UFC Roster Watch, an automated service that monitors the promotion’s fighter database, was first to note that light heavyweight Fabio Cherant had been removed from the roster. Cageside Press later confirmed that the “Water Buffalo” is no longer with the company.

Additionally, a report from MMA Junkie on Monday revealed that bantamweight Hunter Azure had parted ways with the organization.

Hunter Azure (9-2), a 29-year old Montana native training at Fight Ready in Arizona, last competed in April of 2021, coming up short against Jack Shore. The 2019 Dana White’s Contender Series winner went 2-2 through four fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, picking up wins against TUF 27 champ Brad Katona, and Katona’s fellow Canadian Cole Smith.

In addition to the Shore loss, Azure fell to Brian Kelleher in a featherweight bout in May 2020. Despite losing via knockout, Azure shared in the Fight of the Night bonus at UFC Fight Night 171.

Fabio Cherant (7-4) went 0-3 in his run with the UFC. After capturing the LFA light heavyweight championship last year, Cherant jumped straight into the thick of things, facing Alonzo Menifield at UFC 260 last March. He wound up submitted, and adding insult to injury, missed weight for the fight.

Cherant would fight twice more for the promotion, and was knocked out by William Knight last August before losing a decision against Carlos Ulberg earlier this month.

The post Fabio Cherant, Hunter Azure Latest Fighters to Exit UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

Ulberg (4-1) defeated Fabio Cherant (7-4) via unanimous decision after going the full 15 minutes in the octagon.

“Fabio you know, I expected him to come out a bit more as a bull given his nickname, and watching a bit of his history of his fights. But again it takes two to tango and I guess he just didn’t want it as much as I did,” Ulberg said in his post-fight scrum.

After lackluster first round between Ulberg and Cherant it seemed as though the former found his rhythm and began to dominate the fight.

“I knew from the get go that Fabio felt my dominance, he felt my presence. So after every single round I knew that he kind of just, he was looking for that big shot. I had to keep myself aware of that. I keep my focus with it. It’s a light heavyweight division anyone can get knocked out. You’ve got the speed and you’ve got the power, we’re just below the heavyweights, so everyone’s got power so you’ve got to be careful.”

Moving forward from Cherant after a dominant win Ulberg seemed to joke about a future opponent, but he did give a name.

“Not yet, but I’ll go home and we’ll see. Maybe we’ll go to Vegas and we’ll talk. I didn’t get too badly hurt or anything but who knows. Paulo Costa,” Ulberg said chuckling when he named Costa.

Watch the full UFC 271 post-fight press conference with Carlos Ulberg above.

The post Carlos Ulberg Dominates Cherant At UFC 271, Expected More of a Bull appeared first on Cageside Press.

The kickboxer had made his octagon debut last year, to much fanfare. Unfortunately, the New Zealand light heavyweight known as “Black Jag” had allowed himself to be drawn into deep waters against Kennedy Nzechukwu, ultimately being stopped in the latter half of the second round.

For his second go-round, Ulberg was paired up with Fabio Cherant. “The Water Buffalo” had lost his first two fighters in the UFC, and was in must-win territory on Saturday.

Both men started the fight off feeling each other out through opening two minutes, with Ulberg having success with the calf kick. Ulberg continued to press until a kick to the groin near the midway mark of the round. After the break Cherant came right out the gate with a big shot, leading to both men clinching and Ulberg successfully taking his opponent down. Although Ulberg was pressing for the rest of the round, Cherant was able to land a big straight left at the end of the round, dropping Ulberg.

One minute into the second round, Ulberg landed a hard counter left, opening a cut up above Cherant’s right eye. Through five minutes of the second, it was much the same story as in round on: Ulberg pressuring and Cherant looking for a counter. Ulberg expertly feinted, working his jab and going back to the body/legs with his kicks. Round two was all Ulberg, with Cherant looking hesitant to engage.

