Tag: ufc 313

Daily Update: UFC 313 fallout, AEW Revolution, Queen of the Ring

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the highlights:

  • The background of the John Cena angle and different versions of the story
  • What changed on the day of Elimination Chamber and different versions as to why
  • The turn itself
  • Travis Scott injures Rhodes
  • Comparisons with other turns
  • Art imitating real life
  • WrestleMania lineup
  • Elimination Chamber business and how it performed around the world
  • Pat McAfee controversy
  • TKO getting into boxing, what has and hasn’t been talked about and what we know about the details on how Nick Khan and Dana White are involved as well as why this is no risk for TKO
  • Linda McMahon confirmed for Secretary of Education, and then to wipe it all out
  • AEW Revolution preview, business numbers and interest level
  • Why the March 6, 1972 match with Antonio Inoki vs. Karl Gotch is still talked about 53 years after it happened
  • New Japan anniversary show notes, early New Japan Cup news
  • Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano becomes a classic match, as well as a controversial one
  • Fantastica Mania final day coverage
  • Coverage of the deaths of Ciclon Ramirez and Australian Suicide
  • How did SmackDown and Dynamite place in the weekly standings
  • The unique Dynamite rating pattern
  • Full weekly ratings notes including what milestone did Raw on Netflix fall below
  • Notes on the high SmackDown number
  • Takeshita goes to Arena Mexico
  • Arguably the greatest freestyle wrestler of all-time passes away
  • Queen of the Ring notes
  • Giant mask match of legends being teased
  • Tony Khan changes philosophy
  • Forbidden Door title match tease
  • Tony Khan talks Wembley Stadium attendance record
  • Ospreay talks difference between New Japan and AEW
  • Mark Shapiro talks a lot of the future WWE and UFC business deals
  • A look at what level of value UFC PPVs could bring to Netflix and the value WWE brings to Netflix
  • Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones update
  • Freak show fight between two of the strongest men who ever lived
  • Big Tokyo Dome event planned
  • WWE in talks for a unique PPV event including date and place it is tentative for
  • Evolve notes
  • Sonya Deville and Carmella talk being dropped by WWE

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Sunday Update

— We have a number of weekend shows on the site today. Friday Garrett and I were with Scott D’Amore talking about his days with TNA, owning the Tunney tape library, goals for Maple Leaf Wrestling, stars to watch out for, relationship with New Japan and more. Plus we talked a lot of the news of the week.

We also did a show last night talking about UFC, Queen of the Ring, Jade Cargill (more detailed than in the Observer), and why tonight ‘s AEW numbers are so important to learn from. Bryan and I will be back tonight talking AEW and the rest of the weekend news.

— We’re looking for your thoughts on AEW Revolution, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

— ESPN+ will be putting up last night’s UFC for free due to all the issues with people having trouble ordering and viewing the show. There have been issues for years but this is the first time they were so bad ESPN made this decision.

— AEW Revolution starts at just before 4 p.m. Eastern with a 13 match show from the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles. More than 11,000 tickets are out and the gate was almost $1 million as of last night. This is an amazingly deep show.

Zero Hour starting at maybe 6:45 p.m.Eastern:

  • Komander & Hologram vs. Lee Johnson & Blake Christian
  • Daniel Garcia & Adam Cole & Roderick Strong & Kyle O’Reilly vs. Shane Taylor & The Infantry & Lee Moriarty
  • Chris Jericho vs Gravity for the ROH title
  • Big Boom AJ & Orange Cassidy & Mark Briscoe vs. Johnny TV & MxM Collection

PPV at 8 p.m. Eastern

  • Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin vs. Outrunners for tag titles (The Hurt Syndicate are -3000 favorites)
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Brody King for the Continental title (Okada is a -3000 favorite)
  • Mercedes Mone vs. Momo Watanabe for TBS title (Mone is a -3000 favorite)
  • Swerve Strickland vs. Ricochet for an AEW title shot (Strickland is a -1000 favorite)
  • MJF vs. Adam Page (MJF is a -200 favorite)
  • Will Ospreay vs. Kyle Fletcher cage match (Ospreay is a -1000 favorite)
  • Toni Storm vs. Mariah May falls count anywhere Hollywood ending match for AEW women’s title (Storm is a -2500 favorite)
  • Konosuke Takesita vs. Kenny Omega for the International title (Omega is a -1000 favorite)
  • Jon Moxley vs. Adam Copeland for the AEW title (Moxley is a -220 favorite)

— I saw something was sent out in the market which listed the doors opening at 6 p.m. and the first match at 7 p.m. Of course that’s Eastern time, but the show is Pacific time so the doors are to open at 3 p.m.

— Jim Ross had a health issue earlier this week but we were told yesterday that he flew in for the show.

