After 15 months away, our hearts grew fond for the vocal stylings of journalist and podcaster Josh Gross which is why we welcomed him back to the latest Josh Nason’s Punch-Out with open arms.
On the menu for this 45-minute discussion:
– We kick off with some updates on what Josh has been up to including his sojourn into writing about LA’s newest MLS team, a departure from MMA writing
– We then transition to Sunday’s surprise news that Floyd Mayweather is going to fight on RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve show against a dangerous kickboxer…but with no idea on rules, rounds, or anything else. Also, who’s paying for all this?
– We then take a look at what’s next for the winners and losers for UFC 230 including possibilities for Israel Adesanya (seen above) and Chris Weidman.
– We attempt to answer why Jon Jones would even entertain a third fight with Daniel Cormier at this point.
– We then wrap up a quick look at this Saturday’s UFC 25th anniversary show in Denver, an affair that doesn’t feel like a big celebration at this point.
Hear all that and more on this free edition of the podcast, available below:
It’s the post-UFC 230 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and myself, guest co-host Garrett Gonzales.
Dave and I go over the entire UFC 230 card, including a discussion about Daniel Cormier’s possible next fight, and how Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones fit into it. We also talk about UFC’s early 2019 schedule on ESPN and ESPN +.
We then discuss some of the fallout from WWE Crown Jewel and recap NJPW’s Power Struggle with Chris Jericho and Evil in the main event. We go over the best matches from that show and look at where the booking may lead to for the Tokyo Dome.
Timestamps:
Start – 1:59: Bryan Alvarez vs. Marko Stunt
1:59 – 20:16: Daniel Cormier beats Derrick Lewis, calls out Brock Lesnar
20:16 – 40:56: The rest of UFC 230
40:56 – 47:47: Crown Jewel notes
47:47 – 50:37: Survivor Series notes
50:37 – end: Power Struggle
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 230: Cormier vs. Lewis, emanating from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
The UFC heads back to the world’s most famous arena as the double champion makes his first defense of the title he won back in July.
UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier defends the heavyweight championship for the first time when he takes on Derrick Lewis in the main event. Cormier is coming off a knockout win over Stipe Miocic in July, and looks to cement his status as one of the best of all-time against Lewis, who has won nine of his last ten and is coming off a come-from-behind knockout win over Alexander Volkov four weeks ago at UFC 229.
In the co-main event, former UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman returns from a near 16-month layoff looking to gain a title shot when he takes on Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, who stepped in on short notice for Luke Rockhold.
The rest of the main card is filled out with middleweight bouts as David Branch takes on Jared Cannonier, Karl Roberson battles Jack Marshman, and Derek Brunson takes on the undefeated Israel Adesanya in the main card opener.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time with preliminary action all the way thru 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].
UFC FIGHT PASS PRELIMS | 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT
> Adam Wieczorek (10-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (15-5-1, 4-3 UFC) Heavyweights
de Lima going right after the legs with kicks. Wieczorek with a takedown into the half-guard of de Lima. Wieczorek looking to open the guard but de Lima pops up and takes Wieczorek down and is in the half-guard now. de Lima with some short punches from the half-guard as he is trying to pass to side control. de Lima trying to set up an arm-triangle choke but Wieczorek is defending from the bottom. de Lima landing punches as they push up against the fence. de Lima with more punches at the end. 10-9 de Lima.
They trade leg kicks and Wieczorek lands a left hook but eats a right hand from de Lima. de Lima grabs the body lock and is looking for a takedown but pushes the fight against the fence. They break. de Lima with a leg kick. He lands another heavy one. They clinch but neither doing much. They break and de Lima with a couple of leg kicks. de Lima lands a right and they clinch. They break and de Lima with more leg kicks. Wieczorek tries a takedown but de Lima grabs the neck. This fight is very boring. 10-9 de Lima, 20-18 de Lima.
de Lima with a leg kick. They clinch and de Lima gets a takedown towards the center of the Octagon. de Lima in side control. Neither is doing much and are being warned to work. de Lima easily moves into mount. Wieczorek able to slip out and they get to their feet. Wieczorek slips to the mat and de Lima gets into his guard. They don’t do much and are stood up. Wieczorek with a short leg kick and lands a knee to the body. de Lima with a late takedown and he rides the fight out on top. 10-9 de Lima, 30-27 de Lima.
Official Result- Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Adam Wieczorek by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
> Shane Burgos (10-1, 3-1 UFC) vs. Kurt Holobaugh (17-5 1 NC, 0-2 UFC) Featherweights
Holobaugh with some leg kicks to start. They trade in close range inside the pocket. Burgos lands a right hand. Holobaugh with a leg kick. Burgos lands a combo. Holobaugh lands some punches. They trade punches. They trade again in close range. Burgos with a front kick to the body. Holobaugh drops Burgos with a punch. Burgos throws his legs up for an armbar and has one locked in deep and Holobaugh taps! He recovered quickly from getting dropped and locked that armbar in quick to get the finish.
