Anthony Hernandez

Sean Strickland melted and finished Anthony Hernandez against the cage in the third round of their main event affair to secure a TKO victory Saturday. The loss snapped an eight-fight unbeaten streak dating back six years. The 2018 Contender Series alum now falls to 9-3 under the UFC banner with a loss that truly stings in more ways than one.

Perfect next matchup here for the #4 ranked middleweight is to give him the winner of Reinier de Ridder vs Caio Borralho. That fight goes down in the co main event slot of UFC 326 on March 7th. Both RDR and Caio Borralho are coming off of their first losses with the promotion. (#7) Borralho is 7-1, and lost to Nassourdine Imavov in September, while (#8) RDR is 4-1 and just fell to Brendan Allen in October. Fluffy was even supposed to face RDR instead of Allen in October but a hand injury forced him out of the bout. This could be another main event on a fight night card or on the main card of a pay per view with the winner a fight or two from a title shot.

Hernandez’s next fight: Reinier de Ridder vs Caio Borralho winner

Geoff Neal

Uros Medic took just 79 seconds to flatten Geoff Neal with a left hook and claim a first round victory in the co main event of UFC Houston. Geoff, who entered the fight ranked at #12 in the welterweight division, now falls to 8-6 under the promotional banner. Geoff has now won just one bout in his last five, falling to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Machado Garry, Carlos Prates, and now Medic. Who knows where Neal will fall in the rankings as Medic entered the bout on Saturday unranked.

A good next fight for Neal would be the loser of Myktybek Orolbai vs Chris Curtis. That fight is on March 14th. Curtis, has had one fight since moving down to welterweight, and was once highly ranked at 185lbs. He’s 6-4, 1 NC in the UFC. Orolbai is 4-1 and is just coming off of a massive first round KO over former highly-ranked middleweight fighter, Jack Hermansson, last November. Myktybek also has a second round neck crank victory over Uros Medic in 2023. Great fight to keep Neal right in it with competitive scrappers as he will likely lose his ranking and be looking for a name without one.

Neal’s next fight: Myktybek Orolbai vs. Chris Curtis loser

Dan Ige

Melquizael Costa caught Dan Ige with a perfectly timed spinning back kick before finishing him off with ruthless ground and pound, securing a finish seconds before the end of the first round on Saturday. Dan, who entered the fight ranked at #14 as a featherweight, will now likely slide out of the rankings. Especially taking into consideration that Costa was unranked heading into the fight. Ige now falls to 11-10 with the UFC. It has been a rough stretch for the Hawaiian who has won just one of his last five fights.

For his next fight I like Ige against the loser of (#13) Kevin Vallejos vs. (#11) Josh Emmett. That fight goes down on March 14th, so the timing could potentially work well.  If Ige draws Emmett it’d be a rematch from their December of 2021 fight where Emmett won a decision. If Josh loses he’d have lost four of his last five (just like Ige). Vallejos is 3-0 in the UFC and most recently stopped Giga Chikadze in December (bouncing him from the rankings).

Ige’s next fight: Kevin Vallejos vs. Josh Emmett Loser or Giga Chikadze

Ante Delija

Serghei Spivac turned in a solid performance defeating Ante Delija by unanimous division on Saturday. Spivac entered the fight ranked at #7 in the heavyweight division while Ante sat at #9. Both fighters were coming off of a loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta, who was just on fire in 2025. Of course, it goes without saying that no one is safe within the UFC’s heavyweight ranks after a loss.

For Ante, I could see a scenario where he is fed to a younger gun. At just 1-2 in the UFC his sole win came via first round finish against Marcin Tybura in his promotional debut in September of last year. Giving him the winner of Steven Asplund vs Vitor Petrino, which goes down on March 14th has potential. Both are very young (27 and 28, respectively) and are going strong in their UFC careers with winning records (1-0 and 6-2, respectively). They are both Contender Series guys, and both are unranked. Or, looking back a few months to a losers article, you could still give Ante- Shamil Gaziev. Shamil is 3-2 in the UFC and is ranked at #13 in the division. He’s coming off a loss to none other than Waldo Cortes-Acosta, back in late November so it could still work well here.

