After the original co-main event of Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison fell apart, thanks to an injury to Harrison, Sean O’Malley took on Song Yadong in the slot. Song ended up dropping the pivotal bantamweight scrap. And in the main event, Justin Gaethje finally realized UFC gold as he captured the lightweight interim UFC strap. On the losing side, Paddy Pimblett, who was battered and dropped over the course of 25 minutes. Five ranked losers on the first edition of losers for 2026!

Paddy Pimblett

Justin Gaethje disfigured his opponent and scored multiple knockdowns against Paddy Pimblett on his way to a unanimous decision victory on Saturday night. Paddy had a great showing but ultimately Gaethje’s striking proved to be just too much against “the Baddy” from Liverpool. The loss, Paddy’s first in the UFC, snaps a nine-fight win streak dating back to his Cage Warrior days. Pimblett is now 7-1 with the promotion. He entered the fight ranked at #5 (Gaethje was #4).

Paddy has a few options for his next fight. The opponent that he draws depends on his healing time, UFC brass and upcoming fight outcomes. Paddy will most likely draw the loser of Dan Hooker vs Benoit Saint-Denis (Also possible: Loser of #9 Rafael Fiziev vs. #14 Mauricio Ruffy or Loser of #3 Max Holloway vs. #2 Charles Oliveira).

That fight goes down January 31st on UFC 325, so the timing would be perfect. Hooker is ranked at #6 in the division and coming off a second-round submission loss to Arman Tsarukyan in November. He’s 3-1 in his last four fights. Benoit Saint-Denis is riding a 3-fight win streak but is also 3-1 in his last four fights. BSD is ranked at #8. Giving Paddy the loser of this bout gives him a manageable name within the top 10, that’s a striking first fighter. Fight could easily be on a PPV main card or the main event of a fight night card. Winner would be right back in a title eliminator bout.

Pimblett’s next fight: Dan Hooker vs Benoit Saint-Denis Loser

Song Yadong

Sean O’Malley turned in a solid night’s work as he out struck Song Yadong on his way to a unanimous decision victory. Song is now 11-4-1 and has lost two of his last four. To be fair, Song’s last three fights have all been against former (and now current) champions (Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo, Sean O’Malley).  Song entered the fight with a #5 ranking while O’Malley was ranked at #3. The 28-year-old is so close to a title shot he just needs one more win against that elite level competition.

Perfect next fight for Yadong would be against Deiveson Figueiredo. Figgy also fought on UFC 324, but he was in the feature prelim spot taking on Umar Nurmagomedov. Deiveson lost a unanimous decision. He entered the fight ranked at #6 while Umar was ranked at #2. Timing works out great, and so does rankings, only question mark here is that Figgy missed weight ahead of the bout. Still seems like a safe one to book, as Deiveson is the former flyweight champion and has already moved up in weight. This could easily be the main event of a fight night card, and the winner would get a title eliminator fight.

Yadong’s next fight: Deiveson Figueiredo

Derrick Lewis

Waldo Cortes-Acosta mostly had his way with Lewis on Saturday, toying with the veteran on the feet before finally scoring the ground n’ pound finish in the second. Rough outcome for Derrick as the #8 ranked heavyweight on the roster, he was getting a shot at the #5 guy. And Cortes-Acosta was coming off of a massive year last year, with lots of momentum (4-1 within 2025). To make matters worse, the loss also snaps a 2-fight win/finish streak (over Rodrigo Nascimento and Tallison Teixeira) which had gotten Lewis back on track from a 2-5 stretch just prior.

With all that in mind, Derrick’s next fight should be against Josh Hokit. Yes, it should be back to gate keeper status for the 40-year-old fan favorite KO-king. Hokit, a former NFL player and Contender Series product won his second UFC fight against Denzel Freeman in the second fight on the card. Josh has stopped all eight men that he’s faced thus far as a pro and has cut some ‘interesting’ promos while doing it. Who better to face him off against than the “Black Beast.” Also, Josh called for Waldo during his post-fight interview. I don’t know how much sense that matchup makes, but a bout against Lewis certainly does. This is another one where the timing matches up great and it could potentially be a co-main event on a Fight Night if the promotion would like to push Hokit.

Lewis’s next fight: Josh Hokit

Rose Namajunas

Natalia Silva outpointed former UFC strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas, on her way to one of the most impressive victories of her career. Rose entered the fight ranked at #6 in the women’s flyweight division while Natila was ranked at #2. Rose is now 3-3 since moving to flyweight in 2023 and 12-7 under the promotional banner as a whole.

