In total, an additional five fighters have been shown the door, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes room for incoming talent. That after a record number of contracts, 39 in total, were handed out on this year’s edition of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Among the names released, Markos’s most recent opponent, Livia Renata Souza. A former Invicta FC strawweight champion, “Livinha” posted a 3-3 record inside the octagon, but lost three of her last four fights.

Ultimate Fighter 23 winner Andrew Sanchez might be the highest-profile release among this most recent round of cuts. The TUF 23 light heavyweight champ posted a 5-5 mark through ten fights with the promotion, most of which was spent at middleweight. Like Brazil’s Souza, he’d lost three of his last four bouts, including two straight.

Argentina’s Laureano Staropoli, who went 2-4 through his UFC run, was no surprise in terms of his release. After winning his first two bouts in the promotion, he’s lost four straight.

The final two fighters released over the past week or so, lightweights Khama Worthy and Teemu Packalen, were both on losing streaks. Packalen announced earlier this month that he was retiring from competition.

The post The Cuts Keep Coming: In Addition to Markos, UFC Parts Ways with Five More Fighters appeared first on Cageside Press.

After a decade-long career on the regional circuit and later in Russia’s M-1, Bruno “Blindado” Silva had arrived in the UFC earlier this year and immediately made a statement.

With a finish of fellow Brazilian Wellington Turman, Silva put his fellow middleweights on notice — and at UFC Vegas 40 on Saturday was paired up with Ultimate Fighter winner Andrew Sanchez.

Sanchez was looking to bounce back from a January loss to Makhmud Muradov.

Sanchez predictably opened up with what always is his main strategy, wrestling. Sanchez seemed to be getting takedowns at will, mainly because Silva had no problem working off of his back. Silva liked to throw elbows off his back but they didn’t seem to have much effect against Sanchez, but he did make Sanchez work to pass and as a result, Sanchez was a bit winded heading into the second round. Unfortunately, Sanchez had two kicks to the groin in round one, which would come back into play later.

Sanchez got the takedowns once again to start round two, but Perez once again began throwing elbows up from his back. Silva tried his best to scramble back to his feet but once again the scramble resulted in Silva on his back. Silva worked his way back to his feet briefly and landed a hard shot that seemed to briefly rock Sanchez but not enough to prevent him from getting another takedown that helped him snag another round in the bag.

Silva came out in the third frame looking for a finish. Sanchez was visibly gassed to start the round. Silva was once again kicked low, the third time in the fight. As a result, Sanchez had a point deducted. Rather than hurt him, that third low blow seemed to fire up Silva. He came out of the break and quickly hurt Sanchez, keeping up the pressure and ripping the body. With Sanchez starting to cover up as Silva went upstairs, the Brazilian went on to secure the comeback victory as he knocked out the depleted Sanchez.

A foul-filled night saw Silva endure a full three low blows in the fight. But he’d get his hand raised in the end. Sanchez has now been finished in the third round in back-to-back fights.

Official Result: Bruno Silva def. Andrew Sanchez by TKO, Round 3, 2:35

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When they were handed down for this past Saturday’s event, Conor was the most notable name on the list in terms of length. His suspension is set at 180 days pending a closer look at his tibia and fibula. He, like most medically suspended for that amount of time, can be cleared earlier by an x-ray and a trip to the doctor’s.

Only two other fighters from this past weekend’s card are looking at similar suspensions. Andrew Sanchez, who was finished by Makhmud Muradov, will need multiple x-rays to get cleared early. Not only does he have potential damage to the tibia and fibula like McGregor, but he also has damage to his nose that will need to be looked at. Secondly is Matt Frevola, who lost a tough bout to rising star Arman Tsarkuryan. He’ll need his hand looked at to avoid the six months on the shelf.

Full list of medical suspensions:

Dustin Poirier – 7 Days
Conor McGregor – 180 Days or until cleared by right tibia/fibula x-ray
Michael Chandler – 7 Days
Dan Hooker – 45 Days
Makhmud Muradov – 30 Days
Andrew Sanchez – 180 Days or until cleared by x-rays to left tibia/fibula and nasal
Marina Rodriguez – 7 Days
Amanda Ribas – 45 Days
Arman Tsarukyan – 30 Days
Matt Frevola – 180 Days or until cleared by right hand x-ray
Brad Tavares – 7 Days
Antonio Carlos Jr. – 30 Days
Julianna Pena – 7 Days
Sarah McMann – 30 Days
Marcin Prachnio – 30 Days
Khalil Rountree – 30 Days
Movsar Evloev – 7 Days
Nik Lentz – 45 Days
Amir Albazi – 30 Days
Zhalgas Zhumagulov – 30 Days

Suspensions originally reported by Kirik Jenness. 

