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Details of Punk’s latest injury Details of Punk’s broken foot, how it happened, and his recovery Why more details about the suspension weren’t announced on television The suspensions and how the company is handling the backstage fight Stories coming out about the fight that are clearly not true, motives to explain why things happened More details about the press conference More things that happened that haven’t been reported Where AEW goes from here Full coverage of Clash at the Castle Full coverage of AEW All Out PPV and live numbers for both shows and what lessons can be taken Notes from our two-hour interview with Tony Khan on AEW business Keiji Muto retirement news WWE Worlds Collide coverage UFC makes debut in France with a great main event Complete rundown of TV ratings of all the national shows plus how each segment did CMLL Noche de Campeones card with fan voting on matches Lucha Libre Dy cad at Arena Mexico Five Star Grand Prix update N-1 tournament finals and next major NOAH show Movie on Ric Flair Notes on Scottish Hall of Famer Ian Campbell Thunder Rosa update Update on AEW video game Advance tickets for WWE & AEw shows International TV ratings WWE & AEW streaming numbers Backstage fight in UFC New executive hires in WWE as well as new contract details for the WWE big four execs
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Sunday News Update
We have two weekend shows up. Garrett Gonzales and I talked all the news of he week on one show and Bryan and I ran down UFC and the weekend TV shows as well as the latest news.
Regarding last night’s UFC 279, there was one big unanswered question. Dana White said the commission would not have allowed Nate Diaz, at 171, to face Khamzat Chimaev, at 178.5. But the commission did allow Li Jingliang, at 171, to face Daniel Rodriguez, at 180. And in the cage the two looked far more than nine pounds different.
Chimaev, who was one of the biggest heels I’ve seen in UFC, maybe even at the Matt Serra/Josh Koshcheck in Montreal facing GSP level, said he wants to still fight at 170 and can make weight. Dana White at the post-show press conference, said he thinks Chimaev should move to 185 pounds.
For Google searches, last night’s show did 2.5 million searches, more than one million of which related to Diaz. That would indicate a good PPV number. AEW, which never cracks the top 20 unless it’s the day of the PPV show, had C.M. Punk at No. 9 on Monday with 100,000 and at No. 16 on Wednesday with 50,000, the first related to the altercation and the second related to the first word being out that the triceps injury was serious. The other combat sports related placing for the week was Anderson Silva, at No. 13 on Tuesday, regarding his fight with Jake Paul.
Regarding the Li Jingliang vs. Daniel Rodriguez fight, it was a very controversial decision for Rodriguez. Judge Michael Ball had rounds two and three for Rodriguez. Judge Douglas Crosby has one and two for Rodriguez. Judge Ron McCarthy only had round one for Rodriguez. Almost every media score had 29-28 for Jingliang, with 92% scoring for him and 8% for Rodriguez.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s UFC 279, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
We are also looking for reports from these weekend shows: Smackdown Friday in Seattle (dark matches only) NXT on Friday in Jacksonville and Saturday in Orlando WWE’s house show tonight in Wenatchee, WA New Japan tonight in Las Vegas for Strong tapings at Sam’s Town. We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]
The Raw house show last night in Colorado Springs, CO:
Street Profits b Alpha Academy
A three-way match for 24/7 title saw Nikki ASH beat Dana Brooke to win the title, then Tamina pinned ASH and then Brooke beat Tamina and Brooke escaped with the belt
Finn Balor & Damian Priest b A.J. Styles & Dolph Ziggler with help from Dominik Mysterio
Bobby Lashley b The Miz in a street fight for the U.S. title. Tommaso Ciampa was interfering and helping Miz win the title, the lights went out and Dexter Lumis appeared and saved the title. Lashley put Ciampa and Miz through tables to win (thanks to Lupita Lara)
The Smackdown house show last night in Spokane,WA:
Usos b New Day to keep the tag titles
Karrion Kross b Drew Gulak via crossjacket choke
Shinsuke Nakamura b Happy Corbin via Kinshasa
Aliyah & Raquel Rodriguez kept women’s tag titles over Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler and Xia Li & Shotzi when Aliyah pinned Li
Liv Morgan b Natalya to keep he women’s title
Sheamus & Butch & Ridge Holland b Gunther & Giovanni Vinci & Ludvig Kaiser via DQ
Drew McIntyre b Sami Zayn in a street fight with the Claymore kick after putting him through a table
(thanks to Ryan Millman and Jesse Carder)
WWE
Fallon Henley vs. Lash Legend has been added to Tuesday’s NXT 2.0 first year anniversary card.
