Four years removed from the end of his UFC stint, Reis was on a three-fight win streak coming into the bout in San Diego, CA. All of those wins had come under the Cage Warriors banner, with the 38-year old Brazilian competing in both London and San Diego in that span.

Trevin “Five Star” Jones was competing for the first time since exiting the UFC off a loss to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 285 this past March — and looking to snap a four-fight skid in the process.

Cage Warriors 159 takes place Friday, September 8, 2023 at the Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego, CA, airing live on UFC Fight Pass. Full results from the event can be found below. Preliminary card action kicks off at 9:30PM ET.

Cage Warriors 159: Jones vs. Reis Results

Main Card

Trevin Jones def. Wilson Reis by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Roberto Hernandez def. Toby Misech by TKO (body shot), Round 2, 0:52
John De Jesus def. Elijah Leggett by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ian Daube def. Sean Rose by TKO, Round 1, 3:44
Alex Trinidad def. Lucas Martino by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Brian Mitchell def. James Settle by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Terrance Saeteurn def. David Lopez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bobby Winther def. Marcus Walston by TKO, Round 2, 0:19
Manuel Medina def. Anthony Warken by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 0:40

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First noted by UFC Roster Watch, an automated service that monitors changes to the promotion’s fighter database, Makwan Amirkhani, Danaa Batgerel, Tony Gravely, Trevin Jones, Omar Morales, and Ilir Latifi have all been removed from the company’s roster.

An additional report by MMA Fighting notes that in all cases, the fighters in question completed their contracts and were not re-signed by the promotion. That does not, obviously, preclude them from signing with the company again in future.

Latifi (16-9, 1NC), a teammate of Swedish standout Alexander Gustafsson, moved to heavyweight in 2020 for the first of four fights in the division under the UFC banner. He posted a 2-2 record in that stretch, and was coming off a split decision loss to Rodrigo Nascimento.

“The Sledgehammer” had flirted with retirement in recent years.

Amirkhani (17-9), a.k.a. “Mr. Finland,” joined the UFC in 2015, but was 1-5 in his last six fights in the promotion. Jones (13-10, 1NC) was on an 0-4 run, most recently stepping up against former bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt on short notice at UFC 285.

Danaa Batgerel was in a similar situation, on a three-fight losing streak. Omar Morales had also lost three straight, while Gravely, a former CES MMA champ, had lost two, and was 2-2 in his last four fights.

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“Honestly I think every fight is our Super Bowl. It’s everyone’s Super Bowl. We don’t get 16-week seasons. We get a fight and hopefully you win and don’t get injured and go back fighting in a few months,” Garbrandt told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“This sport is evolving so much. It’s phenomenal.”

Garbrandt (13-5) has been in the UFC since 2015 and has held a UFC bantamweight title before by defeating MMA legend Dominick Cruz at UFC 207.

Following that win is where Gabrandt ran into trouble going 1-4 in his next five fights before UFC 285. The build up and the win against Jones however brought positive spirits out of the former champion.

“The passion is back. I had a lot of fun in there. Had a lot of things going on in the last 16 months,” he said.

MY WORD 🤯 #UFC285 pic.twitter.com/INbb6vo1S2

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 5, 2023

Garbrandt revealed that he faced plenty of adversity just to get to UFC 285 having suffered a neck injury during camp, and then suffering yet another injury in warmups the morning of the fight.

“I ended up injuring my neck. Had to have a nerve block put in my neck last week. My last takedown in my warm up this morning I ended up slamming my neck getting a huge dinger losing all full range of motion in my left arm,” he said.

Garbrandt took it in stride knowing opportunities to fight can be rare at times so he went ahead with the fight.

“I was like you know what there’s never going to be an ideal situation. Just like in life there’s never going to be an ideal situation. I was just excited. I believed in myself. Did some meditation,” said Garbrandt.

The bantamweight said he’s been working with the UFC PI on mental strength and mental health. The change did wonders for Garbrandt’s mental fortitude.

“We’re judged off of wins and losses through our career. So through these losses I tried to you know do something different that I’ve never done. In a physical aspect. I’ve got to train harder, I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to incorporate this,” he said.

“But I’ve never really worked on the mental side. It’s kind of not talked about.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Cody Grabrandt above.

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Jones had stepped up in place of Julio Arce in the fight, which saw Garbrandt looking for his first win since a 2020 knockout of Raphael Assuncao.