The post UFC 257 Medical Suspensions: A Long Time with No Conor appeared first on Cageside Press.

Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor made it clear after his fight that he would like to be more active in the UFC. So it would be smart to guess he will not be boxing Logan Paul, or Manny Pacquiao, and will be getting right back to training for his next fight. It appears his best three options for his next fight would be Tony Ferguson, Dan Hooker, or Paul Felder. All three of these fighters bring a unique fighting style that matches up great with McGregor. Out of those three men, Mcgregor would likely be looking for the biggest fight and that fight would be with Tony Ferguson.

McGregor’s next fight: Tony Ferguson

Dan Hooker

After his loss, Dan Hooker was seen taking his gloves off and leaving them in the octagon. To some people, this appeared like he was retiring. That may not be the case. Hooker is a very young fighter and should be looking to try and get back into the win column and try to climb the ranks in the division. If he decides not to retire he should think about fighting the winner of Islam Makachev vs. Drew Dober. That fight is looking to take place in early March. Makachev is one of the fastest rising stars in the lightweight division. If he should get past Dober in March, Hooker would be fighting a guy with a lot of hype around his name.

Hooker’s next fight: Winner of Makachev-Dober

Jessica Eye

Jessica Eye lost via unanimous decision to Joanne Calderwood at UFC 257. This loss makes Eye 1-2 since being knocked out by Valentina Shevchenko in 2019. Eye should be looking to try and hold her place in the division. She can do that by fighting Roxanne Modafferi in her next fight. Modafferi just lost her last fight but is likely to be ranked very close to Eye when the rankings are released. Eye has the perfect style to beat Modafferi and she is desperate to get back into the win column.

Eye’s next fight: Roxanne Modafferi 

Andrew Sanchez

Andrew Sanchez was finished by Makhmud Muradov in the third round of their bout at UFC 257. Sanchez has had a pretty back and forth UFC career but he showed some huge holes in his game this past Saturday. He had a hard time keeping his lead hand up and left himself vulnerable for big shots even before Muradov actually landed the big shot that rocked Sanchez. Sanchez should be looking to fight a guy that is newer to the UFC so he can make a statement with an up-and-comer.

Jun Yong Park is 2-1 in the UFC with two big wins over Marc-Andre Barriault and John Phillips. Sanchez would have a slight size advantage on Park which could be good for his striking in that fight.

Sanchez’s next fight: Jun Yong Park 

Amanda Ribas

Marina Rodriguez shocked the world at UFC 257 when she finished Amanda Ribas in the second round. Ribas is now 4-1 in the UFC and she should still be looked at as one of the biggest female prospects in the promotion. Angela Hill is a woman who really needs to pick up a win. She would be a perfect next opponent for Ribas because of her striking and jiu-jitsu skills. Hill has been one of the most active women in the strawweight division for years. Ribas could not ask for a bigger fight coming off of her first loss.

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Sanchez, an Ultimate Fighter winner, had last competed in August, knocking out Wellington Turman. Muradov, represented by Floyd Mayweather’s The Money Team, rode a 13-fight win streak into the event, and was looking for his third straight win inside the octagon.

With the fight underway, Muradov immediately threw a kick up the middle, keeping Sanchez on his toes. It wouldn’t discourage the TUF winner from shooting in, but when he did, Muradov was able to fight it off with ease. On the feet, both men were swinging hard. But the difference maker was arguably the leg kicks of Muradov, that by the midway point of the round had begun to color Sanchez’s lead leg. Muradov then began to target the body, while mixing in a few strikes over the top. Sanchez wasn’t lost on the feet, but he wasn’t exactly on par with his opponent.

Round two had Sanchez taking the fight to Muradov immediately. An early low blow on Muradov halted the action, giving both men time to catch their breath. Once back underway, Sanchez drove his opponent into the fence, but Muradov quickly got his back off it, and they re-engaged at center. Sanchez popped off his right hand, and managed to avoid a leg kick — key, given how much damage those kicks had done early. Muradov landed a combo, but Sanchez would hit home with a counter moments later. For a fighter whose bread and butter was wrestling, Sanchez was showing improved confidence in his stand-up. Muradov landed hard at the end of the round, bloodying Sanchez’s nose.

Despite the late damage by Muradov, the second was a much better round for Andrew Sanchez. Which made things very interesting heading into the third. As the affair had for the entirely of the fight, things played out on the feet once again. Sanchez managed to get Muradov backed up the fence. But just as suddenly, Muradov rocked Sanchez with a right hand! Coming right over the top, landing behind the ear, Sanchez’s legs went full spaghetti. Muradov charged forward with a flying knee, then let loose with a volley of strikes that forced Sanchez to cover up! While he never went down, the ref had seen more than enough.

The right hands are missing anymore!

👊 @MakhmudMuradov lays it on for the RD 3 TKO!