Delija’s next fight: Steven Asplund vs Vitor Petrino Winner or Shamil Gaziev

Josiah Harrell

Jacobe Smith dominated and finished Josiah Harrell on the ground to get a grimy finish on the main card of UFC Houston Saturday. It was the battle of the undefeated prospects as Harrel entered the fight with a 11-0 pro MMA record, with Smith being an identical 11-0 as a pro. However, this fight was Josiah’s first fight with the UFC. And on a shortened timeframe as Smith’s original opponent, Seok Hyeon Ko ,withdrew from the bout after a suffering a rib injury. Jacobe was a 2024 Contender Series veteran and already had two fights under his belt with the promotion.

So keeping all that in mind, Josiah has options when it comes to his next matchup. The UFC giving him someone with a bit of a name (but also winnable fight) is likely after he stepped up on short notice. A fight with Austin Vandeford, former Bellator title challenger could materialize. Vandeford is 1-1 with the UFC stopping Nikolay Veretennikov in his February 2025 debut before being stopped by Ramiz Brahimaj in October. He’s 13-3 as a pro and a good grappling based challenge. However, he just withdrew from a bout against Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani scheduled this card.

Solid backup would be Phil Rowe. Phil is a 2019 Contender Series product who is 4-5 with the promotion and built a name as a hard-nosed litmus test. He’s 1-2 in his last three, stopping Ange Loosa before dropping a pair of decisions to Seok Hyeon Ko and most recently, Jean-Paul Lebosnyani via split. Although, its worth noting he did miss weight in his last time out as he stepped in for one Austin Vandeford.

Harrell’s next fight: Phil Rowe or Austin Vanderford

Zach Reese

Michel Pereira barely edged past Zach Reese on the scorecards to secure a crucial victory in the main event opener of UFC Houston. Reese now falls to 4-3, 1 NC with the promotion since being signed off the Contender Series in 2023.  Reese has wins over Dusko Todorovic and most recently Jackson McVey, which earned himself a performance bonus in November. But Reese is in the hot seat here.

I’d match Reese up against a guy like Gearld Meerschaert. There are a lot of 185lbs. hanging around that level who have all struggled and fought each other (SD Dumas, Michal Oleksiejczuk, Reese, Marc-Andre Barriault, to name a few). Meerschaert is more established with the promotion than all of the above, and has whole bunch of submission victories too (to put it mildly).

Gerald is 12-13 with the promotion but is currently on a four-fight skid (Reinier de Ridder, Brad Tavares, Michal Oleksiejczuk and Kyle Daukaus back in November). Good match-up here, striker vs grappler, with the loser potentially packing their things.

Reese’s next fight: Gerald Meerschaert

The post What’s Next: UFC Houston Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Delija, who trains alongside UFC heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall, had initially thought he’d beaten WCA in their fight last November. After an eye poke was declared, however, the bout was restarted, and Waldo completed the comeback, landing a knockout blow later in the opening round.

Spivac, for his part, had lost his last two, with one of those opponents also being Waldo Cortes-Acosta.

Round 1 – The two met in the center of the cage, with a big early exchange that allowed Delija to show his speed advantage. The right hand was sharp and landed clean early, but Spivac returned with a nice flurry up close. Spivac tried picking his shots from the outside, avoiding the flurries of Delija in the pocket. Both men were opened up early on, with Delija bleeding from his nose and Spivac above his eye. Spivac’s jab started to land at a nice rate, even off the back foot; he was able to control Delija’s blitzes. Delija looked to land his left hook, but was whiffing more often than not.

Round 2 – Delija missed a couple of early punches, struggling with Spivac’s range management and distance control. The jab was clean from Spivac, covering Delija’s face with blood. He started to get more confident with his strikes, mixing in some clean right hands. After being timed on his jab, Delija caught Spivac with a big right and sent him to the cage, following up with some big combinations that hurt the Moldovan. Instead of continuing to land, Delija surprisingly went to the clinch, being reversed and held on the cage for most of the remainder of the round.