— Both Raw in Madison Square Garden and NXT at the Hulu Theater in MSG will be sold out this week. They are doing limited staging for both shows. So the crowds will be larger than usual for pro wrestling in those arenas. There are 16,600 tickets out at this point for MSG and 4,500 for the Hulu Theater. Fightful reported Meiko Satomura would be at Tuesday’s show. Undertaker, Bully Ray and Mickie James will be there as well.

— SmackDown numbers won’t be out until tomorrow afternoon, but we were told that on Netflix, every significant country was up from last week which I think comes from the interest level in the Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena match since Rhodes wasn’t on Raw to address it. The ratings have been very strong the past two weeks. 

— The UFC main event last night where Magomed Ankalaev won the light heavyweight title from Alex Pereira was a very close call. Pretty much everyone had rounds one and five for Pereira and two and four for Ankalaev. It came down to round three. That round was very close although Pereira did have a 22-14 edge in strikes landed. If I was to judge the fight, I gave round three to Pereira and had him winning 48-47, but this was not a robbery and could have gone either way. If I could have given a 10-10 round I’d have had it a draw, but if judging the fight as a whole, which I think is the best way, I’d go with Ankalaev since his round two win was the strongest round win and also the only time the fight was in danger of finishing. Basically the best way to judge a fight is who do you think should have won–that’s Ankalaev. Once you start putting numbers in, the numbers don’t always reflect who should have won. Usually they do, this fight was the exception. I’ve always said Pride style scoring is the best and that will never be used in the U.S. 

— Judge Michael Bell and Derek Cleary both gave round three to Ankalaev, while Sal D’Amto gave both three and five to Ankalaev. Of media scores, every single one had it 48-47 depending on round three. Media scores on MMA Decisions, which didn’t include mine, were 52 percent for Ankalaev, 43 percent for Pereira and five percent a draw. Fan scores were 58 percent for Pereira, 37 percent for Ankalaev and five percent even.

— Dana White said after the fight that because of how close it was that they would probably rematch them next. White said the fight wasn’t what he expected and that he expected more action, that the decision wasn’t a robbery (either way it was close). White said he thought Anaklaev won.

— It also should be noted Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev had a hell of a fight.

— We talked quite a bit last night on the site about the history of Mildred Burke and the movie Queen of the Ring and what was and wasn’t accurate (it was more accurate than I expected but obviously it’s a Hollywood movie and some liberties were taken). At press time for reasons I don’t know, the movie wasn’t even listed in the Friday rankings and they had 22 movies listed including one that grossed $377 for the week. The Saturday numbers are usually in by now but they aren’t either. We should have numbers tonight. Between hearing from people who saw it at empty theaters and our lack of feedback, I don’t expect major numbers.

— I heard today’s Saito Brothers vs. Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi match where Miyahara & Aoyagi won the All Japan world tag titles was an excellent match.

— Robbie Lawler was announced as the latest inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame. Very deserved. Also want to mention Lex Luger, which for all the obvious reasons, I was very happy to see being announced for the WWE Hall of Fame.

— Google searches for last night’s UFC show were about 1.4 million. An interesting one is that the Big 10 wrestling championships had 70,000 searches and the finals aren’t even until today.

–The Big 10 finals are tonight at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on the Big 10 network. The main event is the biggest match in college wrestling so far this season with Gable Steveson of Minnesota (11-0, with 63 wins in a row in college), the 2021 gold medalist, facing Greg Kerkvliet of Penn State (16-0 and the 2023 NCAA champion). This is expected to be a preview of the NCAA championship match at heavyweight in two weeks as they are by far the class of the division this year. The two wrestled in high school in 2018 and Steveson won 3-2 in his most competitive match in his high school career. Steveson beat him 9-4 in 2021 and 8-3 in 2022 in the NCAA tournament but Kerkvliet has improved significantly since that point. 

— Logan Paul participated in a celebrity soccer game at Wembley Stadium yesterday before almost 90,000 fans. Paul scored a goal on a header and also suplexed Joe Weller and pinned him in a goal celebration for the YouTube All Stars who played Sidemen FC. The game included KSI, IShowSpeed and Kai Cenat.

–The New Japan Cup matches held earlier today in Amagasaki saw Oleg Boltin over Bad Luck Fale, Great O’Khan over TV champion El Phantasmo, Drilla Moloney pinned Tomohiro Ishii (people were raving about this one), and Tetsuya Naito over Callum Newman.

— As far as next matches, you’ve got Evil vs David Finlay on Tuesday, Yuya Uemura vs. Yoshi-Hashi on Tuesday, Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ryohei Oiwa (both TMDK members) on Tuesday, Gabe Kidd vs. Taichi on Wednesday, O’Khan vs. Shota Umino on Wednesday, Naito vs. Jeff Cobb on Friday, Moloney vs. TJP on Friday and Boltin vs. Shingo Takagi on Friday.

