The catchweight affair was necessitated when Brian Kelleher was forced off the card last minute; McGhee entered having most recently fought for LFA in January.

The debutant came out the blocks the faster of the two, wanting to put on forward pressure. A few high kicks from McGhee had Newson keeping his guard high and on his toes. McGhee attempted a jumping knee just over a minute in, but Newson was wise to it and caught it, shrugging off the danger. Again another jumping attack from McGhee saw him with a jumping switch teep to the body, landing directly up the middle of Newson’s mid right.

McGhee began feeling himself around three minutes into the fight, landing with some dangerous power punches to the dome of Newson. It took just over three-and-a-half minutes for Newson to attempt a level change and after some cage pressure he managed to run the pipe on a single leg, but McGhee’s scramble allowed for him to get straight back up. Throughout round one the forward pressure of McGhee seemed to cause Journey Newson issues, and seemingly won McGhee his first round in a UFC fight.

To begin round two, Newson decided to be the one to try and land the first shot and put on the forward pressure, but it was nullified almost straightaway as McGhee did a good job reading Newson’s attempts. Just over a minute and a half of the second round, McGhee stuffed a Newson takedown and on their return to the feet, McGhee landed a quick left hand dropping Newson. The debutant jumped on the downed Newson quickly, securing the dominant back control and subsequently locking in a rear-naked-choke, tapping out Newson.

ON ONLY THREE. DAYS. NOTICE. 😤 #UFCVegas72 pic.twitter.com/L9NUHNONeT

— UFC (@ufc) April 29, 2023

Official result: Marcus McGhee def. Journey Newson by submission (rear-naked-choke), Round 2, 2:03

The post UFC Vegas 72: Marcus McGhee Dominates Journey Newson on Three Days’ Notice appeared first on Cageside Press.

Marcus “The Maniac” McGhee
Standing at six-foot-three
Fighting at 135 lbs (bantamweight)
32-years-old
Fighting out of Phoenix, Arizona, US
Training out of MMA Lab
A pro record of 6-1
6 KO/TKOs

How McGhee will fare in the UFC:

I am surprised to see McGhee already in the UFC. He is filling in on short notice so it’s not a bad signing. The Michigan-born fighter made his amateur debut in 2012 but didn’t turn pro until 2020. When he did go pro, the coronavirus pandemic set in, and everything shut down— slowing his career. As an amateur, McGhee went 3-2 while winning those three consecutively and capturing the Iron Boy MMA featherweight title.

Most of McGhee’s cage time has played out on the feet. He’s been taken down from time to time and his sole loss comes by submission. Other times I’ve seen him getting taken down and he bounces back up. In his last fight, his takedown defense was perfect. Training with the guys at the MMA Lab they know what they’re doing in all disciplines.

McGhee’s hands are super sharp complemented by some wonderful in-and-out movement. He can lunge forward with a combination and get back out of the way. He utilizes light movement and some really quick footwork. The best thing McGhee does, along with frequent volume, is that he always throws in different patterns. He won’t just head hunt but will go to the body actively and throw there in combinations. McGhee will interject some heavy leg kicks at the end of combinations really mixing everything together. McGhee makes it tough to read him not only with his shot selection but his use of feints/fakes that is perfectly done. He also does a good job with his head movement rolling with punches.

McGhee is a surprising signing but being 32 it’s best to give him a shot now. He’s also got a lot of potential even in a stacked division. I don’t see him ever being ranked. He could be in the top 25 which is exceptional at bantamweight. I like the signing.

How he matches up with Journey Newson:

Newson has been disappointing since coming to the UFC. Newson likes to use a lot of side-to-side movement and throw a lot of kicks. He is tough to track down but doesn’t have enough offense himself. On the feet in this fight, McGhee has the advantage. He’s more offensive-heavy and his hands are way better. Newson I would think has to mix in some wrestling. I don’t see him as a good enough wrestler and grappler to hold McGhee down. McGhee is the bigger fighter that I predict he will press forward and put hands on Newson.

The post Welcome to the UFC: Marcus McGhee appeared first on Cageside Press.

Having lost (or had modified) several bouts on this Saturday’s Fight Night card, the promotion has now seen popular bantamweight Brian Kelleher forced to withdraw from the event. In Kelleher’s place against Journey Newson (10-4, 1NC) will be promotional newcomer Marcus McGhee (6-1).

