Dana White announced today on Twitter that Peña is out with broken ribs. White did not state if the injury was related to training. Peña defeated Nunes at UFC 269 via rear naked choke. Nunes would win the second bout at UFC 277 via unanimous decision.

Replacing Peña is 5th ranked bantamweight, Irene Aldana (14-6). Aldana had a rough start in the UFC, her first win didn’t come until her third bout. Her total UFC record is 7-4, with most wins coming by KO and submission. Aldana will be coming in with a slight reach and height advantage, but the odds of that being a factor are low. Nunes has fought and beat fighters that were bigger threats in all phases of a fight.

The math that went into making this match is a little complicated and goes deeper than rankings. Nunes has already beaten Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington, who are currently ranked 3rd and 2nd. Even though they’re ranked higher than Aldana, the way they lost to Nunes likely delayed their rematches. They would also want a full fight camp before getting in the cage with Nunes a second time. Pennington and Holm have also fought each other, with Holm pulling out the decision victory. Irene Aldana has a win over Ketlan Viera, who also has a win over Raquel Pennington. And Viera also lost to Holm.

Breaking news………… pic.twitter.com/pNvr9Qo3I2

— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2023

UFC 289: Nunes vs Aldana is June 10th in Vancouver, Canada.

The post Irene Aldana Steps In To Face Nunes At UFC 289 After Peña Lost To Injury appeared first on Cageside Press.

Breaking news………… pic.twitter.com/pNvr9Qo3I2

— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2023

Bryce Mitchell came into the UFC by way of The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated. He lost in the quarter finals of the show but was invited back to be on the finale card. He defeated fellow contestant, Tyler Diamond; via majority decision. His bout against Evolev would have been his first fight since his only loss in his professional career. At UFC 282 he was defeated by Ilia Topuria via arm triangle choke submission in the second round. It would have been interesting to see how he bounces back from losing to another submission specialist.  It would have been interesting to see if Evolev could shutdown Mitchell’s submission game.

Movsar Evolev made his UFC debut back in 2019. The bout resulted in a TKO victory Rafael Dias. From there, he would rack up five decision victories. His best asset is easily his background in Greco-Roma. It will be interesting to see how much of his game plan is impacted by change in opponent. Diego Lopes is equally a threat on the ground and standing. An additional hurdle going into this fight is the drastic change builds. Lopes is 2″ and 3″ taller than Mitchell and Evolev. This can have a drastic impact on how Evolev looks to create grappling exchanges and takedowns.

UFC 288: Sterling vs Cejudo is this Saturday; May 6th. The card also features the co-main event of Belal Muhammed vs Gilbert Burns.

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Just past midnight on the East Coast, ex-champ Pereira (7-2) announced that his next bout will be at light heavyweight. This announcement comes just a few days after his UFC 287 second-round knockout loss to Israel Adesanya.

The Brazilian’s record against the current champion is 3-1 overall, including kickboxing, and 1-1 in MMA. Under ordinary circumstances, you would not be wrong to assume that he would’ve been given an immediate rematch or been one bout away from one at most. But it seems Pereira has other plans.

My plans are official ! Announcement 📣
Full video on https://t.co/yR9Pvub1er pic.twitter.com/Rzs4RHvDKy

— Alex "Poatan" Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) April 13, 2023

“My next fight will be in 205!” Pereira exclaimed in the video (translations provided). “Yeah you heard right— My next fight will be in 205!”

You can watch the full announcement on Pereira’s Youtube channel. “Poatan” went on to state that he doesn’t have an opponent yet and also dispelled any rumors about having struggles with cutting weight. However, at his height and age; most would think the move was inevitable.

Our own Bryson Hester documented Pereira’s weight cutting journey leading up to UFC 287. Glover Teixeira admitted in a recent interview that the weight cut is a huge one for Pereira, even stating that he could fight at heavyweight.

Pereira has previously fought at light heavyweight in kickboxing in Glory. His record in that division is 3-1, with the one loss coming by way of decision.

Following UFC 287, promotion president Dana White also suggested Pereira could be on the move to 205lbs. With Adesanya also shutting the door on a third fight in MMA any time soon, the move isn’t entirely surprising.

