The Ultimate B-League

CageRage · March 21, 2021

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

McDojoDelux · March 21, 2021

Main Card 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

rodrigoviolim · March 22, 2021

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

vladjarca · March 22, 2021

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:

WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT

TOURNAMENTS:

HEAVYWEIGHT:

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

rodrigoviolim · March 22, 2021

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

vladjarca · March 22, 2021

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!

Majster_93 · March 22, 2021

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

McDojoDelux · March 22, 2021

Majster don't miss

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

CageRage · March 22, 2021

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

vladjarca · March 23, 2021

And now, IT IS TIME FOR THE LAAAAAAST SHOW OF THE YEAR FOR THE ULTIMATE B-LEAGUE!

<div style="text-align:center;">UBL 18: BULLETPROOF - Agapova vs. Shevchenko

31 December 2021

Somewhere in Eastern Europe</div>

Prelims:

W BW: Mayra Rodrigues defeats Kamila Porczyk by Americana Submission @1:41, round 1.

FW: Leandro Higo defeats Herbert Burns by UD (29-28 x 3).

BW: Josh Hill defeats Taylor Lapilus by SD (30-27 x 2, 28-29). Hill calls out Stephen Loman.

WW: Abubakar Vagaev defeats Ramazan Remeev by UD (30-27 x 3).

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.

HW: Masazumi Narato defeats #15 Alikhan Vakhaev by TKO @3:40, round 1. What a night for the UBL newgens!

FlyW: #13 Jeff Molina defeats #14 Yosuke Saruta by KO @4:44, round 1.

Main card:

1. Lightweight Bout: #5 Rashid MAGOMEDOV (26-5-1, +100) vs. #7 Arman TSARUKYAN (15-4, -110)

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.

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!

Winner: Arman Tsarukyan (Poundin' from back mount TKO @4:25, round 2). Rating: Decent.

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.

2. Featherweight Bout: #1 Movsar EVLOEV (15-1, -200) vs. #4 Mirsad BEKTIC (15-4, +150)

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.

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!

Winner: Movsar Evloev (Cross & Pound TKO @0:33, round 2). Rating: Decent.

Post-fight: Well, Evloev gives a basic interview and hints at a title rematch.

Evloev moved up in the world FW rankings, from #14 to #11, while Bektic fell off the list, from #25.

3. Welterweight Bout: #5 Elizeu Zaleski DOS SANTOS (23-8, +550) vs. #6 Ismail NAURDIEV (22-5, -700)

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.

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!

Winner: Ismail Naurdiev (Kick & pound TKO @2:07, round 2). Rating: Good.

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.

Naurdiev made his way into the world WW rankings, coming in at #22

4. Middleweight Tournament Semi-Final: #1 Brad TAVARES (19-7, -570) vs. #11 Dricus DU PLESSIS (16-2, +420)

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!

Winner: Brad Tavares (Kick & Pound TKO @2:05, round 1). Rating: Great.

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.

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.

5. AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR OUR LAST BOUT OF THE YEAR AND MAAAAAAAAAIN EVEEEEEEENT OF THE EVENIIIIIIIIING! FOR THE UBL FLYWEIGHT CROWN:

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!

Winner, AND STIIIIIIIIIIILL UBL FLYWEIGHT QUEEN: MARIYAAAAAAA AGAPOOOOVAAAA (Uppercut & Pound TKO @1:24, round 1). Rating: Good.

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?

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.

Attendance: 4 645

Critical rating: 70

Commercial rating: 72

FOTN: J Clean v. L Adiwang

KOOTN: J Molina v. Y Saruta

SubOTN: M Rodrigues v. K Porczyk

Profit: + 605 629

Biggest paydays: V Shevchenko - 171 000, Johnny Clean - 23 400, Brad Tavares - 23 300.

Champ's payday: Agapova - 6 700.

UPDATED RANKINGS (for all the divisions this one time):

<a href="https://imgur.com/4EhaOZu" rel="external nofollow">HEAVYWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/8Z4mBNo" rel="external nofollow">LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/PpS9mpH" rel="external nofollow">MIDDLEWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/9TlYDeO" rel="external nofollow">WELTERWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/885vRzf" rel="external nofollow">LIGHTWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/SBhBnrg" rel="external nofollow">FEATHERWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/EubnOjQ" rel="external nofollow">BANTAMWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/OWDuKPp" rel="external nofollow">FLYWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/pm21Rj3" rel="external nofollow">WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT</a>

<a href="https://imgur.com/lAs5TYD" rel="external nofollow">WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT</a>

TOURNAMENTS:

HEAVYWEIGHT:

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT:

Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov © vs. Da Un Jung / Rashid Yusupov (UBL 19)

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

Karl Roberson © vs. Brad Tavares

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: Keizo Higashikuni (3-0 newgen, "national calibre jiu-jitsu competitor", HW King of Pancrase).

MW: Sergey Kalinin (9-1, EFC MW Champion with 2 defenses).

Big fights outside of the UBL:

UFC

Demetrious Johnson beat Joseph Benavidez by 5th round Armbar Submission to win back that UFC FlyW Title.

Marvin Vettori beat Robert Whittaker by 3rd round TKO.

Vicente Luque beat Geoff Neal by 2nd round KO.

Charles Oliveira beat Alexander Hernandez by 2nd round Armbar Submission.

Carla Esparza beat Marina Rodriguez by UD.

Aspen Ladd beat Katharina Lehner by 1st round TKO.

And now, it's time to look at the final prediction rankings of UBL's 2021, lads!

Majster_93: 4/5; Total: 41/60 (68%).

CageRage: 4/5; Total: 64/120 (53%).

McDojoDelux: 2/5; Total: 31/54 (57%).

rodrigoviolim: 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!

And the final total rankings:

1. Majster_93 - 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!

2. CageRage- 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!

3. McDojoDelux - 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!

4. rodrigoviolim - 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!

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!

rodrigoviolim · March 23, 2021

hey ... two 0-5, it is not so easy to predict is not it? hehehehehe

waiting for the next season and I hope to go much better.

vladjarca · March 26, 2021

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!

vladjarca · March 27, 2021

Hello, guys!

Today, I'll be presenting you the cream of the crop of today's MMA! Let's see who were the biggest winners in MMA throughout 2021, and figure out what's next for them in 2022!

We'll start off with the men's P4P rankings, and we'll check out the top 5!

P4P List:

#1 Conor McGregor (25-4)

As I've already told you, Conor worked hard in the first half of 2021 and left a bit to focus on his other projects until the UFC realizes it's time to go the extra mile to give him his shot. The world is eagerly waiting for his return, and his place at the top will likely remain unchanged until he finally comes back.

#2 Gilbert Burns (22-4, UFC WW Champion)

Burns had an interesting 2021. He extended his winning streak to 7, as he won via armbar against Michael Chiesa in his first fight of the year, but choked when he challenged Kamaru Usman for the belt just 1 month and a half later. Still, turning up to fight so quick impressed the world, and when he came back in August and got a win via the rare Von Flue Choke against Belal Muhammad, he demanded another title shot, with time for a full, quality traning camp. On the same card, Masvidal and Usman faught for a second time, with Masvidal emerging victorious this time. 3 months later, we get Masvidal vs. Burns for the Welterweight title, and after getting outstruck for the most of the the first 3 rounds, Burns finally manages to take Masvidal round in the fourth and masterfully works his way into an armbar, winning the UFC Welterweight championship to great applause.

#3 Vicente Luque (22-7-1)

Luque is riding immense momentum right now. He started the year with an easy fight against prospect Danny Roberts, who he quickly put to sleep with a spectacular knee in less than 2 minutes. In April, he got a different challenge: Demian Maia. An important step, as it's been quite some time since the last time Luque faced a talented grappler. Luque KOed him seconds into the frist round, in what many saw more as a sad moment for Maia than as a great moment for Luque. Finally, his moment of glory came on the last UFC card of 2021, where he Geoff Neal out cold seconds into the 2nd round after making him look like a rookie in the 1st round. After this amazing performance, Burns vs. Luque just got in high demand, altho' Luque might have to wait a while, as Burns is medically suspended until March.

#4 Kevin Lee (22-6)

Lee came back with a BANG. He started with something of a warm up fight, against Rick Glenn, who he defeated via North South Choke in the 3rd round in a Fantastic bout in which he wonderfully dominated. He then aimed straight at the top, and took out THREE top 5ers in the follwoing months. 6 weeks after the Glenn fight, he KOed Dustin Poirier with a sweet kick in the 2nd round in an absolutely Fantastic brawl. 3 months later, he takes aim at the highly touted #4 Michael Chandler. He dominated him on the feet for 2 rounds before getting slammed hard in the 3rd, getting the UD nod in yet another Fantastic fight! Finally, 3 months later he takes out yet another top 5er in Dan Hooker, who he knocked out in the 4th round of their fight night main event, after dominating him with strikes and top control in the first 3 rounds. Now, Kevin Lee is coming for the belt, which is held by none other than his long time rival, Tony Ferguson, who choked him out in their 2017 interim title fight, on the very first UFC card of 2022.

#5 T.J. Dillashaw (20-4)

Another succesful comeback story of 2021. Dillashaw walked through a killers row and got out without a scratch. As soon as he was eligible to fight again in late February, he fought #6 Frankie Edgar and TKOed him in the 2nd, after a competitive first round. Then, in April, he had a war with the new #6, Marlon Moraes, and altho he didn't get the finish, he dominated Moraes and won all rounds on all 3 scorecards. Finally, he aimed at the top 5, fighting #5 Aljamain Sterling. Despite getting taken down twice, Dillashaw still looked strong and scored two knockdowns on Aljo, and finally finished him in the 3rd round, hitting a brutal knee as Aljo changed levels looking for the takedown. #10 Jimmie Rivera was next, in late December. TJ dominated the bout and was close to finishing Rivera in both the 2nd and the 3rd round, but ultimately won by decision. TJ surely earned his title shot, but will he wait for Sandhagen, who'll defend against O'Malley in Febraury, or will he get back in the cage to dominate some more?

And now, onto the divisions! (we'll only go through the divisions that we have in the UBL.)

HEAVYWEIGHT

1. Derrick Lewis (26-7-1)

Nothing new since the last run down for Lewis. He TKOed Blaydes violently, got the UD over Miocic and now he's waiting for the right challenger to rise and face him.

2. Alexander Volkov (33-8)

After shocking the world by KOing Francis Ngannou in the 1st round, #3 HW Jair Rozenstruik was next for Volkov. He KOed Rozestruik as well, after amost getting finished by Bigi Boi in the 1st round! It turned out that Bigi Boi was on PEDs, tho, making Volkov's W even more impressive! Next, Volkov will fight #5 Overeem in February and will surely be in talks for a title shot if he wins.

3. Alexander Romanov (16-0)

Romanov surely had one of the biggest rises of 2021, as he wasn't even ranked in the top 25 list a year ago. He burst on the scene by following up on his 2-0 UFC run with a UD domination over Stefan Struve, which earned him a title fight in the newly formed UBL. He went on to ragdoll a full of PEDs Sergey Pavlovich for 5 rounds, and then defended against Sergey Spivak, who he choked out in less than 4 minutes with an opportunistic RNC. He'll make his next defence against Ilir Latifi, in February.

You also might be wondering what's up with Jon Jones! He was on PEDs when beating a bum, so who cares about him?

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

#1 Jan Blachowicz (29-8)

First defence was against Glover by Armbar in February. The second defence, tho, was more tense, as Thiago Santos even got the nod on one of the 3 scorecards! Jan mostly dominated the fight with his wrestling and also oustruck when striking on the feet, altho he hard problems in the 2nd round, when Maretta managed to get in the mount off some scrambles and got poundin' on Jan heavily, but Jan wethered the storm and edged out the other rounds. His next challenger will most likely be Dom Reyes in a rematch, as Dom surely earned it.

#2 Dominick Reyes (16-2)

Humbled by his loss to Polish Power, Reyes has been on a tear in 2021. March saw him come back against #7 Anthony Smith, who he put to sleep with a head kick after 2 violent minutes of fighting. #12 Luke Rockhold was next for Reyes, in July, and he put him out with another violent head kick, in the second round, outclassing him in this stand-up brawl. Highly touted #4 Jiri Prochazka was next for Reyes, and it was the shortest fight of his streak, as he smashed him with knees and kicks before pounding him to a TKO win in less than 2 minutes. After that, he fought #2 Aleksandar Rakic and got yet another head kick KO win, in the 2nd round, after lighting him up with big kicks in the 1st round. Surely the rematch is bound to happen after such showings from Reyes.