— A&E has LFG tonight with Eric Bischoff and Sean Waltman as guests, Rivals at 9:30 is about HHH vs. Shawn Michaels and the Greatest Moments show is about the Emergence of the NWO.

— Defy announced Streets of Rage on 4/13 at 4 p.m. at Washington Hall in Seattle with Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Timothy Thatcher.

— The Patricio Pitbull Freire UFC debut against Yair Rodriguez on 4/12 is currently listed as being on the television prelims but Dana White said that positioning is not definite. A lot of people feel that the debut of Pitbull, generally considered the greatest Bellator fighter (although past his prime now) should be on the PPV, especially with an all action exciting fighter like Rodriguez.

— There will be a proclamation tomorrow in El Paso, TX to set up TNA Wrestling Day in El Paso County for this coming Friday, where TNA is running a big show. Tessa Blanchard will represent TNA tomorrow.

— The criminal charges against Thomas Wainsaw (Bear Boulder) from 1/13 were dropped. Wainsaw was charged with battery by strangulation. The alleged victim did not want the charges to go forward. She had not wanted him prosecuted from the start.

UFC 313 live results: Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev, Justin Gaethje returns

Posted on by Ryan Frederick

One of the UFC’s biggest superstars is back in action as the Octagon returns to the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for UFC 313.

The main event sees UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, one of the most exciting and popular fighters in the sport, making his fourth title defense against top contender Magomed Ankalaev. Pereira’s fourth title defense in less than a year sees him looking to extend a five-fight win streak while Ankalaev is unbeaten in his last 13 fights, dating back nearly seven years.

In the co-main event, it’s a rematch of one of the best fights of 2023 as Justin Gaethje battles Rafael Fiziev. Gaethje scored a decision win over Fiziev at UFC 286 in March 2023 while Fiziev steps into this bout on short notice as he replaces Dan Hooker, Gaethje’s originally scheduled opponent.

Also on the main card is a lightweight bout between Jalin Turner and Ignacio Bahamondes; a women’s strawweight bout between ranked fighters Amanda Lemos and Iasmin Lucindo; and a lightweight bout pitting long-time veteran King Green against rising prospect Mauricio Ruffy.

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT

> Middleweights- Djorden Santos (10-1, 0-0 UFC) vs. Ozzy Diaz (9-3, 0-1 UFC)

Santos lands a jab then a stiff leg kick. He lands another hard calf kick. Diaz with a leg kick. Santos lands another calf kick. Santos working the jab. Diaz lands a right hand. They trade jabs. Santos with another leg kick. Diaz lands a counter right hand then a leg kick. They trade jabs. They trade right hands. Diaz lands a jab. Diaz with a leg kick and a stiff jab. Diaz lands a combination. Santos lands a flurry against the fence. Santos is chasing Diaz down and landing. Santos lands to the body then the head. 10-9 Santos.

Santos lands a pair of right hands as he pressures Diaz. Diaz lands a jab and Santos lands a combo ending with a leg kick. They trade jabs. Santos with a solid left hand. Santos with a pair of jabs followed by an uppercut. Santos with a leg kick. Diaz lands a combination. Santos lands a right hand. Diaz with a jab then a right hand. Santos looks for a takedown but Diaz shakes him off. They are trading and Diaz is connecting better. Diaz lands a jab. Santos with a right hand. They’re trading in close range and Santos lands a right hand. They trade and Santos with a big right hand. Close round. 10-9 Santos, 20-18 Santos.

They both land right hands. Santos lands a combination. Santos with a leg kick then a combo. Santos with a jab followed by a right hand. Santos lands a right hand. Diaz with a jab. Diaz lands a jab and a right hand. Santos looks more tired. They trade inside the pocket. Santos with a right hand and Diaz lands an inside elbow then an uppercut. Diaz lands to the body. They trade punches. Diaz lands a pair of knees to the body. Santos with an elbow and Diaz lands a big right hand and Santos is hurt. Santos is retreating and Diaz lands as he rushes forward. Diaz with some big punches. Santos lands a right hand and Diaz lands an elbow. Santos lands a left hook. Diaz with an elbow in the clinch. Diaz lands a hard combination. Diaz lands to the body. Santos is still pressing forward despite being gassed. Diaz with a jab. Santos with a combo. Diaz with a head kick but Santos catches it and gets a takedown. Santos ends the fight on top. 10-9 Diaz, 29-28 Santos.

