Author: Dylan Bowker

Mikey Musumeci is confident that his involvement with UFC BJJ’s massive kickoff can create the most impactful butterfly effect possible for the sport that he loves. This was expressed during a recent interview that took place with Mike Heck of MMA Fighting and covered several subjects relating to the mixed martial arts promotional leader expanding their promotional efforts into the Brazilian jiu jitsu world.

When describing what this current situation, and by proxy the road to the future, means to him, Mikey Musumeci said,

“It’s the most meaningful thing I could probably do in my life with jiu-jitsu, what I’m doing right now. We’re starting this program from scratch. This is UFC BJ1. I got together with Hunter Campbell and Teti in the end of November, December, and we formulated a plan how we want to change and grow grappling. The old way of grappling was not really appealing—there were just so many problems with it: matches stopping, resets, boring matches, people stalling.”

“We really wanted to get together and figure out a way we can make this actually exciting and make it a platform that’s actually professional and long-term, where competitors could compete in and make money. I really feel like we did that. Now it’s very cool just seeing UFC and BJJ coexisting as one. It’s pretty wild to see—it’s like the old Gracie days, literally. It’s absolutely insane.”

Mikey Musumeci and his involvement within UFC BJJ

Mikey Musumeci will be involved in the UFC BJJ kickoff card which transpires on June 25th. This will be part of UFC’s international fight week proceedings with everything culminating in UFC 317 on June 28th which features the headliner between Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria for the vacant lightweight title. UFC BJJ 1 will broadcast on UFC Fight Pass with three title fights slated to make place at that event.

Rerisson Gabriel and the former ONE Championship submission grappling titleholder served as opposing coaches on UFC BJJ: Road to the Title with eight overall episodes and the final episode in the series comes out on Monday, June 23rd.

Rafael Fiziev wants to create something magical inside the octagon this weekend but he needs his UFC Baku opponent to do his part in generating some Saturday night magic also. Ignacio Bahamondes is that opponent in question with many thinking we have a barnburner bout on paper awaiting the MMA world for their UFC on ABC 8 co-main event bout. Fiziev fielded questions from several on-site media members ahead of this historic homecoming fight for the Azerbaijan-based fighter.

When referencing Bahamondes’ previously uttered media day comments regarding wanting to put on a show here, Fiziev said,

“That’s good, that’s good! I don’t have to care about, you know, when only one guy in the cage wants to make a bonus, wants to make a beautiful fight. Sometimes it’s a little hard to make a beautiful fight because maybe the other guy steps back, tries to be safe more. But when both guys want to make it, I’m just happy for that. Thank you for that! I hope he’s really going to do that, follow through his words. I just like it.”

Rafael Fiziev has a game dance partner at UFC Baku according to Bahamondes himself

Rafael Fiziev will seemingly have all the ingredients at paly for a magical fight to happen this weekend per pre-fight statements by Ignacio Bahamondes. The striking ability of Fiziev was highly touted by his opponent but Bahamondes was also clear to express that he feels he is better in every area of the game than the local favorite.

Bahamondes indicated a want to dominate his opponent to show the entire arsenal he possesses per what was stated during a pre-fight interview with MMA Junkie. Expounding upon his vision for this UFC Baku bout, Bahamondes quipped [via MMA Junkie],

“It’s going to be fireworks for three rounds, five minutes, whatever the fight lasts. It’s going to be fireworks. You know Fiziev doesn’t play, he goes to fight, and you know I don’t play either. I’m going to stand in there, and I’m going to try and finish him. So, it’s going to be exciting to see that fight how it goes because I’m willing to die in there. So, I hope he’s there and ready to die, too.”

Alexandre Pantoja has lofty goals in his career and seemingly wants his body of work to be mentioned in the same breath as names like Demetrious Johnson. During an interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Pantoja covered several subjects ahead of his flyweight title defense against Kai Kara-France at UFC 317 on June 28th.

As far as what would be bigger for his legacy between notching double digit flyweight title defenses or perhaps moving up to become a two division UFC champion against bantamweight kingpin Merab Dvalishvili, Pantoja said,

“I don’t know what is more important. Getting a second belt or having 10 title defenses. For me, what I think right now, I think having 10 title defenses. Of course, moving up and getting the belt is great, but I have a very tough division to fight. Very good opponents, guys from all over the world. My last fight, I fought guys from four different countries. Now I have one more different guy from New Zealand. That proves the flyweight division has more different fighters from the whole world. UFC is a world organization… That’s a special thing I have in my division. I want to keep that. I want to protect the division and make it huge.”

