UFC 269: Adesanya vs Diaz
Saturday, Week 1, May 2021
Nevada, USA
Attendance: 23,382 (Gate: $7,587,459)
Critical Rating: 74%, Commercial Rating: 100%


MAIN EVENT

(#1) Israel Adesanya defeated (#6) Nick Diaz via KO (Punch) at 2:03 of Round 1 to retain the UFC Middleweight Title

CO-MAIN EVENT

(#4) Jon Jones defeated (#2) Anthony Johnson via Submission (Americana) at 3:43 of Round 3

MAIN CARD

(#4) Kevin Lee defeated (#7) Donald Cerrone via KO (Kick) at 3:21 of Round 2
(#9) Rory MacDonald defeated Gennady Golovkin via Submission (Guillotine) at 2:11 of Round 1
(#8) Alexander Gustafsson defeated (#9) Corey Anderson via KO (Punch) at 3:09 of Round 1

PRELIMS

(#16) Anthony Pettis defeated (#15) Dan Hooker via TKO (Strikes) at 0:56 of Round 1
(#11) Jack Hermansson defeated (#7) Derek Brunson via KO (Punch) at 2:04 of Round 3
(#21) Jeremy Kennedy defeated (#14) Alexander Hernandez via Unanimous Decision
(#10) Kevin Aguilar defeated (#22) Daniel Straus via KO (Kick) at 2:48 of Round 3
(#6) Alexandre Pantoja defeated (#11) Yadong Song via TKO (Cut) at 3:38 of Round 1
(#20) Davi Ramos defeated (#14) Nik Lentz via Split Decision
Darren Elkins defeated Steven Peterson via Unanimous Decision
Luigi Vendramini defeated Miguel Baeza via Unanimous Decision
Joseph Solecki defeated Claudio Puelles via TKO (Strikes) at 2:38 of Round 1
(#15) Ian Heinisch defeated (#22) David Branch via Unanimous Decision


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Jack Hermansson vs Derek Brunson
Knockout of the Night: Israel Adesanya (vs Nick Diaz)
Submission of the Night: Jon Jones (vs Anthony Johnson)


Notes:

- Miguel Baeza lost his third fight in a row, and is very close to losing his spot on the UFC roster.
- Darren Elkins snapped a 3 fight losing streak, while also ending Steven Peterson's 2 fight win streak after a unanimous decision win.
- BJJ Black Belt, Davi Ramos extends his current win streak to 4, with his win over Nik Lentz being added to wins over Will Brooks, Vinc Pichel and Darrell Horcher. Ramos is 8-1 in his last 9 fights.
- Canadian, Jeremy Kennedy is now 6-1 in his last 7 fights and 2-0 in his current UFC run after beating Alexander Hernandez via unanimous decision. Both fighters are a couple of years off 30, so have great futures ahead. Kennedy is slowly establishing himself as one of Canada's top fighters.
- In a fantastic fight, Jack Hermansson bounced back from 3 straight losses by KOing former title challenger, Derek Brunson in the third round.
- Rory MacDonald schooled Gennady Golovkin by taking down the world class boxer and submitting him just over 2 minutes into the fight. This was GGG's first MMA loss after winning his first two fights against Canelo Alvarez and Diego Sanchez. MacDonald is likely one win off a title shot at Welterweight, he called out Colby Covington for his next fight.
- Jon Jones earned the next shot at Alexander Volkov, and will aim to be the next fighter to hold belts at two weights. He did say to Joe Rogan after the fight that he'd like to face Francis Ngannou in the future.
- Nick Diaz has put together a 3 fight win streak to earn the title shot against Israel Adesanya, but like everyone who's faced Adesanya before him for the belt, he was stopped by the exceptional striker. Adesanya moves to 24-0 in his career and 13-0 in the UFC. Surpringly after the fight, Adesanya said there isnt much more to accomplish at Middleweight after 6 straight title defenses, and winning all by stoppage, so will be moving up to Light Heavyweight next and vacating the title.
- All 5 of the main card fights were rated as 'Great' and with only one fight rated as 'Poor' and two as 'Average' this was one of the most entertaining cards in UFC history.
- After 5 straight losses, David Branch was released from the UFC.