In the fans voting for Tuesday, this is how the balloting looks For the stipulation in the Pretty Deadly vs. Creed Brothers tag title match, fans will vote for either a tornado match, a no DQ match or a cage match. For the opponent for Carmelo Hayes for the North American title, fan swill vote on Wes Lee, Joe Gacy or Von Wagner.
A&E has no new content from WWE for a while now, but they are airing replays of Biographies tonight with Bill Goldberg at 8 p;m., Undertaker and 10 p.m. and Goldberg again at midnight.
Other Notes
For the New Japan show tonight in Las Vegas, as of this morning, there were 165 tickets left. Sam’s Town was set up for 914. Tonight’s card:
Juice Robinson vs. Ren Narita
QT Marshall vs. Shota Umino
Doc Gallows vs. Che Cabrera
Shingo Takagi vs. Rocky Romero
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tom Lawlor
Mistico & Blake Christian vs. Mascara Dorada & Alex Zayne
Jay White & Karl Anderson vs. Homicide & Wheeler Yuta
MCW from last night in Joppa, MD: Angel Alvarado won three-way over Alex Divine and Steve Fuerte, Trey Miguel (with Lio Rush in the corner) b Mike Walker, Robert Locke & Eric Martin b Diego Cruz & Lor Diaz, Mandy Leon b Zayuda Steel, Drolix & Chuck Lennox & Erick Redbeard b Jacobs Family, Tim Spriggs (a BJJ champion) b Killian McMurphy. Spriggs was a surprise replacement for Brandon Scott, Chris Bey b Myles Hawkins, Brian Johnson won an 11 man Bruiser Strong Rumble elimination match to become the new MCW champion.
Britain Hart (6-1) beat Charisa Sigala (1-3-1) to become the first Bare Knuckle Fighting strawweight champion last night in Great Falls, MT in the main event. Former UFC fighter Joe Riggs went to a no contest with Ken Dyer after Riggs was knocked down and unable to continue after an accidental headbutt.
KSW yesterday sold out Arena Otrow in Osrow Wielkopolski, Poland. Phil De Fries retained his heavyweight title for the seventh time in the main event with a submission in 4:11 over Ricardo Prasel. Tom Breese beat former Olympic wrestler Damian Janikowski with a guillotine at 1:55 of the second round. Janikowski was upset after the match saying that he never tapped out and Breese seemed open to a rematch.
GOUGE from last night in Raleigh, NC:
Mecha Mercenary & Dirty Daddy b Bobby Wohlfert & Victor Andrews
Snooty Fox & TKO b Mecha Mercenary & Dirty Daddy
Snooty Fox & TKO b Viva La Smith to win the Gouge tag titles,
Kaitlyn Marie & Glamor Boy Khan b Nina O’Rian & Chet Sterling,
Waylon maze b Caribbean Tiger in a lumberjack match,
TIM b Seymour Snott to keep the Gouge title.
Next show is 9/24 at Clouds Brewery in Raleigh, NC.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including UFC 279, all the drama leading to the card changes that likely made for a better show, Young Bucks and WWE, ratings, Rampage and Smackdown reviews, mailbag and tons more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
In a fight that wasn’t previously scheduled two days before, Nate Diaz submitted Tony Ferguson in the fourth round in what is expected to be his final UFC fight.
The fight was the headliner of Saturday’s UFC 279 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and one of three fights that were changed around due to original Diaz opponent Khamzat Chimaev missing weight by nearly eight pounds on Friday.
The end came when Ferguson went for a takedown as Diaz was punching him. Diaz countered with a guillotine choke and finished it in quick order.
This was Diaz’s final fight on his UFC deal, giving him the contractual freedom he has desired for years. It’s expected he will not re-sign with the UFC and will go into boxing with a Jake Paul fight likely in 2023.
During his post-fight comments, Diaz did say that he’s had a love/hate relationship with the UFC but loves the UFC, Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta and Hunter Campbell. He said he is going to go into another sport and show people how it’s done.
Ferguson was originally slated to face Li Jingliang in a welterweight co-main event. Jingliang instead faced Daniel Rodriguez after his opponent, Kevin Holland, was moved up to face Chimaev instead.
Chimaev dispatched Holland easily, submitting him in the first round. Rodriguez, carrying a notable weight advantage against Jingliang, picked up a unanimous decision win.
Diaz and Ferguson had a competitive fight with Diaz showing his prowess on the feet by battering Ferguson while also throwing in some leg kicks for good measure. One Diaz checked kick bloodied up Ferguson’s shin in the first round.
Ferguson, however, was able to do damage on Diaz’s lead leg using his own kicks.
