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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”
Jiri Prochazka’s serious shoulder injury saw the Czech vacate his 205lb title, keen not to hold the division up in his absence. While unfortunate, Jan Blachowicz called the news an early Christmas gift, and now the former light-heavyweight champion suddenly has an opportunity to regain the strap he lost against Glover Teixeira 14 months ago. Up against a clearly favoured Magomed Ankalaev though, which man will have the last laugh in the early hours on Sunday? Continue reading “UFC 282: Blachowicz juggles underdog tag and Ankalaev’s ascent, but will he claim gold again?”
Assuming he gets past former title challenger Marvin Vettori this weekend, you can’t help but think former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker wants an upset at UFC 281 on Nov. 12 when former foe Israel Adesanya defends his strap against kickboxing adversary Alex Pereira next. Judging by his recent comments, that could determine his immediate future…
Continue reading “UFC FN Paris: Whittaker ponders move up to 205lbs, ahead of co-main event matchup with Vettori”
Down on the scorecards, Jiri Prochazka recovered from sustained periods of danger to reign supreme as the new light-heavyweight titlist in his third UFC appearance – submitting Glover Teixeira with 28 seconds left in R5. Valentina Shevchenko looked human against a determined Taila Santos display after former foe Joanna Jedrzejczyk announced her retirement following a thunderous R2 KO loss during a highly-anticipated rematch with former champ Zhang Weili.
Continue reading “UFC 275: Prochazka pips Teixeira to LHW title with R5 sub after Shevchenko’s razor-thin defence”
Ahead of next month’s PPV event in Singapore, with two championship fights and a highly-anticipated title eliminator at strawweight, the six headline fighters spoke on a virtual press conference with a variety of answers – from what’s to come for them respectively in June and potentially beyond, like double-champ status and one fighter eyeing another title rematch. Continue reading “UFC 275 Virtual Presser: Santos keen to wrestle, Joanna targeting revenge and more”
Rising light-heavyweight Jiri Prochazka (#5) handed two-time title challenger Dominick Reyes (#3) his third straight loss with a second-round spinning back elbow knockout – the third in UFC history – asserting his credentials as a genuine title contender at 205lbs. Before a chaotic main event, there were big wins for Georgian duo Giga Chikadze and Merab Dvalishvili among others.
Continue reading “UFC Vegas 25: Jiri Prochazka viciously flattens Dominick Reyes in title eliminator”
There were contrasting title defences for Kamaru Usman and Alexander Volkanovski, while Petr Yan became Russia’s second-ever UFC champion with an impressive TKO victory during a stacked card – kicking off the first of four Fight Island events in Abu Dhabi this month. Continue reading “UFC 251: Usman, Volkanovski with contrasting title defences after Yan wins bantamweight strap”
Mo and Sports 