UFC officials announced the news on Wednesday, following an initial report by Eurosport. The fight has now shifted to a 140lb catchweight affair.

In a statement to their official website, the promotion expained that “Due to injury, Brian Kelleher has been removed from his bantamweight bout with Journey Newson. Replacing Kelleher will be UFC newcomer Marcus McGhee, who is 6-1 with all victories coming by way of knockout. This bout will be contested at a catchweight of 140 lbs.”

Per a post on social media by Kelleher, he did not pull out but was rather not cleared to compete by the UFC. “Boom” promised more info to come, though the end result is essentially the same: he’s out of the fight, and McGhee gets the short-notice opportunity.

Before you say some shit I will release a statement sometime in the near future. Out of my control. The ufc advised this and will not allow me to fight. More details to come… very unfortunate news

— Brian BOOM Kelleher (@brianboom135) April 26, 2023

Newsom enters the fight off a loss to Sergey Morozov in December, and will be looking for his second win inside the octagon. McGhee, making his debut, has been fighting mainly for LFA and RUF since turning pro in 2020.

The seemingly ever-changing UFC Vegas 72 card goes down this Saturday, April 29, 2023 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The following fights have been reported for the card thus far:

• Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simon
• Caio Borralho vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
• Rodolfo Vieira vs. Cody Brundage
• Julian Erosa vs. Fernando Padilla
• Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
• Joshua Quinlan vs. Trey Waters
• Martin Buday vs. Jake Collier
• Cody Durden vs. Charles Johnson
• Stephanie Egger vs. Irina Alekseeva
• Journey Newson vs. Marcus McGhee
• Hailey Cowan vs. Jamey-Lyn Horth

The post Marcus McGhee Replaces Brian Kelleher Against Journey Newson at UFC Vegas 72 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Brian Kelleher (24-14) is set to face Journey Newson (10-4, 1NC) on that date, at a UFC event yet to be officially announced.

Iridium Sports Agency, who represent Newson, revealed the match-up on Wednesday. Kelleher had previously teased at having booked a fight.

Kelleher will be looking to shake off a two-fight losing streak come April, after coming up short against Umar Nurmagomedov and Mario Bautista in back-to-back fights. Both outings saw “Boom” submitted via rear-naked choke inside of a round.

Prior to those setbacks, Kelleher had notched a pair of decision wins over Kevin Croom and Domingo Pilarte.

Newson is 1-2 in his last three for his part, sandwiching a win over Fernie Garcia between losses to Randy Costa and Sergey Morozov. Before that run, Newson had picked up a win over Pilarte, a shared opponent with Kelleher. However, after failing a drag test for marijuana, the win was overturned to a No Contest.

The UFC’s April 29, 2023 Fight Night card does not yet have a venue, location, or broadcast plan officially announced. Two other bouts have been reported for the event thus far, including a rare women’s featherweight fight:

• Natan Levy vs. Pete Rodriguez
• Chelsea Chandler vs. Danyelle Wolf
• Brian Kelleher vs. Journey Newson

The post UFC: Journey Newson vs. Brian Kelleher Booked for April 29 appeared first on Cageside Press.

After trading wins and losses for the first four fights of his UFC run, three of which were against ranked or formerly ranked fighters, Morozov looked to get on his first winning streak in the promotion. Meanwhile, Newson, had just picked up his first official win in the promotion earlier this year and was similarly intent on adding to it to create a winning streak.

Morozov came out backing Newson to the fence but both men had trouble landing strikes at first. The side to side movement of Newson were effective at avoiding the strikes of Morozov. Halfway into round one Morozov entered on a double leg and got Newson to his back. Newson was able to turn to his knees and get to his feet momentarily before getting tripped back down. He got back up again but Morozov maintained the rear body-lock in the clinch and just wore down Newson with knees until Newson separated with a minute left in the round. Morozov partially landed a flying knee to the chin towards the end of the first and then right before the buzzer there was a flurry where both men landed.

The second round began similarly to the first but Newson began to use the calf kick, which was effective. For his part, Morozov was focusing on body kicks as the head movement and footwork of Newson had been effective at avoiding most of the strikes to the head in round one. Still, Morozov had trouble doing much damage. Again it was halfway through the round when Morozov shot a takedown and again he ended up holding Newson in the rear body-lock while he landed knees to the legs and body. Every time that Sergey landed a takedown Newson was able to get back to his feet but he was unable to escape the clinch until the round ended.

Early in the final round Newson landed some good shots and was able to finally put Morozov on the back foot. This time it was one minute into the round that Morozov landed his takedown as he lifted and slammed his opponent to the floor. Unlike the first two rounds Morozov was able to actually get control, take the back, and get both hooks in. However one minute later Newson exploded to escape but right away Morozov level changed again and got back to the rear body-lock, though this time he did little to no damage from that position.

Newson eventually got to turn to face Morozov and he finally got back to range with forty seconds left in the round. Only twenty seconds later Morozov got to the rear body-lock again, lifted his foe, and pulled him to the mat once more right before the bell rang.

When the scorecards were read it was the wrestling of Morozov that won out as all three judges scored the fight for the Kazakh fighter, one judge giving him all three rounds and the others giving him two.

Official Result: Sergey Morozov def. Journey Newson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 66: Sergey Morozov Uses Wrestling to Win Decision Over Journey Newson appeared first on Cageside Press.

That came Saturday at UFC 274 in Phoenix’s Footprint Center, with Newson (10-3, 1NC) going the distance and claiming a unanimous decision win over newcomer Fernie Garcia. There’s an added element of revenge in the win, with Garcia being a native of Texas. It was Texas, or at least their athletic commission, that two years ago took away Newson’s win over Domingo Pilarte, after the BJJ black belt tested positive for marijuana.

Asked by Cageside Press if he was on a high now following UFC 274, Newson replied “Yeah, definitely. Especially another win over Texas. That feels great over Texas, because those are the ones that took that win away from me.”

It’s clear Newson was not a fan of the decision to overturn his first win, making Saturday’s accomplishment that much sweeter. “That solidifies that I beat two Texas guys, and that first one shouldn’t have been overturned in the first place. That was a dominant win, and it shouldn’t have been overturned over some marijuana penalty that I wasn’t even high over. It wasn’t like I was sitting here smoking backstage.”

Newson added that he had stopped smoking “a few weeks after [getting the fight], just like I did every other fight, and because they have a lower threshold [in Texas], I got popped for it. And that’s not fair to any of us fighters at all.”

With no pun intended, it’s been a long journey for Journey Newson to get to this point. He started his run in the promotion with two losses, plus the no contest. On Saturday, he spoke about watching other fighters, including friends, get their post-fight moments.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good since leaving that cage. I’ve asked a lot of fighters, I’ve seen a lot of my friends who fight up here, and I never got a chance to get up here. It feels really good right now to see all these faces here. All the eyes are on me right now; I worked really hard to get here. It’s a good feeling.”

Watch the full UFC 274 post-fight press scrum with Journey Newson above.

The post Journey Newson Happy UFC 274 Win Came Over Texas-Based Fighter, After State Overturned First UFC Victory appeared first on Cageside Press.

The card-opener found Garcia riding a five-fight win streak, with none more important than his knockout of Joshua Weems on the Contender Series last October.

Newson came out hot, throwing a lot of kicks. He was throwing kicks from all angles including a bunch of wheel kicks and even a hook kick. Garcia was staying patient looking to land with his boxing combinations. Newson did time a nice takedown but Garcia got right back to his feet. Newson was throwing a lot and Garcia was countering well landing the much cleaner shots. Newson landed a hard outside leg kick to end the round.

In round two Newson came right at Garcia landing a good combination and Garcia responded right back. They traded leg kicks but Newson was throwing a bunch more in terms of explosive kicks, although nothing was landing. Newson exploded forward with a right-left and the left did seem to bother Garcia a little bit. Newson kept throwing that sidekick to the midsection. Garcia was still relying on his counter ability but Newson was sticking and moving too well.

In the final round, Newson opened up with a bunch of different kicks. He then shot in for a takedown and completed it. Newson almost took the back but Fernie got back to his feet. Newson kept on his bike circling the cage and staying busy with a lot of side kicks. Garcia had problems finding his range. Newson would stun Garcia with a big right hand and a hook kick but Garcia made it to the bell.

Come the scorecards, the end result was clear. Journey Newson finally had his first official UFC win.

Official Result: Journey Newson def. Fernie Garcia by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28)

The post UFC 274: Journey Complete — Newson Secures First Octagon Win Against Fernie Garcia appeared first on Cageside Press.

ESPN was first to report the news, with Newson subsequently confirming the match-up on social media.