The fight featured the usual theatrics he and brother Nick have been known for. At one point in the third, Diaz took a quick break and rested his arm on the top of the cage which got a hero’s reaction from the crowd.
The 37-year-old Diaz now has his first win since August 2019 and snapped a two-fight losing streak in the process.
The 38-year-old Ferguson has now lost five straight fights dating back to May 2020. Tonight was just his second fight since June 2021.
Welcome to F4WOnline.com’s live coverage of UFC 279: Diaz vs. Ferguson, emanating from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
It has been a crazy week in Las Vegas as the Octagon is back home with a fight card that saw numerous changes just 24 hours before the event, ending up with a welterweight headliner featuring one of the most popular fighters in UFC history in perhaps his final UFC fight.
Nate Diaz steps inside the Octagon for perhaps the final time when he takes on Tony Ferguson in the five-round headliner after a crazy series of events saw this fight made on Friday. Diaz was originally slated to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the main event, but Chimaev missed weight by seven-and-a-half pounds and Diaz refused to fight him, so Ferguson was moved into the headline slot.
Chimaev will remain on the card, but he will now fight Kevin Holland in the co-main event, which will also be five rounds. Holland was scheduled to fight Daniel Rodriguez in a 180-pound catchweight fight, but was shifted to fight Chimaev after the two had a heated exchange that nearly led to blows backstage at the UFC 279 press conference on Thursday, and because they weighed within a pound of each other as well.
Two fighters impacted by those changes, Li Jingliang and Daniel Rodriguez, will now fight each other after agreeing despite an eight-and-a-half-pound weigh-in difference between the two. Also on the main card is a women’s catchweight bout pitting Irene Aldana against Macy Chiasson, and an exciting light heavyweight bout between Johnny Walker and Ion Cutelaba.
Follow along with our live coverage of the event beginning at 6 PM 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].
They’re trading to start and Lainesse lands some leg kicks then Weeks lands some leg kicks. Weeks grabs the neck and is looking for something but Lainesse escapes. They’re trading and Lainesse works the jab but Weeks is landing more. Weeks with some kicks as he’s chasing Lainesse around. Close round. 10-9 Weeks.
They trade to start the second and both are landing looping shots. Weeks lands a left hand. Lainesse with a leg kick. Weeks pushes it against the fence looking for a takedown and scores a brief takedown but they’re right up and they break. Weeks continues to land more as the round ends. 10-9 Weeks, 20-18 Weeks.
They’re both looking for openings in the third but neither really landing much. Weeks is looking for takedowns but is unable to score them, but he pushes Lainesse against the fence looking to score one. Lainesse lands a leg kick. Lainesse with the jab but Weeks is the one pressuring and pushing the pace. Lainesse with a body kick and Weeks returns with a right hand. They trade and Lainesse grabs the neck late and looks for a guillotine. Lainesse with a flying knee late. Close fight. 10-9 Lainesse, 29-28 Weeks.
Official Result- Yohan Lainesse def. Darian Weeks by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Martinez throwing some side kicks to start out her UFC debut. Reed attacks the lead leg with a kick and Martinez lands a right hand. Martinez lands a check left hook. Reed lands a right hand and Martinez briefly goes down but gets up and they trade. Martinez grabs the body and pushes it against the fence and is looking for the takedown. They break and Reed with a high kick. They clinch late. 10-9 Reed.
They trade punches to start the second. Martinez lands a leg kick and Reed lands a high kick. Martinez with a body kick. She lands a leg kick. Reed with a leg kick. They clinch against the fence and Reed has the advantage and they break. Martinez with a leg kick that Reed checks. They trade at the end. 10-9 Martinez, 19-19.
Reed lands a right hand that slowed Martinez down. Reed is pressuring Martinez down and lands a leg kick and Martinez scores a takedown. Martinez stands and lands a leg kick before Reed gets to her feet. They clinch against the fence and Reed lands a knee. Reed gets a takedown and has the mount at first but transitions to the back as they work their way up. Reed gets it back down but they get right back up. Reed with some knees at the end. 10-9 Reed, 29-28 Reed.
Official Result- Elise Reed def. Melissa Martinez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
> Bantamweights- Chad Anheliger (12-5, 1-0 UFC) vs. Alatengheili (15-8-2, 3-1-1 UFC)
Heili with a leg kick as both are looking to land the right hand. Anheliger with a leg kick. Heili lands a heavy right hand that pushes Anheliger back against the fence and he lands a combo. Heili lands a right hand that hurts Anheliger again and Heili with a leg kick. Anheliger is still running away as Heili hurts him again. Anheliger with a counter punch as he’s busted open and Heili with a leg kick. Heili with some shots late. 10-9 Heili.
