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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

A new threat has arrived at light heavyweight and his name is David Benavidez.

While he didn’t deliver a knockout, Benavidez dominated a former champion in Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the better part of 12 rounds, landing the better punches and adapting his style to deal with a bigger, stronger opponent. Ultimately, Benavidez won a lopsided decision but revealed afterward that he suffered a cut over his eye and a torn tendon in his right hand that almost prevented him from fighting.

Still, Benavidez got the job done with a decision win his debut at light heavyweight. The final scorecards read 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109 all for Benavidez.

“I think it’s a 7 out of 10 honestly,” Benavidez rated his performance. “I felt like I had a great fight, a tough fighter but we’re looking to move on. I think it’s because I was trying to get a feel at the light heavyweight division. I can’t let [the injuries] affect me. I’m just happy for this victory.”

Benavidez was aggressive from the jump as he marched Gvozdyk backwards, leading with a slick jab and then digging to the body with several stiff shots. While Gvozdyk looked like the more natural light heavyweight, he stayed very active but just couldn’t find a home for his best punches against the elusive Benavidez.

Well known for closing the distance and doing damage inside the phone booth, Benavidez showed relentless pressure as he continued to chip away at Gvozdyk with every combination. Gvozdyk did his best to shove Benavidez away from him, getting physical with his undefeated opponent but he struggled to really mount much offense of his own.

Several times early in the fight, Benavidez buzzed Gvozdyk with some nasty shots, especially a lightning quick left hand that snapped off with rhythm and power. With a left to the head and a right to the body, Benavidez seemingly couldn’t miss when he unleashed his best combinations and he never allowed Gvozdyk to really put together any punches in succession.

By the time the action moved into the fifth round, Benavidez was just attacking with no real fear of reprisal as he continued punishing Gvozdyk with everything in his arsenal. To his credit, Gvozdyk was staying active but he just couldn’t connect with any accuracy and Benavidez was lighting him up in return.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Gvozdyk’s performance was his ability to absorb a world of punishment from Benavidez, who was just picking and choosing his shots at will with little resistance to stop him. Even when Benavidez slowed down at times, he still exploded forward at opportune times and cracked Gvozdyk with some nasty punches.

There were moments were it was almost like Benavidez was just racking up time in his new weight class as he toyed with Gvozdyk but the found the right openings to jump into some stinging combinations. Again and again, Benavidez launched a leaping left hook that he clearly felt would be his knockout punch.

Benavidez began slowing down as the fight faded into the last few rounds but he always found a way to pick up steam with less than a minute to go. Maybe it was giving Gvozdyk some false confidence and then coming after him again but Benavidez was still connecting with more power and accuracy throughout.

Gvozdyk did a good job staying active and keeping Benavidez honest but he just never landed any truly punishing punches against his smaller opponent. When the fight ended, there was no doubt that Benavidez would earn the victory.

With the win, Benavidez sets the stage for several potentially huge fights in his future including a long awaited showdown against Canelo Alvarez after he announced plans to return to 168 pounds to pursue that title again.

“I would like to fight in both these weight classes,” Benavidez said.

He also mentioned possibly facing the winner of the highly anticipated matchup between Dmitry Bivol and Artur Beterbiev with those two monsters squaring off in October.

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The UFC Vegas 93: Perez vs. Taira live results from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas begin at 5 p.m. ET on MMAWeekly.com.  The event is headlined by a flyweight clash between fifth-ranked Alex Perez and thirteenth-ranked Tatsuro Taira.

Perez broke a three-fight losing skid in his last fight, knocking out Matheus Nicolau in his last fight in April.  Taira is unbeaten in his six-year MMA career with a record of 15-0.  

