vladjarca

Main Event Women’s Strawweight Championship Bout: © Weili Zhang vs. (#1) Rose Namajunas Co-Main Event Flyweight Championship Bout: © Deiveson Figueiredo vs. (#1) Brandon Moreno Main Card Light Heavyweight Bout: (#4) Dominick Reyes vs. (#6) Jiri Prochazka Middleweight Bout: (#11) Chris Weidman vs. (#9) Uriah Hall Lightweight Bout: (#15) Gregor Gillespie vs. Francisco Trinaldo ESPN Preliminary Card Heavyweight Bout: (#13) Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcin Tybura Lightweight Bout: Renato Moicano vs. Damir Ismagulov Bantamweight Bout: Rani Yahya vs. Joey Gomez ESPN+ Early Preliminary Card Lightweight Bout: Davi Ramos vs. Jordan Leavitt Women’s Bantamweight Bout: Melissa Gatto vs. Liana Jojua Welterweight Bout: Gabriel Green vs. Uros Jurisic Really hoping Weidman manages to get his second win in a row, and also hoping Gillespie's return goes well. Moicano also really needs this win after that highlight KO loss to Fiziev

Main Event: Heavyweight Bout: (#4) Curtis Blaydes vs. (#6) Anthony Johnson Co-Main Event: Bantamweight Bout: (#19) Rob Font vs. (#20) Raphael Assuncao Main Card: Womens Flyweight Bout: (#10) Roxanne Modafferi vs. (#11) Valerie Loureda Middleweight Bout: Jake Ellenberger vs. Markus Perez Welterweight Bout: Ed Ruth vs. Saygid Izagakhmaev Preliminary Card: Womens Flyweight Bout: (#22) Jessica Eye vs. Anastasia Yankova Lightweight Bout: Alex Munoz vs. Paweł Kiełek Light Heavyweight Bout: Abukar Yandiev vs. Aleksa Camur Lightweight Bout: Carlos Diego Ferreira vs. Devonte Smith Flyweight Bout: (#16) Zhalgas Zhumagulov vs. (#20) Jordan Espinosa Featherweight Bout: Herbert Burns vs. Shane Burgos Womens Strawweight Bout: (#22) Istela Nunes vs. (#23) Loma Lookboonmee Bantamweight Bout: Chris Gutierrez vs. Takeya Mizugaki Featherweight Bout: Nad Narimani vs. Steven Peterson Lightweight Bout: Roosevelt Roberts vs. Alex Reyes

MMA AWARDS 2021-2022 1 January, 2022 1. Fighter Of The Year: Winner: CONOR MCGREGOR (3-0) Other nominees: Gilbert Burns (3-1), Vicente Luque (3-0), Kevin Lee (4-0), TJ Dillashaw (4-0). The fact that the UFC LW and WW divisions had two representatives in the 5 nominees goes to show just how good these divisions are, and here's a secret: the LW champion is not one of the two nomineees! But now, let's talk about the winner! The greatest star in the sport, Conor McGregor, had a great year, which shall be great for the sport as a whole! His great year started off in with a Fantastic bout in the co-main of the Poirier vs. Oliveira card. The main event saw Oliveira get a quick sub over Poirier to win the vacant LW championship, but his thunder was stolen by Conor, who put on a great war earlier, against Justin Gaethje, and demanded a title shot following his UD win. He didn't receive it, tho, and actually he didn't even receive a main event! Only 2-1 at LW, the UFC put him up against Dan Hooker in April, in the co-main of the Usman vs. Burns card! There, Conor stood and banged with Hooker for 6 minutes, and TKOed his opponent with ferocity. Finally demed worth a title shot, Conor was booked to fight Oliveira for the belt in June, but an injury for Oliveira took away Conor's title shot, and Beneil Dariush stepped in to take on the Irish, and got TKOed in just under 4 minutes, in a 1 sided beatdown. Angered by the UFC's decision to not make his fight for an interim belt, and the booking of Oliveira vs. Ferguson for the LW belt, Conor took his ball and left on a hiatus, but his return will most likely be for the title, and attract everyone's attention! 2. Female Fighter Of The Year Winner: THUG ROSE NAMAJUNAS (4-0). Other nominees: Cris Cyborg (2-0), Amanda Nunes (1-0), Sarah Kaufman (4-0), Katlyn Chookagian (1-0). Thug Rose surely earned this award. In what was surely the most active year of her career, Rose not only dethroned Weili Zhang KOing her in exactly 60 seconds, but she defended a whooping THREE times in the same year she won the belt! First, she met Carla Esparza only 2 months after winning the belt, and got a clean UD nod against her. Then, the tough up-and-comer Tatiana challenged 3 months later, in August, and got knocked out cold in the 3rd round by Rose, in another dominant display from the champion. Finally, the cherry on the cake was Rose's latest defence, in December, against Tecia Torres. It was a barn-burner of a 1st round where bout ladies looked great, but as soon as the 2nd round started, Rose connected with a perfect head kick that sent Torres straight to sleep, in a Fantastic performance and fight of the year contender! Speaking of that... 3. Fight Of The Year Winner: Nick Maximov vs. Aaron Jeffery (LFA 98 - Lazishvili vs. Caraway) Other nominees: Paulo Costa vs. Kevin Holland (UFC on ESPN: Costa vs Holland), Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres (UFC on ESPN: Namajunas vs. Torres II), Sergio Pettis vs. Dominique Wooding (Bellator 269: Mousasi vs. Murtazaliev), Conor McGregor vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC on ESPN: Poirier vs. Oliveira). Uncommon, but the FOTY had an elite grappler coming out on top! After getting hurt badly in the first round by Aaron Jeffery, Maximov managed to get the fight on the floor where they slugged it out in an impressive manner! Then, the second round came and Maximov walked through a massive cross to take his opponent down and spectacularly transition into an armbar that left everyone stunned. Following this win, he got an instant title shot, but fell short in his bout with the champion, Alex Pereira, who's currently on the UBL roster! Maximov bounced back with another great armbar win, tho, and then got picked up by DEEP, altho' his debut in the company is yet to come. Meanwhile, the loser of this wonderful bout, Jeffery, bounced back with 3 violent KO/TKO victories in the LFA and got picked up by ONE, where he'll debut in this January, on the main card, in a bout that's believed to have big title implications! 4. Company Of The Year Winner: ACA Other nominees: UFC, Bellator MMA, UBL, ONE Championship. Yea, whateva, guess ACA had a fun year 5. Knock Out Of The Year Winner: Sergio Pettis (vs. Dominique Wooding @ Bellator 269: Mousasi vs. Murtazaliev) Other nominees: Rose Namajunas (vs. Tecia Torres @ UFC on ESPN: Namajunas vs. Torres II), Yair Rodriguez (vs. Cub Swanson @ UFC Fight Night: Oliveira vs. Ferguson II), Kevin Lee (vs. Dustin Poirier @ UFC Fight Night: Usman vs. Burns), Gaston Bolanos (vs. Daniel Straus @ Bellator 271: Pitbull vs. Barnett). In what was an awesomely violent back and fourth fight, after two violent rounds, Pettis came out in the 3rd and just blasted Wooding with a straight punch from hell, and Wooding's fall was as painful to watch as the punch itself. With this win, Pettis bounced back from his loss in his challenge for the BW belt, and he'll be back against young top prospect Christian Natividad in February. 6. Sumbission Of The Year Winner: Pietro Menga (crazy Armbar vs. Nathan Greyson @ CWFC The MMA Gods 2: Cartwright vs. Tait) Other nominees: Tony Ferguson (Peruvian Necktie vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira @ UFC on ESPN: McGregor vs. Dariush), AJ McKee (McKeellotine vs. John Teixeira @ Bellator 272: Barnett vs. Adams), Guilherme Vasconcelos (crazy armbar vs. Kevin Ferguson Jr. @ Bellator 265: Pitbull vs. Straus V), Douglas Lima (Cobra Choke vs. Lorenz Larkin @ Bellator 262: Lima vs. Larkin II). Menga somehow got tripped and pulled off an armbar while scrambling from under side control. Kudos to you, son! Not only that, but he then went on to challenge for the CWFC FlyW belt afterward, and have another great showing, despite getting KOed in the 2nd round. Things don't always go our way.. 7. Main Event Of The Year: Winner: Kameyo Tamada vs. Sakamae Sekine (JEWELS 31) Other nominees: Paulo Costa vs. Kevin Holland (UFC on ESPN: Costa vs Holland), Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres (UFC on ESPN: Namajunas vs. Torres II), Douglas Lima vs. Lorenz Larkin (Bellator 262: Lima vs. Larkin II), Tyler McGuire vs. James Nakashima (ONE Fully Loaded). Kameyo Tamada impressed greatly in her JEWELS debut back in April, getting a quick RNC win over Maeko Motoyoshi in just over 2 minutes, so she was given a title shot in her 2nd pro bout, against another top 1-0 prospect, Sakamae Sekine. It was a gruelling battle between the judoka Tamada and the wrestler Sekine, as Sekine scored multiple takedowns but Tamada always managed to get up and fight back with BIG strikes, and Sekine proved she's got one heck of a chin! Tamada got the UD nod and got picked up by the UBL soon after, where she's set to debut in January, against fellow newcomer Megan Crowley. 8. Show Of The Year: Winner: ACA 118: Ospanov vs. Froes (Rating: 85) Other nominees: Brave CF 38: Tezuka vs. Jang (81), Bellator 269: Murtazaliev vs. Mousasi (82), DEEP Comeback: Maru vs. Jow (81), ACA 125: Ospanov vs. Deak (82), Shooto Devastation: Maeda vs. Sato (82). What a year for Ospanov, main eventing two SOTY nominees, and the winning card! He also won via 2nd round KO in both, first to win, and then to defend his ACA FW Title! But now, to the ACA 118 card. The card kicked off in a dissapointing manner, with a stoppage due to a cut in the very first cut, giving top LHW contender Karol Celinski a sour win over the unproven Ilya Shcheglov. It would go on to be Celinski's only win of 2021 and the last one of his career, as he retired after losing in his next 2 fights. Now, onto the good stuff! Another top contender was matched up with a rising prospect, as Oleg Bagov squared off with Raul Tutarauli. After 2 rounds of standing and banging on the feet, where Bagov had more volume, but Tutarauli had more power and went for the body and legs, Bagov secured a takedown and eventually got a North South Choke late in the 3rd round, to ensure his W following a close fight! The fight was rated Fantastic, Bagov went on to challange for the belt in his next fight, in a lsoing effort. But he earned another shot at the end of the year, and finally ended the year as champion! In the following bout, top MW contender Georgy Kichigin outgrappled and oustruck gatekeeper Beslan Isaev with style, finishing him off with a Kimura in the 2nd round. One more win earned him a title shot, and now he's the ACA MW champion. In the co-main event, Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov, rival of the aforemention Oleg Bagov, defended his LW belt against #1 contender and UFC alumni Desmond Green, and he beat him with ease, via Bulldog Choke in under 1 minute. He went on to beat Bagov for the second time in his career in his next fight, but lost the belt in their trilogy bout just before the end of the year. Finally, the main event saw Arman Ospanov and Felipe Froes square off for the vacant ACA FW championship. In what was a true dog fight, Ospanov finished Froes in the middle of the 2nd round in the second Fantastic bout of the main card, after making a great display of flashy Karate striking. Sadly, he did not end the year as a champion, but cemented his legacy with this spectacular W and another spectacular defence. 9. Rookie Of The Year: Winner: Manami Shichirobei (2-0) Other nominees: Keizo Higashikuni (3-0, HW King of Pancrase), Masazumi Narato (5-0, HW King of Pancrase + 1 defence), Da-Juan Nagel (2-0, EFC WW Champion), Madelon Bordelon (2-0, Unified MMA FlyW Champion). Manami impressed greatly in her first 2 bouts in Jewels! An Atomweight fighter, she's not likely to fight much outside of Japan, but she seems boud to great things, as she earned victories over some of the best women's atomweights in the world, finishing #22 world ranked Saori Ishioka via Guillotine and defeating ex-RIZIN Atomweight champion Kanna Asakura via 3rd round TKO! Altho she enters MMA aged 31, as an ex-kickboxer, her striking talents aren't the only things she has impressed with, as she showed an impressive wrestling clinch in her debut bout and shocked the world when she got the win via Guillotine, and managed to defeat one of her division's greatest in Asakura! 10. Upset Of The Year: Winner: So Yul Kim beats Satomi Takano by UD (ONE Bitter Rivals) Other nominees: Gabriel Varga beats Emmanuel Sanchez by UD (Bellator 265: Pitbull vs. Straus V), Josh Barnett beats Ryan Bader for the Bellator HW Title by 3rd round KO (Bellator 264: Bader vs. Barnett), Alex Oliveira beats Stephen Thompson 1st round RNC(UFC on ESPN: Blachowicz vs. Santos II), Gian Villante beats Curtis Blaydes by 1st round KO (UFC 257: Shevchenko vs. Chookagian II) Let's give a honorable mention to Agapova walking through Valentina Shevchenko in the 1st round, but gah dam' it, there were some CRAZY upsets that happened in 2021. Some other honorable mentions would be Suga Sean KOing Cruz, Faber TKOing Aldo and Randy Brown KOing Woodley. Now, about the official upset of the year. Coming into this fight, So Yul Kim was coming off a loss via submission to a fellow untested prospect, Nyrene Crowley. So many people were surprised when it was revealed that in her next fight, she'll be taking on Satomi Takano in her ONE FC debut, but most assumed it's just an easy "welcome fight" for Takano so she can move onto the title picture, as she was coming off a 3 fight winning streak against JEWELS' finest. But not only did Kim win, she dominated and landed many massive shots to Takano, outstriking her 49 to 9 in total, including a dozen of haymakers that everyone couldn't believe Takano managed to eat without going to take a nap. Takano got cut following the L, while So Yul Kim is waiting to be given the chance of another impressive result. That's about it for now, I'll be back tomorrow with the world rankings!