Heili landing more to start the second as he is landing and circling around. Anheliger lands a right hand and Heili lands a left hand. Heili lands a left hand. Heili is pressuring and lands a combo. Heili lands a right hand. Heili with a combination. Anheliger with a body kick. Heili with a combo and Anheliger lands an uppercut. 10-9 Heili, 20-18 Heili.
Heili gets an early takedown and lands before standing and Anheliger is throwing kicks from the back but is ordered up. Anheliger with a leg kick. Anheliger landing slightly more in this round. Anheliger with an uppercut with the left hand. Heili gets a takedown and lands from the top and lands some hammerfists late as he gets the back. 10-9 Heili, 30-27 Heili.
Official Result- Alatengheili def. Chad Anheliger by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
> Women’s Featherweights- #15 WBW Norma Dumont (7-2, 3-2 UFC) vs. Danyelle Wolf (1-0, 0-0 UFC)
Dumont landing some leg kicks early on. Wolf lands a combo. Wolf lands a nice right hand. She lands another. She then lands a left hand and then a combo. Wolf lands a left hand and then a jab. Dumont lands a right hand. Wolf with a left hand then Dumont lands a right hand and a jab. 10-9 Dumont.
Dumont with a leg kick. She lands another. Dumont with another leg kick. Wolf lands a right hand and they clinch and Dumont is able to get the takedown. They get to their feet and break. Dumont lands a right hand that hurts Wolf badly but then decides to clinch instead of taking advantage. They break. Dumont drops Wolf with a right hand and gets into the guard as the round ends. 10-9 Dumont, 20-18 Dumont.
Wolf lands a left hand and Dumont gets a big takedown. Dumont with some shots from the top and she lands some right hands before standing. Dumont with a big left hand from the top and she moves into side control. Dumont landing and she moves to the mount. Dumont in the half-guard and lands as she looks to set up a choke. Dumont with more punches from the top. She lands more from the top at the end. 10-8 Dumont, 30-26 Dumont.
Official Result- Norma Dumont def. Danyelle Wolf by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
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> Heavyweights*- Jake Collier (13-7, 5-6 UFC) vs. Chris Barnett (22-8, 1-2 UFC)
(*Barnett missed weight by 1.5 pounds)
They have a little bit of a slugfest to start before Barnett circles away. Collier with a body kick then drops Barnett with a punch. Barnett gets up and both are throwing and Collier lands a head kick. They are having a war right now. They clinch but break. Barnett’s left eye is closed. Barnett with a leg kick. Barnett lands a nice combo. Collier lands a left hand. Barnett with a leg kick. Collier with a leg kick. Barnett with a combo. Collier gets a takedown right into mount. Collier gets the back and has Barnett flattened out and is landing punches. Collier gets the neck and looks for the choke. It’s not under the chin and Barnett gives a thumbs up. Barnett gets to his feet and they break. Collier with a left hand. Wild round. 10-9 Collier.
Barnett lands a jab then a follow-up right hand. Barnett with a right hand. Both are landing punches inside the pocket. They clinch and Collier with a knee. Barnett lands and they go to the ground and Barnett gets the mount and is landing lots of big punches. Collier is in trouble as Barnett keeps landing lots of punches. Barnett landing more and it is stopped. What a fight! Great finish by Barnett.
Official Result- Chris Barnett def. Jake Collier by TKO (punches) at 2:24 of Round 2
Pickett with a side kick to the body. Pickett with a combo. They trade punches. Pickett with a body kick. Pickett grabs the body and tries for a takedown against the fence. Tiuliulin escapes and they break. Tiuliulin with a right hand. They trade punches. Tiuliulin lands a right hand then a flurry to the body. Tiuliulin with a pair of right hands then lands a combo. Pickett with a body kick. We have a timeout for a groin strike on Pickett. They get back to action and trade and Tiuliulin with a right hand and a leg kick. 10-9 Pickett.
They trade to start the second and Tiuliulin with some body kicks. Tiuliulin landing with more volume as he’s pushing the pace. Tiuliulin throws a kick and the knee lands to the groin and we have a timeout. A point is taken away from Tiuliulin. Tiuliulin comes out firing and is landing more. Tiuliulin with an elbow. They go to the mat after Tiuliulin lands some shots and Tiuliulin is in side control and lands some elbows and they stand. Tiuliulin with some standing elbows. Tiuliulin lands a knee and Pickett goes down and Tiuliulin is landing punches and it is stopped. Big finish from Tiuliulin.
