Brock Lesnar made an in-person appearance and took part in his first pro wrestling angle since April this past Saturday night — it just wasn’t at a WWE show.
While the Raw roster, with The Undertaker and Ronda Rousey as the special attractions, were at Madison Square Garden for a house show, Lesnar was at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas setting up his return to mixed martial arts. He appeared cageside right before the Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier heavyweight title main event at UFC 226, establishing himself as the next challenger for the championship.
But it didn’t stop there. After Cormier became a simultaneous two-division champion by knocking out Miocic in the first round, he got on the microphone and called out Lesnar.
“There’s a guy that I’ve known for a long time,” Cormier said after taking the mic from Joe Rogan. “He’s a wrestler, he’s an All American, he’s a former UFC champion. I never thought I would fight him. But Brock Lesnar, get your ass in here.”
After his appearance at UFC 226 on Saturday, USADA has provided some clarity on when Brock Lesnar will be able to make his return to the Octagon.
USADA issued a statement today confirming that Lesnar has been re-entered into their testing pool and will be eligible to fight again on January 8, 2019 if all goes well: “After receiving notice of his intent to compete in the UFC, Brock Lesnar re-entered the testing pool on July 3. With six months and four days remaining on his period of ineligibility, Lesnar will be able to compete on or after January 8, 2019, should he remain in compliance with the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.”
Lesnar had received a one-year suspension in 2016 for drug test failures that surrounded his UFC 200 fight against Mark Hunt. That suspension was then frozen when Lesnar retired from mixed martial arts.
Dana White has confirmed that the UFC will be making heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier vs. Lesnar when Lesnar is able to fight again. Cormier, who is currently a two-division champion, may defend his light heavyweight title before then. On Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show today, Cormier mentioned Shogun Rua as a potential opponent in that weight class.
After Daniel Cormier’s knockout victory over Stipe Miocic to win the UFC heavyweight title and to become the company’s second-ever two concurrent division champion, he called out Brock Lesnar who was sitting at cageside.
What followed was right out of the pro wrestling and combat sports playbook: a face-to-face confrontation that got physical and featured plenty of verbal jabs as well:
We don’t know when the Cormier-Lesnar duel will happen due to Lesnar’s standing with USADA and when/if he is back in the testing pool. At the post-event press conference, Dana White discussed Lesnar’s current situation:
On the post-event Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that Lesnar has one more match on his WWE deal and that his deal runs out in August.
White said that Lesnar reached out to him this week and said he wanted to come to the event this weekend. White said they started “the process” with USADA last week, but wasn’t sure where everything stood. Meltzer said that they wanted a Lesnar return for December which would line up with the timeframe, but that would mean the possibility of the fight happening at Madison Square Garden would be out.
At UFC 226 Saturday, light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier became just the second simultaneous two-division champion in UFC history after knocking out former champion Stipe Miocic in the first round.
After winning the belt, Cormier challenged former heavyweight champion and current WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar to face him and come into the Octagon. Lesnar had walked out to cageside before the main event, fueling speculation that he is indeed returning to the UFC.
Lesnar walked in and shoved Cormier, eventually getting the microphone. He cut an expletive-ridden promo calling Miocic and Francis Ngannou “pieces of sh*t” and said that he would beat Cormier before throwing the mic in the camera and shoving it. Cormier got the microphone again and said that Lesnar was from “the stone age” and that 2010 is a long time ago. He told Lesnar to get out of the cage as he had pictures to take. Dana White eventually escorted a heated Lesnar out of the cage.
The fight is rumored to be taking place at Madison Square Garden in November in what will serve as the unofficial UFC 25th anniversary show and celebration.
Cormer started his career at heavyweight and won the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix prior to entering UFC, amassing a 13-0 record in that weight class before moving to 205. His teammate Cain Velasquez was the champion at that time and Cormier was adamant that he didn’t want to fight him.
Cormier is still the promotion’s light heavyweight champion, but speculation could increase that he will vacate that belt as he has stated that he will not fight beyond his 40th birthday, which is in March of 2019. Prior to the Cormier loss, Miocic had established himself as the most dominant UFC heavyweight champion in history, being the only fighter to successfully defend that belt three times.