Hey Maxi! Just noticed that according to both Tapology and Sherdog, Brendan Lesar is born in January of 1994, while in the mod he's born in May 1987.

Main Card Heavyweight Bout: Kimbo Slice (225 lbs) vs. James Thompson (265 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Alan Belcher (205 lbs) vs. Ian Freeman (205 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Jason High (165 lbs) vs. Paul Sass (165 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Tim Boetsch (185 lbs) vs. Dan Hardy (185 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Manny Tapia (145 lbs) vs. Robbie Olivier (145 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Sergei Kharitonov (240 lbs) vs. Hong Man Choi (265 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Alexander Shlemenko (205 lbs) vs. Dong Yi Yang (205 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Alexander Yankovlev (170 lbs) vs. Dong Hyun Kim (185 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Musa Khamanev (145 lbs) vs. Chan Sung Jung (145 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Sergey Golyaev (165 lbs) vs. Jong Man Kim (146 lbs) Preliminary Card Heavyweight Bout: Kazuyuki Fujita (240 lbs) vs. Marcio Cruz (230 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Kazuhiro Nakamura (205 lbs) vs. Vinny Magalhaes (205 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Eiji Mitsuoka (145 lbs) vs. Patricio Freire (145 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Nobutatsu Suzuki (165 lbs) vs. Andre Dida (165 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Izuru Takeuchi (185 lbs) vs. Rousimar Palhares (185 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Kalib Starnes (205 lbs) vs. Michal Martela (205 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Tim Hague (265 lbs) vs. Damian Grabowski (260 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Mike Ricci (165 lbs) vs. Maciej Jewtuszko (165 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Chris Brigham (145 lbs) vs. Bart Palaszewski (145 lbs) Welterweight Bout: John Alessio (185 lbs) vs. Robert Jocz (170 lbs)

Loving the MMA World Cup concept!

Main Event Middleweight Bout: (#1) Robert Whittaker vs. (#2) Paulo Costa Co-Main Event Light Heavyweight Bout: (#15) Ryan Spann vs. Maurício Rua Main Card Flyweight Bout: (#3) Joseph Benavidez vs. (#4) Askar Askarov Women's Flyweight Bout: (#2) Katlyn Chookagian vs. (#7) Viviane Araujo Middleweight Bout: Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bartosz Fabinski ESPN2 Preliminary Card Light Heavyweight Bout: Tyson Pedro vs. Ed Herman Bantamweight Bout: Denys Bondar vs. Joe Soto Bantamweight Bout: Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones Featherweight Bout: Michael Trizano vs. Rafael Alves Women’s Flyweight: Tracy Cortez* vs. Justine Kish Featherweight Bout: Jared Gordon** vs. Danny Chavez

What A Card That Was

Main Event: Featherweight Bout: (#3) Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. (#4) Renato Carneiro Co-Main Event: Flyweight Bout: (#3) Jussier da Silva vs. (#6) Deiveson Figueiredo Main Card: Welterweight Bout: (#8) Warlley Alves vs. (#16) Colby Covington Light Heavyweight Bout: (#9) Mauricio Rua vs. (#14) Anthony Smith Featherweight Bout: (#7) Jose Aldo vs. (#12) Mirsad Bektic Preliminary Card: Welterweight Bout: Rafael dos Anjos vs. Ty Duncan Womens Bantamweight Bout: (#7) Ketlen Vieira vs. (#6) Bethe Correia Bantamweight Bout: Wilson Reis vs. Aiemann Zahabi Flyweight Bout: (#13) Alexandre Pantoja vs. (#20) Felipe Efrain Bantamweight Bout: Marcos Galvao vs. Joe Soto Welterweight Bout: Luan Chagas vs. Muslim Salikhov Womens Flyweight Bout: (#16) Poliana Botelho vs. (#17) Talia Santos Featherweight Bout: Martin Bravo vs. Thiago Tavares Womens Flyweight Bout: (#21) Mara Romero Borella vs. Claudia Rey Womens Flyweight Bout: Bruna Ellen vs. Sabina Mazo

<p><strong>And now, IT IS TIME FOR THE LAAAAAAST SHOW OF THE YEAR FOR THE ULTIMATE B-LEAGUE!</strong></p><p> </p><p> </p><div style="text-align:center;"><p><strong><span style="font-family:'Franklin Gothic Medium';"><span style="font-size:18px;">UBL 18: BULLETPROOF - Agapova vs. Shevchenko</span></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:'Franklin Gothic Medium';"><span style="font-size:18px;"> </span></span></strong>31 December 2021</p><p> Somewhere in Eastern Europe</p></div><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p><strong> Prelims:</strong></p><p> W BW: Mayra Rodrigues defeats Kamila Porczyk by Americana Submission @1:41, round 1. </p><p> FW: Leandro Higo defeats Herbert Burns by UD (29-28 x 3). </p><p> BW: Josh Hill defeats Taylor Lapilus by SD (30-27 x 2, 28-29). Hill calls out Stephen Loman.</p><p> WW: Abubakar Vagaev defeats Ramazan Remeev by UD (30-27 x 3). </p><p> FlyW: #15 Johnny Clean (The most pro-wrestling-esque name in the history of MMA) defeats Lito Adiwang by Armbar Submission @3:15, round 2, in a Fantastic bout. He then calls out Tyson Nam, guaranteeing he'd embarass him at any time & any place.</p><p> HW: Masazumi Narato defeats #15 Alikhan Vakhaev by TKO @3:40, round 1. What a night for the UBL newgens!</p><p> FlyW: #13 Jeff Molina defeats #14 Yosuke Saruta by KO @4:44, round 1. </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Main card:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> 1. Lightweight Bout: #5 Rashid MAGOMEDOV (26-5-1, +100) vs. #7 Arman TSARUKYAN (15-4, -110)</strong></p><p> </p><p> Round 1: The lads step in and Arman hits a good 1-2 and blocks a cross. Then, Arman gets pushing forward and hits a jab-low kick combo. As Rashid tries to pressure Arman, he misses with a 1-2 and eats two counter jabs. Arman hits two more low kicks on Rashid, and Rashid hits a low kick of his own. Arman comes forward and hits a cross, but eats two jabs from Rashid. They trade hooks as Arman keeps coming forward. Finally, Rashid's counterpunching game starts to work, as he counters Arman's right hook attempt with a good right hand. But then, Arman manages to hit a glancing head kick, altho' Rashid eats it with ease. Arman follows up with a good overhand right. He then comes forward with a clean left, but Rashid also hits him with a jab-body punch combo. Rashid is the one who's pressuring as we enter the last minute, and he eats two counter lefts as he hits Arman with a good straight. Arman seems to have his number tho, as he hits a jab-jab-hook combo while dodging Rashid's cross. And that's it for round 1, surely 10-9 for Arman. Also, Rashid's leg is looking pretty bad.</p><p> Round 2: Arman comes forward and kicks Rashid's leg again. Rashid only hits his counter jabs, as Arman connects with a jab-jab-body kick combo. Rashid dodges a head kick attempt. But Arman hits a jab-cross combo. Rashid hits a clean left and dodges Arman's hook. Rashid lets Arman come forward, but gets smashed with a clean right. Arman keeps walking down Rashid AND HITS ONE HELL OF A HEAD KICK, AND RASHID HITS THE FLOOR! ARMAN RAINS DOWN WITH MASSIVE SHOTS, BUT THE REF AIN'T STEPPING IN YET! ARMAN GETS RASHID'S BACK AS RASHID ROLLED AS RASHID WAS ATTEMPTING A MOUNT! But he can't get the RNC! BUT ARMAN GETS POUNDING ON RASHID AGAIN, AND ONLY THE REF ENDS IT THIS TIME!</p><p> </p><p> Winner: Arman Tsarukyan (Poundin' from back mount TKO @4:25, round 2). Rating: Decent.</p><p> </p><p> Post-fight: Arman calls for a rematch with Klose, saying he's desperate to prove how much of a progress he's made in only a few months, and the best way to do it is to avenge his most recent loss. Interesting proposal, we'll think about it.</p><p> </p><p> 2. <strong>Featherweight Bout: #1 Movsar EVLOEV (15-1, -200) vs. #4 Mirsad BEKTIC (15-4, +150)</strong></p><p> </p><p> Round 1: Touch of gloves, and Evloev hits Bektic with a jab-hook combo. But he misses with the following punch and Bektic shoots like a mad horse, and now Evloev's pulling guard. Evloev tries to grab an arm but Bektic won't let him, and Bektic throws some body shots. Evloev manages to scramble after using his butterfly guard, but it just helps Bektic get into side control... He spends the remaining minutes hitting Evloev from side control, securing the 10-9 for round 1.</p><p> Round 2: BEKTIC WANTED TO SHOOT IMMEDIATELY BUT EVLOEV SMACKED HIM WITH A BIG TIME RIGHT CROSS, AND BEKTIC FALLS DOWN! EVLOEV POUNDS ON BEKTIC WITH NO MERCY, BABY! AND IT'S ALL OVER!</p><p> </p><p> Winner: Movsar Evloev (Cross & Pound TKO @0:33, round 2). Rating: Decent.</p><p> </p><p> Post-fight: Well, Evloev gives a basic interview and hints at a title rematch.</p><p> Evloev moved up in the world FW rankings, from #14 to #11, while Bektic fell off the list, from #25.</p><p> </p><p> 3.<strong> Welterweight Bout: #5 Elizeu Zaleski DOS SANTOS (23-8, +550) vs. #6 Ismail NAURDIEV (22-5, -700)</strong></p><p> </p><p> Round 1: Elizeu comes in with a wild cross that misses and gets countered with a jab-head kick combo! Elizeu tries a head kick of his own, but Naurdiev dodges and slips in a jab. Elizeu buys Naurdi's feint and gets struck with a jab-right cross combo. Naurdi slips in another punch but misses with a low kick, and Elizeu hits now with the jab-head kick combo! It was only a glancing kick, tho. Naurdi misses a right cross and gets struck with a low kick. Naurdi dodges a right hook but misses with the head kick. Elizeu misses with the big right and eats a pair of jabs from Naurdi. They trade some jabs and Naurdi hits a low kick. They have two lackluster exchanges, and Elizeu seems to be occasionaly limping. But Elizeu manages to counter a right cross attempt with a nice low kick. He then comes in with a jab-body punch combo, and Naurdi hits a jab while backing out. Round over, and Naurdi won this round for sure, 10-9 Naurdiev.</p><p> Round 2: Elizeu hits a hook to the body, and Naurdiev hits 2 jabs but misses the hook. Naurdi connects with the low kick and eats a right hook from Elizeu. Elizeu seems to slow down a bit now, and he hits a good right hook, BUT NAURDIEV COMES IN WITH 2 PUNCHES OUTTA NOWHERE AND THEN TAKES ELIZEU'S HEAD OFF WITH A CRAZY HEAD KICK! Elizeu is down! NAURDI FOLLOWS UP WITH BIG SHOTS AND IT IS ALL OVER! </p><p> </p><p> Winner: Ismail Naurdiev (Kick & pound TKO @2:07, round 2). Rating: Good.</p><p> </p><p> Post-fight: Naurdiev calls out MICHAEL VENOM PAGE, lads! MVP is already booked right now and is presumed to have a title shot coming his way if he wins, but if he losses, this is surely the fight to make.</p><p> Naurdiev made his way into the world WW rankings, coming in at #22</p><p> </p><p> 4<strong>. Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final: #1 Brad TAVARES (19-7, -570) vs. #11 Dricus DU PLESSIS (16-2, +420)</strong></p><p> </p><p> Round 1: Tavares comes in with two lefts and a straight right, while Du Plessis hits a shy left. Tavares keeps coming with a hard jab-straight right combo, and Du Plessis looks intimitated. Tavares hits a 4 punch combo ending with a right hook. Du Plessis lands a clean left, BUT TAVARES SMASHES HIM WITH A HEAD KICK, AND FOLLOWS UP WITH GROUND AND POUND, AND IT'S A QUICK WIN FOR BRAD TAVARES!</p><p> </p><p> Winner: Brad Tavares (Kick & Pound TKO @2:05, round 1). Rating: Great.</p><p> </p><p> Post-fight: Brad Tavares is glad to have earned another title shot, and we warns champ Roberson that he ain't making any mistake this time around.</p><p> Tavares will challenge MW champion Karl Roberson in the final of the MW Tournament. Tavares moved up in the world MW rankings, from #10 to #5.</p><p> </p><p> 5. <strong>AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR OUR LAST BOUT OF THE YEAR AND MAAAAAAAAAIN EVEEEEEEENT OF THE EVENIIIIIIIIING! FOR THE UBL FLYWEIGHT CROWN: </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> © Mariya AGAPOVA (11-2, +350) vs. #1 Valentina "THE BULLET" SHEVCHENKO (22-4, -500)</strong></p><p> </p><p> Round 1: Both ladies defend well in the first exchage of strikes. Then, Valentina hits a roundhouse body kick, WHILE AGAPOVA HITS A NICE HEAD KICK, HURTING VALENTINA, OH MY GOD! AGAPOVA TELEGRAPHS A HUGE LEFT HOOK, BUT VALENTINA DODGES and snaps back into it. CAN AGAPOVA ACTUALLY DEFEND HER BELT WITH SUCCESS!? Shevchenko hits the jab but misses with the left follow-up, and Agapova hits her with a left cross, AND SHEVCHENKO SEEMS HURT AGAIN! LEFT UPPERCUT FROM AGAPOVA AND SHEVCHENKO HITS THE FLOOR! AGAPOVA FOLLOWS UP WITH HUGE LEFTS TO THE DOWNED SHEVCHENKO AND THAT IS EFFING IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT! AGAPOVA BY TKO AND A STAR IS BORN! WHAT A WAY TO END THE YEAR!</p><p> </p><p> Winner, AND STIIIIIIIIIIILL UBL FLYWEIGHT QUEEN: MARIYAAAAAAA AGAPOOOOVAAAA (Uppercut & Pound TKO @1:24, round 1). Rating: Good.</p><p> </p><p> Post-fight: Agapova looks starstruck and shocked by this win, while Valentina seems embarassed with her performance. What can be next for both of these ladies now?</p><p> Title prostige: up from 63 to 66. Agapova burst into the women's P4P rankings, at #17, while Valentina fell from #2 to #22. Agapova also went up from #10 to #4 in the world FlyW rankings, while Valentina fell from #1 to #7.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> Attendance: 4 645</p><p> Critical rating: 70</p><p> Commercial rating: 72</p><p> FOTN: J Clean v. L Adiwang</p><p> KOOTN: J Molina v. Y Saruta</p><p> SubOTN: M Rodrigues v. K Porczyk</p><p> Profit: + 605 629</p><p> </p><p> Biggest paydays: V Shevchenko - 171 000, Johnny Clean - 23 400, Brad Tavares - 23 300.</p><p> Champ's payday: Agapova - 6 700.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>UPDATED RANKINGS (for all the divisions this one time):</strong></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/4EhaOZu" rel="external nofollow">HEAVYWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/8Z4mBNo" rel="external nofollow">LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/PpS9mpH" rel="external nofollow">MIDDLEWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/9TlYDeO" rel="external nofollow">WELTERWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/885vRzf" rel="external nofollow">LIGHTWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/SBhBnrg" rel="external nofollow">FEATHERWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/EubnOjQ" rel="external nofollow">BANTAMWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/OWDuKPp" rel="external nofollow">FLYWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/pm21Rj3" rel="external nofollow">WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> <a href="https://imgur.com/lAs5TYD" rel="external nofollow">WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>TOURNAMENTS:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> HEAVYWEIGHT:</strong></p><p> © Alexander Romanov vs. Ilir Latifi (UBL 22)</p><p> </p><p><strong> LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT:</strong></p><p> Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov © vs. Da Un Jung / Rashid Yusupov (UBL 19)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>MIDDLEWEIGHT:</strong></p><p> Karl Roberson © vs. Brad Tavares</p><p> </p><p><strong> BANTAMWEIGHT:</strong></p><p> Ricky Simon © vs. Brad Katona (UBL 19)</p><p> Jack Shore vs. Rani Yahya (UBL 19)</p><p> </p><p> <strong>FLYWEIGHT:</strong></p><p> Magomed Bibulatov © / Hiromasa Ogikubo (UBL 19) vs. Amir Albazi</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>ROSTER UPDATES:</strong></p><p> </p><p> New signings: </p><p> HW: Keizo Higashikuni (3-0 newgen, "national calibre jiu-jitsu competitor", HW King of Pancrase).</p><p> MW: Sergey Kalinin (9-1, EFC MW Champion with 2 defenses).</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> <strong>Big fights outside of the UBL:</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> UFC</strong></p><p> Demetrious Johnson beat Joseph Benavidez by 5th round Armbar Submission to win back that UFC FlyW Title.</p><p> Marvin Vettori beat Robert Whittaker by 3rd round TKO.</p><p> Vicente Luque beat Geoff Neal by 2nd round KO.</p><p> Charles Oliveira beat Alexander Hernandez by 2nd round Armbar Submission.</p><p> Carla Esparza beat Marina Rodriguez by UD.</p><p> Aspen Ladd beat Katharina Lehner by 1st round TKO.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> And now, it's time to look at the final prediction rankings of UBL's 2021, lads!</p><p> </p><p> <strong>Majster_93</strong>: 4/5; Total: 41/60 (68%).</p><p> <strong>CageRage</strong>: 4/5; Total: 64/120 (53%). </p><p> <strong>McDojoDelux</strong>: 2/5; Total: 31/54 (57%).</p><p> <strong>rodrigoviolim</strong>: 0/5; Total: 46/109 (42%) - Well, if I recall well, it's only the 2nd 0/5 we've got, so this is a notable achievement regardless! <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Also, the first one was also from you, so gah dam it, better luck in the next UBL season bro! </p><p> </p><p> And the final total rankings:</p><p> </p><p> 1. <strong>Majster_93</strong> - 41/60 - 68%. With an unreal final percentage, Majster joined mid-year but did a great job since he came, nailing 2 perfect 5/5s and, if I recall right and rarely getting less than 3/5! So congratulations to our champ!</p><p> </p><p> 2. <strong>CageRage</strong>- 64/120 - 53%. The only one who never missed a UBL card, I gotta say thank you, CageRage, and I'm hoping you'll have a greater season next time! He also got to help with the booking of the Light Heavyweight tournament, as I was undecided about what's the best option when Mauricio Rua retired after winning in the quarter-finals. He suggested doing Rashid Yusupov vs. Ivan Shtyrkov as an alternate quarter-final, and now we're waiting to see how the Un Jung vs. Yusupov semi-final will go!</p><p> </p><p> 3. <strong>McDojoDelux</strong> - 31/54 - 57%. A stud that makes his predictions look as good as his dynasty, McDojo also joined around mid-season and pulled off some great performances, including getting the first 5/5 of the dynasty, at UBL 9: Cutelaba vs. Yagshimuradov!</p><p> </p><p> 4. <strong>rodrigoviolim</strong> - 46/109 - 42%. Rodrigo is another consistent predictor that joined us since the beginning, and altho' he's had a pretty bad season prediction-wise, he gave us both the 0/5s of the season, which is awesome in its own way, and I sure appreciate his contribution to the dynasty!</p><p> </p><p> Hope you enjoyed following this UBL "season"! I'll take my time with my next posts: the End Of The Year Awards; an analysis of the top 3s of the world rankings aaand an analysis of the top of the UBL's divisions and a short preview of the UBLs, the UFCs and Bellators 2022!</p>

Main Card Heavyweight Championship Bout: © Fedor Emelianenko (230 lbs) vs. Alistair Overeem (245 lbs) Middleweight Championship Bout: © Glover Teixeira (205 lbs) vs. Wanderlei Silva (205 lbs) Welterweight Championship Bout: © Ronaldo Souza (185 lbs) vs. Dan Henderson (185 lbs) Featherweight Championship Bout: © Brad Pickett (145 lbs) vs. Urijah Faber (145 lbs) Lightweight Championship Bout: © Norifumi Yamamoto (165 lbs) vs. Vitor Ribeiro (165 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Mauricio Rua (205 lbs) vs. Ricardo Arona (205 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Josh Barnett (250 lbs) vs. Andrei Arlovski (235 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Robbie Lawler (185 lbs) vs. Yuki Kondo (185 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Takanori Gomi (165 lbs) vs. Marcus Aurelio (165 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Miguel Angel Torres (145 lbs) vs. Jose Aldo (145 lbs) Preliminary Card Welterweight Bout: Carlos Condit (185 lbs) vs. Kazuo Misaki (185 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Vitor Belfort (205 lbs) vs. Melvin Manhoef (205 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Heath Herring (250 lbs) vs. Gilbert Yvel (235 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Josh Thomson (165 lbs) vs. Mizuto Hirota (165 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Joachin Hansen (145 lbs) vs. Cub Swanson (145 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Eric Esch (265 lbs) vs. Yoshihiro Nakao (220 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Jose Landi-Jons (185 lbs) vs. Keita Nakamura (170 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Vladimir Matyushenko (205 lbs) vs. Emanuel Newton (205 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Masakazui Imanari (145 lbs) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (145 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Cristiano Marcello (165 lbs) vs. Evan Dunham (165 lbs)

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Preview time! UBL 18: BULLETPROOF - Agapova vs. Shevchenko 31 December 2021 Somewhere in Eastern Europe Prelims: W BW: Mayra Rodrigues vs. Kamila Porczyk FW: Herbert Burns vs. Leandro Higo BW: Taylor Lapilus vs. Josh Hill WW: Ramazan Emeev vs. Abubakar Vagaev FlyW: #15 Johnny Clean vs. Lito Adawang HW: #15 Alikhan Vakhaev vs. Masazumi Narato FlyW: #13 Jeff Molina vs. #14 Yosuke Saruta Main card preview: 1. Lightweight Bout: #5 Rashid MAGOMEDOV (26-5-1, +100) vs. #7 Arman TSARUKYAN (15-4, -110) Rashid is on a 3 fight winning streak, with two of the victories coming in in the UBL, and he surely has hopes for a future title challenge, as he's now taking on a tough prospect and had great fights with Lando Vannata and Scott Holtzman. Rashid is a counter-striker with powerful punches and low kicks, and good top control and sub' defence on the ground. He's a pretty mediocre wrestler on the feet, but he's working to fill that hole of his game. Arman has lost in his first 2 UBL fights, altho both of these losses were against top 5 opponents, in Rafael Fiziev and Drakkar Klose. Having a wrestling background, he is very hard to takedown or submit and also good top control and wrestling clinch,, but the biggest improvements he has made this year were in his striking, as he's become a capable kickboxer and he'd sure like to prove that against a guy who'll allow him to push forward, like Rashid. I expect a fun fight with the youngster Arman emerging as winner, but a W for Rashid would be an interesting result as well. Prediction: Tsarukyan by decision. 2. Featherweight Bout: #1 Movsar EVLOEV (15-1, -200) vs. #4 Mirsad BEKTIC (15-4, +150) After a great debut in the UBL, where he defeated Amirkhani and Hakeem Dawodu to become the first ever UBL champion, Evloev lost a competitive fight to the current FW champion, Ilia Topuria, back in May. Since the bout was quite close, a win against a contender like Bektic would surely earn him a rematch, making this a proper title eliminator for both men. Evloev is pretty good all around, with great defensive grappling, a good & well rounded ground game, a good wrestling clinch and good boxing. He also used to have a mean RNC early in his career, but we haven't seen it since 2018, altho' he has attempted it, so make sure it's still a dangerous weapon in his arsenal. Bektic left the UFC off a 3 fight losing streak but has dominated in his first 2 UBL fights, outgrappling Nik Lentz and Makwan Amirkhani, two fellow decent wrestlers. But besides great takedowns, good wrestling and a dangerous ground game, Bektic also has good boxing, making him quite a complete fighter, altho' what he'll usually look to do is wrestle, and wrestle, and wrestle. And it worked out so far in the UBL. I expect a great, tense grappling match between these two, and the winner will surely be in line to fight for the belt (unless he chooses not to, via calling out someone else, of course). Prediction: Bektic by decision. 3. Welterweight Bout: #5 Elizeu Zaleski DOS SANTOS (23-8, +550) vs. #6 Ismail NAURDIEV (22-5, -700) In heartbreaking fashion, Elizeu got a UD win over Robbie Lawler in his last outing, but thankfuly didn't manage to finish Robbie, altho' he had moments where it looked like he will. Zaleski has heavy hands, decent technique when striking and not much else, so any grappler or precise striker should have his number. Austrian Wonderboy Naurdiev came in the UBL on a 3 fight winning streak, but his momentum got cut short when he faced Yaroslav Amosov in his debut, in the main event of UBL 11. Still, he is an absolute monster: Great kickboxing and just killer power in those hands, good wrestling and he's so hard to take down, take him down and he's so hard to submit, he even has great sweeps and submission offense. Naurdiev is bound to be great. On this card, he proves that in the UBL cage. Prediction: Naurdiev by 1st round KO. 4. Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final: #1 Brad TAVARES (19-7, -570) vs. #11 Dricus DU PLESSIS (16-2, +420) After falling short when challenging for the belt in the Inaugural MW Tournament, Tavares walked to GM3 once again and is now 1 step away from another title shot. A veteran that always looks to stand and bang, Tavares is a skilled striker with powerful hands, a good wrestling clinch and good sub' defence and scrambles, altho' elite grapplers can usually work past these. Du Plessis, despite being low in the rankings, got himself a SD win over Tom Breese to earn this shot, after Anderson Silva got eliminated from the tournament due to failing a drug test. Du Plessis is technical when punching and powerful when kicking. He has a dominating wrestling clinch, good takedown and can be a real pain from top control, but he'll mostly look to keep the bout entertaining on the feet, even if he has the edge in grappling. He also has a mean guillotine ready for when his opponents dive in too wreckless. This ain't no "gimme fight" for Tavares, despite what the rankings might suggest, but Tavares surely is the favourite. Prediction: Tavares by 3rd round KO. 5. Flyweight Crown: © Mariya AGAPOVA (11-2, +350) vs. #1 Valentina SHEVCHENKO (22-4, -500) While winning a title in one of the world's best companies is surely a moment that makes you happy, finding out you're defending against Valentina Shevchenko might not be your finest hour. Still, Agapova TKOed Kielholtz and de la Rosa in less than 2 minutes to earn the belt, so she surely belongs in the upper echalon of today's women's flyweights. She comes forward and forces her opopnents to stand and bagn with her, and she has pretty good TD defence and sub defence, + good top control, besides her main weapon, which is her good crisp boxing. She also has a pretty good RNC. At only 24 years of age, Agapova surely is worth watching in the future regardless of how this fight goes. Valentina Shevchenko is one of the best ladies to ever get into an MMA gym. 11-3 in the UFC with 5 succesful defences as Women's Flyweight champion, and taking Nunes to the distance twice, with some arguing she got robbed in the rematch, Valentina is undoubtly one of the greats. After defending against Maia, she TKOed Andrade in the 1st round before losing the belt via 5th round sumbission to Chookagian. Valentina walked through Lauren Murphy as a tune up fight for the trilogy, but as her contract expired, the UBL offered her an deal that she simply couldn't refuse, and now here she is. As you surely know, Valenina is a killer, with great muay thai & kickboxing, great wrestling and good top control and sub defence on the ground, + she's pretty good at scrambling her way out of trouble. Expect gah damn fireworks! Prediction: Shevchenko by 1st round KO. Drop theeeeem Main card predictions: LW: Rashid MAGOMEDOV vs. Arman TSARUKYAN FW: Movsar EVLOEV vs. Mirsad BEKTIC WW: Elizeu Zaleski DOS SANTOS vs. Ismail NAURDIEV MW Tournament SF: Brad TAVARES vs. Dricus DU PLESSIS W FlyW Title: Mariya AGAPOVA vs. Valentina SHEVCHENKO Rodrigo, feel free to change your mind if you feel like it!

Big fights between UBL 16 and UBL 17: UFC Rose Namajunas beat Tecia Torres by 2nd round KO in a Fantastic bout to defend her UFC W SW Title. TJ Dillashaw beat Jimmie Rivera by UD. Al Iaquinta beat Beneil Dariush by UD. Yair Rodriguez beat Volkanovski by UD. Gillian Robertson beat Cynthia Calvillo by 1st round Kneebar Submission. ONE Brandon Vera beat Karol Bedorf by 2nd round Guillotine Submission to defend his ONE HW Title. Sage Northcutt beat Marat Gafurov by 1st round KO. Lowen Tynanes beat Shinya Aoki by UD, in what was Aoki's last fight. UBL 17: DEFINING MOMENT - Topuria vs. Barboza 17 December 2021 Somewhere in Eastern Europe Prelims: W FlyW: Alejandra Lara defeats Katsue Hatanaka by Americana Submission @4:36, round 2. W FlyW: Natalia Silva defeats Mandy Bohm by RNC Submission @2:49, round 3. FlyW: Bokang Masunyane defeats Blaine O'Driscoll by TKO @:143, round 2, in a Fantastic bout. FlyW: JP Buys defeats #15 Jake Hadley by UD (30-27 x 3). LHW: Reinier de Ridder defeats Shamil Gamzatov by TKO @2:49, round 1. W FlyW: Daiana Torquato defeats Silvana Gomez Juarez by UD (29-28 x 3). FW: #12 Grant Dawson defeats #11 Nate Landwehr by UD (30-27 x 3). Main card: 1. Featherweight Bout: #9 Makwan AMIRKHANI (16-7, -250) vs. #14 Salahdine PARNASSE (14-1-1, +190) Round 1: Amirkhani hits a pair of jabs but gets lit with a jab-cross combo from Parnasse, and gets a nice gash under the eye. Parnasse gets pushin' forward and hits 2 jabs and a good low kick. He then hits a jab but misses the big follow-up. Amirkhani wants to get close to grapple, but Parnasse smashes him with a big jab-hook combo. But then, Amirkhani shoots and gets the takedown! He's in guard, makes it to half-guard with ease and starts pounding on Parnasse, but Parnasse gets in an underhook and manages to work his way to the feet, where they're in a clinch. Amirkhani uses some nice dirty boxing and then pushes Parnasse against the cage wall. But Amirkhani's wound is looking bad, and ref Josh Rosenthal stops the bout so the doctor can check it. The doctor decides the bout can't continue! Winner: Salahdine Parnasse (Cut TKO @3:05, round 1). Rating: Good. Post-fight: The crowd boos and Amirkhani looks extremely dissapointed with this L, as he was obviously doing a good job at controlling Parnasse with his wrestling. In the post-fight interview, Parnasse expresses his dissapointment at winning in such a way, but says he caught him with some heavy shots and a win's a win, so he's glad to get his hand raised. 2. Middleweight Bout: #8 David BRANCH (22-7-1, +360) vs. #14 Andre MUNIZ (21-4, -460) Round 1: Muniz tries to grapple straight away, and walks into a jab from Branch, but dodges the big right that was coming, and manages to clinch. He pushes Branch against the cage and gets him in the Thai clinch! He hits a big knee to the chest! And another to the stomach! But Branch blocks the next knee strike and escapes from the clinch. Branch comes in aggresively but misses all his strikes and gets his leg caught by Muniz. But Muniz can't do anything and Branch escapes. Again, Muniz eats a jab and dodges the big punch as he clinches with Branch. He gets the Thai clinch in the middle of the cage! And he blasts another huge knee to the chest! And another one! And Branch escapes afterwards, just before the round ends. Surely a 10-9 for Muniz. Round 2: Muniz shoots for the TD straight away, and Branch is left on his back, pulling guard! After some hard work, Muniz passes to half guard, and then side control. AND HE LOOKS IN THE VON FLUE CHOKE! AND BRANCH TAPS! IT'S ALL OVER! Winner: Andre Muniz (Von Flue Choke Submission @2:47, round 2). Rating: Good. Post-fight: Branch announces it's time to call it a career and retires aged 40yo, with a 22-8-1 record. Muniz pays his respects to Branch and says it's an honour to retire a veteran like Branch. 3. Welterweight Bout: #7 James KRAUSE (29-8, -250) vs. #11 Jake MATTHEWS (17-6, +190) Round 1: Krause comes in with a flurry and hits 2 punches but misses the body kick. Matthews appears to wait for the right moment to initiate some grappling, and Krause ain't giving him anything but hell, as he connects with a straight right. Matthews counters with 2 jabs, eats a jab but then manages to catch Krause's leg off a kick, and he takes him down, ending up in guard! Krause tried to work a Guillotine but gave up on it as soon as he saw that Matthews was safe. Matthews gets to half guard off a scramble. Matthews pounds on Krause for about a minute before Krause manages to use an underhook to get up, in clinch. But Matthews trips him back to the floor, and he now sits even better, in side control! He hits him with small punches and some knees to the ribs for the next 90 seconds, and it's round over. Surely a 10-9 for the younger Matthews. Round 2: Krause comes in too aggressive again, and Matthews blocks his punch and clinches. He gets another great trip takedown, and has side control once again! But Matthews finds himself in full guard after a smart scramble from Krause. Matthews hits a few small shots and he defends well when he notices Krause looking for the triangle. Matthews pounds some moer and blocks another triangle attempt near the end of the round, and he surely got another 10-9, making it 20-18 for Matthews. Round 3: Krause comes out swinging again, and connects with the straight right. He then hits a jab but misses a big head kick, and then misses with a combo that ended with a body kick attempt, and Matthews gets close and clinches. He pushes Krause against the cage, but Krause escapes quickly. He misses his first combo, but then catches Matthews with a hard straight right, AND MATTHEWS IS ON WOBBLY LEGS! KRAUSE HITS A RIGHT BUT MATTHEWS EATS IT WITH NO PROBLEMS, AND HE'S REGAINED COMPOSURE! What a chin! Matthews hits 2 jabs as he's backing away, and Krause hits a jab-hook combo. Matthews starts coming forward, but gets smashed with a jab-cross combo. But Matthews shoots and gets Krause down, and he's now in guard! He pounds for a while, moves to half guard, pounds some more and it's round over. Krause edged out this round in my book, but it wasn't enough for a 10-8. 29-28 for Matthews on my scorecard. Winner: Jake Matthews (UD: 29-28 x 3). Rating: Good. Post-fight: Matthews thanks his team and says he can't wait to fight again. He'll take on anyone, but he'd love to fight Yaroslav Amosov. Sean Brady is another lad who called Amosov out, so it looks like the grappling king is in high demand! 4. Women's Bantamweight Bout: #3 Bea MALECKI (6-0, -370) vs. #10 Chelsea CHANDLER (4-2, +290) Round 1: They have two null exchanges to feel each other out, and then Malecki hits a big jab-overhand right combo. Chandler ain't impressed, but she misses with her own big right and gets countered with a another jab-overhand right combo! Then Chandler misses a cross and eats a big right hook! Malecki seems to be a great counter puncher, as she dodges another big right and connects with one of her own! Again, Malecki dodges a right and hits the body with a left hook. Finally, Chandler hits a nice left, but Malecki hits a right cross aswell. Chandler figures out she'd better wait for Malecki to throw first, and she slips past Malecki's hook to counter with a good right hook of her own. Then they trade some nice rights as the round ends, and Malecki got a nasty cut above the eye! Still, a great round for Malecki and it's surely 10-9 for her. Round 2: They both miss some big shots in the first exchange, and then Chandler's big right gets countered with a right hook from Malecki. Looks like we went back to how we started, as Chandler's big shots are getting again countered by Malecki, as the Swedish counters a big right with a right cross. They both defend well for a while, then, and eventually Chandler hits a clean left and blocks Malecki's hook. But Malecki goes back to her evasive ways and dodges a hook and connects one of her own. And she does it again, hitting an even better hook this time! Then they both dispay good head movement for a while, but Malecki moves in with killer instinct and hits a good left followed up by a hard straight right, and Chandler looks like she got rocked! Malecki gets her in a thai clinch! She hits a weak knee to the ribs, and then a massive one to the chest, just before the end of round 2. 20-18 for Malecki, and she's outclassing Chandler, but it's looking like she doesn't have the power necessary to finish a durable opponent like Chandler. Round 3: Malecki is taking her time this time, aware she is surely ahead on the scorecards. She's waiting for Chandler to come in first. It happens, and Malecki dodges Chandler's right hook and hits 2 jabs and a solid right. Chandler then hits a left hook and dodges Malecki's offense. Then, they defend each other's strikes well for a while, and Chandler suddenly shoots for a takedown! But she can only get Malecki stuck against the cage. Chandler dominates her there and hits her with all kinds of strikes, and Malecki escapes with 80 seconds left in the fight. Malecki dodges a hook and comes in with a jab-body hook combo. Again, Malecki coutners Chandler's hook attempt with two jabs and a good right overhand, AND CHANDLER IS IN TROUBLE! But she blocks Malecki's kneestrike attempt! And the time is up! A more even round, but Malecki rocking Chandler at the end gives here the round in my book. 30-27 Malecki on my scorecard. Winner: Bea Malecki (UD: 30-27 x 3). Rating: Good. Post-fight: Malecki is asked about her status as a top 5 conteder in the UBL. She answers that she won't challenge for the belt before beating another top 5 talent of the division, and calls out Bethe Correia, saying it's a fight that makes sense for both of them and a proper title eliminator. Hell yea we doing it! Malecki went up in the world W BW rankings, from #22 to #21. 5. AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR OUR LONG AWAITED MAAAAAAAAAAAIN EVEEENT OF THE EVENIIIIIIIING! FOR THE UBL FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: © Ilia TOPURIA (13-0, -300) vs. #1 Edson "JUNIOR" BARBOZA (22-10, +230) Round 1: Respecting Barboza's power, Topuria hits two shy jabs and isn't able to defend against Barboza's jab-hook combo. Barboza blocks a right and hits two jabs, but Topuria checks Barboza's leg kick. Barboza comes in with confidence and Topuria sees the opportunity to come in and grapple before Barboza can unleash! BUT NOPE, BARBOZA CATCHES HIM WITH A HEAD KICK! BUT TOPURIA GIVES NO F, HE CHANGES LEVEL SEEKING THE TD! But he can only get Barboza stuck against the cage. He smothers and stomps a la Kamaru Usman, and then gets the underhooks in and takes Barboza down with a greco-roman slam, AND HE'S ONTO BARBOZA'S BACK! TOPURIA HAS BOTH HOOKS IN! REAR NAKED EFFIN' CHOKE AND BARBOZA MUST TAP! AND HE DOES, GAH DAMN IT! CAN ANYTHING STOP ILIA TOPURIA!? Winner, AND STILL UBL FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION: ILIAAAAAAAAA TOPUUUUUUUUURIAAAA (RNC Submission @2:16, round 1). Rating: Great. Post-fight: Topuria looks immensely proud of this W, as he celebrates and photographs with his championship belt. He says he can't wait to return to the cage and prove once again that he is the best featherweight on the planet. Title prestige: up from 66 to 71. Topuria becomes the first male UBL fighter to feature on the P4P list, coming in at #21. Also, Topuria went up from #8 to #4 in the world FW rankings, while Barboza fell from #12 to #21. Attendance: 2 495 Critical rating: 74 Commercial rating: 62 FOTN: B Masunyane vs. B O'Driscoll KOOTN: B Masunyane vs. B O'Driscoll SubOTN: A Muniz vs. D Branch Performance bonus: B Masunyane Profit: + 153 475 Biggest paydays: Edson Barboza - 41 328, Andre Muniz - 32 000, Bokang Masunyane - 31 710 Champion's payday: Ilia Topuria - 7 300 UPDATED RANKINGS: MIDDLEWEIGHT WELTERWEIGHT LIGHTWEIGHT FEATHERWEIGHT WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT TOURNAMENTS: HEAVYWEIGHT: © Alexander Romanov vs. Ilir Latifi (UBL 22) LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov © vs. Da Un Jung / Rashid Yusupov (UBL 19) MIDDLEWEIGHT: Karl Roberson © vs. Brad Tavares / Dricus Du Plessis (UBL 18) BANTAMWEIGHT: Ricky Simon © vs. Brad Katona (UBL 19) Jack Shore vs. Rani Yahya (UBL 19) FLYWEIGHT: Magomed Bibulatov © / Hiromasa Ogikubo (UBL 19) vs. Amir Albazi Big fights outside of the UBL: UFC Paulo Costa beat Kevin Holland by 2nd round TKO in a Fantastic bout to defend his UFC MW Title. Dominick Reyes beat Aleksandar Rakib by 2nd round KO. Petr Yan beat Frankie Edgar by 2nd round TKO. Jimmy Flick beat Brandon Royval by UD. Jose Aldo beat Yadong Song by 2nd round KO. Bellator Juan Adams beat Josh Barnett by 1st round KO to win the Bellator HW Title. Rustam Khanilov beat Tim Wilde by 1st round RNC. AJ McKee beat John Teixeira by 2nd round McKeellotine Submission in a Fantastic bout. And of course, the prediction rankings before the veeery last UBL card of 2021: Majster_93: 5/5; Total: 37/55 (67%). rodrigoviolim: 2/5; Total: 46/104 (44%). CageRage: 3/5; Total: 60/115 (52%). McDojoDelux: 3/5; Total: 29/49 (59%). Congrats to Majster for being the first - and quite possibly the only one to predict TWO cards perfectly! What a stud! Coming in with the preview for the last card of the year soon! Here's how the main card looks: W FlyW Title: Mariya AGAPOVA vs. Valentina SHEVCHENKO MW Tournament SF: Brad TAVARES vs. Dricus DU PLESSIS WW: Elizeu Zaleski DOS SANTOS vs. Ismail NAURDIEV FW: Movsar EVLOEV vs. Mirsad BEKTIC LW: Rashid MAGOMEDOV vs. Arman TSARUKYAN

FLY: Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Brandon Moreno SW #1: Joseph Benavidez vs. Tatsuya So HW #1: Alexander Volkov vs. Evgeny Goncharov BW #1: Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Soto BW #1: Henry Cejudo vs. Zviad Lazishvili WFLY: Maycee Barber vs. Liz Carmouche WBW #1: Sarah Moras vs. Raquel Canuto HW #1: Sergey Spivak vs. Arjan Bhullar WBW #1: Marina Mokhnatkina vs. Sy Jewett SW #1: Azam Gaforov vs. Ryo Hatta LHW: Deron Winn vs. Miro Jurkovic WW: Jonathan Meunier vs. Peter Davenport WSW: Ewelina Wozniak vs. Hanna Gujwan LW: Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Willamy Freire

Preview time! UBL 17: DEFINING MOMENT - Topuria vs. Barboza 17 December 2021 Somewhere in Eastern Europe Prelims: W FlyW: Katsue Hatanaka vs. Alejandra Lara W FlyW: Natalia Silva vs. Mandy Bohm FlyW: Blaine O'Driscoll vs. Bokan Masunyane FlyW: #15 Jake Hadley vs. JP Buys LHW: Shamil Gamzatov vs. Reinier de Ridder W FlyW: Daiana Torquato vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez FW: #11 Nate Landwehr vs. #12 Grant Dawnson Main card preview: 1. Featherweight Bout: #9 Makwan AMIRKHANI (16-7, -250) vs. #14 Salahdine PARNASSE (14-1-1, +190) Amirkhani is going through a quite rough patch. He left the UFC off a UD loss to Edson Barboza, got KOed by now ex-UBL FW champion Movsar Evloev, and then got outwrestled by Mirsad Bektic to take his losing streak to 3. It seems he's a mediocre wrestler with not much to give. Salahdine Parnasse came to the UBL as the undefeated KSW Featherweight champion, and got a tough test in his UBL debut, as he lost a clean decision to top 10 UBL FW Jeremy Kennedy. Parnasse is a good fighter all around, with plenty of room for growth, as he's only 23yo. He has great low kicks and good tehcnique on the feet, a good thai clinch with ruthless knees, he's amazing at giving his opponents problem off his back and can also sink in a few chokes. Hopefully he'll walk through Amirkhani with ease and force the Finnish Amirkhani into having a fun fight. Prediction: Parnasse by 2nd round KO. 2. Middleweight Bout: #8 David BRANCH (22-7-1, +360) vs. #14 Andre MUNIZ (21-4, -460) Well, Branch left the UFC off losses to great fighters in Jared Cannonier and Jack Hermansson, and made his debut in the UBL in a main event against Anderson Silva. Problem is Silva popped, so that bout is now a no contest. He's a decent grappler and not much else. Andre Muniz had a short 2-0 UFC run, where he beat current UBL MW Bartosz Fabinski by Armbar, and won by 2nd round Kimura in his UBL debut, against Trevin Giles. He's on a 7 fight winning streak, with only 2 of these bouts going to decision. He is a great BJJ talent, with a very well rounded ground game, and also good wrestling on the feet, altho his striking skills are quite mediocre. He does have a good Thai clinch, with good elbow and knee strikes. So yea, Muniz is the clear favourite and we expect him to win quickly. Prediction: Muniz by 1st round submission. 3. Welterweight Bout: #7 James KRAUSE (29-8, -250) vs. #11 Jake MATTHEWS (17-6, +190) Krause is coming off back-to-back UD wins, with the most recent being in his UBL debut, against Sean Brady. He has great submissions and good sweeps if he gets taken down, but the striking is the best rounded aspect of his game, as he has good power and technique in both punches and kicks. Unlike Krause, Matthews is coming off back to back Ls, getting TKOed by Perry and sub'd by MVP in his short UBL career. Since he still is a young prospect, hopes are still high for Matthews, as he has good technique in his strikes, a good wrestling clinch and a pretty good ground game as well, altho the does lack on the defensive side of things, with the scrambles being the only thing he knows how to do well off his back. It will surely be a close fight, and Krause is the favourite mainly because Matthews just got sub'd by damn MVP, suggesting that Matthews can be really vulnerable on the ground. We'll see how things go, tho. Prediction: Krause by decision. 4. Women's Bantamweight Bout: #3 Bea MALECKI (6-0, -370) vs. #10 Chelsea CHANDLER (4-2, +290) Malecki is an awesome prospect that the UBL has high hopes for. She got UD wins over Vanessa Melo and Josie Edwards in his first 2 UBL bouts. She has good top control and defense in grappling, but that's pretty much all the danger she poses. She also likes to seek the Thai clinch, but it's not as dangerous as she'd like her opponents to think. Chelsea Chandler won the Invicta BW title over Milana Dudieva before joining the UBL, where she got UD'd by fellow Invicta alumni Julija Stoliarenko. She's mainly a decent BJJ fighter with good sweeps and not much else, so it might not be a hard night at the office for Malecki. What can we do? We need a young title contender, so Bea, please don't dissapoint. Prediction: Malecki by decision. 5. Featherweight Title: © Ilia TOPURIA (13-0, -300) vs. #1 Edson BARBOZA (22-10, +230) After appearing on the radar of most MMA fans with his 2020 2-0 UFC run, Topuria got picked up by the UBL andd got fastracked into the spotlight. He UD'd Daniel Weichel in his debut and got into the title picture instantly, beating the champion Movsar Evloev in his first defence, via majority decision. Not only that, but Topuria already defended back in September, getting Hakeem Dawodu to tap to an Americana in the 1st round. A champion at only 24 years of age, it's no wonder that the UBL hopes that Topuria will be one of its biggest stars for years to come. He's unbeatable on the ground, impossible to take down, he has the most dominant wrestling clinch you'll see from a featherweight anytime soon, he punches hard, he slams hard, he does whatever he wants in top control, scrambles mostly go his way and he also has some serious submission skills. The challenger, Edson Barboza, is a hardcore fan favourite, with flashy and efficient muay thai and powerful kicks. He himself is a very good grappler, with good options from the Thai clinch, but he will likely look to keep the bout standing. Sadly for him, his chin ain't what it used to be, so Topuria's punches might be a problem, altho Barboza's great head movement might prove to much for Topuria's boxing. He beat plenty of studs in his career, but right now he's coming off a single win, a 2nd round KO over Nik Lentz in his UBL debut. Come share your predictions, guys! Main car predictions: FW: Makwan AMIRKHANI vs. Salahdine PARNASSE MW: David BRANCH vs. Andre MUNIZ WW: James KRAUSE vs. Jake MATTHEWS W BW: Bea MALECKI vs. Chelsea CHANDLER FW Title: Ilia TOPURIA vs. Edson BARBOZA