[ Get #UFC257: https://t.co/vFZAHQckS9 | #InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi ] pic.twitter.com/4k3enRUbuG

— UFC (@ufc) January 24, 2021

The win marks Muradov’s fourteenth straight, and as he noted in his post-fight interview, all three of his UFC fights have been on short notice. Just imagine what he could do with a full camp.

Official Result: Makhmud Muradov def. Andrew Sanchez by TKO, Round 3, 2:59

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But when it came time to hand out the bonuses, the undercard, plus one main card player, was where the action was.

Ultimate Fighter winner Andrew Sanchez was one of four Performance of the Night bonus winners. “El Dirte” picked up an extra $50,000 after starching Wellington Turman in their preliminary card fight. A straight right ended the Brazilian’s night, and gave Sanchez what might be the best win of his career to date.

Darren Stewart proved Saturday that meeting the dentist is never fun. That’s after the British fighter known as “The Dentist” submitted Contender Series alum Maki “Coconut Bombz” Pitolo with a guillotine choke in the opening round of their main card fight.

Gavin Tucker, hitting the octagon for the first time in a year, also had his submission game on point. A third round rear-naked choke of Justin Jaynes earned him $50,000.

And Kevin Holland, who was supposed to fight a week ago only for his opponent to be pulled last minute, returned in a big way Saturday. His third round TKO of newcomer Joaquin Buckley made it all worth it. And was worth $50,000 to boot.

The post UFC Vegas 6 Bonuses: Performance Awards Go to Four Finishers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Ultimate Fighter winner Andrew Sanchez took on Brazil’s Wellington Turman in middleweight action at UFC Vegas 6 on Saturday. The fight saw “El Dirte” Sanchez looking to bounce back from a loss against Marvin Vettori in his last outing back in October of last year.

Turman, for his part, entered the fight off his first win in the promotion, over Markus Perez last November. Overall, he was 1-1 inside the Octagon to start the night.

Turman started off quickly, throwing a jumping front kick before Sanchez got the fight into the clinch. Sanchez pushed Turman into the fence and landed some knees to the body before circling off. Turman landed a hard right hand followed by a low kick, and Sanchez responded with two nice left hooks of his own. Turman looked to land a head kick but missed, and Sanchez landed a hard right hand on the ear of Turman. Sanchez found a home for the right hand early, landing many quick straights to the Brazilian in the first round. Near the end of the first round, Sanchez found a home for the right again and put Turman out cold! Sanchez landed a counter right straight and knocked Turman out. A couple of follow up strikes later, and “El Dirte” had the most impressive win of his career.

WOOOOW!! What a finish by @ElDirteSanchez!! #UFCVegas6 pic.twitter.com/nOrzKNG6DP

— UFC (@ufc) August 8, 2020

It’s hard not to be impressed by Sanchez and how his career has progressed. From entering the UFC as a green wrestler who was uncomfortable on the feet, to outstriking great fighters and developing an impressive striking game with a wrestling pedigree to fall back on. Andrew Sanchez is going to be a problem.

Andrew Sanchez def. Wellington Turman by KO (Right Straight) in Round 1 (4:14) 

The post UFC Vegas 6 Results: Andrew Sanchez Flatlines Wellington Turman appeared first on Cageside Press.

Nebraska, we're back 👊

🦁 @LionheartASmith returns vs 🇧🇷 @GloverTeixeira in the main event of #UFCLincoln! pic.twitter.com/bJZnyPRSUy

— UFC (@ufc) January 24, 2020

In conjunction with the announcement, Smith was on EPSN to talk about the fight.

Smith (32-14) is looking to build his way back to a title shot after coming up short against Jon Jones last year. ‘Lionheart’ picked up a win over Alexander Gustafsson in his first post-title bout appearance last Summer. A win over Brazil’s Teixeira, another title challenger, would be a push in the right direction.

As for Teixeira (30-7), he has quietly put together a three-fight win streak, with victories over Karl Roberson, Ion Cutelaba, and Nikita Krylov. Now 40, it’s clear that while Teixeira is nearing the end of his career, he’s not about to go quietly.

Also announced for UFC Lincoln (UFC Fight Night 173) in a press release Friday is the flyweight debut of Cynthia Calvillo in the UFC. Calvillo (8-1-1) missed weight for her UFC on ESPN 7 fight with Marina Rodriguez last month, a fight that ended in a draw. She’ll take on Antonina Shevchenko (8-1), who is coming off a win over Lucie Pudilova at UFC on ESPN 5.

UFC Lincoln will take place at the Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska on April 25, 2020. A full list of the bouts announced for the card Friday can be found below.