Earlier on Saturday, rumors started swirling that WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar was in Las Vegas, NV, and had entered the USADA pool at some point, hidden from public view.
At UFC 226, Lesnar seemingly made his intentions a bit more clear as he walked out to cageside right before the main event of UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic vs. light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.
As he did, commentator Joe Rogan noted that Lesnar motioned toward the cage as if to insinuate he is returning to fighting. Then, Bleacher Report’s Jeremy Botter tweeted that Lesnar will fight the winner of the Miocic-Cormier fight at Madison Square Garden this November.
In order for Lesnar to return, he would have indeed have had to enter the USADA testing pool in secret due to the timeframe needed in order to fight in November. MMA Fighting’s Mike Chiappetta tweeted that he asked USADA about Lesnar’s status and was told, “USADA does not reveal the active status of athletes in the testing pool as we respect that it’s the athletes’ decision on whether or not they want to make their active or retired status public.”
Lesnar hasn’t fought since UFC 200 in July 2016 in a decison win over Mark Hunt that was overturned as he later tested positive for PEDs.
Lesnar hasn’t appeared on WWE television since the Greatest Royal Rumble in April. A multi-man match to decide his next challenger was originally announced for Extreme Rules, but that was canceled due to a storyline where negotiations for his next title defense fell through.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 226: Miocic vs. Cormier, emanating from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It is the second of two UFC events this weekend for the annual International Fight Week in Las Vegas, this one being the big event of the weekend with one of the biggest title fights in UFC history, being billed as the “Superfight”.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic looks to remain the top heavyweight in the world as he defends the title against UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier, who is looking to become the second ever UFC fighter to hold championships in two weight classes at the same time.
Cormier returns to the heavyweight division, where he is a perfect 13-0, and has never even lost a round as a heavyweight. This is Miocic’s fourth title defense and he looks to stamp his place in the record books even further as the best UFC heavyweight of all-time.
Despite the card taking a hit with the loss of the Max Holloway-Brian Ortega title fight, it is still an overall deep card. The rest of the main card sees heavyweight sluggers Francis Ngannou and Derrick Lewis do battle, Paul Felder moves up to the welterweight division to face Mike Perry, Michael Chiesa takes on former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, and kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki goes up against Khalil Rountree.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern time with preliminary action all the way through the main card.
We are looking for your thoughts on tonight’s event, so send a thumbs up, a thumbs down or a thumbs in the middle along with a best fight and a worst fight to Dave at [email protected].
Whitmire comes out throwing strikes but not connecting. They trade in close range. Whitmire lands a couple of punches. They trade in the pocket. Whitmire lands a left. Moyle with a left hook followed by a leg kick. Whitmire counters well. They trade punches. They trade kicks. Whitmire lands a solid combination. All standing so far through the first. Lots of feeling out. Whitmire with a leg kick. Whitmire with a high kick. Whitmire staying more active and is landing more. 10-9 Whitmire.
Whitmire lands some punches to start the second. Moyle lands a solid left hook and a leg kick. Whitmire with a head kick. Moyle lands a one-two combo. They exchange leg kicks. Moyle looks to shoot for a takedown but misses wide. Moyle starting to land more in this round. Moyle drops down for a takedown but Whitmire has good defense and defends it and lands a knee to the body. Whitmire now shoots but Moyle scrambles and gets the back of Whitmire before they stand and break. They trade punches. Whitmire grabs a body lock and they battle against the fence. Moyle lands an uppercut as they break. Moyle with body punches against the fence. They trade and Moyle lands against the fence. 10-9 Moyle, 19-19.
They trade kicks early on in the third. Whitmire gets a big takedown and is on top. She’s in control landing punches from the top. Moyle unable to scramble from the bottom. Whitmire working in half-guard. Whitmire continuing to control landing punches from the top in half-guard. Moyle is not doing much from the bottom except throwing some strikes. Whitmire with elbows to the body from the top. Whitmire stands and lands some punches. She gets back into the guard against the fence. Whitmire finishes it with more shots from the top. Easy round for Whitmire. 10-9 Whitmire, 29-28 Whitmire.