Alexandre Pantoja’s resume within the lineage of the UFC flyweight belt

Alexandre Pantoja clearly has Kai Kara-France squarely in his crosshairs for month’s end but some of then long terms goals he has in the promotion’s 125 pound division would but him in rarefied air. If he does secure ten straight defenses of his crown, Pantoja will be but one title defense shy of hitting the mark Demetrious Johnson had previously set.

‘Mighty Mouse’ does not just have the overall flyweight title defense record with eleven victories consecutively but his streak of sequential championship defenses is the most in UFC history regardless of weight class. If he gets his ideal outcome in Las Vegas in less than two weeks’ time, Pantoja will have notched his fourth flyweight title defense which currently stands as the second most championship defenses in the strap’s history.

Liz Carmouche tests skills with Elora Dana as part of PFL’s 2025 World Tournament on June 20th in the co-main event. Carmouche appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts and touched on how she felt she was just getting used to the PFL’s prior points-based format. But ultimately, the former multi-division UFC title challenger prefers this newer single elimination, defined tournament bracket style for this year’s PFL season, all the same.

Carmouche recently rebounded from last season after a loss on points to eventual tournament finalist Taila Santos took her out of the running. Her last PFL fight ended with emphasis against Ilara Joanne and when describing that sub-ninty second striking-based finish that was notched over her in April, Carmouche said,

“My biggest thing was just trusting when I saw an opening, right. So often it’s you chase something that you think you have even if that door is barely ajar and you’re having to shove it open. This one I just saw it glaring at me and trusting myself and it paid off for success in that fight.”

Liz Carmouche discusses PFL semi-final focus and Cris Cyborg’s influence

Liz Carmouche has now advanced to the 2025 PFL tournament semi-finals and her upcoming opponent in the smart cage, Elora Dana, is a Jungle Fight veteran coming off of a first round neck crank win in her PFL debut. When discussing Dana who boasts an overall professional record of 8-0 with a seventy five percent finishing rate, Carmouche stated,

“I’m excited for this matchup. One thing that I really like about her is she’s unrelenting and she’s hungry. So that makes for an exciting person. Where I don’t have to worry about warming up in the fight and trying to chase after them. We’re going to bring it to each other and I think that’s also really exciting for fight fans. So this is a fight I’m really looking forward to.”

Carmouche has had an acclaimed career in the sport having fought in the first-ever women’s MMA bout in UFC history, being in a select group of martial artists to boast a win over current UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, and she reigned impressively as the Bellator MMA flyweight champion in her own right. When asked about adding another strap next to her Bellator belt on the mantel and if someday holding a PFL belt would be a meaningful capstone to her legacy, Liz Carmouche quipped,

“Yeah, absolutely. I’m trying to just have a fraction of what Cris Cyborg has been able to achieve in her career. So having a chance to have the belt with Bellator and really enjoying being with that organization. Now being part of PFL and also enjoying it, I would love to represent as that champion and achieve something that very few people can say they’ve done.”

Patchy Mix came into his UFC promotional debut with a lot of hype behind him with fans and former training partners alike being surprised by the manner in which he lost to Mario Bautista at UFC 316. While speaking on a recent episode of Bowks Talking Bouts, Palatnikov covered multiple topics ahead of what eventually played out as a DQ win against Phil Hawes at DBX 2 on June 14th.

There is an old training picture at Syndicate MMA Palatnikov’s Instagram with the former UFC vet in there amongst several big names like Sean Strickland, Aaron Jeffrey and also recent UFC debutant Patchy Mix who received flak for what many saw as an inauspicious performance in the octagon. As someone with that anecdotal experience training with Patchy Mix as it relates to his thoughts on that Mario Bautista fight on June 7th, Palatnikov said,

“Yeah, I mean like he got a lot of hate obviously from his performance but it’s like come on, man. Like he’s coming in off maybe I think over a year layoff, getting kind of messed around by Bellator-PFL whatnot, and then he took that fight on short notice too. Like I think it was like two and a half weeks. Like people don’t realize and he’s a big 135-er like he’s tall. So I’m sure the weight cut wasn’t easy for him and he just kind of, in my opinion.”

“Just based on kind of what I’ve been through in the fight game and just seen from my own perspective, I think that was a tough weight cut and I think it had an effect on his physical performance. He just didn’t seem like he was reacting how he usually reacts, you know what I mean? Like it just seemed like his central nervous system was fried or something. Like he just wasn’t reacting to punches like he usually does. Didn’t initiate any kind of grappling at all.”