The post UFC: Alex Pereira Announces Next Bout Will Be at 205 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Today, Endeavor issued a press release stating they are officially purchasing WWE for $9.3 billion dollars. They will be combined with the UFC’s approximated value of $12.1 billion and forming a new publicly listed company with a value of over $21 billion dollars.

Per release, this will be the power structure going forward;

Also during the official announcement of the purchase, McMahon confirmed that there will be cross promotion between the two entities. To what extent has yet to be confirmed but it will be interesting to see what certain contracts will look like going forward. For example will promising amateur wrestlers be able to sign deal allowing them to do both pro wrestling and MMA.

We will continue to provide more information as the situation develops.

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ESPN became the official UFC streaming partner back in March of this year. That’s when UFC PPV’s moved to the ESPN Plus platform exclusively. The main goal of the partnership was that both would benefit from each other’s branding. Disney needed a reason for people to shell out a few dollars a month for another streaming service, and the UFC hoped to gain legitimacy by being tied to “The King of Sports.” As of August 2019, ESPN Plus has over 2.4 million subscribers; up from 2 million back in February.

In April, Disney made the modest prediction of 12 million ESPN subscribers by 2024. This was before anyone knew how the Disney Plus streaming service would directly impact the growth potential of ESPN Plus. After Disney gained control of Hulu back in May, they announced the Disney Plus pricing plans beyond the $7 base. For $12.99 a month, you can bundle the Hulu, Disney, and ESPN streaming services. Basically for the price of Disney and ESPN Plus, you get Hulu for free.

Now this all means that through no effort on their part, the UFC has gained access to millions of new customers. The hard part will be if the UFC can actually evolve their marketing strategy. There is little doubt Disney will help because they want to as much of a return as possible. But the UFC has a habit of being behind the times.

Streaming services have some of the best algorithms in the world. They’re able to accurately determine things like age, gender, and in some cases sexual preferences, just based on what you watch. If you don’t believe it, go to Netflix and check out the display image for the same film of everyone on your account. See a difference?

This is information is used to make recommendations, and this could be the UFC’s in. At the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, it makes sense to suggest some fights featuring GSP or Tim Kennedy. GSP has a role in the film and Tim Kennedy is a vet. Very simple moves like this can hook people in. Suggestive marketing will be easier on the Hulu platform since that’s where all of Disney’s R rated properties will go. But same principal applies.

Whether the platform incorporates UFC content like this remains to be seen. However the UFC stands to gain even more exposure thanks to the launch of the service, via bundled pricing. All without having had to lift a finger.

The post What the Disney Plus Streaming Package Could Do For The UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

For people who follow professional wrestling and MMA, it was only a matter of time before Brock Lesnar returned to the UFC. Even his announced retirement during suspension seemed very temporary. One dead giveaway that he was getting that itch to return was the sudden change his physique during the last year and half of his WWE appearances.

Everything seemed to come to a head when Lesnar showed up in the crowd of the Cormier vs. Miocic fight. That was back at UFC 226 in July 2018. After the fight’s abrupt conclusion resulting in Cormier standing victorious, Lesnar was immediately in the Octagon promoting what many assumed to be Cormier’s retirement bout. But the booking of that fight would have to wait until Lesnar completed his obligations with WWE.

Unfortunately WWE wasn’t exactly ready to take the title from Lesnar last summer. Fans would have to suffer through several more months of an absentee champion and predictable booking. But now the first hurdle is over. ‘The Beast’ has dropped the belt. The second obstacle, USADA, seems cleared as well. Lesnar has been in the USADA testing pool since last summer so that won’t be an issue when it comes to actually booking the fight. Now it’s down to the right number that would get Brock Lesnar back in the Octagon. And with Conor McGregor’s legal troubles possibly prolonging his absence from the sport, the UFC may try to convince Lesnar into taking a multi-fight deal.

As of right now, the UFC has not announced anything after International Fight Week. And with everyone basically booked, it would make sense for Cormier and Lesnar to meet for an August PPV. Cormier is urging Dana White to get the deal done, and you can’t blame him. But whatever you feel about the sporting merit of the fight, it feels like Cormier vs. Lesnar is inevitable at this point.