Official Result- Ozzy Diaz def. Djorden Santos by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

ESPN NEWS PRELIMS | 8 PM ET/5 PM PT

> Featherweights- Mairon Santos (14-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Francis Marshall (8-2, 2-2 UFC)

They trade in close range. Santos with a right hand. Marshall lands a left hook. Santos lands a combo and Marshall returns fire with a calf kick that trips Santos up. Marshall looks for a takedown as he pushes it against the fence, and Santos defends as they break apart. Marshall lands a leg kick. Santos lands a jab. Marshall with a right hand and they trade leg kicks. Santos lands a pair of leg kicks. Santos with a right hand. Santos with another right hand. Santos with a stiff right hand. Santos with a hard calf kick. Marshall with a leg kick. Santos partially lands a right hand and lands a leg kick. Santos with an uppercut and a leg kick. Marshall lands a left hook and Santos goes to his knees. Santos is chasing the takedown as Marshall is defending and landing. Marshall with lots of punches from the back to end the round. 10-9 Marshall.

They’re trading left hands to start the second. Santos lands a right hand. Santos with a leg kick and Marshall lands a hard counter right hand. Marshall lands another right hand. Santos with a pair of body kicks and Marshall lands a combo. They trade left hooks. Santos lands a jab. Santos with a right hand. Marshall scores a takedown. Santos tries to roll through but Marshall explodes to the back and has back control as they’re on the feet. Marshall is kicking the leg out from under Santos and trips him down, but Santos is getting up. They separate. Santos partially lands a head kick. 10-9 Marshall, 20-18 Marshall.

Marshall lands a right hand and they trade combos in close range. Marshall lands a right hand. They trade right hands. Marshall lands a right hand. Santos is pressing forward and landing more early. Marshall lands a right hand. They trade jabs. Santos with a right hand to the body as Marshall lands a short left hand. They trade in close range and both land left hands. Marshall with a right hand and Santos lands a leg kick. Santos with a jab followed by a right hand. Marshall lands a leg kick. Santos with a right hand. Santos lands another combo. Marshall gets a takedown and ends up on top after they roll. Marshall lands from the top to end it. 10-9 Marshall, 30-27 Marshall.

Official Result- Mairon Santos def. Francis Marshall by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

> Welterweights- Alex Morono (24-11 1 NC, 13-8 1 NC UFC) vs. Carlos Leal (21-6, 0-1 UFC)

Morono with a hard leg kick. Leal lands a right hand. Morono with a leg kick then a body kick. Leal with a leg kick and they trade punches. They get clinched and Leal lands some elbows as Morono lands some knees before they separate. They trade in close range. Leal lands a left hand then a combo. Leal connects with an overhand right. They are trading big punches against the fence. Leal with a knee then an elbow and Morono is backing up. Leal with a combo and they trade against the fence. Leal lands hard to the body and Morono goes to the mat for a moment. Morono gets up and Leal with knees to the body. Leal landing and they are trading against the fence. Leal with some knees and elbows. Leal with some massive right hands and Morono looks almost out on his feet. Leal is teeing off and it is stopped. What a finish from Leal!

Official Result- Carlos Leal def. Alex Morono by TKO (strikes) at 4:16 of Round 1

> Middleweights- Brunno Ferreira (12-2, 3-2 UFC) vs. Armen Petrosyan (8-4, 3-3 UFC)

Petrosyan lands an inside leg kick. They trade leg kicks. Ferreira lands a big left hook that hurts Petrosyan and follows it up with a right hand. Time out is called for a groin strike by Petrosyan. They get back to action and time out is called again for another groin strike by Petrosyan. Petrosyan has a point taken away and they get back to action. They trade as Ferreira rushes forward. Petrosyan with a leg kick. Ferreira looks for a takedown but Petrosyan defends. Petrosyan lands a leg kick and Ferreira lands a right hand. Petrosyan with two leg kicks. Petrosyan with a high kick then a leg kick. Ferreira comes forward and looks for a takedown against the fence. Ferreira gets it down for a moment but they scramble up. Petrosyan lands a body kick. Petrosyan with a combo. Petrosyan with a jumping knee. Petrosyan lands a left hook. Petrosyan with two high kicks. 9-9 round due to the point deduction.

Petrosyan with a high kick. Ferreira with a right hook. Petrosyan with a leg kick. They trade kicks. Petrosyan lands a combo. Petrosyan lands a body kick. Ferreira with a big right hand. Ferreira with a right hand to the body then a left hook. Petrosyan lands to the body then to the head. Petrosyan with a head kick. Ferreira tries a takedown but Petrosyan defends as they stand. Ferreira with a left hand. Petrosyan lands a body kick. Petrosyan with a right hook then a leg kick. Ferreira mixes some right hooks. Ferreira with a left hook to the body. They trade body kicks. Ferreira gets the takedown. Ferreira landing and Petrosyan grabs the fence. Ferreira has the back and looks for a choke. Ferreira locks in an armbar out of nowhere and gets Petrosyan to tap! Excellent finish from Ferreira.

