Blog

Sherdog's live UFC on ESPN 60 coverage will begin Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Petersen (+110), Usman (-115)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:

Advertisement

Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round: The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Carolina (-115), Pudilova (-105)Round 1 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 2 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:Round 3 Sherdog Scores Jay Pettry scores the round:Scottie Smith scores the round:Tyler Treese scores the round:The Official Result BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPO…

Getty Images/UFC

Cody Gibson may have placed his job as a history teacher on hold for now, but he clearly isn’t done schooling people.

Advertisement

In the top prelim of UFC on ESPN 60 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Gibson (20-10) overwhelmed Brian Kelleher (24-16) on the feet as well as on the canvas on his way to a first-round submission win. Gibson jumped on “Boom” right away, rocking him with a right hand in the opening seconds of the fight, and never let up. Kelleher tried valiantly to rally, but Gibson never gave him a moment’s peace, hurting him with punches and long kicks at range and mugging him up close with knees. Kelleher jumped on a guillotine attempt late in the round, but Gibson kicked out of it immediately, moved to half guard and locked up an arm-triangle choke. Kelleher tapped out in seconds, putting the stamp on a dominant performance for Gibson. The win brought Gibson’s record in the organization to 2-5 across multiple s…

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

It appears that Nick Diaz’s Ultimate Fighting Championship return has run into some complications.

Advertisement

During the UFC on ESPN 60 broadcast on Saturday night, it was announced the Diaz vs. Vicente Luque bout that was scheduled for Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3 has been postponed due to “travel issues.” As a result, a middleweight clash between Sharabutdin Magomedov and Michal Oleksiejczuk has been added to the UFC on ABC 7 lineup and will serve as the card’s new main event. It was also revealed that the promotion hopes to reschedule Diaz vs. Luque, but a date for that is currently unknown.

Commonly known as “Shara Bullet,” Magomedov is undefeated in 13 professional outings. The 30-year-old Dagestani has kicked off his promotional tenure with a unanimous decision win over Bruno Silva at UFC 294 and a third-round TKO of Antonio Trocoli at UFC on ABC 6.

Poland’s Oleksiejczuk has dropped three of his las…

While his fighting career has been dormant for the past three years, Conor McGregor continues to find other endeavors to keep him occupied.

Advertisement

According to a report from Sunday World, the former UFC two-division champion will launch a record label, entitled Greenback Records, in his native Ireland. McGregor will partner with Richard Buck, will serve as CEO, and Julian O’Brien, who is creative director and head of A&R, for what is the first major record label based in Dublin. Greenback Records has reportedly signed several artists, who will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

“I am excited to create Ireland’s first major record label in an industry that I have had great interest in for some time,” McGregor said. "To be able to come in and offer music artists a fair deal and properly reward them for their talent.

"This industry, like others, has needed an overhaul for a long time. I am excited for myself, McGregor Sports & Entert…

Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight Irina Alekseeva has been suspended for one year after testing positive for testosterone more than a year ago.

Advertisement

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced the sanction while taking a shot at the UFC’s previous anti-doping partner, USADA, in a statement on Friday:

Alekseeva tested positive for values consistent with the administration of testosterone of exogenous origin in a urine sample collected by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on June 21, 2023, while USADA was still the independent administrator of the UFC’s Anti-Doping Program (UFC ADP). However, USADA failed to report the results of this sample to her and to UFC until October 31, 2023, more than four (4) months after the sample was collected and AFTER Alekseeva was allowed to compete in a UFC event in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 14, 2023. USADA collected two additional samples from Alekseeva BEFORE her October 14, 2023, fight, (August …

Tomorrow night's main event is locked in 🔐@VirnaJandiroba makes it official coming in at 115.5 pounds!

[ #UFCVegas94 | Live on @ESPNPlus | 8pmET/5pmPT ] pic.twitter.com/cz2OxjMdZF

— UFC (@ufc) July 19, 2024 While every Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter made weight ahead of this weekend's card, it still lost one fight.

