Tatsuro Taira

Tatsuro Taira turned in a great performance but was ultimately edged out in a split decision against Brandon Royval in the main event of UFC Vegas 98. Taira’s loss on Saturday was his first loss in MMA as an amateur or pro (Heading into the bout he was 16-0 as a pro, 9-0 as an amateur).

Tatsuro entered the bout ranked at #5 in the UFC’s flyweight division while Royval was ranked at #1.

Tatsuro’s next fight is a little tricky with how many moving parts there are going on at 125lbs. currently. The fight that would make the most sense would be against Steve Erceg. Steve is coming off of two devastating losses. A failed title shot against Alexandre Pantoja and in his most recent fight, a first-round stoppage to Kai Kara France. He’s only 3-2 with the UFC while Taira is 6-1. Erceg is currently ranked at #8 and because both are still very much seen as prospects it’s the ideal fight to make at this point.

Tatsuro’s next fight: Steve Erceg

Brad Tavares

Brad Tavares lost a split decision in his 25th UFC fight to Jun Yong Park in the co main event of UFC Vegas 98. Tavares definitely had his moments during the fight but ultimately was not able to secure the victory. Tavares has now lost two in a row and has just won one fight out his last five.

A good next opponent for Taveres would be Albert Duraev. Albert is a 2021 Contender Series product that has since gone 2-2 with the UFC. Duraev’s last fight was in July of last year when he was finished by Jun Yong Park via second round rear naked choke. Albert was slated to fight in February against Robert Bryczek but had to withdraw because of visa issues. With a common last opponent and the guys Duraev has already faced (Joaquin Buckley, Roman Kopylov), drawing Tavares could make sense.

Brad’s next fight: Albert Duraev

Jared Gooden

Jared Gooden was outclassed everywhere in his three-round unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Chidi Njokuani. Jared’s time in the clinch against the cage would spell his doom during the fight as he was unable to match the output of his opponent. Gooden is now 1-2 since being resigned to the UFC in March of last year.

To make matters worse for Gooden, he missed weight ahead of his bout with Njokuani. This is the second time Gooden has missed weight in his three fight, second stint, with the UFC. (It’s his third time missing weight with the UFC in total.)

Gooden’s next fight in the UFC should be against Kevin Jousset. Kevin just lost to Bryan Battle last month when he was TKO’d in the second round. (In front of a home crowd too.) He’s now 2-1 with the UFC. Gooden and Jousset were actually scheduled to fight on May 11th, but Gooden withdrew due to a medical issue.

Jared’s next fight: Kevin Jousset

Rafa Garcia

Rafa Garcia was able to get little going in his second round TKO defeat to Grant Dawson on Saturday night. The loss snapped a two-fight winning streak over Maheshate Hayisaer and Clay Guida. Although Garcia was coming back from a long layoff after a devastating knee injury, the loss is a sizable set back.

Rafa Garcia should fight Elves Brener in his next fight. Elves is 3-2 in the UFC and is on a two-fight losing streak having lost to Myktybek Orolbai and most recently, Joel Alvarez, back in August. His two performance bonuses while with the UFC indicate that he is a dangerous striker and it would be a good matchup for Garcia coming off of the grappling heavy, Grant Dawson.

Rafa’s next fight: Elves Brener

Alex Morono

Alex Morono gave up a clear first round lead and ultimately lost a split decision to Daniel Rodriguez to begin the UFC Vegas 98 main card. Undoubtedly, a tough-to-stomach loss for Morono, as the veteran has now lost his last two fights and three of his last four.

Morono has fought so many guys in the weight class, a good fresh fight to give him would be the winner of Mike Mallot vs. Trevin Giles. That fight is going down on November 2nd. Giles lost his most recent fight, and Mallot has lost his last two. Either fight would make sense as Morono was extremely close to winning his bout on Saturday.

Alex’s next fight: Mike Mallott vs. Trevin Giles winner

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A hasty exchange to open Njokuani vs. Gooden resulted in a quick takedown for Gooden, though he was unable to keep the fight grounded. Instead, Njokuani returned to his feet, with Gooden pressing his weight into him against the fence.

The action would stay there for a while, though Njokuani would reverse position, firing off a few knees and looking for an opening to inflict more damage. There was plenty of clinch work in a round that ended with the two men glaring at one another after the horn as the ref sent them to their respective corners.

More clinch work came in the second as the pair again spent a good amount of time on the fence. Njokuani fired some crushing knees to the body, in particular about three minutes in, mixing in elbows over the top as well. His strikes in the clinch quickly ran up into double digits, while Jared Gooden appeared unable to get his back off the cage.