The bantamweight contest served as the featured fight of the UFC 285 preliminary card on Saturday in Las Vegas.

Following a short feeling-out process, the two bantamweights began to exchange heavy shots towards the end of the first round. Garbrandt exhibited his usual razzle dazzle, eluding strikes in a playful manner while keeping his eyes locked on his combatant.

The former UFC bantamweight champion mixed in his wrestling nicely, slamming Jones to the mat just moments into the second frame and controlling top position for a majority of the round.

Jones battled back, however, pushing forward and doing his best to control the pace of the fight in the third. Garbrandt utilized deceptive head and lateral movements in order to avoid the shots coming his way, before getting taken down and controlled for the last minute of the three-round bout.

The fight would go to the judges scorecards octagon side, where Cody Garbandt would be declared the winner via unanimous decision. The victory marked Garbrandt’s second win in the last six years, and may prove a pivotal one in determining his future with the organization.

With tonight’s defeat, Trevin Jones has lost four fights in a row and is at serious risk of being cut from the UFC.

Official Result: Cody Garbrandt def. Trevin Jones by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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“MMA man, MMA. I do believe I’ve been fighting some of the toughest guys. I do believe a lot of my fights entering the UFC where I was supposed to get big wins a lot of them fell off, and these guys are pulling out. UFC had no choice but just to throw me in the mix. That’s what I believe,” Jones told reporters including Cageside Press on Wednesday.

Jones (13-9) did get some of the best the UFC has to offer at 135 pounds to start his stint in the promotion. With a three-fight losing streak currently on his record Jones was looking for a chance to turn it all around, and then Julio Arce pulled from his fight against Garbrandt.

Opportunity knocked.

“Cody lost his opponent, everyone’s saying the UFC’s trying to get you out of there right, so my manager hit me up He said Cody lost his opponent do you want me to throw your name in the mix? I said go ahead. I didn’t think anything of it,” Jones said.

“Coming off losses, Cody being a former champion, and now here we are.”

Facing a former champion has given this week a big fight feel for Jones.

“How many UFC champions have they had at 135. What, four, max? To get a chance to fight a former champion like…you’ve probably got like 80 guys on the roster, 90 guys on the roster. You don’t get to fight the former champions so this is definitely a major fight for me,” he said.

Former champion or not the result is never guaranteed in MMA and Jones knows he’s got to make the most of this opportunity.

“I’m prepared for this fight. Short notice, I’ve been training, I just have to get a lot of weight off. That’s the sort of thing I’ve been focused on, but I’ve been training. I went to Fortis MMA now so I’m hoping that’s going to be the difference,” said Jones.

“Got with coach, got a good game plan going, and I believe I’m ready for this fight.”

Watch the entire media day scrum with Trevin Jones above. Jones faces Cody Gabrandt at UFC 285 on the main card this Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.

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Jones (13-9, 1NC) has stepped up to replace Julio Arce against Cody Garbrandt (12-5) at UFC 285 this March. The card takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 4.

Garbrandt confirmed news of the booking on social media following an initial report by ESPN.

“No Love” will look to bounce back from two straight losses in the fight. The former UFC bantamweight champ has been in a tailspin of late, going 1-5 dating back to 2017, when he lost his title to T.J. Dillashaw.

Jones has also struggled in recent times, losing three straight bouts. In his most recent outing last October, he dropped a decision against Raoni Barcelos.

March 4, 2023’s UFC 285 is headlined by the return of Jon Jones, who moves to heavyweight to face Ciryl Gane for the promotion’s vacant heavyweight title. Valentina Shevchenko returns in the co-headliner, defending her women’s flyweight championship against Mexico’s Alexa Grasso.

The following match-ups have been reported for the event:

• Jon Jones vs. Ciryl Gane – for the vacant UFC heavyweight championship
• Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. Alexa Grasso – for the UFC women’s flyweight championship
• Jalin Turner vs. Dan Hooker
• Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
• Bo Nickal vs. Jamie Pickett
• Derek Brunson vs. Dricus du Plessis
• Ian Garry vs. Song Kenan
• Viviane Araújo vs. Amanda Ribas
• Julian Marquez vs. Marc-André Barriault
• Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
• Da’Mon Blackshear vs. Farid Basharat
• Kamuela Kirk vs. Esteban Ribovics
• Cody Garbrandt vs. Trevin Jones
• Cameron Saaiman vs. Leomana Martinez

The post Trevin Jones Steps In for Julio Arce Against Ex-Champ Garbrandt at UFC 285 appeared first on Cageside Press.