Anthony Smith vs. Glover Teixeira
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Antonina Shevchenko
Evan Dunham vs. Michael Johnson
Andrew Sanchez vs Zak Cummings
Anthony Rocco Martin vs David Zawada

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In a prelim bout, middleweights Marvin Vettori and Andrew Sanchez battled in a grudge match. The two were scheduled to face off a month earlier in Vancouver but Sanchez was forced to pull out of the contest during the week of the fight due to an eye infection. The withdrawal from the bout, caused Vettori to become very upset and the two have bickered back and forth during the lead up to the new scheduled bout at UFC Tampa. The two even almost came to blows during the weigh-ins, after Vettori pushed Sanchez.

Vettori entered the fight on the heels of a win over Cezar Ferreira. The victory for the Italian was after he served a six-month suspension for a USADA violation. Sanchez came into the bout looking to extend his winning streak to three. He defeated Markus Perez in August of 2018, and then followed it up with a victory over Marc-Andre Barriault in May.

Round 1

Vettori came out in the southpaw stance while Sanchez stood orthodox. The Italian fighter opened the action with a combination that backed Sanchez up. The younger fighter began to taunt Sanchez while continuing to land hard shots on the former Ultimate Fighter winner. The Kings MMA team member landed a nice step-in knee and followed up with more shots from range. The Italian Dream kept unloading with several hard combinations, which Sanchez had no answer for.  Sanchez got his head snapped back once again and hit with two hard knees. El Dirte didn’t respond with strikes but instead barked at him calling for more shots. He shouldn’t have done this as Vettori gave him what he wanted and backed him up with another series of hard punches. Sanchez shot in for a takedown near the end of the round but the Italian easily brushed off the attempt as the round ended.

CageSide Press scored the round 10-9 Vettori 

Round 2

The action picked up right where it left off with Vettori continuing to bring all the action including another perfectly placed step-in knee. Sanchez began to press forward throwing wild haymakers but nothing landed. The American finally landed a clean overhand right but was still getting controlled by his counterpart. Sanchez stood in the range that Vettori wanted and was just getting blasted with clean shots. Finally, he shot in on a single leg and was blocked easily once again and punished with a hard combination. Sanchez tried to press forward to end the round but just continued to walk into punches from Vettori as the round ends.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Vettori

Round 3

Sanchez came out aggressive to start the round and did hit Vettori with a nice spinning back fist. The 26-year-old shook his head as it didn’t hurt and started to land his own shots once again. He attempted a takedown of his own, but couldn’t get Sanchez down. The Ultimate Fighter winner hit Vettori with another spinning back fist but couldn’t knock Vettori out. The Italian appeared to not be hurt and began to pop shot Sanchez once again. He buckled Sanchez with a body shot but the American wouldn’t go down. The last 90 seconds saw both fighters exchanging hard strikes including some heavy kicks to the body from Vettori as the round and fight came to an end.

Cageside Press scored the round 10-9 Vettori (30-27 Vettori)

Marvin Vettori def. Andrew Sanchez by Unanimous Decision (30-27 x3)

The post UFC Tampa Results: Marvin Vettori Wins Grudge Match Against Andrew Sanchez appeared first on Cageside Press.

The injury to David Branch was initially reported by MMA Junkie’s Nolan King, while the new Marvin Vettori vs. Andrew Sanchez bout at UFC Vancouver was reported by MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin.

The extent of David Branch’s injury is unknown at this time. He was looking to bounce back from a two-fight losing streak and improve his 2-3 record in the Octagon in his current stint.

Stepping in for Branch is Marvin Vettori, who is on the upswing after a brief USADA suspension. The Italian bounced back from spending over a year on the shelf by defeating Cezar Ferreira in an entertaining fight last month. Vettori is 3-2-1 in the Octagon including a razor-close fight with interim champion Israel Adesanya.

Andrew Sanchez is a wrestler through and through who earned a shot at The Ultimate Fighter after accumulating a 7-2 record and acquiring the RFA middleweight title. Sanchez ran through the show and defeated Khalil Rountree to win the show. Since then, he is 3-2, most recently defeating Canadian prospect Marc-Andre Barriault.

Vettori will quickly go from fighting a submission-first grappler in Ferreira, to a wrestling-based grappler in Sanchez. Both following a fight against one of the UFC’s finest strikers in Israel Adesanya. He’s certainly been getting a taste of the wide world of mixed martial arts lately.

UFC Vancouver takes place on September 14 from the Rogers Arena in British Colombia, Canada. Headlining the card is a highly-anticipated fight between fan-favorites Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Justin Gaethje. Also reported today was a bout between top Canadian prospect Brad Katona taking on Hunter Azure, and Michel Pereira vs. Sergey Khandozhko was officially announced.

The post UFC Vancouver: Marvin Vettori Replaces David Branch Against Andrew Sanchez appeared first on Cageside Press.