Former two-time women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas headlined Saturday’s UFC Vegas 89 event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas against eighth-ranked Amanda Ribas.
Namajunas entered the fight coming off back-to-back losses and looking to pick up her first win in her new weight class. She did that, winning by unanimous decision. Following the fight, Namajunas was interviewed by fighter-turned broadcaster Paul Felder inside the octagon.
“It’s good to get your hand raised,” Namajunas said following the fight. With the win, Namajunas will debut in the 125-pound rankings inside the Top 10.
Rose Namajunas UFC Vegas 89 Octagon Interview
Namajunas made her flyweight debut last September against third-ranked Manon Fiorot. She lost via unanimous decision but learned what it took to be successful in the new weight class.
She’d like a rematch with Fiorot, or a fight with a few other highly ranked opponents next.
UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez said he’s fighting back after being victimized by his former coach, Josh Fabia.
In an Instagram video released Friday, Sanchez accused Fabia of years of abuse, claiming the self-awareness guru made him fear for he and his family’s safety as their professional and personal relationship ended.
Sanchez also claimed to have filed a restraining order against Fabia, whom he claimed is a “trained killer,” “ex-hitman” and “ex-contract worker for the cartels.” A search by MMA Fighting of court records in New Mexico did not reveal any such order.
“For the past 2 years, I have been running from a very traumatic experience,” Sanchez said in the video. “You know, words cannot even explain how traumatizing this was. It involves a very evil man that manipulated, blackmailed, extorted me and eventually put an end to my UFC career. I’ve been dealing with this psychopath for, s***, it’s been three years, four years. I paid him out. I paid him money to get out of my life, because the situation had become so volatile, and so evil and dark, that there was no other option. Either he was going to kill me, or I was going to have to kill him.”
Sanchez ended his coaching relationship with Fabia in May 2021, one month after his dramatic departure from the UFC. “The Ultimate Fighter 1” winner was pulled from a fight with former teammate Donald Cerrone at UFC Vegas 26 after a seeking medical records from his UFC career to document the “long-term effects of … being a UFC fighter,” which prompted the promotion to require he certify he was not suffering from any health complications, including issues with his brain.
Fabia subsequently blasted Sanchez after their breakup, claiming he was taken advantage of as a coach and business partner.
Recently, Sanchez reposted a video that appears to show Fabia severing their business relationship by ordering a six-figure payout from the former UFC fighter.
In the video posted on Friday, Sanchez confirmed that he paid “psychopath” Fabia to “get out of my life, because the situation had become so volatile, and so evil and dark, that there was no other option. Either he was going to kill me, or I was going to have to kill him.”
Sanchez said he chose not to physically retaliate against Fabia because he feared he would be sent to prison and miss his daughter’s childhood.
“Everybody wants to tell me, ‘Why didn’t you just snap his neck, why didn’t you just crush this guy. If I was you I would have just snapped him,’” Sanchez said. “Yeah, I would have loved to do that, but I’m dealing with a very unstable, mentally unstable, sociopathic psychopath, that is, basically, the best way I could put it, you’re dealing with a Charlie Manson-type of mind, where he’s so far gone that it makes him unstable and dangerous.
“And the manipulation that was put on … to me was also that he’s an ex-trained killer, an ex-hitman, an ex-contract worker for the cartels, and just so much darkness on this guy that it put me in a state of fear that I was worried for the safety of not only my life, but also my daughter, my mother, and even my daughter’s mother, too.”
Sanchez claimed that during his professional relationship, he was blackmailed by Fabia and subsequently abandoned when his finances didn’t measure up for the guru and coach.
He said confronting Fabia after all this time is necessary for him to move on in his life and career.
“Dude, I have lost sleep over this,” he said. “I have gone countless nights with no rest, sleeping in the mornings to feel safe, because there’s a true psychopathic person out there that wants me dead, that believes in his mind that I was the source of ruining his life, when ultimately, this man came into my life and did the opposite. He ruined mine. But in his opinion, I ruined his reputation. I ruined his company. And I wasn’t the one that had the greed in my heart. He had the greed in his heart.”
“Once he found out I didn’t have as much money as he thought, he lost his mind, implemented slavery on me, put me into some of the harshest conditions of torture that people could not even believe. This is real Charlie Manson-level craziness. Out of the love for my daughter and my mother and my family, I was put in these situations and forced to comply with everything he said and did.”
