The two-time Olympic gold medalist dominated and submitted a former champion in Holly Holm, announcing her arrival in both the promotion and the bantamweight division. After winning two seasons at lightweight in the PFL, Harrison arrived in the UFC under the microscope (not to mention in the spotlight), one of the biggest free agent signings in years.

That’s the sort of attention you get as the UFC’s first ever double-gold medalist, and despite Dana White dragging the PFL of late, being a double champ there is nothing to sneeze at.

Harrison may be the most decorated Olympian to grace the octagon, however, but she’s far from the only one. Here’s a solid pack of fourteen Olympians who have fought under the UFC banner over the years.

Daniel Cormier

Olympic Result: 4th place, 2004, DNC 2008

As is well known by now, UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Hall of Famer, and current broadcaster Daniel Cormier’s Olympic dream didn’t end the way he had hoped. After a successful collegiate wrestling career, Cormier joined the U.S. Olympic team and qualified for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. There, the former NCAA Division I All-American with Oklahoma State University came in fourth, losing to Russian Khadzhimurat Gatsalov in the semifinal round.

Four years later, Cormier returned to the games, qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China only to have his wrestling career come to a crashing halt. While cutting weight, Cormier’s kidneys began to fail; he was taken to a local hospital, and later pulled from the games.

Stunningly, Cormier would later compete at 205lbs, several pounds less than the weight that saw his body fail him at the Beijing games. He found massive success first in Strikeforce, winning the promotion’s heavyweight grand prix as an alternate, and later the UFC, becoming a rare simultaneous double-champ.

The post Kayla Harrison, and the Most Decorated Olympians to Fight in the UFC appeared first on Cageside Press.

Of course, for Gordon, the chance to fight at the fabled Madison Square Garden in New York was more than just a chance to right the ship. Gordon grew up in the city, training for a time at Renzo Gracie’s jiu-jitsu academy not far from MSG.

A recovered addict who turned his life around, the chance to fight at home had been a long time coming for “Flash” Gordon, and was another milestone in a remarkable personal journey.

Early on, former Olympian Madsen found success with knees in the clinch, repeatedly drilling Gordon with several. Clinch work would be key for the Danish lightweight, as he was able to put his weight on the American. A left hand was there for Madsen as well, in a strong first half to the opening round for Mark O. Madsen.

The second half of the frame was a different story entirely. Gordon found success late, landing an uppercut that appeared to wobble Madsen. Then, against the fence, Gordon landed an elbow, and a right hand that finally dropped Madsen. No follow-up was required; Madsen was clearly done and Jared Gordon had arguably the biggest win of his career, and certainly on the biggest stage possible.

“I grew up in this city, New York, New York. You made me. Astoria, Queens. Stand up! My grandfather fought in this stadium four times,” Gordon called out after the win, noting that he used to shoot drugs at Penn Station under MSG. “Now I’m fighting in it, and knocking guys out. You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it and have a little faith in God.”

That win should help erase the sour taste left by a No Contest against Bobby Green, and controversial loss to Paddy Pimblett.

Official Result: Jared Gordon def. Mark O. Madsen by TKO, Round 1, 4:42

The post UFC 295: Jared Gordon Delivers Crushing Finish of Mark O. Madsen at Home appeared first on Cageside Press.

Had Rodriguez picked up the win, we might be talking title shot. Now, she’ll need to bounce back, but against who? Let’s look at that, and what comes next for the losing side of Saturday’s main card.

Marina Rodriguez

Brazil’s Rodriguez would have been a lock for a title shot had she won this weekend, and Carla Esparza claimed victory next week. Esparza has never really moved the needle, but the rematch pretty much sold itself. Now, however, the strawweight standout needs a bounce back fight.

She has a few options. There’s Jessica Andrade, who she’s never faced, and another former champ in Rose Namajunas. While the rankings will likely be updated later this week, right now, Rodriguez is #3 and Namajunas #1 in the 115lb division. That seems like the fight to make, assuming Namajunas is ready to return sometime in early 2023.

Rodriguez’s next fight: Rose Namajunas

Daniel Rodriguez

UFC Vegas 64 wasn’t a great night if your name was Rodriguez. In the co-main event, Daniel Rodriguez fell to Neil Magny via D’arce choke, part of a historic fight that saw Magny surpass Georges St. Pierre as the UFC’s all-time welterweight wins leader.

“D-Rod” had been coming off a win over Li Jingliang, and had won four straight. He took the Magny fight on a little over a month’s turnaround, so this loss won’t set him back too much. Michel Pereira is ranked #15 at welterweight, one spot behind Rodriguez. Magny was one spot ahead of him. Pereira doesn’t have a fight booked; him and “D-Rod” would be lit.

Rodriguez’s next fight: Michel Pereira

Darrick Minner

Most of the talk surrounding Darrick Minner’s loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke has been regarding either his injury (and when it occurred), and/or the suspicious betting activity that transpired in the hours before the fight.

None of that should matter when it comes to Minner’s future, however. What should matter is that Minner dropped his third straight loss in the bout, and is now 2-4 in the UFC overall.

Minner may be on the bubble here. If he sticks around, a match-up with Chase Hooper would be interesting. Both are adept on the ground, with a lot of fun transitions expected. Hooper is coming off a recent loss as well.

Minner’s next fight: Chase Hooper

Nate Maness

Maness looked like death cutting weight for UFC Vegas 64. He wound up caught in a guillotine, suffering his second straight loss. The question now becomes, does Maness stick around flyweight? Saturday was his debut; if he can fine tune the weight cut, he might want to give it another go.

If he does stick around 125lbs, C.J. Vergara just suffered a setback, so the timing works.

Maness’ next fight: C.J. Vergara

Mark O. Madsen

Olympian Mark Madsen (that’s Mark O. Madsen, not Mark O’Madsen, which some people still haven’t twigged to) fell to Grant Dawson on Saturday. The submission loss is the first ever suffered by the Dane, who was unbeatable up to that point. Dawson missed weight for the fight, but the result is the same.

Let’s look to have Madsen bounce back in 2023 with a fight against Mike Davis. This forgoes the UFC’s usual winner vs. winner, loser vs. loser pattern outside of the top names, but Madsen has plenty of upside, and Davis has won three straight.

Madsen’s next fight: Mike Davis

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 64 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Highly-touted wrestling prospects Grant Dawson and Mark Madsen faced off at UFC Vegas 64. Dawson came in with a bright future and only one loss and one draw on his record. Meanwhile, Madsen entered the fight with an undefeated record, several Greco-Roman wrestling World Championships medals, and an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling silver medal for his country, Denmark. However, he needed to start making a run for the title quickly at 38 years old.

His opponent was ten years younger; Dawson, now at a new gym in Kill Cliff MMA, is known for his rear-naked chokes. On the other hand, Madsen is obviously known for his Greco-Roman style takedowns. As a result, it was interesting to see if their wrestling would cancel out and to see who would have the advantage if indeed it did hit the ground. Additionally, the pound-and-a-half weight miss from Dawson could be a factor, though he did take the fight on short notice.

The fighters came out and Madsen quickly rushed forward and landed a flurry of strikes that sat Dawson awkwardly down to his butt. Dawson tried to get a takedown from there but Madsen stuffed it and landed hard hammerfists. Then Dawson tried again. This time was able to get in deep on the hips of his foe with a folk-style double leg, something Madsen would not have seen in Greco-Roman wrestling, and completed it.

Now on the mat, Dawson quickly used his grappling to pass guard and take the back of the Olympian. He was able to get both hooks in and then switched to a tight body triangle, the position that Dawson specializes in. Minutes passed as the pair handfought and Dawson tried to sneak a choke under the chin. Madsen was so occupied with staying out of the submission that he was unable to do anything to clear the body triangle and get back to his feet. His defensive strategy paid off though as he was able to survive for more than four minutes until the bell rang. Despite reacting badly to damage early on, Dawson won the round with his effective grappling and a smattering of ground and pound. That early strike from Madsen saved him from giving up a 10-8, surely.

The second round started with cagey striking. Dawson tried for a low single leg but Madsen was able to pull away and get out once. The second time Dawson succeeded in pushing Madsen to the fence and getting a better grip on the single leg. Madsen almost succeeded in kicking out a few times, Dawson only had a grip a few inches above the foot, but he stayed on it like a dog with a bone and was able to get Madsen to the mat. Dawson settled in half guard but Madsen was able to scoot and get his back up to the fence. However, halfway through the round, Dawson flattened the Dane out again and got back in half guard. This round, Madsen was able to keep from giving up his back, but was unable to get back to his feet without turning his back to Dawson. So, once again, Mark Madsen stayed in a bottom position for the vast majority of the round. His BJJ had clearly not caught up to his wrestling as his guard was quite passable and he was unable to use his legs to make space to get back to his feet.

Grant Dawson opened the final round with kicks, to the legs and teeps to the body. He then got a bit fancy with a spinning back kick to the body even. One leg kick took Madsen off his feet and the follow-up punch seemed to stun Madsen. Dawson kept slamming leg kicks into Madsen, who had no defense for them. After just over a minute, Dawson landed one that made Madsen fall to the ground. The Kill Cliff MMA prospect got on top of Madsen once more, and then switched to a back take. Exhausted and beat up, Madsen was unable to defend the choke this time and Grant Dawson quickly locked up his patented rear-naked choke, continuing his impressive undefeated run in the UFC and ending the career-long undefeated record of his opponent. Dawson was so impressive that this could even earn him a top-fifteen opponent in his next fight.

Grant Dawson remains undefeated in the Octagon 💪 #UFCVegas64 pic.twitter.com/nRH2htPM9l

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 5, 2022

Grant Dawson def. Mark Madsen by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) in Round 3 (2:05)

The post UFC Vegas 64: Grant Dawson Submits Olympian Mark Madsen appeared first on Cageside Press.

For the past couple of years, Brazil’s Mota (8-1) has been a flyweight prospect to watch. The 27-year old started his career 5-0 and quickly worked his way to a title shot in LFA, though visa issues delayed that somewhat.

After suffering a defeat to Charles Johnson, himself now a UFC fighter, in his first crack at LFA gold, Mota worked his way back to that promotion’s flyweight belt, winning the title back in August. He’ll now step up at UFC Vegas 63 this coming Saturday, taking on Cody Durden (13-4-1) in place of countryman Kleydson Rodrigues.

MMA Fighting was first to report the news, which Cageside Press was subsequently able to verify. Mota has three finishes in his last four wins.

Durden last faced off with JP Buys, picking up a TKO win in the opening round of their fight. That got him back in the win column after being steamrolled by uber-prospect Muhammad Mokaev at UFC London in March.

Mark Madsen, meanwhile, also has a new opponent for UFC Vegas 63. Originally scheduled to face Drakkar Klose, an injury to Klose has resulted in Grant Dawson stepping up to take the fight.

Combate first reported news of the switch.

UFC Vegas 63 takes place Saturday, October 29, 2022 at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The following match-ups have been reported for the event:

• Calvin Kattar vs. Arnold Allen
• Max Griffin vs. Tim Means
• Jared Vanderaa vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta
• Josh Fremd vs. Tresean Gore
• Dustin Jacoby vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
• Phil Hawes vs. Roman Dolidze
• Andrei Arlovski vs. Marcos Rogério de Lima
• Park Jun-yong vs. Joseph Holmes
• Chase Hooper vs. Steve Garcia
• Mark Madsen vs. Grant Dawson
• Carlos Mota vs. Cody Durden

The post UFC Vegas 63 Sees Two Fighters Get New Opponents appeared first on Cageside Press.

Alexander Volkanovski

Alexander Volkanovski put on a dominant performance in the UFC 273 main event. He landed shots heavy and often against the Korean Zombie. The ref ended up protecting the Zombie from himself in the fourth round, as the South Korean proved too tough for his own good. Volkanovski has been on a tear racking up 21 straight wins now.

What comes next? We’d like to see Max Holloway vs. Alexander Volkanovski 3. This is the fight that was originally scheduled prior to Max needing to pull out of the bout.

Volkanovski’s next fight: Max Holloway

Aljamain Sterling

Khamzat Chimaev

After dominating his first four fights in the UFC while facing very little adversity, Khamzat was finally challenged Saturday night. In a tough back-and-forth battle, Khamzat finally went to the judges for a decision for the first time in his professional career, in which he got the unanimous nod. We got to see his chin tested as well, in what was a Fight of the Night and one for the ages.

We’ve heard Dana say he wants Chimaev vs. Colby Covington next on ABC, however, there’s a chance Khamzat will end up fighting for a belt next. Our prediction is Khamzat gets the winner of Usman and Edwards.

Chimaev’s next fight: Usman/Edwards Winner.

Mackenzie Dern

This was a tough back and forth fight. Torres showed why she’s never been finished fighting off a lot of slick submission attempts. In the end, Dern got the nod from the judges.

Zhang and Jedzejczyk are set to go down in June. Mackenzie fighting the winner of this bout makes all the sense in the world for her and potentially has the feel to be a title elimination fight.

Derns’s next fight: Zhang/Jedrzejczyk Winner

Mark O. Madsen

In a very competitive fight, Mark O. Madsen was able to use his elite wrestling to edge the decision over Vinc Pichel Saturday night. The undefeated Olympian is now 12-0 with four wins inside the UFC octagon. We’d like to see Mark fight a tough veteran who has been ranked in the top 15 previously. Drew Dober would fit this bill nicely.