“It was just a weird fight from what you would usually see in the gym or on the mats with Patchy. Again like there are so many factors. There could be nerves, there could be this, there could be that. There’s so many things that obviously we don’t know. But from what I’ve seen and obviously what you’ve seen when he’s fought and like the way that he performs like that wasn’t Patchy and it happens right.”

Patchy Mix UFC 316 performance assessment continued by Sasha Palatnikov

Palatnikov continued, “Like you come in, put a lot on the plate, a big situation. You’re fighting in front of Donald Trump, you’re fighting on a pay-per-view. He said a lot of things [laughs]. A lot of saying he was going to run through Mario which I’m sure only motivated Mario even more. Yeah, he got kind of checked a little bit but it’ll be interesting to see who they match him up with in his second fight. I think that will be the true welcoming to the UFC because now he’s felt that loss on his debut which is obviously not what he wanted.”

“So yeah, just; that’s the fight game, man. Like it’s all about ebb and flow. When you’re in the right moment, when you’re not in the right moment. Like I mean look, Merab [Dvalishvili] was on the cusp of getting cut from the UFC at one point. So then he went on like a 13 fight win streak and look at him now.”

“So yeah, like some of the guys on the mats would say [ __ ] Patchy Mix is arguably better than some of the guys that he’s training with, right. Some of those guys are considered the GOATs [laughs]. So it’s just one of those things. Training is different, fight world is different.”

Carlos Guerra battles for Javon Wright’s welterweight championship at BKB 42: Music City Brawl on June 21st. Guerra appeared on Bare Knuckle Bowker to discuss multiple topics through the aid of a translator. Riding a three fight winning streak in the Mighty Trigon into this title bid, Guerra is stepping in as a short notice replacement for Carlos Alexandre but is game all the same.

The momentum that came from his first round finish of Azjavkhlan Baatar in February at BKB 37 with a pair of third round finishes prior is evident heading into this Vice TV broadcast.

Carlos Guerra has had nine bare knuckle boxing forays before this title fight, has fought in ten gloved professional MMA bouts, and also competed under the Gamebred Bare Knuckle MMA banner. ‘Diamante’ is also known for championship Muay Thai accolades in the WBC, WMO, and WKC with the idea of winning a BKB belt in the coming days being representative of a significant career capstone.

Carlos Guerra and his redemptive, short notice crack at BKB gold again

This is not Guerra’s first throwdown for a BKB strap as he was previously fighting for gloveless gold in October 2022. This was back when the company was known as BYB Extreme and the bout took place at the promotion’s twelth event. That night in London saw Guerra fall to Seth Shaffer in their vacant title clash when he was halted within the first minute of the second stanza.

When asked if that prior title bid provides a redemption-minded component for this weekend’s title fight, Guerra gave his thoughts on the matter quite succinctly when he quipped,

“He’s convinced to win. He’s ready.”

National pride is also a pronounced element here and when touching on the support that he feels from his compatriots as a Mexican embarking on this fighting career, Carlos Guerra said,

“It’s going to be another win for Mexico. It’s going to be another belt he’s going to take to Mexico. This is the final part of his career and he wants to finish it winning.”

Further touching on how the support feels from combat sports fans in Mexico, Guerra stated,

“Very good. A lot of people are very passionate about it like for boxing. Then bare-knuckle is something new to Mexico and the people are really curious about it. They like to fight, so.”

Offering up his final parting thoughts before this bare-knuckle boxing championship showdown in Nashville this weekend, Guerra quipped,

“We want to show off like what’s going on. We want to show off like all the hard work, all the pressure he can put into his opponent. So we’re gonna give them the show they want. Like a lot of blood, a lot of aggressivity, and then a war.”

Andrei Arlovski is one of the most tenured, prolific combat sports athletes of the last quarter century and a former UFC opponent of his seems curious about the Belarusian preparing for his first foray into another combat sport.

Appearing on a recent episode of MMA Canada, Tanner Boser covered multiple topics before he went on to finish Vinicius Moreira via TKO at UAE Warriors 60 on June 13th. In November 2020 however, ‘The Bulldozer’ was on the heels of consecutive finishes by way of strikes against Philipe Lins and Raphael Pessoa before Boser stepped into the cage against Arlovski. The former heavyweight champion would win by way of a unanimous decision over Boser in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 13.

