Lawrence was coming off of his first UFC loss, a decision against top prospect Saidyokub Kahkramonov, while Argueta was coming off of his first UFC win, a decision against Nick Aguirre after losing his debut on short notice and up a weight class. Both fighters on paper seemed to have well-matched and well-rounded skillsets so although the fight was only the second of the night it was one that diehard fans were looking out for.

Argueta shot a takedown in the opening seconds of the fight and managed to get Lawrence to the ground, but Ronnie gave up his back to get to the feet. Argueta dragged him back down but could not get both hooks in. The scramble was all over the place but eventually Dan got into top half. Argueta pulled guard on a guillotine as Lawrence got to his feet. Ronnie fought it off but Argueta looked to mount him. Ronnie Lawrence’s hand seemed poised to tap. The referee, Keith Peterson, checked his hand to see if he was conscious and then stopped the fight. Ronnie Lawrence immediately protested, showing he was clearly conscious. The replay also showed that he did not tap.

Bit of controversy here at the APEX! 😳

Dan Argueta gets the first-round guillotine over Ronnie Lawrence…but was it a tap?! #UFCVegas75 pic.twitter.com/T5khWCW7Ui

— UFC (@ufc) June 17, 2023

A light came on indicating that the review official was reviewing the fight. All those watching waited with baited breath to see what the result would be. The fight could not be restarted under Nevada regulations, but it could be overturned to a no contest. Jerin Valel was on the review official for this one, a position which usually has no importance but took on incredible importance for this fight.

Ref Keith Peterson appeared to be apologizing to both fighters, which gave fans an indication of what the announcement would be when cage announcer Joe Martinez grabbed the mic and stepped into the octagon to announce the result. As expected, it was a no contest (technically a No Decision). It was unfortunate end for both parties, but especially Dan Argueta who was winning the fight cleanly up until that point and may have still forced Lawrence to submit. With luck, they can run this one back soon.

Official Result: Ronnie Lawrence vs. Dan Argueta Ends in No Decision (referee error), Round 1, 2:20

The post UFC Vegas 75: Dan Argueta vs Ronnie Lawrence Ends in No Decision Due to Referee Error appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jose “Lobo Solitario” Johnson (14-7 MMA)

Age: 27 years old

Height: 6’0″ / Reach: 74”

Weight Class: Bantamweight (135lbs.)

First DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2020, Week 5

Old DW’s Contender Series Opponent: Ronnie Lawrence (8-2 MMA)

Second DW’s Contender Series Fight: 2022, Week 4

New Opponent: Jack Cartwright (10-0 MMA)

First DWCS Fight

In Jose’s first appearance on the Contender Series, he was defeated via unanimous decision. It was a competitive fight but Jose’s opponent just landed more than him in every department, but mainly, completely out-wrestled him. Securing 12 out of 17 takedowns and over 10 minutes of control on the ground. 

First Contender Series Opponent

Ronnie Lawrence, who entered the fight with a 5-1 record, received a UFC contract as a result of his victory. 

Lawrence has since competed in three bouts (2-1) in the UFC with one fight, against Trevin Jones, scrapped as a result of a bad weight cut.

Ronnie’s UFC debut was against then 7-3 Vince Cachero in Febuary of 2021. Lawrence got a win in the third round via ground and pound. 

Next, Lawrence fought then 9-2 Mana Martinez a couple weeks shy of a year later. Ronnie fought to a unanimous decision victory on the preliminary card of UFC 271. 

And last month, Lawrence took his first loss in the UFC via a unanimous decision to now 10-2, rising prospect, Saidyokub Kakhramonov.

Lawrence has been active and though he lost a big fight against Kakhramonov, he has produced a finish and fought on the undercard of a PPV. Definitely a loss that has not aged too badly for Jose Johnson (despite different results against a common opponent in Mana Martinez). 

The Road Back

In the two years since Jose’s loss on the Contender Seires he has been extremely active in the cage competing in four bouts with one cancellation. 

A couple of months after his Contender Series appearance, Jose had a fight cancelled with then 6-2 Tyler Wilson for Strikehard Productions 57.

In April of 2021, Jose won a unanimous decision against then 7-3 Dre Miley at Valor Fighting Challenge 80.

In May of 2021, at Fury FC 46: Lookin’ For a Fight, Jose Johnson challenged Mana Martinez (then 7-2) for the FFC Bantamweight Championship. It was a huge fight for both fighters as it was a part of UFC president Dana White’s other prospect series: Dana White: Lookin’ For a Fight (Return to Houston Episode). 

Unfortunately for Johnson, he was KO’d in just 32 seconds by Martinez. 

Fast forward six months and Johnson again made an appearance on DW: LFAF (Denver Episode), this time aginst a 6-0, Mo Miller. But this time around, Jose Johnson was on the right side of the finish, submitting his opponent with a triangle choke in the second round. 

And finally, in his most recent fight, Jose took on Dulani Perry (then 4-1) and finished him in just 12 seconds at Fury FC  57 back in Febuary. 

Thanks to Jose’s kill or be killed attitude and willingness to put it all on the line every fight, he finds himself with a shot at redemption. 

Gameplan/New Opponent 

For Jose Johnson’s second chance on the Contender Series he will be taking on the undefeated 10-0 Jack Cartwright. 

Cartwright has eight finishes in his career with five via submissions. Jack also was 4-0 as an amateur in MMA. 

Cartwright is a veteran of the Cage Warriors promotion where he won the Bantamweight Championship in 2019 and has since successfully defended his belt three times. 

Jose will look to make the most out of his second chance on the Contender Series by defending the takedown (he’s been working on his wrestling and put on some muscle) and pushing the pace of the fight on the feet just like he always does. This is sure to be a classic striker vs grappler matchup. 

The post Redemption: Second Chances on Dana White’s Contender Series — Jose Johnson appeared first on Cageside Press.

A victory in the biggest MMA promotion on the planet is pretty good, but criticism comes regardless of results. Kakhramonov took a phone call just before he sat down with the media for his post-fight scrum.

“My dad just told me, ‘You took kind of long’. He said ‘You fought heavy, I thought you were going to finish in the first round.’,” Kakhramonov told Cageside Press among other media.

“I told him I just wanted 25 minutes in there. It’s been 10 months. I just needed cage time. I wanted to see if I would get tired, but I could have gone two more rounds easy.”

A 10-month layoff would drive any fighter crazy, but for Kakhramonov it was a very emotional return to the cage.

“I was so emotional before the fight. I cried like five times when I was in the back. I was tearing up. I don’t know I was so f*cking emotional. I feel like it was my debut because last time it was short notice I didn’t even get to feel anything. This time I had no excuse. I trained 10 months. If something goes wrong what’s my excuse going to be? I think it was such an emotional fight for me. I just want to thank God that today was my day,” Kakhramonov said.

Coming into Saturday night Kakhramonov entered the cage as the underdog in the odds yet went on to dominate the fight.

“I made so many people rich. You don’t understand, I made so many people f*cking rich. People were sending me screenshots. They bet on me 8k, 10k, 15k. This dude bet on me 50K in Brooklyn. He made hella money. The whole country, my city, everybody made hella money,” said Kakhramonov.

With now two wins under the UFC banner the next opponent for Kakhramonov would ideally be someone with a name or some hype behind them.

“You know I’ve been talking to my coach. All due respect, Cody Garbrandt, I love that guy. He was a champion when he was 26. He was someone that I looked up to. If I fight him, If they give me that opportunity, It’d be an honor for me,” Kakhramonov said of a possible fight with ‘No Love’.

“No disrespect. It’d be an honor for me. We can do it in Abu Dhabi. August 6th, bring me back. Terrance McKinney fighting August 6th. Me and him on the same card…it’s going to be amazing.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 58 post-fight press appearance from Saidyokub Kakhramonov above. More coverage from the event can be found below.

The post UFC Vegas 58: Saidyokub Kakhramonov Describes Emotional Reaction, Wants Garbrandt appeared first on Cageside Press.

Both fighters were looking to build off success early in their UFC careers: Lawrence, on a five-fight winning streak, had won his first two fights in the octagon, while Kakhramonov made a successful promotional debut last time out, and was on a three-fight win streak overall.

Lawrence was bloodied at some point during the opening minute of his fight with Kakhramonov. Lawrence would then land a takedown, only for Kakramonov to reverse and go to work on top, dropping a few smashing elbows while trying to work past Lawrence’s guard. Larence would eventually scramble up and try to put the pressure on, but he wound up grappling along the fence with Kakhramonov, who soon had him back to the mat. Kakhramonov move to side control, and again went to work, riding out the round on top.

Already taking flight as we move into R2✈️

[ #UFCVegas58 | Prelims LIVE on @ESPN ] pic.twitter.com/RKIun0MFTO

— UFC (@ufc) July 9, 2022

The takedowns continued in round two. Again, Kakhramonov went to work in Lawrence’s guard, deftly repositioning his opponent to keep him away from the fence. Kakhramonov passed to half guard and worked shots to the body, while Lawrence pretty much just held on, unable to mount much in the way of offense. Once again, Kakhramonov looked as if he would ride out a very dominant round in top position, eating up even more clock this time. But Lawrence managed to power up in the final minute, only to be dragged down, get up again, and wind up pinned against the fence as the horn sounded.

Round three saw the pair back to the ground early. Lawrence worked for an omoplata but didn’t have the position. And so once again, Kakhramonov settled in on top with nearly a full round to work. As he had in the first two rounds, Kakhramonov was seemingly effortless in controlling his opponent. Lawrence looked to scramble, but that basically allowed Kakhramonov to kick his feet out, take the back, and wrench him down again.

