UFC on ESPN: Gamrot vs Hooker

Week 4, September
Warsaw, Poland
Attendance: 2,405 (Gate: $529,100)
Critical Rating: 69%, Commercial Rating: 62%


MAIN EVENT

Mateusz Gamrot (17-0-1NC) defeated (#9) Dan Hooker (20-10) via Unanimous Decision

CO-MAIN EVENT

Marcin Held (28-7) defeated Desmond Green (24-9) via Submission (Armbar) at 2:52 of Round 2

MAIN CARD

Todd Duffee (11-3-1NC) defeated Karol Bedorf (16-6) via TKO (Strikes) at 1:39 of Round 1
Marcos Rogerio de Lima (18-6-1) defeated (#9) Marcin Tybura (19-7) via TKO (Strikes) at 2:01 of Round 1
Rico Verhoeven (3-1) defeated Adam Palasz (4-1) via Submission (Kimura) at 4:59 of Round 1

PRELIMS


(#6) Michael Oleksiejczuk (17-3) defeated Abdul-Kerim Edilov (18-6) via Split Decision
Damian Janikowski (5-3) defeated Antonio Arroyo (9-4) via Submission (RNC) at 3:59 of Round 1
Oskar Piechota (12-4-1) defeated Abu Azaitar (15-4-1-1NC) via Submission (Kneebar) at 3:20 of Round 3
Alex Morono (18-6-1NC) defeated Bartosz Fabinski (15-4) via Submission (Armbar) at 3:24 of Round 3
Aviv Gozali (6-0) defeated Artur Berezovskiy (2-1-1NC) via Unanimous Decision
Dusko Todorovic (9-1) defeated Cezary Kesik (10-2) via Submission (Triangle) at 2:12 of Round 2
Mateusz Legierski (8-0) defeated Alex Munoz (7-1) via Unanimous Decision
Markus Perez (13-4) defeated Piotr Strus (15-7-2-1NC) via Unanimous Decision
Alex Lohore (20-5) defeated Aslambek Saidov (24-7) via TKO (Strikes) at 2:27 of Round 1
Trevin Giles (13-2) defeated Karol Linowski (7-3) via Unanimous Decision


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Mateusz Gamrot vs Dan Hooker
Knockout of the Night: Todd Duffee (vs Karol Bedorf)
Submission of the Night: Marcin Held (vs Desmond Green)


Notes:

- In a battle of UFC debutants, Frenchman, Alex Lohore TKOd home fighter, Aslambek Saidov in the first round. The former FEN Welterweight champion and cousin of Polish Legend, Mamed Khalidov was disappointed with the stoppage, arguing it was far too early.
- Demian Maia protege, Markus Perez continues his hugely up and down UFC career, with a win over Polish Kickboxer, Piotr Strus, who is now 0-2 in the UFC. Perez moves to 4-4 and has alternated wins and losses in every fight within the company. His run looks like this - Loss,Win,Loss,Win,Loss,Win,Loss,Win.
- It was undefeated vs undefeated in the next fight, both fighters coming into the bout 7-0, but it was the young Pole, Mateusz Legierski who left the octagon still undefeated, after a hard fought Unanimous Decision over Alex Munoz, who drops to 1-1 in the UFC.
- Dusko Todorovic was a +400 underdog going into his fight against former KSW title challenger, Cezary Kesik, but submitted his opponent in the second round to bounce back from a UFC debut loss to Punahele Soriano.
- The youngest fighter on the whole UFC roster, 18 year old Aviv Gozali continued to show why he has so much hype behind him, beating previously undefeated Polish fighter, Artur Berezovskiy in his own country. This was the first time Gozali didnt finish his opponent, so shows the toughness of 21 year old, Berezovskiy.
- Oscar Piechota raised the Polish crowd after a number of losses for his fellow Polish fighters. This broke a 4 fight losing streak for Piechota and will save his job and earn another fight in the octagon.
- Legandary Polish wrestler, who won a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, was successful in his UFC debut, earning a submission win in the first round. The UFC will hope Janikowski can grow in his young MMA career and become a big name and draw for them in his home country.
- Top 10 Light Heavyweight contender, Michal Oleksiejczuk kept the winning run for Polish fighters going with a very close Split Decision victory over Russia, Abdul-Kerim Edilov. He moves to 6-1 in the UFC, and will likely fight another top contender while the Light Heavyweight Title Tournament continues.
- Legendary World Champion Kickboxer, Rico Verhoeven continued to show his improvement within MMA, with his second submission victory in the octagon. This time he beat previously undefeated home fighter, Poland's own Adam Palasz, who was making his UFC debut.
- In what was meant to be a showcase fight for Marcin Tybura, who was coming off wins over Ilir Latifi and Walt Harris, Marcos Rogerio de Lima upset the Polish fighter and silenced the crowd with a TKO 121 seconds into the fight.
- The always dangerous BJJ Black Belt, Marcin Held really shown his grappling credentials, dominating Desmond Green before submitting him in the second round. This moved Held to 5 wins in a row and will surely enter the rankings at Lightweight.
- Former KSW Lightweight and Featherweight champion, Mateusz Gamrot ended the night on a high note for Polish crowd, with a Unanimous Decision win over top 10 ranked Lightweight, Dan Hooker. He remains undefeated and will hope for another top 10 opponent next as he aims for a title shot.