When offering up his thoughts on Arlovki’s looming bare knuckle boxing bout with Josh Copeland in the co-main event of BKFC 76 on June 21st, Boser said,

“It’s a good fight, for sure. Copeland’s been around for a long time but like [laughs] Arlovski’s biggest win of all is f***in father time. That guy just won’t stop. Honestly, I think Arlovski beats Copeland. Arlovski moves really well and Copeland’s a big man, he’s got to be careful. But I don’t know, he still takes a pretty good shot. It’s a good fight, for sure. I don’t know if I’ll watch it live but I’m sure I’ll see the highlight.”

Andrei Arlovski’s path in combat sports since the Tanner Boser bout

Andrei Arlovski would go on to fight present day-UFC interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall after the former secured the points win over Boser. While Arlovski would fall to Aspinall by way of a second round rear naked choke, the 46-year-old would go on to put together a four fight winning streak in the octagon. Arlovski collected wins over Chase Sherman, Carlos Felipe, Jared Vanderaa, and Jake Collier during this stretch.

After that though, Arlovski would go on a four fight losing skid against Marcos Rogério de Lima, Don’Tale Mayes, Waldo Cortes-Acosta, and Martin Buday before his departure from the UFC then transpired. Andrei Arlovski would return to winning ways in March when he stopped Terrance Hodges by way of a second round doctor stoppage after opening up a sizable cut on his opponent during their DBX 1 fight under the banner of the Mike Perry/ Jon Jones helmed Dirty Boxing Championship.

Islam Makhachev’s coach feels like Jack Della Maddalena is going to deal with an unprecedented set of challenges from the ppound for pound number one ranked fighrer inj the UFC.

This was expressed during a recent interview with Submission Radio that the acclaimed Javier Mendez took part in. When discussing the looming welterweight championship matchup between the reigning titleholder JDM and the man who vacated the lightweight belt in the pursuit of becoming a two division UFC champion, Mendez said,

“Islam is the type of fighter that he can change second per second, minute for minute, round for round, and go the direction that Khabib, myself, or the other coaches would instruct him to do. He will do what we ask him to do. So, we would dictate the fight based on how well he’s doing or not doing, you know. And he can do it all.”

“Can he take Jack down? Absolutely he can take him down. Can he outstrike Jack? Absolutely he could outstrike him. But is it wise to try to outstrike him? I don’t know. It may be a better deal to do what Belal should have done and what he didn’t do. And that’s something I know that Islam will do because he’s never not listened to us as his corner, his coaches.”

Mendez also stated, “Islam is a whole different animal than Jack’s ever been involved with. So, if that fight does materialize, we’re going to see a hell of a fight and you’re going to see Islam perform at an absolute incredible level. And also, the weight is not super big for him either.”

Islam Makhachev was stripped of his belt because UFC wants Ilia Topuria to become champ, according to Nurmagomedov

Islam Makhachev recorded a record amount of title defenses at 155 pounds before deciding to turn his focus to 170 pounds but a former UFC title challenger has a theory as to why the promotion stripped the Russian of his crown. During a recent trip that UFC CBO Hunter Campbell took to Dagestan, there were evidently some business dealings being set into motion and Umar Nurmagomedov has pulled back the curtain a bit on that situation.

During an interview with Adam Zubayraev, while prefacing his statements by mentioning he didn’t know if he was allowed to say this, Umar Nurmagomedov mentioned that the UFC wanted Islam Makhachev to move up because the organization has a desire for Ilia Topuria to become the lightweight champion.

Nurmagomedov mentioned that “they believe he [Topuria] can really sell fights” and also mentioned that the plan was for Makhachev vs Topuria for the 155 pound strap if Belal Muhammad remained welterweight champion but also he dropped the strap to Maddalena at UFC 315.

Jon Jones is not meaningfully centred in the life of Tom Aspinall as the latter simply wants a chance to become the undisputed champion. UFC’s interim heavyweight champion recently appeared on an episode of ESPN MMA‘s show Good Guy/ Bad Guy which is co-hosted by Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier in footage that was also posted to the UFC’s official YouTube channel. When touching on the situation with ‘Bones’ and what the longest reigning interim champion in UFC history wants next, Aspinall said,

“I’m not looking to fight Jon Jones. I’m looking to fight for the undisputed heavyweight championship. That’s what I want to be. I want to be the UFC undisputed heavyweight champion. I’m not waiting for one fight. I’m not trying to fight one guy—I’m trying to fight all the guys.”