Different round same start in the third. Ulberg continued to work through his kickboxing arsenal while Cherant backed up and looked to counter with a big left. Ulberg landed a nice combo at the 2:15 mark and supplemented that with some big body shots. Cherant attempted some offense with a minute remaining, and Ulberg clinched, leading to his second successful takedown.

Ulberg’s pressure and Cherant’s lack of aggression was the story of the fight. Ulberg redeemed his last loss and moves to 6-1. Cherant is now 7-4, putting him on a three fight losing streak in the UFC. The question now is will Cherant get another fight, or will the “Water Buffalo” be put to pasture?

Official Result: Carlos Ulberg def. Fabio Cherant by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Multiple sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity have confirmed to Cageside Press that Carlos Ulberg will fight Fabio Cherant at UFC 271 on February 12.

Ulberg (3-1) suffered his first professional loss in his UFC debut. At UFC 259 in March, he was knocked out by Kennedy Nzechukwu in the second round. Before his most recent loss, he earned a UFC contract on season four of Dana White’s Contender Series by knocking out Bruno Oliveira in two minutes.

Cherant (7-3) will have his back against the wall when he faces Ulberg in February, as he has lost his first two UFC fights. In his UFC debut, he was submitted by Alonzo Menifield in a little over a minute, and then most recently, he was knocked out by William Knight at UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum in August. Cherant is the former LFA light heavyweight champion.

No location, venue, or broadcast plan has been officially announced for the February 12 UFC pay-per-view. However, the highly anticipated middleweight championship rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker is rumored to headline the event.

UFC 271 currently looks like this:

• Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Sergey Morozov
• AJ Dobson vs. Jacob Malkoun
• Kyler Phillips vs. Marcelo Rojo
• Renato Moicano vs. Alexander Hernandez
• Casey O’Neill vs. Roxanne Modafferi
• Vinc Pichel vs. Mark O. Madsen
• Carlos Ulberg vs. Fabio Cherant

The post Carlos Ulberg vs. Fabio Cherant Added To UFC 271 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Cherant, a CES alum, was up against DWCS contract winner William Knight at Saturday’s Fight Night event.

Fighting out of Hartford, CT, Knight was another New Englander, and proved to be a nightmare for Cherant in the Battle of New England.

Early in the fight, Knight backed up Cherant and landed a nasty calf kick. Cherant landed a front kick. Knight landed two more nasty calf kicks and went high but Cherant blocked it. Cherant rushed forward and landed a punch. Knight landed another leg kick and left punch afterward. Cherant landed another straight left that got Knight’s attention. Cherant then landed another punch to the body. Knight answered that a heavy body kick. Cherant rushed forward, and Knight landed a counter left hook that folded Cherant. Just like that, the fight was over.

The Knightmare is ALIVE AND WELL 🤯🤯🤯 @Knightmare205 #UFCVegas34 pic.twitter.com/NJExLh6sB7

— UFC (@ufc) August 22, 2021

Knight is back in the win column with the victory, improving his UFC record to 2-1. Cherant is now on a two-fight skid, having been finished in both of his fights. That puts him in must-win territory moving forward, but his debut coming on short notice should get him another look.

Official Result: William Knight def. Fabio Cherant by knockout (punch) Round 1, 3:58

The post UFC Vegas 34 Results: William Knight Knocks Out Fabio Cherant In First Round appeared first on Cageside Press.

Three days. Cherant (7-2) found out he was fighting Alonzo Menifield at UFC 260 back in March on just three days’ notice. A month prior, he had fought Myron Dennis at LFA 99 for the LFA light heavyweight title and went five rounds. The “Water Buffalo” would end up winning a unanimous decision.

Unfortunately, in his UFC debut, Cherant would miss weight by 0.5lbs and was later submitted in a little over a minute.

In an exclusive interview with Cageside Press ahead of his return to the octagon at UFC Vegas 34, Cherant explained the circumstances that went into the weight miss.