In round three, it was Gooden pursuing a takedown about 90 seconds in, but it wasn’t to be. They then moved back to center, where Njokuani was looking deadly. Powerful punches, and a head kick attempt underscored his potential to do damage. That forced Gooden to clinch up once again. Problem was, throughout most of the fight, he’d also lost those clinch exchanges.

Official Result: Chidi Njokuani def. Jared Gooden by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Friday’s official weigh-in was an orderly affair when it kicked off at 9AM local time in St. Louis, with the bulk of the line-up weighing in early, and all fighters hitting their mark. A couple of heavyweights were among the last to weigh in, including headliner Derrick Lewis, who tipped the scales at 264 pounds. One fighter, however, did not make it to the scale: Jared Gooden.

UFC officials announced towards 10AM local time that Gooden would not be weighing in due to a medical issue. As a result, his fight with French welterweight Kevin Jousset has been cancelled.

No details on the medical issue experienced by Gooden were disclosed. “Due to a medical problem, Jared Gooden cannot take the scales. His fight against Kevin Jousset is therefore canceled,” a statement on the UFC’s official French Twitter/X account read (translation via Google Translate).

Gooden is on his second UFC stint, and while he did not weigh in on Friday, he has struggled with weight management before. He’s missed weight twice under the UFC banner, first for a 2021 bout with Randy Brown, and more recently in his return to the promotion against Carlston Harris last year.

In December, Jared Gooden picked up a Performance of the Night bonus for his submission of Wellington Turman.

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The Fight Night card had a main event that felt a bit understated, overshadowed by a budding feud between co-main event lightweight Bobby Green and headliner Arman Tsarukyan. But Tsarukyan, who had been criticized by Green as “boring,” came through in a big way, knocking out Beneil Dariush in just over a minute at the Moody Center in Austin.

Boring? That electrifying finish capped off a night full of them. And with that in mind, White, the longtime UFC President and now CEO, opened up the pocket books, rewarding every finishing fighter with a Performance of the Night bonus.

Which means, alongside Tsarukyan, Jalin Turner will cash in for knocking out Bobby Green in the co-headliner. The biggest win of Turner’s career was unfortunately marred by a terrible stoppage by the ref, who stepped in so late it felt as if he had an axe to grind with the unconscious Green.

Sean Brady, Dustin Stoltzfus, and Miesha Tate also secured finishes on the night. But nothing was more surprising than back-to-back slam KOs, nearly identical, secured by Drakkar Klose and Cody Brundage.

Jared Gooden had the first finish of the night, a submission in a war with Brazilian welterweight Wellington Turman. And there was one other finish at UFC Austin — in a bout rewarded with Fight of the Night honors. That went to Ihor Potieria vs. Rodolfo Bellato, which saw Bellato earn a TKO finish late in the second.

Bellato did not double up on the bonus money, despite getting the finish. In total, eight Performance of the Night bonuses were awarded at UFC Austin, plus the Fight of the Night bonus. All bonus-winning fighters will pocket an additional $50,000 for their efforts, on top of their show/win money, outfitting pay etc.

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Both fighters were looking to return to the win column, with Brazil’s Turman entering the night off back-to-back defeats at the hands of Andre Petroski and Randy Brown. As for Gooden, he was in search of the first win of his second UFC stint.

The fight began with Gooden looking to put on the forward pressure where he let his hands start flying straightaway. Turman moved laterally whilst trying to land some counter shots as Gooden pushed forward. After the initial exchanges, Turman caught Gooden a few times with some hard shots, but it didn’t deter “NiteTrain” from coming forward. Through the first half of round one, both men had their moments of good work. The Brazilian started to ramp it up though and landed a solid flying knee which momentarily wobbled Gooden. Not long after, “The Prodigy” caught a leg of Gooden’s and took him for a big ride as he secured a slam takedown. For the final minute of the round, Turman did well to advance his positions on the ground where he looked for a guillotine, but couldn’t quite find it.

As round two began, Wellington Turman looked to keep his foot on the gas after an impressive first round. Within the first few punches, he hurt Gooden and had him on wobbly legs. Gooden returned a huge barrage of punches of his own which then wobbled the Brazilian and had him clearly dazed. The 29-year-old knew that he had to put Turman away as he was likely still hurt himself. From there he secured the clinch and landed a powerful hip toss where he transitioned to the back of Turman. He sunk in the rear-naked-choke and Turman had to tap.

Despite it only having been the second fight of the night, it would be hard for it to be beat for Fight of the Night.

Official result: Jared Gooden def. Wellington Turman via submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 1:11

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Gooden was making his return to the promotion, after being cut with a 1-3 UFC record. However, he then went 4-1 outside the UFC and earned the call back for this late notice opportunity. Before being knocked out by Rahkmonov, Harris had won his first two UFC fights by first round finish, and that success made him a favorite in the eyes of many going into the bout.