“I want to be the guy at heavyweight who takes out everybody, and it doesn’t matter who it is—Ciryl Gane, Volkov, rematch Almeida, Derrick Lewis, Brock Lesnar—whoever it is, I don’t care. I want to fight everybody and as much as possible. Get some excitement back in this division, and let’s not talk about Jon Jones anymore. All the best to the guy—he’s living his best life, full respect to him. I’m the active guy, and I’m going to fight somebody, and that’s going to be announced pretty soon.”

Tom Aspinall will “wipe the floor with Jon Jones” according to a prolific heavyweight champion

Tom Aspinall works with some elite level heavyweight fighters from several combat sports including a Glory kickboxing champion who has reigned supreme for over 4,000 days. That individual in question is Rico Verhoeven who spoke about Aspinall, a potential Jones fight for his training partner, and his own upcoming fight as Verhoeven prepares to fight Artem Vakhitov at Glory 100.

When asked how he foresees this long awaited Jones vs. Aspinall title unification fight going if it does finally get booked, Verhoeven told MMA Fighting,

“He’s [Aspinall’s] going to wipe the floor with Jon Jones. Jon Jones doesn’t have a chance versus Tom Aspinall. Mark my words. Tom Aspinall is a freaking monster. On his feet and on the ground. I truly believe Jon Jones has never faced somebody that is that good on his feet.”

Jon Anik thinks that a Kayla Harrison versus Amanda Nunes contest could be the most attention grabbing fight in women’s MMA since Ronda Rousey embarked on her comeback. During an interview on MMA Junkie that took place prior to UFC 316,
UFC commentator Jon Anik was already speaking highly about the possibility of an Amanda Nunes return to the cage for a clash with Harrison.

Now that the multi-time Olympic gold medalist and former multi-time PFL champion is now a UFC titleholder and after Harrison called out Nunes to face off with her inside the octagon, it seems academic that they will be fighting next. Prior to the June 7th co-main event pay-per-view clash for the women’s 135 pound strap in Newark, Anik said,

“How do you quantify what a big fight is? What is your metric, what is your criteria? Is it pay-per-view buys? Because Ronda Rousey versus Amanda Nunes, to me, is singularly hard to top—even though you can argue that Amanda Nunes versus Cris Cyborg had maybe a different component to it that might have made it just as big.”

“Kayla Harrison versus Amanda Nunes in theoretical terms—Harrison’s first title defense—would be as big, but it’s hard for me, as we sit on the brink of UFC 316, to suggest to you that it would singularly be the biggest. But it would be as big for me as what was the biggest fight prior, which I guess for me was Amanda Nunes versus Ronda Rousey. And let’s not discount Julianna Peña, who does hold a win over Amanda Nunes.”

Anik continued, “She might come out of the defend-the-title side of all this, and she has that heat with Amanda, whereas Kayla and Amanda, I think, some heat can come up from all this from the stuff that we’ve heard behind the scenes that may or may not have happened at American Top Team before Nunes left. But I guess, first things first, that fight has to happen.”

When Ronda Rousey Attempted Her Return to MMA

Ronda Rousey‘s attempted return to MMA also involved the aforementioned Amanda Nunes and it ended up being one of the big statement wins in the latter’s career. At UFC 207 in December 2016, it took forty eight seconds for Nunes to send Rousey into a retirement from MMA and on a path to WWE after a torrent of punches halted their bantamweight title bout. Curiously enough, that was Nunes’ first defense of the bantamweight belt and she attempts to make her own return to mixed martial arts while Kayla Harrison is keen on making her own kickoff championship defense.

Sasha Palatnikov does battle with Phil Hawes at DBX 2 on June 14th and the former appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts to cover several subjects ahead of his foray into the world of Dirty Boxing Championship. After referencing a training photo from years ago with Chris Curtis at Syndicate MMA, who beat Phil Hawes in the UFC, and describing that this is the kind of pedigreed opponent who is right in the wheelhouse of adversaries that he looks for, Sasha Palatnikov said,

“For sure. I’ve actually crossed paths with him before. He’s come to Vegas and he; I’ve never trained with him but he’s been in the cage with a couple guys that you mentioned, Sean Strickland, Chris Curtis. At that time, he’s a 85er. At that time, I was a 170. So we just unfortunately never really; we had the same management at the time as well with Ruby. So I’m not sure why we never actually trained together. But yeah I mean, the homie Chris, he got the win over him.”

“We have had some conversations about him and and what he brings and what he does. Yeah, he’s [Hawes’] a talented guy. He’s strong. he’s powerful. I think he hasn’t really been competitive for quite a while if I’m not mistaken. I think his last fight, I could be wrong, but I think his last fight was in the UFC and that was a few years back. After that, I think I’ve seen him in like Dillon Danis’ corner against Logan Paul [laughs].”