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Endeavor has made sweeping changes to its streaming line of business with several major announcements of late. Last year they acquired NeuLion for their streaming technology,   which will serve as the backbone of their streaming operation. Now, they’ve announced some key clients for their streaming platform. New clients announced today include OSN, BT Sport, and most importantly; WWE. Variety was among the first to report the news.

WWE had previously partnered with Disney Streaming Services to bring their content to viewers, via the WWE Network.

For Endeavor, the revamped line of business will be led by Will Staeger, who has been with IMG for quite some time. Staeger also had a stint with ESPN. Coincidentally, ESPN recently launched their new streaming service, ESPN+. ESPN+ will handle the streaming service for another WME product, the UFC. Overall this is definitely a net win for WME/Endeavor.

“Endeavor Streaming’s best-in-class technology enables us to offer more features, elevate the user experience and provides us even more opportunity to delight our fans around the world,” WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was quoted as saying in regards to the news.

While this won’t directly impact the UFC, it’s another big move for its parent company.

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Mere hours after RIZIN: Heisei’s Last Yarennnoka!, the New Year’s Eve spectacle that was RIZIN 14 offered up Bellator champ Darrion Caldwell facing Kyoji Horiguchi for RIZIN’s bantamweight title, in an interesting partnership between two promotions who had collaborated in the past, but not to such an extent.

For those in the west, that was the main event. However, the much ballyhooed exhibition boxing match between kickboxing wunderkind Tenshin Nasukawa and forty-something Floyd Mayweather Jr. was the real headliner. That, however, was left off the North American PPV broadcast on FITE.tv, no doubt at the behest of Mayweather, who wouldn’t want to hurt his numbers if western fans scoffed at paying top dollar for a three round sparring session.

Still, the fact that RIZIN was even able to land Mayweather remains impressive, and garnered attention from major news networks around the world. Could Tenshin pull off a surprise in the nine minutes allotted to them?

Mika Nagano vs. Miyuu Yamamoto

After witnessing her son fall to a rarely seen hammerlock submission in the final fight of the RIZIN 14 prelims, Miyuu Yamamoto opened up the main card. And she did so in style, dropping a number of heavy blows on opponent Mika Nagano early. On the ground, she trapped an arm, controlled, and finished the first frame strong. The second saw her work from guard, again controlling the bout.

In the end, Yamamoto walks away with a unanimous decision victory after dominating Nagano all three rounds. Yamamoto showed improved patience and grappling defense. Her superior striking forced Nagano to take several ill-timed shots which lead to brutal ground and pound for most of the fight.

Miyuu Yamamoto def. Mika Nagano by unanimous decision

Daron Cruickshank vs. Damien Brown

Daron Cruickshank was his usual aggressive self in the opening round against Damien Brown. Spinngin attacks, knees. Brown was more than happy to score a few knees of his own; later in the frame a pair of kicks put Brown on the ground briefly. However, things quickly took a turn for the worse for Cruickshank. Brown caught Cruickshank with a guillotine during a takedown. It was deep, and before long, Cruickshank was forced to tap.

Post-fight, Brown called for a shot at the lightweight grand prix, or former UFC star Takanori Gomi.

Damien Brown def. Daron Cruickshank by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1

Gabi Garcia vs. Barbara Nepomuceno

The size advantage was clear in Garcia vs. Nepomuceno, with Garcia dwarfing her opponent. That, despite Nepomuceno being one of her larger foes. While the RIZIN newcomer would get off a few overhand rights early, the power advantage allowed Garcia to get the fight to the ground. A clinch led to a throw, and once down, Garcia moved to side control then grabbed an arm. With her corner yelling “break it” it was as good as over.

https://twitter.com/Jolassanda/status/1079687455761223680

After the fight ended Shinobu Kandori stormed the ring, screaming at Garcia. The pair were previously scheduled to fight, with Kandori being injured prior to their first booking, at Garcia missing weight by a humiliating twenty-eight pounds at their second. Could Kandori, who is 54 years old, face Garcia next?

Only in Japan.