Advertisement

Headlining UFC on ESPN 60 is a five-round fight between Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba. Both women successfully made weight and came in under the 116-pound limit. All other fighters made weight as well, but one bout will not make it to the finish line. Brad Tavares (185.5) and Jun Yong Park (186) both hit their proper marks, but Park failed his medical exams and was not cleared to compete.

Lemos (14-3-1) recently bounced back from losing her title bout against champion Weili Zhang by winning a decision over Mackenzie Dern. Prior to the setback, "Amandinha" had won seven of her eight UFC fights w…

Six of the seven billed fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship show on Mexican Independence Day have one competitor repping Mexico.

Iridium Sports Agency, the management team of Raul Rosas Jr. (9-1), announced on Friday that Rosas would be squaring off against Qileng Aori (25-11, 1 NC) at UFC 306. The Sept. 14 event, also titled “Noche UFC,” will take place inside of The Sphere in Las Vegas as part of a 10-bout attraction. The bantamweight affair has since been confirmed by other outlets.

“El Nino Problema” burst onto the scene after picking up a contract on Dana White's Contender Series by becoming the youngest UFC fighter to pick up a win. Currently 19 years of age, Rosas Jr. suffered his first pro loss in April 2023 against Christian Rodriguez. He bounced back with a first-round knockout of Terrence Mitchell, and most recently tapped Ricky Turcios in June.

With a .500 record in the Octagon, Aori’s last outing in the cage went poorly when he was bludge…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has started building its Salt Lake City event.

The first fight of UFC 307 is on the books, as Movsar Evloev (18-0) will come to blows with Aljamain Sterling (24-4) in a pivotal featherweight affair. While the two hinted at this fight coming together this past month, French social media account MMA Propagande first reported on the matchup on Wednesday. Sterling confirmed the bout on social media on Friday. This fight card is expected to take place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5, and the double championship main event is rumored to be Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway with the co-headliner of Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Pena.

Evloev has not tasted defeat as a pro, including eight appearances in the Octagon since debuting in 2019. The Russian has gone the distance in eight straight outings as well, accounting for the lion’s share of his career decision wins. Now training out of American top team, Evloev celebrates recent…

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champ Cody Garbrandt is getting back on the horse after his first career submission loss.

Eurosport NL broke the news on Thursday that Garbrandt (14-6) would be returning to the Octagon against Miles Johns (15-2, 1 NC) at a currently unnamed UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 12. The fighters have confirmed this collision at the UFC Apex on their Instagram pages. There is currently no main event on the books for this show.

Advertisement

Garbrandt saw a two-fight win streak—his longest since 2016—come to a crashing halt when former flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo tapped him out at UFC 300. In the process, “No Love” suffered the first submission defeat as a pro, and he has still not registered a sub in the win column. His two wins came in 2023 came over Trevin Jones on the scorecards and Brian Kelleher via blistering one-punch knockout. Garbrandt came into the promotion undefeated and won a belt against Dominick Cruz in 2016, but h…

Let the record show that Ultimate Fighting Championship up-and-comer Jean Silva is tough beyond words.

On Thursday, days after a three-round thriller against Drew Dober at UFC on ESPN 59, Silva shared on Instagram X-ray images of his hands. While Silva ended up finishing Dober due to a doctor stoppage technical knockout due to elbows slashing open a massive cut on Dober’s eyebrow, Dober was not the only one with a souvenir. Silva revealed that he broke both hands in the first round of their “Fight of the Night”-winning encounter.

“As everyone saw, the fighter with Dober was very tough,” Silva said in a video on Instagram. “[Between] the first and second round, I told my corner that I had broken both hands, and they instructed me to continue using knees and elbows, and that’s what I did. No way I was going to lose that fight, and no way I was going to lose [for] any of you. I am coming [back].”

The three-fight run for Silva with the promotion has been as memo…

Two all-time great Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters have been selected as some of the best athletes this century.