Official Result- Emily Whitmire def. Jamie Moyle by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Dan Hooker (16-7, 6-3 UFC) vs. Gilbert Burns (14-2, 6-2 UFC) Lightweights
They trade kicks early. Burns with a spinning back kick to the body. Hooker with a leg kick and Burns counters with a huge right hand. Hooker with two leg kicks. They trade leg kicks. Hooker lands a combo. Hooker trips Burns to the mat with an inside leg kick. Hooker had a brief choke on the ground but they got to their feet. Hooker with a straight knee. Hooker then drops Burns with a big left hand and then finishes him off with one more punch on the ground. Big finish for Hooker, who looked very impressive.
Official Result- Dan Hooker def. Gilbert Burns by knockout (punches) at 2:28 of Round 1
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> Curtis Millender (15-3, 1-0 UFC) vs. Max Griffin (14-4, 2-2 UFC) Welterweights
Griffin with a left hand. They trade front kicks. Millender with a flying knee. Millender with another knee. Griffin lands a right hand. Millender with a leg kick. Griffin lands a left hand. Millender with a head kick. Griffin lands a right hand and scores a takedown. Griffin firmly on top and landing some short punches as he tries to pass guard. Griffin with an elbow followed by some punches. Griffin with another elbow. Millender can’t do anything on the bottom. Griffin with more elbows from the top followed by punches. Big end to the round for Griffin. 10-9 Griffin.
They trade punches to start the second. Griffin with a leg kick. Millender with a body combo and a flying knee. Millender lands a high body kick. Griffin lands a huge right hand but Millender counters with a knee to the body. Millender with a hard right hand. He lands another then grabs a neck standing but Griffin escapes. Griffin lands a left hand. Millender with a leg kick. Griffin just misses a right hand. Millender with a high kick. Griffin lands a left hand. They trade kicks. Millender lands a left hand and Griffin is hurt. Millender with a late takedown that should seal the round for him. 10-9 Millender, 19-19.
They trade to start the third as well. Millender with a leg kick. Millender with a knee to the body of Griffin. Griffin shoots for a takedown but Millender defends it. Griffin has Millender pressed against the fence. Millender with some elbows from against the fence. Griffin with a knee to the body. They break and go back to the center of the Octagon. They trade right hands. Griffin lands a right hand. Millender lands a right hand and has Griffin pushed against the fence. Griffin in trouble late. Millender with some knees to the body and a huge flurry on Griffin against the fence. Griffin with a late head kick. 10-9 Millender, 29-28 Millender.
Official Result- Curtis Millender def. Max Griffin by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Lando Vannata (9-2-1, 1-2-1 UFC) vs. Drakkar Klose (8-1-1, 2-1 UFC) Lightweights
Klose pins Vannata up against the fence and lands some shots and a spinning back elbow. Vannata able to grab the back and gets a brief takedown but they get up and break. Klose tries a slam but Vannata defends and gives up his back. Vannata with a combo as they break. Klose with a body kick. Vannata lands a combo after they break a clinch. They trade body kicks. Klose with a leg kick followed by a right hand. They trade kicks. Klose with a calf kick. Vannata with a head kick and a spinning back elbow. They tie up against the fence. They battle for underhooks against the fence. Klose lands a left on the break. 10-9 Klose.
They trade and Vannata lands a good right hand. They clinch and trade knees before breaking. They trade and Klose pushes Vannata against the fence and they battle for underhooks. Klose with a big elbow and he gets a brief takedown but Vannata scrambles to his feet. Vannata cut around his right eye. Vannata lands a right hand and a spinning back fist while Klose lands a right hand. Klose with the jab. Vannata with a spin kick to the body. Vannata with a combo. Vannata lands a right hand and then a spin kick to the body. Klose with a leg kick. Two close rounds. 10-9 Klose, 20-18 Klose.