Post fight, both Jon Jones and Nick Diaz failed post-fight drugs tests and face one year suspensions each. Fortunately, I host fights in unregulated areas, so won't have an issue booking the two in fights

The following are single night 8 man tournaments, 2 per fight card, these may be for guys coming off a loss or losing streak trying to save their jobs, or guys looking to extend winning streaks to break into the rankings or title contention:

UFC Contenders 1
Tuesday, Week 1, June 2021

Featherweight:

Zubaira Tukhugov vs Manny Bermudez
Martin Bravo vs Makwan Amirkhani
Pat Curran vs Niklas Backstrom
Rony Mariano Bezerra vs Herbert Burns

Heavyweight:

Daniel Spitz vs Viktor Pesta
Valentin Moldavsky vs Michel Batista
Mauro Cerilli vs Timothy Johnson
Chris de la Rocha vs Steve Mowry

===========================================================

UFC Contenders 2
Monday, Week 2, June 2021

Lightweight:

Beneil Dariush vs Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Rustam Khabilov vs Mairbek Taisumov
John Makdessi vs Will Brooks
Carlos Diego Ferreira vs Desmond Green

Light Heavyweight:

Anthony Smith vs Glover Teixeira
Jiri Prochazka vs Luke Rockhold
Fabio Maldonado vs Ed Herman
Vadim Nemkov vs Misha Cirkunov


POST YOUR PREDICTIONS

Herbert Burns
Michel Batista
Rustam Khabilov
Jiri Prochazka

UFC on ESPN: Ortega vs Yusuff
Saturday, Week 3, May 2021
Nevada, USA
Attendance: 7,559 (Gate: $2,452,896)
Critical Rating: 73%, Commercial Rating: 87%


MAIN EVENT

(#3) Brian Ortega defeated (#9) Sodiq Yusuff via Submission (Guillotine) at 3:09 of Round 4

CO-MAIN EVENT

(#2) Zabit Magomedsharipov defeated (#12) Ricardo Ramos via Unanimous Decision

MAIN CARD

(#17) Eric Shelton defeated (#6) TJ Dillashaw via Submission (Kimura) at 4:23 of Round 2
(#4) Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez defeated Billy Joe Saunders via KO (Punch) at 3:04 of Round 1
(#13) Frankie Edgar defeated (#16) Patricio Freire via Unanimous Decision

PRELIMS

(#16) Aleksandar Rakic defeated (#20) Khalil Rountree via TKO (Strikes) at 3:14 of Round 2
Brendan Allen defeated (#23) Edmen Shahbazyan via Submission (RNC) at 4:10 of Round 1
Matt Frevola defeated Marif Piraev via Split Decision
Alex Munoz defeated Tshilomba Mikixi via KO (Kick) at 4:53 of Round 1
Alessio Di Chirico defeated Dricus Du Plessis via Unanimous Decision
Sean Brady defeated Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos via KO (Knee) at 2:17 of Round 1
Daniel Rodriguez defeated Sheldon Westcott via Unanimous Decision
Shamil Nikaev defeated Carrington Banks via Unanimous Decision
Sean O'Malley defeated Heili Alateng via Unanimous Decision
(#9) Sergey Pavlovich defeated (#12) Shamil Abdurakhimov via KO (Punch) at 3:01 of Round 1


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Alessio Di Chirico vs Dricus Du Plessis
Knockout of the Night: Sergey Pavlovich (vs Shamil Abdurakhimov)
Submission of the Night: Brendan Allen (vs Edmen Shahbazyan)


Notes:

- Shamil Nikaev remained undefeated, moving to 11-0-1NC, after a unanimous decision over Carrington Banks in his UFC debut.
- Daniel Rodriguez came into his fight against Sheldon Westcott as a +470 underdog, but pulled out a unanimous decision and prove the bookmakers wrong.
- Sean Brady moved to 14-0 after KOing Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos less than halfway thru the first round. Brady is now 4-0 in the UFC. He called out Jack Marshman for his next fight.
- Brendan Allen pulled off a massive upset, submitting top middleweight prospect 'Golden Boy' Edmen Shahbazyan in the first round.
- Aleksandar Rakic extends his win streak to 3, with his second straight win over a ranked opponent, after his previous win over Michal Oleksiejczuk. Rakic called out Thiago 'Maretta' Santos as a fight he'd like next.
- Eric Shelton pulled off another upset on the night, submitting former Bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw. Both men came into the fight on 2 fight win streaks.
- Brian Ortega beat Sodiq Yusuff, handing him his first loss in the UFC, to claim the interim Featherweight title and set up a rematch against current champion, Max Holloway, who is currently on hiatus, hence the interim title being activated.