Rankings Changes:

Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura down to #16, Marcos Rogerio de Lima enters at #24
Light Heavyweight: N/A
Middleweight: N/A
Welterweight: N/A
Lightweight: Dan Hooker down to #11, Mateusz Gamrot enters at #21, Marcin Held enters at #23
Featherweight: N/A
Bantamweight: N/A

Jon Jones original suspension led to him being stripped of the UFC Light Heavyweight Title and the creation of a Light Heavyweight Title Tournament to crown the new champion.
Now a legal challenge by Jones and his legal team have been successful and the former champion has begun a training camp for an upcoming fight, which his team have announced will be at Heavyweight against a currently unnanounced opponent.

Of course Jones wins his appeal Haha.

came at the worst time with me not even thru the first round of the LHW tournament so I just moved him up to HW otherwise he'll wait for ages to fight the LHW tourney winner

Jones vs Fury
Lol
Ok never mind
But I want Fury to get atleast one win

yeh i think i have to throw fury an absolute bum next fight to get a win, not sure jones matches that tag haha

UFC 260: GGG vs Canelo
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Attendance: 7,122 (Gate: $2,079,980)
Critical Rating: 76%, Commercial Rating: 96%


MAIN EVENT

Gennady Golovkin (1-0) defeated Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (0-1) via TKO (Strikes) at 3:52 of Round 1

CO-MAIN EVENT

(#8) Tony Ferguson (26-5) defeated (#5) Donald Cerrone (37-15-1NC) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:24 of Round 1

MAIN CARD

(#5) Paulo 'Borrachinha' Costa (14-1) defeated (#4) Kelvin Gastelum (17-7-1NC) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:59 of Round 2
(#11) Jim Crute (12-1) defeated (#9) Ovince St. Preux (25-13) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:13 of Round 2
(#15) Vitaly Minakov (24-1) defeated (#11) Sergey Pavlovich (16-2) via Unanimous Decision

PRELIMS

Chris Gutierrez (15-4-1) defeated Vasiliy Lomachenko (0-1) via Submission (Kneebar) at 3:07 of Round 1
Ed Herman (25-15-1NC) defeated Chris Weidman (14-6-1NC) via Submission (Leglock) at 4:19 of Round 3
(#19) Anthony Pettis (23-11) defeated (#16) Beneil Dariush (17-6-1) via KO (Kick) at 4:10 of Round 2
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (24-10) defeated (#16) Misha Cirkunov (15-7) via Unanimous Decision
(#22) Sodiq Yusuff (12-1) defeated (#23) Makwan Amirkhani (16-5) via KO (Punch) at 1:48 of Round 2
(#6) Derek Brunson (22-8) defeated (#10) David Branch (22-7) via TKO (Strikes) at 0:36 of Round 1
Albert Tumenov (21-5) defeated Brok Weaver (14-6) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:10 of Round 1
Clay Guida (36-20) defeated Jason High (23-9) via TKO (Strikes) at 0:58 of Round 2
Mike Shipman (16-3) defeated Oluwale Bamgbose (8-5) via TKO (Strikes) at 3:06 of Round 1
Ciryl Gane (8-0) defeated Ruslan Magomedov (17-2) via TKO (Strikes) at 1:30 of Round 1