Official Result- Denis Tiuliulin def. Jamie Pickett by TKO (strikes) at 4:52 of Round 2
> 220-pound Catchweights- Jailton Almeida (16-2, 2-0 UFC) vs. Anton Turkalj (8-0, 0-0 UFC)
Almeida immediately gets the takedown. He gets the back and Turkalj is trying to scramble out. They get up for a moment but Almeida slams it back down. Almeida lands from the top as he remains on top. Almeida gets some right hands thru. Almeida still landing big shots as he passes to the mount and looks for the arm-triangle choke. He lets go and is landing big shots. He gets the back and locks in a rear-naked choke and Turkalj taps! This was just an absolute mauling.
Official Result- Jailton Almeida def. Anton Turkalj by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:27 of Round 1
Dawodu lands some leg kicks early on. They trade and Erosa lands a spinning back fist. Dawodu with a body kick and Erosa grabs the leg but Dawodu is able to escape. Dawodu with a leg kick. Erosa with a body kick then a leg kick. Dawodu with the jab. Erosa lands a combo and then an uppercut. Erosa lands a big right hand and Dawodu is hurt. They clinch and Erosa with some knees before they break. Dawodu lands a right hand. Erosa lands a right hand then a couple of uppercuts. Dawodu with an elbow. Dawodu with a head kick. Erosa with a knee then rocks Dawodu again with a right hand and lands a flying knee. 10-9 Erosa.
Dawodu with a right hand and Erosa lands a knee. Dawodu with the jab. Dawodu with a right hand. They clinch for a moment and Dawodu lands a big elbow as they break. Dawodu lands the jab and Erosa with a counter left hand. Erosa gets a takedown. He gets the back and Dawodu stands with Erosa on his back. Erosa has the body triangle locked in standing. They go to the mat with Erosa landing from the back. Erosa working for a choke. They stand and Erosa still has the back but Dawodu escapes. Erosa lands some knees to the body. 10-9 Erosa, 20-18 Erosa.
Erosa with a right hand. Dawodu with the jab and Erosa with a right hand. They trade kicks and Erosa with a right hand. Erosa lands a couple of uppercuts. Dawodu lands a body shot and Erosa lands a combo. Dawodu with the jab. Erosa with a right hand. Erosa with a knee up the middle. Erosa gets the takedown and gets the back and locks in the body triangle. Erosa landing from the back. Dawodu able to spin into the guard of Erosa and lands some right hands but they stand at the end. 10-9 Erosa, 30-27 Erosa.
Official Result- Julian Erosa def. Hakeem Dawodu by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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> Light Heavyweights- #13 Johnny Walker (18-7, 4-4 UFC) vs. Ion Cutelaba (16-7-1 1 NC, 5-6-1 UFC)
Cutelaba with a leg kick and Walker lands a high kick. Cutelaba grabs the leg and gets the takedown. Walker has grabbed the fence a couple of times from the bottom. Cutelaba stands but works back into the guard of Walker. Cutelaba looks for an armbar but Walker escapes, gets the takedown and gets the back and is looking for a rear-naked choke but Cutelaba gets out. Walker gets the choke locked in and he has it in deep and Cutelaba taps! Big win for Walker as he gets the submission.
Official Result- Johnny Walker def. Ion Cutelaba by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:37 of Round 1
Aldana with a left hook. Chiasson with a body kick. They trade punches and leg kicks and Chiasson shoots for a takedown but Aldana defends against the fence. They break and Chiasson with a left hand to the body. Aldana with the jab and then a right hand. Aldana with a leg kick. Aldana lands a right hand. Chiasson lands a right hand. Chiasson tries a takedown but Aldana is able to grab the arm and lock in an armbar but Chiasson gets out and Aldana gets the mount and lands punches and locks the armbar back in but loses it. Aldana gets side control and lands some big punches. Strong close to the first. 10-9 Aldana.
Chiasson with a combo and Aldana lands a right hand. They trade leg kicks. Chiasson gets a takedown and Aldana gets the leg and goes for a leg lock. Chiasson is looking to take the back. Aldana with some back elbows. They scramble to the feet and Chiasson drags it back down. Chiasson has the back and looks to get the hooks in. Chiasson with some elbows. Chiasson has the body triangle in from the back. Chiasson gets the mount and lands some punches. Chiasson with some right hands. 10-9 Chiasson, 19-19.
Chiasson with a leg kick. Aldana lands a couple of jabs. Chiasson shoots for a takedown but Aldana slips away. Aldana lands a right hand and Chiasson fires back with a left hand. Chiasson lands a nice left hand. Chiasson gets a takedown. Chiasson stands and all of a sudden goes down in pain holding her body and the fight is stopped. It appears that Aldana landed an upkick to the liver that shut Chiasson off and it is all over. That is a first. What a finish and win for Aldana.