UFC Contenders 1
Tuesday, Week 1, June 2021
Nevada, USA
Attendance: 4,668 (Gate: $1,514,766)
Critical Rating: 73%, Commercial Rating: 63%

Featherweight:

Zubaira Tukhugov defeated Manny Bermudez via TKO (Strikes) at 2:49 of Round 3
Martin Bravo defeated Makwan Amirkhani via KO (Punch) at 0:40 of Round 1
Pat Curran defeated Niklas Backstrom via TKO (Strikes) at 1:26 of Round 2
Rony Mariano Bezerra defeated Herbert Burns via Unanimous Decision

Martin Bravo defeated Zubaira Tkuhugov via Split Decision
Rony Mariano Bezerra defeated Pat Curran via Submission (RNC) at 2:40 of Round 1

Martin Bravo defeated Rony Mariano Bezerra via TKO (Strikes) at 3:00 of Round 1 to win the Featherweight Tournament

Heavyweight:

Viktor Pesta defeated Daniel Spitz via Submission (Armbar) at 1:29 of Round 1
Valentin Moldavsky defeated Michel Batista via TKO (Strikes) at 2:03 of Round 2
Mauro Cerilli defeated Timothy Johnson via TKO (Strikes) at 1:00 of Round 2
Steve Mowry defeated Chris de la Rocha via Submission (Kimura) at 4:26 of Round 2

Valentin Moldavsky defeated Viktor Pesta via KO (Punch) at 2:33 of Round 2
Steve Mowry defeated Mauro Cerilli via Unanimous Decision

Steve Mowry defeated Valentin Moldavsky via Submission (RNC) at 2:54 of Round 3 to win the Heavyweight Tournament


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Steve Mowry vs Valentin Moldavsky
Knockout of the Night: Valentin Moldavsky (vs Viktor Pesta)
Submission of the Night: Rony Mariano Bezerra (vs Pat Curran)


Notes:

- Chris de la Rocha retired after his loss to Steve Mowry. Mowry moved to 10-0 after this win.
- 38 year old Italian, Mauro Cerilli finally found his way to the UFC, and made it a successful debut, TKOing Timothy Johnson in exactly a minute.
- Martin Bravo was around +300 with the bookmakers for his fights against Makwan Amirkhani and Zubaira Tukhugov, but managed to beat both men to get to the final.
- Steve Mowry moved to 12-0 after a clean sweep in the Heavyweight tournament. Mowry has a huge upside, being 6'8 and only 28 years old.
- Valentin Moldavsky may have lost the final, but he took home $100k in bonuses for KO of the Night and Fight of the Night.
- Martin Bravo was a +580 underdog but still managed to beat Rony Jason in the final of the Featherweight tournament and make it 3 upsets in one night. It was an incredible performance from the Mexican, who came into the tournament with 6 straight losses, with his last victory being in 2016, winning the TUF Latin America 3 season, but at only 27 years old, has plenty of time to make a push in the Featherweight division.

UFC Contenders 2
Monday, Week 2, June 2021
Nevada, USA
Attendance: 4,688 (Gate: $1,521,256)
Critical Rating: 68%, Commercial Rating: 66%

Lightweight:

Beneil Dariush defeated Olivier Aubin-Mercier via Unanimous Decision
Mairbek Taisumov defeated Rustam Khabilov via Submission (RNC) at 3:46 of Round 1
Will Brooks defeated John Makdessi via Unanimous Decision
Carlos Diego Ferreira defeated Desmond Green via Submission (Armbar) at 2:50 of Round 1

Beneil Dariush defeated Mairbek Taisumov via Submission (Guillotine) at 2:25 of Round 2
Will Brooks defeated Carlos Diego Ferreira via Unanimous Decision

Beneil Dariush defeated Will Brooks via TKO (Strikes) at 1:56 of Round 2 to win the Lightweight Tournament

Light Heavyweight:

Glover Teixeira defeated Anthony Smith via Unanimous Decision
Jiri Prochazka defeated Luke Rockhold via TKO (Strikes) at 4:10 of Round 1
Fabio Maldonado defeated Ed Herman via KO (Punch) at 1:45 of Round 3
Vadim Nemkov defeated Misha Cirkunov via Split Decision

Glover Teixeira defeated Jiri Prochazka via Submission (RNC) at 2:19 of Round 1
Fabio Maldonado defeated Vadim Nemkov via TKO (Strikes) at 0:36 of Round 3

Fabio Maldonado defeated Glover Teixeira via Split Decision to win the Light Heavyweight Tournament