Official Result- Shane Burgos def. Kurt Holobaugh by submission (armbar) at 2:11 of Round 1
> Matt Frevola (6-1, 0-1 UFC) vs. Lando Vannata (9-3-1, 1-3-1 UFC) Lightweights
Frevola with a head kick and Vannata counters with a high kick. They trade kicks. Vannata just misses a spin kick. Frevola with a head kick. Frevola with more kicks. They trade punches. Vannata drops Frevola with a head kick but Frevola gets to his feet. Vannata lands more punches and Frevola goes for a takedown but it is defended. Frevola lands a flush right hand and then lands another followed by a head kick. Vannata with a head kick followed by a right hand. Frevola lands the jab. Frevola hurts Vannata with a right hand. Frevola with a body kick. Frevola with a short elbow. Frevola hurts Vannata with a left hook followed by a knee. They scramble and Frevola reverses a takedown and has a guillotine locked in but Vannata escapes and Frevola mounts Vannata to end the round. Fun round. 10-9 Frevola.
Frevola coming out for the second with some spin kicks. Vannata with a spin kick to the body of Frevola. Frevola with a leg kick. Vannata lands a right hand followed by a front kick right to the face and then some body kicks. Vannata drops Frevola with a right hand. Frevola recovers to his feet and is swinging but is still hurt. Vannata with a combo and he is teeing off on Frevola. Vannata with some left hooks to the body. Frevola goes for a takedown but it is defended. They break. Frevola lands a straight knee. Vannata lands some punches and then a spin kick. Vannata with a body kick. They are trading in close range. Frevola with a body kick. Vannata with a combo. Frevola goes for a takedown but it is stuffed. Frevola goes for a takedown and Vannata grabs the neck as the round ends. 10-9 Vannata, 19-19.
They trade kicks to start the third. They trade big punches. Frevola lands a kick and Vannata gets a takedown off of it. They get to their feet and trade kicks. They trade punches inside the pocket. Vannata with a body punch followed by a right hand. Vannata with a body kick and then lands an uppercut. He just misses a spin kick. Frevola gets a takedown but Vannata was able to scramble to his feet. Vannata with an inside leg kick. Frevola with a hard right late but Vannata fires away as the fight ends. Close final round. 10-9 Vannata, 29-28 Vannata.
Official Result- Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata ends in a majority draw (29-28 Frevola, 28-28, 28-28)
FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT
> Lyman Good (19-4 1 NC, 1-1 UFC) vs. Ben Saunders (22-10-2, 9-7 UFC) Welterweights
Good with a leg kick to start things off and then just misses a head kick. Saunders with a big body kick. Good with some more leg kicks. Saunders with another body kick. Saunders lands a straight left hand and then follows with a body kick. They clinch and Saunders with some knees. Good with some body punches and uppercuts while Saunders lands more knees. Good then drops Saunders with an uppercut and finishes him with punches on the ground. Brutal finish by Lyman Good.
Official Result- Lyman Good def. Ben Saunders by knockout (punches) at 1:32 of Round 1
> Julio Arce (15-2, 2-0 UFC) vs. Sheymon Moraes (10-2, 1-1 UFC) Featherweights
Arce lands a solid combination. Moraes drops Arce with a heavy right hand and is teeing off looking for the finish. Arce grabs the leg to hand on but Moraes still landing heavy right hands from standing position. Moraes goes to the ground and Arce is able to get to his feet and has Moraes pinned against the fence. Arce has the body lock and is looking for a takedown against the fence but Moraes keeping the fight upright. Arce trying a trip takedown and jumps up on the back of Moraes. Arce looking for a standing rear-naked choke. Moraes trying to fight it off. Arce landing punches from the back as Moraes is having to fight off the hands and arms. Arce goes for a choke late but runs out of time. 10-9 Arce.
Moraes lands some punches but Arce comes back with combos and punches and they clinch. They break and Arce is bleeding heavily. Moraes with a high kick. They are throwing bombs in this round. Moraes with a big body kick. Moraes with an elbow. They are trading punches and kicks and there is blood everywhere. Both men are covered in it. Moraes drops Arce with a right hand. Moraes is on top and is landing punches as he looks to finish. Arce gets back to his feet and lands a left hand. Moraes with a high kick. 10-9 Moraes, 19-19.
They trade kicks. They trade punches. They both throw kicks. Arce is ranking very high on the Muta scale right now. Arce with the double jab. The center of the Octagon is covered in blood. Arce lands a left hand. Arce lands some punches. Arce has been landing more this round. Arce with a nice left hand. Arce with another left hand. Moraes has been backing up this round. Moraes with a body kick. Arce with a front kick. They clinch late but break. Close fight. 10-9 Arce, 29-28 Arce.
