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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Logan Paul’s title reign has come to an end.

The YouTuber-turned-professional wrestler (and sometimes boxer) did the job at the 2024 edition of WWE’s SummerSlam event in Cleveland on Saturday, losing his United States Championship to WWE Superstar LA Knight in front of 55,000 screaming fans.

Watch how Machine Gun Kelly tried to help Paul and Paul’s reaction below.

The predetermined result saw Knight overcome the odds, as Paul was accompanied to the ring by rapper Machine Gun Kelly. The beloved Cleveland native actually got involved in the contest, cracking Knight with a pair of brass knuckles, but he couldn’t save Paul from succumbing to Knight’s finisher, “BFT” (Blunt Force Trauma).

This is the first title in the WWE for Knight, a charismatic fan favorite who was involved in a feud with then-Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns for much of 2023, though his character was never booked to defeat Reigns.

Paul won the U.S. title after going over Rey Mysterio at WWE Crown Jewel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April 2023. He successfully defended it twice, at this past January’s Royal Rumble and in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 40.

See more highlights from the match below, including Paul taking a scary top-rope bump and showing off his high-flying skills.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

The UFC Abu Dhabi: Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov main card on Saturday featured a women’s strawweight clash between 7th ranked Mackenzie Dern and 10th ranked Loopy Godinez.  

Dern entered the bout hoping to rebound from back-to-back losses.  She had been defeated in four of her last six fights and was desperately needing a win to stay relevant in the division.  Godinez had a four-fight winning streak snapped in her last outing.  Looking to get back in the win column, a win would move Godinez up several spots in the rankings.  

Dern landed her jab early.  Godinez kept her guard high and tried to close the distance.  Godinez caught a kick and took Dern down but immediately let the ground specialist back to her feet.  Dern closed this distance behind punches and clinched.  Godinez separated and landed on the break.  She connected with a counter combination.  Dern pressed forward with a right hand.  Dern clinched and tossed Godinez to the ground.  She advanced to the mount with 95 seconds remaining in the round.  

Dern isolated an arm and worked to extend her hips to secure an arm bar.  She delivered hammer fists and punches from the bottom and Godinez freed her arm.  She landed a couple of punches from top position as the round ended.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Dern.  

Dern continued to use her jab in the second frame.  She came out aggressive and pressed forward.  The two clinched after an exchange but quickly separated.  Dern connected with a right hand.  Godinez responded with a stiff jab.  Dern began pressuring Godinez.  Dern has had the higher output as Godinez looked to counter strike.  As Dern moved into the pocket, Godinez met her with a right hand.  Dern delivered a combination.  

Godinez changed levels and took Dern down.  Dern quickly stood and Godinez worked to lock in a standing arm-triangle.  Dern stayed calm and the round ended.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Dern.  

Dern landed her jab to start the final round.  Godinez responded with a hard right hand.  Dern delivered a leg kick but Godinez countered with a left hand.  Godinez began landing left hands.  Dern changed levels, elevated Godinez and slammed her to the canvas.  Dern moved to side control.  Godinez kicked her off and stood.  As she did, Dern worked to secure a guillotine choke.  Godinez popped her head out and the two fought for position along the cage before separating.

Dern connected with an uppercut.  Godinez reacted with a left hand.  Godinez stepped in the pocket with a right hand.  Dern responded with a leg kick.  Godinez clinched and the worked for position.  They separated with 20 seconds remaining.  Godinez rushed in and delivered knees to the body as Dern fired off right hands.  MMAWeekly scored the round 10-9 for Dern.  

The judges scored the fight for Dern via unanimous decision.  The scorecards read 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28. 

MMAWeekly.com | UFC and MMA News, Results, Rumors, and Videos

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Umar Nurmagomedov delivered the best performance of his career, taking a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi to stake his claim for a bantamweight title shot.

One of the most highly-touted prospects in all of MMA, Nurmagomedov delivered on all his promise Saturday evening, out-striking and out-grappling Sandhagen over five rounds to win the biggest fight of his career. Now the question is will Nurmagomedov get his opportunity to fight for bantamweight gold against the winner of the upcoming Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili fight?

The MMA Fighting team answers that questions plus more as they break down Nurmagomedov’s big win and the rest of the Saturday’s card, including Deiveson Figueiredo continuing to climb the bantamweight ranks, Shara Magomedov authoring the best performance of his career, Tony Ferguson finally (maybe) calling it quits, and Mackenzie Dern getting back on the winning track.

Watch the UFC Abu Dhabi post-fight show above, or an audio-only version of the show can also be streamed below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you get your pods.

MMA Fighting – All Posts

And still undefeated!
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Last night (Sat., Aug. 3, 2024), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for UFC Abu Dhabi. A rare non-PPV card inside Etihad, the show was still stacked with more talent and bigger names than the usual free event. The afternoon showtime was a nice change of pace as well — why couldn’t we do that last week for the English fans and fighters again? — which all in all made for a standout event. It was almost enough to overlook the latest ritual sacrifice of Tony Ferguson!

Let’s take a look back over at UFC Abu Dhabi’s best performances and techniques:

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The Next Title Challenger

There’s no way around it: Umar Nurmagomedov is really damn good.

Cory Sandhagen came fully prepared to upset the Russian and steal away his undefeated record. In the first round, he effectively denied all of Nurmagomedov’s takedowns and began chewing up the lead leg. It was as strong a start as Team Sandhagen could have hoped for, yet it wasn’t destined to last.