Official Result: Saidyokub Kakhramonov def. Ronnie Lawrence by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC Vegas 58: Saidyokub Kakhramonov Smothers Ronnie Lawrence En Route to Decision Win appeared first on Cageside Press.

On Friday, MMA management group Iridium Sports announced that their client, Saidyokub Kakhramonov, will fight Ronnie Lawrence on July 9 at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event. A source confirmed the bantamweight match-up to Cageside Press.

🚨 #TeamIridium Fight News 🚨

Our man @SaidYokubMMA tries to climb to 2-0 in the @ufc vs. Ronnie Lawrence on July 9 ✍🏾 #TheDarkside pic.twitter.com/wFz8YFGbpl

— IridiumSportsAgency (@TeamIridiumISA) April 8, 2022

Kakhramonov (9-2) won his UFC debut when he stepped in on less than a week’s notice to fight Trevin Jones last August. He ended up putting Jones to sleep in the third round. Kakhramonov is riding a three-fight win streak and was the CFFC bantamweight champion before vacating the belt to join the big show. The 26-year old was scheduled to face Brian Kelleher in January; however, he tested positive for COVID-19 the week of the fight.

Lawrence (9-1) has been perfect thus far into his UFC career, but he did run into some trouble late in his last fight against Mana Martinez; “The Heat” would survive a late onslaught and win a unanimous decision. In his UFC debut, he dominated Vince Cachero and finished him in the third round. Lawrence is riding a five-fight win streak.

The UFC’s July 9, 2022 event does not yet have an official location, venue, or broadcast plan announced. No other fights have been announced.

The post Saidyokub Kakhramonov vs. Ronnie Lawrence Set For July 9 UFC Event appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Nashville-based fighter was out nearly a year between fights, and ultimately earned a unanimous decision win. But it wasn’t easy making it back to the cage on Saturday.

“We all have stuff in camp that makes it tough. I had a few things go wrong, a few things, the weight cut kind of got messed up,” he told media outlets including Cageside Press.

Of course, there were hiccups during the fight as well, he added. “No one’s happy with being dropped in a fight either. I felt a little flat, didn’t feel good all day, but we went in there and got it done. Sometimes a fighter’s gotta fight.”

Among the things that went wrong for Lawrence, a staph infection — his third in roughly a year. “I’m not dirty or nothing, I don’t know if I train too much, it’s just bad luck. I need to figure out what’s been going on with that.”

Despite the recurrent nature of the infection, Lawrence never considered pulling out of the fight. “Fans don’t fight, so they don’t truly understand, but that’s just not a good look for the fans, if you pull out of a fight for staph,” he explained. “It didn’t go through my head.”

So while he would like some time to sort things out, Ronnie Lawrence also doesn’t want to be away too long again. “I don’t want too much time, because every time you spend too much time out of the cage, it’s almost like the first time you get back in there. But I would like to figure this out. Hopefully I will.”

Watch the full UFC 271 post-fight press scrum with Ronnie Lawrence above.

The post UFC 271: Ronnie Lawrence Says Recurring Staph Infection Caused Issues During Camp appeared first on Cageside Press.

Lawrence attacked the legs early, circling on the outside. Martinez looked to walk him down, but frankly couldn’t catch him. Lawrence then changed levels just over a minute in, landing the takedown. Martinez would get to one knee along the fence, Lawrence staying on him. Eventually Martinez escaped out, and the pair went back to center, only for Lawrence to suddenly close the distance and drop Martinez with a right hand! Martinez turtled up with Lawrence on him, then rolled into a heel hook that wasn’t there.

Ronnie Lawrence then settled into Martinez’s guard, which the latter kept closed, and high up the back. If nothing else, Martinez was buying some recovery time. He would run down the clock, and they’d head to round two.

In the second, Lawrence again circled on the outside, firing a low kick. Martinez, as he had in the opening round, chased him, more often than not finding air. Less than a minute into the round, Lawrence landed a 1-2 combo, body then head, dropping Mana Martinez for the second time in the fight. Again, Lawrence followed his opponent to the ground. He’d work at taking the back; when Martinez tried to power up, Lawrence dragged him back down. A second attempt saw Martinez get back to his feet, but by the midway point of the fight, he’d been knocked down again, eating a swarm of punches after a right hand dropped him.

From there, Lawrence took the back, locking in a body triangle. Martinez didn’t appear to know what zip code he was in. But he was cognizant enough to tuck his chin and fight hands, and even managed to reverse position and escape out — only for Lawrence to power through a double-leg takedown.

Martinez managed to turn the tables in the third round. After Lawrence had the edge through the first half of the round, Martinez came back in the second, rocking Lawrence, dropping and swarming him! Somehow, Lawrence survived in a mad scramble, only to nearly end up stuck in an arm-bar, then a triangle! Still, Ronnie Lawrence survived the comeback attempt. Lawrence would spend some time on top before Martinez escaped up. A final takedown for Lawrence in the last 10 seconds sealed the deal, but Martinez at least made things interesting at the end.

Official Result: Ronnie Lawrence def. Mana Martinez by unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-28)

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Weight-cutting is the ultimate test of discipline and willpower. Many fighters in the sport consider it very unprofessional to miss weight.

In this series, we will shine a light on select fighters who cut a massive amount of weight, who have missed weight multiple times in the past, who have made weight-class changes, along with how the weight-cut and weigh-in could affect possible upcoming match-ups. Basically, every aspect of weight-cutting and how it affects the fight game.

Maxim “Maximus” Grishin (31-9-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC)

Light Heavyweight (205lbs.): 1-1 (UFC), 18-1-2, Missed weight 1x in UFC

Catchweight (211lbs.): 1-0 (MMA)

Heavyweight (265lbs.): 0-1 (UFC), 10-6 (MMA)

Maxim Grishin has had a very long professional MMA career that began back in 2008. At the start of his career, Grishin competed predominately in the heavyweight division, specifically until about the year 2012.

Grishin is now 37 years old, and at 6’3″ with a 76″ reach, has a really big frame. Because of this, Grishin often struggles to make the 205lbs weight limit.

Grishin has missed weight a couple of times outside of the UFC at 205lbs, but because of all of his success at said weight division, has decided to stay there.

Maxim missed weight in his most recent fight almost a year ago when he weighed in at 210.5lbs for his light heavyweight fight against Dustin Jacoby.

Because of his history, age and size Grishin will defentley be a fighter to watch on the scale and in the octagon this weekend.

The post The Weight Cutting Chronicles: UFC 271 appeared first on Cageside Press.

MMA Fighting was the first to report that Ronnie Lawrence will fight Mana Martinez at UFC 271 on February 12. A source close to the situation subsequently confirmed the bantamweight fight to Cageside Press.

Lawrence (7-1) is riding a four-fight win streak and picked up his first UFC win against Vince Cachero at UFC Fight Night: Rozenstruik vs. Gane. Lawrence was scheduled to face Trevin Jones in July, but was forced to pull out the fight due to a botched weight cut on the day of weigh-ins.

Martinez (9-2) also picked up his first UFC win in his debut with promotion at UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Chikadze on August 28. He defeated Guido Cannetti via split decision. Before his UFC debut, he knocked out both Jose Johnson and Casey Jones in a minute or less on the regional scene.

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

UFC 271 currently looks like this:

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

The post Ronnie Lawrence vs. Mana Martinez Set For UFC 271 appeared first on Cageside Press.

During the event’s official weigh-in in Las Vegas, Ronnie Lawrence failed to hit the scales for his fight with Trevin Jones. The bantamweight scrap was expected to be the second bout of the evening at the Fight Night event.

Jones did make weight earlier on, coming in at 135lbs on the nose. But as weigh-ins progressed, word made the rounds that Lawrence was experiencing medical difficulties.

UFC officials later confirmed that the fight would not move forward. No explanation was given for why the bout dropped off the event.

Earlier in the weigh-in window, Nicco Montano, the beleaguered former women’s flyweight champion, badly missed weight for her fight with Wu Yanan. Due to that nature of that weight miss — a full 7lbs — her fight was also scratched from the card on Saturday.

The Fight Night card now moves forward with the following line-up:

Main Card

Main Event – Middleweight Bout: Uriah Hall (185.5) vs Sean Strickland (185)
Co-Main Event – Bantamweight Bout: Kyung-Ho Kang (136) vs Rani Yahya (136)
Women’s Strawweight Bout: Cheyanne Buys (116) vs Gloria de Paula (115.5)
Welterweight Bout: Niklas Stolze (170.5) vs Jared Gooden (171)
Flyweight Bout: Ryan Benoit (126) vs Zarrukh Adashev (125.5)
Welterweight Bout: Bryan Barberena (170.5) vs Jason Witt (170.5)

Preliminary Card

Featherweight Bout: Collin Anglin (146) vs Melsik Baghdasaryan (145.5)
Lightweight Bout: Chris Gruetzemacher (156) vs Rafa Garcia (154)
Featherweight Bout: Danny Chavez (145.5) vs Kai Kamaka (144.5)
Women’s Strawweight Bout: Jinh Yu Frey (115.5) vs Ashley Yoder (116)
Welterweight Bout: Phil Rowe (173.5)* vs Orion Cosce (170.5)

The post Ronnie Lawrence vs. Trevin Jones Off UFC Vegas 33 appeared first on Cageside Press.