Start Times:

• Preliminary card begins at 7 p.m. ET

• Main card begins at 10 p.m. ET

UFC Vegas 93 Live Results and Analytics

UFC Vegas 93: Perez vs. Taira Official Results

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET)

• Alex Perez vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Miles Johns vs. Douglas Silva de Andrade
• Lucas Almeida vs. Timmy Cuamba
• Garrett Armfield vs. Brady Hiestand
• Asu Almabayev vs. Jose Johnson
• Adam Fugitt vs. Josh Quinlan

Prelim Card (ESPN2/ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)

• Jimmy Flick vs. Nate Maness
• Gabriella Fernandes def. Carli Judice via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Westin Wilson def. Jake Saragih submission (armbar) at 1:49, Round 1
• Melquizael Costa def. Shayilan Nuerdanbieke via submission (face crank) at 1:50, Round 3
• Josefine Knutsson def. Julia Polastri via unanimous decision  (29–28, 29–28, 29–28)

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

Live Results
| BJPenn.com

UFC

Undefeated boxing stars clash tonight, Saturday, June 15th, 2024 as Tank Davis looks to defund his WBA lightweight title against Ghost Martin

Another boxing match that is both cool and important goes down tonight, Saturday, June 15th, 2024, live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, starting at 9PM Eastern only on Amazon Prime PPV. We’ve got undefeated Frank “Ghost” Martin taking on undefeated Gervonta “Tank” Davis. A combined 47-0 with 39 knockouts between them. Rangy southpaw versus heavy-handed southpaw. Someone’s 0 has got to go!

We all know that Martin doesn’t “move the needle” the same way that a Shakur Stevenson or Devin Haney match might. That said, he’s a legitimate top-5 lightweight that’s won in a number of ways, with his last two fights being a bell-to-bell domination of Michael Rivera followed by having to dig deep with a 12th-round knockdown to ensure a win over Artem Harutyunyan. Some props should be given to Davis for not holding out for a big money fight, but instead letting a less well-known, but still deserving name get a crack at a belt.

Davis, on the other hand, is arguably the face of American boxing right now, despite his outside-the-ring controversies. He and Terrence Crawford are the two American men that make most peoples’ pound-for-pound list and with good reason — they’re supremely gifted boxers.

Davis’ recent string of fights has been an absolute who’s who of Mexican-American, Central American and South American lightweights. Every top contender from Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Cuba and Argentina has run into the Tank these past six years, and aside from Isaac Cruz, every one of them has exited with a KO loss on their record. Tank’s ridiculous 93% finishing rate is one of the reasons he’s as popular as he is.

In the co-main event, we’ve got a fighter that is somehow second billing, despite being an undefeated champion himself, in David Benavidez. The WBC super middleweight interim champion is — at least temporarily — giving up on the division, as he has been unable to secure a fight with Canelo Alvarez, and is instead moving up to light heavyweight to fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk for the interim WBC light heavyweight title.

All in all, a very solid card coming out of Premier Boxing Champions, as there are four belts on the line tonight, starting at 9PM Eastern, live on Amazon Prime PPV.

DAVIS VS. MARTIN QUICK RESULTS

135 lbs. – Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin
175 lbs. – David Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk
140 lbs. – Gary Antuanne Russell vs. Alberto Puello
160 lbs. – Carlos Adames def. Terrell Gausha — Unanimous decision (118-110×2, 119-109)

DAVIS VS. MARTIN LIVE PLAY-BY-PLAY:

Gervonta Davis vs. Frank Martin, WBA lightweight title:

Round 1:

Round 2:

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Final result:

David Benavidez vs. Oleksandr Gvozdyk, WBC interim light heavyweight title:

Round 1:

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Final result:

To check out the latest and greatest boxing news and notes be sure to hit up our archive here.

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This is Butters howling at Bruce Buffer. Thought you might enjoy it. Lost this guy today. Fights are the only time I would ever see him so this. submitted by /u/PointCharge [link] [comments]

MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Michael ‘Venom’ Page believes a win over Ian Machado Garry will put him within reach of his first UFC title opportunity.