Vannata with a leg kick. They trade punches and Vannata with a spin kick. Vannata with a body kick. Vannata with a switch kick and lands a right hand. Vannata with a side kick. They clinch against the fence and Klose has Vannata pinned against the cage. Klose working on a single-leg. They continue to battle for underhooks but the referee splits them up. Vannata with a leg kick. Vannata gets a takedown and takes the back of Klose. Vannata has the hooks in. Vannata lands some punches from the back. Vannata lets go and they get to their feet. Klose lands the jab. Klose tries a takedown and gets it for a moment. 10-9 Vannata, 29-28 Klose.
Official Result- Drakkar Klose def. Lando Vannata by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
> Raphael Assuncao (#3, 26-5, 10-2 UFC) vs. Rob Font (#11, 15-3, 5-2 UFC) Bantamweights
They both miss early strike attempts. Assuncao lands a right hand. They trade leg kicks at the same time. Assuncao with a leg kick. Font with the jab. Assuncao with a leg kick. Font just misses a head kick. Assuncao with a body kick and then a leg kick. Font with a left hook to the body. Font just misses a right hand. Assuncao lands a right hand. They trade kicks. Assuncao with a right hand. Assuncao drops Font for a moment with a right hand. Assuncao with a spinning wheel kick. Font with a flying knee. 10-9 Assuncao.
Assuncao with a quick takedown and he lands some punches from the top. Font rolls and Assuncao takes his back. Assuncao now working in the half-guard. Assuncao keeping Font firmly planted on the bottom but Font is able to scramble to his feet. They trade punches. Assuncao with a front kick. Font with a body punch. Assuncao lands a right hand followed by a quick left. Font with the jab. Assuncao with a leg kick. Font with the jab. Assuncao lands a right hand. 10-9 Assuncao, 20-18 Assuncao.
Font lands a right hand. Assuncao with a body punch and then lands a left hand. Font with a body kick and Assuncao returns his own body kick. Assuncao with a leg kick that trips Font up. Assuncao with a spinning head kick. Assuncao with an inside leg kick. We have an eye poke on Font and a timeout. Assuncao lands some left hands. They trade in close range. Left hand from Font. Assuncao gets a takedown and into the guard of Font. Assuncao with some body punches. Assuncao with punches from the top and he’s keeping Font on the mat easily. Font tried to find an armbar. Assuncao with some short elbows. Assuncao cruising to a win here. 10-9 Assuncao, 30-27 Assuncao.
Official Result- Raphael Assuncao def. Rob Font by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
> Uriah Hall (#9, 13-8, 6-6 UFC) vs. Paulo Costa (#10, 11-0, 3-0 UFC) Middleweights
Costa with a body kick. Hall with a leg kick. Costa with a body kick. Hall misses a spinning kick. Costa with another body kick. They are trading. Hall is using the jab well. Costa with a body kick and then a hard right hand. Costa with another body kick. Costa with a front kick right to the groin of Hall. Back to action and Hall with a spin kick to the body. They trade and Costa lands some big punches to the body and a body kick. Costa with a knee to the body and then some big punches against the fence. They are trading as Hall moves away. Costa with a right hand but Hall with a front kick to the body. Costa with a body kick. Costa with an overhand right. Another groin strike from Costa. They trade and trade body kicks at the end. 10-9 Costa.
They trade kicks early in the second. Costa with the jab and then a right hand and then a high kick. Big right hand from Costa. Hall with a body kick. Hall with a takedown but they get right back to their feet. Costa with a body kick. They trade right hands. Costa with an uppercut. They trade left hands. Costa with a combo and Hall counters with a right hand that hurts Costa. Costa with a body kick. Costa with an uppercut to the body. Costa with a big combination and a jab hurts Hall badly. Costa then drops Hall face first with a right hand and this fight is stopped. What a violent finish by Costa as he remains undefeated.