With the event being behind closed doors, and only one specific very special guest being in attendance, the atmosphere throughout the week has been a strange and unique one at that. In hindsight, the event played out to be one that certainly deserved a live crowd.

Let’s take a look at what could be next for the losers of the night.

Mackenzie Dern

Coming into the weekend, Jiu-Jitsu specialist Mackenzie Dern occupied rank #5 of the strawweight division, while her opponent, Yan Xiaonan sat just one place below her. The consensus was that if Dern could manage to get the fight to the mat, which is something she struggles with quite often despite being a jiu-jitsu specialist, then she could control the fight in any way she wanted. Things didn’t go her way though. On a side note, over 10 UFC fights, Dern has only managed to accumulate a takedown percentage of just 11%.

The fight began with Yan being able to fight her own fight, using counter striking to maximum advantage. In a fight of polar opposite styles, this was key to how the rest of the fight played out. Midway through round two, Dern managed to unconventionally get the fight where she wanted it. Despite over a full minute of relenting ground-and-pound with some submission attempts sprinkled in, Xiaonan survived and got herself through the rest of the fight, winning a majority decision.

There is no denying that Mackenzie Dern is a world class talent, and being on the right side of 30, she still has time to fix some holes in her game. A camp where she focuses on her wrestling entries and figures out ways to get the fight to where she’s most dangerous is now imperative.

I’d like to see Dern fight the winner of the upcoming bout between Hill and Ducote.

Dern’s Next Fight: Winner of Angela Hill vs Emily Ducote

Francisco Trinaldo

The ever aging Trinaldo stepped into the Octagon for the second time this year, as he took on Randy Brown. The fight went the way a lot of people expected, but Trinaldo stayed in the fight throughout. There were definitely times in the fight where Trinaldo looked dangerous, but never did he look to be close to getting Brown out of there.

After being in the promotion for 10 years now, and accumulating 26 fights, maybe it’s time for Trinaldo to think about his future in the sport. Having said that, as previously mentioned, Trinaldo still shows signs of being a dangerous fighter, and one that cannot be deterred.

A fun fight that could roll back the years is Trinaldo vs Matt Brown, and that would ultimately guarantee fireworks.

Trinaldo’s Next Fight: Matt Brown

Trevin Jones

There is no shame losing to Raoni Barcelos. The Brazilian exemplified how well rounded of a mixed martial artist he is, and unfortunately for Jones, he was the one on the receiving end of the complete performance.

With that being Jones’ third loss on the bounce, things are starting to get a bit nervy for the Guam native. Someone who shares a common ground with Jones is Tony Gravely. Both bantamweights have been defeated by Javid Basharat and both are looking to bounce back from their recent losses with a win. Why not match them up together to really see where they’re both at?

Jones’ Next Fight: Tony Gravely 

Don Shainis

Let’s have it right, there are far easier opponents to make your UFC debut against than Sodiq Yusuff. “Super” Sodiq saw his scheduled bout with Giga Chikadze fall through last week, and then subsequently struggled to find a late notice opponent for this card.

Up stepped “Shameless” Shainis, Cage Titans featherweight champion. What proceeded was nothing more than people expected. Shainis found himself locked into a deep guillotine after just 30 seconds of the opening bell, and couldn’t take anymore, with his UFC debut not going to plan — not surprisingly given it being on extremely late notice.

Another fighter who recently made his UFC debut with that also not going to plan is Jarno Errens. Have the two fight each other on a smaller UFC Fight Night card with the winner sticking around to fight another day, and the loser going back to the regional shows to further work on their craft.

Shainis’ Next Fight: Jarno Errens 

Viacheslav Borshchev

Once again, the Russian found himself being out-wrestled for 15 minutes of a fight, highlighting the serious hole in his game that he needs to work on to be able to improve. In his four fights under the UFC banner, his opponents have all managed to score a takedown percentage of at least 60%, with Davis putting a 81% TD accuracy on the board this fight, only failing on two takedowns.

Borshchev has shown in his four UFC fights that he is a skilful opponent on the feet, however, as soon as his opponent shows some sort of poise in the grappling department, he crumbles. As a small consolation, Doug Crosby was the only one of three judges that deemed Borshchev to have won one round, scoring the second round in his favour.

The Canadian, Kyle Nelson, is a lightweight who no matter his opponent, he is going to come in and stand and bang. A fight between the two lightweights looking to taste victory again could be extremely exciting.

Borshchev’s Next Fight: Kyle Nelson 

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 61 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

After being one of the most highly touted prospects in the bantamweight division and starting his UFC career with a five fight winning streak, Raoni Barcelos’ thirty-five years of age seemed to catch up to him as he lost in back-to-back fights by decision against prospects Timur Valiev and Victor Henry. However, his five-time Brazilian National champion wrestling pedigree, his BJJ black belt, and his striking pedigree under legend Pedro Rizzo still had fans excited for every performance.

For his part, Trevin Jones came into the fight also on a two fight winning streak but he had started his UFC run with two straight knockouts, although his KO of Timur Valiev was overturned to a no-contest for a positive marijuana test. This bantamweight tilt was, on paper, one that seemed likely to earn one or both fighters a bonus of some sort.

The open stance match-up allowed the orthodox Barcelos to land a big straight right on the southpaw Jones early on for the first major strike of the fight. After a minute or so, Raoni used a right hand to close distance and get into the clinch. Trevin defended the takedown attempt well but Barcelos did some damage and broke the exchange quickly.

Barcelos got on the front foot and landed another right hand soon after. The pace was slow, but that perhaps suited Raoni, who has had gas tank issues of late in his losses. The Brazilian soon turned a single leg into a slam and got on the back of a turtled Jones with no hooks in. After eating some ground and pound Jones was forced to roll onto his back and Raoni settled into a high half guard. Jones was told by his coaches to open his guard but doing so allowed Barcelos to pass to full mount, displaying his high level jiu-jitsu credentials. Jones attempted to lock down Raoni to avoid damage and he was largely successful until the last fifteen seconds when the Brazilian black belt slammed elbows down on his foe, sealing a clear 10-9 round in his favor.

Trevin Jones came out in round two with increased aggression but Barcelos avoided his massive, wild hooks in the first thirty seconds. Raoni landed a big right hand after a minute that made Jones stumble back to the fence and the Brazilian followed it up with a flying knee that landed partially. After a brief clinch exchange Barcelos landed a big elbow on the break, but Jones ate it. After seven minute of fighting the commentary team revealed that, per their stats, Jones had only landed nine significant strikes. A big strike then floored Trevin Jones and Raoni jumped on top of him looking to finish with ground and pound. However, Trevin was able to grab onto Barcelos’ wrists and smother the strikes while the Guam native recovered from being knocked down. Jones tried to scramble to his feet but Barcelos swiftly transitioned to a front headlock, threatened the choke, and then spun to take the back and force Jones back to the mat. After Jones rolled back to his back, Raoni slammed in elbows and hammerfists that cut open his opponent, dying his blonde hair with red streaks. More and more slicing elbows rained down as the round came to a close. Raoni had established a comfortable, commanding lead through ten minutes of fighting.

Barcelos was vibing at the start of the final stanza, rocking back and forth on his heels as he slipped and returned the strikes of his opponent. Trevin Jones attempted to fight against his counterstriking nature and push forward but the technical proficiency of Raoni made it tough for him to do so.

A big left hook set up a right straight, an uppercut, and a knee from Barcelos and Jones dropped to his knees, appearing close to the end. He got back to his feet but Raoni kept the pressure on, not overdoing it and gassing himself out but staying in his face, landing frequently, and avoiding most of his opponent’s return shots. After a cup shot to Jones stopped the fight briefly, Raoni shot a takedown upon resuming action and landed right in full mount. The dominant performance continued as elbows and punches rained down to the head of Jones. All Trevin could do was attempt to lock down his opponent or bridge out of the situation, which finally succeeded in getting him out of mount. However, Raoni settled in side control and almost finished his opponent with massive elbows dropped from above.

More ground and pound flurried down as the bell rang, and there was no doubt as to what the scorecards would say except for if any 10-8 rounds would be included.

Official Result: Raoni Barcelos def. Trevin Jones by unanimous decision (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)

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The two 135’ers lock horns this coming Saturday, with one of them guaranteed to turn their bad luck into some good momentum. Since 2020, both fighters have had six fights cancelled each, with them previously scheduled to meet in the cage at the end of last year.