After besting Kevin Holland in his promotional debut at UFC 299 in March, Page will return to the Octagon on Saturday, June 29 for a clash with the undefeated Irishman. With ‘The Future’ sitting as the No. 7 ranked contender in the welterweight division, the bout will carry with it some serious title implications for both men.

Speaking with Chamatkar Sandhu, Page believes that a win over Garry will get him within earshot of reigning 170-pound king Leon Edwards, but he’ll likely need one more W to push him over the edge.

“I believe there will be one more fight in between for me,” Page said. “If I want to bring it back to the UK, there will most likely be one more fight. They usually do a show [in the UK] in March or something, so if I can get one more fight by the end of the year, that’ll be the perfect way to sign off the year.”

As for who that “one more” could come against, ‘Venom’ has the perfect opponent in mind.

“If I finish Ian, then maybe [Kamaru] Usman,” he continued. “Get a big fight next. He’s number one ranked. Again, like I said, there’s no point wasting time. Let’s jump up. Let’s go. Ask for Usman if he’s happy to go, we go. Get that win and then people… There’s no debate after that. I deserve the belt.”

Kamaru Usman was not impressive with Michael ‘Venom’ page’s UFC debut

Following Michael Page’s UFC debut, Usman admitted to being a fan of ‘Venom,’ though he couldn’t help but be a bit underwhelmed by the former Bellator star’s premiere appearance inside the Octagon.

“It was a good showing,” Usman said on his Pound-4-Pound podcast. “Let’s just start with the entrance, the entrance was great. I like ‘MVP,’ I like the fact that he had the confidence to come in and do that, entrance was great… Now, based on that entrance, I would have liked to see him fight a little bit more- he’s definitely capable of something greater than what he put out” (h/t MMA News).

After losing back-to-back bouts against Leon Edwards, the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ came up short against Khamzat Chimaev after stepping in on nine days’ notice to face ‘Borz’ at UFC 294 in October. Now sitting on a three-fight skid, Usman is in no rush to return but fully intends on chasing gold once he’s ready to strap on the four-ounce gloves again.

LowKickMMA.com

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Jamahal Hill’s comeback season is going to have to wait a little longer.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion was set to make a quick turnaround after suffering a knockout loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 300 when he booked a co-main event slot against Carlos Ulberg at UFC 303 on June 29. With two weeks remaining until the event, Hill was forced off the card due to injury. Recent training partner Anthony Smith stepped in to replace him.

Afterward, Hill revealed the extent of the injuries he suffered that made him drop off the card that ends International Fight Week for UFC.

“Two tears in my meniscus, sprained my ACL, a Baker Cyst that leaked fluid in the back of my knee and a infusion in some joints!” Hill wrote on Instagram. “There were actually three of these. This is only making me hungrier. Be back soon!”

It’s unknown if the meniscus tears in Hill’s knee could potentially require surgery, although it appears based on the language of his message that he may avoid going under the knife for this particular injury. Meniscus tears are judged by the grade of the injury, and many less severe tears typically need rest and rehabilitation rather than surgery.

Hill’s manager, Brian Butler from Suckerpunch Entertainment, did not respond to messages from MMA Fighting for comment regarding the severity of his injuries.

Regardless, Hill won’t be fighting June 29 and that effectively caps off a tumultuous past year for the 33-year-old light heavyweight.

After winning the 205-pound title with a win over Glover Teixeira at UFC 283, Hill was on a collision course with former champion Jiri Prochazka when he tore his Achilles’ tendon playing a pickup game of basketball with other fighters during International Fight Week 2023.

He ultimately relinquished his title while recovering from surgery to repair the Achilles’ tendon.

Hill returned sooner than expected when he served as one half of the main event for the historic UFC 300 card, but his night ended early when Pereira knocked him out in the first round.

Now Hill misses out on fighting at UFC 303, with no exact timeline set yet when he’ll be able to compete again.

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