UFC 303 Countdown previews a rematch for the light heavyweight title, as current king Alex Pereira, faces former champion Jiri Prochazka. Plus, UK striking phenom Michael “Venom” Page battles Ireland’s rising star, Ian Machado Garry at welterweight.
UFC 303 takes place on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event was expected to be headlined by Conor McGregor’s octagon return against Michael Chandler but McGregor was forced out due to a toe injury. Once McGregor fell out of the event, the fight card went through a major transformation.
Igor Severino has been suspended for nine months after he was disqualified for biting his opponent Andre Lima back in March, which led to his release from the UFC.
In addition to his suspension, Severino must pay a $ 2,000 fine, which will be pulled out of his fight purse that was withheld after the event. He also has to pay $ 471.12 in prosecution fees.
The remainder of his fight purse will be returned to him after the fees are withdrawn.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission handed down the punishment during a monthly meeting on Tuesday, which comes one month after a prior adjudication agreement was denied when Severino was only expected to serve a six-month suspension.
This was the moment Severino bit (yes, I said bit) Lima. You can even hear him yelling in Portuguese “He bit me, he bit me!!! #UFCVegas89 pic.twitter.com/Qvq88ghSLg
— TheMMAfoo (@TheMMAfoo) March 23, 2024
At the time, Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Anthony Marnell argued that the punishment wasn’t stiff enough because a six-month suspension sets a precedent, which means another fight could bite an opponent under the assumption that the penalty wouldn’t be that severe.
Ultimately, the commission returned with a nine month suspension instead, which is retroactive to the date of the bout on March 23. That means Severino could be cleared for competition after Dec. 23.
Severino was issued a temporary suspension after the incident first occurred so he obviously hasn’t competed since that fateful night in March. As a result of his actions, Severino was immediately removed from the UFC roster.
Now he’ll have to wait until at least December to book another fight as Severino attempts to resurrect his career following the ugly moment in his UFC debut.
Jon Jones | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Alex Pereira came through big for the UFC once again heading into Saturday’s UFC 303 pay-per-view event. With the star power, the accolades, having a potential golden ticket with the UFC—along with the promotion owing him a couple of favors—if Pereira beats Jiri Prochazka for a second time, could a fight with heavyweight champ Jon Jones be on the table?
On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck discusses the rarefied air Pereira is in right now with the UFC, his options with a win on Saturday, and even being in a great position if he loses to Prochazka. Additionally, listener questions include Kelvin Gastelum’s latest weight snafu ahead of UFC Saudi Arabia, Conor McGregor’s fighting future, Brian Ortega teasing a lightweight move ahead of his UFC 303 bout with Diego Lopes, Paige VanZant going to Power Slap, and more.
You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.
If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
Former UFC flyweight Paige VanZant continues to reinvent herself. Since she first made her octagon debut in 2014, VanZant has built a lucrative social media content career. She’s fought in Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). She made her professional boxing debut in May and will compete in Power Slap for the first time this weekend.
VanZant left the UFC in 2020 after losing to Amanda Ribas at UFC 251. A month later “12 Gauge” inked a multi-fight deal with BKFC. She fought twice for the promotion losing both times. A year later, in September 2021, VanZant signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She last appeared as a professional wrestler for the organization in May 2022. It was announced in April that VanZant would make her professional boxing debut for Misfits Boxing. She faced English Onlyfans model Elle Brooke in May and the fight ended in a split draw.
On Friday, VanZant takes on Christine Volmarans at Power Slap 8 and hopes it’s the beginning of her way to a Power Slap championship.
“I got signed to the UFC when I was 19. I had my first UFC fight at 20. My UFC debut, I got a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus which completely changed my life. I was with the UFC for six years and then I transitioned into bare-knuckle boxing. And now I’m going to do Power Slap,” VanZant said during an interview on the UFC YouTube channel.
“When I first saw Power Slap, I thought holy sh*t, that’s insane. When I see stuff that is crazy and exciting, it instantly just makes me want to do it. I’m definitely an adrenaline junkie and I have been since a young age. I did grow up dancing and I was a cheerleader, but I like to have the thrills in life,” VanZant continued. “I would say my biggest accolade is my toughness. I love to compete. I love to be violent, and this is literally like the epitome of being a dog.”
