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Dricus du Plessis defiantly embraced the chaos and emerged stronger for the experience to make a successful first UFC middleweight title defence against longtime champion Israel Adesanya in the early hours Sunday, inflicting another career-altering defeat as the 185lb division has shaken up once more. Continue reading “UFC 305: Dricus defies doubters again, retains title with R4 sub win vs. Adesanya”
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”
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”
Magomed Ankalaev thought he was the new light-heavyweight champion. Jared Gordon felt he did enough to derail Paddy Pimblett’s hype train in the co-main event. Yet both left empty-handed, albeit in contrasting circumstances, as the UFC’s final PPV of 2022 ended with drama and anger after dubious judging scorecards soured an excellent night at the T-Mobile Arena. Continue reading “UFC 282: Blachowicz-Ankalaev title fight, Pimblett-Gordon co-main both surrounded by controversy”
Alexander Volkanovski survived a R3 frenzy, where he was knocked down with a bullet left-hand and recovered from two tight submission manoevures before outlasting Brian Ortega (#2) via UD to retain his featherweight title: 49-46, 50-45, 50-44. Valentina Shevchenko made the sixth defence of her flyweight crown against Lauren Murphy, while there were other big winners too.
Continue reading “UFC 266: Volkanovski outlasts Ortega, retaining featherweight title in frenetic thriller”
After more than a 400-day absence, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski defends his title vs. Brian Ortega (#2) at the UFC 266 PPV in September. Elsewhere, Lauren Murphy challenges Valentina Shevchenko for women’s flyweight gold, after Nick Diaz’s welcome return after a six-year hiatus to rematch Robbie Lawler, 17 years on from their first meeting. Continue reading “UFC 266: Volkanovski-Ortega, Shevchenko-Murphy and Nick Diaz’s return on Sept. 25”
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”
Jairzinho Rozenstruik (#6) didn’t entirely do what he said he would – attack first by pushing the pace – but his low-output created a false sense of security for Augusto Sakai (#9), left in a bloody heap by a devastating two-punch combo just before the first round was set to finish. Next? He wants a top-five heavyweight. Continue reading “UFC Vegas 28: Jairzinho Rozenstruik returns to winning ways with last-second Augusto Sakai KO”
Two ranked heavyweights collide in their second successive main event matchup this weekend, after thorough defeats last time out. Will Rozenstruik finally push the pace and show some urgency, or can Sakai stake a genuine claim for a top-five opponent next with an impressive return to winning ways? Continue reading “Come Saturday night, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Augusto Sakai have plenty to prove”
French heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane (#7) extended his unbeaten streak to 8-0 with a dominant decision win over #4 ranked Jairzinho Rozenstruik, earning some welcome Octagon time in his first main event matchup, before revealing he’s willing to be the backup for UFC 260’s PPV event – Francis Ngannou rematches defending champion Stipe Miocic this time next month. Continue reading “UFC Vegas 20: Gane dominates Rozenstruik in his first main event, remains undefeated”
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Stipe Miocic retained his heavyweight title after going the distance with Daniel Cormier in their highly-anticipated trilogy fight, cementing his standing as one of the UFC’s all-time greats by retiring DC with a gritty unanimous decision win. There were also statement victories for Marlon Vera and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Continue reading “UFC 252: Stipe Miocic defends HW title to end Daniel Cormier trilogy victorious”
After his 20-second knockout blitz on Saturday night vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Ngannou (15-2) is eager to fight Daniel Cormier (22-2) for the heavyweight title: as current champ Stipe Miocic may potentially be stripped through inactivity. Continue reading “What about Stipe Miocic? Ngannou eyes Cormier for UFC heavyweight title fight”
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