Official Result- Sheymon Moraes def. Julio Arce by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-26)
Modafferi with a right hand. They trade punches. Eubanks with a leg kick. Modafferi with the jab. Eubanks with an overhand right. Eubanks with a combo. They trade right hands. Modafferi lands the jab. Eubanks gets the takedown and is in the guard of Modafferi. Modafferi with an elbow from the bottom. Modafferi with some upkicks as Eubanks goes back into the guard. They get up for a moment but Eubanks takes it back down. Eubanks with some right hands from the top. Eubanks with some hammerfists. Eubanks with some hammerfists as the round ends. 10-9 Eubanks.
Modafferi lands some to start the second round. Eubanks lands a right hand. Modafferi lands some right hands. Modafferi with a leg kick. They trade punches and Modafferi lands a series of punches. She’s landing with more volume but not a lot of power. Eubanks hurts Modafferi with a head kick and then drops her with a right hand. They get back to their feet and Eubanks is tired. Modafferi gets a takedown and is in side control and landing some punches. Modafferi looking to get to the mount. Modafferi ends the round on top as Eubanks has faded. 10-9 Modafferi, 19-19.
They trade punches to start the third round. Both throwing but neither really landing. Modafferi with some punches as she is getting the upper hand right now. Modafferi goes for a takedown but it is defended. Modafferi with an overhand right. They clinch and Eubanks lands a knee. Eubanks lands a right hand. Both landing right hands. They clinch and Eubanks gets a takedown. Eubanks in the half-guard. Eubanks working from the top but still tired and landing short punches. Modafferi gets to her feet and they fall to the mat. 10-9 Eubanks, 29-28 Eubanks.
Official Result- Sijara Eubanks def. Roxanne Modafferi by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
> Jason Knight (20-5, 4-4 UFC) vs. Jordan Rinaldi (13-6, 1-2 UFC) Featherweights
Knight firing right away with punches and lands a leg kick. Rinaldi clinches but eats a right hand as they break. Rinaldi lands a left hook that stuns Knight. Rinaldi with a head kick and then scores a takedown. Rinaldi landing from the top as Knight trying to throw his legs up. They scramble to the feet and Rinaldi scores another takedown. Knight has mission control. Rinaldi slips out as he is landing from the top. Rinaldi staying on top and is landing but Knight is landing from the bottom as well. Rinaldi with some big ground-and-pound from the top. 10-9 Rinaldi.
They trade punches as Rinaldi is looking to set up a takedown. He gets it and goes into side control. Rinaldi looking to set up a kimura. He gets the back of Knight and now is working for a choke. Rinaldi has the body triangle. Rinaldi working more to set up a rear-naked choke. Knight is doing a good job of fighting it off. Rinaldi with some great back control. Knight is landing punches from having his back controlled. Rinaldi in complete control of this fight. Rinaldi almost had the choke locked in and Knight gives the finger wag letting everyone know he is not in trouble. 10-9 Rinaldi, 20-18 Rinaldi.
They trade early. Rinaldi shoots for a takedown but Knight sprawls and defends it as they get to their feet. Rinaldi with a leg kick and Knight grabs the back and they roll to the mat. Rinaldi sets up a kimura and uses it to sweep to the top and is working for the kimura. Rinaldi gets the back and has the rear-naked choke but Knight slips out. Rinaldi landing punches from the back. Rinaldi still has the back but Knight is working his way out. They stand up and Knight tries to spike Rinaldi but Rinaldi maintains the body lock as they go back to the ground. Rinaldi landing from the back. Excellent performance from Rinaldi in his featherweight debut. 10-9 Rinaldi, 30-27 Rinaldi.
Official Result- Jordan Rinaldi def. Jason Knight by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-25, 30-26)
PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT
> Derek Brunson (#6, 18-6, 9-4 UFC) vs. Israel Adesanya (#9, 14-0, 3-0 UFC) Middleweights
Brunson goes right for a takedown and they clinch. Brunson is way bigger than Adesanya in the Octagon. Brunson has the clinch taken away from him after he grabbed the shorts of Adesanya twice. Adesanya lands a jab. Brunson goes for a takedown but Adesanya spins out. They clinch again against the fence. They break and Brunson clips him with a left hand and then goes back for a takedown but Adesanya breaks away. Adesanya lands a right hand. Brunson keeps telegraphing the takedown. Adesanya with a head kick. Brunson goes for another takedown but it is defended again. They clinch against the fence. Adesanya shrugs off the takedown. Adesanya hurts Brunson with a punch and then a knee and then knocks Brunson down with a head kick. Brunson to his feet but eating knees from Adesanya. Adesanya drops Brunson with two right hands and this fight is stopped. Wow. Adesanya made it look easy and he looks to be the real deal.
