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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

MMA Fighting has a live stream watch party for UFC 100, which took place July 11, 2009 for at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas as we take a look back at a historic pay-per-view event on the road to UFC 300 on April 13. In the main event, Brock Lesnar puts his newly won UFC heavyweight title on the line for the first time against the first man to ever defeat him in MMA, Frank Mir.

Join MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and E. Casey Leydon, along with other special guests to watch along with the memorable UFC 100 main card.

In the co-main event, Georges St-Pierre — one of the all-time greats — defends his welterweight title against Thiago Alves.

UFC 100 also features a middleweight bout between coaches of The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom — one that created one of the promotion’s most iconic moments — as Dan Henderson takes on Michael Bisping, while the main card opens with another 185-pound tilt between Yoshihiro Akiyama and Alan Belcher.

Watch MMA Fighting’s UFC 100 Watch Party at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Chris Weidman acknowledges he’s already defied the odds by returning to the UFC after his leg snapped in half during a fight against Uriah Hall in 2021.

With his bone protruding out through the skin and Weidman writhing in agonizing pain, his career trajectory forever changed. He ultimately underwent four surgeries on his leg to repair the damage, and there were subsequent problems that occurred during his recovery.

Heather Linden, the doctor of physical therapy at the UFC Performance Institute, called the compound fracture that Weidman suffered in his leg “the most catastrophic injury, hands down, that [fighters] experience” during an E:60 special documenting his comeback. Having undergone 30 surgeries in total over the years, Weidman confesses that nothing was like the broken leg.

“I’ve had a little bit of everything at this point,” Weidman told MMA Fighting. “Every type of injury you can think of, every joint you can think of, I’ve had, and I’ve battled through it, and I got back in the octagon.

“I made things happen. This is by far the worst.”

As bad as the compound leg fracture, Weidman believes past surgeries on his knee left him further compromised, and that made his recovery and rehabilitation that much tougher.

“For me in particular, it seems to be worse than maybe even other people, because I already had 10 knee surgeries on this leg,” Weidman said. “Now they take a titanium rod and drill it through the top of my knee, through my knee joint, which is already arthritic and having tons of issues and drill down into my knee. So now, I don’t have the muscle in my lower leg like I used to to protect my knee and to protect my leg. My quad, everything just atrophied. Then I got the nerve issues from the bone popping through the skin like that and the muscle. The muscle, the nerve, there’s just tons of things going on in there. There’s a lot that you’ve got to deal with.

“Obviously, I had four surgeries from it, because things just didn’t work out the way it’s supposed to. You’ve just always got to be ready to roll with the punches and keep on going with a positive attitude. That’s what I’m continually trying to do, because it’s still a battle. My leg is still not 100 percent. I don’t think it will ever be 100 percent, but I can’t give up on it. I’ve got to keep working it.”

Despite all the setbacks, Weidman eventually got his leg back in shape enough to fight again, but the result didn’t go his way. He ultimately dropped a unanimous decision to Brad Tavares this past August after admitting that he struggled to kick with his injured leg, and he ended up with a hairline fracture in his other leg by the time the fight was over.

A four-week recovery followed, but that didn’t stop Weidman from getting right back in the gym to begin preparing for his next UFC fight.

That date draws near as Weidman faces Bruno Silva on Saturday at the upcoming UFC Atlantic City card in New Jersey. Immediately after the fight was announced, he confessed that his body had been through the ringer and there was a chance the Silva matchup “could be my last fight.”

Addressing those comments after his training camp was underway, Weidman clarified that his decision on whether or not to retire won’t actually be determined by the outcome of his fight with Silva, but rather the two-month training camp he endured to get ready for the battle ahead.

“I’m not really looking at the result of this fight to make the decision if it’s my last one,” Weidman said. “I’m really going to be gauging if it’s my last one or not on how I feel during this training camp. So probably two things — my motivation, like, how excited am I to be training every single day? My pain — how much pain I have every single day, is my body done? Can I still hold up? Can I still compete at the highest level of levels? Am I having fun? It’s the motivation and it’s the pain.

“If my body can get through this camp and I’m not miserable everyday walking into the gym, and I’m actually having a great time and I love it and my pain is low to moderate, I’ll continue. I love this more than anything. I know I’m really great at it and I can do some more big things but it’s just if my body can handle it and I’m still excited to do it.”

Weidman says suffering through the pain is probably the worst part of the multitude of injuries he’s experienced through over the years, but that’s particularly true with the broken leg from 2021. He knows his leg will never actually be fully healed, because he’s now walking around with a titanium rod screwed into the bones just to keep everything stable.

As much as he loves training and working out with his teammates, Weidman can’t just torture his body to the point of no return.

“When you have pain, just in the warmup, you start trying to bounce around a little bit to get ready for a practice, and you’re feeling pain, it just takes the excitement away,” Weidman said. “Now you’re just looking to get through the workout, as opposed to I can’t wait, this is going to be so much fun.”

Thankfully, as he started his training camp for the fight in Atlantic City, Weidman felt better than ever, and that’s without taking any medically prescribed pain medication. Assuming that continues through to his fight, Weidman anticipates he’ll keep fighting, but the final decision will really be left up to his body to decide what he can or cannot handle any longer.