Round 3 – Spivac opened the final frame working his jab while trying to push Delija to the cage. Delija defended an initial takedown but was taken down on the follow-up attempt from Spivac. Spivac did a good job controlling on top, but Delija eventually worked back to his feet with 90 seconds to work. Delija attempted to work into range and land a big combination, but didn’t find the one he wanted. He did catch Spivac with a left hook right before the final bell, but didn’t land a big shot the way he did in Round 2.

Official Result: Serghei Spivac def. Ante Delija by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Houston: Serghei Spivac Shows Off Striking Improvements to Grind Out Win Over Ante Delija appeared first on Cageside Press.

Delija (26-7) is looking to bounce back from a weird loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta that he was not a fan of. The fight was initially stopped with what looked like a TKO finish for the Croatian heavyweight, but was later restarted when it was ruled Cortes-Acosta had been victim of an eye poke.

Delija was knocked out shortly after.

“I think the refs made a mistake here, and that the fight should not have continued,” he told Cageside Press on Wednesday. “I wanted to win a fair fight, and I think that fight should have been a No Contest. I’m sure I did not poke him in the eye.”

Still, the former PFL champ isn’t focused on a rematch at the moment. “I go step-by-step, I’m focused fully on [Serghei] Spivac right now, and we’ll see what the future holds.”

Delija trains with Tom Aspinall at Team Kaobon, and that’s been the case ahead of UFC Houston once again. Notably, the UFC heavyweight champ was absent this time out, after suffering an eye poke in his fight with Ciryl Gane.

“I’ve been training in Manchester at Tom’s gym for the last few months for this fight. Tom was not fighting with us, he was not training with us because his eye was still injured,” Delija noted. “He just had some kind of surgery done, and it’s going to take about three to four months to come back.”

Doesn’t sound like Aspinall will be available for the White House card in that case.

Watch the full UFC Houston media day appearance by Ante Delija above.

The post UFC Houston: Ante Delija Sheds Light into Aspinall Return Timetable appeared first on Cageside Press.

The post After ‘Year of Defeat,’ Serghei Spivac Seeks Fresh Start at UFC Houston appeared first on Cageside Press.

The extended-length main card boasted one extra fight to bring the total to six. Coincidentally, a total of six ranked fighters graced the card. Out of 13 fights, eight of them ended with a finish. Only one fight on the main card went the distance. In the co-main event, #6 ranked heavyweight Waldo Cortes-Acosta shucked a foul to get the finish over #9 ranked Ante Delija. And in the main event, #12 ranked featherweight Steve Garcia smoked #13 David Onama in the first round to close the night early. A sleeper card that ended up being pretty entertaining for fans as this edition of losers has its fair share of fighters with their backs to the wall in some form or another.

David Onama

Steve Garcia rocked and finished David Onama in the first round of the main event of UFC Vegas 110 on Saturday. The finish earned Garcia a bonus and snapped a four-fight win streak for David Onama. David is now 6-3 under the UFC banner since entering the promotion in 2024. His sole ranked win came earlier this year win he bested Giga Chikadze.

At this point, Onama needs to get back on the board. A fight against a name that’s dangerous, but a winnable fight. David should look to fight the winner of Joanderson Brito vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan. Especially if the fight ends with a finish. Those two fight on December 13 so it’s a little far off in terms of timing, but depending on how things move forward, it could still emerge as the best option. Brito is 5-3 in the UFC since being signed off the Contender Series in 2021. He’s dropped his last two fights both decisions to William Gomis and Pat Sabatini. Melsik is 3-2 with the UFC since being signed in 2020 off of the Contender Series. Baghdasaryan is coming off an ugly stoppage loss to Jean Silva back in February.

Neither fighter is ranked, so giving Onama the winner would be perfect. These fighters would essentially be fighting to hold the gatekeeper status of the featherweight rankings within the UFC.

Onama’s next fight: Joanderson Brito vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan Winner

Ante Delija

Waldo Cortes-Acosta fought through an early eye poke to finish Ante Delija just moments later, in the first round of their chaotic co-main event fight Saturday. The performance earned Waldo Cortes-Acosta a performance bonus and was Ante’s first loss under the UFC banner.

