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Dustin Poirier’s comeback win to dismiss rising contender Benoit Saint-Denis at the weekend did exactly what he hoped it would: not only restore the winning feeling and rebuild confidence after his stunning second-round KO loss to Justin Gaethje last summer, but gain momentum in a delicate lightweight division without a clear #1 contender for Islam Makhachev’s championship gold too. Continue reading “Poirier pushing for Makhachev title shot in June, after his gutsy Saint-Denis display”
Sean O’Malley’s star rose another notch after boxing beautifully en route to a successful maiden defence of his bantamweight title, avenging the only loss on his record against Marlon Vera. Elsewhere, Dustin Poirier and Petr Yan returned to winning ways with contrasting displays while former women’s flyweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk became the latest UFC Hall of Fame inductee.
Continue reading “UFC 299: O’Malley avenges Vera loss in style, Poirier powers beyond Saint-Denis”
Former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier has been applauded for taking on one of the division’s fast rising contenders in Benoit Saint-Denis tomorrow. Not much movement has occurred since his stunning second-round knockout defeat by Justin Gaethje last summer, but he knows he can’t afford to lose another non-title matchup at this delicate stage of his career. Continue reading “UFC 299: Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint-Denis a worthy co-main, given the stakes”
On a night where Jairzinho Rozenstruik jabbed his way into retaining his top-15 ranking in the heavyweight main event against Shamil Gaziev, the biggest stories unfolded elsewhere in another Apex fight card which saw prospects rise – two in particular – given the existing logjam across fly and bantamweight. Continue reading “Making their case: Mokaev and Umar earn contrasting decision wins at UFC Vegas 87”
The long-reigning former UFC featherweight champion has suffered devastating knockout defeats in consecutive bouts, barely four months apart, and is adamant about rematching Ilia Topuria in Spain before 2024 ends to regain his crown as the 145lb king. Eugene Bareman’s health update speaks volumes, but will he listen at a stage of his career where he’s fighting time too?
Continue reading “Alexander Volkanovski needs rest, but right now? Good luck getting him to agree”
In the battle of two Brandons, Royval’s confidence grew and he exacted revenge against former UFC flyweight champion Moreno, utilising volume and sharper head movement during their furious stand-up exchanges to silence the Mexico City crowd. He returns to winning ways just three months after losing an Alexandre Pantoja rematch for 125lbs championship gold before Christmas. Continue reading “UFC Mexico City: Royval ruins Moreno’s homecoming in frantic flyweight rematch”
Having seen the pushback on social media after calling for a champ-vs-champ showdown with new featherweight titlist Ilia Topuria, UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley has now said longtime contender Merab Dvalishvili will be his next opponent – two weeks before his maiden championship defence vs. Marlon Vera: the only man to beat him in his professional career to date. Continue reading “UFC 299: Marlon Vera must be O’Malley’s main focus, not Dvalishvili or Topuria bout”
They were quick to laugh and rubbish his perceived arrogance during the build-up to the biggest fight of his career, but Ilia Topuria made good on his promise by securing a stunning second-round knockout win over long-reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and snap the Australian’s unbeaten 145lb streak, becoming the new divisional king in their PPV headliner. Continue reading “UFC 298: Topuria tops Volkanovski with superb R2 KO to clinch featherweight gold”
He played the game perfectly: said all the things to stir up genuine interest, leaned into the villain role and successfully weighed in for tomorrow night’s UFC 298 PPV main event against long-reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Before then, here’s a rewind to the display which saw Ilia Topuria earn the latest title shot at 145lbs against Josh Emmett last June. Continue reading “Rewind: Ilia Topuria’s UD5 win vs. Josh Emmett, before his Volkanovski title shot”
Jack Hermansson endured an ominously slow start, weathered the storm and showed his main event mettle in the latter stages to outwork Joe Pyfer over 25 minutes, in an invaluable learning experience for the powerful 27-year-old – who couldn’t build on a purposeful start and was subsequently punished. Continue reading “Hermansson shows Pyfer value of experience, wins over five tough rounds”
Longtime middleweight contender Jack Hermansson has alternated wins and losses in his last eight fights, now into his mid-30s and teetering in the back half of the division’s top-15 rankings. Joe Pyfer, a Contender Series alum with a trio of stoppage victories to open his UFC stint, finds himself a golden opportunity to show exactly why he’s the trending superstar he declares this weekend. Continue reading “Joe Pyfer latest to envision middleweight star turn, should he pass Hermansson test”
During the main card of an underwhelming Fight Night card over the weekend, welterweight Randy Brown scored his first stoppage win for almost three years in round one vs. Muslim Salikhov, then called to feature on the UFC 300 card – angling to prove why he’s top-15 calibre at 170lbs. Michael Chiesa unwittingly became an example fuelling the fire for him and other non-ranked contenders. Continue reading “Randy Brown’s respectful, pointed Chiesa callout exemplifies the UFC’s ranking issue”
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