screwed it up, but that’s to be expected.

Royval’s advantage on the feet took about 90 seconds to materialize. For that opening minute or so, Taira seemed like he might be able to time Royval’s offense with his counter right hand and use kicks to destabilize his stance. As soon as Royval began throwing in combination, however, Taira looked wildly uncomfortable and started getting pieced up.

Fortunately, the Japanese prospect is still a wizard on the floor. His back takes and transitions are genuinely beautiful to watch, and Taira’s back control and response to Royval’s would-be counters was possibly the best I’ve ever seen. He really looked like a master, utterly shutting Royval down on the floor for two of the four rounds.

Like an instant classic, it all came down to the fifth. With a fatigued Taira in front of him, Royval was able to box up his foe and reverse takedowns, putting an exciting stamp on a back-and-forth fight.

Nobody wants to watch Pantoja vs. Royval 3, but as soon as the Brazilian loses his belt, give Royval another shot.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Dawson 2.0?

It’s time to give Grant Dawson another opportunity to climb the Lightweight ranks.

He’s better than these unranked Lightweights, and against Rafa Garcia last night, Dawson was positively violent. He controlled every second of the fight leading into the second, when he landed a vicious elbow that split open Garcia. With a wounded foe in front of him, Dawson advanced into mount and quickly punished his foe for the TKO stoppage.

At 30 years of age, Dawson improves to 10-1-1 in the UFC. Clearly, he’s a very skilled Lightweight, so hopefully this finish helps push him back into relevant match ups.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Sabatini Bounces Back

It wasn’t all that long ago that Pat Sabatini was a top Featherweight prospect, and he just reminded fight fans why. Jonathan Pearce is an excellent wrestler with great physicality, but Sabatini was able to run through him in short fashion.

Sabatini is a genuinely top-notch grappler, one of Featherweight’s best. He struggled with Pearce’s takedown defense for a moment, but he was able to transition onto his back anyway. Once Pearce was trapped in Sabatini’s usual chain of takedowns and top control, he just couldn’t peel Sabatini off him. By the end of the round, Sabatini had taken his back again and locked in the choke.

It’s a hell of a way to snap a two-fight losing streak.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Additional Thoughts

• Ramazan Temirov defeats CJ Vergara via first-round knockout: It’s great to see the debut of a new Flyweight prospect! The division has talent around the globe that has yet to be picked up by the UFC. Temirov had already proved himself in the RIZIN ring, building an impressive 17-2 record at 27 years of age. His debut couldn’t have gone much better: he absolutely steamrolled Vergara, knocking him down roughly three times in the opening round to force referee intervention. The Uzbek has now won ten in a row, and it might be time to fast track him to a ranked opponent.
• Junior Tafa defeats Sean Sharaf via second-round knockout: TOUGHMAN NEVER DIE! Man, this was a throwback Heavyweight fight in the worst way. At times, I was reminded of Kimbo Slice vs. DaDa 5000. Both men entered this fight with about four minutes of conditioning, but at least Sharaf had the excuse of accepting the fight on very short notice. At any rate, the two brawled tiredly for most of the first round, as Tafa’s sharper boxing was pit against Sharaf’s occasional takedowns. Ultimately, boxing won out, as Sharaf grew too tired to wrestle, leaving him vulnerable to a ripping left hook that initiated the finishing sequence.
• Clayton Carpenter defeats Lucas Rocha via second-round submission: Carpenter improved to 2-0 inside the Octagon on the strength of his wrestling and grappling. Rocha’s UFC debut, conversely, went poorly even if his standup looked sharp. Really, the biggest takeaway here for me was Carpenter’s raw size and strength for 125-pounds. He has a great base from which to build, so it’ll be interesting to see how his skills develop as he tries to climb the Flyweight ladder.

For complete UFC Vegas 98 results and play-by-play, click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Don’t mess with the flyweights.

The lightest men’s division in the UFC stole the spotlight at UFC Vegas 98 on Saturday, with headliners Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira, and prelim competitors Ramazan Temirov and Clayton Carpenter all earning an extra $ 50,000 for some incredible work inside the octagon.

Royval and Taira were justly given the Fight of the Night award following a five-round performance that wowed their fellow fighters and fans. It was Royval who emerged victorious via a close split decision, but both men are likely to be mentioned for Fight of the Year when 2024 comes to a close.

Performance of the Night bonuses went to Temirov and Carpenter.

Temirov made the most of his UFC debut, needing less than three minutes to show off his precision striking and finish off CJ Vergara. It was the 10th straight win for Temirov, who immediately positions himself as a player in the flyweight division.

Carpenter also kept a streak going as he improved his pro record to 8-0 with a two-round drubbing of Lucas Rocha. The 28-year-old defused Rocha’s offense with powerful wrestling before finishing him with a rear-naked choke. This is Carpenter’s first Performance of the Night bonus.

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UFC

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