Sanchez included a call to potential promoters for another fight in MMA, bare-knuckle MMA or bare-knuckle boxing; he most recently competed for Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, where he faced ex-boxing champ Austin Trout and lost a bloody decision in February 2023.
All signs continue to point toward Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili being the UFC’s next bantamweight title fight.
That’s according to O’Malley’s longtime coach, Tim Welch.
“I just feel like there’s a good chance he’s next,” Welch said on The MMA Hour. “Who else would there be? Cory Sandhagen? Probably a little too soon for Ilia Topuria. But it’s going to be up to the UFC, but there’s probably the highest chance that it’s going to be Merab next.
“I think it’s fair. We’ve got to get through this guy. He’s earned it, 10-fight win streak. Don’t want to make him keep fighting. Yeah, I think it’s fair.”
O’Malley, 29, made the first successful defense of his UFC bantamweight title earlier this month at UFC 299 with a five-round rout of Marlon Vera.
Dvalishvili, 33, moved into a tie for the longest win streak in UFC bantamweight history when he outclassed Henry Cejudo to pick up his 10th straight victory at UFC 298. Dvalishvili has also notched wins over Petr Yan, Jose Aldo, and Marlon Moraes over that run.
O’Malley initially called out UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria following his revenge win over Vera, however he pivoted in the days after UFC 299 and instead posted on social media that he wants Dvalishvili next. In that same message, O’Malley wrote that “2025 will be legendary” — a comment which drew frustration from both Dvalishvili and some fans who assumed that O’Malley intended to sideline himself for the rest of 2024.
Speaking on The MMA Hour, Welch clarified that the 2025 comment was actually just a bit of playful ribbing — “Just get the little guy flustered up a little bit more,” he said — and that O’Malley is actually targeting a return sometime between September to November this year. Welch also acknowledged that he is more nervous to face Dvalishvili than he was for Vera.
“Merab is just an animal,” Welch said. “Anyone who’s on a 10-fight win streak too, they have a certain sense of confidence to them, which is scary in itself, and his cardio is freakishly [good]. It’s so scary. His five-round cardio is so scary, but I know also he’s never faced anybody like Sean and it’s going to be a big cage, and I’m really excited. There’s definitely ways for us to win. There’s ways for us to lose the fight, too. If we show up not on that night — Sean shows up every time, but Merab is a problem. He really is. But there’s ways for us to win.”
That being said, Welch doesn’t believe Dvalishvili represents the toughest test in UFC bantamweight division. That test, he said, already occurred against the man from whom O’Malley stole the belt with a brutal second-round knockout: Aljamain Sterling.
“I think he was the biggest one,” Welch said. “He was just such a large guy, so lengthy, expert back-taker. He’s not really the type to get on top and really beat your ass. He’s going to pass your guard, he’s going to force you try to stand up — now he’s on your back for the rest of the round. Super strong, physical. I think Aljo was the most dangerous fight for us.
“Just the funkiness of Aljo and the length of him and what he’s good at. Merab’s up there though, Merab’s a huge problem. Like, he’s a scary, scary guy, and it’s perfect because it’s going to get Sean super excited for the fight and the challenge and just to shut everybody up again.”
Flyweight Andre Lima made his octagon debut on Saturday on the UFC Vegas 89 preliminary fight card against fellow newcomer Igor Severino. Both men entered the fight undefeated but only one left still under UFC contract.
In the second round of their match, Severino bit Lima on the arm while working for a takedown. Lima immediately alerted referee Chris Tognoni and showed him the bite mark. Tognoni called a halt to the fight and disqualified Severino. He was immediately leg go by the fight promotion.
Following the bout, Lima spoke with former fighter-turned broadcaster Paul Felder inside the octagon.
“He bit me while I was trying to take him down,” Lima said following the fight. “I was going to continue to damage him, continue to touch him, and finish the fight. But as you saw, that’s why I yelled, ‘He bit me.'”
Andre Lima UFC Vegas 89 Octagon Interview
With the win, Lima extended his unbeaten streak to 8-0. He later had the bite mark tattooed on his arm.
Severino’s release came immediately, and he could be facing disciplinary action from the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“Those were two up-and-coming undefeated fighters,” White told Kevin Iole. “If you get frustrated and want out of the fight, there are plenty of ways to do it, but the worst thing u can do is bite your opponent. Now, you get cut and lose the biggest opportunity of your life. Not to mention, he’s going to have real problems with the NSAC.”
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