“It was COVID. It was a huge thing. How many fighters missed weight during COVID, you know? Up here in Boston, it was a little tough to cut weight when gyms aren’t open and especially the gyms that I usually use, like the ones with saunas. Saunas are closed. You look at my fights before, and you check the weight I showed up on never 205 [lbs], 206 [lbs]. I’m always under 203 [lbs] 204 [lbs]. People are forgetting that,” Cherant said.

“In my last fight on two days’ notice, I got my weight down to .5, 206.5. Not 215, 206.5, on a fight that I took on two days’ notice. I was totally unprepared for it. Yeah, at the end of the day, I’m a professional, and I should have been working out, but people forget, a month before I fought for a world title and went five rounds while still nursing injuries. Taking a fight on two days’ notice when you are unprepared is a whole different ball game.”

Cherant says that this time around, he had a great camp, and that the weight cut will not be a problem when he faces William Knight this weekend at UFC Vegas 34.

Check out the rest of the interview above, where Fabio Cherant talks about his fight with William Knight, training at Sanford MMA, his nickname, and more.

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MMA Junkie was first to report the news that William Knight will fight Fabio Cherant on August 21 at a yet-to-be-announced event. Both fighters would confirm the booking via social media.

Knight (9-2) had his three-fight win streak snapped last month at UFC on ABC 2. There, he lost a lopsided unanimous decision to Da Un Jung. “Knightmare” was originally scheduled against Alonzo Menifield, but the fight was cancelled twice, which led to an opponent change. Before his first UFC loss, Knight was successful in his UFC debut against Aleksa Camur at UFC 253 on ‘Fight Island’ and received a contract on season four of Dana White’s Contender Series.

Cherant (7-2) also had his three-fight win streak snapped earlier this year at UFC 260. He was submitted against Knight’s original opponent Menifield in the first round. Cherant took the fight on very short notice, but he also missed weight for the first time in his career. Prior to his UFC debut, “Water Buffalo” was riding high off winning the vacant LFA Light Heavyweight Championship.

The UFC matchmakers seem to be having fun with this one. Cherant’s first professional loss was to Camur, who was Knight’s UFC debut, and Knight was supposed to fight Menifield, which was Cherant’s debut. Both fighters are veterans of the New England regional scene.

No location, venue, or broadcast details have yet to be announced by the promotion for UFC’s August 21 event. No other fights have been reported outside of Fabio Cherant vs. William Knight.

The post Fabio Cherant vs. William Knight Set For August 21 UFC Event appeared first on Cageside Press.

That light heavyweight showdown saw Alonzo Menifield return to action. Menifield was no doubt lucky to still be on the card, after original opponent William Knight was forced out with just days to go until the event. There’s your uncertainty. But then opportunity came knocking on Fabio Cherant’s door, and he was happy to step up on three day’s notice to fill in against Menifield.

Cherant did miss weight for the fight, but by a mere half-pound, which will probably keep him in the UFC’s good graces, given the late notice. What he couldn’t do was pull out a win. Instead, he found himself shocked by a finish few would ever have predicted.

Menifield got right after things on Saturday, punching to close the distance and scoring a takedown on Cherant. That big takedown had Cherant defending with a guillotine. Cherant was still holding onto the guillotine after being firmly planted on his back, Menifield on top. Which allowed him to make Cherant tap with a Von Flue choke.

Von Flue! Von Preux!

Whatever you call it – @AlonzoMenifield just got it done 😱 #UFC260 pic.twitter.com/1eLTs11ZZY

— UFC (@ufc) March 28, 2021

With the shock finish at UFC 260, Alonzo Menifield becomes one of four fighters to win via Von Flue choke in promotion history.

Official Result: Alonzo Menifield def. Fabio Cherant by Submission (Von Flue Choke), Round 1, 1:11

The post UFC 260 Results: Alonzo Menifield Shocks Fabio Cherant, Everybody Else with Von Flue Choke appeared first on Cageside Press.