Official Result- Brunno Ferreira def. Armen Petrosyan by submission (armbar) at 4:27 of Round 2

> Flyweights- Joshua Van (12-2, 5-1 UFC) vs. Rei Tsuruya (10-0, 1-0 UFC)

Van with a jab to the body. Tsuruya shoots for a takedown but Van defends and lands a knee to the body. Tsuruya shoots again and Van defends as they tie up. They trade knees as Van lands to the body. They break apart. Van lands a combo and a body kick. Tsuruya looks for a takedown but Van is defending and landing as he does. They separate. Tsuruya tries for another takedown but Van defends again. Van with a high kick. Van connects with a right hand. Tsuruya tries for a takedown and they scramble to the mat. Tsuruya is inside the guard of Van but Van is able to scramble to his feet. Van lands a left hand. Van with a head kick and Tsuruya grabs it to score a takedown. They get right up. Van with an elbow as they break. 10-9 Van.

They tie up and Tsuruya is chasing takedowns but Van is defending. They scramble and Van is able to remain on his feet. Van lands a right hand. Tsuruya trying to take it down again but Van defends. Tsuruya does get a throw takedown and is in side control. They scramble to the feet. Tsuruya lands a left hand. Van swings and Tsuruya continues to look for a takedown. Van defends and they break. They trade punches. Van lands to the body. Van with a front kick to the body and lands a right hand. Van lands an elbow. Van lands a right hand. Van lands a knee and Tsuruya lands a spinning elbow. 10-9 Van, 20-18 Van.

Van lands an elbow and Tsuruya slips. Van pressing forward and lands a kick as Tsuruya connects with some punches. Tsuruya shoots for a takedown but Van is defending them all. Van with some punches as he sprawls the takedown attempts. Tsuruya pushes it against the fence but Van breaks it apart. Tsuruya shoots and Van sprawls. Tsuruya with a combo. Van lands to the body. Tsuruya lands a knee. Van with a groin strike and a time out is called. They get back going. Tsuruya goes for a takedown and Van is defending by landing punches. Van lands a lot of left hands to the body as Tsuruya is chasing the takedown. They break apart. Tsuruya with a body kick. Van with a combo and Tsuruya just misses a spinning back fist. Van with two body kicks. Tsuruya lands a left hand. Van with a body kick and Tsuruya goes down saying it was a groin strike. It was called a legal strike and action immediately restarts. Van lands a left hand and then a combo and another left hand. Van with a left hand that stumbles Tsuruya. 10-9 Van, 30-27 Van.

Official Result- Joshua Van def. Rei Tsuruya by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 10 PM ET/7 PM PT

> Lightweights- King Green (32-16-1 1 NC, 13-11-1 1 NC UFC) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (11-1, 2-0 UFC)

Green with a leg kick and a body kick. Ruffy lands a jab. Ruffy lands a big right hand that stuns Green. Green lands a right hand and a leg kick. Ruffy then lands a spinning wheel kick that connects to the side of Green’s head and Green goes out cold! What a head kick from Ruffy!

Official Result- Mauricio Ruffy def. Bobby Green by knockout (wheel kick) at 2:07 of Round 1

> Women’s Strawweights- #5 Amanda Lemos (14-4-1, 8-4 UFC) vs. #7 Iasmin Lucindo (17-5, 4-1 UFC)

Lemos with a hard leg kick. Lemos lands a right hand and they tie up against the fence. Lemos drags it down to the mat. Lemos controlling from the top but there is not much action going on. Lemos remains on top as Lucindo didn’t land a single significant strike in the round and Lemos landed few. 10-9 Lemos.

They’re feeling each other out. Lemos lands a leg kick. Lemos grabs the body and pushes it against the fence. Lemos controlling and foot sweeps Lucindo to the mat. Lemos controlling from the top. Lucindo trying to set something up from the bottom and looking for an arm, but Lemos escapes and remains on top. Lemos with an elbow from the top. Lucindo still has yet to land a significant strike. Lemos lands and stands. 10-9 Lemos, 20-18 Lemos.

They actually start trading to start the third and both connect. They tie up and Lucindo scores a takedown. Lucindo goes to side control but is just controlling and not landing. They get up and Lemos immediately takes it down. There is nothing happening. This was terrible. 10-9 Lucindo, 29-28 Lemos.