Official Result- Israel Adesanya def. Derek Brunson by TKO (strikes) at 4:51 of Round 1
> Karl Roberson (6-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Jack Marshman (22-7, 2-2 UFC) Middleweights
Roberson with a hard kick to the arms of Marshman. Roberson lands a left hand. They trade punches. Roberson lights Marshman up with a left hand. Roberson with a leg kick and just misses a left hand. Marshman lands a left as Roberson goes for a body kick. Roberson ducks under Marshman’s punches. They trade kicks. Roberson with a left hand. Roberson with the body kick. They trade punches. Marshman with a right hook to the body. Roberson with a body kick that hits Marshman’s elbow. Roberson with a late left hand. 10-9 Roberson.
Roberson with a straight left hand. Marshman with a body kick then a leg kick. Marshman with a big combination. Roberson is limping. Marshman with a leg kick. Roberson with a straight left hand that stumbles Marshman. Roberson with some left hands. Roberson with another straight left. Roberson with a high kick. Roberson lands the straight left. Marshman with an overhand right. Roberson with a big takedown into side control. Roberson looking to set up a choke but is landing body and head punches from side control. He isn’t working to advance but has dominant position as the round ends. 10-9 Roberson, 20-18 Roberson.
Roberson lands a big left hand. Roberson with an inside leg kick. Roberson with a high kick but it doesn’t land. Roberson with a left hand that Marshman eats. Roberson with another left hand. Marshman is spitting up blood. Roberson with a counter left hand. Marshman is keeping his hands low. Roberson with a big takedown near the fence and he is in side control. Roberson is keeping side control and moves to full mount. Roberson with short punches from the mount. Dominant win from Roberson as he hurt Marshman. Marshman showed a lot of toughness. 10-9 Roberson, 30-27 Roberson.
Official Result- Karl Roberson def. Jack Marshman by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
> David Branch (#7, 22-4, 4-3 UFC) vs. Jared Cannonier (10-4, 3-4 UFC) Middleweights
Branch gets a quick takedown but Cannonier gets up only to get dumped again by Branch. They get back up. Branch goes right for another takedown against the fence but Cannonier is landing elbows. Branch gets the back for a moment but they reverse into clinch position. Cannonier with a knee to the body and they break. Branch gets another takedown and gets the back. Branch landing punches from the back. They get to their feet but Branch still has the body lock. They break. Branch landing the jab and then lands a leg kick. Branch gets a brief takedown. They break and Cannonier lands some big punches that Branch shakes off. Branch works for a late takedown but time runs out. 10-9 Branch.
Cannonier drops Branch with a huge right hand and has Branch in a lot of trouble. Cannonier has the back of Branch and is landing big punches and the referee stops the fight. Those were big shots by Cannonier as he gets the comeback win in his middleweight debut. He could be a force at 185 pounds.
Official Result- Jared Cannonier def. David Branch by TKO (punches) at :29 of Round 2
> Chris Weidman (#3, 14-3, 10-3 UFC) vs. Ronaldo Souza (#5, 25-6 1 NC, 8-3 UFC) Middleweights
Weidman with a leg kick. Weidman with a right hand. Souza misses an overhand right. They clinch and Weidman lands a knee before they break. Weidman with a right hand. Souza misses on two right hand attempts. Weidman lands a combo and stuns Souza with a right hand. They trade right hands. Souza with a liver punch. Souza with a leg kick. Weidman misses a right hand. Weidman with a right hand. Weidman lands a combo. Souza with a heavy leg kick. Souza bleeding from the nose. They trade late, Souza to the body. 10-9 Weidman.
Souza with a right hand over the top. Weidman with a leg kick and follows it with a right hand. Souza with a leg kick that gets checked. Weidman with a combo. They trade in close range and are starting to brawl. Souza lands a right hand and then one to the body. Weidman with a leg kick. Souza then lands a right hand and lands more to the body and a front kick. Souza turning it on. Souza with a left to the body followed by an overhand right. They clinch and exchange knees. Weidman with a right hand and he hurts Souza. Weidman ducks under some Souza’s punch. Souza lands a combo. Souza breathing heavy from a broken nose. Souza with an uppercut to the body. They brawl in a clinch. Weidman has slowed down a bit. Souza with a body kick. Weidman lands an uppercut. Souza tries a head kick but Weidman dumps him to the mat. Souza gets up and they clinch against the fence. Weidman with some knees against the fence. Weidman with a brief takedown but Souza rolls to his feet. 10-9 Souza, 19-19.
