UFC: As Real As it Gets (2023 Save)

[maudlin career]

News & Notes From UFC 316 Post-Fight Presser

-Tonight’s event saw a paid attendance of 24,730 earning an estimated 9.4 million. With this number, UFC 316 sets the record for highest paid attendance for a UFC event this year.

-Jon Jones, Jamahal Hill, and Gabriel Bonfim took home $75,000 performance bonuses.

-Derrick Lewis brought some laughs from the conference when he referred to Jon Jones as a “strong ass mothafucka”

-Jamahal Hill believes he should be next for the Light Heavyweight Championship. Hill believes he is a “nightmare match-up” for both Jan Blachowicz and Jiri Prochazka.

-Despite being one win a piece, Jon Jones is not interested in a rematch with Derrick Lewis. Lewis chimed in to talk about the type of preparation he went through for this rematch and again, made the press conference last with “I’m too old for this shit now”

-Dana White does confirm that the winner of Ryan Bader and Tom Aspinall will be looking at the next UFC Heavyweight Championship. There was some tension when Jones replied that that’s something he’ll discuss with his team but that he’s open to fighting either man.

-Dana White thought the Flyweight Title fight was very close and agreed that it could have gone either round, but that he gave it three rounds to two for Mokaev. Dana White states that a fight that close no doubt leaves question for a rematch.

-Gillian Robertson doubles down on her call out of Victoria Souza. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding Souza right now and Robertson feels like she’s being overlooked. Robertson says again that this is her time and she asks Dana White for the Souza fight.

-Arman Tsarukyan admits that the lightweight division has changed over the last year but he’s back and his goal remains the same: the Lightweight Championship. Tsarukyan names Grant Dawson, Michael Chandler, and even putting the cancel UFC 300 bout with Charles Oliveira back together as fights that he’s interested in.

-Dana White reveals that he wanted to take the opportunity to announce a big bout for UFC 320 which is taking place in Sydney, Australia. Officially announced for the event: Alexander Volkanovski returns to to the lightweight division to face the most recent UFC Lightweight Championship challenger, Michael Chandler.

Up Next - UFC on ABC: Rakhmonov vs. Holland

UFC on ABC: Rakhmonov vs. Holland (Saturday, July 5th, 2025)

Main Card (ABC Network)


Preliminary Card (ESPN 2)


Preliminary (ESPN+)

[maudlin career]

Rakhmonov and Blanchfield Earn Decision Nods; Pennington Comes Back in the Third to Retain Title

Three title fights headlined the Independence Day edition of UFC on ABC and at the conclusion of the event, only one new champion was crowned.

In the main event, Shavkat Rakhmonov dominated Kevin Holland with superior wrestling to muscle Holland to the canvas, where he would punish the American challenger with ground and pound over the course of their five round tilt. In the fourth round, Rakhmonov even came close to finishing Holland with a rear naked choke, but the challenger was quite literally saved by the bell. When the time limit on the fight expired, Shavkat Rakhmonov walked away with a unanimous decision victory, marking his first defense as UFC Welterweight Champion.

In the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship bout, despite Alexa Grasso’s crisp boxing, Erin Blanchfield was able to keep the fight close and competitive with, completing five of five takedowns where she was able to bully Grasso with some ground and pound. Grasso was not going down without a fight, tagging the challenger with some beautiful punches over the course of five rounds, but when the twenty five minute time limit came to an end, judges Jayson Chestnut and Frederick Wacther awarded Erin Blanchfield a 48 - 47 split decision, crowning her the new UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion.

Nora Cornolle looked poised to become the new UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, after a straight left caught from Cornolle in the second round put Pennington on the canvas. Cornolle recognized this as her moment to make history and she expended so much energy looking for the kill by relentlessly laying into Pennington with punches, but unfortunately for her, Raquel was able to survive until the end of the round. In the third round, Cornolle was noticeably spent from the second round finish attempt which would allow Pennington to slam Cornolle to the canvas. From side control, Pennington began to let loose with some powerful right hands that were clearly hurting Nora Cornolle and eventually Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight.

Colby Covington had Washington DC on their feet with an electric walkout and Covington looked to have a return to form as he kept the pressure on Orolbai, practically taking the Kyrgyzstani fighter down at will. In the third round, the tide changed and Orolbai shook the arena when he caught Covington with a roundhouse kick that buckled the former UFC Welterweight Championship challenger. Orolbai then aggressively stepped in and threw a hard overhand right that put Covington to sleep earning Mykybek the biggest win in his career to date.

For the complete UFC on ABC: Holland vs. Rakhmonov results, see below

[maudlin career]

News & Notes From UFC on ABC Post-Fight Presser

-Dana White couldn’t think of a better way for the UFC to celebrate the nation’s birthday than to deliver such a stacked show in the nation’s capital. White is very proud of the men and women who put on a show in a big way for the ABC network.

-The recorded gate for the event is somewhere in the $2.3 million range. Dana White also claimed the event could set the record for most broadcast revenue for a televised UFC event.

-Alexa Grasso believes she won that fight. She had Blanchfield hurt in two different rounds and expressed disappointment that she couldn’t get the finish.

-Erin Blanchfield thinks her wrestling and top control is what won her the fight. She’s interested in a rematch with Alexa Grasso.

-White calls Myktybek Orolbai the real deal and says that tonight’s fight showed that he’s going to be a scary matchup for anyone at 170.

-White believes the fight between Brown and Rakhmonov makes the most sense at the moment.

-Dana White cites Raquel Pennington as the toughest fighter, man or woman, in the UFC and praises her durability.

-Shavkat Rakhmonov believes Randy Brown is next in line but would be up for a fight with UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev.

-Raquel Pennington isn’t even thinking about her next fight. She thinks Ronda returning really shakes things up in the 135lb division but also comments that Kayla Harrison can’t keep her name out of her mouth. Basically, Pennington is down to fight whoever the UFC puts in front of her.

Up Next - UFC APEX: Tate vs. Edwards

UFC APEX: Tate vs. Edwards (Saturday, July 12th 2025)

Main Card (ESPN+)


Preliminary Card (ESPN+)

Edited July 11 by maudlin career

[maudlin career]

Edwards Dominates Tate in Five Round Decision; Gilllepsie Wins With KO

Another UFC APEX event has wrapped up tonight and in the main event, Joselyn Edwards outclassed former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate in a twenty five minute tilt. Tate, who was bruised and cut up from Edwards kickboxing, tried to wrestle Edwards, but even that gameplan got shut down. When the fight reached the score cards, it was revealed that Edwards earned 10 - 8 rounds from two different judges.

Gregor Gillepsie continued his rise up the lightweight ladder with a devastating KO victory over TUF alum Michael Johnson. The first round was very competitive and Johnson looked the best that he had in recent memory but in the second round, Gillespie caught Johnson with a right hook that put him out cold.

Joining Joselyn Edwards and Gregor Gillepsie in the winners’ column were AJ Dobson who scored a first round knock out over Cesar Almeida. Isaac Thomson finished opponent Isaac Dulgarian in under a minute in the first round. Bruna Brasil earned a TKO victory over Maria Eugenia Zbrun in the third round. Azamat Nuftillaev opened the main card portion of the event with a unanimous decision victory over Austen Lane.

For the complete UFC APEX: Tate vs. Edwards card, see below.