Official Result- Irene Aldana def. Macy Chiasson by TKO (kick) at 2:21 of Round 3
> 180-pound Catchweights- #14 WW Li Jingliang (19-7, 11-5 UFC) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (16-2, 6-1 UFC)
Jingliang with a leg kick and Rodriguez lands a left hand. Rodriguez lands a body kick. Jingliang with a leg kick. Jingliang with a body kick. Jingliang with some leg kicks and Rodriguez lands the jab. Jingliang with a left hand and then lands a body kick. Rodriguez with a body kick. Jingliang with a right hand. Rodriguez with a high kick. Jingliang lands a left hand. Rodriguez lands a left hand. Jingliang with a low kick and then lands another leg kick and a right hand. 10-9 Jingliang.
They trade to start the second. Both land leg kicks. Rodriguez lands a left hand. Jingliang with a leg kick. Rodriguez lands the jab. Jingliang with a right hand. Jingliang with an inside leg kick. They trade leg kicks. Rodriguez with a leg kick as Jingliang lands a left hook. They trade punches. Rodriguez with a leg kick. Rodriguez with a high kick and Jingliang with a leg kick. Jingliang with a leg kick and lands a right hand. Jingliang lands a left hand then hurts Rodriguez with a right hand. Jingliang then lands some kicks. Rodriguez with the jab. Rodriguez with a head kick and Jingliang gets a late takedown. 10-9 Jingliang, 20-18 Jingliang.
Both looking for openings to start the third and Jingliang with some leg kicks. Rodriguez starting to land more in the third but the pace is slowing a little. Rodriguez with some left hands. Jingliang with a leg kick. Rodriguez is landing the jab. Lots of booing from the crowd but they shouldn’t. Rodriguez pressuring and Jingliang is looking tired. Rodriguez lands more at the end. 10-9 Rodriguez, 29-28 Jingliang.
Official Result- Daniel Rodriguez def. Li Jingliang by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
> 180-pound Catchweights- #3 WW Khamzat Chimaev (11-0, 5-0 UFC) vs. Kevin Holland (23-7 1 NC, 10-4 1 NC UFC)
Chimaev gets an immediate takedown and Holland scrambles up. Chimaev gets it back down. They get up and Chimaev gets it right back down and looks for the D’Arce choke. Holland trying to slip out but Chimaev still has control of the neck. He has it locked in, though, and he gets Holland to tap! That was quick and dominant.
Official Result- Khamzat Chimaev def. Kevin Holland by submission (D’Arce choke) at 2:13 of Round 1
> Welterweights- Nate Diaz (20-13, 15-11 UFC) vs. #11 LW Tony Ferguson (25-7, 15-5 UFC)
Ferguson just misses a spinning elbow and then trips Diaz to the mat. Ferguson with a leg kick. Diaz pressing forward. Diaz with a leg kick. Ferguson is bleeding from his shin. Ferguson misses an elbow. Diaz lands a left hand. Ferguson is landing with more volume here. Diaz lands a right hand and a kick and Ferguson lands a left hand. Diaz lands a nice right hand. Ferguson with a leg kick. Ferguson misses a spinning back fist. Diaz with a left hand. 10-9 Diaz.
Diaz lands a leg kick early in the second. Ferguson with a left hand then a right hand. Diaz lands a combo. Ferguson lands a nice combination. They trade in close range. Ferguson with a leg kick. Diaz with a combo ending with a leg kick. Diaz lands a combo. Diaz with a combo and he tags Ferguson with a left hand. Diaz with a left hand. Ferguson with an inside low kick. Diaz with a right hand. 10-9 Diaz, 20-18 Diaz.
Diaz with a right hand. Ferguson throwing kicks and some are getting checked or blocked. Ferguson lands a solid leg kick. Diaz started circling the cage like he didn’t want to fight but then started and Ferguson lands some big leg kicks. Ferguson with a right hand. Diaz lands a flurry then puts his hand on top of the cage and takes a break. Ferguson continues to land the leg kicks and Diaz’ leg is getting beaten up. Ferguson lands some kicks and a right hand. Diaz chases Ferguson down and lands some punches. Diaz with a body kick then a combination. He lands a flurry against the fence. Ferguson lands the jab. Ferguson with a leg kick. Diaz with a left hand. 10-9 Diaz, 30-27 Diaz.
Diaz lands some body kicks. Ferguson with a left hand and an inside leg kick. Ferguson with a short uppercut. Diaz with a left hand and lands again. Diaz with a combination and then lands a big body shot. Ferguson with a leg kick. Diaz with a combo to the body. Ferguson with a body punch on Diaz. Diaz lands to the body then grabs the neck and locks in a guillotine choke and Ferguson taps! What a fitting end to what could be the final UFC fight for Diaz.