Souza’s nose is bothering him. Weidman with a leg kick and then a body kick. Weidman then lands a right hand. Souza with a heavy leg kick. They trade in close range. Souza with a right hand. They are brawling. Weidman lands a combo and then a knee up the middle. Weidman with an uppercut and then an overhand elbow. Weidman lands some punches. Souza with a body kick. They trade punches. Souza lands some right hands. Souza then drops Weidman with a huge right hand and Weidman is out. The referee doesn’t stop it and then Weidman tries to grab a leg but is done and Souza lands some punches and Dan Miragliotta finally stops it. Big knockout win for Souza over Weidman in a great fight.
Official Result- Ronaldo Souza def. Chris Weidman by TKO (punches) at 2:46 of Round 3
> Daniel Cormier (C, 21-1 1 NC, 10-1 1 NC UFC) vs. Derrick Lewis (#2, 21-5 1 NC, 12-3 UFC) UFC Heavyweight Championship
Lewis with a body kick. Lewis with a leg kick. Cormier with a leg kick. Lewis with a big body kick. Cormier goes for a takedown and gets it. Cormier in the half-guard and he made it look easy. Cormier looking to land from the top. Cormier with short punches and elbows. Lewis gives up his back as he tries to get up and he does. Cormier still has control of the body of Lewis. Cormier takes Lewis back down with an easy single-leg. Cormier with big punches and Lewis gives up the back. Cormier landing big punches and Cormier gets to the top. Cormier with more big punches. Lewis is doing nothing. 10-9 Cormier.
Cormier with a body kick. Lewis lands a right hand. Lewis just misses a big right hand. Lewis misses another. Cormier lands a left hand and then a front kick. Cormier with a single leg and just kicks Lewis’ leg out from under. Lewis gets up though. Cormier with an ankle pick and gets Lewis on his back. Cormier in side control and steps over and Lewis gives up his back. Cormier has the rear-naked choke locked in and Lewis taps! Cormier with the dominant win in making it look easy as he remains the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Official Result- Daniel Cormier def. Derrick Lewis by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:14 of Round 2, Cormier retains the UFC Heavyweight Championship
The first of the final three UFC PPVs of 2018 comes to us tonight from Madison Square Garden: the snakebit UFC 230 show that has seen more changes than a Broadway show.
Helping me dissect this show a bit for our dear readers is our event recapper duo of Ryan Frederick and Paul Fontaine.
The card:
UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis
Chris Weidman vs. Jacare Souza
David Branch vs. Jared Cannonier
Karl Roberson vs. Jack Marshman
Derek Brunson vs. Israel Adesanya
Jason Knight vs. Jordan Rinaldi
Sijara Eubanks vs. Roxanne Modaferri (Eubanks missed weight by 1.2 pounds)
Julio Arce vs. Sheymon Moraes
Ben Saunders vs. Lyman Good
Matt Frevola vs. Lando Vannata
Shane Burgos vs. Kurt Holobaugh
Brian Kelleher vs. Montel Jackson (Kelleher missed weight by 2 pounds)
Adam Wieczorek vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
What are you most looking forward to?
Paul: The main event fascinates me. If both guys were 100%, I feel like the result would be more of a foregone conclusion but Lewis just took one of the worst one-sided beatdowns of any heavyweight in history and then won, while Cormier admittedly couldn’t even make a fist three weeks ago. Conventional wisdom says Cormier wrestles him to death but at some point, Cormier could catch with that overhand right and if so, we have a new heavyweight champion. Even if it’s boring, it won’t be because Lewis could lmake a comeback at any time. And the fact it’s 25 minutes long means he has just that much more time to do.
Ryan: The main event is intriguing especially given the circumstances. Both men clearly aren’t at their peak when it comes to having a proper training camp and proper preparation for this fight. When that happens, you have to favor talent, and that is Cormier all the way. Lewis absolutely has a chance because he hits so hard, but I see Cormier being able to have his way in this one. I also like the fact we have sort of a middleweight tournament going on with the main card.
Josh: I’m going to diverge a bit from the top billing and go to the simmering feud between Israel Adesanya and Derek Brunson which will finally boil over in just a few hours. These two have been at each other for a few months and you can tell it’s not made up; there’s legit heat. I didn’t think Adesanya could get past Brad Tavares and he did. Brunson hits hard but always seems to make a mistake. I’m excited to see how this plays out tonight.
Anything being slept on?
Ryan: I can’t really say it’s being slept on, but Brunson vs. Adesanya should be fireworks and isn’t getting near the amount of attention that I expected. It’s a huge stepping point for Adesanya, but Brunson doesn’t always deliver when there is pressure on him. It definitely could be the fight of the night.
Paul: Julio Arce vs. Sheymon Moraes, both with sparkling records, should be a fun fight with two future contenders at bantamweight. Arce has only lost twice in his career, coincidentally both times to Brian Kelleher, who also fights on this card. Moraes is a former title contender in WSOF.
Josh: For a former champion that defeated one of the greatest of all-time, I don’t sense a lot of buzz about the return of Chris Weidman. There’s just this thing about him where people are either super high or meh on him. Then again, it could be the time off he took or it could be the fight itself which I’ll get to right now…
Anything not doing it for you?