“I need to take a belt home, that is the goal. I’m not going to go anywhere until I get the belt,” VanZant stated.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight strikers Ian Garry vs. Michael Page will throw down this weekend (Sat., June 29, 2024) at UFC 303 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Garry has been on a steady rise through the UFC ranks. The Irish striker’s momentum really picked up in 2023, however, when he beat the breaks off both Daniel RodriguezandNeil Magny to announce himself a ranked fighter. His decision win over Geoff Neal was a bit more tepid, but he’s still inching closer to the elite ranks. Page, meanwhile, cut his teeth in Bellator for many years, challenging for interim gold in 2022. His crossover into the Octagon was unexpected, but “Venom” made the most of it, styling on Kevin Holland for three rounds and proving himself a top-shelf Welterweight.
Let’s take a closer look at the betting odds and strategic keys for each athlete:
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Garry Vs. Page Betting Odds
Ian Garry victory: -130
Ian Garry via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
Ian Garry via submission: TBD
Ian Garry via decision: TBD
Michael Page victory: +110
Michael Page via TKO/KO/DQ: TBD
Michael Page via submission: TBD
Michael Page via decision: TBD
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
How Garry Wins
Garry has proven himself a very technical kickboxer. He has the build to make a movement and distance-based style work well, and thus far, it’s been quite difficult for opponents to consistently get inside, meaning they’re finding little success shooting takedowns or landing in combination.
This match up, however, presents a different question. Page isn’t going to try to close the distance on Garry. He’s happy to fight at range — that’s what he’s been doing his entire life in various martial arts! In fact, it might be necessary for Garry to push forward a bit, which is relatively unusual.
Fights between counter punchers like this can often be a bit boring, but close and slow fights emphasize the little details. In this match, Garry wins by remaining active with his kicks, particularly any time Page is near the fence. It may also be worth mixing a takedown attempt or two into his game, as strikers have outwrestled Page in the past. Really though, Garry has to remain patient and within himself, build combinations when possible, and hit the targets that are available.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
How Page Wins
Page is one of the flashiest strikers in the game, but there’s a serious method to his approach. He’s all about angles and deception, walking his opponent into huge shots or blitzing them before they realize what has happened.
Above, I mentioned this fight may be a bit boring, and Page should be perfectly fine with that. It’s probably in his best interest to be very selective about when he engages. Because of his ability to close forward so suddenly — certainly faster than Garry — he has the option to avoid trading unless it’s on his terms.
That mentality can result in staring matches, but if Page is winning with occasional blitzes, that’s not his problem. Patience can go a long way here, as occasional sticks will force Garry’s hand: lose a dull decision or take chances. If and when Garry bites down on his mouth piece and gets aggressive, few are better at creating massive collisions than “MVP.”
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Garry Vs. Page Prediction
Overall, Garry is the better fighter. If you match both men against every fighter in the Welterweight Top 15, I’d expect “The Future” to win more of those bouts than his opponent, who has a very specific style and clear-cut weaknesses. Unfortunately for Garry, he falls directly into the style that Page enjoys and doesn’t seem to have the game to disrupt him. Like Holland before him, he’s going to be forced to fight Page on his terms, and that’s a tremendously difficult ask for the young talent.
If Garry can win impressively, consider me convinced on his championship potential. More likely, he takes a learning lesson and still needs time to develop before being able to topple a specialist like Page.
Prediction: Page victory (+110)
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 303 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 303: “Alex vs. Jiri 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
Jake Paul has a lot of lofty ambitions when it comes to his fighting career.
He’s adamant that he will eventually become a boxing world champion but Paul’s progression in level of competition has been more than questionable at times. So far through 10 professional fights, Paul has taken on a social influencer, a former NBA basketball player, four prominent MMA fighters, two journeymen boxers and one fighter seemingly his equal in Tommy Fury. Oh yeah, Fury is the only person to hand Paul a defeat in his career.
In addition to boxing, Paul signed with the PFL after declaring plans to eventually compete in MMA but with each passing day, it seems less and less likely that is actually going to happen. He’s got a boxing match booked in July against BKFC star and former UFC fighter Mike Perry and then a November showdown scheduled with soon-to-be-58-year-old former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson.