Nurmagomedov slowly closed the gap in the stand up. His own kicking game was effective in slowing Sandhagen’s feet, and though his takedowns weren’t resulting in much control, they still limited Sandhagen’s volume and overall work rate. Subsequently, Nurmagomedov’s own hands started getting closer and closer to the target, and by the third, he was straight up out-landing Sandhagen upstairs.

Sandhagen found himself in quite the dilemma. He was falling behind on the scorecards, yet he wasn’t winning the range battle. He tried to up the pressure, but that’s never really been his game. Without the feints and footwork trickery he’s known for, Sandhagen’s increased pressure really only saw Nurmagomedov land more often.

Don’t get me wrong: every round was competitive from start to finish. At the same time, Nurmagomedov remained a step ahead throughout. Though his wrestling skills certainly didn’t hurt, it’s wild to consider a grappler as dominant as Nurmagomedov is also skilled enough on the feet to out-fox a veteran kickboxer like Cory Sandhagen.

Sean O’Malley or Merab Dvalishvili have their work cut out.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A High-Volume Middleweight

Shara Magomedov’s best aspect might just be conditioning.

Seriously, the guy fights at an outrageous pace. Just last weekend, we saw Giga Chikadze wilt from trying to employ the same game plan against Arnold Allen, but Chikadze fights 40 pounds lower! Michal Oleksiejczuk is a gamer and pushed a hard pace. He (mostly) did what he was supposed to do to test the prospect, and Magomedov was largely able to answer those questions in good form.

It all comes back to conditioning though. How is such a big man able to kick so quickly while running circles around the cage without badly fatiguing? In fact, it was Oleksiejczuk who ended the fight more worn out, because he walked through so many hard body and low kicks while trying to press the Russian.

Even when Magomedov did start to slow, it was mild, and Oleksiejczuk was too battered to truly take advantage. I’m not sold on Shara “Bullet” as a future champion, but he clearly has some unique attributes in his favor.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

A Pointless Fight

Michael Chiesa choked out Tony Ferguson in short fashion, just like everybody expected. Ferguson refused to commit to retirement, just like everyone expected. Now that the fight is done, it’s time for something a little less predictable: will UFC actually give Ferguson a ninth opportunity after eight straight defeats?

I hope not.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

The Best Joel Alvarez Yet

I expected Joel Alvarez vs. Elves Brener to be a banger — everyone did! I also expected it to be a very competitive fight, which seemed to be the general consensus as well but ultimately proved to be very wrong!

Alvarez beat the crap out of Brener. From the first bell, he was able to establish his range and stick Brenner with powerful, long punches. The Brazilian is known for his grit, his ability to take damage and fire back, but the strikes of Alvarez were getting to him. Alvarez was able to hurt his opponent badly enough that Brener pretty much accepted Alvarez’s range rather than risk walking through shots.

That strategic decision delayed the finish to the third round but didn’t prevent it. Alvarez’s shot selection was so nice: chopping low kicks, hard straights, and onslaughts of clinch knees and elbows. He broke Brener down, threatened him with several tight submissions, and ultimately finished with a few dozen connections in a row.

The late finish was also impressive because Alvarez cuts a lot of weight. He kept his pace the entire fight and still had the energy to surge towards the stoppage late, hopefully earning himself another opportunity against a ranked foe.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Light Heavyweight’s Best Boxer? (Aside From Pereira)

Azamat Murzakanov stands out from the Light Heavyweight pack.

The Russian improved to 4-0 last night by knocking out Alonzo Menifield, a dangerous if flawed veteran of the division. Murzakanov pretty much took him apart from the first bell, and he did so via good ol’ boxing. There are a lot of strikers in the Light Heavyweight Top 15, but how many of them actually build combinations? How many of them feint their way into exchanges, land, and then exit at an angle? Hardly any. It’s a division full of rangy kickers, wild men, and occasional grapplers.

At 35 years of age, Murzakanov’s window to do something major at 205-pounds is small, and his habit of slowing down over the course of fights isn’t great. Still, he’s an interesting player in the division, and he might just be able to crack a few heads in the Top 10 before all is said and done.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Finally!

The evening started with five straight decisions, and only one of those fights (below) was particularly interesting. Fortunately, Kaue Fernandes broke the streak, utterly battering Mohammad Yahya en route to a first-round finish.

As it so often does, the destruction began with the calf kick. Fernandes attacked the lead leg early, capitalizing upon his opponent’s upright stance. Before long, Yahya was compromised and started looking uncomfortable in exchanges because he was having difficulty planting his weight.

“The UAE Warrior” was in a bad way, and he made the decision to charge. Unfortunately for him, Fernandes stood his ground with a cracking 3-2 combination. Both punches landed hard, flooring Yahya and forcing the finish.

Not a bad first UFC win for the Brazilian!

Additional Thoughts

• Guram Kutateladze defeats Jordan Vucenic via unanimous decision: This was a quality scrap between talented unranked Lightweights! Short-notice debutant Vucenic started strong, using feints and good movement to line up a hard right hand that floored Kutateladze. The Georgian was able to rally back, however, using body work and takedowns to slow the fight and force himself back into the driver’s seat. Vucenic is a welcome addition to the division, and Kutateladze seems to continually finds himself in close, hard-fought battles regardless of opponent.

For complete UFC Abu Dhabi: “Sandhagen vs. Nurmagomedov” results and play-by-play, click HERE!

MMAmania.com – All Posts

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts