Josh Emmett

Kevin Vallejos(#14) peppered and finished Josh Emmett(#11) in the first round of their main event on Saturday to tally the largest win of his career. An absolutely devastating loss for 41-year-old Emmett who has now lost five of his last six fights.

Emmett is in a tough situation here, he hasn’t won consistently in a while. He looked a bit rough on Saturday (yet game), but he made no indication that he was prepared to hang it up. Emmett could slide to the edge of the rankings or out of them altogether.

Good next fight for Josh would be giving him the loser of (#12) Patricio Pitbull vs Aaron Pico. That fight goes down on April 11th, so timing would matchup just fine. Both fighters carry names and are former Bellator standouts. Pitbull is 1-1 with the UFC having lost his debut to Yair Rodriguez, but winning against Dan Ige in July of last year. Pico is 0-1 but lost via a wild spinning back elbow at the hands of top ranked, Lerone Murphy. This bout is going to be fireworks with two, very violent stand up strikers. Giving Emmett the loser keeps him relevant, gives the fans an exciting fight and offers another litmus test for the former Bellator fighters against a former UFC title challenger.

Emmett’s next fight: Patricio Pitbulll vs. Aaron Pico Loser

Amanda Lemos

Gillian Robertson (#8) strategically landed take downs in order to neutralize the striking of Amanda Lemos (#5) on Saturday and capture the unanimous decision victory. Lemos has to be a tad frustrated with herself after the performance in a very winnable fight. The 38-year-old is now riding a two fight losing streak and has lost four of her last six dating back to her 2023 unsuccessful title sho,t against then champ, Zhang Weili.

Amanda’s next fight should be against (#13) Denise Gomes. The UFC isn’t going to do Lemos any favors here, almost a 40-year-old 115lbs. fighter, they are going to continue to feed her to the young guns of the division. Denise is 6-2 with the promotion and is currently riding a four-fight win streak (Eduarda Moura, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Elise Reed and Teicia Pennington). A lot of these fighters aren’t even with the UFC anymore. But that’s not the 26-year-old’s fault. Most of the fighters directly above her a matched up already in the rankings, so what better fight to make than this? Both are strikers, and a fighter like Gomes could very well be the future of the division. A good fight to book and one that could easily sneak onto the main card of a fight night card. Winner propelled into the top 7 easily.

Lemos’s next fight: Denise Gomes

Andre Fili

Jose Delgado just edged out UFC veteran, Andre Fili, in a back and forth standup war on Saturday. Fili, a 13-year UFC veteran with 26 fights with the promotion, has gone 2-3 in the last two years. All losses in the time period have still been opposite some talented competition (Dan Ige, Melquizael Costa and now Jose Delgado). Andre is one of those guys has fought everyone. Not everyone, seemingly everyone…a whole lot of fighters. Often times Fili serves as a litmus test for fighters that want to enter the rankings of the featherweight division.

A solid next matchup for Fili would be pitting him against Chepe Mariscal. Chepe started off red-hot in the UFC back in 2023, ripping off five victories in a row (Trevor Peek, Jack Jenkins, Morgan Charriere, Damon Jackson and Ricardo Ramos). Unfortunately, in his most recent fight, last November, Chepe suffered his first promotional defeat at the hands of Pat Sabatini. Despite the timing not exactly matching up, this would be an excellent fight to get Mariscal back on the board. To get his bearings back and to see if he’s worthy of making a run at the rankings. For Fili, it’d be an excellent opportunity for him to prove he still belongs against a hot prospect that has recently stumbled. Great fight for the main card of an APEX based, fight night card.

Fili’s next fight: Jose ‘Chepe” Mariscal 

Harry Hardwick

Undefeated fighter, Marwan Rahiki, came out on top of an edge-of-your-seat, two-round barn burner, opposite of Harry Hardwick. Harry was unable to answer the call for the third round, as his jaw was badly broken in the second. Rahiki and Hardwick landed the fight of the night bonus for this scrap, an honor rarely given to bouts that don’t go the distance. Harry has had a rough go at it in his short stint with the UFC, especially factoring injuries in now. Hardwick is 0-2 with the promotion. He made his debut last year on short notice and up a weight class and was rewarded by being finished in the first round with a calf kick.