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Beneil Dariush vs Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Knockout of the Night: Fabio Maldonado (vs Ed Herman)
Submission of the Night: Glover Teixeira (vs Jiri Prochazka)


Notes:

- In the Light Heavyweight semi-finals, the two 40+ year olds beat a 30 year old and 27 year old to make the final.
- Fabio Maldonado was the underdog in every fight as he made his way to the final at Light Heavyweight, but shocked everyone by winning all 3 fights, and beating fellow 41 year old Brazillian, Glover Teixeira in the final. Maldonado is now on a 5 fight win streak in his current UFC run.
- Beneil Dariush came into the Lightweight tournament with 3 straight losses, but turned that around, winning all 3 fights over very tough opposition.
- Will Brooks was clearly very tired in the final, after two tough 15 minute fights previously.


Ongoing Tournament Winners:

Contenders 1: Martin Bravo (Featherweight), Steve Mowry (Heavyweight)
Contenders 2: Beneil Dariush (Lightweight), Fabio Maldonado (Light Heavyweight)

UFC Contenders 3
Monday, Week 3, June 2021

Bantamweight:

Cory Sandhagen vs Eddie Wineland
Ali Bagautinov vs Marlon Moraes
Ben Nguyen vs Alex Perez
Cody Garbrandt vs Ray Borg

Middleweight:

Antonio Braga Neto vs Chris Camozzi
Cezar Ferreira vs Markus Perez
Steve Bosse vs Wellington Turman
Kevin Holland vs Trevin Giles

===========================================================

UFC Contenders 4
Wednesday, Week 4, June 2021

Welterweight:

Rafael dos Anjos vs Andrey Koreshkov
Michael Chiesa vs Dong Hyun Kim
Nate Diaz vs James Krause
Leon Edwards vs Alex Oliveira

Bantamweight:

Andre Ewell vs Luke Sanders
Jonathan Martinez vs Marlon Vera
Joby Sanchez vs Matt Schnell
Casey Kenney vs Mario Bautista


POST YOUR PREDICTIONS

UFC Contenders 3
Monday, Week 3, June 2021
Nevada, USA
Attendance: 6,556 (Gate: $1,514,766)
Critical Rating: 77%, Commercial Rating: 76%

Bantamweight:

Cory Sandhagen defeated Eddie Wineland via TKO (Strikes) at 0:28 of Round 3
Marlon Moraes defeated Ali Bagautinov via Unanimous Decision
Ben Nguyen defeated Alex Perez via KO (Punch) at 3:31 of Round 2
Cody Garbrandt defeated Ray Borg via TKO (Strikes) at 2:17 of Round 3

Marlon Moraes defeated Cory Sandhagen via TKO (Strikes) at 4:18 of Round 1
Cody Garbrandt defeated Ben Nguyen via KO (Punch) at 2:54 of Round 3

Cody Garbrandt defeated Marlon Moraes via TKO (Strikes) at 2:57 of Round 1 to win the Bantamweight Tournament

Middleweight:

Antonio Braga Neto defeated Chris Camozzi via Submission (Leglock) at 2:43 of Round 1
Markus Perez defeated Cezar Ferreira via KO (Kick) at 4:46 of Round 3
Wellington Turman defeated Steve Bosse via KO (Kick) at 1:49 of Round 1
Trevin Giles defeated Kevin Holland via Unanimous Decision

Markus Perez defeated Antonio Braga Neto via TKO (Strikes) at 2:57 of Round 1
Trevin Giles defeated Wellington Turman via Split Decision

Markus Perez defeated Trevin Giles via KO (Punch) at 1:56 of Round 3 to win the Middleweight Tournament


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Cody Garbrandt vs Ben Nguyen
Knockout of the Night: Markus Perez (vs Trevin Giles)
Submission of the Night: Antonio Braga Neto (vs Chris Camozzi)


Notes:

- Ben Nguyen's victory over Alex Perez was his 5th in a row, all by stoppage, before he was KOed by Cody Garbrandt.
- Cody Garbrandt went from 3 losses to winning the tournament off 3 wins, also all by stoppage. With the level of the fighters he beat on the night, Garbrandt has been rocketed into the top 5 at Bantamweight.
- Trevin Giles looked visibly exhausted by the final, after two decision wins and 30 minutes in the cage. He lasted another near 12 minutes before Markus Perez KOd him to win the Middleweight tournament. Perez was bumped up to #19 in the Middleweight rankings and now rides a 4 fight win streak.
- The $10k finish bonus really fired up the fighters during the tournaments, with only 3 fights going to the judges