The fighters felt each other out early on in the first round. Gooden threw jabs and leg kicks which were somewhat effective but one leg kick was checked badly. Harris was searching so much for the overhand right that he began to look wild and silly with it almost, but after that he tightened up and landed on Gooden, who had his hands down all the time. Harris began to wobble Gooden somewhat with a few right hands in a row. Mechanically he was awkward, but he was still hitting Jared in the face.

In the pocket Harris landed a big combination of hooks with two minutes left but Gooden ate it and kept going. With ninety seconds Harris shot a takedown and had his attempt stuffed easily. Still, he landed a big right hand once again moments later. Gooden’s main output late in the round was just his jab, which landed at times but never with as much force as what Harris put out. Harris landed a big right elbow and then a straight right late in the round. The last fifteen seconds consisted of dirty boxing and clinch elbows from Harris as he wore on Gooden, who survived to the bell.

Talk about a first round!

How does your scorecard look so far? ✍️ #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/KXkN97mtb0

— UFC (@ufc) March 11, 2023

Carlston Harris opened round two with a takedown attempt right away but Gooden stopped it and ended up pushed up against the fence in the clinch. Harris looked to use his long limbs to trip Jared at first but then switched to a double leg and landed it cleanly. He ended up in full guard but immediately passed to side control. Harris was content to chill out in top half so he could land softer ground and pound. He never risked posturing up to throw harder strikes, just slowly smacking the ribs and head. Gooden’s feet were able to lock down the foot that Harris had still stuck in the guard, keeping Harris from doing more effective work.

Eventually Gooden started to come up on the single leg but Harris attacked a front choke. Gooden fought the hands but could not clear the front headlock position so he rolled into bottom side control. The round ended with Harris on top, having just passed to mount with one second left.

The final round started with Gooden clearly down on the scorecards. Harris once again came out with a takedown attempt and was again able to use it to get the front headlock, looking for a choke. Gooden defended it but Harris swung around to the back and Gooden was too slow to stop him. Harris immediately got both hooks in. Gooden turned into him but Harris rolled to stay in mount. He dropped elbows down on the skull of Jared Gooden, who scrambled to get to the fence. Harris transitioned to the back again but only got one hook in, so they ended up in the clinch.

Again Harris dropped down for a double leg and sat Gooden to his butt against the fence. Jared stood up and escaped momentarily but Harris threw a right hand which rocked him and level changed successfully once more. Gooden eventually got up again but he appeared tired with one minute left and fell prey to another takedown. The fight ended with Harris still dominant, dropping down elbows on Jared Gooden.

The judges scorecards held no surprises as they unanimously had Carlston Harris the winner, with 30-27 scores.

Official Result: Carlston Harris def. Jared Gooden by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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Gooden (22-8) is set to face Carlston Harris (17-5) in a short-notice welterweight match-up first reported by MMA Fight Universe. Harris confirmed his new opponent on social media, adding what may or may not have been a dig at Nurmagomedov.

“My new opponent is now Jared Gooden,” he wrote. “Abubakar Nurmagomedov have some kind of sickness to deal with?”

The most unfortunate aspect of this news however, is that it renders one of Sodiq Yusuff’s picks moot.

Gooden’s first run with the company lasted four fights between 2020 and 2021 and saw him go 1-3, with the lone win coming against Niklas Stolze. Since his release off a loss to Randy Brown, however, Gooden has gone 4-1 with wins over notable names like Curtis Millender and Demarques Jackson.

Harris is 2-1 in the UFC thus far, with his first loss coming in his last outing — albeit to the formidable Shavkat Rakhmonov, who just this past weekend earned a Fight of the Night bonus for his UFC 285 match-up with Geoff Neal.

UFC Las Vegas takes place March 11, 2023 at The Theatre at Virgin Hotels with the following fights attached:

• Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili
• Alexander Volkov vs. Alexander Romanov
• Nikita Krylov vs. Ryan Spann
• Ricardo Ramos vs. Austin Lingo
• Said Nurmagomedov vs. Jonathan Martinez
• Vitor Petrino vs. Anton Turkalj
• Karl Williams vs. Łukasz Brzeski
• Raphael Assuncao vs. Davey Grant
• Sedriques Dumas vs. Josh Fremd
• Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti
• Ariane Lipski vs. JJ Aldrich
• Victor Henry vs. Tony Gravely
• Tyson Nam vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva

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That made for some interesting match-ups, and the possibility of a number of redemption stories.

Topping the event was two-time UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson, looking to snap a two-fight skid against fellow UFC alum Francisco Rivera in a bantamweight match-up. Rivera, who had last competed in the octagon in 2016, had returned to action last year, going 2-1 in 2021.