Barcelos’ last outing was against Victor Henry back in January this year and Jones’ last appearance was against the extremely impressive Javid Basharat in March. Both men in question were defeated in their respective bouts, heightening the stakes in this meeting even further. Prior to his back-to-back losses, Barcelos had only tasted defeat once before and it was back in 2014, whereas Jones has always struggled to string together a good run of victories.

Rewinding back to the Brazilian’s last fight, he was completely out-struck by Henry, 222 to 134. Not only that, but he also only secured a single takedown out of an attempted seven, finishing at a 14% success rate. He just couldn’t get his offence going. In his fight before that against Valiev, he exhibited how hard it is to get him down to the mat. Valiev attempted six takedowns in their 15 minute fight, not securing a single one.

Switching to “5 Star” Jones, the theme was pretty similar during his last outing. He was marginally out-struck by Basharat 89 to 62 with Javid being the more comfortable of the two in the striking department. As well as that, Jones attempted three takedowns in that fight, not being able to secure one.

In Barcelos’ win over Taha, he did a great job in the first round of eating away at Taha’s lead leg. Not only this, but he also entered his exchanges by throwing a front kick to back Taha up.

There is no doubt that Barcelos is the more seasoned of the two, and his vast amount of experience could play dividends in this match-up. The former LFA featherweight champion has an arsenal of different attacks and strong sides of his game that he could utilise in this fight. Jones’ nature of coming up short, in eight losses three have been via split decision, curbing his bad luck could be something he struggles with, especially against someone of Barcelos’ ilk.

Jones may look to make his 3″ reach advantage pay by staying on the outside, and it is interesting to note that in two of Barcelos’ losses, he was at a reach disadvantage.

The 35-year-old Brazilian currently finds himself as the favourite (-250) to get back into the winning column, with Jones’ + (+200) money being something that may tempt fans into backing the underdog.

In 21 fights, Jones has never had his lights turned out, and in 16 victories for Raoni, eight have came by way of knockout. My prediction is that Raoni Barcelos’ experience will pay off during this fight, and I see a world in which he gets it done by submission. Failing that, I can see him sailing to a decision victory — but this main card affair will be one of watch, with both men highly motivated to turn things around.

The post Barcelos vs. Jones: Two Bantamweights Looking to Curb Their Bad Luck Lock Horns at UFC Vegas 61 appeared first on Cageside Press.

“It feels great. It feels like the preparation I’ve put in really helped me out in this fight. I had the best corner, the best team, best preparation and I’m just happy I got the win,” Basharat said to the media in his post-fight scrum.

Basharat (12-0) was able to control the fight with Jones using a set game plan that he learned from watching tape and his coaches installing a plan geared towards his strengths. Basharat won, but he was still critical of his performance.

“I’m always going to be my biggest critic. From what I remember of the fight usually, like if I don’t finish someone even in sparring or in training, if I don’t feel like I’ve put in enough work on them I’m disappointed in myself,” Basharat said.

“But today I feel like I hit him with everything. The guy was just tough I’ve got to give him mad respect to Trevin Jones. He came to fight today. He just came up short and I made him look easier than it was but he was tough man. He was in that fight the whole time and I almost had him out of there every single round.”

Basharat had requested to walk out with the flag of Afghanistan where he is from originally. His request, however, was denied by the UFC and he was not given a reason as to why.

“I hope (it changes soon) I really do hope because even looking at my, here (points to his jacket where a flag would normally be) this logo it says ‘AFG’ on it but there’s no flag. And this was a big dream of mine just having a flag there. I’m the only one on the planet with ‘Basharat’ on my name, on my (fight) kit. There’s only one of these made, you know? And I really wanted the flag on there. That’s how I envisioned it all the time, but it’s a shame. Hopefully we can get that fixed and get the flag on,” said Basharat.

As for what’s next for the UFC debutant it’s pretty simple. He just wants to fight.

“Man they kind of froze me out. I wanted to fight after Contender Series. That’s why I stayed in Vegas for 6 months. I was just lurking around trying to get a fight. They offered me London, March. But that London card looked like it was like cursed or something because it got scrapped four times. I can’t afford to not fight before Ramadan, Ramadan’s in April. So I have to take time off for Ramadan I’m not going to be competing, but I want to get cracking straight after Ramadan. Let’s do this.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 50 post-fight media scrum with Javid Basharat above.

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