Official Result- Paulo Costa def. Uriah Hall by TKO (punches) at 3:38 of Round 2
Saki with a leg kick. Saki with a head kick. They trade punches. Saki with a right hand but Rountree counters with a left. Saki with a leg kick. Rountree knocks Saki down with a left hand and then finishes him with more punches on the ground. Big win for Rountree as he knocks out the kickboxing legend.
Official Result- Khalil Rountree def. Gokhan Saki by knockout (punches) at 1:36 of Round 1
> Michael Chiesa (#9, 14-3, 7-3 UFC) vs. Anthony Pettis (#12, 20-7, 7-6 UFC) Lightweights* (Chiesa missed weight by 1.5 pounds)
Chiesa quickly shoots for a takedown and he gets it. Chiesa on top and is landing big punches. Pettis gets out from the bottom and quickly grabs the back and they stand. They break and Chiesa with a high kick. Chiesa tries for a takedown but misses it badly. Pettis has Chiesa held against the fence. They break and Chiesa lands a left hand and goes back hunting for the takedown and gets it. Pettis looking for a triangle but Chiesa escapes as he lands from the top. They get to their feet and Pettis lands a big kick. Pettis with a leg kick. He just misses a spin kick. Pettis with a right hand. Chiesa tries to pull guard but Pettis is on top and lands some punches. Pettis just misses a spin kick. 10-9 Chiesa.
Pettis with a body kick and then a right hand and then follows up with a knee as Cheisa goes to the ground. Pettis goes for a guillotine but doesn’t have it and now he is on bottom. Pettis now going for a triangle. He has it locked in and Chiesa taps! Wow. Pettis found an opening and capitalized and gets the win.
Official Result- Anthony Pettis def. Michael Chiesa by submission (triangle choke) at :52 of Round 2
> Paul Felder (#14 LW, 15-3, 7-3 UFC) vs. Mike Perry (11-3, 4-3 UFC) Welterweights
Felder right away with a leg kick and then throw punches. Felder already cut open. They clinch and Felder with a knee to the body. Perry also cut open. Felder with an elbow. Perry with an elbow as well. They break and Perry with some front kicks. Felder with a hard right hand. Felder with a leg kick. Perry lands a right hand and then an elbow. Felder with a spinning back elbow. They trade punches. Felder with a step-in knee. Felder with a right hand then a front kick to the body. Felder with a head kick. Felder with the double jab. Felder with some more leg kicks and then a spin kick. Perry with a body punch but eats a spinning back fist from Felder. 10-9 Felder.
Felder with a high kick. Felder lands a right hand. They trade and then Perry picks Felder up and slams him to the mat. Felder scrambles to his feet. Perry with an elbow in the clinch and they break. Felder with a spin kick to the body. Felder just misses a head kick. Felder with a leg kick after an exchange. Felder with two leg kicks back-to-back. Perry lands a left hook and Felder has a huge cut over his right eye. We have a timeout to check the cut and this fight might be stopped. Nope, the fight continues. Perry gets a takedown after grabbing Felder’s back. They get to their feet and Perry lands some punches. They exchange elbows in the clinch. Felder’s face is blood red. 10-9 Perry, 19-19.
They trade early on in the third. Felder has a broken arm as he has told his corner. Perry lands a left hook. Felder with a leg kick. Perry misses an uppercut and eats a counter elbow from Felder. Felder then with a spin kick to the liver of Perry. Felder with a knee to the body. Perry with a high kick then a front kick to the body. Felder misses the spin kick. Felder lands a combo with the broken arm. Felder with a body kick. Perry goes for a takedown but can’t get it though he gets the back of Felder. Perry with some knees but Felder throws some backward elbows. They break and trade punches. Perry with a right hand but Felder counters with a straight knee. They trade until the end. Great fight. 10-9 Perry, 29-28 Perry.
Official Result- Mike Perry def. Paul Felder by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
> Francis Ngannou (#1, 11-2, 6-1 UFC) vs. Derrick Lewis (#5, 19-5 1 NC, 10-3 UFC) Heavyweights
They size each other up in the first minute. Lewis with a body kick. Lewis tries a switch kick but Ngannou blocks it. Lewis with another body kick. Lewis misses a right hand. Ngannou has yet to throw a punch it seems. Lewis with a body kick and the briefly clinch. Ngannou lands the jab. Lewis with a leg kick. Lewis lands a right hand. Lewis with a switch kick. Not a lot of action from Ngannou this round and the crowd boos. 10-9 Lewis.