Official Result- Nate Diaz def. Tony Ferguson by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:52 of Round 4
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Friday News Update
Garrett Gonzales and I will be up tonight after one of the craziest weeks of the year between the AEW and UFC stuff. Bryan and I will be back Saturday night for our weekend show after UFC 279 from Las Vegas.
You have to give UFC a ton of credit for saving the show after Khamzat Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 pounds. The story is he was cramping up while cutting to get to 171 pounds and wasn’t able to cut anymore. Because of the weight differential, the main event wit Nate Diaz wasn’t likely to be allowed. UFC switched the top of the card to Tony Ferguson vs. Diaz at 171 pounds as a five-round main event in Diaz’s last UFC fight most likely, Chimaev will now face Kevin Holland in a five round fight, and Li Jingliang will face Daniel Rodriguez. This is actually a better card than the original. It’s not as marketable to the guy on the street fan as the original but the fights are more interesting to a regular fan.
Dustin Poirier was called and asked to fight. He was 176 and had a pilot and jet ready according to Ariel Helwani, but they worked things out with the guys already in Las Vegas.
CM Punk underwent surgery earlier this week for the torn left triceps he suffered when doing the tope early in the Jon Moxley match. That is usually about an eight month recovery period His doctor recommended surgery right away to prevent any muscle atrophy.
Smackdown tonight is live from Seattle where a crowd in the neighborhood of 10,000 is expected:
Street Profits & Hit Row vs. Los Lotharios & Maximum Male Models
Ronda Rousey vs. Sonya Deville vs. Natalya vs. Xia Li vs. Lacey Evans, winner gets a shot at Liv Morgan at the 10/8 Extreme Rules show
Braun Strowman and Solo Sikoa to appear. Sikoa vs. Drew McIntyre is the scheduled TV main event.
Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. on TNT:
Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara in the AEW title tournament
Serena Deeb vs. Madison Rayne
Claudio Castagnoli vs Dax Harwood for the ROH title
We’re looking for reports this weekend from these WWE events:
Smackdown in Seattle tonight (dark matches only)
NXT in Jacksonville, FL tonight
NXT in Orlando, FL tomorrow
House show in Spokane, WA tomorrow night
House show in Colorado Sprigs, CO tomorrow night
House show in Wenatchee, WA Sunday
The show in Eugene, OR on Sunday was canceled likely due to low ticket sales. You can send reports on these shows with results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]m
UFC 279 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas:
ESPN+ at 6 p.m. Eastern
Darian Weeks (170.5) vs. Yohan Lainesse (171)
Melissa Martinez (113.5) vs. Elise Reed (115.5)
Chad Anheliger (135.5) vs. Alatengheili (135)
Norma Dumont (146) vs. Danyelle Wolf (146)
ESPN News and ESPN + at 8 p.m.
Jake Collier (265) vs. Chris Barnett (267.5) – Barnett missed weight by 1.5 pounds ad was fined)
Denis Tiuliulin (186) vs. Jamie Pickett (185.5)
Jailton Almeida (216.5) vs. Anton Turkalj (214) – This was made a 220 pound fight
Hakeem Dawodu (149.5) vs. Julia Erosa (146) – Dawodu missed weight by 2.5 pounds)
PPV at 10 p.m.
Johnny Walker (205) vs. Ion Cutelaba (205.5)
Irene Aldana (137.5) vs. Macy Chiasson (139.5) – This would made a 140 pound fight
Li Jingliang (170.5) vs. Daniel Rodriguez (179) – Rodriguez was in a 180 pound fight, Jingliang agreed to the fight today when they shook up the show
Khamzat Chimaev (178.5) vs. Kevin Holland (179.5)
Nate Diaz (171) vs. Tony Ferguson (171)
Yuji Nagata has his 30th anniversary of his debut match on Sunday in Togane, Japan against Great-O-Khan.
AEW
BetOnline has these odds on the AEW championship tournament:
Bryan Danielson -130
Chris Jericho +150
Jon Moxley +450
Sammy Guevara +650
You can also bet on if MJF wins the title before the end of the year:
Yes -300
No +200
Other Notes
Jake Paul and Anderson Silva have press conferences on Monday at NeueHouse in Hollywood Studio A and Tuesday in Glendale, AZ at the Gila River Arena.
The NFC is promoting a UFC 279 party at Big Sky in Buckhead in Atlanta with tickets at $10 including a Free drink.