Ante is now just 1-1 with the promotion, demonstrating just how shallow the UFC is in their big man department. Ante should take on the loser of #12 Shamil Gaziev vs #7 Serghei Spivac. That fight goes down on November 22 so the timing wouldn’t be so bad. Spivac is 1-2 in his last three while Gaziev is 2-1 in his last three. Spivac also fought and lost to Waldo Cortes-Acosta back in June, though it was a unanimous decision affair. This fight makes a lot of sense for the division, as Delija as only faced #10 ranked Marcin Tybura within the division. He needs more tests/exposure and Gaziev or Spivac would offer that.

Delija’s next fight: Shamil Gaziev vs. Serghei Spivac Loser

Themba Gorimbo

Jeremiah Wells bested Themba Gorimbo in a hard-fought unanimous decision on Saturday. Themba now falls to 4-3 under the UFC banner and has lost two fights in a row.

Themba has lost a lot of momentum since starting off at 4-1 with the promotion. Gorimbo shouldn’t look too far for his next matchup as Phil Rowe, who competed on the undercard, offers a compelling matchup. Phil is 4-4 with the UFC and also suffered a defeat on Saturday as he dropped a unanimous decision to Seok Hyeon Ko, who is undefeated with the promotion. Rowe is also 1-2 in his last three fights and shares a common opponent/outcome with Themba (both finished Niko Price). Solid booking here that could be on the main card of a fight night event as both fighters have some notoriety.

Gorimbo’s next fight: Phil Rowe

Isaac Dulgarian

Isaac Dulgarian was submitted in the first round of his bout with Yadier del Valle on Saturday as his opponent remained undefeated. Dulgarian is now 2-2 with the promotion since being signed in early 2023.

Isaac’s next fight should be against the loser of the Jammal Emmers vs Hyder Amil fight. That fight takes place on November 8th, so the timing is perfect. Amil is 3-1 in the UFC since being signed off the Contender Series in 2021. Hyder just had his perfect 11-0 pro MMA record shattered in his last fight back in June, when Jose Delgado smoked him in under 30 seconds. Jammal Emmers is 4-4 with the promotion since his signing in early 2020. Emmers finished Gaberiel Miranda in the first round back in March in his last outing. These two were matched up after Austin Bashi fell out of the fight against Amil. Should be an extremely competitive fight and the loser drawing Dulgarian would be ideal as the loser will have a similar promotional record.

Dulgarian’s next fight: Jammal Emmers vs Hyder Amil Loser

Dulgarian has reportedly been released by the promotion, following a highly criticized performance and suspect line movement with sportsbooks shortly before the fight.

Daniel Frunza

Charles Radtke submitted Daniel Frunza with a rear naked choke in the final round of their bout on Saturday. Frunza is now 9-4 as a pro in MMA and has the scary promotional record of 0-2. (Other loss was to Rhys McKee.)

Daniel needs a winnable fight or could risk the axe from the promotion. Pairing Frunza up with a fighter like Gilbert Urbina seems like a good matchup at the moment. Urbina, a The Ultimate Fight Season 29 competitor, has gone 1-3 with the promotion since coming off the show in mid 2021. In Urbina’s most recent fight, back in August he was finished in 63 seconds by Uros Medic. Before that, Daniel was finished in the first round by none other than Charles Radtke, last February. Good fight to make with the loser potentially being cut from the promotion.

Frunza’s next fight: Gilbert Urbina

Cody Durden

Allan Nascimento secured a sneaky anaconda choke to submit his opponent Cody Durden in the second round of their fight on Saturday. Allan won a performance bonus for his submission while Durden has now lost 5 of his last 6 fights. Durden is in a rough spot currently as the five-year, 6-7-1, UFC vet needs a win, and badly.

Perfect fight for Durden would be to revisit a past cancelled bout. Durden was supposed to fight Carlos Hernandez in June of 2024 but withdrew. Durden is 1-4 since then while Hernandez is 1-2. Why not revisit the matchup? Hernandez was last in action back in May when Hyun Sung Park submitted Carlos in the first round of their bout.

Durden’s next fight: Carlos Hernandez

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 110 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Cortes-Acosta was ranked #6 in the weight class, giving an indication of just how highly the promotion thinks of Croatian heavyweight Ante.