With that in mind, Rose’s next bout should be against Karine Silva. Karine is currently ranked at #9 in the division. Silva is 5-2 in the UFC since coming off of the 2021 season of the Contender Series. She’s 1-2 in her last three fights having lost to Viviane Araujo and her most recent bout against Maycee Barber back in December. Barber was supposed to face Rose back in 2024 but the fight never happened. Rose and Karine are right on the same level right now. This is the fight to make, and it could easily land on the main card of a fight night card.

Namajunas’s next fight: Karine Silva

Arnold Allen

Jean Silva bested Arnold Allen in a wild, back and forth fight that ended up going the distance. Allen fought well and did a lot for his stock but ultimately just could not out point 5the dynamic striker that is wildman Jean Silva. Arnold entered the first main card bout of UFC 324, ranked at #6 at 145lbs., while his opponent was ranked at #10. Allen now falls to 11-3 within his UFC career. Arnold is currently in the roughest stretch of his pro career. The 20-4 fighter has lost three of his last four bouts.

Allen’s next bout should be against Aaron Pico. Bit of a wild card of a pick here. But Pico, a Bellator standout, was signed by the UFC last year and lost his debut to Lerone Murphy. Despite the UFC debut ending with a first-round finish Pico looked very promising. How’s about one more shot? 29-year-old Pico vs a 32-year-old Allen? It’d be a great chance for Allen to get back on the right track, keeps him fighting large names too. That’d be a great opportunity for Pico. Allen will surely keep his ranking following this loss and is a solid litmus test.

Allen’s next fight: Aaron Pico

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“Before the third round my coach, Carlos, he said listen Natalia, this is it. You need to win this round, you need go to for it. So that’s what I did,” Silva told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator at her post-fight scrum.

“Turned up a notch and went for it to win that round. The first round yes very tight, but the more significant strikes, the more forceful strikes were mine.”

The post Natalia Silva Says UFC Promised Shevchenko Title Fight After UFC 324 Win Over Rose Namajunas appeared first on Cageside Press.

Silva was the #2-ranked fighter in the division, and with Manon Fiorot, the only woman ranked ahead of her, losing to Valentina Shevchenko last year, the Brazilian was the front-runner for a title shot. “Thug” Rose, however, had the sort of name value that could see her jump right to a title opportunity, especially with a hypothetical match-up at the White House in June.

Namajunas looked like the quicker fighter early, practically bouncing on her feet. Silva fired a number of kicks, all of which missed. Through the first minute, little if anything either fighter had thrown actually landed. Silva nearly landed a shot clean off a caught kick, with Rose just pulling free in the nick of time. Namajunas then fired a kick of her own up high, which also missed. Namajunas did land an outside leg kick, and closing the distance, forced Silva to retreat. Rose’s right hand was looking like her best weapon after the first three minutes.

Silva also mixed in the odd low kick, as well as side kicks; despite a lot of feints and her well-known explosiveness, she still wasn’t landing too much at all. That changed towards the end of the round, but Namajunas’ movement continued to give her fits. A clinch came at the end of the round, but the pair stayed standing.

Namajunas was in-and-out early in the second, landing then fading back out of reach of Silva. The Brazilian continued to feint, but her offense was stymied: anything thrown seemed to hit air. Namajunas had a slight edge in strikes actually landed thanks to her speed, and the ex-champ was actually leading the dance, initiating most of the exchanges. In a clinch, the pair went down briefly roughly halfway into round two, but they scrambled back up immediately.

Back on the feet, however, Silva was able to take control, driving Rose into the fence. Namajunas was eventually able to reverse, cancelling that advantage out in a fight that continued to be extremely close. Moments later, “Thug” Rose had the takedown, perhaps the most significant development through nearly ten rounds of fight time.

Silva, without a solid submission available, tried to work back to the fence, while Namajunas looked for space to land a few strikes. While Rose couldn’t find room to land anything heavy, she got a few short shots in, and had over a minute of top time.

Round three of an extremely close fight opened with a much higher, downright scrappy pace. Silva started taking it to Namajunas, something she had not done through the first ten minutes. A spinning back kick to the body sent Namajunas retreating. Multiple kicks from Silva landed to the legs. Namajunas was almost in pure defensive mode, and needed to reset.