Madsen’s next fight: Drew Dober

The post What’s Next: UFC 273 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

Vinc “From Hell” Pichel, at 39, was on a solid late-career run, with three straight wins and a 7-2 record overall inside the octagon. Madsen, the silver-medal winner at the 2016 Olympic Games in Greco-Roman Wrestling (75kg) was unbeaten as a professional fighter.

Not a bad way to kick off the UFC 273 main card, in other words.

The action opened up with Madsen on the outside, Pichel at center, but as he pressed forward, he was forced to contend with some Madsen leg kicks. They certainly had some snap to them. Pichel fired a right hand, and a body kick, but the lead leg of Pichel continued to be the number one target for Denmark’s Madsen.

Later in the round, Pichel followed up a right hand with some trash talk, warning Madsen to watch out. But the most significant damage through the opening five minutes were those leg kicks, even as the pair opened up and let their hands go more. With just over a minute in the first stanza, Madsen scored a key takedown, but Pichel didn’t stay down long, and fired his jab once back on the feet.

Ahead of the bout, Pichel had predicted a scrap that was similar to Little Caesars pizza — hot n’ ready. The first round had been hot; whether Pichel could adjust to Madsen’s kick-heavy gameplan remained to be seen.

Round two found Pichel looking to circle out of harm’s way; he’d connect with a body kick in the opening minute, while Madsen’s low kicks were a bit less crisp in the early going. Pichel’s movement was markedly improved, but Madsen has having some success when he closed the distance. Near the midway mark, Madsen latched on with a body lock and dragged Pichel down; with Pichel on his knees, the Olympic wrestler threaded his leg through his opponent’s, controlling him. Pichel then scrambled, and caught Madsen’s leg in a triangle for a calf-slicer attempt. A low-percentage but fun attempt, and one that allowed Pichel to escape back to his feet.

Back in the open, Pichel connected with a couple of punches, then changed levels for a takedown. He’d eventually pull Madsen’s legs out from under him, completing the takedown and becoming the first man to take Danish fighter down in the UFC. At the end of the round, Pichel made a throat-slash gesture as the pair returned to their corners.

Things are getting 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 after 2 💢

[ #UFC273 | LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/KOluT78H6K ] pic.twitter.com/GEBjLMRGai

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2022

Early in the third, Pichel moved in for another takedown attempt. He had a leg, but Madsen fought off the attempt, reversed, and but his weight on Pichel against the fence. “From Hell” broke away, firing a front kick; moments later, Madsen would land a key takedown attempt right in the center of the cage. Miles away from the fence, with three and a half minutes remaining, Pichel was in a bad spot. He threw up a triangle, but Madsen quickly pulled out of that, retaining top position. In half guard, then back into full guard, Madsen kept the weight on.

The crowd didn’t love the lack of action, but Madsen was eating up clock and inching closer to victory with every passing second. Pichel could be overheard complaining Madsen was “just holding me,” and the crowd voiced its displeasure again, but there was no intervention by the ref. The scorecards, meanwhile, favored Madsen.

Official Result: Mark O. Madsen def. Vinc Pichel by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

The post UFC 273: Mark O. Madsen Stays Perfect, Improves to 12-0 With Win Over Vinc Pichel appeared first on Cageside Press.

Pichel (14-2) returns to action this Saturday at UFC 273 against Olympian Mark O. Madsen. While his entire focus is upon the silver medalist and making a run at the lightweight title, there is a rematch in the back of his mind.

Pichel has been calling out Gregor Gillespie for a potential rematch, but has not got an answer.

“I don’t think Gregor is going to take that rematch with me. He knows better. After that fight, he literally told me he wasn’t planning on striking with me at all. He knew better, so I don’t think he’s gonna take that. But if he does, it’ll be a different story. I was unprepared for that fight,” Pichel told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview recently.

Another fight that Pichel would love to get back is recently retired Iaquinta. Pichel lost a unanimous decision to Iaquinta in 2012 in the semi-finals of the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Between the two fights, Pichel wants the Iaquinta fight.

“I’d rather fight Al. I’d rather fight Al just because he’s been dodging me for so long. He actually told me he’d rematch me, and then when it came down to it, he punked out, and he’s been punking out, so it is what it is. I want to fight Al, haha,” Pichel said.