Ngannou fighting very cautiously. Lewis with a high kick. Lewis lands a right hand and they clinch for a moment but break. Lewis misses a right hand. Lewis with a switch kick. Ngannou is not engaging at all. This fight is bad. Both men are timid. Herb Dean just warned them for not fighting. Ngannou lands a jab. Lewis with a body kick. They fought more at the ceremonial weigh-ins. They didn’t do much after. 10-9 Lewis, 20-18 Lewis.
They still aren’t doung anything. This fight is truly awful. Neither man is throwing punches. Lewis claims to be having back spasms and Ngannou isn’t engaging at all. After all of this hype, this is one of the worst fights ever in the UFC. They finally trade a couple of punches with less than two minutes left. This is like watching the worst kind of sparring at your local gym. I’m done with this fight recap. 10-9 Ngannou, 29-28 Lewis.
Official Result- Derrick Lewis def. Francis Ngannou by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Miocic lands some punches against the fence. Cormier with a leg kick. Cormier lands an uppercut. They clinch against the fence. They go to the mat for a second. Miocic lands some left hands in the clinch. Miocic lands a knee on the break. Cormier lands a right hand followed by a jab. Miocic lands a right hand. Miocic with a knee to the body. Cormier lands a left hand followed by a leg kick. Cormier with a leg kick. Miocic lands a left hook and then rocks Cormier with a combo. Cormier stunned by a jab from Miocic. Cormier now hurts Miocic with a combo. Miocic gets poked in the eye and we have a timeout. They get back to action. Cormier then drops Miocic with a huge right hand and then finishes him on the ground. Wow. Daniel Cormier has finished Stipe Miocic and is now a two-division champion.
Official Result- Daniel Cormier def. Stipe Miocic by knockout (punches) at 4:33 of Round 1 to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship
After a trip overseas last weekend, UFC returns to Las Vegas for two shows this weekend, starting tonight on FS1 with the TUF 27 finale event and continuing Saturday with UFC 226, a buzzworthy and much-anticipated card despite the loss of the Max Holloway-Brian Ortega featherweight title bout.
As always, we have some questions about the 20+ fights we’re about to see and the storylines leading in/coming out of them. Joining me as always is Paul Fontaine and Ryan Frederick, one of which isn’t excited for Saturday one damn bit!
*Chiesa missed weight at 157.5. The fight still has to be agreed to as of this writing.
eeWhat are you most looking forward to?
Ryan: I’m really looking forward to UFC 226 as a whole. It sucks that the event lost the Max Holloway-Brian Ortega fight, but the card is deep overall with a really great main event. Some people may knock it, but maybe those people forgot how great Cormier was as a heavyweight. He’s never lost a round there and 13-0. The winner is arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time, and it’s the top fight I’m looking forward to. The Friday main event between Tavares and Adesanya is a very good fight as well.
Paul: I honestly couldn’t care less about almost everything on the PPV card. Personally, it’s the featherweight tourney final fight on the TUF Finale show between Brad Katona and Jay Cucciniello that interests me the most. Katona just happens to be from my hometown and he’s an exciting fighter and a great promo. Cuccinello is coming off one of the best fights of the year on the last episode of TUF and reminds me a lot of Brad Pickett.
Josh: Ladies and germs, only Paul would say he wouldn’t care about one of the better PPV cards of the year in favor of a TUF finale fight. I haven’t seen any of this season of TUF so you could have handed me a list of fake names and I would have believed they were on that show. The Miocic-Cormier fight is what I’m most looking forward to due to the legacy stakes for both men, but that whole PPV card is interesting even with Holloway-Ortega scrapped.
Anything being overlooked?