#3 Vadim Nemkov (14-3)

After getting outgrappled by Corey Anderson in his first title defence, back in January 2021, Nemkov bounced back against the breakingthrough prospect Karl Moore, who he dominated on the feet and KOed late in the 1st round. After that, October saw Nemkov in what likely was the biggest highlight of his career: a fight against #1 Bellator LHW Yoel Romero. It was a barn burner with most of the action happening on the feet, and eventually Nemkov KOed Romero early in the 3rd round, in a Fantastic bout that got the whole world watching Bellator.

MIDDLEWEIGHT

#1 Paulo Costa (16-1)

A year ago, people were wondering if Costa really is legit, after he had lost to the #1 MW in the world, Izzy Adesanya. Now, Izzy is belt-less for popping for marijuana. Dumb, but whateva. March saw Costa come back swinging against #7 Derek Brunson. They brawled for a while in the 1st, until Brunson managed to take Costa down. The 2nd round didn't work out for Brunson, tho, as Costa KOed him with style. Afterwards, in June, Costa fought Vettori for the vacant belt, and TKOed him in the 2nd in a bout similar to the Brunson one. In December, he made his first defence, against Kevin Holland, who is the only one who actually braught the fight to Costa since Izzy, likely winning the 1st round. But chad Costa caught Holland in the 2nd round and finished him in cold blooded fashion.

#2 Jack Hermansson (22-6)

After getting upset by Marvin Vettori, Hermansson fought again only in September 2021, against #5 Edmen Shahbazyan who was putting the train back on track. After outgrappling Edmen in the first two rounds, but likely winning the 1st round due to being outstruck on the feet, round 3 saw Jack take Edmen down, pound him into giving up his back and finishing off with a nice and easy RNC, proving the world that he is still an important contender. Booked to fight #10 Krzysztof Jotko in his next fight, Jotko got injured and now Jack will be facing Antonio Carlos Junior in his next fight, on the 1st UFC card of 2022.

#3 Marvin Vettori (17-5-1)

The big time streak he's had culminated with the fight for the vacant title, against Paulo Costa, in June. Vettori lost after winning the first round, getting TKOed in the second, but bounced back big time in December, with a big win against #2 Robert Whittaker. Whittaker was beating Vettori in the first two rounds, but a big cross changed the fight early in the 3rd round, as Whittaker got pressured into the corner and TKOed while on his feet by a swarming Vettori.

WELTERWEIGHT

#1 Gilbert Burns (22-4)

Check men's P4P #2.

#2 Vicente Luque (22-7-1)

Check men's P4P #3

#3 Douglas Lima (34-8)

Unable to get champ-champ status in his lone fight of 2020, Lima went back to defending his belt in 2021, and started off in a great fight against Lorenz Larkin, who he heavily outgrappled after surprisingly getting outstruck in round 1. In only 9 minutes, Lima took Larkin down 4 times with slick techniques and ended up choking him out with a Cobra Choke that left him standing tall after a Main Event Of The Year & Sub Of The Year contender. He followed up on that with a quick Armbar win againt Curtis Millander, in November, and is looking forward for whatever challenge may be next.

LIGHTWEIGHT

#1 Conor McGregor (25-4)

See P4P #1.

#2 Kevin Lee (22-6)

See P4P #4.

#3 Charles Oliveira (32-9-1)

After a great streak against top contenders, Oliveira started his 2021 with a well awaited title shot against Dustin Poirier. He made the most of it, as 3 minutes into the bout, Dustin found himself tapping out to an armbar, and Charles finally fulfilled his dream of winning the Lightweight championship. It didn't last long. Injury prevented Charles from defending against Conor in the summer, and he defended in September against Tony Ferguson, in a rematch of their December 2020 bout. Tony looked as he regained his mojo, dominating most of the bout, winning via MD despite taking pretty much 0 damage. Extremely unhappy with his performance, Oliveira bounced back with a dominating performance over #8 Alexander Hernandez, where he nullified Hernanandez's offense in round 1 and grabbed a spectacular armbar in the 2nd round as Hernandez was pounding on him from guard.

FEATHERWEIGHT

#1 Patricio Freire (34-4)

Patricio Pitbull defended both his belts in 2021. He started off defending the LW title against Rustam Khabilov, in March. Pitbull dominated with aouthority in the striking exchanges, but eventually got wrestled down by Khabilov in round 1. He sprawled well in round 2, tho, and knocked Khabilov out cold with his massive right hook. He then went back to FW, where he choked out Straus for the 3rd time, in their 5th bout, and moved back to LW where he fought ex-OCTAGON LW champion Tim Barnett, outclassing him both in striking and grappling and finishing him with a kimura in the 3rd round.

#2 Max Holloway (23-6)

Holloway is back and he's styling, ladies and gentlemen. First, he had a great back and forth with #14 Edson Barboza where he took damage but also dealt WAAAY more and almost finished Edson in the 3rd. He got the clean 30-27 nod, and went on to fight rival and then ex-champion Alexander Volkanovski. It was a Fantastic 6 minute brawl that got cut short when Holloway dropped Volk with a hook and finished him with the follow up shots. And finally, November saw Max have a date with destiny, as he fought Brian Ortega trying to regain his championship. It was a good fight that saw both men land many strikes and also takedowns, and the suspense was high by the end, as most felt the bout could go either way. Happily for Max, he got the split decision nod, becoming a two time champion, and will make the first defence of his 2nd reign in March, against Sodiq Yusuff.

#3 Sodiq Yusuff (13-1)

Yusuff came in 2021 with high hopes and went on to have a great year. He started off with a fight against #6 Arnold Allen. Allen managed to control Sodiq for a while in round one, but he god stuffed and struck hard in the 2nd round, getting TKOd 1 minute into the 2nd round. A bout with #7 TKZ followed, and Yusuff did short work of him, as it only took him 40 seconds to get the TKO win and got Yusuff to jump the line above guys like Zabit or Yair, as now Yusuff is scheduled to challenge for the belt in March.

BANTAMWEIGHT

#1 Cory Sandhagen (15-2)

After suffering his first loss in the UFC against Aljamain Sterling, Sandhagen bounced back in style, TKOing Moraes spectacularily, as you all know. Still, he waited for Aljo to challenge Yan, and after Aljo lost his title shot, Cory was next in line. He challenged in June, and despite being known as a flashy striker, it was his grappling that got him the W, as he barely touched Yan in the striking exchanges, but managed to take him down a whooping 6 times before finally securing a kneebar in the 4th round that earned him the championship. Months later, it was time for his first defence, as he faced #2 ranked Rob Font in November. Again, Sandhagen didn't fight as the flashy striker we saw coming up the rankings, but as the ruthless grappler we saw when he won the belt. He'd again win, mostly from top control, as he secured 6 takedowns and landed 79 ground strikes in his 50-45 decision win over Rob Font. Now, he is set to defend in February once again, against the always violent Sean O'Malley. Will we see Cory the grappler, Cory the striker or a mix of both of them?

#2 TJ Dillashaw (20-4)

See P4P #5.

#3 Petr Yan (18-2)

Yan started his 2021 defending against Sterling, as expected. He TKOed him in less than 2 minutes, as the power of his punches was simply to much for Aljo. His second defence followed, and Sandhagen had a quite unexpected approach to the bout, and he got the best of Yan, subbin' him in the 4th round with a kneebar in a fight where Yan destroyed Cory on the feet but gout outworked on the ground. Yan was supposed to bounce back against the lower rated Nathaniel Wood, but an injury got him a fight against an ever lower-rated opponent, Lewis Smolka, in September. Obviously, Yan TKOed him in just over a minute, and went on to bigger things, as his next fight was meant to be one that would get him back in the middle of the title picture, as he fought #5 Frankie Edgar in December. Yan TKOed Frankie late in the 2nd round, after dominating the bout with his striking for the whole 9 minutes. Both him and TJ are surely in the title picture right now, but a fight between the two is surely not out of question.

FLYWEIGHT

#1 Demetrious Johnson (31-3-1)

Well, guess what, the king is back. After only a handful of fights in ONE, August 2021 saw DJ make his return to the UFC, earning a clean cut UD victory over #3 contender Brandon Moreno, heavily outstriking Moreno and defending all of his desperate takedown attempts. Having proven he's still as mean as always, the belt was obviously next for DJ, and as explained in the mid-year analysis, the belt had somehow found its way onto the shoulder of Joseph Benavidez, who DJ had already beaten twice. This being said, Joe's dream title run ended in his first attempted defence, as DJ completed the trilogy with a great showing, engaging in both technical grappling exchanges and striking exchanges full of fire. The end came in the 5th round, when DJ knocked Joe down and switched from GNP to an armbar that forced the tap. With this W, not only does DJ become UFC FlyW champion once again, but he also goes 3-0 against Joey B, holding wins over Benavidez by all ways possible: decision in their first bout from 2012, KO in their 2013 rematch and submission in this 2021 bout.

#2 Alex Perez (25-6)

Perez bounced back in style after his unsuccessful title challenge, by defeating former BW champion Cody Garbrandt via 1st round TKO in May. He was supposed, then to fight #12 Brandon Royval in January of 2022, but an injury of Royval left Perez with a lesser known opponent in 8-5 prospect Jenel Lausa.

#3 Magomed Bibulatov (20-2)

After a mediocre stint in the UFC, Bibulatov found his feet in ACA and got the spotlight on him in the UBL, where he now resides as champion. He won the Inaugural UBL Flyweight Tournament by dominating Amir Albazi and Kai Kara-France to UDs, breaking down his opponents wit his techincal striking, and returned to make his first defence against Tim Elliott, in October. He heavily outstruck Tim and finished him via TKO in the 2nd round, and now he's scheduled to make his 2nd defence against Hirmoasa Ogikubo on the 2nd UBL card of 2022.

And now, the ladies P4P!

Women's P4P List:

#1 Cris Cyborg (25-2-1)

Well, Cyborg spent her 2021 fighting the excact same opponents she fought in 2020, TKOing Blancowe after 4 rounds of extremely dominant kickboxing, and then bullying Julia Budd once again with her striking for 5 rounds straight, without actually finishing her this time. 8-4 prospect Janay Harding is next on Cyborgs victim list, and she'll likely walk through her when they meet in February.

#2 Amanda Nunes (21-4)

Well, the female GOAT completed a trilogy that no one asked with GDR, KOing her in the 1st in March, and now she's defending her BW title once again against Holly Holm, in February of 2022. Awesome, right? Riiight...

#3 Rose Namajunas (13-4)

I've already told you about the awesome 2021 Rose had, finishing Weili, Tatiana and Tecia Torres and getting a UD win over Esparza. Claudia Gadelha will be her next defence, in March.

#4 Sarah Kaufman (25-5-1)

Isn't she f'n awesome!? Since coming in the UBL, Sarah has been on a KOing spree, dusting Moras and Correia in 1 night in March, Verzosa in July and Moras once again in November. Was that bout really necessary? Hell no, but she demanded it! McMann and Malecki are being touted as potential next challengers for Kaufman's title.

#5 Katlyn Chookagian (16-4)

She beat Bulletina. Do I need to add anything else? Well, she literally hasn't done any other fight in 2021, so sorry, it's all I have to work with here. Also, she'll defend against Jessica Andrade as the co-main of the Sandhagen vs. O'Malley card, in February. I'm hopin' Andrade beats her again!

WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT

#1 Amanda Nunes (21-4)

See WP4P #2.

#2 Sarah Kaufman (25-5-1)

See WP4P #4.

#3 Aspen Ladd (11-1)

Well, Aspen had a pretty good 2021! First, she beat #9 Sara McMann in May via SD in a close fight that had all you can ask for. Then, she welcomed newcomer Katharina Lehner with a good ole ass-beating, eating a big right just before she connected with a head kick and finished her off with GNP inside 3 minutes. I dunno what she's doing above ladies like Holly or Vieira, but I don't make these rankings, damn it!

WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT

#1 Katlyn Chookagian (16-4)

Check WP4P #5.

#2 Liz Carmouche (16-7)

Weirdly cut from the UFC after an unsuccessful title challenge, Liz Carmouche worked her way back up to the top in Bellator, as she got a title shot following her Bellator debut. She faced the cahmpion Juli Velasquez in February of 2021, and they slugged it out for 2 rounds, with Liz TKOing Juli late in the 2nd round! September brought us Carmouche's first defense, where she beat Vanessa Porto in another dominant display of high level striking that endend with another TKO W for Liz, in the 3rd round.

#3 Maycee Barber (10-1)

Maycee still has her eyes on the prize. She came back from her injury and got a quick RNC win in February over Liliya Sharikova. She then beat #6 contender Vivi Araujo in October, heavily oustriking her in the two rounds they spent together, and ending her 3 minutes into the 2nd round. What's next for Maycee is not known, but the world will surely be watching and Gillian Robertson and Taila Santos seem to be interesting challenges for the top prospect.

vladjarca · April 9, 2021

UFC and Bellator - 2021 in Review; 2022 preview

For this final analytical post, we will look at the main highlights of 2021 for the biggest companies in the US, and then we will look at what they will be looking to bring in for the new year.

UFC

2021 saw the UFC crown 12 new champions crowned and have Middleweight champion Israel Adesanya vacate due to good ole Mary Jane! Not only were there shocking title changes (i.e. Lewis dethrones Stipe BY DECISION!?, Masvidal actually beats Usman in the rematch & Chookagian ends the reign of "The Bullet" + Joey B steps in on short notice and beats Figueiredo in a 4 rounds war), but 2021 also saw some major feel-good stories and some amazing downturns!

The UFC Heavyweight division seemed like one of the most interesting things in the sport coming into 2021, with Ngannou and Jon Jones being some of its top names. Well, Francis got knocked out cold by Alex Volkov, and then shockingly got TKOed in less than 90 seconds by unranked prospect Carlos Felipe, while Jones is now sitting on the sidelines for popping for weed, just like rival Adesanya, after he choked the returning Tod Duffee in 3 minutes!

Also coming into 2021, some hyped up stars from other organizations, like ex-RIZIN champions Jiri Prochazka and Manel Kape, ex-Bellator champion Michael Chandler and ex-KSW champion Mateusz Gamrot had the eyes of hardcore fans all around the world set up on them, ready to answer the one question: Can they make it in the UFC? While non of them was a total bust, none of them have really set the world on fire either. Prochazka, who had debuted with a higlight reel KO in 2020 against Oezdemir, got ranked high from the get go and was widely praised. He met #15 ranked Alonzo Menifield in April and TKOed him in 4 minutes, but when he faced a top dog like #2 Dominick Reyes, he got TKOd in less than 2 minutes. Still, hopes are still high for him, as he's now booked to fight the current #2 contender of the divison, Thiago Santos. His fellow RIZIN alumni Manel Kape debuted in April, with a loss to a 1st round RNC to #14 contender, Jimmy Flick, but he managed to bounce back with a TKO win over #10 ranked Rogerio Bontorin, and he now sits at #15 in the UFC Flyweight rankings, quite far from the title picture. Mateusz Gamrot, who before his UFC debut had been seen by some MMA media as a top 10 lightweight of the world, bounced back from his debut loss with UD wins over Alex Munoz and Nasrat Haqparast, but still he has much more to prove, and has not earned a place in the UFC rankings yet. And perhaps the most hyped up addition to the UFC roster, former 3-times Bellator champion Michael Chandler has made a great impression in his UFC debut, earning a UD win over #4 LW contender Tony Ferguson, but went on to lose in what could have been his title eliminator against #5 Kevin Lee, as his grappling prowess was not enough in the eyes of the judges, who gave the decision to Lee, who dominated on the feet but got outgrappled. It's not too late to hope for Chandler, as he is now ranked #6 and will be facing another top 5 opponent, in #4 Justin Gaethje, in February 2022.

But there were also 3 major comeback stories that happened in the lighter men's divisions, that thrilled fans around the world. The first, of course, must be the unexpected rise to the top of Joseph Benavidez. After bouncing back from his big losses with a UD win over up-and-comer Matheus Nicolau, Joey received an unhoped for call to fill in in the place of Alex Perez, and finally defeated his Brazilian rival, Deiveson Figueiredo, on his 3rd try, on short notice. But another comeback soon stole the spotlight, as Demetrious Johnson signed with the UFC once again, and had his eyes on the top of the division. Dominating Brandon Moreno to prove he still belongs at the top, he soon faced Benavidez for the third time, and won via armbar after 23 minutes of back and forth violence. Meanwhile, at 135, former champion TJ Dillashaw came back after a long suspension, and destroyed every contender that stood in his path, gathering a 4-0 record in 2021 with victories over names like Jimmie Rivera, Frankie Edgar, Marlon Moraes and Aljamain Sterling. He surely earned his title shot, but he seems to be competing to prove a point more than actually achieving gold, as he refused to wait for the champ to be available. Will he finally challenge for the belt in 2022, or will he keep collecting more scalps as the residing boogeyman of the division?

Regarding other major new signings, there's only 1 big name that drew attention: the UFC signed Cat Zingano! Cat followed up on her Bellator debut with another UD win against Sinead Kavanagh, and now she's coming back to The Octagon, as she'll redebut in February, against Nicco Montano!

Now, onto the future! Let's focus on the next cards and their main bouts:

UFC's 2022 starts off with the Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee II card, where Tony Ferguson will defend against the stud Kevin Lee! WILL IT KEEP BEIN' TONY TIME!? I sure hope it will! Other major fights will see Joanna Violence face off with Xiaonan Yan, and Joker Jack facing Antonio Carlos Junior!

Zabit & Ige get their own Fight Night next, with a big flyweight co-main: Garbrandt vs. Figueiredo! Alex Perez will also get to fight Jenel Lausa, as his initial opponent pulled out with an injury. Also, the main card will see the UFC return of Alpha Cat Zingano, who will be taking on former FlyW champion Nicco Montano!

Then, it's reward time for Alex Oliveira, who's riding off wins against Nate Diaz and Wonderboy, and will main event against Santiago Ponzinibbio! But even more intriguing is the return of ex-champion Stipe, who will be facing 'The Big Ticket', Walt Harris! Another big fight will see top Flyweight prospect Askar Askarov fight Brandon Moreno, hoping to secure a title shot!

Next, we have the 2nd UFC title fight of the year, as Amanda Nunes clashes with Holly Holm for the second time! The main card is full of main-event caliber bouts, as dream fights such as Overeem vs. Volkov, Gaethje vs. Chandler and Gastelum vs. Till fill the rest of the main card!

Then, we get the first UFC PPV of 2022 with UFC 261: Sandhagen vs. O'Malley! Not only will Sandhagen defend against O'Malley, but Chookagian will defend her title against Jessica Andrade! Two other big fights will see Randy Brown shoot for the moon when he takes on Colby Covington, while top 10 HWs Maurice Greene and Ciryl Gane will open the main card!

Bellator

2021 was an extremely exciting time to be a Bellator fan, as besides their own stars, Overtime Anderson, Rumble Johnson and Yoel Romero joined their ranks! The dream Rumble vs. Romero fight happened, along with many other amazing bouts!

In some surprising outcomes, Josh Barnett KOed Ryan Bader to become Bellator heavyweight champion aged 44, before dropping the title to young head hunter and UFC reject Juan Adams! Khalid Murtazaliev dethroned the legendary Gegard Mousasi to become the new MW champion, while Bellator greats Patricio Pitbull & Douglas Lima cemented their statuses as pound-for-pound killers, outside of the UFC.

Coming in 2021, most of the attention was on the new signings that the company finalized in the last two years: Yoel Romero, Anthony Johnson, Corey Anderson, but also Cris Cyborg, Cat Zingano and Liz Carmouche. The Soldier of God debuted in the greatly hyped Romero vs. Rumble fight, and he knocked Rumble out by 2nd round KO, after a pretty underwhelming first round. His second fight, which turned out to be his last ever, saw him take on ex-champion Vadim Nemkov in an absolute classic barn-burner, and Yoel surely retired after a memorable performance that raised Nemkov's importance in the world of MMA. Rumble hasn't fought after the Yoel fight, but has stated that he's here to stay and will be back soon. Meanwhile, Corey Anderson won and lost the Bellator title, as he was shockingly TKOed by Phil Davis in his first defence, after winning the title via UD against Nemkov. Cyborg kept terrorizing the Featherweight division, as expected, while Liz Carmouche become a champion for the first time in her career, aged 36, as she TKOed Juli Velasquez in the 2nd round. She went on to defend against Vanessa Porto, with another violent TKO in the 3rd round. Meanwhile, Cat Zingano only stood in Bellator for a cup of tea, as after netting UD wins over Gabrielle Holloway and Sinead Kavanagh, she moved back to the UFC, where she'll be finding back in the bantamweight division.

Meanwhile, Bellator mainstays Douglas Lima and Patricio Pitbull added more to their storied legacies, with Lima scoring spectacular submission wins over Lorenz Larkin and Curtis Millender, and Pitbull defending both of his belts, finishing all his challengers - Rustam Khabilov, Daniel Straus & Tim Barnett.

Bellator also made another interesting signing, getting Stockton's proudest son, Nate Diaz, who left the UFC on a 3 fight losing streak, against Masvidal, Colby & Alex Oliveira. He is set to debut in February, against Galore Bofando, a prospect who got 2 nice Ws in his first 2 Bellator fights.

vladjarca · May 11, 2021

EYO, EYO, EYO,

THE U-B-L

IS BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK

I decided to go fast through the next year of the dynasty, 2022, and now, for 2023, we'll switch back to the original way!

But let's see what happened in 2022!

TITLE FIGHTS:

UBL

HW: Alexander Romanov beats Ilir Latifi by TKO (Mount GNP) @3:58, round 4 (UBL 22).

LHW: Da Un Jung beats Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov TKO @1:04, round 1 (UBL 25). Da Un Jung defeats Anthony Smith by TKO@1:24, round 1 (UBL 33).

MW: Brad Tavares beats Karl Roberson by KO @4:00, round 5, but Karl missed the f'n' weight so he has to vacate and Tavares is not officially our champion (UBL 26). Brad Tavares beats Darren Stewart for the vacant UBL MW Title by UD (50-45, 49-46 x 2) (UBL 36).

WW: Niko Price defeats Jingliang Li by Armbar Submission @4:05, round 3 (UBL 33).

LW: Rafael Fiziev beat Gregor Gillespie by KO @4:46, round 1 (UBL 34). Rafael Fiziev beat Sidney Outlaw by UD (48-47 x 2, 49-46, personally I had it 49-46 for Outlaw, but all the 4 rounds that I gave to Outlaw were pretty close, so I wouldn't call this a robbery) (UBL 40).

FW: Ilia Topuria beat Movsar Evloev by SD (49-46, 48-47, 47-48 - I had it 50-45 for Topuria, altho' the first 2 rounds were very close) (UBL 25). Jeremy Kennedy defeats Ilia Topuria by D'Arce Choke Submission @2:35, round 2, in a Fantastic bout (UBL 33). Jeremy Kennedy defeats Edson Barboza by UD (50-45 x 2, 49-46. I had it 50-45 as well, but rounds 1 and 3 were extremely close) (UBL 42).

BW: Ricky Simon beat Brad Katona by TKO @4:27, round 1 (UBL 19). Ricky Simon beat Rani Yahya by TKO @2:51, round 5 (UBL 19). Ricky Simon beat Zviad Lazishvili by SD (49-46 x2, 47-48 - all rounds were really close, personally I had it 49-46 for Lazishvili) (UBL 27). Ricky Simon beat Dominick Cruz by TKO @0:42, round 2 (UBL 35).

FlyW: Magomed Bibulatov beat Hiromasa Ogikubo @4:29, round 1 (UBL 22). Amir Albazi beats Magomed Bibulatov by TKO @4:48, round 1 (UBL 28). Amir Albazi beats Kyoji Horiguchi by Kimura Submission @4:42, round 4 (UBL 37).

W BW: Sarah Kaufman beat Bea Malecki by Leg Kick TKO @0:35, round 2 (UBL 24). Sarah Kaufman beat Sara McMann by TKO @4:16, round 3 (UBL 31). Sarah Kaufman beat Julija Stoliarenko by TKO @047, round 2 (UBL 38).

W FlyW: Mariya Agapova beat Molly McCann by TKO @1:22, round 2 (UBL 35). Mariya Agapova beat Valentina Shevchenka by KO @2:16, round 1 (UBL 41).

UFC

HW: Derrick Lewis beat Alexander Volkov by 2nd round TKO. Alexander Gustafsson beat Derrick Lewis by 1st round TKO.

LHW: Jamahal Hill beat Jan Blachowicz by UD (50-45 x 3).

MW: Paulo Costa beat Jack Hermansson by 1st round TKO. Israel Adesanya beats Paulo Costa by 2nd round KO (then vacated as he tested positive for recreational drugs again, and finally I edited to make these legal in the UFC).

WW: Alex Oliveira beat Gilbert Burns by 2nd round KO (yup, you read that right).

LW: Kevin Lee beat Tony Ferguson by 1st round KO kick. Kevin Lee beat Al Iaquinta by UD (50-45 x 3).

FW: Max Holloway beat Sodiq Yusuff by UD (50-45 x 2, 50-44). Yair Rodriguez beat Max Holloway by 1st round TKO.

BW: Cory Sandhagen beat Sean O'Malley by 3rd round Guillotine Submission. Cory Sandhagen beat Petr Yan by 5th round Guillotine Submission.

FlyW: Askar Aksarov beat Demetrious Johnson by 2nd round TKO. Askar Askarov beat Cody Garbrandt by 3rd round TKO in a Fantastic bout.

W BW: Holly Holm beat Amanda Nunes by 3rd round KO Kick.

W FlyW: Katlyn Chookagian beat Jessica Andrade by SD (49-46, 48-47, 47-48). Maycee Barber beat Katlyn Chookagian by UD (49-46 x 2, 48-47). Maryna Moroz beat Maycee Barber by 3rd round KO, but failed a drug test for recreational drugs (I hadn't edited the UFC drug testing yet )

W SW: Rose Namajunas beat Claudia Gadelha by 1st round TKO. Rose Namajunas beat Michelle Waterson by 1st round TKO. Rose Namajunas beat Tecia Torres by 2nd round Guillotine Submission.

Bellator

HW: Valentin Moldavsky beat Juan Adams by 3rd round RNC Submission. Valentin Moldavsky beat Kirill Sidelnikov by 3rd round RNC Submission. Juan Adams beat Valentin Moldavsky by SD (48-47 x 2, 47-48).

LHW: No defences this year, as champion Phil Davis suffered a major eye injury in January 2022, which kept him sidelined for the whole year.

MW: Costello Van Steenis beat Khalid Murtazaliev by 3rd round KO kick. Costello Van Steenis beat John Salter by 2nd round RNC Submission. Gegard Mousasi beats Costello Van Steenis by 4th round Kimura Submission.

WW: Lorenz Larkin beat Douglas Lima by 1st round TKO. Nate Diaz beat Lorenz Larkin by UD (49-46, 48-47 x 2).

LW: Patricio Pitbull beat Rustam Khabilov by 2nd round TKO.

FW: AJ McKee beat Patricio Pitbull by UD (49-46 x 3). Aaron Pico beat AJ McKee by 2nd round TKO.

BW: Darrion Caldwell beat Brett Johns by UD (50-45, 49-46 x 2). Darrion Caldwell beat Denis Lavrentyev by 5th round D'Arce Choke Submission.

W FW: Cris Cyborg beat Janay Harding by 1st round KO knee, and retired afterwards. Olga Rubin beat Ediane Gomes by UD (49-46, 48-47 x 2).

W FlyW: Ilima-Lei Macfarlane beat Liz Carmouche by 4th round KO. Lucie Pudilova beat Ilima-Lei MacFarlane by 3rd round TKO, then got signed by the UFC. Valerie Loureda beat Katarzyna Lubonska by 1st round KO.

UBL TOURNAMENTS:

HEAVYWEIGHT:

FINAL: Alexander Romanov beats Ilir Latifi by 4th round TKO to defend his HW Title.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT:

SEMI-FINAL 2: Da Un Jung beats Rashid Yusupov by 1st round TKO.

FINAL: Da Un Jung beats Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov by 1st round TKO to win the LHW Title.

MIDDLEWEIGHT:

FINAL: Brad Tavares beat Karl Roberson by 5th round KO, but didn't win the belt as champ Roberson missed weight.

WELTERWEIGHT:

QUARTER FINAL 1: Niko Price vs. Mike Perry 2.

QUARTER FINAL 2: Yaroslav Amasov beats Sean Brady by UD.

QUARTER FINAL 3: Robbie Lawler beats Jingliang Li by 2nd round TKO.

QUARTER FINAL 4: Ismail Naurdiev beats Michael Page by 1st round KO.

LIGHTWEIGHT:

QUARTER FINAL 1: Rafael Fiziev defeats Sideny Outlaw by UD (49-46, 48-47 x 2).

QUARTER FINAL 2: Gregor Gillespie vs. Drakkar Klose 2.

QUARTER FINAL 3: Arman Tsaruykan defeats Renato Carneiro by 2nd round KO.

QUARTER FINAL 4: Vinc Pichel defeats Jim Miller by 2nd round TKO in a Fantastic bout.

FEATHERWEIGHT:

QUARTER FINAL 1: Ilia Topuria defeats Movsar Evloev by SD (49-46, 48-47, 47-48) to defend his UBL FW Title.

QUARTER FINAL 2: Jeremy Kennedy defeats Andre Fili by UD (29-28 x 3).

QUARTER FINAL 3: Edson Barboza defeats Hakeem Dawodu by TKO @4:08, round 1.

QUARTER FINAL 4: Mirsad Bektic defeats Giga Chikadze by UD (30-27 x 3).

SEMI-FINAL 1: Jeremy Kennedy defeats Ilia Topuria by D'Arce Choke Submission @2:35, round 2, in a Fantastic bout, to win the UBL FW Title.

SEMI-FINAL 2: Edson Barboza defeats Mirsad Bektic by Guillotine Submission @4:21, round 3.

FINAL: Jeremy Kennedy defeats Edson Barboza by UD (50-45 x 2, 49-46) to defend the UBL Featherweight Title.

BANTAMWEIGHT:

SEMI FINAL 1: Ricky Simon beat Brad Katona by 1st round TKO to defend the UBL BW Title.

SEMI FINAL 2: Rani Yahya beat Jack Shore by UD.

FINAL: Ricky Simon beat Rani Yahya by 5th round TKO.

FLYWEIGHT:

SEMI FINAL 2: Magomed Bibulatov beat Hiromasa Ogikubo by 1st round armbar to defend his FlyW Title.

FINAL: Amir Albazi beat Magomed Bibulatov by 1st round TKO to win the UBL FlyW Title.

WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT:

QUARTER FINAL 1: Sarah Kaufman beats Sara McMann by 3rd round TKO to defend the UBL BW Crown.

QUARTER FINAL 2: Julija Stoliarenko beats Agnieszka Niedzwiedz by UD (30-27 x 2, 29-28).

QUARTER FINAL 3: Bethe Correia beats Sarah Moras by UD (29-38 x 3).

QUARTER FINAL 4: Bea Malecki beats Lisa Verzosa by 3rd round TKO.

SEMI FINAL 1: Sarah Kaufman beats Julija Stoliarenko by 2nd round TKO to defend the UBL BW Crown.

SEMI FINAL 2: Bethe Correia vs. Bea Malecki.

ROSTER UPDATES:

UBL new signings (Record at the time of signing; UBL record at the end of the year):

HW: Alexander Gladkov (13-2; 0-1); Dustin Joynson (9-0-1NC; 1-1), Muhammed DeReese (11-2, KOTC & Titan HW Champion; 2-0), Chris Lewis (7-3; 0-1).

LHW: Masa Ishimoto (2-1 newgen, "accomplished jiu-jitsu", Pancrase LHW Champion; 1-1), Sukejuro Tasaki (4-0 newgen, "national calibre muay thai", LHW King of Pancrase, 1 defence; 1-0).

MW: Mikhail Kolobegov (16-5-2NC; 0-1), Fai Owyang (3-0 newgen, "national calibre kick-boxer"; 0-1), Aaron Jeffery (14-4; 0-0), Nick Maximov (11-1; 0-0).

WW: Omar Jesus Santana (21-7; 0-1), Khamzat Chimaev (13-0; 0-0), David Bastarache (3-0 newgen, "national calibre jiu-jitsu"; 0-1).

LW: Amin Ayoub (18-4-1, Brave CF LW Champion; 1-0), Maxim Divnich (18-2; 0-0)

FW: Bronson Aranda (4-0 newgen, "national calibre boxer"; 1-0), Jung Young Lee (12-1; 0-0)

BW: Patryk Surdyn (10-2, OKTAGON & CWFC BW Champion; 0-0)

FlyW: Pietro Menga (15-5; 0-1), Li Rao (4-0 newgen, "national calibre muay thai"; 0-0), Katalin Feher (3-0 newgen, "national calibre kickboxer", M-1 FlyW Champion, 1 defence; 0-0).

W BW: Bette Dague (4-0 newgen, "national calibre wrestler", Titan & Invicta W BW Champion; 1-0), Matryoshka Manoogian (3-0 newgen, "high level sambo"; 1-1), Anke Van Dishoeck (2-1 newgen; 0-1), Sabina Kiryakov (3-0 newgen, "high level wrestler", Eagles FC W BW Champion; 0-1), Cong Teo (3-1 newgen, "high level jiu-jitsu"; 0-0), Denise Moreau (3-1 newgen, ”national calibre muay thai”; 0-0), Evelina Minkowski (3-1 newgen, `high level jiu jitsu"; 0-0).

W FlyW: Kensley Curl (2-1 newgen, "national calibre jiu-jitsu", Invicta FlyW Champion; 0-1), Lilian Mellor (2-1 newgen, "high level wrestler; 1-0), Dunya Spasenieva (2-0 newgen, "accomplished sambo", FEN W FlyW Champion; 0-1), Snezhana Malkasian (3-0 newgen, "national calibre kickboxer; 0-1).

Cut from the UBL:

February: Javy Ayala (11-11 HW).

March: Hakeem Dawodu (13-4-1 FW, popped for PEDs in loss to Barboza).

April: Philipe Lins (14-8 HW), Silvana Gomez Juarez (6-6 W FlyW).

May: Dricus Du Plessis (16-4 MW, popped for PEDs in loss to Alex Pereira).

June: Lito Adiwang (11-7 FlyW).

August: Yosuke Saruta (21-12-3 FlyW), Felipe Colares (9-6 BW).

September: Bruno Rodrigues (12-7-1 FlyW).

October: Enrique Barzola (16-10-2 BW), Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov (10-6 WW), Priscila Cachoeira (11-6 W FlyW), Lando Vannata (12-9-2 LW)

December: Alejandra Lara (11-6 FlyW), Shana Dobson (5-8 FlyW).

Retired:

January: Ben Rothwell (40yo, 40-15, following a 2nd round TKO W over Greg Hardy), Tyson Nam (38yo, 21-13-1, following a 1st round KO loss to Azam Gaforov).

March: Tonya Evinger (40yo, 19-11-1NC, following 2nd round Armbar loss to Talita Bernardo), PAUL DALEY (39yo, after a 2nd round KO W over Jason Jackson), Mara Romero Borella (35yo, 14-9-2NC, after a UD win over Shana Dobson)

April: ANDERSON SILVA (46yo, 34-11-2NC, 2 weeks before his suspension would have expired)

May: Kamila Porczyk (44yo, 4-4, following a 1st round KO win over Kameyo Tamada), Mayra Rodrigues (33yo, 4-5-1-1NC, following a Fantastic 2nd round KO loss to Raquel Canuto), Vanessa Melo (34yo, 10-12 following SD loss to Chelsea Chandler), Denise Kielholtz (33yo, 8-4 following 1st round TKO loss to Bulletina).

June: Nate Andrews (38yo, 16-6 following UD loss to Akhmed Aliev).

July: Nikola Dipchikov (38yo, 20-11-1NC following UD loss to Salamu Abdurakhmanov), Talita Bernardo (35yo, 7-7, following 1st roun TKO loss to Joselyne Edwards), Sara McMann (41yo, 14-7 following 3rd round TKO loss to Sarah Kaufman), Carlos Condit (38yo, 31-14-1NC following 1st round TKO loss to Albert Tumenov).

August: Maxim Grishin (38yo, 33-11-2 following 2nd round TKO loss to Reinier de Ridder).

September: Kelly Faszholz (37yo, 6-3 following 2nd round RNC Submission loss to Sarah Moras).

Drug test failures in the UBL:

- Hakeem Dawodu in loss to Edson Barboza (got cut)

- Dricus du Plessis in loss to Alex Pereira (got cut)

- Ali Bagautinov in 1st round sub' win over Kai Kara-France.

BIG UFC SIGNINGS: Corey Anderson, Justin Willis, Anthony Johnson, John Lineker, Lucie Pudilova (Bellator W FlyW Champion).

BIG BELLATOR SIGNINGS: Thomas Almeida (4-1 in his last 5, including wins over Marlon Vera and Douglas de Andrade).

Will come back with the year end awards and the preview for the next UBL card!

vladjarca · May 13, 2021

EARTH-SHAKING BREAKING NEWS:

CONOR MCGREGOR SIGNS WITH ONE FC!

After a hiatus of a year and a half, "The Notorious" McGregor is back! He had started this hiatus after the last fight of his UFC deal! But surely, no one would have seen him signing with any other company than the UFC? Well, it looks like ONE is up to great things, as Conor is debuting in February, against Sage Northcutt!