“Right now, I’m feeling great,” Weidman said. “I’ve been having tons of fun in the room, to be honest. I love training, but if that training just becomes a problem for me then I’m definitely done. I also know the other side of it — you don’t want to get punched in the head for a living for very long. Eventually, it might be the next shot you end up having long-term effects from. I am cognizant of that too, but I also know you only live once, and if you have something that you love and you happen to be one of the best guys in the world doing it, that’s a hard thing to give up.

“Imagine, for anybody out there if you want to think about it, just think of being the best in the world at something and you love doing it and now you just kind of have to stop because you’re older. If you’re not good enough, I get it, but if you’re still good enough, you stick around.”

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Former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas picked up her first win as a flyweight at UFC on Vegas 89 on March 23.  She headlined the event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas against eighth-ranked Amanda Ribas.  

Namajunas defeated Ribas via unanimous decision and debuted in the Top 10 women’s flyweight rankings.  It was her second bout in the 125-pound weight class.  She made her flyweight debut against Manon Fiorot last December and lost by decision.  

Namajunas made the move up a weight class after losing the strawweight title to Carla Esparza in a rematch at UFC 274.  Second-ranked flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield believes Namajunas is a better as a strawweight.  

“I think she’s better at 115,” Blanchfield told The MMA Hour.  “I think just moving up a weight class ten pounds like 115 to 125, it’s a big percentage of your body weight especially when you’re that small.

“She won against Ribas, but Ribas is also someone who’s fought at 115.  She’s not that big of a girl,” Blanchfield continued.  “She had the one fight against Manon and she lost that.  I think she’s a great fighter.  I think he’s got a lot of skill, but I think she’s going to be a little outsized at 125.”      

Blanchfield (12-1) headlines this weekend’s UFC on ESPN event in Atlantic City against Manon Fiorot (11-1).  Blanchfield is ranked second in the flyweight division while Fiorot is ranked third.  It’s a battle of the winning streaks.  Fiorot will enter the match riding an 11-fight winning streak while Blanchfield has won her last nine bouts.  

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Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas picked up her first victory in the women’s flyweight division by turning away Amanda Ribas atop the UFC Vegas 89 fight card last weekend in Las Vegas. Her performance was good enough to land “Thug” at No. 7 in the official 125-pound rankings, sending Ribas down to the No. 9 slot.

That’s not all.

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.

Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Leon Edwards
4. Alex Pereira
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Alexander Volkanovski
9. Dricus Du Plessis
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Israel Adesanya
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Sean Strickland
14. Max Holloway
15. Aljamain Sterling

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Matheus Nicolau
6. Manel Kape
7. Muhammad Mokaev
8. Alex Perez
9. Tim Elliott
10. Steve Erceg
11. Matt Schnell
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Tatsuro Taira
14. Su Mudaerji
15. David Dvorak

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Cory Sandhagen
4. Petr Yan
5. Marlon Vera
6. Henry Cejudo
7. Song Yadong
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Rob Font
10. Umar Nurmagomedov
11. Kyler Phillips
12. Dominick Cruz
13. Mario Bautista
14. Jonathan Martinez
15. Pedro Munhoz

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Calvin Kattar
9. Giga Chikadze
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Edson Barboza
12. Dan Ige
13. Sodiq Yusuff
14. Lerone Murphy
15. Alex Caceres

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Arman Tsarukyan
5. Mateusz Gamrot
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Dan Hooker
10. Jalin Turner
11. Benoit Saint-Denis
12. Rafael dos Anjos
13. Renato Moicano
14. Bobby Green
15. Drew Dober

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Colby Covington
5. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Gilbert Burns
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Sean Brady
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Vicente Luque
12. Neil Magny
13. Michael Page
14. Kevin Holland
15. Michael Chiesa

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Brendan Allen
8. Nassourdine Imavov
9. (T) Roman Dolidze
9. (T) Jack Hermansson
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Anthony Hernandez
13. Paul Craig
14. Chris Curtis
15. Caio Borralho

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. Jamahal Hill
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Ryan Spann
12. Alonzo Menifield
13. Azamat Murzakanov
14. Dominick Reyes
15. Dustin Jacoby

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Serghei Spivac -1
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
12. Derrick Lewis
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Julianna Pena
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Raquel Pennington
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Ketlen Vieira
14. Maycee Barber +1
15. Irene Aldana -1

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Yan Xiaonan
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Virna Jandiroba
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Ricci
12. Angela Hill
13. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
15. Gillian Robertson

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Maycee Barber
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Katlyn Cerminara
7. Rose Namajunas *NR
8. Natalia Silva -1
9. Amanda Ribas -1
10. Viviane Araújo -1
11. Tracy Cortez -1
12. Ariane Lipski -1
13. Karine Silva -1
14. Casey O’Neill -1
15. Miranda Maverick -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

1. Julianna Pena
2. (T) Mayra Bueno Silva
2. (T) Ketlen Vieira
4. Irene Aldana
5. Holly Holm
6. Macy Chiasson
7. Miesha Tate
8. Karol Rosa
9. Pannie Kianzad
10. Yana Santos
11. Norma Dumont
12. Julia Avila
13. Chelsea Chandler
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Melissa Dixon

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the women’s flyweight division, following the UFC Atlantic City: “Blanchfield vs. Fiorot” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN and ESPN+, scheduled for this Sat. night (March 30, 2024) at APEX in Las Vegas.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Laura Sanko has received almost universal praise as a great addition to UFC’s commentary team since making her broadcast debut, but no one in that job is above criticism.