Ryan: Maybe the Tavares-Adesanya main event on Friday, but two fights that need more attention on Saturday’s show is Saki vs. Rountree and Felder vs. Perry. Those are both going to be violent. Saki is in the conversation of best kickboxer ever, and his lone UFC bout was all action with a great finish. Felder and Perry should be on all-violence teams, so that should be a war.
Paul: Gilbert Burns vs. Dan Hooker is on the Fight Pass portion of Saturday’s show. Between the two of them, they have 12 UFC wins and 11 of them have been by stoppage. Both are just on the outer fringe of contendership and a win on one of the biggest shows of the year could push one of them to the next level.
Josh: The return of the once buzzworthy Francis Ngannou. The guy fought six months ago in one of the most anticipated heavyweight title fights in years and finally returns. What did he learn? What if he brutally KOs Derrick Lewis? What if Lewis knocks him out? One loss put the halt on the momentum can help get the train moving again.
Anything not doing it for you?
Ryan: Both cards are good, considering the Friday TUF Finale is serving its purpose. Saturday is so deep that there is something for everyone, and even though the actual best fight heading into the week got cancelled, there is still 23 fun fights coming up.
Paul: I don’t care at all for the main event on Saturday, but I know I’m in the minority. Cormier isn’t even the real champion at light heavyweight as far as I’m concerned and him getting the title shot is a gimmick. I see Miocic winning fairly easily as his size and reach will be too much for DC. Cormier’s only path to victory is wrestling him to death and the prospects of that don’t exactly excite me.
Josh: That whole Friday show is a waste. Virtually no one watches TUF anymore and its importance shrinks by the day with the Tuesday Night Contender Series growing in popularity among hardcores. I also hate the Adesanya-Tavares fight. I think it’s too soon for the flashy Adesanya and a grinder loss to the boring fighting style of Tavares doesn’t do anyone any favors. I hope I’m wrong, but as you all know, I’m always right.
Any intrigue with these shows?
Ryan: For Friday, it’s whether Adesanya is being pushed too quick, facing a top-ten ranked opponent in just his third UFC bout. On Saturday, you have Ngannou and Lewis looking to take each others’ head off, and Chiesa looking to break into that next level while Pettis wants to prove he has a lot of fight left. Felder wants to fight badly after two cancelled fights. Assuncao wants to prove that he should be next in line at 135 pounds, not Dominick Cruz or Marlon Moraes. There’s a ton of other intrigue as well.
Paul: I couldn’t disagree more with Ryan. I don’t think anything on either show matters at all with the possible exception of a future champion in Israel Adesanya on Friday. But, no one will see that so it’s probably his next fight where he’ll make a bigger step. I suppose if DC pulls off the upset and beats Stipe, it will be a big story.
Josh: I am stunned at Paul’s lack of excitement for Saturday. Outside the main event on Friday, Saturday is where the attention should be focused. With nearly everything on the main card, we get great litmus tests to where fighters are at. Even that undercard has some talents looking to stake claims to bigger things. The results of Saturday should put some bigger fights for November and December into motion.
What will be people talking about most after the show is done?
Ryan: I do think Stipe Miocic is going to win the main event, so the thing people will be talking about is what is next for both Stipe and Cormier. For Stipe, you could be talking about fights against Brock Lesnar, Jon Jones, Alexander Volkov, or even Cain Velasquez when and if he returns. For Cormier, you’d have to think going back to 205 pounds would be where he heads off a loss, and there are fights with Jones (if he comes back soon) and Alexander Gustafsson looming. You also have less than a year left for Cormier in the sport. It’s the fight of the weekend to pay attention to.
Paul: People will be talking about Lesnar vs Cormier because I truly believe that, win or lose, that’s the next fight for him. Cormier is the one guy they can count on to make it to the fight and it’s a winnable fight for Lesnar. Cormier will talk it up to the point that it will probably do really well on PPV. Other than that, if Lewis pulls off a win over Ngannou, he probably sets himself up as a future title contender, but I’m fairly certain he won’t.
Josh: That the new heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier finally came through in a big spot and that we really need to see Jon Jones fight him at heavyweight, but that Miocic rematch needs to happen first…at MSG in November.