MMA AWARDS 2021-2022

1 January, 2023

1. Fighter Of The Year:

Winner: ASKAR ASKAROV (3-0)

Other nominees: Kevin Lee (2-0), Ricky Simon (4-0), Zabit Magomedsharipov (3-0), Amir Albazi (2-0).

As the nominees suggest, it was a great year for the representatives of the lighter weight classes, with 2 flyweights, a bantamweight, a featherweight and a lightweight making up the list.

Now, about the winner. The deaf Dagestani warrior had one hell of a year. In January, he kicked the year off with a fight against Brandon Moreno, the only man that he had fought without defeating, as their 2019 bout ended in a split draw. No room for doubt about who won this fight, as Askarov got a 3rd round TKO, and his next fight was the title shot, against Demetrious Johnson. He shocked the world, finishing Mighty Mouse with a barrage of punches in the 2nd round, after a back and forth fight. Finally, in October, Askar got his first main event, as he defended his newly earned belt against Cody Garbrandt. It was an absolute classic, as Garbandt proved he still has a solid chin, while hitting beautiful boxing combos, but Askarov's punches eventually proved to be too much early in the 3rd round, as a hook knocked Garbrandt down, and the GNP that followed ended the deal. A great year for the 30yo Russian, who now sports a record of 17-0-1, and the world hasn't been so interested in the Flyweight division since DJ's first reign.

2. Female Fighter Of The Year

Winner: ROSE NAMAJUNAS (3-0)

Other nominees: Sarah Kaufman (3-0), Livia Renata Souza (3-0), Mariya Agapova (2-0), Ketlen Vieira (2-0).

Amanda just lost. Valentina lost 3 of her last 5. Meanwhile, Rose is the WMMA great right now. Thug Rose's second SW title reign is stuff of legend. After winning the belt and defending it 3 times in 2021, Rose continued this great run with 3 more defences in 2022, finishing Gadelha by 1st round TKO in March, Waterson by 1st round TKO in July, and Torres by 2nd round Guillotine in December. No one seems close to her at the moment, and the world expects greatness when a Rose fight gets announced.

3. Fight Of The Year:

Winner: Justine Kish vs. Katsue Hatanaka (UBL 41: Slavic Roulette - Agapova vs. Shevchenko II)

Other nominees: Collin Anglin vs. Matt Sayles (UFC Fight Night: Wu vs. Robertson), Askar Askarov vs. Cody Garbrandt (UFC Fight Night: Askarov vs. Garbrandt), Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Ryan Hall (UFC on ESPN: Costa vs. Hermansson), Brad Riddell vs. Joe Lauzon (UFC 264: Lauzon vs. Riddell).

12 minutes of astonishing violence took place on the UBL 41 prelims, stealing the show, as Justine Kish and Katsue Hatanaka slugged it out and had the crowd even more excited than the main event of the night. Both girls were aggresive on the feet, and eventually Kish knocked Katsue down in the 3rd round and finished it off with a crazy Kimura that had the crowd burst sit and applaud this amazing fight.

4. Company Of The Year:

Winner: UFC

Other nominees: UBL, Bellator, ONE Championship, ACA.

5. Knock Out Of The Year

Winner: Collin Anglin KOs Matt Sayles (UFC Fight Night: Wu vs. Robertson)

Other nominees: Holly Holm KOs Amanda Nunes (UFC Fight Night: Nunes vs. Holm II), Junior Dos Santos KOs Sergey Spivak (UBL 36: Late Appointment - Tavares vs. Stewart), Steven Ray KOs Borys Mankowski (UBL 34: Defiant - Ray vs. Mankowski), Johnny Clean KOs Jeff Molina (UBL 27: Young Lions - Simon vs. Lazishvili).

In what was an absolute banger from top to bottom, Anglin whetered one HELL of a storm from Matt Sayles, who outstruck him by over 40 strikes, to finish him off with a crazy counter cross that left Sayles out cold on the floor. Now, Anglin is set to fight in his first main event, against Arnold Allen, in February.

6. Submission Of The Year:

Winner: Justine Kish Kimuras Katsue Hatanaka (UBL 41: Slavic Roulette - Agapova vs. Shevchenko II)

Other nominees: Gillian Robertson North-South chokes Yanan Wu (UFC FN: Wu vs. Robertson), Zabit Magomedsharipov Amrbars Ryan Hall (UFC on ESPN: Costa vs. Hermansson), Jeremy Kennedy D'Arce chokes Ilia Topuria (UBL 33: Godlike Brawlers - Un Jung vs. Smith), Aliaskhab Khizriev D'Arce chokes Bartosz Fabinski (UBL 22: Who Smash' The Hardest? - Romanov vs. Latifi).

As we detailed earlier, Kish and Katsue wrecked each other until Kish went: "You know what? Screw this standing in banging, Imma rip your arm off!".

7. Main Event Of The Year:

Winner: Brad Riddell vs. Joe Lauzon (UFC 264: Lauzon vs. Riddell)

Other nominees: Askar Askarov vs. Cody Garbrandt (UFC FN: Askarov vs. Garbrandt), Gillian Robertson vs. Yanan Wu (UFC FN: Wu vs. Robertson), Holly Holm vs. Amanda Nunes (UFC FN: Nunes vs. Holm II), Steven Ray vs. Borys Mankowski (UBL 34: Defiant - Ray vs. Mankowski).

What was expected to be one of the most low level UFC main event of the last years ended up overdelivering in a major way. Undefeated in his UFC career, Brad Riddell came into this fight 5-0 in the UFC, having just broke in the UFC LW rankings, at #14. UFC veteran Joe Lauzon came into this fight off his second ever 3 fight winning streak in the UFC, with his first streak coming ages ago, in 2006-7. The two round fight was an absolute barnburner, with the two displaying spectacular defensive movement and countering each other hard. Eventually, as round two was reaching its final seconds, Riddell caught Lauzon with a big overhead right and shattered the veteran's remarkable streak with GNP.

8. Show Of The Year:

Winner: UFC 264: Lauzon vs. Riddell (84)

Other nominees: LFA 145: Meguro vs. Guthrie 2 (84), Bellator 287: Macfarlane vs. Pudilova (83), UFC Fight Night: Wu vs. Robertson (83), UBL 24: Savage - Spivak vs. Struve (82).

The whole card was not expected to be much to be excited for, but it ended up being one of the biggest overdelievries in the history of the company, as the crowd got to watch amazing fights back to back, with 5 finishes on the main card and an epic main event.

Big time rising prospect Maycee Barber got matched up against an unimpressive Hannah Goldy, and walked through her, finishing the fight with an Americana 80 seconds into the 1st round. Following this fight, she demanded a title shot and went on to win the belt off Chookagian.

Jonathan Martinez then went on to get his due against Nathaniel Wood, to keep rising through the rankings, and did just that, as he KOed his opponent after a 3 minute long firefight, in what was one of the biggest upsets of the year.

Ricardo Ramos tested himself against gatekeeper of the lower weight classes, Alex Caceres, and looked great both on the feet and on the ground, finishing quickly with a late 1st round Armbar.

In the co-main, veterans of the W SW division collided, as Angela Hill took on Karolina Kowalkiewicz, in what was the last fight for both ladies. Hill dug deep to have arguably her best UFC performance ever, as she outstruck Karolina for the whole fight before finishing her early in the 2nd round, knocking her out cold.

And in the main event, Riddell cemented himself in the LW rankings in a great war with rugged veteran Joe Lauzon. Riddell went on to finish two top contenders in his next fights, in #9 Dan Hooker and #2 Al Iaquinta, while Lauzon bounced back with a UD win over #13 Drew Dober.

9. Rookie Of The Year:

Winner: Tadamichi Teraoka (2-0)

Other nominees: Aaron Mouton (4-0), Sander Zelenskaya (4-0), Shusui Kawakami (2-0), TAIGA (2-0).

Japanese welterweight Tadamichi Taraoka arrived to DEEP from the world of karate, where we won multiple medals in world competitions. He got thrown straight into the deep end of DEEP's division, as his first opponent was 33 fight veteran Rousimar Palhares, who he TKOed in the 3rd round, after bullying him for the whole first 2 rounds, in a wonderful bout. Then, for his second bout, Teraoka faced ex-Bellator WW title challenger Karl Amoussou, who was coming off an unsuccessful title challenge in DEEP. This fight was much shorter, as Teraoka proved he's managed to become a well rounded martial artist despite only debuting months ago, as he took Amoussou down with ease and found a beatiful D'Arce Choke to finish off the bout 4 minutes in the 1st round. It's looking as Tadamichi might go on to be one of the best in the sport, as his striking and head movement seems second to none, he can dominate great grapplers in the clinch, and despite having awkward positioning while on the ground, he can sink in ruthless submissions and defend himself against great BJJ players.

10. Upset Of The Year:

Winner: Karl Moore beats Corey Anderson (Bellator 283: Moore vs. Anderson, +830)

Other nominees: Justin Tafa beat Evgeny Goncharov (UBL 32: Fearless - Tumenov vs. Condit, +720),

Gabriel Varga beat Adam Borics (Bellator 281: Hager vs. Gerges, +790),

Lorenz Larkin beat Douglas Lima for the Bellator WW Title (Bellator 279: Lima vs. Larkin III, +670),

Stefan Struve beats Sergey Spivak (UBL 24: Savage - Spivak vs. Struve, +660).

Let's hand out some honorable mentions, as I'm guessing we all love a good underdog winning against all odds: Alex Oliveira beats Gilbert Burns for the UFC WW Title, Joaquin Buckley beat Brandon Allen, Cory McKenna beat Amanda Ribas, Jamelle Jones beats Don'Tale Mayes, Kiefer Crosbie beat Douglas Lima, Abdul Razak Alhassan beats Jorge Masvidal, Jonathan Martinez beats Nathaniel Wood, Jeremy Kennedy beats Ilia Topuria for the UBL FW Title.

Now, about the upset of the year. One hell of a story for this bout! Moore was 4-1 in Bellator coming into this fight. He had lost to Vadim Nemkov in Vadim's first fight after dropping the belt to Corey. He bounced back with a 1st round TKO against Arunas Andriuskevicus, and was about to have the biggest fight of his career, a main event bout with Corey Anderson. This was the last fight of Corey's short lived Bellator career. To recap his Bellator run, Corey debuted against the powerful veteran Melvin Manhoef and TKOed him in the 2nd round. The title fight was next for Corey, and he won the belt after a dominating performance against Vadim Nemkov. But unfortunately, his suspect chin got smashed by Phil Davis in his 1st defence. Despite the loss, the UFC decided they want him back, and as the world was preparing for Anderson vs. Moore, it was announced that this would be Corey's last Bellator fight, as he was going back to the UFC. Well, Karl Moore made this one matter, as in one of the best 1 round fights you'll ever see, Moore turned Corey's lights off with a mean right hook and unforgiving ground and pound, cementing himself as a big time fighter! Now, he's scheduled to fight #7 Bellator LHW Yannick Bahati, and might be receiving a title shot with a win here!