Revealing the list of 100 athletes by sections of 25 at a time, ESPN concluded its Top 100 list of pro athletes since 2000 on Thursday. Two MMA fighters were listed: Jon Jones (66) and Georges St. Pierre (76). In ESPN’s past list of SportsCentury for the 20th century, no fighters were selected although multiple boxers including Muhammad Ali (3) and Joe Louis (11) made the list. Jones and GSP were passed by Floyd Mayweather (25) but the former was ranked higher than Manny Pacquiao (71) and both came in above Bernard Hopkins (78).

Often considered to be the greatest MMA fighter of all time, Jones’ lone loss as a professional came against Matt Hamill via disqualification in a fight he was dominating. Failed drug tests, criminal activity and legal issues plagued a career that could have been even more exceptional without lengthy patches of inactivity a…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers decided this ranked heavyweight match needed five more rounds.

On the prelims of 2020’s UFC Fight Night 169 card, Marcin Tybura (25-8) faced and defeated Sergey Spivak (16-4) via grinding decision. Since then, the two have gone on similar runs of 7-2 and 6-2, respectively, to establish themselves in the top 10 at heavyweight. News broke in June that the two would run it back at the UFC Fight Night event on Aug. 10 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the promotion announced Thursday morning that it would serve as the main attraction.

The win over Spivak in 2020 was the start of a run for Poland’s Tybura, who won his next four after the Spivak victory to put himself in title contention. Alexander Volkov spurred him at UFC 267, but he bounced back to claim decisions over Alexander Romanov and Blagoy Ivanov to stay in the picture. “Tybur” went on to headline UFC Fight Night 224 against Tom Aspinall, and the Brit smashed him in…

[embedded content]

Cody Durden recently revealed why he accepted a fight against teammate Bruno Silva after initially turning it down.

Advertisement

Durden (16-5) and Silva (13-5) are slated to lock horns in a flyweight bout at UFC on ESPN 60 at The Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. Durden revealed that he was initially hesitant to accept a fight against his American Top Team teammate.

However, when their manager Ali Abdelaziz proposed the matchup, Silva allegedly accepted it, saying they were adults. That permanently flipped the switch for Durden who now wants to see blood come fight night. The 33-year-old said on the UFC on ESPN 60 media day:

“I didn’t really want to fight a teammate but we got the same manager Ali Abdelaziz,” Durden said at UFC Media Day. “And at first I turned the fight down. I don’t want to fight a teammate. But then Bruno, he accepted the fight and said we’re not boys. And that really lit a fire in me. I was like, ‘Alright motherfuc*…

[embedded content]

Brad Tavares jokingly expressed disappointment in teammate Dan Ige for accepting a short-notice fight at UFC 303.

Advertisement

Tavares (20-9) is scheduled to fight Jun Yong Park (17-6) in a middleweight matchup at UFC on ESPN 60 at the Apex in Las Vegas this weekend. Tavares was originally scheduled to share the card with Xtreme Couture teammate Ige, who was slated to trade leather with Jose Mariscal.

However, Ige ended up replacing Brian Ortega against Diego Lopes on four hours’ notice in the co-main event at UFC 303 last month. While Ige went on lose by unanimous decision, he gave Lopes a run for his money, putting the Brazilian in survival mode in the final frame. Ige subsequently asked for a spot on the highly sought-after UFC 306 card in September at the Sphere, which he was guaranteed by Dana White.

Tavares revealed that he and Ige had discussed potentially fighting at UFC 306 even before “50k” accepted the short-notice matchup.…

Ramon Taveras announced on Instagram that he is out of his UFC 304 booking against Caolan Loughran due to an injury.

Newcomers Taveras (10-2) and Loughran (9-1) were scheduled to trade leather in a bantamweight matchup at UFC 304 on July 27 at Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England. The bout is now off.

Advertisement

Ireland’s Loughran hopes to stay on the pay-per-view card close to home and is open to fighting anyone.