Give this man a break and have him take on a fighter in his weight class, that he can prepare for, and has a similar promotional record. He’s more than proven that he can scrap.

Good next fight for Harry would be to give him the loser of the Tommy McMillen vs Manolo Zecchini fight. This fight goes down on April 4th, but due to Harry’s broken jaw- who knows when he’ll be looking at making an octagon return. Zecchini is 0-1 with the promotion and made his debut back in September of 2023, where Morgan Charriere stopped him in the first round. Manolo will be taking on a undefeated fighter making his UFC debut after winning on the Contender Series last year. Three young hungry guys with solid record, two of them having being fed to the wolves immediately upon entering the promotion. Excellent fight to book here, and defending how the fight goes on April 4, potentially tremendous upside.

Hardwick’s next fight:  Loser of Tommy McMillen vs Manolo Zecchini

Oumar Sy

Ion Cutelaba secured a clever mounted guillotine late in the first to secure a submission victory over Oumar Sy on Saturday. Sy now falls to 3-2 in the UFC after signing as an undefeated fighter in 2024. Oumar started off hot with back to back victories in the UFC, but suffered his first defeat to Alonzo Menifield and has now suffered the first stoppage defeat of his career.

Oumar’s next fight should be against Rodolfo Bellato. Its rare the UFC pairs up a fighter coming off a stoppage loss against a fighter coming of a stoppage victory (especially without rankings invovled), but it makes sense in this scenario. Bellato was scheduled to fight Sy for his second UFC fight, he has gone 1-1-1 with 1 no contest since that bout fell through in 2024. Sy has had his entire UFC stint in that time, going 3-2. So even though Bellato is coming off a win, this fight still makes sense (That win was also against a 6-0 fighter making his promotional debut). This fight is one that should be revisited and still makes sense. The two also share a common opponent in Navajo Stirling.

Sy’s next fight: Rodolfo Bellato

Bruno Silva

Charles Johnson (#14) snuck away with the win over Bruno Silva (#15) to kick off the main card of UFC Vegas 114 on Saturday. Bruno is now 5-5 with the UFC and has dropped three of his last four. Worth noting that those other two losses were stoppages, but against the likes of Manel Kape and eventual champ, Joshua Van.

Bruno should fight the loser of (#10) Alex Perez vs. Sumudaerji for his next bout. That fight takes place on May 30th so the timing isn’t the best but it could still make a lot of sense. Perez is coming off a first round victory against Charles Johnson but he missed weight ahead of the bout. So that’s probably why he’s taking on an unranked fighter in Sumudaerji for his next fight. Before that, Perez had lost five of his last six fights stemming from his unsuccessful title shot opposite of Deiveson Figueiredo in 2020.

Sumudaerji has completely turned his UFC career around after a three-fight skid (Matt Schnell, Tim Elliott, Charles Johnson). Sumudaerji has ripped off three huge wins in a row in just under a year (Mitch Raposo, Kevin Borjas, Jesus Aguilar). Perfect fight to give the loser to Silva due to the common opponents in Charles Johnson and where all three men sit in the rankings (or out of them).

Silva’s next fight: Loser of Alex Perez vs. Sumudaerji 

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 114 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

The post Kevin Vallejos Wants Bloody Battle With Josh Emmett at UFC Vegas 114 appeared first on Cageside Press.

The headliner sees featherweight action between hard-hitting veteran Josh Emmett, and rising up-and-comer Kevin Vallejos, fresh off a finish of Giga Chikadze. Putting away the man behind the “Giga Kick” almost certainly landed Vallejos this opportunity, while Emmett, the old man of the featherweight division at 41, hopes to embark on one last run after losing his last two outings.

UFC Vegas 114’s official weigh-in takes place Friday morning in Las Vegas starting at 12PM ET, 9AM PT. Results can be found below.

All hits, no misses at the scale on Friday. The final three fighters to weigh in, Charles “Inner G” Johnson, Gillian Robertson, and Marwan Rahiki all stripped down behind the barrier, but all made weight.