McDojoDelux · May 14, 2021

Looks like Rose has probably set herself up as the greatest Strawweight of all time any top contenders in your game that you think have a chance of at least challenging her? Also, I remember in one of my older games that I never made a dynasty thread about that McGregor signed with One too then got submitted in the 1st round by Shinya Aoki in his debut.

vladjarca · May 14, 2021

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="McDojoDelux" data-cite="McDojoDelux" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="52504" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Looks like Rose has probably set herself up as the greatest Strawweight of all time any top contenders in your game that you think have a chance of at least challenging her? Also, I remember in one of my older games that I never made a dynasty thread about that McGregor signed with One too then got submitted in the 1st round by Shinya Aoki in his debut.</div></blockquote> LOL at the thought of McGregor vs. Aoki, the build up would probably be great. Sadly, Aoki is 40yo and retired right now in this save. Regarding Rose, I don't see anyone taking the title off her anytime soon. Maybe Weili, if she somehow earns another title shot and can land the perfect punch? Still, she's 2-2 since losing the title and coming off a loss right now, so she'd probably need at least two back to back wins to get a title shot. Now, Preview time! UBL 43: The High Kid Strikes Back - Price vs. Perry II Week 2, January 2023 Somewhere In Eastern Europe Prelims: MW: Artem Frolov vs. Salamu Abdurakhmanov LW: Loik Radzhabov vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov HW: Tony Johnson Jr. vs. Thierry Couturier WW: #14 Murad Abdulaev vs. Miguel Baeza FlyW: #13 Li Rao vs. Katalin Feher FW: #13 Alex Gilpin vs. #14 Jung Young Lee Main card preview: 1. Heavyweight Bout: #10 Anton VYAZIGIN (18-5-1NC, -410) vs. #15 Alexander GLADKOV (13-3, +320) Vyazigin is finally making his first main card appearance in the UBL, after going 3-1 in the company, with his most recent win being a 1st round KO against Javy Ayala, before he himself got stopped in the 2nd by "Bogatyr" Denis Goltsov. To the surprise of nobody, all of Anton's UBL vicories come via KO. His hands can likely crash boulders, and his technique ain't bad either. He also has some good takedowns and top control, bot from there, he's not quite a submission threat, altho he can do damage with those heavy hands. His opponent, 37yo Alexander Gladkov has been ruling the Russian MMA scene for years before his UBL debut, where he got upset by #14 Jared Rosholt by decision. The Russian sambo master is looking to use his grappling to earn another victory, but his gameplan is usually pretty one dimensional and Vyazigin seems to be a good enough grappler to secure the win. Prediciton: Vyazigin by 1st round KO. 2. Light Heavyweight Bout: #5 Rafael CARVALHO (19-7, -300) vs. #6 Rashid YUSUPOV (14-5, +230) If there's one thing you can be sure about when Carvalho fights, it's you're likely gonna see a violent finish, as all of his 5 UBL fights ended in a KO/TKO, with only one making it out the 1st round. Right now, he's coming off a 1st round KO against #8 Ryan Spann. At 36yo, Carvalho's barely slowing down, as the muay thai veteran will always look to dish out damage on the feet and eventually control in the clinch if the fight isn't going his way while striking. In just a few months, Rashid Yusupov went from the title picture to outside of the top 5, as he's coming off losses to current champion Da Un Jung and #6 Sam Alvey. He's a pretty well rounded fighter, with powerful punches, good wrestling and a pretty good ground game (altho' lacking in the offensive department). The ground would be the only place where Yusupov might be a favourite over Carvalho, but taking Carvalho down should not be easy. Prediction: Carvalho by 1st round KO. 3. Lightweight Tournament Quarter Final: #1 Gregor GILLESPIE (17-2, -620) vs. #4 Drakkar KLOSE (14-4-1, +490) Former champion Gregor Gillespie had a dominant reign, dropping no rounds untill Rafael Fiziev got the best of him in their rematch. Now, he's coming off a crushing 1st round KO loss to Fiziev and needs to go through Klose to get to fight for the belt again. As he's a 36yo LW, his chin can't take the kind of shots he was eating earlier in his career, but his wrestling remains top notch, and his top control seems more dominant than ever. Add in some good head movement and his powerful boxing and you've got a dangerous veteran of the game, who loves to drag his opposition down and smash with ground striking. Klose has not been having the time of his life in the UBL so far. He earned a title shot, got 1st round Kimura'd by Gillespie, bounced back with a good win over Tsarukyan, got caught in a Guillotine by Moicano, and got a good win over Rashid Magomedov. Now, he is meeting Gillespie again, with high stakes, as the winner will meet champion Rafael Fiziev in the semi-finals. Klose's style is similar to that of Gillespie, in their first fight, his defence did not seem sharp enough to weather the storm that is Gregor Gillespie. While he is slightly superior on the feet, the fight will likely be going to the ground, and Klose might have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to win this one. Prediction: Gillespie by decision. 4. Light Heavyweight Bout: #2 Anthony SMITH (36-18, -500) vs. #3 Dovletdzhan YAGSHIMURADOV (21-6-1, +350) Lionheart had an interesting 2022, as he earned a title shot after KOing #6 Ryan Spann in the 2nd round, but got finished quickly by the powerful champion, Da Un Jung. But Smith is ambitious as always and already wants to work his way back up to another title fight. While his chin is getting weaker, it can still take some good shots. His stand up is as dangerous as always, and his ground game is getting better, as Smith in top control usually means big trouble for those underneath him. He's facing ex-champion Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov, who has just bounced back with a UD win over Devin Clark after losing the belt to Un Jung. Like Smith, Yagshi's chin ain't getting better, but he can still cause trouble with his boxing and his thai clinch offence. He's also pretty good on the ground, but surely not on Smith's level. Smith likely has got this, but Yagshi does have a puncher's chance, as he's a proven KO artist. Prediction: Smith by 1st round KO. 5. Welterweight Title & Tournament Quarter Final: © Niko PRICE (17-5-2NC, -300) vs. #2 Mike PERRY (18-8, +250) Finally, we start the year off with a rematch of a 2021 title fight, with reversed roles. Price received a title shot then, as Mike Perry called him out after snatching the belt of Jinglian Li, and Price had a beautiful performance, winning 4 of the 5 rounds to become champion. He rematched Li in his next fight, and managed to avenge his loss via 3rd round armbar, and now he's ready to face adversity again, as Perry is coming off some great performances. Price was always a skilled striker, but he's been working hard on his grappling both on the feet and on the ground, which showed in his last fight, as it was his first submission win in 11 fights. Some would even argue he's turning into a lite Anderson Silva, but he has way more to prove to be in the same discussion with the legendary Spider. Now onto the challenger. As I said, Perry is coming off quite impressive performances, smashing the young Sean Brady for 15 minutes straight and pulling off a major upset against top European fighter Ismail Naurdiev, whwo he TKO'd in the 1st round. Perry is always down to throwdown, and it's likely exactly what he'll be doing - swinging for the fences and hoping he lands a killer shot. With all this momentum, is hard to bet against him, but if Price takes it to the ground like he did with Li, he'll surely dominate. Will he get to take it to the ground, tho? Also, the winner of this bout has the pleasure of fighting Yaroslav Amosov in the semi finals. Prediction: Perry by 1st round KO. Now, for the first time in quite some time, time to shaaaare thoooooose Main card predictions: HW: Anton VYAZIGIN vs. Alexander GLADKOV LHW: Rafael CARVALHO vs. Rashid YUSUPOV LW Tournament QF: Gregor GILLESPIE vs. Drakkar KLOSE LHW: Anthony SMITH vs. Dovledtzhan YAGSHIMURADOV WW Title & Tournament QF: Niko PRICE vs. Mike PERRY

McDojoDelux · May 14, 2021

HW: Anton VYAZIGIN vs. Alexander GLADKOV

LHW: Rafael CARVALHO vs. Rashid YUSUPOV

LW Tournament QF: Gregor GILLESPIE vs. Drakkar KLOSE

LHW: Anthony SMITH vs. Dovledtzhan YAGSHIMURADOV

WW Title & Tournament QF: Niko PRICE vs. Mike PERRY

vladjarca · May 17, 2021

UBL Flyweight Juan Puerta (22-6-2NC) just failed his 2nd drug test with the organisation, turning his 2nd round submission win over Sean Santella to a no contest. The UBL has cut Puerta.

Big fights before UBL 43:

UFC

Yair Rodriguez beat Zabit Magomedsharipov by 2nd round KO. It should have been a title defence for Yair, but Zabit missed weight.

#5 Marc Diakise beat #9 Islam Makachev by 1st round Armbar Submission.

#8 Tom Aspinall beat #6 Curtis Blaydes by 3rd round KO.

#1 Alex Perez beat #3 Demetrious Johnson by 2nd round TKO.

#4 Justin Gaethje beat Guram Kutateladze by 1st round TKO.

And now, or very own first card of 2023!

<div style="text-align:center;">UBL 43: THE HIGH KID STRIKES BACK - Price vs. Perry II

Week 2, January 2023

Somewhere In Eastern Europe

</div>

Prelims:

Notes:

- Kameyo Tamada called out Eweliza Wozniak.

Main card:

1. Heavyweight Bout: #10 Anton VYAZIGIN (18-5-1NC, -410) vs. #15 Alexander GLADKOV (13-3, +320)

Both warriors weighed in at 265, but Gladkov looks much bigger than Vyazigin today.

Round 1: Gladkov comes forward with some confident wild strikes but gets countered with solid hands by Vyazigin. But then he manages to counter Vyazigin with a powerful hook, and both men play safer for the next minute, trying to land from a safe distance, but no one manages to actually land anything. Still, Vyazigin is now the one pushing forward and pressuring Gladkov, and he eventually hits a good straight right. Still, Gladkov mostly defends well but can't land his attempted counter strikes. Gladkov then bursts and shoots for a takedown with 2 minutes left, and he gets it, as Vyazigin pulls guard! Gladkov simply smothers Vyazigin from top control for the remaining 2 minutes, and it's a miracle that the ref didn't get them up. 10-9 for Gladkov, as he defended well on the feet and didn't allow Vyazigin to do anything from the bottom.

Round 2: Vyazigin comes forward wisely but again fails to land his combos, so he decides to take a more pacient approach after the 1st minute. Gladkov eats a jab on his way to clinching up. In the clinch, he does a beautiful outside leg trip and ends up on top of Vyazigin, in side control! He pounds nicely on Vyazigin from various angles, but eventually has to catch his breath and the ref gets them up with 35 seconds left. Vyazigin is again coming forward like a wounded dog, but only a jab makes it past Gladkov's defensive movements. 20-18 for Gladkov, to the surprise of many!

Round 3: They meet in the center and Gladkov smashes Vyazigin with a right hook. But they get banging for real, and Vyazigin smashes Gladkov with a big right of his own! They trade some jabs and Gladkov hits a straight left. Gladkov throws a wild cross, tho, and gets countered with a jab and a hook to the body. Still, as Vyazigin looks tired, Gladkov grabs him in a clinch and smothers him against the cage. He hits a few knees and Vyazigin escapes, back to the center of the cage. Gladkov hits a good right hook, but takes another one to the body. Shots from both men get blocked, and Vyazigin goes to the body again. Gladkov hits a nice 1-2, tho! And Gladkov clinches again, and gets Vyazigin stuck against the cage. He hits a sharp elbow just before the round is over. Close round, I'm giving it to Vyazigin for landing the bigger strikes. 29-28 for Gladkov on my scorecard.

Winner: Alexander Gladkov (UD: 30-27 x 3). Rating: Average.

Post-fight: Gladkov reminds everyone Vyazigin got all his UBL wins by KO, but he proved to be simply too tough. He then calls out Alikhan Vakhaev, saying it would make for a fun fight.

2. Light Heavyweight Bout: #5 Rafael CARVALHO (19-7, -300) vs. #6 Rashid YUSUPOV (14-5, +230)

Round 1: They meet in the center and Carvalho eats a jab but hits a low kick. Carvalho gets brave and pressures Yusupov, steps in the pocket and hits with a heavy right cross! He keeps pressuring Yusupov, eats a counter right, but SMASHES HIM WITH A JAB-RIGHT HEAD KICK COMBO! YUSUPOV IS STAGGERING BACKWARD! CARVALHO HITS A MASSIVE RIGHT BEHIND THE YEAR AND YUSUPOV GOES DOWN! Carvalho hits some big shots to the downed Yusupov, but he's still defending decently, so Carvalho tries an arm triangle! But Yusupov defends it, and does well against Carvalho's armbar attempt too. Carvalho gets throwing a few small shots and eventually the ref gets 'em back up with 25 seconds left. Carvalho hits agood left hook just before the round ends. 10-8 for Carvalho, as he clearly outclassed Yusupov.

Round 2: Yusupov tries to hit a straight left but Carvalho counters it with a jab but misses the head kick attempt. Yusupov treis the same left again, but gets countered with a jab-right hook combo. Yusupov throws that hand again, and gets countered with a low kick this time. Carvalho starts pushing again and hits Yusupov with another head kick, and Yusupov is groggy again! FLYING KNEE AND YUSUPOV HITS THE FLOOR! CARVALHO POUNDS WITH MASSIVE RIGHTS AND IT IS ALL OVER!

Winner: Rafael Carvalho (Knee & Pound TKO @2:44, round 2). Rating: Decent (dunno how such a spectacular beatdown is only decent but ok).

Post-fight: Carvalho shows respect to his opponent and gives a tottally forgettable interview.

World rankings: Carvalho up from #25 to #21.

3. Lightweight Tournament Quarter Final: #1 Gregor GILLESPIE (17-2, -620) vs. #4 Drakkar KLOSE (14-4-1, +490)

Round 1: Gillespie shoots for the TD straight away, and Klose's down on his back, pulling guard. Klose scrambles up quickly, and he manages to wrestle Gillespie against the cage. But Gillespie escapes with ease. He shoots again and Klose goes down once more, this time only managing to pull half guard. Gillespie passes to side control. Gillespie doesn't find success with a Kimura attempt, and he sends some shots to the body of Klose. He also hits with some elbows, and the round soon ends. Surely 10-9 for Gillespie.