Ongoing Tournament Winners:

Contenders 1: Martin Bravo (Featherweight), Steve Mowry (Heavyweight)
Contenders 2: Beneil Dariush (Lightweight), Fabio Maldonado (Light Heavyweight)
Contenders 3: Cody Garbrandt (Bantamweight), Markus Perez (Middleweight)

UFC Contenders 4
Wednesday, Week 4, June 2021
Nevada, USA
Attendance: 7,598 (Gate: $2,465,551)
Critical Rating: 68%, Commercial Rating: 82%

Welterweight:

Andrey Koreshkov defeated Rafael dos Anjos via KO (Punch) at 1:31 of Round 3
Dong Hyun Kim defeated Michael Chiesa via TKO (Strikes) at 2:01 of Round 2
Nate Diaz defeated James Krause via Unanimous Decision
Alex Oliveira defeated Leon Edwards via KO (Punch) at 0:36 of Round 3

Andrey Koreshkov defeated Dong Hyun Kim via KO (Punch) at 0:13 of Round 2
Alex Oliveira defeated Nate Diaz via Unanimous Decision

Andrey Koreshkov defeated Alex Oliveira via Split Decision to win the Welterweight Tournament

Bantamweight:

Luke Sanders defeated Andre Ewell via Split Decision
Jonathan Martinez defeated Marlon Vera via Unanimous Decision
Joby Sanchez defeated Matt Schnell via Split Decision
Mario Bautista defeated Casey Kenney via KO (Punch) at 3:48 of Round 2

Luke Sanders defeated Jonathan Martinez via Unanimous Decision
Mario Bautista defeated Joby Sanchez via Submission (RNC) at 3:25 of Round 2

Mario Bautista defeated Luke Sanders via KO (Punch) at 0:30 of Round 1 to win the Bantamweight Tournament


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Luke Sanders vs Jonathan Martinez
Knockout of the Night: Mario Bautista (vs Luke Sanders)
Submission of the Night: Mario Bautista (vs Joby Sanchez)


Notes:

- Mario Bautista kicked off the night by getting a big underdog victory, KOing Casey Kenney despite being a +570 underdog.
- An even bigger underdog advanced also, as Jonathan Martinez, a +730 underdog, beat tournament favourite, Marlon Vera, who was a -920 favourite for this fight, by unanimous decision.
- Mario Bautista won the Bantamweight tournament surprisingly, by KOing Luke Sanders in just 30 seconds in the first round. Bautista finished all 3 opponents on route to the tournament victory. Bautista managed to take home both the Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night in a fantastic night for the Arizona native.
- Andrey Koreshkov won the Welterweight tournament by winning every fight from being the underdog. After his tournament win, he strangely called out Abdul Razak Alhassan. This tournament win came off the back of his unsuccessful UFC debut against Alexey Kunchenko.
- These tournaments are really giving underdogs the chance to prove themselves, with Koreshkov, Oliveira, Bautista all underdogs in every fight, minus Oliveira in the Welterweight final fight.


Ongoing Tournament Winners:

Contenders 1: Martin Bravo (Featherweight), Steve Mowry (Heavyweight)
Contenders 2: Beneil Dariush (Lightweight), Fabio Maldonado (Light Heavyweight)
Contenders 3: Cody Garbrandt (Bantamweight), Markus Perez (Middleweight)
Contenders 4: Andrey Koreshkov (Welterweight), Mario Bautista (Bantamweight)

UFC Contenders 5
Friday, Week 1, July 2021

Welterweight:

Emil Meek vs Alex Morono
Oliver Enkamp vs Michael Graves
Sage Northcutt vs Kyle Stewart
Nicolas Dalby vs Dwight Grant

Featherweight:

Austin Arnett vs Giga Chikadze
Suman Mokhtarian vs Chas Skelly
Danny Henry vs Alex White
Grant Dawson vs Emmanuel Sanchez

===========================================================

UFC Contenders 6
Thursday, Week 2, July 2021

Lightweight:

Teemu Packalen vs Thanh Le
Peter Queally vs Mike Davis
Natan Schulte vs Lando Vannata
Roosevelt Roberts vs Jared Gordon

Middleweight:

Yushin Okami vs CB Dolloway
Rousimar Palhares vs Kendall Grove
Hector Lombard vs Omari Akhmedov
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Clint Hester


POST YOUR PREDICTIONS