Official Result- Amanda Lemos def. Iasmin Lucindo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

> Lightweights- #13 Jalin Turner (14-8, 7-5 UFC) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (16-5, 5-2 UFC)

They trade right away as Bahamondes lands an inside leg kick. They trade punches. Bahamondes with a high kick. Bahamondes with a leg kick and Turner lands a combo ending with a body kick. They scramble to the mat and Turner ends up on top and lands an elbow as Bahamondes establishes full guard. Turner lands a couple of punches from the top. Bahamondes looks for a triangle choke from the bottom. It looks on tight and Turner taps! Big win for Bahamondes!

Official Result- Ignacio Bahamondes def. Jalin Turner by submission (triangle choke) at 2:29 of Round 1

> Lightweights- #3 Justin Gaethje (25-5, 8-5 UFC) vs. #11 Rafael Fiziev (12-3, 6-3 UFC)

Fiziev lands a leg kick. Gaethje lands a kick and Fiziev is able to score a takedown. They scramble up and Fiziev lands a pair of knees on the break. Fiziev gets another takedown and lands an elbow from the top. Fiziev with hammerfists from the top. Gaethje is able to scramble to his feet. Fiziev with a left hand. Gaethje lands a right hand. Fiziev with a leg kick. They tie up. Fiziev lands a few knees and Gaethje lands to the body before they break. Fiziev with a body kick and a left hand then another body kick. They tie up and Gaethje lands as they break. Gaethje lands a right hand. Gaethje looks for a takedown and lands a right hand as they break. 10-9 Fiziev.

They trade and Fiziev lands a groin strike and time out is called. They get back to action. Fiziev connects with a right hand. Gaethje lands a right hand. Gaethje lands another right hand and then a quick combo inside the pocket. Fiziev with a high kick. Gaethje lands a right hand. Fiziev lands a body kick then a glancing head kick and a right hand. Gaethje lands a right hand. Fiziev with a leg kick and a knee up the middle. Gaethje lands a right hand. Gaethje with a right hand as they break a brief clinch. Fiziev lands a knee. Gaethje drops Fiziev with an uppercut and starts landing from the top. Fiziev trying to sprawl to recover. Gaethje landing but Fiziev is recovering. They stand and separate as Gaethje lands a right hand. 10-9 Gaethje, 19-19.

Gaethje lands an uppercut. He lands another. Gaethje lands a right hand and Fiziev lands a counter left hand. Fiziev with a hard body kick. Fiziev with a series of body kicks. Gaethje with a left hand then an uppercut. Gaethje with a head kick and he rolls away out of trouble. Fiziev lands to the body. They clinch and Gaethje lands a right hand on the break. Gaethje lands a right hand. Gaethje lands a head kick after they trade in a tie up. Gaethje with some right hands. He lands a right hand. Gaethje with another big right hand. They clinch and Fiziev with some short knees. Gaethje lands a right hand as they break. Gaethje with an uppercut. Gaethje with a big head kick. Gaethje with a combo inside the pocket. Fiziev lands a knee. Great fight. 10-9 Gaethje, 29-28 Gaethje.

Official Result- Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

> UFC Light Heavyweight Championship- C Alex Pereira (12-2, 9-1 UFC) vs. #1 Magomed Ankalaev (20-1-1 1 NC, 11-1-1 1 NC UFC)

Pereira with a switch leg kick. Pereira with another round of leg kicks. Pereira with another leg kick. Ankalaev lands a leg kick. They trade leg kicks. They have a quick exchange as Ankalaev lands a high kick. Ankalaev with a leg kick. Pereira with a high kick then a leg kick. Ankalaev lands a leg kick and Pereira fires one back. Pereira with a body kick then a leg kick. Ankalaev with a front kick. Pereira lands a leg kick. Ankalaev looks for a takedown against the fence but Pereira defends it as the round ends. 10-9 Pereira.

Ankalaev pushing forward and lands a left hand. Ankalaev with a body kick. Pereira lands a high question mark kick. Ankalaev with a body kick then a leg kick and then another leg kick. Pereira lands a right hand. Ankalaev lands a right hand. Pereira with a leg kick. Pereira with a head kick. Ankalaev lands a left hand and Pereira backs up. Ankalaev with a right hook. Ankalaev lands a combo and Pereira with a left hook. Ankalaev lands a left hand. Pereira with a calf kick as Ankalaev lands a left hand. Ankalaev lands in close range. Ankalaev hurts Pereira with a left hand. 10-9 Ankalaev, 19-19.

Ankalaev lands a leg kick. Ankalaev with a body kick. Pereira lands a body kick. They trade leg kicks. Ankalaev with a front kick to the body. Pereira lands a leg kick. Ankalaev shoots for a takedown but Pereira defends. Pereira with a pair of leg kicks. Ankalaev lands a knee to the body. Pereira lands a combination. Pereira with more leg kicks. Ankalaev lands a jab. Pereira lands a leg kick. Close round. 10-9 Ankalaev, 29-28 Ankalaev.