Big fights between UBL 15 and UBL 16: UFC: Gilbert Burns beat Jorge Masvidal by 4th round Armbar Submission to win the UFC Welterweight Title. Jessica Andrade beat Taila Santos by UD. Sodiq Yusuff beat Chan Sung Jung by 1st round TKO. Randy Brown beat Tyron Woodley by 3rd round KO. Khamzat Chimaev beat Muslim Salikhov by UD. UBL 16: FULL OF HEART - Ray vs. Pichel 26 November, 2021 Somewhere in Eastern Europe Prelims: LW: Islam Mamedov defeats Nate Andrews by TKO @1:44, round 3. LHW: Jai Parkhurs defeats Shiko Kahaya by UD (30-26 x 2, 30-27). WW: Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov defeats Miguel Baeza by TKO @1:38, round 3. BW: Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev defeats Victor Henry by UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28). LW: #15 Thanh Le defeats Amirkhan Adaev by leg kick TKO @4:52, round 3. LW: #10 Sidney Outlaw defeats #13 Lando Vannata by Kimura Submission @4:15, round 2. A great night for the LW division so far, as all the lads I was hoping to push got their Ws! BW: #10 Kai Asakura defeats #9 Enrique Barzola by TKO @3:27, round 1. Kai Asakura calls out Jack Shore, who is scheduled to fight in Rani Yahya in the semi finals of the BW Tournament. Looks like Asakura has his eyes on the title picture despite losing in his UBL debut. Good attitude! Main card: 1. Flyweight Bout: #6 Sean SANTELLA (23-8-1-1, -300) vs. #11 Alex SILVA (9-6, +230) Round 1: They meet in the center and Santella hits a clean left, BUT SILVA ROCKS SANTELLA WITH A MASSIVE RIGHT HOOK AND KNOCKS SANTELLA DOWN! SANTELLA LOOKS HELPLESS AS SILVA IS RAINING DOWN HEAVY SHOTS, AND SILVA GOES FOR AN AMERICANA! He gets it! Santella tapped out, quick W for Alex Silva! Winner: Alex Silva (Americana Submission @0:57, round 1). Rating: Good. Post-fight: Silva praises his team and walks us through the finish. As the interview is abouot to be over, Silva says he believes this was his last pro MMA fight, and thanks everyone who joined him on this ride. He retires at 38 years old, with a 10-6 record, as an ex ONE SW champion and ONE FlyW title challenger. A remarkable legacy, despite what his record might suggest. 2. Flyweight Tournament Semi-final: #1 Amir ALBAZI (14-2, -500) vs. #3 Jordan ESPINOSA (16-8, +350) Round 1: Albazi comes forward and hits two punches out of a flurry, and catches Espinosa with a hook in the following exchange. Espinosa is being pacient and dodges a big right, but then gets caught with a hard right cross. But Albazi seems to comfortable and his kick gets caught after an unispired combo! Espinosa gets the takedown and now sits in guard. BUT ALBAZI MANAGES TO SINK IN A GUILLOTINE! IT SEEMS TO BE IN DEEP! YUP, ESPINOSA TAPS, ANOTHER FIRST ROUND SUBMISSION IN THE FLYWEIGHT DIVISION, AND ALBAZI WILL CHALLENGE FOR THE BELT IN THE FINAL! Winner: Amir Albazi (Guillotine Submission @2:47, round 1). Rating: Great. Post-fight: Albazi also walks us through the finish, saying he likes to profit off each obvious opportunity that arrives. He warns Bibulatov that he's evolved a lot in the months that passed since their first meeting. shall they rematch, and warns Ogikubo his reign won't be long shall he beat Bibulatov in the other semi-final. "See you at the top". Albazi moved up in the world FlyW rankings, from #13 ro #10, while Epsinosa fell off the list, from #23. 3. Now, in the lone title fight of the night, FOR THE UBL BANTAMWEIGHT CROWN: © Sarah KAUFMAN (24-5-1, -500) vs. #3 Sarah "CHEESECAKE" MORAS (7-7, +350) Round 1: They do touch gloves. Kaufman hits a jab but Moras avoids the big right follow-up, and counters with two weak jabs, and then dodges another punch from Kaufman. Kaufman comes forward and hits a jab-body kick combo, and then connects with a right cross. Moras hits a counter jab but eats two lefts before checking the low kick that followed. Kaufman then connects with a nice straight right. Moras hits two more counter jabs but gets smashed with another good straight right. Kaufman then hits the jab but, misses the head kick. Still, Kaufman keeps coming forward and hits a jab-straight right combo, as Moras seems frozen. Moras pokes the bear with another jab, before getting caught with a jab-body punch combo. But Moras manages to defend against Kaufman's next combo, which ended with a head kick attempt, and Moras clinches with the queen! She struggles a bit, but manages to get Kaufman against the cage. But she fails with her trip takedown attempts, and Kaufman manages to gain control and move back to the center. As Moras gets close, Kaufman hits a jab-straight right combo, and that's it for round 1. 10-9 for the champion. Round 2: Kaufman hits 3 quick punches and then a massive right cross, and Moras ain't movin', she is out cold. Who would have seen this coming? Winner, AND STILL UBL BANTAMWEIGHT QUEEN: SARAH KAUFMAN (Killer Cross KO @0:20, round 2). Rating: Decent. Post-fight: Kaufman is glad Moras actually got to use her grappling this time and she defended well, and she says she knew Moras realized she's in deep trouble when she couldn't take her down when she got her stuck against the cage. She thanks everyone at Tristar gym and invites the next challenger to try his luck. Title prestige: up from 70 to 76. Kaufman went up int the women's P4P rankings, from #6 to #5, and remained #2 in the world W BW rankings, while Moras fell from #20 to #24. 4. Light Heavyweight Bout: #1 Anthony SMITH (34-17, -650) vs. #7 Ed HERMAN (27-15-1, +510) Round 1: Herman's coming forward, and he eats a left hand but hits Smith with his right. They trade with caution for the following minute, with neither landing anything in the next 4 exchanges. Finally, Smith catches Herman with a hook to the body, but he eats two jabs and a right hook afterwards. They trade more nothing, and a hook from Smith gets countered with a jab-hook combo from Herman. Herman then hits a left hook to the body and dodges Smith's right hook. They trade some clean straights, and Smith counters a cross with a nice jab-cross combo. Smith starts pressuring, with 1 minute left, and eats 2 counter jabs while missing his 1-2. Herman is now coming forward, and he also eats 2 counter punches, but catches Smith with an unexpected head kick! But Smith is still composed, and the round ends before either can land anything. Unexpectedly close round, and I'll give it to Herman altho' it was razor close. 10-9 Herman on my scorecard. Round 2: Herman's coming forward again, as he walks into two counter lefts and misses Smith with his big right. In the center, Herman hits 2 jabs and a good right hand. They then trade some nice hooks, and altho' Smith's seemed to have the stronger impact, Herman's punch got Smith a cut under the eye. They then cancel out each other's offense. Herman counters a cross from Smith with 2 jabs, but misses the hook. They smash eachother with some good straights, and Herman seems two start getting a bit tired as we reach the halfway point of the fight. They trade more nothin' for a while, and Herman catches Smith with a jab-straight right combo, and starts looking confident again. He comes forward, eats two counter lefts and misses a big right. Entering the last minute, Herman shoots for the TD, and gets it! Smith is pulling guard. BUT HE SEEMS TO HAVE A GUILLOTINE LOCKED IN! HE'S WORKING THAT GUILLOTINE, AND HERMAN LOOKS LIKE HE'S IN TROUBLE! WE'VE ENTERED THE LAST 10 SECONDS AND SMITH IS STILL HOLDING THE GUILLOTINE! AND THERE'S THE TAP, HERMAN TAPS OUT! Winner: Anthony Smith (Guillotine Submission @4:54, round 2). Rating: Great. Post-fight: With his head high, Ed Herman announces this was his last fight, and says he is honoured to fight Smith in his retirement fight and he's also proud with his last performance. Smith puts Herman over for a little while and says he's glad to start off a new chapter in his career with a W over a strong veteran. Smith moved up in the world LHW rankings, from #14 to #13. 5. AND NEW, IT IS TIME FOR THE MAAAAAAAAIN EVENT OF THE EVENIIIING! #7 Steven "BRAVEHEART" RAY (26-9, -480) vs. #9 Vinc "FROM HELL" PICHEL (13-3, +380) Round 1: They touch gloves and get bangin'. Pichel hits a low kick, while Ray comes in with a jab-left cross combo. Ray then counters a hook with a jab-straight left combo. Pichel starts pressuring Ray. Ray hits a counter right and manages to dodge a dangerous right. Ray then hits a 1-2, but Pichel uses a left jab to set up A GOOD RIGHT HEAD KICK, AND RAY IS LOOKING ROCKED! BUT RAY DODGES THE VICIOUS RIGHT THAT FOLLOWED, AND HE'S BACK INTO IT! They trade some nothing, AND PICHEL DODGES A LEFT HOOK TO COME IN WITH A MASSIVE RIGHT HOOK, AND RAY HITS THE FLOOR! HE STARTS THROWING HAMMER FISTS, AND HE'S LANDING CLEAN, BUT RAY MANAGES TO SWEEP HIM OFF BALANCE! THEY SCRAMBLE AND THEY'RE BACK UP, and Ray is controlling Pichel's back. Pichel gets dirty boxed against the cage for more than a minute, and the ref separates them just before entering the last 10 seconds. Ray shoots but can only get Pichel back against the cage, and it's round over. Interesting first round, and it's gotta be 10-9 for Pichel, altho Ray looked good aswell. Ray is looking a bit shocked by Pichel's power. Round 2: Pichel comes in early and lands three quick shots before hitting a beautiful straight right. But then he throws a wild combo, ending with a head kick, and Ray doesn't get touched and manages to clinch up! He uses dirty boxing in the clinch and then pushes Pichel against the cage. He keeps him there and occasionaly punches him for about 2 minutes, and the ref separates them with 75 seconds left. Ray shoots straight away and gets Pichel back against the cage, and dominates with dirty boxing until the end of the round. 19-19. Round 3: Pichel hits two quick shots and misses the big right. Then he connects with a left but misses the big follow-up. He tries another spectacular combo that doesn't connect, and Ray hits a jab. Pichel comes with another left, but Ray avoids the head kick that followed, and countered with a decent right. Pichel misses another big right, but keeps pressuring and catches Ray with a head kick, but Pichel stands strong. Pichel hits another left & misses another head kick, and we're halfway through round 3. Ray manages to clinch with Pichel. He gets him stuck against the cage. And they dirty box for the remaining 2 minutes. Hard to judge this round, as Pichel outstruck by a big margin early, but got held and pieced up with dirty boxing for 2 minutes straight. I'm giving this close round to Ray. 29-28 for Ray on my scorecard. Round 4: Pichel hits a jab-body kick combo. Then, they miss each other with some kicks and Ray shoots in and gets the single leg TD, as Pichel pulls guard! Ray hits a few weak shots from guard and advances to half guard, with 2 minutes left. Ray hits Pichel with left hands from half-guard for the rest of the round, surely winning round 4. 39-37 for Pichel on my scorecard. Round 5: Ray wanted to shoot, BUT PICHEL CAUGHT HIM WITH A MASSIVE HEAD KICK AND RAY HITS THE FLOOR! PICHEL RAINS DOWN MASSIVE SHOTS! AND THE REF STEPS IN, IT'S OVER! DAMN! Winner: VINC "FROM HELL" PICHEL (Kick & Destroy TKO @0:27, round 5). Rating: Good. Post-fight: "Steven tried to give me hell early, but he saw that the hell my strikes bring simply burns harder than his, and he forgot his <<put on a barnburner>> promise and got wrestling. I didn't manage to finish him off in round 1, thank God I caught him in round 5 and ended the party. Still, this boy is going places so keep your eyes on him. This being said, I'm starting to tire out earlier than I used to despite of training just as hard. I'm not sure I'll be fighting again, so if that's the case, I'd like to thank everyone who ever supported me and the UBL for putting the spotlight on this old brawler. Thank you, everyone!". Have no fear, as I talked Pichel out of retirement Attendance: 2 747 Critical rating: 71 Commercial rating: 67 FOTN: A Smith vs. E Herman KOOTN: S Kaufman vs. S Moras SubOTN: A Smith vs. Ed Herman Profit: + 280 457 Biggest paydays: Anthony Smith - 71 000, Ed Herman - 36 500, Sarah Kaufman - 31 200. Title fights & Main event paydays: Steven Ray - 11 800, Vinc Pichel - 9 100, Sarah Moras - 3 800. UPDATED RANKINGS: LIGHTWEIGHTS BANTAMWEIGHTS FLYWEIGHTS WOMEN BANTAMWEIGHTS TOURNAMENTS: HEAVYWEIGHT: © Alexander Romanov vs. Ilir Latifi LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov © vs. Da Un Jung / Rashid Yusupov (UBL 19) MIDDLEWEIGHT: Karl Roberson © vs. Brad Tavares / Dricus Du Plessis (UBL 18) BANTAMWEIGHT: Ricky Simon © vs. Brad Katona (UBL 19) Jack Shore vs. Rani Yahya (UBL 19) FLYWEIGHT: Magomed Bibulatov © / Hiromasa Ogikubo (UBL 19) vs. Amir Albazi ROSTER UPDATES: New signings: HW: Thierry Couturier (3-0 newgen, "national calibre jiu-jitsu"), Keung Kuk (2-1 newgen, "national calibre kick-boxer") BW: Zviad Lazishvili (17-0, CES & LFA BW champion with 3 defences) W BW: Hatsuyo Tochikura (4-0 newgen, "high level kickboxer"), Agnieszka Niedzwiedz (13-1, Invicta FlyW champion, but we bumping her up to BW). Big fights outside of the UBL: Bellator Patricio Freire beat Tim Barnett by 3rd round Kimura Submission to defend his Bellator LW Title. Jake Hager beat Gokhan Saricam by MD. Gaston Bolanos beat Daniel Staus by 3rd round KO in a Fantastic bout. Adam Borics beat Andy Main by 2nd round KO. KSW Antun Racic beat Reginaldo Vieira by 5th round Kimura Submission to defend his KSW BW Title. Roman Szymanski beat Marian Ziolkowski by UD to win the KSW LW Title. Damian Janikowski beat Albert Duraev by UD. And of course, the predictions rankings: rodrigoviolim: 4/5; Total: 44/99 (44%). Majster_93: 3/5; Total: 32/50 (64%). CageRage: 3/5; Total: 57/110 (52%). McDojoDelux: 2/5; Total: 26/44 (55%). Things looking interesting, and we have 2 more BIG cards to come before the rankings get reset - UBL 17: Topuria vs. Barboza & UBL 18: Agapova vs. Shevchenko! Preview comin' soon!

Main-Event [ESPN+] Flyweight: [C] Henry Cejudo (#10P4P, 13-2) vs. [bNT-C]TJ Dillashaw (#4P4P, 16-3) Co-Main [ESPN+] Lightweight: Paul Felder (#10, 15-4) vs. Alexander Hernandez (#11, 10-1) Main-Card [ESPN+] Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez (#2, 25-5) vs. Alex Perez (#15, 21-4) W-Flyweight: Andrea Lee (#5, 9-2) vs. Mara Romero Borella (#11, 11-5-2NC) Light-Heavyweight: Dominick Reyes (#8, 10-0) vs. Ion Cutelaba (#13, 14-3-1NC) Preliminary-Card [ESPN 1] Flyweight: Deiveson Figueiredo (#6, 15-0) vs. Ray Borg (#3, 11-3) Bantamweight: Tom Duquesonoy (16-2-1NC) vs. Brian Kelleher (19-9) W-Strawweight: Livia Renata Souza (11-2) vs. Syuri Kondo (6-1) Early-Prelims [uFC-Fight Pass] Light-Heavyweight: Ryan Spann (15-5) vs. Jordan Johnson (10-0) Welterweight: Lyman Good (20-3-1NC) vs. Curtis Millender (16-3) Main-Event [DZAN] Heavyweight: [LHY-C] Ryan Bader (26-5) vs. Cheick Kongo (29-10-2) For Vacant Bellator Heavyweight Championship Co-Main [DZAN] Welterweight: Douglas Lima (30-7) vs. Gerald Harris (25-7) Main-Card [DZAN] Lightweight: Ryan Couture (12-6) vs. Zach Freeman (9-3) W-Flyweight: Julianna Velasquez (7-0) vs. Colleen Schneider (10-8) Welterweight: Andrey Koreshko (21-3) vs. Michael Page (13-0)

Main Card Heavyweight Bout: Hidehiko Yoshida (235 lbs) vs. Peter Graham (245 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Shinya Aoki (165 lbs) vs. Sean Sherk (165 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Mark Hunt (265 lbs) vs. Bob Sapp (265 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Kiyoshi Tamura (205 lbs) vs. Roger Gracie (205 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Hayato Sakurai (165 lbs) vs. Pat Healy (165 lbs) Preliminary Card Middleweight Bout: Kevin Randleman (205 lbs) vs. Kazuo Takahashi (205 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Tatsuya Kawajiri (145 lbs) vs. Alexandre Franca Nogueira (145 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Valentjin Overeem (235 lbs) vs. Alexey Oleynik (235 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Kotetsu Boku (145 lbs) vs. Rumina Sato (145 lbs) Lightweight Bout: Jens Pulver (146 lbs) vs. Katsunori Kikuno (165 lbs) Heavyweight Bout: Mu Bae Choi (245 lbs) vs. Yusuke Kawaguchi (255 lbs)

UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night: Holland vs Till: Midlands, July 2023 Main Event: Middleweight Bout: (#5) Kevin Holland vs. (#8) Darren Till Co-Main Event: Womens Flyweight Bout: (#6) Molly McCann vs. (#8) Maycee Barber Main Card: Middleweight Bout: (#22) Jack Hermansson vs. (#24) Jack Marshman Heavyweight Bout: (#21) Tom Aspinall vs. (#23) Juan Adams Welterweight Bout: Kiefer Crosbie vs. Rhys McKee Preliminary Card: Middleweight Bout: Tom Breese vs. Artem Frolov Welterweight Bout: John Hathaway vs. Adam Proctor Light Heavyweight Bout: Liam McGeary vs. Magomed Ankalaev Welterweight Bout: Ross Houston vs. Igor Fernandes Middleweight Bout: Scott Askham vs. Jordan Johnson Welterweight Bout: Danny Roberts vs. Alex Lohore Flyweight Bout: (#23) Brett Caswell vs. Bruno Azevedo Middleweight Bout: Yannick Bahati vs. John Phillips Womens Strawweight Bout: Cory McKenna vs. Chiara Penco Womens Flyweight Bout: Lea Leben vs. Sunna Rannveig Davidsdottir

Main Event Middleweight Bout: (#4) Darren Till vs. (#5) Marvin Vettori Co-Main Event Featherweight Bout: (#7) Arnold Allen vs. (#10) Sodiq Yusuff Main Card Bantamweight Bout: (#12) Merab Dvalishvili vs. (#13) Cody Stamann Women's Strawweight Bout: (#6) Nina Ansaroff vs. (#12) Mackenzie Dern Welterweight Bout: Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews ESPN2 Preliminary Card Flyweight Bout: (#11) Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa Middleweight Bout: Zak Cummings vs. Sam Alvey Heavyweight Bout: Yorgan de Castro vs. Jarjis Danho Lightweight Bout: John Makdessi vs. Ignacio Bahamondes Middleweight Bout: Kyle Daukaus vs. Aliashkhab Khizriev Women’s Bantamweight Bout: Norma Dumont vs. Bea Malecki Featherweight Bout: Jordan Griffin vs. Luis Saldana

Can't wait for the next card, bruh!