Sasha Palatnikov doesn’t want to pull a Patchy Mix but has eyes on big DBX names

Sasha Palatnikov continued,

“If that’s like any indication of what he’s been up to. Seems like he’s been boxing but yeah to what extent, with who, what kind of training, I’m not sure. But yeah, this is again one of those opportunities. I’m a fighter, I don’t care who the opponent is. I was intrigued by the name of course. I do prefer to fight someone that has a name and people know. So that’s definitely a good spot to be in and like I said hope that I can yeah; I could quickly smash this guy and then hopefully get an opportunity to fight someone else.”

“I have some; I might be crazy but I have some names and I have some; I’m not going to talk about them now because I don’t want to pull a Patchy [Mix] or anything like that because you know anything can happen in the fight game. But yeah, maybe afterwards you can or you’ll see after the fight what are some of the names that I’m interested in, in Dirty Boxing. Because yeah, I’m a bit crazy but I also think I can do a lot in that rule set and I think I can bring some excitement to it.”

Forrest Griffin puts his paradigm shift enacting fight with Stephan Bonnar above becoming a father. This was touched upon during a 20 year celebration effort for The Ultimate Fighter with specific season 33 related Q&A also interwoven into the proceedings with coaches Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen involved.

The inaugural season of the show saw Forrest Griffin emerge as the champion but it was quite a curious road to get to then TUF 1 house and then subsequently to the finale as Griffin said,

“I was a last-minute replacement. I had no idea—I didn’t audition for the show, wasn’t trying to be on a show, didn’t even know if I’d fight again. I found out 17 days before the show. I was a cop, didn’t want to get on the plane. I said, ‘I may have made a huge life mistake—going to do reality TV.’ But obviously, I got on the plane.”

“Everybody knows the fight with Stephan Bonnar is the thing that basically saved the UFC or put it on the map. It’s one of the highlights of my life—way bigger than having a kid. Any jabroni can have a kid, but not any jabroni can be in the right moment and have the right fight to put the UFC on the map.”

Forrest Griffin and TUF 1 as a catalyst for MMA’s mainstream success

Forrest Griffin was correct in his assessment of how key his first Bonnar fight was as a device to shoot MMA into the pop culture zeitgeist. Prior to entering the TUF house for the first ever season of the ground breaking reality show, Griffin had a professional MMA record of 9-2 at the time with a recorded win over the aforementioned Chael Sonnen. Upon becoming part of the reality show fold, Griffin would secure wins over Alex Schoenaur and Sam Hoger after finishing both with strikes inside the distance.

Then on April 9th, 2005, Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar would create an electricity inside the cage that not only caused the live TV rating to spike through the roof in real time, but it pulled the sport out of the precarious spot it was in at the time. Griffin would get his hand raised via unanimous decision that night and while he eventually became the UFC light heavyweight champion, many see this Bonnar performance as Griffin’s biggest career moment in the context of how it was such a shot in the arm for the sport itself.

Merab Dvalishvili has just had the dust settle on his latest UFC title defense but he already is squarely focused on the idea of who his next opponent should be on a meritocracy level. After finishing Sean O’Malley in their rematch at UFC 316 to go 2-0 over ‘Suga’ and make the second defense of his bantamweight belt, Dvalishvili also put a surging contender in his proverbial crosshairs when addressing who he felt would be next up for a crack at 135 pound gold. This was referenced during the post-fight press conference following the pugilistic proceedings on June 7th when Dvalishvili said,

“Cory Sandhagen is the best deserving guy in this division right now. He was always fighting the best of the best, he’s a company guy, very respectful, hardworking, super talented. I think he deserves it the most. If UFC wants, I’m happy. I want to be busy. I want two more title defenses. I’m just going on a two-week vacation—one week in my country Georgia, with Nina Nina Drama and some friends, seeing cool parts of Georgia, enjoying good food, traveling. Then a week after, I’m going to Asia. After that, I’m coming straight back to support Ilia, and I’m ready whenever UFC wants me. I will fight, no problem.”

Merab Dvalishvili receives champion’s welcome after returning home in Georgia

Merab Dvalishvili returned to his home country on Wednesday and the man who many are now calling MMA’s bantamweight GOAT was greeted quite warmly upon his return. Throngs of fans surrounded the UFC titleholder after he got off of the airplane and Dvalishvili had quite the raucous victory celebration at the airport. Merab Dvalishvili was then seen on top of a double decker bus that had a UFC championship logo adorned on the front as enthusiastic fans riding motorcycles close to the bus clamored to get a visual of the dominant mixed martial artist.

