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Well then, who saw that coming? Sean Strickland is now king of the UFC middleweights after a fantastic display of pressure and stern defence over 25 minutes bamboozled Israel Adesanya into submission at the weekend, on enemy soil no less, as fresh matchups galore have been cracked open after the American’s shock title victory in Australia. Click to read more, for the debrief. Continue reading “UFC 293 – The debrief: Strickland stuns, outboxes Adesanya to earn 185lb gold”
Jailton Almeida’s heavyweight ascent continues, and not long after his UFC 283 stoppage victory over the recently-released Shamil Abdurakhimov… the heavy-handed Brazilian will soon be in training camp again before facing a stern test in the form of another power puncher: Jairzinho Rozenstruik next – after news today confirmed the matchup is slated for mid-May. Continue reading “Moving on up: Jailton Almeida vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik heavyweight clash booked for May 13”
Rising heavyweight talent Tom Aspinall put the division on notice in his first main event opportunity. He wasted no time becoming the first man to submit perennial contender Alexander Volkov since 2010, as the Mancunian capped an electric night of fights at London’s O2 Arena after big KO victories for Ilia Topuria, Paddy Pimblett and Arnold Allen among others.
Continue reading “UFC London: Aspinall’s heavyweight ascent continues with first-round submission vs. Volkov”
Although he fell way short of his own sky-high expectations against Ciryl Gane for interim gold in August, Derrick Lewis wants to end 2021 by righting that wrong against soaring heavyweight contender Chris Daukaus set for his first main event this weekend. Continue reading “Daukaus-Lewis a classic matchup between rising contender and dangerous veteran”
On an evening where multiple divisional contenders’ stock rose exponentially, a new champion was crowned. Before then, Petr Yan’s slow start vs. Cory Sandhagen didn’t deter him from having bantamweight gold wrapped around his waist again, albeit of the interim kind this time. Then Glover Teixeira made history in the main event matchup, submitting Jan Blachowicz with a R2 rear-naked choke to become the new 205lb titleholder at 42 years and two days old. Continue reading “UFC 267: New LHW champion Glover Teixeira teaches a valuable lesson in persistence”
Ahead of their interim heavyweight title fight headliner at this weekend’s UFC 265 PPV, Derrick Lewis (#2) and Ciryl Gane (#3) have previewed an intriguing matchup that could either be a boring 25-minute affair or live up to the billing: one of the pair landing a devastating knockout.
Continue reading “UFC 265: Derrick Lewis, Ciryl Gane preview their interim heavyweight title fight”
After five tests of increasing difficulty, Ciryl Gane knew the Volkov challenge was a necessary litmus test to see whether he was more than the UFC’s rapidly-growing hype machine. During an entertaining striking battle, the Frenchman passed with flying colours and won all five rounds on two of the three judges’ scorecards, before eyeing a title shot vs. Francis Ngannou. Continue reading “UFC Vegas 30: Composed Ciryl Gane passes Alexander Volkov test, remains unbeaten”
In a division that has been deemed imbalanced for a while, this matchup pits two of the top five heavyweights against one another – something they both expect will help produce the best version of themselves with the lure of a potential title shot dangling for Saturday night’s winner.
Continue reading “UFC Vegas 30: Ciryl Gane, Alexander Volkov welcome a pivotal main event task”
#6 ranked heavyweight Alexander Volkov produced a flawless display to blast past Alistair Overeem (#5) in the night’s main event, after Cory Sandhagen (#2) reinforced the notion he’s next up in the bantamweight title conversation with a flying knee KO win vs. Frankie Edgar (#4). Continue reading “UFC Vegas 18: Alexander Volkov flawless vs. Alistair Overeem, after Sandhagen’s big win”
As he prepares for his fourth UFC main event tomorrow night, former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov (#6, 32-8 MMA) admits he doesn’t like the added media obligations given his reserved personality but believes a win over a seasoned veteran in Alistair Overeem (#5, 47-18) this weekend sets him on his way to becoming the future heavyweight champion, eventually. Continue reading “UFC Vegas 18: Alexander Volkov embracing spotlight, feels he’ll be future HW champ”
#2 ranked heavyweight Curtis Blaydes, slated to face Derrick Lewis (#4) during this weekend’s UFC Vegas 15 card this weekend, tested positive for COVID-19 and the bout will be rescheduled. Nonetheless, the 29-year-old had plenty of compelling comments regarding Jon Jones’ heavily-anticipated move up in weight and has a title shot on his agenda in the not-too-distant future. Continue reading “Curtis Blaydes’ heavyweight warning to Jon Jones speaks volumes”
Khabib Nurmagomedov retained his UFC lightweight title with a second-round submission win over Justin Gaethje, before retiring in the Octagon post-fight to pull the curtain on an illustrious career where he finishes 29-0 – undefeated and undisputed champ with 13 UFC victories. Before then, Robert Whittaker outstruck Jared Cannonier to win their middleweight title eliminator. Continue reading “UFC 254: Khabib Nurmagomedov submits Justin Gaethje in R2, then retires at 29-0”
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