UBL 16: Full of Heart - Ray vs. Pichel PRESS CONFERENCE Here's a little context, for start. Steven Ray has been having a great year, going 3-0 in the UBL by August, with his most impressive win being against top grappler Brent Primus. But Ray had already called out Pichel after his second fight in the UBL, when he submitted Chris Wade on the prelims of UBL 3: Tumenov vs. Amosov. Pichel had already been booked, tho, against Renato Moicano Carneiro, who had already previously called him out. Pichel fought a good fight in his UBL debut against Moicano, almost finishing him in the 2nd round, but Moicano recovered and grappled his way to a split decision victory, which lead him to a title shot against the champion, Gillespie, and leaving Pichel looking like a gatekeeper that you have to go through to earn a solid spot in the upper side of the rankings. 2 months went by, and it was time for Ray's first big test - Brent Primus. Ray outclassed his opponent in all aspects and earned a hard fought decision win, and reminded everyone that he still wants a piece of the Vinc Pichel pie, as he was yet to face a dangerous striker in the UBL and wanted to prove he can hang with any type of fighter, even in the top 10 of the company. No bad blood, just sheer competitiveness. Now, here we are. Sarah Moras and current UBL BW Queen Sarah Kaufman first met in the semi-finals of the Inaugural UBL BW Crown Tournament. Both were coming off dissapointing results in their most recent stints with other companies. Kaufman KOed Moras seconds into the 2nd round, after a dominating first round. She went on to beat Bethe Correia in the final for the Crown, and she called for a rematch with Moras in the post-fight, leaving the world baffled, as that fight was quite the 1-sided beatdown. Most people believe she simply wants an easy title defense, while others argue that Moras is simply the best grappler in the division and Kaufman wants to challenge herself by fighting her again. Both ladies had their next UBL fights at UBL 8, on the main card. After doing quick work of Vanessa Melo, submitting her with an Armbar in less than 3 minutes, Moras adressed the champion's callout. She claimed "everyone knows she just got caught", and seemed sure to have evolved enough to prevent such thing from happening again". "So Sarah Kaufman, defend and get me my rematch, girl", said Moras, and Kaufman did just that, winning in quick fashion, just like Moras, KOing challenger Lisa Verzosa in 2 minutes and 52 seconds. Aware of the message Moras sent her, Kaufman answers that she's up for any challenger and would love to face a high level grappler like Sarah Moras once again. Now, let's get the conference going! We've got the 4 fighters, and as always, the boss, Whana Dite! Whana Dite (WD): Good evening, everyone! We are here with 2 dangerous lightweight contenders and two of the top bantamweight ladies on the planet, and these are facts, not opinions. Ask away! Reporter ®: Sarah K, you stated that you want to fight "Cheesecake" because she is the best grappler the UBL has in your division, but this statement came back before the UBL signed the veteran Sara McMann. Do you feel the statement still holds up? Sarah Kaufman (Kaufman): First of all, I never said that, someone probably said that on the internet and people started acting like I said it. Second, I do believe Sarah Moras is one of the best grapplers that we have, and Sara McMann is also a good grappler, as she showed in her debut. And you know, many strikers don't like grapplers, they don't like fighting people that try to keep them stuck against the cage, or just win via top control, and things like that. And I'm not like that, I beat to high level strikers, in Bethe and Verzosa, high level grapplers, like Moras, and also fighters who can do both, like Leslie Smith back in the UFC. And all in all, I had problems against grapplers, most of my losses where against good grapplers, Ronda, Pacheco, Alexis Davis, Marloes Coenen. And I guess I just want to prove myself that thanks to all the hard work I've been putting in, now I can do it, I can beat this kind of fighters. So after the Moras fight, the McMann fight could be next, it's a fight I'd like. R: Bea Malecki is another prospect that the UBL have been pushing, she'll fight on the main card on UBL 17. Do you have any thoughts on her? Kaufman: I haven't really seen her fights before UBL, I know she got a nice RNC win in the UFC, and here, from what I've seen, she was dominant against some tough ladies. I guess with a win in her next fight she might be ready for a tougher fight or even a title shot, but we'll see. For now, I focus on the fight I've got coming up, and then Sara McMann would surely be above Bea Malecki on my list. R: Ms. Moras, the champion has pretty much acknowledged you as one of the best grapplers in the division, how do you feel about it? Do you feel you are the best? Sarah Moras (Cheesecake): I don't know, I might be, I see she's already thinking about Sara McMann who's a good wrestler. Maybe I'll go and defend against McMann after I win the belt? That would surely make me feel like the best grappler in the division. R: Some people don't like that you get to challenge for the belt with a 7-7 record. What are your toughts on that? Cheesecake: Didn't Mark Hunt fight for the heavyweight title years ago, with a record like 10-10? Isn't Mark Hunt literally a beloved legend, with a negative record? So I've had a bunch of losses. My wins simply shine brighter than the losses, if you ask me. I just made a girl tap in less than 3 minutes, has anyone ever beaten me in less than 3 minutes? Nope. And if you look at my losses, there are some big names on that list, and if you look at my wins, there are some big names there as well - Julianna Pena, Evans-Smith. All in all, I'm great, and my last performance proves that. R: Vinc Pichel, you had some nice momentum coming off some good wins in the UFC, but you are quite the veteran in fight years, and many believe that the close loss to Moicano has pretty much stopped your chances of ever challenging for a title. Do you agree with that, or do you still believe you might be able to earn a title shot? Vinc Pichel (Vinc): Man, I believe in my shot, you know? I lost a close fight, what can I do? Train and do better in this one, that's pretty much it. If I happen to win my way into a title shot, great, but the thing is I'm 39 and ranked #9. With the right fights, I have a chance. I'm beating Steven soon, and then I'll likely be about 2 or 3 wins away from a title shot, right? But I must beat Steve first. R: Do you feel you got robbed in the Moicano fight? Vinc: No, not really. He fought well, I had my chance to finish him, I failed to do so, that's on me. You can argue that could have been a 10-8 round, but a draw is still not a win, is it? I won't argue for a draw. I feel I'd beat him in a real fight, but he bit me under the unified rules, I won't argue that. R: Any idea what could be next with a win in a main event? Vinc: I need to perform. If I perform well under such a spotlight, good things will follow. But I'm not looking past this fight as of right now. R: Steven, do you feel about this fight and your placement on the card? Steven Ray (Ray): I feel great, I feel my efforts have been worth it, I feel glad I've gotten the opportunity to compete 4 times in a calendar year, and as Vinc said, now I must perform. I got the spotlight, now I gotta get the highlight performance, you know? R: So you wanna make this fight a flashy one? Ray: Absolutely. I wanted to fight a striker, I wanna put on a show and I want people to demand more when it's all over. Braveheart vs. Pichel from Hell, mark your calendars and believe the hype! R: Gregor Gillespie is the only UBL fighter who already went 4-0 in 2021, and you, Sarah Kaufman and Ilia Topuria are the only ones who have the chance to equal this feat. How do you feel about that, Steven? Ray: No disrespect to Sarah and Gregor, but you guys cheated, y'all fought twice in one night. I did 4 fight camps, Ilia's doing the same as me. I'm joking, obviously, fighting twice in one night is a great challenge and it's something I hope I can do too at some point. It's great, but I gotta get the W to reach that 4-0 record for 2021. R: What do you think about this, Sarah, is the 4-0 in 2021 achievment something you've been thinking about in training camp? Kaufman: Not really, but now that you say it, it would surely be nice. But it's a challenge, so I shouldn't look past Cheesecake. R: Also, Vinc, Steven, Jim Miller and Gregor Gillespie are the only top 10 UBL lightweights who are not booked right now. Do you feel you could match up with any of them with a win? Ray: Well Gillespie would be great, but I don't believe the road to him could be so short at this point. But I surely will be challenging for the belt by the end of 2022. Jim Miller could be a nice fight, but I'm thinking more of a top 5 opponent, no disrespect to Jim. Vinc: I just beat Jim a year ago, and I've already told you about how I view my road into the title picture. I'll simply have to wait for the division to untie itself, or even fight some other guys, like Primus or Jury, or that Borys guy. WD: Any other questions? No? Alright, let's do the staredowns. The staredowns go on without any notable event, as the respect between all the fighters is obvious. PREVIEW: UBL 16: FULL OF HEART - Ray vs. Pichel 26 November, 2021 Somewhere in Easter Europe Prelims: LW: Nate Andrews vs. Islam Mamedov LHW: Jai Parkhurst vs. Shiko Kahaya WW: Miguel Baeza vs. Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov BW: Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev vs. Victor Henry LW: #15 Thanh Le vs. Amirkhan Adaev LW: #10 Sidney Outlaw vs. #13 Lando Vannata BW: #9 Enrique Barzola vs. #10 Kai Asakura Main card preview: 1. Flyweight Bout: #6 Sean SANTELLA (23-8-1-1, -300) vs. #11 Alex SILVA (9-6, +230) Santella got his streak cut short when he ran into Jordan Espinosa in his UBL debut, losing the bout via UD. Santella is a pretty mediocre veteran, with good cardio on not much else. Alex Silva is coming off two losses by decision. He should make short work of Santella, as he's superior in most aspects of the grappling game and they are quite even on the feet. Prediction: Silva by decision. 2. Flyweight Tournament Semi-final: #1 Amir ALBAZI (14-2, -500) vs. #3 Jordan ESPINOSA (16-8, +350) Albazi came back from his loss to now-champion Bibulatov with a slick leglock win against Kai Kara-France, in the tournament quarter-finals. He is a great BJJ practitioner, with great submissions and control from the top. He's also a good wrestler, and has good elusiveness and powerful punches when on the feet. Espinosa good a UD win over Santella in his UBL debut, in the Flyweight Tournament QFs. He is a good wrestler that likes to grind his way to victory via top control, and I doubt it will work out for him against a BJJ playa like Albazi. Prediction: Albazi by 1st round submission. 3. Bantamweight Crown: © Sarah KAUFMAN (24-5-1, -500) vs. #3 Sarah MORAS (7-7, +350) Sarah Kaufman defends her crown against the first women she faced in the UBL, Sarah Moras, who she defeated by 2nd round KO. Without a doubt, Sarah is the division's best striker, with killer kicks and powerful punches, rounded up with great TD defence, and good sumbission defence and scrambles. Also, her last 3 wins came via violent KOs, in dominating showings. Moras bounced back after her loss to Kaufman with a quick Armbar victory over Vanessa Melo. Moras is a good BJJ practitioner who also has a dominating clinch on the feet, but really shouldn't be too much of a threat for Kaufman. Prediction: Kaufman by 1st round KO. 4. Light Heavyweight Bout: #1 Anthony SMITH (34-17, -650) vs. #7 Ed HERMAN (27-15-1, +510) After his win over Devin Clark, Smith got KOed in the 1st round by a head kick from Dominick Reyes, and decided it's time to look for greener pastures, so now here he is. Aged 33, he's very much a veteran of the sport, going 2-2 in Strikeforce, 2-0 in Bellator and 9-6 in the UFC, earning himself a UFC title shot and Ws over the likes of Hector Lombard, Shogun Rua and Gustaffson. Lionheart Smith is a tough, well rounded fighter, with great submissions, great power in his fists and a great clinch game, with his weak takedown defence and control from the bottom being his main weaknesses. Ed Herman lost his UBL debut via decision against Devin Clark, but TKOed Julius Anglickas to bounce back in the winners column. He's a UFC veteran, fighting there since 2006 and building up a 13-11-1 record, altho the bigest name he's beaten was before his UFC days, as he defeated Glover Teixeira back in 2005. Herman is mainly a grappler with pretty mediocre takedowns but a good clinch and a great top control, which allows him to look for submissions from various positions. Still, Smith should be a level or two above him, so Lionheart should be able to triumph in his UBL debut. Prediction: Smith by 1st round submission. 5. Lightweight Bout: #7 Steven RAY (26-9, -480) vs. #9 Vinc PICHEL (13-3, +380) Ray is on a 4 fight winning streak, with 3 of those being in the UBL, against Myles Jury, Chris Wade & Brent Primus. He is a good grappler with great takedowns and well rounded wrestling control, and he also has some good power in his hands when fighting on the feet. Pichel came in the UBL following back to back wins in the UFC and lost a close split decision to Moicano in his UBL debut. He is a good boxer and most of his good grappling skills are defensive, altho he has been working and developing a decent submission game, that we are yet to see. Still, Ray's grappling skills will likely be too much for Pichel, making Ray a pretty clean favourite, altho Pichel does have his strikers chance, as we saw when he almost finished Moicano in the 2nd round of their bout. Prediction: Ray by 4th round submission. Share theeem Main card predictions: FlyW: Sean SANTELLA vs. Alex SILVA FlyW Tournament SF: Amir ALBAZI vs. Jordan ESPINOSA BW Crown: Sarah KAUFMAN vs. Sarah MORAS LHW: Anthony SMITH vs. Ed HERMAN LW: Steven RAY vs. Vinc PICHEL