Newson (9-3, 1NC) will be looking for his first win since 2019 when he enters the octagon against Garcia. He’ll also be looking for his first UFC win, technically. Newson joined the promotion in 2019 after starting his career on the regional circuit and building up a 9-1 record. He would then drop his debut in the octagon to Ricardo Ramos, and subsequently secure a TKO win against Domingo Pilarte.

That celebration would prove short-lived, however, as the win against Pilarte was overturned to a No Contest when Newson tested positive for marijuana. After paying a fine and sitting out for a brief suspension, he returned to action in September 2020, only to be knocked out by a Randy Costa head kick.

Newson missed all of 2021, as he was forced to pull out of a fight with Felipe Colares last May.

Garcia (10-1) won his way into the UFC on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, and will be making his promotional debut in the bout. The Texas-based fighter, an LFA vet, has won his last five fights.

UFC 274 takes place on May 7, 2022, at a location yet to be announced. Two title fights are expected to top the card, which breaks down as follows:

Glover Teixeira (c) vs. Jiří Procházka – for the UFC light heavyweight championship
Charles Oliveira (c) vs. Justin Gaethje – for the UFC lightweight championship
Macy Chiasson vs. Norma Dumont
Ariane Carnelossi vs. Lupita Godinez
Blagoy Ivanov vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima
C.J. Vergara vs. Kleydson Rodrigues
Joe Lauzon vs. Donald Cerrone
Journey Newson vs. Fernia Garcia

The post Journey Newson vs. Fernie Garcia Added to UFC 274 appeared first on Cageside Press.

First reported by tudosobremma.com, Felipe Colares will fight Journey Newson on May 1 at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event. Newson later confirmed the booking on social media.

Brazil’s Colares (9-2) hasn’t had the best UFC run so far, as he has gone 1-2 after going undefeated on the regional scene. He lost his UFC debut in 2019 to Geraldo de Freitas but then returned five months later with a split decision win over Domingo Pilarte. Colares would fight on the second UFC event in 2020, UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. dos Santos, but lose a unanimous decision to Montel Jackson. He was supposed to return in November to fight Gustavo Lopez but tested positive for COVID-19.

Like his opponent, Newson (9-3) hasn’t had the UFC run he had hoped for. After losing his UFC debut to Ricardo Ramos in 2019, Newson would rebound with a fantastic knockout of  Pilarte at UFC 247 in 2020. The win would be overturned due to a positive marijuana test. Newson would return in September at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley and be a victim to a knockout by Randy Costa.

With the addition of Colares vs. Newson, the UFC’s May 1 fight card breaks down as follows:

• Dominick Reyes vs. Jirí Prochazka
• Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Augusto Sakai
• Damon Jackson vs. T.J. Laramie
• Kai Kamaka III vs. T.J. Brown
• Mike Jackson vs. Dean Barry
• Ji Yeon Kim vs. Poliana Botelho
• Andreas Michailidis vs. KB Bhullar
• Ion Cuțelaba vs. Devin Clark
• Sam Hughes vs. Loma Lookboonmee
• Sean Strickland vs. Krzysztof Jotko

The post Felipe Colares vs. Journey Newson Set For UFC Event On May 1 appeared first on Cageside Press.

After eleven months away (thanks to the coronavirus pandemic), New England’s Randy Costa got a chance to follow up his first win in the octagon at UFC Vegas 11 on Saturday. Facing off with Costa at bantamweight was Journey Newson, who was 0-1 with a no-contest thus far in his UFC career.

Of course, the no-contest was due to a dubious suspension for marijuana, which was otherwise a knockout win for Newson.

Randy Costa opened up the fight with a crafty little right hand that landed clean. Costa then feinted with a left hand then landed a clean head kick that put Newson out cold! A couple of unnecessary follow-up strikes later and that was it! What a knockout and what a win by Randy Costa.

Don't mess with the Zohan!

☘️ @RandyCosta135 with a MASSIVE head kick highlight!

[ Tune in live on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/baWmpvBoC0

— UFC (@ufc) September 19, 2020

Randy Costa continues to be an interesting prospect at 135 pounds. At only 26 years old he’s already 2-0 in the UFC. Coming out of Lauzon MMA, he has a great team behind him, and now he has another great knockout for the highlight reel. Great win by Randy Costa.

Official Result: Randy Costa def. Journey Newson by knockout (headkick), Round 1, 0:41

The post UFC Vegas 11 Results: Randy Costa Lands Dazzling Head Kick KO on Journey Newson appeared first on Cageside Press.