The only problem is, Iaquinta is kind of retired. Maybe. After his last loss at UFC 269, he seemingly retired on his podcast; however, earlier this year, he told The MMA Hour that he wasn’t retired just yet, rather his career was up in the air.

With a win over Madsen at UFC 273, Pichel might be able to drag Iaquinta out of pseudo-retirement. Pichel questioned if Iaquinta will really come back or not, but if he does, he wants him.

Watch the rest of our interview with Vinc Pichel above. Pichel vs. Madsen kicks off the UFC 273 main card on PPV at 7 pm EST/10 pm PST.

The post UFC 273: Vinc Pichel Reveals Who He’d Rather Rematch Between Al Iaquinta and Gregor Gillespie appeared first on Cageside Press.

Meni Mayer of MMA Ideas was the first to report that Mark O. Madsen will fight Vinc Pichel at the second PPV event of 2022. A source close to the situation subsequently confirmed the fight to Cageside Press.

Madsen (11-0) returned from a year layoff and a bunch of horrible luck to defeat Clay Guida via split decision in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN: Cannonier vs. Gastelum. The former Olympian is 3-0 in the UFC with wins over Danilo Belluardo and Austin Hubbard. At 37-years old, the Danish fighter is very close to a top 15 match-up.

Pichel (14-2) is riding a three-fight win streak since his loss to Gregor Gillespie. On the same card as Madsen, he defeated Austin Hubbard via unanimous decision. Almost a year before, Pichel defeated UFC legend Jim Miller via unanimous decision.

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

The post Mark O. Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel Set For UFC 271 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jared Cannonier

Cannonier’s next fight should be against Robert Whittaker, but it probably won’t be. Paulo Costa is currently booked for a fight with Marvin Vettori in the near future. Whittaker is the only remaining fighter above Cannonier in the rankings that don’t have a fight coming up. Whittaker is probably going to be fighting for the title in his next fight, though it may not come until next year. With that in mind, Cannonier should be in line to fight the winner of Vettori-Costa. Either way, Cannonier will be looking to take one step closer to getting a title shot in his next fight.

Cannonier’s next fight: Winner of Costa-Vettori

Mark O. Madsen

Mark O. Madsen’s overall MMA record reached 11-0 following his win against Clay Guida. He is now 3-0 in the UFC with wins over two up and comers and a seasoned veteran. For his next fight, Madsen should be looking to get in the cage with someone with a bigger name. Someone like Renato Moicano. Moicano is 2-1 since making the move to lightweight. He is also a submission specialist. It will be interesting to see if Madsen’s wrestling can neutralize the effective grappling of Moicano.

Madsen’s next fight: Renato Moicano

Parker Porter

Parker Porter won a unanimous decision over Chase Sherman this past weekend. Porter just looked like the fresher fighter and was able to exploit Sherman’s fatiuge in the later rounds. Porter is 2-1 in the UFC and is currently riding a two-fight winning streak. Carlos Felipe is 3-1 in the UFC and is currently on a three-fight winning streak. He showed in his last fight with Jake Collier that he has been working really hard on his conditioning. Felipe has also never been knocked out. A power puncher fighting a guy with a really good chin is always going to be a great fight.

Porter’s next fight: Carlos Felipe

Vinc Pichel

Vinc Pichel scored a unanimouos decision victory over Austin Hubbard at UFC Vegas 34. All three judges scored the contest 30-27 meaning Pichel won every single round. Pichel is 7-2 in the UFC and one of the most underrated lightweights on the UFC roster. His next fight should be against Drew Dober. Before going on a two-fight losing streak, Dober was in the top 15. Which means a win over Dober could leave Pichel one win away from cracking the top 15 of the division, if not in it.

Pichel’s next fight: Drew Dober

Alexandre Pantoja

Alexandre Pantoja defeated Brandon Royval via second round submission at UFC Vegas 34 this past weekend. After the fight, Pantoja gave one of the friendliest call-outs in UFC history when he called out flyweight champion Brandon Moreno. Pantoja already has two wins over the champion. One being Pantoja’s fourth UFC fight in 2018 and the other being on the Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions back in 2016. Pantoja is 9-3 in the UFC only losing to Dustin Ortiz, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Askar Askarov. The only reason I’d say Pantoja deserves the title shot over Askarov is because Pantoja is 2-0 since losing to Askarov. Where as Askarov has only fought once since defeating Pantoja. Plus, there’s the history between Pantoja and Moreno to consider.

Pantoja’s next fight: Brandon Moreno – Flyweight Title Fight 

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 34 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.