Big fights outside of the UBL: UFC Max Holloway beat Brian Ortega by SD (48-47 x2, 47-48) to win the UFC FW Title. Cory Sandhagen beat Rob Font by UD (50-45 x 2, 49-46) to defend his UFC BW Title. Sean O'Malley beat Dominick Cruz by 1st round KO. Claudia Gadelha beat Weili Zhang by SD. Bellator Douglas Lima beat Curtis Millender by 1st round Armbar submission to defend his Bellator WW Title. Valentin Moldavsky beat Cheick Kongo by UD. Brett Johns beat Erik Perez by 2nd round Kneebar. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane beat Bec Rawlings by 3rd round KO. UBL 15: COLOSSAL - Latifi vs. Boser 12 November, 2021 Somewhere in Eastern Europe Prelims: BW: Raufeon Stots defeats Felipe Colares by UD (30-27 x 3). MW: Kiamrian Abbasov defeats Salamu Abdurakhmanov by Kimura Submission @1:39, round 1. WW: Albert Tumenov defeats Shavkat Rakhmonov by TKO @0:35, round 3. Post fight, Tumenov aknkowledges the callouts from Jackson and Dalby and says he's down to fight any of them. MW: Magomedrasul Gasanov defeats Trevin Giles by UD (29-28 x 3). HW: Justin Tafa defeats #14 Philipe Lins by KO @1:13, round 1. W BW: #14 Raquel Canuto defeats Izabela Badurek by TKO @2:08, round 1. LHW: #15 Nasrudin Nasrudinov defeats #14 Aleksei Butorin by UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28). Main card: 1. Light Heavyweight Bout: #5 Devin CLARK (13-6, -240) vs. #10 Rafael CARVALHO (17-6, +190) Round 1: Clark tries to grab Carvalho but gets hit with a quick jab followed up by a big right. Carvalho misses with another punch, as he's the one walking forward now. Clark fires two counter jabs as Carvalho hits 2 punches out of a flurry and misses the head kick follow-up. Still, Carvalho advances with confidence, gets touched with two weak jabs, and smashes Clark with two lefts and a right head kick! But Clark eats it like it's nothing! Carvlaho hits a roundhouse body kick, and then a cross. Carvalho looks extremely confident as we reach the halfway point of round 1. And he connects with a jab-head kick combo, and Clark is feeling it this time! CARVALHO JUMPS WITH A FLYING KNEE, but Clark partially blocked it! Clark's covering against the cage, AND A BIG RIGHT SENDS CLARK DOWN TO THE FLOOR! CARVALHO IS HAMMERING DOWN WITH HUGE RIGHTS! And that's it! Winner: Rafael Carvalho (Smashin' TKO @3:26, round 1). Rating: Good. Post-fight: You can see the hunger in Carvalho's eyes as he repeats his callout for Ed Herman, saying he wants another easy KO before he takes aim at the very top of the divison. 2. Heavyweight Bout: #8 Roy NELSON (24-19, -550) vs. #11 Javy AYALA (11-9, +430) Round 1: Well, here's a surprise. Ayala shoots straight away and leaves Nelson pulling guard. But Ayala gets caught in a guillotine! He lasts in there for a while, but eventually taps, giving Nelson a quick W! Winner: Roy Nelson (Guillotine Submission @0:42, round 1). Rating: Good. Post-fight: Nelson reminds everyone that he's been fighting all his life, and now he feels it's finally time to call it a career. He says it was a pleasure fighting here in Europe, and he'll probably be back to corner his Roufusport mates. Big Country retires aged 45, with a 25-19 record. 3. Well, we got to this point pretty quick. AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR THE FIRST TITLE FIGHT OF THE NIGHT! IN THE SEMIFINALS OF THE UBL MIDDLEWEIGHT TOURNAMENT, FOR THE UBL MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP: © "BABY K" Karl ROBERSON (11-3, -400) vs. #3 Darren "THE DENTIST" STEWART (13-6-1, +310) Round 1: Stewart comes in with hunger and hits Roberson with two lefts and a right hook. Roberson seems glad to be in another dog-fight. He hits Stewart with a left cross, but can't defend against his jab-cross combo, and now we see Roberson got a bad cut above the eye less than 30 seconds into round 1. Stewart gets pressuring the chammpion, but Roberson bobs & weaves out the way of Stewarts 1-2s. As he keeps getting pressured, Roberson hits 2 counterjabs but gets struck with a jab-straight right combo. Stewart is showing more patience, respecting Roberson's decent head movement. Roberson tags him with a counter jab and dodges another 1-2. Then does the exact same thing. Stewart now invites Roberson to the center, and Roberson comes, but they both miss all their strikes in the following 2 exchanges. Stewart then hits a left to the body, while Roberson barely connects with a quick right. They trade some more jabs it's round over. Close round, as both landed 10 significant strikes, but since Stewart dictated the pace and gave Roberson an ugly cut, he surely takes round 1. 10-9 for Stewart. Round 2: They meet in the center and have some lackluster exchanges, with only a jab from Stewart landing in the first 80 seconds. Then, Roberson shoots on Stewart and ends up holding him against the cage. He manages to get him in the thai clinch, where he can hit some pretty good elbow strikes! But he only lands one elbow, from a bad angle, and Stewart wrestles free soon after. Stewart starts pushing again and misses quite a lot, until he catches Roberson with a good 1-2, repopening Roberson's cut. Stewart catches Roberson with a jab-jab-cross combo. Roberson is starting to look tired as we enter the last minute. Roberson seems off today, as he htis a jab but misses the hook to the body, and Stewart catches him with a slick jab-head kick combo. But Roberson counters the following roundhouse kick with a nice glancing head kick of his own! Too bad he already seems gassed, tho. Stewart misses some more strikes and it's round over. Surely Stewart's round, 20-18 for the challenger on my scorecard. Round 3: They trade some nothing, and the Stewart counters a left cross with a jab and a body punch, and then he pulls Roberson into a clinch! But Roberson is the one who tries to push Stewart around, but can't do it! Stewart tries to pull guard! BUT ROBERSON STILL HAS ENOUGH IN HIM TO SLAM STEWART WITH STYLE, and kicks Stewart's legs for a while, and then allows him to stand up. A Roberson cross gets countered with a jab, and then Roberson shoots, getting Stewart stuck against the cage for the 2nd time. He smothers him for about 2 minutes, likely to recover some energy, and Roberson escapes with 50 seconds left in round 3. None of them lands anything significant in the remaining seconds, tho. Stewart still outstruck Roberson by a pretty serious margin, so it likely was his round. 30-27 for Stewart on my scorecard, altho it was a close round. Round 4: Both lads clinch. Stewart tries to pull guard again, but Roberson doesn't let him. He tries to take him twice but fails, and Stewart tries to pull guard again. BUT ROBERSON SLAMS HIM AGAIN, and then hits that calf with power! He kicks at Roberson 3 more times before allowing him to get up. Both guys look tired now and Stewart is limping a bit. They trade a few jabs and Roberson hits a decent right. Roberson then dodges a right from Stewart and hits a right hook. Roberson dodges a hook now and hits a good left. But he gets cocky and misses a big left, and Stewart counters him with a jab-cross combo. And they miss some more strikes as the round ends. Another close round, but we gotta give it to Roberson this time, for the close striking exchanges and that violent slam. 39-37 for Stewart on my scorecard. Round 5: Roberson hits a right and blocks a 1-2. And they both defend well in the following exchanges. Roberson misses a left cross and gets stung with a left hook. Stewart starts coming forward, like in the first 2 rounds, but misses his combos initially. Then, Stewart gets countered with a nice right but hits a good jab-cross combo. Roberson tried to kick the leg but got checked and stung with another jab-cross combo. Then, they trade some jabs and Stewart pieces him up with a 1-2. Stewart then misses a big right and Roberson counters with a quick jab-hook combo. And then, visibly exhausted, they both clinch up. They literally spend the last 2 minutes of the fight trying to take each other down from the clinch, which is really anti-climatic. And it is all over. Stewart obviously outstruck here, so it's his round, and it's 49-46 for the challenger on my scorecard. We had 3 really close rounds, tho, so the judges might have seen it differently. Winner, AAAND NE...STIIILL UBL MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION!?: KAAARL "BABY K" ROOOBERSOOOON (UD: 49-46, 48-47 x 2)! Rating: Decent. (Robbery of the decade?) Post-fight: Stewart looks shocked, and the crowd boos Roberson as he gets his hand raised and receives his championship. Roberson tells everyone to look at Stewart's leg and at his weak grappling attempts, telling them that they might have been equal when striking, but he surely outdid him in every grappling moment. "If you don't agree, you do you, I do me, I keep being the champion, and get ready for many more <<AND STILL>>s!". Roberson did a great job riling up the crowd, and it looks like a heel was born tonight, in the UBL Middleweight division. ONTO THE FINAL! Title prestige: up from 63 to 65. Roberson screwed the system and went up in the world MW rankings, from #18 to #14. It's a cold world. Roberson will face the winner of Tavares vs. Du Plessis in the final. 4. NOW, FOR THE UBL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP, IN THE UBL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TOURNAMENT SEMI-FINAAALS: © Dovletdzhan YAGSHIMURADOV (19-5-1, +100) vs. #4 Ryan "SUPERMAN" SPANN (19-7, -110) Yagshi looks like he put much more weight than Spann post-weigh-in. Round 1: Yagshi comes forward, dodges Spann's counter and smashes him with a big straight right. He keeps pressuring and nothing lands in the next exchange, but after that, Spann hits two counter jabs and dodges Yagshi's 1-2. Now, in the center of the cage, Spann hits a good 1-2 but gets touched by a big right hook. Yagshi hits a jab-cross combo, and Spann answers with a nice 1-2 of his own. They smash each other with nice combos, as Spann hits a good straight right and eats a right cross. Yagshi gets pushing again, and he misses a lot of shots, but eventually hits a right hook after eating a counter right. In the center again, Yagshi hits a good left but gets smashed with a flurry from Spann, and then a right hook, AND YAGSHI LOOKS ROCKED! But he barely managed to move out the way of the right head kick that followed. Back into it, Yagshi eats a combo of straight punches but hits Spann with a great hook. They trade some nothing, AND AS WE ENTER THE LAST SECONDS, YAGSHI USES TWO JABS TO SET UP A MASSIVE STRIAGHT RIGHT THAT SMASHES SPANN'S JAW, AND THAT'S A GAH DAMN LAST SECOND KNOCK OUUUUUUUUUUUT! OH MY GOD! Winner, AND STIIIIILL UBL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WOOORLD: DOVLETDZHAN YAGSHIMURADOV (Straight Right From Hell KO @4:57, round 1). Rating: Great. Post fight: Yagshi flexes as his belt is put around his waist. As the announcer approaches him for the post-fight interview, Yagshi stops him mid-sentence, taking his mic to share these wonderful words: "God made me great. Nothing more to say. I am champion, I am blessed. See you again in finals." Title prestige: up from 61 to 62. Yagshi moved up in the world rankings, from #21 to #15, while Spann fell off the list, from #23. Yagshimuradov will fight the winner of Da Un Jung vs. Yusupov in the finals. 5. AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR THE MAAAAIN EVENT OF THE EVENING! A Heavyweight Title Eliminator, in the UBL Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Finals: #5 Ilir LATIFI (15-8-1, -110) vs. #7 Tanner BOSER (20-8-1, +100) Boser seems to have about 20 lbs on Latifi. Round 1: They miss some big strikes early on, and a jab from Latifi is the only strikes that land in the 1st minute. As Latifi hits the 2nd jab of the fight, Boser catches him with a jab-cross combo. Nothing lands for another boring minute afterwards, and then Poser dodges a hook to strike Latifi with a solid right. Latifi starts pressuring but can only connect with the jabs initially, but eventually catches Boser with a good straight left. They trade some jabs and Latifi catches bosser with a left cross. Boser tries some big strikes, but Latifi just moves out the way and counters with jabs, and soon, round 1 is over. 10-9 for Latifi, as he pretty much picked apart Boser in the 2nd half of the round. Round 2: Latifi comes forward and hits a jab-cross combo, but Boser smashes him with a great right hook! They both smile at each other following the exchange. Boser hits a left and dodges a 1-2 from Latifi, and Latifi starts pressuring again, hitting a jab-straight left combo. Latifi enters the pocket and hits another good jab-straight left combo. As Boser takes his eyes off Latifi for half a second, to look at his cornen, Latifi shoots and gets a single leg takedown! Boser pulls guard, and a scramble sees Latifi get to half guard. More scrambles happen, and eventually Latifi is able to get onto Boser's back! He fails with his RNC attempt initially, but Latifi eventually gets both hooks and locks the choke in tight, and Boser has to tap, and he does! Winner: Ilir Latifi (RNC Submission @4:44, round 2). Rating: Good. Post-fight: LATIFI RETIRES. OF COURSE HE DOES. REALLY!? I PUT YOU IN THE MAIN EVENT OVER TWO TITLE FIGHTS AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO, ILIR? REALLY? Thank God I managed to talk him out of retirement, huh. He'll challenge Alexander Romanov for the title in the final. Latifi moved up in the world HW rankings, from #24 to #12. Attendance: 4 703 Critical rating: 69 Commercial rating: 61 FOTN: D Yagshimuradov vs. R Spann KOOTN: D Yagshimuradov vs. R Spann SubOTN: I Latifi vs. T Boser Profit: 537 283 Biggest paydays: Latifi - 74 300, Yagshimuradov - 53 300, Roy Nelson - 48 500 Title fights paydays: Spann - 29 000, Stewart - 14 000, Roberson - 6 800. UPDATED RANKINGS: HEAVYWEIGHT LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT MIDDLEWEIGHT BANTAMWEIGHT TOURNAMENTS: HEAVYWEIGHT: © Alexander Romanov vs. Ilir Latifi LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov © vs. Da Un Jung / Rashid Yusupov MIDDLEWEIGHT: Karl Roberson © vs. Brad Tavares / Dricus Du Plessis (UBL 18) BANTAMWEIGHT: Ricky Simon © vs. Brad Katona (UBL 19) Jack Shore vs. Rani Yahya (UBL 19) FLYWEIGHT: Magomed Bibulatov © vs. Hiromasa Ogikubo (UBL 19) Amir Albazi vs. Jordan Espinosa (UBL 16) ROSTER UPDATES: New signings: HW: Szymon Bajor (23-8, FEN HW Champion) BW: Dominick Cruz BABY (24-4) W BW: Kameyo Tamada (2-0 newgen, "high level judoka", JEWELS BW Champion) Cut from the UBL: Izabela Badurek (8-7 W FlyW). And now, let's see how the prediction rankings look with 3 more cards to go! But first of all, I'd like to brag with my extremely accurate predictions: Roberson by decision, Yagshimuradov by 1st round KO & Latifi by 2nd round sub Now, onto the rankings! Majster_93: 4/5; Total: 29/45 (64%). McDojoDelux: Total: 3/5; 24/39 (62%) - Agree with what you're saying about Romanov, I'm hoping he has a breakthrough year in the UFC a la Holland in 2020 He'll be fighting Espino on the main card of Whittaker vs. Gastelum! Also, looks like Majster went over today, as you predicted, but you have 3 cards left to settle the score, so good luck to all of you guys! rodrigoviolim: 3/5; Total: 40/94 (43%). CageRage: 2/5; Total: 54/105 (51%). legendaryhorseman: Total: 2/5. Might take a while until I come with the preview for UBL 16 as I'll make a press-conference to look into the rivalries of Steven Ray & Vinc Pichel and Kaufman & Moras!

Main Card Welterweight Bout: Georges St.Pierre (185 lbs) vs. Frank Trigg (185 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Antonio Carvalho (145 lbs) vs. Joe Pearson (145 lbs) Welterweight Bout: David Louiseau (185 lbs) vs. Arman Gambaryan (185 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Carlos Newton (185 lbs) vs. Jorge Patino (185 lbs) Featherweight Bout: Takeshi Inoue (145 lbs) vs. Mark Hominick (145 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Denis Kang (185 lbs) vs. Akihiro Gono (170 lbs) Preliminary Card Welterweight Bout: Joe Doerksen (185 lbs) vs. Josh Neer (170 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Kryzstof Sozsynski (205 lbs) vs. Zelg Galesic (205 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Patrick Cote (185 lbs) vs. Haim Gozali (185 lbs) Middleweight Bout: Bernard Ackah (205 lbs) vs. Rafael Cavalcante (205 lbs) Lightweight Bout: David Baron (165 lbs) vs. Luiz Firmino (165 lbs) Welterweight Bout: Jason Black (170 lbs) vs. Mamed Khalidov (185 lbs)