UFC Vegas 114: Emmett vs. Vallejos Weigh-In Results

Main card

Featherweight: Josh Emmett (146) vs. Kevin Vallejos (145.5)
Women’s Strawweight: Amanda Lemos (116) vs. Gillian Robertson (116)
Light Heavyweight: Ion Cuțelaba (205) vs. Oumar Sy (205.5)
Featherweight: Andre Fili (145.5) vs. Jose Miguel Delgado (146)
Featherweight: Marwan Rahiki (146) vs. Harry Hardwick (145.5)
Heavyweight: Vitor Petrino (248.5) vs. Steven Asplund (265.5)

Preliminary card 

Flyweight: Charles Johnson (126) vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva (126)
Middleweight: Brad Tavares (186) vs. Eryk Anders (186)
Welterweight: Chris Curtis (170.5) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (170.5)
Lightweight: Bolaji Oki (155.5) vs. Manoel Sousa (155)
Bantamweight: Luan Lacerda (136) vs. Hecher Sosa (135.5)
Women’s Bantamweight: Beatriz Mesquita (135.5) vs. Montserrat Rendon (135)
Bantamweight: Elijah Smith (136) vs. You Su-young (136)
Women’s Strawweight: Piera Rodriguez (116) vs. Sam Hughes (116)

The post UFC Vegas 114: Emmett vs. Vallejos Weigh-In Results — No Misses appeared first on Cageside Press.

The UFC Vegas 114 main event is a first for Vallejos, but not so much for Emmett, who has been in big fights and headlining spots before.

Last time out, Emmett (19-6) was submitted by Youssef Zalal, a loss he admits he had to move on quickly from.

“I just got caught. That’s this sport. I got caught, it’s frustrating, so what I’ve kind of learned from that is kind of take it all in, have a short memory,” he explained during the UFC Vegas 114 media day. “I just needed to move on, otherwise it’s going to effect me. I can’t dwell on the past and effect everything I’m trying to accomplish in the future.”

Emmett pledged that “that won’t happen again.”

When it comes to Vallejos, Emmett admitted that he wasn’t familiar with the name, at first. Then, he realized it was Vallejos who had knocked out Giga Chikadze with a spinning backfist this past December.

“He’s a young kid, he’s got a whole country behind him. He kind of reminds me a little bit of myself just with his power and his striking,” Emmett observed. “I’m excited to get in there and mix it up with someone that’s going to stand there and trade with me. I’m stoked for Saturday night.”

The nature of the match-up isn’t lost on Emmett. At 41, he’s an old dog in the featherweight division. One who still has name value and a reputation that precedes him. Vallejos is the hungry up-and-comer. It’s standard UFC matchmaking.

“I know what’s going on. He’s a young prospect, he’s had success. He’s 3-0 in the UFC right now, and the UFC wants to test him .They think a lot of him,” Emmett noted. “They know what they’re going to get with me. There’s a reason they’re putting us in a small octagon, two guys that are going to stand there and box with four once gloves on. What people want to see. I know what they’re trying to do, he’s trying to build a name off me but that’s not going to happen.”

As for Emmett himself, after some struggles with health over the years, he’s fought consistently of late. “I’m back to enjoying this, I’m back to having fun. I just have to go out there and be me.”

Emmett understands that a win over Vallejos may not do a whole lot for his career. “I’m supposed to win, right? But not considering the matchmakers; I didn’t even look at the odds but people are sending me things and saying things. I’m like ‘whatever, man.’ I could care less. But it just puts me back in the win column, that’s what I’m trying to do. Just continue to move forward and climb up the ranks again.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 114 media day appearance by Josh Emmett above.

The post Josh Emmett Understands Precisely Why He’s Fighting Kevin Vallejos at UFC Vegas 114 appeared first on Cageside Press.

That would be UFC Vegas 114, which will be topped by ranked 145lb’ers Josh Emmett (19-6) and Kevin Vallejos (17-1).

Promotion officials announced the “youth vs. experience” style booking on Saturday. Emmett is ranked #11 in the UFC’s official rankings, while Vallejos sits at #13.

Vallejos, 24, was the Cageside Press Newcomer of the Year for 2025, after winning all three of his fights inside of the octagon. The run saw the 2024 Contender Series alum earn a Performance of the Night bonus for his finish of Georgian star Giga Chikadze.

Emmett, who previously contested for an interim title in a losing effort against Yair Rodriguez in 2023, has lost his last two fights. At age 40, Emmett is likely on his last run, and needs a win to stay relevant in the 145lb weight class. A division that appears to be in a transitional phase following the return of Alexander Volkanovski to the top of the mountain last year.

UFC Vegas 114 takes place at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 14, 2026 with the following match-ups reported for the event:

• Josh Emmett vs. Kevin Vallejos
• Ion Cuțelaba vs. Oumar Sy
• Amanda Lemos vs. Gillian Robertson
• Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Lone’er Kavanagh
• Rinya Nakamura vs. Luan Lacerda
• Marwan Rahiki vs. Harry Hardwick
• Beatriz Mesquita vs. Montserrat Rendon
• Brad Tavares vs. Eryk Anders
• Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Vitor Petrino
• You Su-young vs. Elijah Smith

The post Ranked Featherweights Emmett, Vallejos Headline UFC Vegas 114 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Magomed Ankalaev

Alex Pereira took just 80 seconds to stop Magomed Ankalaev in the main event of UFC 320 for the UFC light heavyweight title. Alex entered the fight ranked at #1 so Ank won’t fall far. An immediate rematch is unlikely after the definitive finish, but Magomed could reasonably expect a rematch after one, maximum two, victories (Yes, even though Ankalaev is 12-2-1, 1 NC in the UFC).

A good next matchup for Magomed would either be Khalil Rountree Jr or a rematch with Jan Blachowicz. Khalil had an excellent fight on UFC 320 and even though he was finished, his stock rose. A high-action bout against yet another striking-specialist could do a lot for Magomed especially if he could get the win. Rountree is currently ranked at #4 so it wouldn’t be that bad of a fall either, rankings-wise. Also, the timing would matchup as both fighters were finished, on the same night, though it’s worth noting Khalil sustained more damage.

Magomed could also take on Jan Blachowicz who he fought to split draw in December of 2022. It’s a rematch that would do a lot of heavy lifting for the top of the rankings at 205lbs.  Jan hasn’t won since that fight, losing to Alex Pereira then Carlos Ulberg in March. But he’s still ranked at #5 in the division. A rematch would be warranted at this point as 42 year-old Jan is still a fan favorite. Either matchup could easily be a main event of a fight night card and with a finish, could produce a title shot.

Magomed’s next fight: Khalil Rountree Jr or Jan Blachowicz

Cory Sandhagen

Merab Dvalishvili defended his belt Saturday with his five round decision win over title challenger Cory Sandhagen in UFC 320’s co-main event. Cory entered the fight with a #4 ranking next to his name.

If Sean O’Malley doesn’t get booked for a rematch with top-ranked Petr Yan, that’d be a sweet fight.  The two lengthy guys of the division. Cory is 5’11” with a 70″ reach while O’Malley is 5’11” with a 72″ reach. That’s a very interesting matchup that would make a lot of fight fans tune in to watch. Sandhagen is now 11-5 with the UFC and O’Malley is 10-3 with 1 NC. Sean is coming off of two consecutive losses to Merab Dvalishvili, the most recent a third-round submission back in June. They also share a common recent outcome against Marlon Vera of a decision victory. If UFC brass chooses to go this direction, it would be an absolutely massive fight. Easily a main event of a fight night of a co main/people’s main of a pay-per-view card.

Cory’s next fight: Sean O’Malley

Khalil Rountree Jr

Jiri Prochazka stopped Khalil Rountree Jr late in the pair’s fight of the night winning scrap on the main card of UFC 320 Saturday. Khalil entered the fight ranked at #4 while his opponent was ranked at #2. Devastating loss for Rountree, but he had a good showing.

For his next fight, a matchup against Magomed Ankalaev would keep him right in the mix of the top of the division. That is also a very winnable fight for Khalil, depending on which version of the Muay Thai specialist shows up on fight night.  And as previously mentioned, the timing matches up. Blachowicz is also a good back up option for Khalil as Jan is ranked at #5 in the division and they’ve never scrapped. Though Blachowicz fights a tad more conservatively nowadays, a matchup like this has loss-of-consciousness written all over it.