Josh: I am not excited about Weidman-Souza at all. It’s been more than a year since the former champion was back in there with a big win over Kelvin Gastelum and while I understand Luke Rockhold had to pull out due to injury, Souza isn’t the guy I really want to see him fight. In his last outing, Gastelum dominated him and is getting a title shot this February. He’s 3-3 in his last six and I fear his title shot opportunities have passed. So yeah, I’m not excited about the co-main tonight.
Paul: The heavyweight fight opening up the Fight Pass prelims has the potential to put someone to sleep before the card even starts. I’m not expecting much at all from that one.
Ryan: I’m not really looking forward Eubanks vs. Modafferi, and that has a lot to do with Eubanks. She was originally going to be getting an undeserved title shot on this card, but it was then pulled for various reasons. Not only does she start complaining loudly about it, but then she goes and badly misses weight for a non-title fight on this card. Imagine if she had still been in a title fight. Then, she goes and acts like it’s no big deal that she missed weight and continues her act of being mad about having a title shot taken away. Her attitude towards everything has completely taken away any interest in seeing her fight.
What’s the intrigue with the show?
Paul:That Lewis can become the most unlikely UFC champion since Matt Serra would have to be it. If he does, he could be a potential breakthrough star and I think a fight between he and Brock Lesnar would have genuine crossover appeal and do great business.
Ryan: It is definitely the main event. Lewis even said it himself: if he becomes a UFC champion, everyone should be ashamed. It’s not that he doesn’t have heart and ability, he’s just being real with himself about his current standing in the sport. I’m also intrigued in the co-main between Weidman and Souza, mainly to see if Weidman still has what it takes to be a title contender.
Josh: It’s what happens with Brock Lesnar, or even Jon Jones, if Cormier loses. This is a big risk for Cormier and with a loss, his leverage is lessened into picking his spot for one last fight before retirement. I said on my podcast this week that I feel like Cormier is Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon, about to get out of the game but gets unlucky at the wrong time. I hope for our sake that isn’t the case for good ol’ DC, but I have this feeling it will be. If Lewis wins, I don’t think we’re getting Lewis-Lesnar.
What will be people talking about most after the show is done?
Paul: Probably who Lesnar will fight when he returns to the Octagon. After winning back the WWE Universal title at Crown Jewel, it would certainly be unique if he had a chance to pull off the rare double of holding the heavyweight titles in both pro wrestling and MMA. I’d say it’s a virtual lock that he challenges the winner of the main event.
Ryan: It will definitely be whoever wins the main event and what comes next. You assume it’s going to be Lesnar, but you can never be so sure with the amount of money the WWE continues to throw at him for doing minimal amount of work. After that, who knows what could happen. It’s also going to be fun to see how the contenders at middleweight shake out after this is all over.
Josh: That Cormier made a big mistake in taking this fight on short notice and that the Lesnar fight is gone. It sounds crazy, but given all the weird shit surrounding this card and how we got here, I have this feeling that our excitement about Cormier-Lesnar or Cormier-Jones III is going to have some cold water dumped on it. I hope I’m proven wrong.
It’s a Friday Night edition of Wrestling Observer Radio with Dave Meltzer and myself, guest co-host Garrett Gonzales.
Dave and I go over all of the latest news surrounding Friday’s WWE Crown Jewel results, ncluding Dave’s Observer story on Daniel Bryan and his decision to not go to Saudi Arabia, Shane McMahon winning the World Cup, what’s up with new Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, and the injuries coming out of the main event between DX and The Brothers of Destruction.
We also talk about how Lesnar, Daniel Cormier, Lesnar, and Jon Jones are all tied into the key shows of UFC’s final months of 2018 heading into 2019. We wrap up going over the latest information on the possibility of All In 2 and then preview both NJPW Power Struggle and UFC 230.
Timestamps:
Start – 18:37: Crown Jewel main event, Brock Lesnar
18:37 – 28:19: Shane McMahon wins World Cup
28:19 – 40:51: Daniel Bryan’s decision not to go
40:51 – 1:02:24: Rundown of Crown Jewel
1:02:24 – 1:10:18: All In 2 speculation
1:10:18 – 1:12:30: Power Struggle preview
1:12:30 – 1:18:20: Jones/Gustafsson presser, UFC 230 preview
1:18:20 – end: Jericho cruise
While all of the UFC 230 main card fights are official for Saturday night, two fighters missed weight Friday including one woman who was briefly slotted for the main event at one point.
Sijara Eubanks hit 127.2 on the scale, 1.2 pounds over the flyweight limit for her FS1 fight against Roxanne Modaferri. As the UFC searched for a main event for this Madison Square Garden return, Eubanks was tabbed to face Valentina Shevchenko for the vacant women’s flyweight title. However, they chose to go in another direction and Eubanks lost her opportunity.