Gabi Garcia def. Barbara Nepomuceno by submission (americana), Round 1

Brandon Halsey vs. Jiri Prochazka

In a fight that saw the ring ropes in play more than once, and Brandon Halsey fall out of the ring and hit the mat, only to receive a yellow card, it was Jiri Prochazka pulling off a first round TKO for the win. That, almost immediately after a close call that saw Halsey sneak in a rear-naked choke attempt. Prochazka was looking for a flying knee early in the fight, while Halsey stayed in it early but soon began to gas, especially toward the final sequence that saw him roll over and cover up while Prochazka landed some nasty strikes that slipped through his defenses.

"Hey Brandon, suck this shit up right now." #RIZIN14 pic.twitter.com/HZ5PMakBFg

— inxxane (@inxxane) December 31, 2018

Prochazka called out Mirko Cro-Cop after the fight.

Jiri Prochazka def. Brandon Halsey by TKO, Round 1

Kanna Asakura vs. Ayaka Hamasaki

After what felt like the longest intermission in history, RIZIN 14 resumed, with Kanna Asakura looking to claim the super atomweight title against Ayaka Hamasaki. It was Hamasaki connecting first, mixing in some leg kicks as well. An eye poke halted her attack, however. After a break to allow Hamasaki some time to adjust to a visibly damaged eye, they went right back at it with a flurry of strikes in an exchange. A throw gave Hamasaki the upper hand on the ground, though Asakura would escape and fire off a kick. More quick striking exchanges as the two fighters went right after it.

Hamasaki landed a knee to start the second, and was in control the first half of the round. Asakura would shoot for a takedown near the halfway point only to be stuffed. Hamasaki would then get the fight to the ground with a throw, and land in side control. She set up the arm bar with ease, and using one foot to push off of Aakura, who was clutching her hands together for dear life. Once her grip was broken, Hamasaki wrenched the limb. Asakura tried to spin out, but was trapped, and forced to tap! The former Invicta FC atomweight title had a new crown.

Ayaka Hamasaki def. Kanna Asakura by submission (arm-bar), Round 2  – for RIZIN FF women’s super atomweight title

Darrion Caldwell vs. Kyoji Horiguchi

A champ vs. champ battle between Bellator’s Darrion Caldwell and RIZIN’s Kyoji Horiguchi topped the card (prior to Floyd Mayweather, reportedly late getting to the arena). Caldwell had the size and reach advantage. Not to mention a power advantage, nearly putting Horiguchi through the ropes early. Caldwell was able to fire off some kicks, but it was Horiguchi getting his attention with a right hand. A takedown attempt saw Caldwell looking to isolate an arm but the ropes got in the way. A late knockdown by a kick from Horiguchi may have secured him the round.

Caldwell landed an early takedown in the second, with Horiguchi working his way back up just to be taken down again. The story of the round was the control time from Caldwell, as Horiguchi spent far too much time with Caldwell keeping him on the ground.

In the third (and final round in this case despite it being a title fight) Horiguchi would be taken down again, with Caldwell shooting under a punch from the Japanese fighter. Horiguchi would then lock in a guillotine, and force the tap in a flash!

Kyoji Horiguchi def. Darrion Caldwell by submission (guillotine choke), Round 3

Tenshin Nasukawa vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

After what felt like an eternity, Japanese kickboxing star Tenshin Nasukawa and Floyd Mayweather finally faced off in the main event of the evening. From the outset, Mayweather was toying with the 20-year old. Smiling as he bobbed and moved. Nasukawa fired off a punch, but Mayweather had the clear size, power, and speed advantage. Before long, Mayweather had knocked Nasukawa down. He staggered up, but was knocked down again moments later. Stumbling, wobbly on his legs, a third knockdown, the check hook doing it, dropped Nasukawa a third time.

After three knockdowns in two minutes, Nasukawa’s corner had seen enough, and threw in the towel.

End result: Basically Floyd being Floyd but with a smaller opponent. After the fight Mayweather reiterated that he was retired, the fight would go on neither man’s record, and that Tenshin was a great champion.