Catch deez hands just pulled out

I text him a few days after the bout was signed saying he would

This Games not for everybody

The UFC are the best in the world and they’ll sort it 👍

Been here before will fight anyone

Yeno that ☘️

— Caolan Loughran (@DonCaolan135) July 17, 2024

Taveras holds a unanimous decision win over Serhiy Sidey in his promotional debut at UFC 297 this past January, avenging a Contender Series knockout loss from last year. Meanwhile, Loughran suffered the…

The cards for the Professional Fighters League playoffs appear to be complete.

Advertisement

The promotion on Wednesday announced alternate and showcase matchups to fill out each of the three events scheduled for next month. The PFL had previously only confirmed semifinal matchups in each weight class.

At PFL 7 on Aug. 2 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, Sergey Bilostenniy will square off against Tyrell Fortune in a heavyweight alternate bout.

Meanwhile, PFL 8 will take place on Aug. 16 at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida and will include a light heavyweight alternate clash pitting Antonio Carlos Jr. against Karl Albrektsson. Additionally, Mads Burnell will meet Elvin Espinoza in a lightweight alternate pairing.

Finally, PFL 9 will be held on Aug. 23 at The Anthem in Washington, D.C. and features a pair of alternate bouts: Neiman Gracie vs. Luca Poclit at welterweight and Tyler Diamond vs. Enrique Barzola at …

A strawweight clash pitting Tabatha Ricci against Angela Hill has been booked for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Aug. 24.

Hill initially announced the bout on her ”2Straws” podcast, and it was later confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. The UFC Fight Night event is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and does not currently have a headliner.

Ricci has been victorious in five of her last six Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Baby Shark” took a split decision against Tecia Pennington at UFC on ESPN 56 on May 11.

Hill, meanwhile, has won four of her last five outings in UFC competition. The former Invicta FC champion is coming off a second-round submission triumph against Luana Pinheiro at UFC Fight Night 241 on May 18.

Jon Jones has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges stemming from an encounter with a drug-testing agent at his Albuquerque, New Mexico, home earlier this year.

Advertisement

During a virtual hearing in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court on Wednesday, Jones pleaded not guilty to a petty misdemeanor for assault and a misdemeanor for interference with communications. Jones was in attendance with attorney Christopher Dodd, while Judge Brittany Maldonado was in charge of the hearing.

A date for a bench trial is still yet to be determined. The conditions for Jones’ release until said date are as follows: Jones is not allowed to possess any firearms or dangerous weapons, he’s not allowed to possess or consume any alcohol or illegal drugs, he has to notify the court if his address changes and he has to maintain contact with his attorney. Additionally, Jones must avoid contact with the alleged victims in the case.

If Jones is convicted on both charges, h…

Maurice Abevi will welcome undefeated newcomer Samat Mamedov to ONE Championship when they meet at the promotion’s upcoming event in Denver on Sept. 6.

Advertisement

The organization recently announced the lightweight (170-pound pairing). ONE Championship 168 takes place at Ball Arena in Denver and features a muay thai title bout between Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek Kiatmoo9. The card will stream on Prime Video in the United States.

After dropping a unanimous decision to Halil Amir in his promotional debut, Abevi has rebounded to score back-to-back triumphs against Blake Cooper and Lipeng Zhang under the ONE banner. The 24-year-old Switzerland native has been victorious in eight of his nine professional appearances overall.

Kazakhstan’s Mamedov will take a 6-0 make into his first ONE Championship foray. The 25-year-old Mamedov has finished all of his victories inside of a round, including a stoppage of one-time UFC competitor Will Chope this past December.

Julian Erosa largely credits teammate Andy Varela for refining his guillotine choke to a lethal weapon.

Advertisement

An underdog going into the fight, Erosa tagged Christian Rodriguez on the feet before submitting him with a guillotine late in the first round at UFC on ESPN 59 in Denver last weekend. Erosa recently weighed in on his guillotine, which has now earned a quite reputation for itself around Las Vegas.