Eubanks also didn’t make weight for her fight against Nicco Montano in the TUF finale for the then-newly created flyweight title. The Modaferri fight will go on, but Eubanks loses 20% of her fight purse.
Bantamweight Brian Kelleher also missed weight for his fight with Montel Jackson, coming in two pounds over. That fight will also go on as scheduled but with Kelleher giving up 20% of his fight purse.
On a positive note, everyone else made weight for the event. UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier notably came in at a career high 251.2 pounds for his fight against Derrick Lewis (264.6 pounds). Both men are coming in on short notice for the fight.
On another newsworthy week in MMA, Josh Nason’s Punch-Out returns to your earbuds with a new show featuring old guest Spencer Kyte of The Sporting News and UFC.com.
On the docket this week:
– This past Saturday’s UFC Moncton event and how Anthony Smith’s submission win over Volkan Oezdemir puts him in the rapidly improving light heavyweight division.
– The recent “trade” that saw Ben Askren sign a deal with the UFC and Demetrious Johnson sign a deal with ONE. We discussed how this came to be, whether the UFC is the ultimate place fighters want to compete now, and the change in business that brought us to this point.
– Finally, we wrap up with a look at Saturday’s UFC 230 show at Madison Square Garden and what the promotion has to do to create some buzz this week. We discussed some of the more interesting fights on the show, how the main event isn’t a given, and how the aura of an MSG show affected this show.
Longtime pro wrestling fan Daniel Cormier might fight a former WWE champion in the future and also might call one of his matches one day as well.
During a 35-minute media session to promote his upcoming UFC 230 heavyweight title defense, the 39-year-old admitted that the short notice fight pushed back a planned WWE commentary tryout at the company’s Performance Center in Orlando, FL.
Besides being a two division champion in UFC, Cormier also co-hosts UFC Tonight on FS1 and is a frequent member of the broadcast booth for various UFC events. He is also an unabashed pro wrestling fan and even got into it with the Young Bucks on Twitter this year over spots in a match.
Cormier said he has been talking to WWE because “they wanted me to go in and do an audition as a member of the commentary team. That was my private little thing. But because of the fight, I had to push it back. So there might be some DC in WWE sh*t coming.”
Cormier said that after his fight with Derrick Lewis in a few weeks at Madison Square Garden, he’ll do the tryout but is still planning to finish out his UFC in-ring career and will “never not leave the UFC” in his current on-screen roles. He said he wants to hear Vince McMahon yelling in his ear on the headset telling him what to say as he “freaks out” about the in-ring action.
He joked that if he was to face Brock Lesnar in the ring, he wouldn’t do the job. Cormier is expected to face either Lesnar or Jon Jones in his final career fight if he can win at UFC 230.
To watch the whole session, check out the video below, queued up to when he talks about WWE:
Curses might not be real, but the UFC’s attempt to put on a big event at Madison Square Garden in a few weeks feels like it has cosmic forces working against it.
In the latest bit of bad news for UFC 230 on Saturday, November 3rd, Luke Rockhold is out of his co-main event rematch with Chris Weidman with an injury according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. He said the promotion is shuffling things around, presumably to keep Weidman, a New York native, for the event. UFC has yet to formally announce any change.
ESPN’s Ariel Helwani confirmed the news, adding Rockhold is dealing with a right knee sprain, left shin infection, and a broken nose, but hopes to be ready to return in four weeks. He added the hope is to rebook Weidman against former title challenger Jacare Souza who is set to fight David Branch on the show.
The UFC’s third effort in “The World’s Most Famous Arena” has had a number of setbacks starting with their effort to book a main event. After months of speculation, they originally were going to go with Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks for the vacant women’s flyweight title, a fight that was roundly panned when first broken.
They then turned to double champion Daniel Cormier, still recovering from a broken finger, against Derrick Lewis, he fresh off a come from behind win several weeks ago at UFC 229.
Fan sentiment was around the creation of a 165-pound title for a main event of previous co-main eventers Dustin Poirier and the returning Nate Diaz. But, Dana White wasn’t interested in that, nor making Diaz-Poirer the main event. Then, Poirier had to drop out of the fight altogether due to an injury.
The 34-year-old Rockhold is coming off a February knockout loss to Yoel Romero while Weidman is coming off a win over Kelvin Gastelum in July 2017.
Diaz and Poirier were scheduled to face off at lightweight in the semi-main event of UFC 230, though both had lobbied for the UFC to create a 165-pound division and wanted to headline Madison Square Garden by fighting for the title of the new weight class.
As was announced earlier on Tuesday, Daniel Cormier will defend his heavyweight championship against Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 230. White said that Valentina Shevchenko would move back to UFC 231 and face Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant women’s flyweight title.