The co-feature saw Bellator, UFC, and PFL vet Curtis Millender in action against Jared “Nite Train” Gooden, fresh off a win at iKon FC 1 over Aaron Highbaugh.

Zak Ottow, meanwhile, was looking for his fourth straight win since parting ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, against Kyle Stewart — with the explicit goal of returning to the big show with a big finish.

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Zak Ottow ahead of this one.

XMMA 4: Black Magic goes down Saturday, April 2, 2022 at The Fillmore in New Orleans, Louisiana. The card airs live exclusively on Fight Network, with the broadcast getting underway at 7PM ET. Full results from the event can be found below.

XMMA 4: Black Magic Results

Main Card

John Dodson def. Francisco Rivera Jr. by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jared Gooden def. Curtis Millender by TKO, Round 2, 0:16
Kyle Bochniak def. Carlton Minus by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Ange Loosa def. John Howard by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Kyle Stewart def. Zak Ottow by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

John Sweeney def. Cole Smith by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Sasha Palatnikov def. Kyron Bowen by TKO (ground n’ pound), Round 1, 4:03
Westin Wilson def. Tyrek Malveaux by submission (side choke), Round 1, 1:59
Louie Sanoudakis def. Tateki Matsuda by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Adli Edwards def. Josh Harvey by submission (arm-triangle choke), Round 1, 4:45
Andrew Garrette def. Justin Mead by TKO, Round 1, 1:36

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Among the most notable, heavyweight Greg Hardy, who previously confirmed his exit from the company on social media. Hardy’s inclusion on the UFC roster was a heated point of contention for many, given allegations of domestic violence had derailed his NFL career, including a conviction that was later dropped on appeal.

Hardy (7-5, 1NC) found some success early in his UFC run, which he earned after picking up a developmental deal on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018 (Hardy in fact appeared twice on the show that season). He posted a 4-2, 1NC record through his first seven fights, with losses to Allen Crowder (DQ) and Alexander Volkov — long a contender in the heavyweight division.

His last three fights saw the Greg Hardy MMA experiment come to an end, at least for now. Stoppage losses to Marcin Tybura, Tai Tuivasa, and Sergey Spivak saw Hardy with little answer to even slight steps up in competition.

In a brief statement on social media, Hardy wrote “What a run, ya boy is far from done just got some fine tuning to do. Thank you to all my fans and haters. I appreciate you all. Mostly I appreciate my coaches, family, and the UFC for giving me the opportunity to shine bright.”

Also gone from the roster is Davi Ramos (10-4), who requested his release after what he said was years of not being offered a fight. Ramos last competed in 2020, and has lost his last two bouts, to Islam Makhachev and Armen Tsarukyan. Ramo’s request to be released/departure was first reported by MMA Fighting.

“The Colombian Queen” Sabina Mazo (9-4) has also been shown the door. Mazo competed just last weekend at UFC Vegas 50, dropping her third straight fight, this time against fellow prospect Miranda Maverick.

UFC Roster Watch, an automated service on Twitter that monitors the UFC roster, noted the removal of Mazo from the fighter database on Wednesday. It also listed the removal of Jared Gooden (19-7), whose contract expired in January. He has since competed and won for Jorge Masvidal’s iKon FC.

Earlier this month, the UFC removed Teemu Packalen (8-3) and Irwin Rivera (11-6) from their roster. Packalen had announced his retirement in November, while Rivera, who was arrested on charges of attempted murder involving his sisters last year, but found not guilty by reason of insanity, recently fought for Eagle FC.

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Then known as iKon Fighting Federation, the rebranded iKon FC debuted Friday, January 21, 2022 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Palm Beach, FL. All the action from iKon FC 1 streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

In the main event, former UFC welterweight Jared Gooden, who went 1-3 through his four fights inside the octagon, looked to get back in the win column against Aaron Highbaugh. Gooden was coming off a loss to Randy Brown that had brought his UFC run to an end.

Full results from iKon FC 1 can be found below.

iKon FC 1 Results

Jared Gooden def. Aaron Highbaugh by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
SD Dumas def. Dewitt Dixon by knockout (head kick), Round 1, 0:59
Hamdy Abdelwahab def. Dustin Clements by TKO (Leg Injury), Round 3, 3:25
Dave Gladfelter def. Dylan Budka by Submission (Rear Naked Choke), Round 3, 3:39
Amun Cosme def. Alexander Schenk by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Luis Hernandez def. Nolan Legg by TKO (Ground and Pound), Round 1, 3:20
Mansher Khera def. Travis Floyd by Submission (Rear Naked Choke), Round 2, 2:13

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