Round 2: Klose is the one with the early initiative here, as he clinches with Gillespie and eventually gets him stuck against the cage. It doesn't last, tho, as Gillespie finds a way out, but Klose is the one shooting for the TD now, and Gillespie's pulling guard! He spends minutes peppering short strikes on Gillespie, and eventually advances to side control as Gillespie tries to scramble. From there, he lands some elbows before the round ends. 19-19 after 2 one sided rounds.

Round 3: Gillespie shoots but can't get the takedown, so he holds Klose against the fence, where he hits him dirty boxing, but Klose manages to put himself in a dominant position. They dirty box each other, and after a minute, Gillespie escapes Klose and shoots for a takedown. But again, Klose defends well, but can't defend as Gillespie pushes him against the cage. Both lads are dirty boxing again, and Klose might be outstriking despite Gillespie having the dominant position. The ref gets them back to the center with 1:20 left on the clock. Klose starts another clinch and gets Gillespie against the cage. Gillespie escapes quickly, and as he wanted to shoot, Klose clinched him up again, and the horn sounds, fight over. Close round, but I'm giving it to Klose for the damage he dealt to Gillespie despite of positional control. 29-28 for Klose on my scorecard.

Winner: Gregor Gillespie (UD: 29-28 x 3). Rating: Decent.

Post-fight: Gillespie calls Klose a tougher night out than he had expected and congrratulates him for getting better since their first fight. He says he's ready for the trilogy against Fiziev and can't wait to start a second run with the belt, saying he'll make all the right adjustments to make sure he goes 2-1 against Fiziev.

World rankings: Gillespie up from #11 to #9, Klose down from #22 to #25.

4. Light Heavyweight Bout: #2 Anthony SMITH (36-18, -500) vs. #3 Dovletdzhan YAGSHIMURADOV (21-6-1, +350)

Round 1: They come together and neither man lands in the first exchange, but then clip each other with some beautiful right hands. Yagshi starts walking down Smith and hits a jab-right hook combo, and a jab-body punch combo. Smith bites a faint from Yagshi and eats a jab-right hook combo. Yagshi is looking clean and dictating the pace, as he hits a 1-2, but gets caught with a jab-low kick combo. Yagshi eats 2 counter jabs but hits a flurry of 3 strikes, despite missing the last low kick. Smith dodges a bullet as Yagshi threw a wild right cross! But then Yagshi hits a hard left-right cross combo! Smith is standing strong, tho! Round over! 10-9 for Yagshimuradov.

Round 2: Yagshi counters a right hook with one of his own! He's pressuring Smith, he eats 2 counter jabs BUT SMASHES HIM WITH ANOTHER VICIOUS RIGHT CROSS! SMITH HITS THE FLOOR! YAGSHI UNLOADS WITH BIG PUNCHES FROM BOTH HANDS! SMITH GETS UP AS YAGSHI ATTEMPTED THE MOUNT, and now Smith is pushing Yagshimuradov against the cage! Both fighters are violent in this clinch, but the ref breaks them apart with 2 minutes left. Yagshi looks a bit tired, but he still lands a good jab-right hook combo. Yagshi lands again with the same combo. And Yagshi counters another right hook with ANOTHER RIGHT HOOK. They trade some nothing, and again, Smith gets smashed with a great right hook. Great round for Yagshi, but still only 10-9 for him, 20-18 Yagshimuradov.

Round 3: Yagshi hits a good straight right. But he's starting to look more tired, and Smith shoots! But he only manages to push him against the cage. Smith deals damage from multiple angles, and then he gets the takedown, ending up in half guard. But a scramble sees Smith turtled up with Yagshi behind him! Yagshi was throwing massive hits, but his cardio betrayed him as he was too tired to keep them coming, and Smith survives again. Smith gets up, but Yagshi still has his back. Yagshi wants to drag him down, but Smith somehow breaks free of his grip. Final minute, and Yagshi hits a clean right hand THAT ROCKS SMITH! But he misses with the following right hook! Yagshi is tired and clinches up, but Smith just pushes him against the cage, and the round's now over! A great performance by Yagshimuradov! 30-27 for him on my scorecard.

Winner: Doveltdzhan Yagshimruadov (UD: 30-27 x 3). Rating: Good.

Post-fight: Yagshi lets everybody know he ain't afraid of Ion Cutelaba and he'll rematch him anytime. He doesn't care if Ion gets the belt from Un Jung or not, he wants to be Cutelaba's next opponent and humble him for good.

World rankings: Yagshi up from #20 to #14, Smith up from #17 to #13 (yup, turns out Smith was so competitive in defeat that he's moving up 4 spots in the rankings)

5. AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2023, IT IS TIME FOR THE MAAAAAAAAIN EVEEENT OF THE EVENIIIIIIING!

For the UBL Welterweight Title, a Welterweight Tournament Quarter Final:

Round 1: Perry shows off some unexpectedly good head movement to defend against Price's strikes early on. He then hits a jab but gets caught with a jab-low kick combo. They both trade some jabs but miss their big follow-ups. Finally, Perry connects with a full combo, following up on his jab with a left body kick. Both men stand in the center of the cage, unwilling to take a step back. Perry hits two jabs, but eats a jab and a good left hand from Price. Price counters Perry's right hook with a quick jab-low kick combo. They both miss some combos, and Perry hits another jab but eats another left hook, as he's been losing out in most trades. Price hits another jab-low kick combo while Perry only lands with his jab. Perry gets greedy and eats a left hand. And Price's jab-low kick combo is dowing the job for him tonight. Perry glances Price with a head kick, but take s a spin kick to the ribs. And there's the jab-low kick combo from Price again. Last seconds, and Perry finally hits a clean right, that makes Price smile as the round ends. Round over and it's surely 10-9 for Price, but Perry found a way to land his big right late in the 1st round, can he do it again?

Round 2: The first minute is uneventful, and in the 2nd, Perry hit Price with a hook to the body. Both men trade some jabs. Perry gets wild with the right cross and misses, allowing Price to hit 2 quick jabs and a kick to the ribs. Both men start breathing a bit heavier. Another leg kick lands for Price. Price shows good movement to avoid some ambitious combos from Perry. They trade leg kicks. And Perry tries the big right again, but gets countered with a body kick. Price hits another kick to the body. But Perry finally connects with another big right, despite missing the set up shots. Price hits a pair of jabs but eats another big right! AND HE'S DAZED THIS TIME! BUT THE ROUND ENDS BEFORE PERRY CAN GO FOR THE KILL! Perry might have struck two hard shots, but Price heavily outstruck him, so it's 2-18 for Price on my scorecard. Still, Perry just found out he can rock Price, so he'll likely be even more dangerous as the fight progresses.

Round 3: Perry dodges a left and hits a jab, and Price barely dodged the right hand that was coming. Perry's confident. Price hits a body kick and dodges a head kick. He then clinches with Perry, likely trying to exploit the wholes in Perry's wrestling and ground game. He pushes Perry against the cage. He goes to the body and legs with knees and punches. And many other strikes. And the ref gets them to the center with 2:20 left on the clock. Price is looking kinda tired, but so is Perry. Price lands a hook, but Perry hits him with the right again! And Price misses with a big left hand, as Perry hits a jab-right hook combo on the counter. Price seems exhausted, as he clinches with Perry. He can't take Perry down, but he does land a few short punches. And the round is over. 30-27 for Price, but can he keep going? He looks to be more tired than Perry right now.

Round 4: Price hits a left cross, BUT PERRY LANDS A RIGHT UPPERCUT AND NIKO PRICE HITS THE FLOOR! MIKE PERRY IS DEALING MASSIVE DAMAGE WITH THOSE HAMMER FISTS, AND NOTHING BUT THE REFFEREE CAN STOP MIKE PERRY! AND WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION! PLATINUM MIKE PERRY DOES IT AGAIN, AS AN UNDERDOG!

Winner, AND NEW UBL WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION: "Platinum" Mike Perry (Uppercut & Hammerfists TKO @0:34, round 4). Rating: Good.

Post-fight: "YOU KNOW WHAT? WHY THE F**K AM I ALWAYS THE UNDERDOG!? I win the belt as an underdog. I defend, I'm an underdog. I FIGHT A PROSPECT WHO'S 1-2 IN THE COMPANY, I'M AN UNDERDOG!? I FIGHT THE NEW SHINY TOY, NAURDIEV, I'M AN UNDERDOG. I SMASH THE HIGH KID AS AN UNDERDOG. YOU KNOW WHAT? THESE BETTING LINES DON'T KNOW SHIT, 'CAUSE PLATINUM MIKE PERRY IS 5-1 IN THE UBL, AS A BIG TIME UNDERDOG! AND I'M CHAMPION AGAIN, BABY! ROBBIE LAWLER, YOU BETTER BEAT THAT NAURDIEV SCRUB TO MAKE IT TO THE FINAL, CAUSE I WANNA RETIRE YOU, OLD MAN! AMOVOS, AMASOV, YALOSLAB, YOU'RE GETTING FINISHED NEXT! I'LL BREAK ANYONE IN MY PATH AND Y'ALL KNOW IT!"

Title prestige: Up from 70 to 72.

World rankings: Perry up from #7 to #3, Price down from #6 to #11.

Well, it was a good card!

TOURNAMENTS:

WELTERWEIGHT:

Ismail NAURDIEV vs. Robbie LAWLER (UBL 46)

LIGHTWEIGHT:

Arman TSARUKYAN vs. Vinc PICHEL

WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT:

RANKINGS UPDATES:

HW:

LHW:

MW:

WW:

LW:

FW:

BW:

FlyW:

W BW:

W FlyW:

ROSTER UPDATES:

Cut from the UBL: Tony Johnson (15-8-1-1NC HW)

New signings:

W FlyW: Katarzyna Lubonska (10-3), Auguste Drygin (3-0 newgen, "high level boxer").

Big fights outside of the UBL:

UFC

#5 Rodolfo Vieira beat #6 Edmen Shabazyan by UD (50-45, 49-46 x 2).

#1 Livia Renata Souza beat #2 Michelle Waterson by 1st round RNC Submisison.

#15 Muslim Salikhov beat #4 Colby Convington by 1st round TKO.

#4 TJ Dillashaw beat #11 Casey Kenney by 3rd round KO.

Bellator

#3 Chris Duncan beat Patricio Freire by 1st round KO to win the Bellator LW Title.

#7 Yannick Bahati beat #3 Karl Moore by 2nd round KO.

#1 Khalid Murtazaliev beat Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz by 3rd round TKO.

Predictions:

McDojoDelux: 1/5 <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" />

vladjarca · May 19, 2021

Preview time!

UBL 44: Slobberknocker - Un Jung vs. Cutelaba

Week 4, January 2023

Somewhere in Eastern Europe

Prelims:

LW: Ottman Azaitar vs. Adam Piccolotti

MW: Tom Breese vs. Fai Owyang

W BW: Denise Moreau vs. Cong Teo

MW: Aaron Jeffery vs. Sergey Kalinin

LW: #13 Maxim Divnich vs. Thanh Le

BW: #9 Montel Jackson vs. #10 Kyung Ho Kang

LHW: #6 Devin Clark vs. #12 Viktor Nemkov

Main card preview:

1. Heavyweight Bout: #7 Sergey SPIVAK (13-6, -300) vs. #9 Evgeny GONCHAROV (17-5-1NC, +230)

Spivak has not been the same since his quick loss to the dominant Alexander Romanov, losing his following fights by KO to JDS and by TKO to Stefan Struve. The Ukrainian Sambo fighter remains dangerous from anywhere, but his suspect chin, lack of technique when striking and mediocre positional control on the ground are weak points that have cost him in his fights against the top HWs of the division. Still, he has power, he has good wrestling and he can finish fights on the ground. Goncharov is another fighter that seemed to be close to a tile fight, but is now coming off 2 violent 1st round losses, a TKO to Tai Tuivasa and a KO to Justin Tafa. Aged 36, Goncha is running out of time to build a streak worthy of a title shot. Still, he is a great boxer, he has good head movement and he's a very complete grappler. His chin is his biggest weakness, and it might be one that Spivak would love to exploit. This surely won't end in a decision.

Prediction: Spivak by 1st round KO.