After trying and failing with several different combinations of fighters and titles/interim titles and getting panned for a potential women’s flyweight title fight as the main event, the UFC is going with a short-notice heavyweight title fight to headline its return to Madison Square Garden.
The Saturday, November 3rd UFC 230 pay-per-view will feature heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis in the main event, first reported by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, confirmed to him via text from Dana White and Cormier himself.
Cormier had been recovering from a broken finger suffered in his title-winning performance over Stipe Miocic this July. It was expected that his next fight would be against Brock Lesnar in early-2019, but the UFC’s desperation in making a big fight for MSG took precedence.
Lewis (seen above) is coming off a Hail Mary knockout of Alexander Volkov at this past Saturday’s UFC 229 event and a star-making performance on the microphone in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. Lewis has won nine of his last 10 and has a penchant for taking short-notice fights. He joked after the fight that he wasn’t ready for a title shot because he needed to work on his cardio.
The MSG show also features Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier and Chris Weidman vs. Luke Rockhold II, but will not feature the much-discussed Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks fight for the vacant women’s flyweight title. White told Okamoto via text that the plan will now be to move back to a December fight between Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Eubanks had said she signed the contract to fight while Shevchenko never responded publicly. Meanwhile, Jedrzejczyk publicly aired her issues with how things went down which may not make that as smooth a process as White might hope.
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks may not headline the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden after all.
Though the event is under a month away, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported on Monday that the UFC has opened discussions for a heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis to main event UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden on November 3. Okamoto wrote that Cormier vs. Lewis isn’t a done deal and “certain hurdles still have to be cleared.”
Cormier, who defeated Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 in July to win the heavyweight title and become a two-division champion, has been dealing with a hand injury. His first heavyweight title defense has been expected to be against Brock Lesnar, who is eligible to return to the Octagon in January 2019.
Lewis was in action at UFC 229 on Saturday night, coming from behind in the final seconds of the fight to defeat Alexander Volkov by knockout. In his post-match interview, Lewis said that he wasn’t trying to challenge for the heavyweight title now due to his poor cardio.
Shevchenko and Eubanks’ fight for the vacant women’s flyweight championship has yet to be officially announced for the Madison Square Garden show. Nate Diaz vs. Dustin Poirier and Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman are two of the top bouts set for the event.
Of all the possibilities to headline the UFC’s November return to Madison Square Garden, a title fight for the vacant women’s flyweight championship wasn’t high on the list of expected outcomes.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto on Twitter, the main event for UFC 230 on November 3rd will be Valentina Shevchenko vs. Sijara Eubanks.
Shevchenko was to face Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant title in the co-main event of December’s UFC 231, which is why this comes as a bit of a surprise. As of now, it’s unclear why Jedrzejczyk isn’t involved, but it’s assumed that she wouldn’t be ready in time.
Eubanks, who tweeted that she has signed the deal, was originally slated to compete for the title against Nicco Montano after winning the season of TUF where the belt was introduced. However, she had to pull out of the fight due to kidney failure trying to make weight. She made her official UFC debut earlier this year with a decision win over Lauren Murphy.
The 33-year-old has just five career fights and sports a 3-2 record, while the 30-year-old Shevchenko is a decorated fighter in several disciplines and has already competed for a UFC title once. She will be a big favorite coming into the fight.
The UFC appeared to have made efforts on a variety of main events for the MSG show, but nothing came to fruition. Their latest attempt was an Alexander Gustafsson vs. Yoel Romero bout for either the currently non-vacant UFC light heavyweight title or an interim version. That eventually turned into a Gustafsson-Jon Jones rematch for late-December that has yet to be announced.
As it currently stands, the title fight will headline above a co-main of Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz, Jacare Souza vs. David Branch, Luke Rockhold vs. Chris Weidman II, Derek Brunson vs. Israel Adesanya, and more.
Two years removed from his last fight in the UFC, popular lightweight Nate Diaz will make his long-awaited return to face Dustin Poirier in the co-main event of November’s UFC 230 from New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
The fight was first announced by the LA Times’ Lance Pugmire, but has not officially been announced yet. It’s expected the two will be part of Friday’s UFC press conference that will feature a slew of fighters and fight announcements for the promotion’s final months of 2018.
Poirier is coming off a second round TKO of Eddie Alvarez this past Saturday at UFC Calgary while Diaz was last seen losing a unanimous decision to Conor McGregor at UFC 202 in August 2016.
For Poirier, he gets another big name after calling out UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who is expected fo face McGregor this year if the two sides can come to an agreement. For Diaz, he gets back into the mix against a higher-profile opponent after a long absence and wanting more money to return. Even with a loss, a trilogy fight against McGregor seems inevitable while a win could also mean McGregor or even Nurmagomedov if he was to beat the Irishman.