Early on. Delija backed Cortes-Acosta up to the fence, but the larger heavyweight, by over twenty pounds, reversed, changing levels and looking for a double-leg takedown. Ref Mark Smith threatened to take the position for lack of action, only for Delija to peel away soon after. They’d wind up back in a similar spot, Delija taking the fight to the fence, Cortes-Acosta reversing. Less time spent in it, however.

Just when things seemed to be moving along, they exploded. Delija landed a couple of shots in an exchange, and Cortes-Acosta covered up, fired back, and covered up some more. Delija began picking his shots, and the ref halted the action — but did not wave off the fight. He went to the replay official, which showed the initial contact made was an eye poke, which forced Cortes-Acosta to cover up.

Delija, however, had been celebrating a win that was not forthcoming. Even a handful of promotion officials seem to think the fight was over.

Coincidentally, Delija’s teammate Tom Aspinall had been the victim of an accidental eye poke a week ago. Waldo-Cortes was given the option to continue, and could be heard saying his vision was improving. As with Aspinall, if Waldo could not continue, the bout would be a No Contest. Cortes-Acosta, after another minute or so, chose to carry on.

No point taken, and Cortes-Acosta went on the attack immediately when the action resumed. Moments later, he dropped Delija, and followed up with hammer fists! That was the fight. This one will be controversial, as Delija initially thought he had won the fight, though the replay was clear, and the turn of events unimaginable.

Waldo Cortes-Acosta was still nursing his eye during his post-fight interview, saying he felt the finger dig his eye. “I felt like I could continue,” he added, saying that despite having 20% vision, “I don’t give a f*ck.”

Official Result: Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Ante Delija by KO, Round 1, 3:59

The post Wild Turn of Events Sees Waldo Cortes-Acosta Go From Poke to KO of Ante Delija in UFC Vegas 110 Co-Main appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I got a lot of ideas of how I can be in the future. To develop a little more in the Octagon, to be better and to prepare myself better to be ready to counter strike and always strike back when something happens,” Cortes-Acosta told reporters on Wednesday.

Cortes-Acosta (14-2) has spent most of his UFC career competing inside the APEX, and “Salsa Boy” says the familiar setting feels like home.

“I consider this as my house. I feel comfortable every time, my family is close to me in Arixona, I have a lot of friends here in Vegas. Can pass time with those people before and after the fight,” he said.

Cortes-Acosta has studied Delija’s career from afar, long before their names ever shared a fight poster. Now that they’re set to collide, he views this matchup as a chance to defend his ground and make a statement in familiar territory.

“I feel good because I’ve seen Delija long time ago before I started in professional mma. I follow a lot of tips that he’s done in the Octagon before. But this is my territory now, this is my town this is my home I need to protect my legacy I need to protect my level right now. and it’ll be a war this Saturday,” said Cortes-Acosta.

“Delija is a training partner of the champion that people like here, Tom Aspinall. And we saw him in the Octagon this Saturday and everything happening, I wanna be ready for the title shot for him,” said Cortes-Acosta.

“I see Tom Aspinall different fighter, I think he wasn’t ready on that day for that fight. I see Ciryl Gane different, Aspinall bleeding a lot in the first minute. Anybody who gets pecked in the eyes in the first round doesn’t want to continue forward, not even wanting to give the opportunity to the other person, give him the belt, for poking him in the eyes.”

With Aspinall’s no-contest result still generating debate among fans, Cortes-Acosta was asked for his perspective on the unusual ending. The heavyweight didn’t hesitate to defend the champion and point out the realities of the sport.

“Any situation is not intentional. You have an open hand glove, when you try to protect yourself, your reaction is gonna be to open your hand. I know some people are saying Tom Aspinall doesn’t want to fight, he has all the right to say no. Just do a rematch and come back better,” he said.

“Any glove can poke your eyes, you just need to pay attention more to what you’re doing.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Waldo Cortes-Acosta above. He faces Ante Delija at UFC Vegas 110 on Saturday night.