Ankalaev looks for a takedown as he ties up. Pereira with short punches as Ankalaev lands some knees. Ankalaev lands to the body as he’s trying to get it down, but Pereira is keeping it on the feet. Pereira tries to escape but Ankalaev keeps the pressure on. Pereira lands a knee. They are separated by Marc Goddard. Pereira lands a jab and a leg kick. Ankalaev pushes it against the fence again. Ankalaev with some knees and a short uppercut. They trade knees. 10-9 Ankalaev, 39-37 Ankalaev.

Ankalaev with a body kick. Ankalaev lands a right hand. Ankalaev with a left hand. Pereira with a left hook. They trade leg kicks. Pereira with a leg kick then a head kick and Ankalaev is backing up. Pereira with another leg kick. Pereira lands a jab and a leg kick. Pereira with a stiff jab and another head kick. Ankalaev looks for a takedown but Pereira defends. Ankalaev has the back and lands a knee. Ankalaev holding onto the back of Pereira as the fight ends. Close fight. 10-9 Pereira, 48-47 Ankalaev.

Official Result- Magomed Ankalaev def. Alex Pereira by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

Daily Update: Queen of the Ring, WWE & AEW ticket sale updates, UFC 313

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Friday Update

– This is a big weekend of shows. Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing our regular Friday Wrestling Observer Radio today covering the news of the week, and will continue that tomorrow with a special Saturday show that also covers SmackDown, UFC and Collision. Bryan and I will be back Sunday for AEW Revolution coverage.

– The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today. There is a ton of stuff in the lead article regarding the background leading to the John Cena angle.

Among the highlights:

  • The background of the John Cena angle and different versions of the story
  • What changed on the day of Elimination Chamber and different versions as to why
  • The turn itself
  • Travis Scott injures Rhodes
  • Comparisons with other turns
  • Art imitating real life
  • WrestleMania lineup
  • Elimination Chamber business and how it performed around the world
  • Pat McAfee controversy
  • TKO getting into boxing, what has and hasn’t been talked about and what we know about the details on how Nick Khan and Dana White are involved as well as why this is no risk for TKO
  • Linda McMahon confirmed for Secretary of Education, and then to wipe it all out
  • AEW Revolution preview, business numbers and interest level
  • Why the March 6, 1972 match with Antonio Inoki vs. Karl Gotch is still talked about 53 years after it happened
  • New Japan anniversary show notes, early New Japan Cup news
  • Saya Kamitani vs. Tam Nakano becomes a classic match, as well as a controversial one
  • Fantastica Mania final day coverage
  • Coverage of the deaths of Ciclon Ramirez and Australian Suicide
  • How did SmackDown and Dynamite place in the weekly standings
  • The unique Dynamite rating pattern
  • Full weekly ratings notes including what milestone did Raw on Netflix fall below
  • Notes on the high SmackDown number
  • Takeshita goes to Arena Mexico
  • Arguably the greatest freestyle wrestler of all-time passes away
  • Queen of the Ring notes
  • Giant mask match of legends being teased
  • Tony Khan changes philosophy
  • Forbidden Door title match tease
  • Tony Khan talks Wembley Stadium attendance record
  • Ospreay talks difference between New Japan and AEW
  • Mark Shapiro talks a lot of the future WWE and UFC business deals
  • A look at what level of value UFC PPVs could bring to Netflix and the value WWE brings to Netflix
  • Tom Aspinall vs. Jon Jones update
  • Freak show fight between two of the strongest men who ever lived
  • Big Tokyo Dome event planned
  • WWE in talks for a unique PPV event including date and place it is tentative for
  • Evolve notes
  • Sonya Deville and Carmella talk being dropped by WWE

– The movie “Queen of the Ring,” which was released in a few markets last night, has its official release tonight nationwide. We’ll be talking more about this tomorrow night on the show. The story is based on an excellent book about the life of Mildred Burke, the first genuine woman pro wrestling superstar who was a legit drawing card in the 1940s but then refused to drop the title. Jim Ross was behind this movie being made. In a trivia note, in the late 1980s, shortly after Burke’s death, Frank Deford wanted to do a movie based on her life but at the time was unable to garner interest in it.

– SmackDown is in Philadelphia tonight and will be sold out as they had more than 15,500 tickets out earlier today. Monday’s Madison Square Garden Raw will not have the usual stage setting as they are trying to get in excess of 17,000 to 18,000 in for that show. Both gates should be enormous. Tonight’s show has Chelsea Green vs. Michin in a street fight for the women’s US title, Jimmy Uso vs. Drew McIntyre, Solo Sikoa vs. Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. LA Knight for the men’s US title, plus appearances by Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill and Randy Orton.