RIZIN 14 Main Card Results:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. def. Tenshin Nasukawa by TKO, Round 1  – exhibition boxing match
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Darrion Caldwell by submission (guillotine choke), Round 3 – for RIZIN FF bantamweight title
Ayaka Hamasaki def. Kanna Asakura by submission (arm-bar), Round 2  – for RIZIN FF women’s super atomweight title
Jiri Prochazka def. Brandon Halsey by TKO, Round 1
Gabi Garcia def. Barbara Nepomuceno by submission (americana), Round 1
Damien Brown def. Daron Cruickshank by submission (guillotine choke), Round 1
Miyuu Yamamoto def. Mika Nagano by unanimous decision

Preliminary Card:

Kazuyuki Miyata def. Erson Yamamoto by submission (hammerlock), Round 2
Johnny Case def. Yusuke Yachi by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 2
Yuki Motoya def. Justin Scoggins by submission (modified triangle), Round 1
Ulka Sasaki def. Manel Kape by unanimous decision
Justyna Zofia Haba def. Shinju Nozawa-Auclair by technical submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2
Tofik Musaev def. Nobumitsu Osawa by TKO, Round 2
Samantha Jean-Francois vs. Rena Kubota – cancelled due to Kubota illness

The post RIZIN 14 Results and Recap: Floyd Mayweather Finishes Tenshin Nasukawa In Minutes appeared first on Cageside Press.

In a press release Tuesday, ONE Championship announced that they would be launching an eSports brand. Competitive gaming has become a multi-billion dollar business in a relatively short period of time, and it’s taken most seriously in European and Asian markets. ONE is set to get in on that action, and they’re leveraging Demetrious Johnson to do it.

Per Tuesday’s release,

“The largest global sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship (ONE), has officially launched ONE eSports, Asia’s largest global eSports Championship Series. ONE Championship and Dentsu Inc., Japan’s largest global advertising agency, have agreed to launch ONE eSports as a joint venture together in 2019. Razer, Singtel, and other top industry players have also entered into partnership MOUs with ONE eSports to lead Asia’s eSports industry together.”

ONE would also go to announce that Demetrious Johnson would be the Chief Brand Ambassador. The company believes that his notoriety as a champion combined with his passion as a gamer would be a great asset in this new venture.

“Also, recently-signed ONE Championship athlete and pound-for-pound mixed martial arts king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will help to lead the ONE eSports efforts as its Chief Brand Ambassador; he is a lifelong gamer and well-known Twitch streamer with a rabid following,” the release stated.

ONE isn’t the only MMA league with an eSports affiliation. The UFC’s parent company, WME; owns ELeague. Since the purchase, WME has used various fighters and Dana White to cross promote the UFC with various eSports events and personalities. But Johnson was consistently overlooked when these opportunities came up. ONE on the other hand seeks to make the most out of their newest signee, which makes sense.

Stay tuned, as we’ll keep you posted as more details come out about the league as well as any future fight announcements for Johnson or fellow new signee Eddie Alvarez.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr. to RIZIN FF? That’s one apparently no one saw coming. The undefeated boxing legend, last seen earning a 10th round TKO of UFC star Conor McGregor, has signed on to face Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14. While no rule set has been announced, it’s unlikely to be full blown MMA rules. While RIZIN is best known as an MMA promotion, it has dabbled in kickboxing and other, modified rule sets over the years.

Mayweather appeared in person at Sunday’s press conference in Japan. Nasukawa (27-0 kicboxing, 4-0 MMA) was also in attendance.

Mayweather (50-0 boxing) said of his opponent that “I think that he’s young, very strong, very fast, and he’s undefeated. So it’s obvious he’s been doing something right to be where he’s at, so I’m proud of him.”

Talking about the fight in general, Mayweather later said that “I’m pretty sure he’s going to bring a lot of excitement, I’m going to bring a lot of excitement, and that’s really what the people want to see.” As far as his motivation for taking a bout in Japan, “it’s always been a goal of mine to go outside the U.S.,” Mayweather said, “and go into another arena and display my talent. As a professional, because I did it as an amateur, but now it’s different, as a professional. So it’s great. I want to say congratulations to Tenshin, and RIZIN, and just everybody for backing this event.”

“In terms of the rule set and the weight rules, we still have some work cut out for us,” RIZIN President Noboyuki Sakakibara later stated via translator. “We’ll get that situated in the next couple weeks,” Mayweather added a short time later.

https://twitter.com/Maldobabo/status/1059295452502339589

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