Combate Global runs tonight on Paramount + at 11 p.m. Eastern with Victor Cisneros (5-0) vs Sean Mora (2-0) in a bantamweight fight and Kyle Estrada (11-7) vs. Cristian Basrraza (8-5) in a flyweight fight.
PowerTown Wrestling action figure company will be releasing Series 1 auction figures on 9/16 of Lou Thesz, Verne Gagne, Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, Magnum T.A. and Kerry Von Erich.
MLW on 9/18 in Norcross, GA at the Space Event Center has added Lady Shani vs. Lady Flammer vs. La Hiedra vs. Reina Dorada. The winner will be top contender for Taya’s MLW featherweight title.
MCW presents Bruiser Strong on Saturday night at the RJ Meyer Arena in Joppa, MD, with Mandy Leon, Erick Redbeard and Trey Miguel.
LFA tonight on UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. Eastern from the Dobson Arena in Vail, CO:
Ben Tynan (237.2) vs. Lance Lee (232.2)
Luis Gurule (125.8) vs. Josiah Reyes (125)
Kathryn Paprocki (115) vs. Kelsey Arnesen (114.6)
Bryce Meredith (135.8) vs. Nathan Fought (139.8) – Fought missed weight and pays a penalty to Meredith
Due to main eventer Khamzat Chimaev missing weight by 7.5 pounds Friday, the card for Saturday’s UFC 279 has changed drastically.
Nate Diaz will remain in the main event but will now fight former interim UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson instead at 170 pounds. The fight will be five rounds.
Diaz was set to face rising star Khamzat Chimaev in the main event, but Chimaev missing the welterweight limit so badly prevented that from happening. As of this writing, it’s unclear why he missed so badly. This was to be his first-ever pay-per-view main event.
Ariel Helwani reported that former interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier was asked by the UFC to fight Diaz and accepted with a pilot/jet on standby. However, they chose to go another route.
Chimaev will remain on the card and will face Kevin Holland instead in another five round fight. Holland and Chimaev have been building up a rivalry on social media in recent months and got into a skirmish Thursday — one of two that resulted in media day being canceled.
Ferguson was set to face Li Jingliang in a welterweight co-main event. Jingliang will now face Daniel Rodriguez who was set to face Holland in a 180-pound catchweight fight.
This is the final fight on Diaz’s UFC contract. Had he chosen not to fight, there was speculation the “sunset clause” on his deal would given him his contractual freedom anyway.
In a departure from the week-long news cycle surrounding the AEW All Out post-event press conference fight, the UFC had their own issues Thursday which resulted in their UFC 279 press conference being canceled.
Saturday’s pay-per-view is headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev in the final fight on Diaz’s contract. Typically, any press event that features Nate or brother Nick is must-see in terms of promotion.
The issues started with Kevin Holland, who is fighting on the card, and Chimaev after they had been chirping at each other on social media for some time. Chimaev walked up to Holland which led to a skirmish with Chimaev landing a front kick.
MMA agent Tiki Ghosn was one of the people who helped separate the two, but that caused its own issues. Members of Diaz’s team thought Ghosn was aligned with Chimaev and began yelling at him with some throwing water bottles at both Ghosn and Chimaev’s team. The agent, also a former fighter, was also apparently slapped and kicked during the exchange.
UFC president Dana White attempted to salvage the media event by bringing out six fighters in pairs, but decided to cancel after just one set (Holland and Daniel Rodriguez) came out.
White said afterward that “it was a complete sh*tshow,” later promising the organization will take measures to ensure something like that never happens again.
Unlike the aforementioned AEW press conference, no fighters will be suspended or require any medical attention.
With Nate Diaz’s contract status continuing to be a major storyline within the UFC, the cult hero has been calling for headline-worthy fights for months.
On Tuesday, it was revealed that he appears to have got his wish in rising welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev for the main event of September 10th’s UFC 279 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
Ariel Helwani first reported the news. It’s unknown if the fight will be the only five-round bout on the card or if they will co-headline with a title fight.
The fight is the last on Diaz’s contract and will clear the Stockton, California, fighter to pursue a much-discussed boxing pay-per-view fight with Jake Paul. Speaking to Helwani recently, Diaz said he turned down several UFC contract offers that would have paid him more.
Diaz had a date of October 19th in which to be booked for a fight or else his contract would have ended.
The 37-year-old has fought just once since November 2019, a June 2021 unanimous decision loss to current title contender Leon Edwards. The 28-year-old Chimaev is undefeated at 11-0 (5-0 UFC) and returned after a long battle with COVID-19 in October 2021 with a first round submission win over Li Jingliang and a April 2022 unanimous decision win over Gilbert Burns.