The reception was massive and spotlights an ever growing popularity that Merab Dvalishvili has after notching two title defenses this year against previously unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov in January and Sean O’Malley a few days ago at UFC 311 and UFC 316, respectively.

Jeremy Kennedy is running it back with Adam Borics on June 12th and when the two step into the PFL smart cage, the former will look to gain a measure of redemption against the latter. In a prior interview on the MMA Canada platform, it was referenced that this fight was one that Kennedy wouldn’t mind getting back considering their history previously fighting in Bellator. Borics secured the unanimous decision win over Kennedy at Bellator 256 and when asked for his thoughts on the MMA Canada platform regarding the machinations of this second Borics contest, Jeremy Kennedy said,

“This is one actually running for four years now. Like I knew as soon as that fight ended, he’s a young guy, we were both young at the time at the top of the division in the Bellator rankings. Like he was two and I was, you know, like we were in the top of the rankings then and then we both came over to PFL and he’s just been on my radar since that happened. That was one of the fights I wanted to get back, just with how that fight went. I feel like I’m the better fighter.”

“I’m sure he feels the same way and just the way I fought, it wasn’t; I just; I’m better better than what I showed back then. I just get to to show improvements and I know he’s improved since then too. I just think I’ve closed the gap more so than he has. Like I said man, this is just one I’ve been wanting back since the day it happened four years ago. Ideally it would have been cool to be in the finals but you know fights went the way the way they did and here we are in the ultimate position fighting each other now. So I’m just happy I get a chance with this guy now.”

Jeremy Kennedy on this Adam Borics rematch being the second best case scenario

While responding to the notion that this Adam Borics sequel clash represents one of the better outcomes he can get here all factors considered, Jeremy Kennedy stated,

“Before the last one, I was expecting to win and and fight this date anyways. So when the fight went the way it did, I was kind of bummed that I wasn’t going to continue on. When they brought this to me I was like this is the second best case scenario you know. I get to continue on this active busy schedule and stay the course and who knows? A lot of things can happen you know. I do my job and there’s four other fighters that can miss weight, can be injured, visa issues. Like there there’s tons of things. So to keep my name in the hat is is more important as well.”

Magomed Ankalaev and those around him are growing frustrated as well as confused with why an immediate rematch has not been booked with Alex Pereira. Prolific MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz, who represents Ankalaev as well as many other big name fighters, spoke about this situation recently during a sit down interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie.

Since Ankalaev claimed the light heavyweight belt from Pereira via unanimous decision during their UFC 313 clash in March, it seemed like the writing was on the wall that an immediate sequel clash for the 205 pound crown would be booked between the two combatants.

That being said, nothing has been officially confirmed for this blockbuster rematch and in addressing the situation from his purview, Abdelaziz said,

“We got asked to fight International Fight Week—we said yes. We got asked to fight Alex in August—we said yes. We got asked to fight in October—yes. But Magomed is saying, ‘Alex is out of every event, he’s on vacation, he’s doing this.’ ‘I’m killing myself in the gym, I don’t know when I’m fighting him.”

“I’m the champion, but I feel like I’m the challenger.’ If Alex doesn’t want to fight, let me get some of these other guys, I’ll fight. But Alex Pereira earned it, and he deserves it. If we have to wait, it’s okay. The guy did a lot for the sport, and we respect him. It should be him and Magomed Ankalaev next.”

Magomed Ankalaev receives a response from Alex Pereira

Magomed Ankalaev and his team are growing uncertain regarding rematch negotiations but Alex Pereira recently came out to clarify some things from his side of the situation. The former two division UFC champion recently spoke on this to UFC Brasil when Pereira was on-scene at UFC 316.

Pereira spoke about how many are assuming he is done with combat sports when in reality he is simply taking a bit of a breather after a notoriously torrid schedule especially for an active UFC champion. Alex Pereira also spoke about Ankalaev consistently having his name in his mouth and said that the constant references were because no one knows that the latter is actually the champion and that the Russian combatant can get some notoriety off of mentioning his name.