Erosa claims to have already had a decent guillotine choke when he started training at 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu in Las Vegas. There Erosa met Varela, who according to him has one of the best guillotines in the world. “Juicy J” credits Varela for helping him make small adjustments to his own guillotine, which he claims is now nearly “unstoppable.”

“I would say I moved to Vegas about almost seven years ago now,” Erosa said on UFC Unfiltered. “And when I first moved to Vegas, I walked into 10th Planet in Henderson here and met a kid named Andy Varela. And…

Virna Jandiroba recently elaborated on the significance of her unique headgear and her nickname, “Carcara.”

Advertisement

Jandiroba will headline UFC on ESPN 60 — her first main event in the promotion — against fellow Brazilian Amanda Lemos at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. While walking out, the strawweight contender will be sporting her signature traditional leather hat usually worn by Brazilian cowboys.

Born and raised in the countryside of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, Jandiroba takes pride in her ancestry. Jandiroba explained that her signature hat is a common headgear among cowboys in “backlands” of Bahia. According to the 36-year-old, the hat is a representation of her home.

“I’m from Brazil. Born and raised in the countryside of Bahia,” Jandiroba told ESPN. “My parents are from there. My mother came from a farming family. From the fields. I think our ancestry is very strong here in the northeastern region. From my family, all t…

[embedded content]

Muhammad Mokaev believes Tom Aspinall’s father, Andy Aspinall, can hold his own against ranked UFC fighters.

Advertisement

Mokaev and Aspinall will share a card in their hometown of Manchester, England, at UFC 304 on July 27 as the promotion returns to the city after nearly eight years. While Mokaev takes on Manel Kape in a flyweight matchup, Aspinall will put his interim heavyweight title on the line against Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event at the Co-op Live Arena.

As two elite MMA fighters hailing from the same region, Mokaev and Aspinall go back a long way. Mokaev was training in Wigan when he first met Aspinall and his father Andy, who were coaching at a different gym. Mokaev revealed that “Honey Badger” was working security at a pub then and would give him a ride home after practice for several years.

“Yeah, I met Tom Aspinall, he was coaching the kids session… And then his father was coaching adult session next session… And once…

Sean Strickland believes his unhinged rants could be the only impediment on the road to his next middleweight title shot.

Advertisement

Strickland dethroned Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 293 in September 2023 in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Strickland’s short-lived title reign came to an end via a split-decision loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 this past January. Strickland has since bounced back with a split-decision win over Paulo Costa last month, which many believe should have been scored unanimously in favor of “Tarzan.”

Meanwhile, Du Plessis puts his title on the line against Adesanya in the main event at UFC 305 on Aug. 17 in Perth, Australia. Strickland is now adamant on fighting the winner of that bout next instead of a title eliminator against Robert Whittaker. “Bobby Knuckles” rebounded from a stoppage loss against Du Plessis with a unanimous decision win over Costa followed by a knockout over surging newcomer Ikram Al…

A couple of highly-touted prospects will be in action at the Professional Fighters League playoff event on Aug. 16.

Advertisement

Biaggio Ali Walsh will face Korey Taylor in a lightweight showcase bout on the evening’s main card, while Jordan Oliver will lock horns with Braydon Akeo in a preliminary contest at featherweight. MMAjunkie.com was first to report Ali Walsh vs. Taylor, while BJPenn.com initially brought word of Oliver vs. Akeo. Sherdog.com subsequently confirmed both bookings with a promotion official.

The grandson of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, Ali Walsh compiled a 6-1 record as amateur, with five of his victories coming under the PFL banner. He made his pro debut at the PFL vs. Bellator Champs event in February, earning a unanimous decision triumph against Emmanuel Palacio.

Taylor, meanwhile, owns a 4-0 professional mark and has finished all of his opponents inside of a round on the regional circuit.

Oliver was a two-time NCAA national …