The post Waldo Cortes-Acosta Ready to Defend “Home Turf” Against Former PFL Champ Delija appeared first on Cageside Press.

A former PFL champion with a reputation for suffocating pressure and finishing instincts, Delija now has the chance to make an statement at the UFC APEX against Cortes-Acosta.

“I need to be very careful because of his strong knockout power. He’s 120 kilograms so I don’t think I should get very close to him,” Delija told reporters on Wednesday.

“I really practiced a lot with my coach, I do believe that I’m a better fighter, and that I will win. I’m going to focus on staying strong on my feet.”

Delija (26-6) trains alongside UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. Aspinall’s second title defense ended in disappointment after an accidental eye poke forced the fight to be ruled a no-contest, a result that drew heavy criticism from some fans for his decision not to continue.

“I think he did a great job with not continuing, and if more fighters do the same thing, I think we can prevent the same thing from happening again,” he said.

“More fighters should do the same thing, and more fighters should be punished for behaving that way. I had 33 fights and I never poked somebody in the eye. The punishment for (committing fouls) should be severe.”

“I am not 100% sure what (it is), but he still doesn’t have eyesight in one of his eyes. Still not fully recovered,” he said.

“In my opinion Tom is a better fighter in general, and I did see that in that fight as well,” said Delija.

“I believe he’s going to win definitely in the next fight.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Ante Delija above. He faces Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Vegas 110 on Saturday night.

The post Ante Delija Expects Violence against Cortes-Acosta, Defends Aspinall Over No-Contest Controversy appeared first on Cageside Press.

On Friday, promotion officials confirmed a previous report by Club De Las MMA that #6-ranked Waldo Cortes-Acosta (14-2) will face the #10-ranked Ante Delija (26-6) at a UFC Fight Night event on November 1, 2025.

The bout is expected to serve as the card’s five-round main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Delija has just one fight inside the octagon to date, making quick work of veteran Marcin Tybura at UFC Paris earlier this month (the pair had previously met in 2015, under the M-1 banner, with Delija falling to a leg injury). Yet the former PFL champ has long been coveted by the promotion, with the UFC having booked him for a fight with Ciryl Gane in 2020, only for the Croatian to be unable to get out of his contract with the PFL.

Ante would go on to win the PFL’s 2022 tournament, and is 7-1 in his last eight fights.

Cortes-Acosta, meanwhile, is coming off a loss to Sergei Pavlovich that snapped a five-fight win streak of his own.

UFC Vegas 110 on November 1 currently features the following reported match-ups:

• Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ante Delija
• Norma Dumont vs. Ketlen Vieira
• Yadier del Valle vs. Isaac Dulgarian
• Billy Elekana vs. Kevin Christian
• Allan Nascimento vs. Rafael Estevam

The post UFC: Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. Ante Delija Announced for Nov. 1 appeared first on Cageside Press.

In the end, forgoing a Fight of the Night, the promotion opted to award four Performance of the Night bonuses following Saturday’s Fight Night event at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.

Among the winners, incoming heavyweight Ante Delija, a former PFL champion who the UFC had first attempted to sign years ago. The Croatian made his debut opposite Marcin Tybura, a tried and battle-tested Polish big man who has consistently hung with some of the best in the division. He didn’t hang with Delija for long, however, with the knockout finish coming just past two minutes into the opening round.

Co-headliner Benoit Saint-Denis, meanwhile, submitted Fighting Nerd Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event to secure his own $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus at UFC Paris. “BSD” was dominant with his wrestling and cruising to victory regardless when he sunk in a rear-naked choke in the second round. It was a rough night for Brazil’s Fighting Nerds, as Ruffy’s teammate Caio Borralho was soundly defeated in his main event fight opposite Nassourdine Imavov.

The remaining two Performance bonuses at UFC Paris were awarded to Mason Jones, for a TKO finish of Bolaji Oki, and Kaue Fernandes, who chopped down newcomer and ex-Cage Warriors champ Harry Hardwick with leg kicks. Only two fights went the distance on the night, with all seven fights on the prelims and four more on the main card ending early.

The post Newcomer Delija, France’s BSD Earn Performance Bonuses at UFC Paris appeared first on Cageside Press.