Silva was looking much lighter on her feet in the third. Where this Natalia Silva was through the opening ten minutes was a big question, and should she lose on the scorecards, she would have only herself to blame for the slow start. Silva was able to stuff a late Namajunas takedown, then landed her own off a throw. That put her in half guard with just over 30 seconds to go. With Rose taking round two and Silva winning the third, the fight would essentially come down to the low-action opening frame.

That, at least according to the judges, was won by Natalia Silva. A result that was not at all popular with the Las Vegas crowd.

Official Result: Natalia Silva def. Rose Namajunas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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“I wanted to get a shot at the title before, but the UFC said that Valentina (Shevchenko) was not going to be able to fight so soon. So they offered Rose’s name and we said yeah,” Silva told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator on Wednesday.

“We accepted it.”

Silva (19-5-1) expects her pace and style to force Namajunas into a reactionary role from the opening bell. She believes she’ll be the one setting the tone and making the adjustments as the fight unfolds.

“Throughout the fight she’s going to have to adapt to the style and when I step into the octagon I will be the one just dealing the cards throughout the fight. She’s going to have to adapt to that,” she said.

“In the name of Jesus yes I’m fighting for this, I’m working for this, and I think that a win against Rose already gives me the credential already to actually fight for the title,” she said.

“The UFC has said that this is an elimination fight. The next one will be for the title.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Natalia Silva above. She faces Rose Namajunas at UFC 324 on Saturday night.

The post Natalia Silva Believes UFC 324 Win Over Rose Namajunas Earns Title Shot appeared first on Cageside Press.

Namajunas faces Natalia Silva at UFC 324 this Saturday in Las Vegas, and is appreciative of the caliber of card she’s been placed on. “Now, because I’ve done it so many times and I’ve been here for so long, I’m just cherishing the memories a little bit more. I’m paying attention to it a little bit more,” said Namajunas (14-7), speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “Every time that there’s other great fighters on the card, it just kind of builds the energy. We all kind of feed off each other too. So it’s great.”

These days, what Namajunas is feeling for the sort of opportunities she’s faced with on Saturday is “definitely gratitude,” she added. “I know that this isn’t forever, I know that life goes by quickly and this is a blessing. The fact that I even just woke up today and was able to breathe air is a blessing from God. The fact that I can be here and just do what I love, and just give something that I’ve been given to everybody else, and to just try to do my best, it’s hard to put into words how grateful I am.”

In the past, Namajunas had some fear of the eyeballs on her. Now, “not that I’m not scared or uncomfortable or nervous or anything like that, but I’m just more accustomed to it.”

Should Namajunas notch the W at UFC 324, she’ll have knocked off one of the top contenders in the women’s flyweight division. With a June victory over Miranda Maverick, it might just be enough to shoot her to the front of the line for champ Valentina Shevchenko. With the possibility of a fight at the White House looming.

Namajunas would be thrilled with it, but isn’t getting too stuck on the idea either. “If that doesn’t happen, I’m not going to be like ‘aww man,’ but obviously that would be so super crazy, super weird, super I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened. For some reason I get the weird feeling that that could very well happen. But who knows- only god knows.”

When it comes to Silva, meanwhile, there’s been a question as to which is more dangerous: her skill, or her explosiveness.

“They’re kind of neck-and-neck I feel like,” Namajunas told Cageside Press on Wednesday. “I would say her explosiveness. I think certain things she gets away with because she is so fast and she is so explosive. But I mean her skill is definitely right there. So I’m looking to expose that.”

“She never seems to get tired, maybe little tendencies here and there you might see over time, but she just looks so fluid all the time and so in the zone. I’m really looking to try to take her out of that and get her out of character.”

Watch the full UFC 324 media day appearance by Rose Namajunas above.

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First reported by Sherdog.

Rose (14-7) enters fresh off a unanimous decision win over Miranda Maverick in June. The former two-time strawweight champion moved to flyweight in 2023, debuting against Manon Fiorot in a losing effort before rebounding with a win over Tracy Cortez just months later.

Grasso (16-5-1) is riding a two-fight skid, having lost her title in a rematch with Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 306 before falling to Silva. No official reason was provided for her withdrawal, though it’s likely she will remain sidelined for the remainder of 2025.

UFC 324 takes place on Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in the very first UFC event on Paramount+. 

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Kamaru Usman

“The Nigerian Nightmare” had to wait a long time, but he finally got his hand raised once again. After dropping three fights in a row and taking a 20-month layoff, Usman stopped the streaking Joaquin Buckley in his tracks. “New Mansa” was on a six-fight heater since dropping to welterweight, but he had no answer for Usman’s takedowns.

Though he called for a title shot next, I doubt the UFC is looking to invest that much into a 38-year-old Usman. This was a nice win, but in a title picture as crowded as the one at 170 currently is, we have to imagine he’s at least one more win away from a shot. I could see the promotion try again to use his name value against a young up-and-comer such as Ian Machado Garry, but I do think they’ll choose something else. There’s a bad blood matchup between Usman and Belal Muhammad that has been brewing for some time. Now that the two former champions aren’t holding the belt anymore, there’s a clear window to make this fight.

Usman’s next fight: Belal Muhammad

Rose Namajunas

With a unanimous decision victory over rising contender Miranda Maverick in the UFC Atlanta co-main event, Namajunas moved to 3-2 since making her move to flyweight. Her only losses came to Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield in hard-fought bouts. Rose’s popularity will always work in her favor, meaning she’s never that far away from a number one contender fight. Getting back on track with this win means she can fight upwards right away and get a chance to insert herself back into the division’s top5. I think a fight with fellow former champion and fellow former strawweight Alexa Grasso makes sense and would be interesting. Can Rose make the turnaround for the Noche card San Antonio?

Namajunas’ next fight: Alexa Grasso

Edmen Shahbazyan

Shahbazyan’s fights are predictable in that they often end one of two ways:

• Scenario #1: He either gets the 1^st-round KO
• Scenario #2: He gets finished later in the fight after failing to achieve scenario #1

This time, his UFC Atlanta fight with Andre Petroski went the distance marking his first time seeing the judges’ scorecards since his bout with Jack Hermansson in 2021. This also marked his first time winning consecutive fights since 2019.

Someone as exciting as Shahbazyan should be facing fighters who can match his style and deliver fireworks. The upcoming fight between Shara “Bullet” Magomedov and Marc-André Barriault is a great example of that. Shahbazyan can fight the winner later this year.

Shahbazyan’s next fight: Magomedov/Barriault winner

Raoni Barcelos

Barcelos was always looked at as one of the most underrated fighters of his division, but after going 1-4 between 2021 and 2023, which included a brutal KO loss to Umar Nurmagomedov, it looked like age was catching up to the Brazilian. Since then, he bounced back with a submission win over Cristian Quiñonez, a massive betting upset over Payton Talbott earlier this year, and now a unanimous decision win over a former champion in Cody Garbrandt.

Is this enough to get him the shot at the rankings he was never granted? I doubt so, but a fight against Ricky Simón, another highly respected fighter in this loaded division, should produce a win streak worthy of a ranking.

Barcelos’ next fight: Ricky Simón

Mansur Abdul-Malik

The highly touted Abdul-Malik may have seen the judges’ scorecards for the first time in his professional career at UFC Atlanta, but somehow, he still didn’t go the distance. A rare technical decision due to a clash of heads saw a decision being read while still having completed the full 15 minutes of scheduled cage time.

At 27 years of age and just 9 professional bouts, Abdul-Malik is still so young for a UFC middleweight. The physical attributes would make any coach salivate, but he’s still obviously so green that his level of competition shouldn’t be raised for the foreseeable future. An opponent like Ozzy Diaz is what the promotion should be looking at.

Abdul-Malik’s next fight: Ozzy Diaz

Alonzo Menifield

They weren’t exactly exceptional performances, but that is now twice in a row that the veteran Menifield has given the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag to an undefeated fighter. After defeating Julius Walker in February, “Atomic” now snatched the Frenchman Oumar Sy’s 0 as well. Like I said, these weren’t contests that will go in the pantheon of exciting fights, but a win is a win. Now officially back on a win streak and having defended his ranking twice, the 37-year-old has earned another shot at someone ranked above him. Johnny Walker and Zhang Mingyang are fine options, but I prefer the idea of those two facing each other. So I went with the loser of the upcoming Nikita Krylov vs Bogdan Guskov fight instead.

Menifield’s next fight: Krylov/Guskov loser

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Namajunas (13-7) is the former queen of the 115ers but she made the move to 125 after dropping two-in-a-row at strawweight. 2-1 in her run at flyweight so far she has victories over Amanda Ribas and Tracy Cortez. She dropped a decision to Erin Blanchfield last November, but looked to right the ship against Maverick.