– We’re looking for live show reports with anything not on television like Speed matches to [email protected]

– We will be doing a poll for AEW Revolution on Sunday, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

– I was told from live sources that the Hologram vs. Dralistico match taped on Wednesday for Collision was the best match taped that night, and also that Komander vs. Dark Panther for the ROH TV title was great. That would likely air on the ROH show this coming Thursday.

– The Wednesday AEW ratings number was weird as the show was down 66,000 in under 50 viewers which is a big decrease, and up 68,000 in over 50 viewers which is a huge increase. Obviously the former figure is the important one. Within that age group it was down across the board to incredibly low male numbers, the former core audience. New York, Chicago, and I believe Los Angeles and several other markets aired NXT on Wednesday. That should have explained a drop across the board, but not as much of an 18-49 drop as happened and doesn’t explain the increase.

– Revolution has topped 9,600 tickets out so they will top the goal of 10,000 and could hit 11,000.

-New Japan was to start the New Japan Cup today, but the show was canceled due to the ring post of the ring breaking. They will have a show at 5:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning to start the Cup.

– Yesterday’s anniversary show was quite good. Hirooki Goto vs Hiroshi Tanahashi was an incredible storytelling match. Chris Charlton returned to announce the show and he and Walker Stewart did a great job with the main event story, since it went back nearly two decades.

– UFC 313 is tomorrow from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. Eastern

  • Djorden Santos (185.5) vs. Ozzy Diaz (185.5)
  • Chris Gutierrez (144.5) vs. John Castaneda (145)
  • Mairon Santos (145.5) vs. Francis Marshall (146)

ESPN at 8 p.m. Eastern

  • Alex Morono (171) vs. Carlos Leal (169)
  • Brunno Ferreira (186) vs. Armen Petrosyan (186)
  • Joshua Van (125.5) vs. Rei Tsuruya (125.5)
  • Curtis Blaydes (262) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (264.5)

PPV on ESPN+ at 10 p.m. Eastern

  • King Green (155.5) vs. Mauricio Ruffy (155.5)
  • Amanda Lemos (116) vs. Iasmin Lucindo (115.5)
  • Jalin Turner (154.5) vs. Ignacio Bahomondes (155)
  • Justin Gaethje (156) vs. Rafael Fiziev (156)
  • Alex Pereira (205) vs. Magomed Ankalaev (205) for the UFC light heavyweight title

– Rich Swann vs. Brian Cage was announced for the 3/23 Chris Bey Benefit show in Las Vegas put on by Future Stars of Wrestling, the promotion that he got started with. Bey has recovered from paralysis to where he can now walk.

– Speaking of recovery, Yoshihiro Takayama after all these years is now able to sit up with help.

– Game Changer Wrestling announced a 7/19 show at the Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball Stadium. Both TNA and ROH over the years have put on successful events in that stadium.

– CMLL has an all women’s show at Arena Mexico tonight with Zeuxis vs. Persephone for the CMLL women’s title, Sanely vs. India Sioux for the Mexican national women’s title and the first part of the tournament for the vacant women’s tag team titles.

– For a week from tonight at Arena Mexico, it’s the B block of the CMLL women’s tag team tournament with Zeuxis & Dark Silueta, Lluvia & Jarochita, Amapola & Princesa Sugehit and the surprise team of Zoey Lucas & Amira Blair from the U.K. Blair is the girlfriend of Michael Oku who has been in a number of angles and was a key part of the phenomenal series of bouts with Oku vs. Will Ospreay over the recent years. Blair was in CMLL when Oku worked there.

– UFC heavyweight Marcos Rogerio de Lima tested positive on 1/13 for anastrozole, a drug used by athletes to jump start testosterone production after coming off steroids. He provided information that he had a prescription for a medical condition and anastrozole was listed on the label. But he never cleared usage and was suspended for one year. He was also suspended in 2017 for the same drug but only suspended for six months as he was able to find proof of a contaminated supplement.

– Oba Femi was on the KTLA news in Los Angeles Wednesday promoting airing of NXT that night because part of it didn’t air the night before due to news coverage of Trump’s speech.

– MLW will be streaming Intimidation Games at 10 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night after Collision ends. The show will air on YouTube with Matt Riddle & Tom Lawlor vs. Contra Unit, Neon vs. Kushida, Matthew Justice vs. Bobby Fish vs. Akira vs. Paul Walter Hauser for the National title and Bomaye Fight Club vs. The Andersons (Brock & CW) in a first blood match.

– United Wrestling Coalition on 3/15 is in New Egypt, NJ at the American Legion for their 29th anniversary event with four Hall of Fame inductees as well as the wrestling show.