Paul also turns 28 in January.
That all seems to add up to a recipe for Paul to stick with boxing rather than testing himself in MMA, especially knowing how much time he would have to dedicate to get ready for a debut fight. PFL color commentator Dan Hardy acknowledges the reality that Paul may just have too much on his plate right now and MMA ends up as the side dish that gets bumped off.
“I think Jake’s got an idea where he wants to go with his career as a celebrity, and I think he’s taking that one step at a time,” Hardy told MMA Fighting. “I think he stepped away from the kind of celebrity style boxing and fought a couple of opponents that weren’t big names and people kind of disengaged a little bit. That’s spurred this fight against Mike Tyson. I don’t mind it. I would never tell Mike Tyson he shouldn’t be fighting no matter what age he is because he’s a scary individual, and if he can get cleared to fight, then game on.
“But for me, Jake’s an interesting individual because he’s kind of carving his own path. Nobody else is doing what Jake Paul’s doing so I can’t really count out his next move. I think the idea ultimately was for Jake Paul to be able to get Nate Diaz in a cage and fight him in mixed martial arts. I know this is a controversial opinion, but I don’t count Jake Paul out against Nate Diaz in an MMA fight. I think he did really well against him in a boxing match and Jake’s got wrestling experience from high school. I think he would be able to at least defend some takedowns and keep it in a range that would suit him.”
Unfortunately as much as Paul wanted that fight, Diaz showed almost no interest in signing with the PFL for even one bout much less facing his former boxing foe in MMA.
Hardy believes at least part of the reason stems from the potential danger that Paul represents as a very high risk, low reward opponent. If Diaz beats an 0-0 fighter, he’s supposed to win that fight but if he loses, it could be devastating for his future prospects.
Whatever the reason might be, Hardy believes there’s little to no chance Diaz actually faces Paul in the cage and that might be part of the reason “The Problem Child” has waned on his pursuit to compete in MMA.
“I think he had his heart set on Nate Diaz and I don’t think Nate Diaz wants to take the risk of sullying his name and his brand by losing to Jake in an MMA fight,” Hardy said. “I hate to say it but after watching the boxing match, I think Jake could potentially be a problem for Nate in MMA.”
Removing Diaz from the equation, Hardy says it’s still incredibly difficult to find the right kind of opponent that would entice Paul to actually crossover into MMA.
With a seemingly endless list of potential opponents in boxing with guaranteed multi-million dollar paydays, MMA may not have the right kind of fight to catch Paul’s attention.
Hardy only has one name in mind that might do the job.
“If we’re doing it, the one that makes the most sense is Tyron Woodley,” Hardy said. “He’s been commentating with the PFL, he does a great job with that. Every time I see him, we have a very frosty handshake. I feel like he still wants to punch me in the face.
“Of course, he’s got that knockout loss to Jake Paul. If I’m Tyron Woodley, I’m putting myself at the front of the line to welcome Jake Paul into MMA. I think that’s the kind of opponent Jake Paul could be enticed by.”
Woodley actually has two losses to Paul in boxing but the second fight ended in devastating fashion with the former UFC welterweight champion face down on the canvas after eating a brutal punch from the social influencer turned fighter.
But Woodley has vastly more experience than Paul does when it comes to MMA, and it’s hard to believe that wouldn’t be seen as a mismatch.
It’s those kinds of problems that will continue to haunt Paul’s potential transition into the sport.
“The challenge, the same as Claressa [Shields] and Savannah [Marshall] crossing over, it’s who do you fight in your first fight?” Hardy theorized. “You’re not going to put Jake Paul in there against Anthony Pettis but then if you give him someone that’s 2-2 in MMA that no one’s heard of, it’s basically a wasted training camp and a fight for him because he could fight Roy Jones Jr. or something. The opponent’s got to be right and that’s the challenge.
“Even if he fought me, I just turned 42, I haven’t fought since 1963, it’s been a while. I train most days, but I’m an old guy. I don’t think Jake would last a round with me in an MMA fight and that’s no disrespect to him. It’s just the reality of the lacking skills that I would imagine he’d have to fill with his training camps. You’ve got to find the right opponent.”
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images 
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
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