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Anthony Pettis vs Beneil Dariush
Knockout of the Night: Anthony Pettis (vs Beneil Dariush)
Submission of the Night: Ed Herman (vs Chris Weidman)


Notes:

- Ciryl Gane continues his run of destruction, moving to 8-0 in the process as he destroyed highly rated Russian, Ruslan Magomedov early in the first round. Gane should enter the rankings after this win.
- Clay Guida took a slight step down in competition to end his 2 fight losing streak, dominating Jason High before TKOing him less than a minute into round 2.
- Derek Brunson bounced back from a failed title shot against Israel Adesanya by TKOing former WSOF champion, David Branch in 36 seconds. Brunson then said a fight against the next title challenger, Brad Tavares would be a great next fight, depending on how that title fight goes.
- Sodiq Yusuff continues to rise up the rankings, moving to 5-0 within the UFC, with his biggest win to date. He said he'd love to shut down the hype train of newly signed, AJ McKee next.
- Anthony Pettis ended a 3 fight losing streak in impressive fashion, knocking out Beneil Dariush with a big high kick to the temple. He called out Alexander Hernandez for his next fight, whos had a few things to say in the press about Pettis' recent in-cage troubles. Hernandez is matched up against Marc Diakiese next but the heat between Hernandez and Pettis doesn't look like it'll go away anytime soon. Pettis also took home two fight night bonuses, winning Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night, bagging an extra $100k on top of his fight purse.
- Chris Weidman loses again, and to make matters worse, it was by submission, something he excels in. This is his fourth straight loss, by stoppage (altho the Luke Rockhold was overturned after he failed a drug test) and also his seventh stoppage loss out of his last eight fights. Weidman has said he'll move back down to Middleweight to try and find the form that made him a champion.
- World Champion Ukrainian Boxer, Vasiliy Lomachenko made an unsuccessful MMA debut, being submitted by little heralded Texan, Chris Gutierrez in the first round. Like other boxers that have recently entered MMA, Lomachenko will really need to work on rounding out the other aspects to have any success in the sport.
- Fresh off taking the Bellator Heavyweight Title from Ryan Bader, Vitaly Minakov made his UFC debut and edged a decision over Sergey Pavlovich. This puts Minakov on a 3 fight winning streak after his shocking upset loss to Cheick Kone, his only career loss.
- Australian Jim Crute booked his spot in the next round of the Light Heavyweight Title Tournament with a domination over Ovince St. Preux. He moves on to face former title contender, Dominick Reyes next, in a battle of what looks like the future of the division.
- Tony Ferguson and Paulo Costa both picked up big wins after coming off losses, over Donald Cerrone and Kelvin Gastelum.
- World Champion boxers, Gennady Golovkin and Saul Alvarez continued their feud but this time in the UFC octagon. The same result happened as it did in a boxing ring, as GGG walked out victorious. Time will tell how both adapt to their life in MMA, but their striking pedigrees speak for themselves. Both men moving over to MMA shows that its no.1 now in the combat sports world, and more high profile fighters are expected to follow them into the sport.


Rankings Changes:

Heavyweight: Vitaly Minakov up to #12, Sergey Pavlovich down to #15
Light Heavyweight: Jim Crute up to #5, Ovince St. Preux down to #12, Misha Cirkunov down to #20
Middleweight: Paulo Costa up to #3, Derek Brunson up to #4, Kelvin Gastelum down to #9, David Branch down to #12
Welterweight: N/A
Lightweight: Tony Ferguson up to #5, Donald Cerrone down to #8, Anthony Pettis up to #15, Beneil Dariush down to #20
Featherweight: Sodiq Yusuff up to #18
Bantamweight: N/A

UFC 261: Ngannou vs dos Santos
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Attendance: 21,715 (Gate: $6,341,685)
Critical Rating: 75%, Commercial Rating: 100%


MAIN EVENT

(#1) Francis Ngannou (17-3) defeated (#2) Junior dos Santos (23-7) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:56 of Round 1 to retain the UFC Heavyweight Title