Again, either matchup could be a co main or main event of a fight night card, or on the main card of a PPV card. Winner would be a fight or two away from a title shot.

Khalil’s next fight: Magomed Ankalaev or Jan Blachowicz

Josh Emmett

Josh Emmett was quickly submitted by Youssef Zalal on the main card of UFC 320 Saturday. Emmett entered the fight ranked at #8 in the featherweight division while his opponent was ranked at #9. Emmett has now lost three of his last four fights, he’s 10-6 with the promotion.

Good next fight for Josh would be against Giga Chikadze. Giga is currently just rounding out the featherweight rankings at #15. Despite missing weight in his last fight back in April, Giga would make an excellent matchup for Emmett. He’s also lost three of his last four fights. Giga was scheduled to fight Josh nearly two years ago but withdrew from the bout. Since that fight cancellation, Giga has lost to Arnold Allen and David Onama. Since the cancellation, Josh KO’d a now bantamweight (Bryce Mitchell), lost to Leron Murphy and was just finished by Zalal. Fight makes a lot of sense right now. Might not materialize, but this would be the best matchup for a 40-year-old Emmett to remain relevant to the elites of the division.

Josh’s next fight: Giga Chikadze 

Abus Magomedov

Joe Pyfer submitted Abus Magomedov in the second round of their fight to open up the main card of UFC 320. The loss snapped a 3-fight win streak for Abus who hadn’t lost in nearly two years. Magomedov is now 4-3 with the UFC since being signed in 2022. Despite having not lost in two years, Abus slipped out of the rankings prior to his loss on Saturday.

Obviously, Magomedov needs to gain some clout and respect within the division. He’s 4-3 within the promotion with his losses coming to big names like Sean Strickland, Caio Borralho, and now Joe Pyfer. A fight against Edmen Shahbazyan would give him a tenured name that is fresh off a finish. But at the same time still an incredibly reasonable matchup for the KSW and PFL veteran. Shahbazyan stopped Andre Muniz in the first round of their bout on the undercard of UFC 320 on Saturday. Edmen is now 9-5 within the UFC and is riding a three-fight winning streak after a very rough stretch. Good feature prelim type of fight for a PPV or co-main for a Fight Night.

Abus’s next fight: Edmen Shahbazyan 

The post What’s Next: UFC 320 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Emmett, 40, was still holding out hopes for a late-career title shot, while Zalal, the much younger fighter, wanted to burst into the top of the weight class.

Zalal stayed outside, looking light on his feet to start the fight. It wasn’t long before the affair hit the mat, with Zalal changing levels and exploding into a takedown. Emmett found himself trapped, unable to escape with Zalal working on a triangle, then an arm-bar. Emmett tried to stack Zalal up, but couldn’t, and all of a sudden, Emmett gave the verbal tap. A huge, huge win for Youssef Zalal, who has won five straight since returning to the UFC in early 2024.

Ranked #9 coming into the fight, Zalal isn’t likely to jump too far up the 145lb rankings given Emmett was only one spot ahead of him. Still, it’s the sort of statement victory “The Moroccan Devil” needed after a lackluster decision victory over Calvin Kattar in his last outing — something Zalal mentioned in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

“I’m too smart for these guys. I’m way too smart. I move too good, I setup things too good,” added Zalal, who called out Lerone Murphy.

Official Result: Youssef Zalal def. Josh Emmett by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 1:38

The post UFC 320: Youssef Zalal Taps Josh Emmett, Calls Out Lerone Murphy appeared first on Cageside Press.

Zalal (17-5-1) described how his next matchup quickly took shape once he came back from a month overseas. He explained how shifting pieces in the featherweight division narrowed his options.

“The crazy part is, after my fight with (Calvin) Kattar, I literally went to Morocco for a month and then came back. I was kind of scoping around to see who we’re going to fight,” Zalal told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

“The whole division was messed up because of all the things that happened with Ilia (Topuria) moving up and all that. I was like okay who’s the only guy that was open? The only guy that was open was Josh Emmett.”

Zalal didn’t hold back when asked about his place in the featherweight title picture ahead of UFC 320. The Moroccan standout made it clear he’s felt overlooked by the division’s biggest names, including the champion himself.