For UFC 260 we will take a look at some fighters with only a few (5 or less) fights in the UFC, rather than those fighters that are long-time UFC veterans with a bunch of finishes with the promotion.

Alonzo “Atomic” Menifield (9-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC)

Total Number of Pro MMA Finishes: 9

Via KO/TKO:  7

Via Submission: 2

Total Number of UFC Finishes: 2

Via KO/TKO: 2

(Vinicius Moreira, Paul Craig)

Via Submission: 0

Alonzo Menifield, a veteran of the 2017 and the 2018 season of Dana White’s Contender Series, has hit a bit of a rough patch as of late, losing his last two fights to Devin Clark and Ovince St. Preux.

But let’s not forget exactly what Alonzo Menifield is capable of with the huge power he posses in his hands. Menifield has 8 of his 9 finishes coming in the very first round and he has only heard the final bell sound just one time in his fight career (against Devin Clark).

Menifield’s last win (and finish) came in 2019 when Paul Craig made the mistake of trying a spinning hook kick which Alonzo was able to evade and then get his opponent to the ground and dribble his head off the canvas. Alonzo Menifield is explosive and because of that, he’s a fighter you can’t ever take your eye off of, even on a two fight losing steak. At UFC 260 Menifield will welcome UFC newcomer Fabio Cherant (featured on the next page) in a short notice fight that is sure to be a banger.

"That's all it takes!" 😳

One shot from @AlonzoMenifield can put you 𝐨𝐮𝐭! #UFC250 pic.twitter.com/67ZNvZq0tU

— UFC (@ufc) June 1, 2020

The post Finishing the Fight: UFC 260 — Menifield vs. Cherant and Worthy vs. Mullarkey appeared first on Cageside Press.

Fabio “Water Buffalo” Cherant
6’1″
Light-heavyweight
26-years-old
Wrentham, Massachusetts, US
Lauzon Mixed Martial Arts
7-1
5 Submissions’

How Cherant will fare in the UFC:

Prior to his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019, I wasn’t too impressed with Cherant. In that Contender Series fight with Aleska Camur, I thought he had a decent performance prior to losing. Cherant went on to win his next three fights and looked much improved. Where he has impressed the most is no doubt his striking. Cherant now appears to have some solid striking. At times he will throw one shot at a time but when he lets go his combinations are very smooth. The “Water Buffalo” does well at mixing in just about everything, including leg kicks, head kicks, hooks, and knees putting it all together.

While it’s too soon to call him a superb striker, there’s no doubt he is improving. Cherant has a bad habit of letting guys press him on his back foot and putting him against the cage however. He’s been knocked out before but that was to a flush knee to the chin. Apart from that Cherant has taken huge shots flush and has absorbed everything just fine. Cherant does have a dangerous submission game holding six submission wins all coming in a form of a choke. Even though his submission game is strong his wrestling and jiu-jitsu aren’t at the same level. Cherant is only 26 and at this rate, I think he’s going to get better and better. I do think for 205 he’s too small as I think middleweight may be more appropriate, if he can make the weight.

• Striking: B-
• Kickboxing: B-
• Clinch: C
• Wrestling: C+
• Grappling: C+
• Striking Defense: C+
• Takedown Defense: C+
• Cardio: B+
• Biggest Strength: Submission game
• Biggest Weakness: TDD

How he matches up with Menifield:

The Menifield we had in 2019, I’d take him to win this fight. However, when he was finally tested past the first round against Devin Clark he looked subpar. After that, he fought OSP and was very tentative, ending up knocked out for the first time in his career. At this stage, it seems like Menifield is a one-round fighter who has gone gun-shy. In hindsight, some of his finishes were against opponents with compromised chins, and Cherant if anything has an iron chin. I like Cherant for the upset here. Even though Menifield has better wins Cherant has shown more. Cherant is much more well-rounded, he’s more active, his gas tank is better and he’s more aggressive. Menifield winning is dependent on an early knockout but I don’t see it. Instead, I like Cherant by decision

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