CO-MAIN EVENT

(#1) Kevin Lee (22-5) defeated (#2) Charles Oliveira (30-9-1NC) via KO (Punch) at 3:39 of Round 1 to retain the UFC Lightweight Title

MAIN CARD

(#1) Max Holloway (24-5) defeated (#2) Arnold Allen (18-2) via KO (Kick) at 0:38 of Round 3 to retain the UFC Featherweight Title
Carlos Condit (32-13) defeated Nate Diaz (20-14) via Unanimous Decision
(#18) Nick Diaz (28-9-2NC) defeated (#8) Darren Till (19-5-1) via Unanimous Decision

PRELIMS

(#22) Jim Miller (33-14-1NC) defeated (#24) Carlos Diego Ferreira (16-5) via KO (Punch) at 2:49 of Round 2
(#17) Tai Tuivasa (10-4) defeated (#22) Walt Harris (13-10-1NC) via TKO (Strikes) at 0:58 of Round 1
(#4) Yair Rodriguez (16-3) defeated (#10) Kevin Aguilar (19-3) via TKO (Strikes) at 3:47 of Round 1
(#19) Niko Price (17-3-1NC) defeated (#22) Belal Muhammad (18-4) via TKO (Strikes) at 4:52 of Round 3
(#11) Alexander Volkanovski (23-3) defeated (#17) Ricardo Lamas (19-10) via Unanimous Decision
Fabio Maldonado (26-13) defeated Gian Villante (18-12) via TKO (Strikes) at 3:58 of Round 2
Matt Frevola (10-1-1) defeated Tshilomba Mikixi (4-1) via Submission (Triangle) at 4:58 of Round 1
Eric Spicely (12-4) defeated Ed Gordon (8-5) via Unanimous Decision
(#25) John Moraga (20-8) defeated Alejandro Perez (21-10-1) via Submission (Armbar) at 1:51 of Round 2
Christian Edwards (5-0) defeated Dmitry Minakov (4-1) via KO (Punch) at 4:04 of Round 2


Bonuses: ($50,000)

Fight of the Night: Fabio Maldonado vs Gian Villante
Knockout of the Night: Max Holloway (vs Arnold Allen)
Submission of the Night: Matt Frevola (vs Tshilomba Mikixi)


Notes:

- Undefeated 21 year old Christian Edwards took out the undefeated record of Dmitry Minakov, the brother of top Heavyweight contender in both fighters UFC debut.
- John Moraga ended a two fight losing streak, but put his opponent, Alejandro Perez on a 4 fight losing streak and likely his walking papers.
- Fabio Maldonado was a +510 underdog but TKOd Gian Villante in a straight-up brawl.
- Alexander Volkanovski ended his worst career run, first losing his title to Zabit Magomedsharipov, then being submitted by Cub Swanson. He called out Kevin Aguilar as a fight he'd like to have next.
- Niko Price impressed with a late TKO over Belal Muhammad, which was his second straight win over a ranked opponent. The win extends his winning streak to 4, while ending the same streak of Muhammad.
- Jim Miller said he'd like to re-run the fight against Nik Lentz in his next fight. This was Miller's last loss, and a fight he feels he could win if given another chance.
- After Carlos Condit's win over Nate Diaz, Nick Diaz got in Condit's face and a drop to Welterweight to face him looks likely next for the older Diaz brother.
- There were 3 titles on the line on the night, but no new champions, as all 3 champions finished their opponents in impressive fashion.


Rankings Changes:

Heavyweight: Junior dos Santos down to #4, Tai Tuivasa up to #11
Light Heavyweight: N/A
Middleweight: Darren Till down to #11, Nick Diaz up to #15
Welterweight: Niko Price up to #13, Nate Diaz down to #24
Lightweight: Charles Oliveira down to #5, Jim Miller up to #18
Featherweight: Yair Rodriguez up to #2, Alexander Volkanovski up to #8, Arnold Allen down to #10, Kevin Aguilar down to #13
Bantamweight: John Moraga up to #13

This thing moving along. You know what Dana would do here right? Jones vs Francis for the belt, other contenders be damned lol

The Ultimate Fighter 30: Featherweights

Coaches:

Conor McGregor
Tony Ferguson

Fighters:

AJ McKee (18-0) - The undefeated son of former UFC fighter, Antonio McKee. AJ has amassed an impressive run of wins in his relatively young career, with wins over Pat Curran, Georgi Karakhanyan and Henry Corrales. He is already ranked as the #22 Featherweight in the world.
Andre Harrison (22-2-1) - A 35 year old New Yorker with plenty of experience in MMA, he is the most recent PFL Featherweight champion and former ROC and Titan FC Featherweight champion, vacating both belts without losing them.
Daniel Straus (27-10) - Straus is a former Bellator Featherweight champion, who has had some amazing battles with Pat Curran (twice) and Bellator Featherweight GOAT, Patricio Freire (four times). He also won the Bellator Season Six Featherweight Tournament.
Filip Pejic (16-3-2) - Pejic went 0-1 in his original UFC run and was unfortunate to find himself released, but has bounced back and is currently on a 2 fight win streak in KSW with wins over UFC veterans, Marcin Wrzocek and Diego Nunes.
Grant Blackler (9-1) - A veteran of The Ultimate Fighter, Blackler was a member of the Australian team in the 'Smashes: UK vs Australia' season. He unfortunately was eliminated in the first round but has been impressive since. With just one loss to his name, he may be a real surprise package this season.
Jason Knight (22-6) - Most recently a bare-knuckle boxer, Knight has fought twice in 2020, going 2-0. He has 4 UFC wins to his name, with wins over Chas Skelly, Alex Caceres, Jim Alers and most impressively, Dan Hooker.
Khamzat Dalgiev (11-3) - A late replacement in the tournament and the least known on the roster, not much is expected from Dalgiev, but he has finished 9 of his 11 wins, so has proven to be a solid finisher.
Mark Eddiva (8-2) - The current ROAD FC Featherweight champion, beating former UFC fighter, Rocky Lee via Unanimous Decision. Eddiva went 1-3 in his original UFC run, but the Flilipino fighter has huge upside and has really improved his all round game since his release.
Michael Tobin (14-2) - Australian Tobin started his MMA career with a 12-0 record, but then dropped a couple of fights to lesser opponents. Fortunately, he has bounced back with a couple of wins, his last being a submission victory to win the AFC Featherweight Title.
Ozzy Dugulubgov (10-2) - Dugulubgov went 5 years without fighting, but returned in 2020 with two wins in KoTC. He holds a win over Chris Wade and was due to fight top Lightweight contender, Justin Gaethje in WSOF, but the fight was cancelled.
Paddy Pimblett (15-2) - A real character, a lot is expected of Pimblett in the house, both in and out of the cage. He is a former Cage Warriors Featherweight champion, who also fought for the Lightweight title, but came up short against Soren Bak.
Sergio Giglio (12-0) - Undefeated Peruvian Giglio is only 23 years old, and started fighting professionally at just 16. He was also undefeated at amateur level.
TJ Laramie (11-3) - Another young fighter, at just 22, Laramie started his professional career at just 17 in Japan, as he couldn't get licensed in Canada until he was 18. He holds a win over current UFC fighter, Charles Jourdain.
Tyler Diamond (10-2) - Ranked as the top Canadian Featherweight, Diamond was a contestant on season 27 of TUF, but was eliminated and then also suffered a loss on the finale. He beat Jim Alers in his last fight and will hope to impress in his second chance in the house.
Will Chope (34-10) - Chope is a whopping 6'4 and will easily be the tallest fighter in the competition. Hes been fighting predominantly in Asia for most of his career, and has pro fights in Boxing, Kickboxing and Bare-Knuckle Boxing outside of MMA.
Yusuf Raisov (17-1) - A very good grappler from Russia, Raisov has wins over Andre Winner and Luis Palomino on his record and is a former ACB Featherweight champion.

First Round Fights: (I've already got thru the first 8 weeks)

Sergio Giglio vs Ozzy Dugulubgov
Paddy Pimblett vs Tyler Diamond
Andre Harrison vs Filip Pejic
Daniel Straus vs Grant Blackler
Yusuf Raisov vs Mark Eddiva
Will Chope vs AJ McKee
Jason Knight vs TJ Laramie
Khamzat Dalgiev vs Michael Tobin

Post your predictions for who wins the first round fights and who wins the whole tournament