Who wins?
Stipe vs. DC
– Miocic: Ryan, Paul
– Cormier: Nason
Ngannou vs. Lewis
– Ngannou: Ryan, Paul, Nason
Adesanya vs. Tavares
– Adesanya: Ryan, Paul
– Tavares: Nason
Chiesa vs. Pettis
– Pettis: Ryan
– Chiesa: Paul, Nason
Assuncao vs. Font
– Assuncao: Ryan, Nason
– Font: Paul
Modafarri vs. Honchak
– Honchak: Ryan, Nason
– Modaferri: Paul
Follow along with all the happenings this weekend on this very site.
With the much-anticipated Max Holloway-Brian Ortega featherweight title clash now in moth balls due to Holloway’s sudden health issues, Saturday’s UFC 226 card got an adjustment Thursday assuming no other fights fall through due to weight cut issues.
Replacing Holloway-Ortega on the PPV portion of the show will be a potentially fun lightweight tilt between Paul Felder and Mike Perry, a fight bumped up from FS1.
Franics Ngannou vs. Derrick Lewis is now the co-main event. The card is headlined by heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic vs. light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier with Michael Chiesa vs. Anthony Pettis and Khalil Rountree vs. Gokhan Saki also on the main card.
In related news, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that the promotion was trying to put together Frankie Edgar vs. Jeremy Stephens for the interim featherweight title but due to a recent stem cell injection that Edgar got in his shoulder, he couldn’t be ready but was down to fight on three days notice.
By all indications, Ortega is going to wait for the Holloway fight. There were rumors that the fight could be done on the promotion’s early August PPV in Los Angeles, but that would appear unlikely until Holloway gets a clean bill of health.
For the third time this year, Max Holloway has been pulled from a UFC card.
Ariel Helwani reported tonight that Holloway is off Saturday’s UFC 226 pay-per-view due to what his management team described as concussion-like symptoms after not appearing normal in the last week.
“He was showing concussion like symptoms before he even started his weight cut and was rushed to the ER on Monday where they admitted him over night,” Holloway’s management team wrote in a statement to ESPN. “Initial scans seemed okay and he was released Tuesday afternoon but symptoms still continued.
“Max fought with his team to continue with the fight. He showed some improvement over the next day but was still showing obvious symptoms. After open workouts he crashed and was very hard to wake up, when he did he had flashing vision and slurred speech.”
They noted that Holloway is now back in the ER for further tests.
Holloway was scheduled to defend his featherweight title against Brian Ortega in the semi-main event of Saturday’s PPV in Las Vegas before having to be pulled. Ortega’s status for the show hasn’t been made clear as of this writing.
UFC 226 will be headlined by Daniel Cormier challenging for Stipe Miocic’s heavyweight title.
Holloway this year has had to pull out of fights against Frankie Edgar and Khabib Nurmagomedov, the latter of which was for the UFC lightweight championship. Holloway took the bout with Nurmagomedov on short notice and was pulled during his weight-cut, while a leg injury kept him from facing Edgar.
Less than a week ago, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier downplayed the notion of returning to heavyweight to fight UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic as good friend and former champion Cain Velasquez announced preparations to return back to action in the division.
What a difference a few days makes.
On Friday night, the promotion announced that both Cormier and Miocic will fight in the main event of UFC 226 in Las Vegas as part of International Fight Week after a run as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.
The two men just defended their respective titles at last Saturday’s UFC 220 with Miocic downing Francis Ngannou by unanimous decision while Cormier bested Volkan Oezdemir by second round TKO.
This continues a trend of UFC management wanting to do champion vs. champion fights as opposed to interdivision bouts. Women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg vs. women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes has been bandied about on social media this week while flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson vs. bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw has been in discussion since last summer.
Cormier is the former Strikeforce Grand Prix heavyweight champion and moved down in weight after two UFC fights while Miocic just set the record for consecutive UFC title defense with three.
There was talk this week that all three fights will be part of the same show, effectively holding up three divisions.