“I’ve feel like I’ve just been disrespected the last few months. Specially the champ (Alexander Volkanovski). Champ did an interview saying, oh there’s a lot of potential guys, there’s Aljamain (Sterling), Diego (Lopes) Movsar (Evloev), and all these guys and never brought up my name,” he said.

“I was like alright. So it’s time for me to put some respect in this name.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Youssef Zalal above. He takes on Josh Emmett at UFC 320 on Saturday night.

The post Youssef Zalal Vows to ‘Put Respect On This Name’ Ahead of UFC 320 Clash with Emmett appeared first on Cageside Press.

Emmett (19-5), now 40, is looking to bounce back from a loss to Lerone Murphy, but confessed during Wednesday’s media day that “it’s not the name I wanted— I wanted a big name.”

Speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press, Emmett added that he was willing to move up to lightweight for the right fight. Or take the just get the night opponent at featherweight. “Obviously a big name at 45, but at the end of the day, here we are. It really doesn’t matter. I’ve put my sole focus, time, energy into this camp for Youssef Zalal.”

Zalal is one of those young, hungry up-and-comers at 29, and on an eight-fight unbeaten streak. Still, said Emmett, “he’s not going to show me anything I have not seen before. I just have to track him down, corral him. Cut off the cage, and stuff like that. He uses a lot of lateral movement.”

“I want to be exciting. I want to go out there, and put on a show for the fans,” he added. Emmett knows that’s what his bosses, Dana White and Hunter Campbell among them, want to see. It’s likely his path back to a shot at gold (Emmett came up short against Yair Rodriguez for an interim title in 2023). “It’s tough when I don’t have an opponent who will engage in that, get in the pocket and trade. I need to get myself in danger, but I don’t blame him, because people don’t want to do that.”

Watch the full UFC 320 media day appearance by Josh Emmett above.

The post Josh Emmett Admits Youssef Zalal Wasn’t His Ideal Opponent for UFC 320 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Topuria claimed gold at UFC 317 just over a week ago, and Emmett has spent 25 minutes in the cage with the new double-champ himself.

“He’s just well-rounded, you know. He was a dominant champion at featherweight. He’s good everywhere,” Emmett (19-5) said of “El Matador,” the latest UFC fighter to claim a belt in a second weight class. “He has great boxing, so he has good footwork. He always has good position. He’s fast, precise and accurate. He did really well at featherweight, and now he’s trying to do what most people have not been able to accomplish, or only very few have, he wants to become a two-time champion.”

Mission accomplished for Topuria. As for Emmett, who says he’s feeling better now than he was a few years ago, he has something of a side quest of his own. The 40-year old told us that “I want to be the new Tom Brady of MMA.”

With Alexander Volkanovski reclaiming gold at 145lbs earlier this year, the title picture at featherweight is murky. Yair Rodriguez was looked at as a potential title challenger despite coming off just a single win (over Bellator star Patricio Pitbull), while the winner of another Bellator arrival, Aaron Pico, versus Movsar Evloev, is also in the mix. Evloev is undefeated at 19-0, though his style and lack of finishes have seemingly held him back.

“I think Movsar has earned it. If you go off of a merit system instead of a popularity contest, guy’s undefeated,” Emmett said when asked for his opinion on who should be up next. “He may not be the most exciting fighter, but he’s getting wins, he’s ranked #4. So I think he deserves it instead of someone coming off a one-fight winning streak, or someone coming into the picture that is making their debut in the UFC. If you get one big fight or one big win, you do not deserve a title fight in the UFC, if you’re new to this establishment.”

That no doubt would be a reference to Pico, who has been looked at as a future champion for years, but who has yet to face the best the UFC has to offer. Still, noted Emmett, “it’s all up to the UFC brass and the matchmakers.”

As for his own return, “I would like to fight soon, but I feel like I’m in this weird limbo because everyone that is in my division, they all have fights right now,” noted Emmett. He’s hoping something comes together in the next few weeks, in terms of getting a date booked. “Hopefully you guys will see me sooner than later.”

Watch our full interview with UFC featherweight Josh Emmett above.

The post Josh Emmett: Movsar Evloev Deserves Next Title Shot appeared first on Cageside Press.