Merab Dvalishvili offered up some words of encouragement to Sean O’Malley after going 2-0 over ‘Suga’ at UFC 316. Dvalishvili made the sophomore defense of his 135 pound belt when he submitted the man he initially claimed it from, O’Malley, on June 7th in Newark. The UFC bantamweight champion has been doing the media rounds since this win and Dvalishvili fielded several questions on The Ariel Helwani Show after this victory. When asked about what advice he would offer up to O’Malley after now sustaining a second loss to the reigning bantamweight champion, Dvalishvili said,

“I would just say, stay positive. Loss sometimes is good. It makes you motivated, makes you change, makes you get better mentally and physically. Of course, loss in a fight is never good, but you have to blame yourself and look for a reason to get better. Just do your best. If you still love this, keep doing it, keep training. As long as you love it, keep doing it. If you don’t love it anymore, then relax. He’s a happy dad, I wish him all the best. Not everybody will be champion. Only eight guys will be champion at a time. If you still love this, keep doing it.”

Merab Dvalishvili leaps over MMA GOAT in P4P rankings

Merab Dvalishvili has such an impressive resume at this point that many are saying he’s the greatest bantamweight in mixed martial arts history and his win at UFC 316 has positioned him above a man many see as the overall MMA GOAT. In the latest rankings update from the UFC, it now has Dvalishvili positioned at number two in the pound for pound rankings above Jon Jones who is in the number three spot in then P4P hierarchy. The only fighter in the company who now sits above the UFC bantamweight kingpin is Islam Makhachev with the number one pound for pound fighter in the promotion recently vacating his lightweight belt to now pursue welterweight gold.

Kevin Holland was able to expound more upon his Colby Covington post-fight callout in the wake of winning at UFC 316. Holland defeated Vicente Luque by way of an Anaconda Choke at the sixty three second mark in the second round of their June 7th bout in Newark. With this victory marking back-to-back wins for the surging 170 pounder, Kevin Holland pointedly called out for a fight with the former multi-time UFC welterweight title challenger, Covington. As the ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus earner fielded questions from on-site media at the UFC 316 post-fight press conference regarding the callout of ‘Chaos’ Covington, Holland said,

“A lot of people who want to fight Colby Covington have personal issues with him. I don’t really care about talk, but it might be one of the most entertaining lead-ups to a fight we’ve had in a while. I think it’d be a good one. They could cancel The Ultimate Fighter and just do me and Colby. Anything you guys wanted to do with me and Colby would sell. It could be fun, a lot of [expletive] talking, whatever it needs to be. I think me and Colby does numbers. We’d be the highest fight night, and if we were on a pay-per-view co-main event, we’d help sell that thing out. You wouldn’t even need a stacked undercard.”

Kevin Holland declares a more directional approach in his career

Kevin Holland has notable highlights in both middleweight contests and welterweight contests but seems squarely focused on the 170 pound division going forward. In his post-fight interview, Holland mentioned that while he did love fighting at 185 pounds, he also mentioned that he is more professional these days and feels like he can truly make some noise a welterweight.

Holland then referred to Colby Covington as the worst fighter in the division whilst calling him out to the live pay-per-view audience. Holland touted Vicente Luque as a tough fight while Covington would be an easy fight in his estimation. A Summer or Fall timeline was put out there by Holland with Covington not responding to the callout as of yet.

Kayla Harrison took time to spotlight single mothers in the wake of her recent UFC championship victory. Harrison became the new UFC bantamweight champion at UFC 316 with a second round submission win over a two time titleholder in the division in Julianna Pena and the newly minted champion appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to cover several subjects after her win.

When explaining why she carved out time in her post-fight victory speech to highlight single moms when she was given the microphone for her post-fight interview on June 7th, Kayla Harrison said,

“I did know it was on my heart to speak to single moms. I have felt like mom guilt and just questioning because my life is changing right in front of my eyes right now. We went out for ice cream today and I had to stop and take pictures. It’s a privilege and an honor for me, but life is going to change for my kids and I. I have been thinking about that a lot, and thinking about single moms and how hard it is.”

“A lot of times it just feels like you’re alone and you’re suffering and you’re questioning, you wish you could be better and you want to be more present and more loving, but you’re so overwhelmed and overstimulated that you snap.”

“You want to chase your dreams but you want to be a good mom. I just wanted single moms to know that they’re not alone. We all feel like that and we all struggle with it. I do believe that it is important to live your life on fire. If God put a dream in your heart, it’s your duty to go out there and give your absolute best and chase your dreams.”

Kayla Harrison on the importance of family and faith to her

Harrison continued, “Maybe that dream just means being a mom, and that is a big dream of mine now—just to be a good steward to my children and lead them in the right ways. I was just giving glory to God because I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be the person I am, I wouldn’t be walking this earth. I have had moments where I didn’t want to live, and that still small voice inside of me kept me going.”