Maverick (15-5) came into this fight with 4 straight victories. Wins over Jamey-Lyn Horth, Dione Barbosa, Andre Lee and Priscila Cachoeira set her up for a shot at Namajunas. The 27-year-old believes a win over Namajunas supercharges her road to a title shot.

Round 1 Maverick tried to get in close with Namajunas using her jab to keep her at bay. Namajunas put the pressure on Maverick, but the younger flyweight wasn’t giving up much real estate choosing to rush forward with a combo.

Maverick landed a big left hand as Namajunas entered range which cause the former champ to slip down, but she popped back up quick. The combo gave Maverick some confidence as she began to use more power in her combos.

Round 2 Maverick came out firing a combo quick and landed. Then she began to force the action a bit, and Namajunas made her pay for it with a combo of her own. Namajunas continued her somewhat plodding footwork trying to find an angle and create power as she attacks. Not much landed using that strategy however.

Namajunas scored a slick takedown landing on top in open guard. Maverick worked to her hands and knees trying to get to her feet, but Namajunas wasn’t making it easy as she turned into a human backpack. Maverick shed one hook, but then Namajunas dragged her down and stayed on the back.

The same exact sequence happened again as Maverick almost got to her feet. Namajunas had an arm under the chin looking for the choke, but she couldn’t get it. Maverick powered out, took the back, then ended up on top in arm triangle position. She tried to finish the fight, but Namajunas defended and survived.

Round 3 Maverick came out and shot on Namajunas first. Namajunas defended well on the fence as Maverick looked for a trip.

A very fast left hook dropped Maverick and Namajunas landed on top almost in side control. Maverick, while recovering, managed to get her right leg into play as a shield. Namajunas shed it quickly and ended up in half guard.

Namajunas looked for an arm triangle but her legs weren’t in play so she let it go. Maverick was able to power out and sweep, but Namajunas swept her right back and ended up in side control.

Maverick tried to go belly down, but Namajunas did well to keep position. The fight ended with Namajunas on top. After the horn Maverick stood up limping as she clearly injured something in her left leg.

Official Result: Rose Namajunas def. Miranda Maverick via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

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Namajunas (13-7) trained with Maverick, mostly in sparring, but still an interesting side not to the matchup.

“No second thoughts (on taking the fight) or anything. It’s something that I wasn’t like super surprised by just because, when I was matched up to fight Maycee (Barber) and she had pulled out last year, Miranda was one of the first people to kind of throw her name in the hat,” Namajunas told reporters on Wednesday.

“She was matched up to fight Tracy (Cortez) at the time. She was kind of upset that Tracy got that opportunity over her. We were training together for that fight. Mainly just like sparring not like all the other stuff.”

Even with the bit of history they have both in and out of the training room the fight isn’t personal for Namajunas. Being the former champ she knows how the fight game works.

“No, but I know that this is the fight business. She wants what I have, she wants my spot, and I got to just show her that she has to look for a different spot,” she said.

Looking ahead UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang has been talking about moving up to 125 to challenge Valentina Shevchenko. With the history she has with Namajunas would “Thug Rose” entertain a third bout?

“For sure. At 115 we did that twice there. If she was able to (move up) then yeah that would be something that at 125 would make it a little different,” said Namajunas.

Watch the entire media day scrum with Rose Namajunas above. She takes on Miranda Maverick at UFC Atlanta on Saturday night.

The post Rose Namajunas Says It’s Not Personal With Maverick appeared first on Cageside Press.

The #12-ranked flyweight, Maverick (15-5) announced her fight with #6-ranked Namajunas on social media on Thursday, revealing that it will take place on June 14, 2025 in Atlanta, GA.

The always well-spoken Maverick, who has juggled a university career as well as several small business endeavors alongside her UFC tenure, added a heartfelt message about the pairing with the former two-time UFC women’s strawweight champion.

“[Rose Namajunas] has been an inspiration for so many women, especially in WMMA, and I am no exception. I watched her fight as I was coming up in the sport and then I got to train with her on a regular basis,” stated Maverick. “We have been training together for the past few years, but luckily train primarily at different gyms. Now it’s time to duke it out in front of the world and then go back to sharpening each other’s tools. I’m honored to share the cage with a champion person and fighter and I am ready to put the stamp on where I belong!”

Miranda Maverick, 27, currently sits on a four-fight win streak, most recently earning a decision victory over Canadian Jamey-Lyn Horth. As for Namajunas, the 32-year old is 2-2 in her last four, and was last seen coming out on the wrong side of a decision against Erin Blanchfield at UFC Edmonton.

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