Rarely does a UFC card end without broadcasters having fans or fighters take aim at them for something said during telecasts that often last for seven to eight hours. This past weekend at UFC Vegas 89, it was former WEC champion Jamie Varner who took issue with Sanko’s commentary in a pair of since-deleted tweets. Varner declared that Sanko “sucks so bad at commentating” and “speaks about things she knows nothing about.”

Varner was also critical, saying, “leave the commentary to the people that have actually fought,” which earned a response from Sanko reminding him that they actually shared a card together when she was still actively competing in her own MMA career.

Alan Jouban, who serves as a color commentator for LFA and works as an analyst for the UFC, understands that it’s inevitable you’ll eventually face negative remarks when doing that particular job. That being said, Jouban disagrees with Varner’s assessment, especially about Sanko’s knowledge of the sport and her supposed lack of experience as a fighter.

“I think Varner, he’s focusing on the wrong things too much,” Jouban explained on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “What do you know about a blast double? How many times have you shot a blast double? She knows! She grapples. Maybe that’s not her go-to move, but she’s educated enough to speak on the fact and I think he got a little off track. Everybody has certain people that they like more or don’t like more, but to come out publicly and speak so harshly on it, it’s a bad move by Jamie.

“She’s very educated and she speaks so well, and she does have the background to back it up. The problem is what Jamie Varner is focusing too much on is that, look, maybe she wasn’t a blast double type of fighter, but she still fought. That doesn’t mean you can’t know what it’s like or [have] an educated opinion on it having been around the sport for so long. I wasn’t a blast double guy either. But if I see a blast double, I know how to speak on it, and that’s what Laura’s doing.”

Whether it’s Varner or someone else, Jouban accepts that nobody escapes harsh comments when calling fights. Fans have their favorites, and what appeases one person may irritate another.

Jouban knows from personal experience that it’s impossible to please the entire crowd, but unlike his fight career, he does take those comments to heart a little bit more.

That’s likely the same for Sanko as she continues to learn and grown as a color commentator — and the only woman currently working in that capacity for the UFC.

“You’re going to get criticized every time,” Jouban said. “You’re not going to win over every fan. A lot of fans have their favorites, and when they don’t have their favorite [and] one of their least favorites are commentating, they’re going to criticize, and you see that quite a bit in this sport. The best thing to do is to just stay away from it, but it’s impossible not to look and see, especially when we’re talking about your career, something like this. It was much easier as a fighter. If somebody criticized me about fighting, ‘oh, this dude sucks, he’s going to get wiped out, this guy’s going to get knocked out,’ that’s because they don’t like me or whatever.

“But when you go out there and you study and you train and you call a fight, and your job is to build these fighters, to make this event not about you but about the fighter, and make this exciting, and also give your educated opinion on certain areas to help kind of guide the audience through these fights with you, you’re telling a story and you want them to come along on the story with you. But the whole time, the focus is the star of the show, is the fighters. That’s all that we’re trying to do, but you don’t always make everybody happy in these things.”

Beyond her work as a color commentator, Jouban also praised Sanko for the work she’s done in other facets since joining the UFC broadcast team. Sanko originally started as a backstage interviewer and now wears many hats, including her more recent gig as a color commentator.

Jouban believes that makes her even more valuable to the promotion.

“Laura’s a unicorn for the UFC,” Jouban said. “That’s why they love her. That’s why [executive producer] Zach Candito puts her on so many jobs. Because how many of us that do this can do color commentary, can do the desk job post and pre-fight show, can do sideline reporting, can do interviews backstage, and also has a great personality? [She] can go do the weigh-in show with [Daniel Cormier] and hold her own against former champions drinking beer in a very guy-oriented environment and hold her own. She can do all these jobs and hang with everybody.

“She’s like a utility knife of this type of job. They can put her anywhere and she’ll be able to do a great job. That’s why she’s always constantly on TV, because she can do it all. She really can.”

As far as Varner goes, Jouban won’t tell anyone how they should feel. He just believes the UFC and WEC veteran went about it the wrong way with how he took aim at Sanko this past weekend.

Jouban can’t promise he would have reacted in similar fashion, but he appreciates that Sanko was so gracious with her response.

“Obviously, Laura wasn’t one of Jamie Varner’s favorite commentators,” Jouban said. “He found an event that he just got his phone in his hand and said, ‘I’m going to go off on her.’ It was the wrong move. It was a bad move by him.

“She took a very classy route. That was tough to do. Credit to her. I’ll see if I can take the high road when I get that criticism one day.”

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

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