2. Featherweight Bout: #5 Andre FILI (22-11, -510) vs. #10 Nik LENTZ (31-14-2-1NC, +400)

Fili surely ain't on the run of his career, as he is 1-4 in his last 5 and 1-3 in the UBL, with his lone win being 3 fights ago, over Cody Stamann, who has been having an even worse UBL run. Still, Fili is as "touchy" as always with his high level striking, with kicks that always bruise up his targets and capable of finishing fights with the punches (altho' the last time his punches ended a fight was in 9 years ago). He doesn't have the right grappling to be a world class fighter, but he can strike with the best of them and has a good chin as well. Lentz is also in a bad place right now, as he's 1-5 in his last 6 and 1-3 in the UBL, altho' his win is more recent, as he defeated Giga Chikadze by decision exactly 1 year ago. He's a wrestler that doesn't risk much and will look to smother his way to victories, a strategy that worked out fine against Giga Chikadze, a fighter with a style somehow similar to that of Fili. This being said, it's hard to call 38yo gatekeeper Nik Lentz a favourite, as his time in the sport is going up.

Prediction: Fili by 3rd round KO.

3. Middleweight Bout: #3 Makhmud MURADOV (26-8, -270) vs. #10 Gerald MEERSCHAERT (31-18, +210)

Coming off a loss in a title eliminator against Zak Cummings, Muradov is now fighting down and hoping to soon be back in the mix in the title picture. He is a good muay thai fighter with great power in his hands and a good thai clinch, and also really hard to take down. If he goes down, tho, his defence is pretty bad and his offence ain't scaring anyone anytime soon. So he's basically a striker with a suspect chin. GM3 is on the worst streak you could picture, coming off 6 straight Ls with only 1 going to the decision. Even if he's a veteran, he's still improving tho, and worked on his takedowns hard, so he can reap the benefits of his very good ground game. If it won't work, tho, he won't be lasting long against Muradov.

Prediction: Muradov by 2nd round KO.

4. Bantamweight Bout: #2 Rani YAHYA (29-13-1-1NC, -110) vs. #7 Cody STAMANN (19-7-1NC, -110)

Aged 38yo, veteran Rani Yahya is now likely simply a gatekeeper of the top 5, as he lost 2 title shots and a bout against rising prospect Brad Katona, but derailed contenders such as Said Nurmagomedov, Montel Jackson or Jack Shore. He is the definition of the well rounded fighter that doesn't excell anywhere, and his chin ain't what it used to be. Stamann is 0-4-1NC in his last 5, which is weird, as he's quite a capable fighter, but things simply didn't go his way. He is a good wrestler, he has a good ground game and some killer head kicks plus a good chin, but he keeps getting cought in submissions while in top control, as all his last 4. Yahya is a capable BJJ fighter, so he might be able to exploit Stamann's weakness.

Prediction: Yahya by 3rd round submission.

Da Un Jung is proving a more difficult problem than most people expected. He's 4-0 in the UBL, with his last 2 fights ending via TKO in less than 90 seconds. Also, he's undefeated in the big leagues, at 2-0-1 in the UFC and 4-0 in the UBL. He has one of the scariest punches in the copmany, and he's also skilled on the ground, despite lacking high level wrestling on the feet. Cutelaba is the UBL's first LHW champion, and is now looking to earn back his belt, as he bounced back with KOs over Carvalho and Shtyrkov after losing the belt to Yagshimuradov. He also packs one hell of a punch, plus he's got great wrestling, but his ground game ain't as sharp as that of his opponent. We're likely in for a wild ride, so let's enjoy it!

Prediction: Da Un Jung by 3rd round submission.

Now, be brave, be bold, and share thoseeee

Main card predictions:

HW: Sergey SPIVAK vs. Evgeny GONCHAROV

FW: Andre FILI vs. Nik LENTZ

MW: Makhmud MURADOV vs. Gerald MEERSCHAERT

BW: Rani YAHYA vs. Cody STAMANN

LHW Title: Da UN JUNG vs. Ion CUTELABA

McDojoDelux · May 19, 2021

Time for my luck to turn around

HW: Sergey SPIVAK vs. Evgeny GONCHAROV

FW: Andre FILI vs. Nik LENTZ

MW: Makhmud MURADOV vs. Gerald MEERSCHAERT

BW: Rani YAHYA vs. Cody STAMANN

LHW Title: Da UN JUNG vs. Ion CUTELABA

vladjarca · May 24, 2021

UBL 44: Slobberknocker - Un Jung vs. Cutelaba

Week 4, January 2023

Somewhere in Eastern Europe

Prelims:

Notes:

- Ottman Azaitar calls out Brent Primus.

Main card:

1. Heavyweight Bout: #7 Sergey SPIVAK (13-6, -300) vs. #9 Evgeny GONCHAROV (17-5-1NC, +230)

Round 1: They meet in the center and Spivak jabs him, but a cross from Goncharov lands straight on his nose. Spivak is pressuring Goncharov, tho, and eats some good counter strikes, BUT SMASHES HIM WITH A VICIOUS RIGHT CROSS, AND GONCHA IS DOWN! MASSIVE RIGHTS RAIN DOWN ON GONCHA, AND THE REF STOPS IT!

Winner: Sergey Spivak (Cross & Pound TKO @1:05, round 1).

Post-fight: Spivak says he's glad to end his bad streak in such fashion and can't wait to party with his buds and the finest vodka around! What a stud!

World rankings: Spivak re-enters the HW rankings at #22.

2. Featherweight Bout: #5 Andre FILI (22-11, -510) vs. #10 Nik LENTZ (31-14-2-1NC, +400)

Round 1: As expected, Fili wants to strike while Lentz waits for the right oppening to grapple. Fili comes in with a good jab-straight right combo, and Lentz shoots! He can only get Fili against the cage, tho. There, Lentz works hard to find a takedown, and only succeeds on his 4th attempt, as he sweeps the legs and ends up in Fili's guard. Lentz throws strikes from guard for 3 minutes, and the ref gets them up with 30 seconds left. Lentz gets Fili stuck agains the cage again, and the round soon ends. 10-9 Lentz.

Round 2: Lentz shoots straight out the gate, but Fili sprawls right. Fili then hits a jab-low kick combo. But Lentz shoots again, and gets Fili against the cage, but Fili escapes quickly this time. Fili smashes Lentz with a nice straight right, and does another good sprawl as Lentz shot once more. Fili lands another good jab-straight right combo, and then Lentz shoots again, as Fili succesfully sprawls for a 3rd time in round 2. Lentz starts to focus more on not getting hit by Fili, but still he gets caught with a nice right. But then, he manages to get Fili against the cage again, after failing with another TD attempt. He ain't doing damage, tho, and spends the rest of the round trying to get Fili down, with no success. Surely a 10-9 for Fili, as Lentz landed 0 strikes and failed a total of 9 TD attempts, while eating big straights from Fili. 19-19.

Round 3: Fili comes out aggresive with two mean straight punches. Lentz looks overwhelmed and eats another straight right. But Lentz shoots and finally gets the takedown straight away! Lentz is in guard, and he thwors short strikes for minutes until Miragliotta gets them up, with 80 seconds left. Lentz shoots again, but Fili sprawls, and then misses with a fancy combo, and Lentz catches a leg off a kick attempt! But Fili defends well and lands another jab-straight right combo before the round ends. It likely wasn't enough for Fili on the feet to win him this round, as Lentz dominated for a good long time. 29-28 for Lentz on my scorecard.

Winner: Andre Fili (UD: 29-28 x 3). Winner: Decent.

Post-fight: Lentz looks surprised by the unanimous decision, while Fili looks like he believed he had done enough to earn the win. He calls out Edson Barboza, saying it will be a fight for the ages that all fans will love.

World rankings: Fili enters the FW rankings at #22.

3. Middleweight Bout: #3 Makhmud MURADOV (26-8, -270) vs. #10 Gerald MEERSCHAERT (31-18, +210)

Round 1: They meet in the center and trade strikes, with only 2 punches from Muradov landing. Muradov pushes forward with confidence, entering the pocket and hitting a good straight left-body kick combo. GM3 doesn't manage to land with his counter jabs, and Muradov hits another left-body kick combo. GM3 finally lands a counter jab, but eats a powerful jab-right hook combo from Muradov. GM3 hits another counterjab, but eats a 2 piece and a soda from Muradov. Muradov keeps pushing forward and hits GM3 WITH A MASSIVE HOOK, AND MEERSCHAERT IS OUT! COLD!

Winner: Makhmud Muradov (Killa Hook KO @2:32, round 1). Rating: Great.

Post-fight: Muradov brags aout his KO power and says it's about both natural power and great training efforts.

World rankings: Muradov enters the MW rankings at #22.

4. Bantamweight Bout: #2 Rani YAHYA (29-13-1-1NC, -110) vs. #7 Cody STAMANN (19-7-1NC, -110)

Round 1: Rani can't reach Stamann with the hands but hits a body kick. Stamann waits for Yahya to try another uninspired combo and then jumps in and starts a clinch. He gets Yahya stuck against the cage, and occasionally throws some short punches, before Yahya finally escapes after about 2 minutes. Yahya's pushing forward, he eats a counter jab AND HITS STAMANN WITH A GAH DAM WONDERFUL HEAD KICK, STAMANN IS DOWN! YAHYA RAINS DOWN WITH HAMMERFISTS AND THE REF STOPS IT!

Winner: Rani Yahya (Kick & Hammer TKO @3:46, round 1). Rating: Good.

Post-fight: Rani thanks his team and close ones, in a fairly generic and forgettable interview.

World rankings: Rani moves up from #22 to #17 in the BW rankings

5. AND NOW, IT IS TIME FOR OUR MAAAAAAAAAAAIN EVEEEEEEEEENT OF THE EVENIIIIIIIING:

FOR THE UBL Light Heavyweight Title:

Round 1: Cutelaba misses a hook and eats a jab, but checks a low-kick. Then, they trade some nice hooks. The following exchanges sees both fighters miss their attempted strikes, and then Cutelaba dodges a hook and counters with a jab and a clean right hand. They keep trading with bravery, as Jung hits a body kick and blocks a good right of Cutelaba. Jung then counters a right hook with a low kick. Jung hits a hook, but CUTELABA SMASHES HIM WITH A RIGHT UPPERCUT AND JUNG HITS THE FLOOR! CUTELABA IS WRECKING HIM WITH BIG RIGHTS! AAAND WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!

Winner, AND NEW UBL LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION: Ion "THE HULK" CUTELABA (Uppercut & killer GNP TKO @2:50, round 1). Rating: Great.

Post fight: Cutelaba fears a grand total of ZERO people. This reign is surely not ending anytime soon, as it's time this division has a dominant champion at the top. Yagshimuradov, you want the belt? Come try your hand.

Title prestige: up from 69 to 73.

World rankings: Cutelaba enters the P4P rankings at #24. Cutelaba moves up from #9 to #4 in the LHW rankings, while Un Jung falls from #4 to #9.

A nice card, with nice profits:

TOURNAMENTS:

WELTERWEIGHT:

Ismail NAURDIEV vs. Robbie LAWLER (UBL 46)

LIGHTWEIGHT:

Arman TSARUKYAN vs. Vinc PICHEL

WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT:

RANKINGS UPDATES:

HW:

LHW:

MW:

LW:

FW:

BW:

FLYW:

ROSTER UPDATES:

Cut from the UBL: Adam Piccolotti (13-7 LW).

New signings:

HW: Orion Segovia (4-1 newgen, "high level boxer", AFC HW champion).

FlyW: Trent Bedolla (5-0 newgen, "world class kickboxer", UAE Warriors FlyW champion).

BIG FIGHTS OUTSIDE OF THE UBL:

UFC

W BW: #1 Ketlen Vieira beat © Holly Holm by UD (49-46, 48-47 x 2) for the UFC WBW title. Holm retired following the bout.

FW: #3 Max Holloway beat #7 Darren Elkins by 1st round Guillotine Submission.

WW: #9 Alexey Kunchenko beat #5 Leon Edwards by 2nd round TKO in a Fantastic bout.

BW: #1 Petr Yan beat #12 Yadong Song by 3rd round KO.

BW: #14 Adrian Yanez beat #5 Aljamain Sterling by 1st round KO.

Bellator

BW: #5 Kizaemon Saiga beat #1 Thomas Almeida by 3rd round KO.

HW: #9 Hesdy Gerges beat #2 Ronny Markes by 2nd round KO in a Fantastic bout.

WW: #2 Logan Storley beat #6 Kiefer Crosbie by UD.

BW: #6 Cole Smit beat #3 Denis Lavrentyev by UD.

WW: Eldar Eldarov beat #3 Lorenz Larkin by UD.

Predictions:

McMojoDelux: 3/5; Total: 4/10

CageRage · May 31, 2021

Caught up and as usual loving your dynasty. Will be following even if I can't post on my own thread right now. And if I can figure out how to highlight with this tablet will predict as well.

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