Gilbert Burns

At 38-years old, Gilbert Burns is on the tail end of his career. That’s just the reality of it. After challenging for welterweight gold in 2021, Burns is 3-4 in the promotion. That’s not dreadful, but three of those four losses have come about consecutively across his last three fights.

Burns is unlikely to ever get another crack at gold, and the UFC being the UFC, will likely now be booked against a number of younger stars, much like Brady. If they do go that route, it wouldn’t be surprising to see someone like Michael Morales booked against Burns. Unfortunate, but not surprising. That said, the man Morales just beat, Neil Magny, is the preferable option here. He remains ranked, at #15, and has been trading wins and losses the past few years. He’s 37. He did lose to Burns in January 2023, but if you book this, say, four months on down the line, that’s two years between fights, and not the worst rematch. Preferable to feeding the old(er) to the young.

Burns’ next fight: Neil Magny rematch

Jessica Andrade

Former women’s strawweight champ Jessica Andrade is far from old, but she’s got a lot of mileage on her these days, and a lot of outside distractions. Ahead of UFC Vegas 97, word broke that she was suing a former coach for embezzling millions of dollars. Previously, she tried her hand at OnlyFans, only to see explicit photos leak to the public.

Despite having two straight wins at strawweight, Andrade returned to flyweight at UFC Vegas 97, only to lose a decision to Natalia Silva. In all honesty, if she can handle the weight cut still, the move is still strawweight. And if you kind of discount the loss at 125lbs, she’s still a player there, and has yet to face another fellow Brazilian in Amanda Ribas. Coincidentally, Ribas also just dropped a fight at flyweight, to Rose Namajunas, but before that had a win at strawweight. Book these two, 115lbs, and maybe have them stick with strawweight for the time being.

Andrade’s next fight: Amanda Ribas 

Kyle Nelson

What an unfortunate turn of events for Kyle “The Monster” Nelson. Sitting on a solid win streak, the unranked featherweight had been granted a shot against a big name in Calvin Kattar, only for Kattar to drop out of UFC Vegas 97. Steve Garcia stepped in, Nelson missed weight, and to add insult to injury, Garcia picked up the TKO victory.

Now, there’s an argument to be made that Garcia deserves the Kattar fight. As for Nelson, he’ll have to lower his aim a fair bit. Jamall Emmers could fit the bill; he’s coming off a loss to Nate Landwehr, and has been trading wins and losses of late.

Nelson’s next fight: Jamall Emmers

Matt Schnell

Fare thee well Matt “Danger” Schnell. The flyweight left his gloves in the octagon following a third consecutive loss at UFC Vegas 97, in this case to Cody Durden. We all know what that means.

Schnell’s next fight: retirement

Trevor Peek

A 2022 Contender Series winner, lightweight Trevor Peek fell to 2-3 under the UFC banner this past Saturday, taken to a decision by Yanal Ashmouz. He’s now lost two straight and three of his last four, and this early in his career with the 2024 Contender Series underway, that could be a death sentence (or more accurately a pink slip).

Should the UFC keep Peek around for another shot, an incoming Contender Series fighter wouldn’t be a bad call. Peek’s fought three to four times a year the past few years, so one more towards the end of 2024 isn’t a bad idea, against an early DWCS Season 8 winner looking to make a quick debut.

Peek’s next fight: 2024 DWCS winner

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Peek (9-2) began his UFC career following his win at Contender Series with a first round knockout of Erick Gonzalez in February 2023. Since then he’s gone 1-2 with losses to Chepe Mariscal and Charlie Campbell, but scoring a win over Mohammad Yahya at UFC 294.

Ashmouz (7-1) came out on fire with an impressive win over Sam Patterson via first round TKO at UFC 298, but then lost to Chris Duncan just 4 months later. Coming off a 13-month layoff he hoped to get back to winning against Peek.

Trevor Peek spent the first half of round number one trying to be calculated and calmer than the Peek the world is used to. Peek used his leg kicks well for the most part and landed a few good body shots. Ashmouz was able to capitalize and take Peek down off a punch peek loaded up on. Peek was able to get up but Ashmouz was able to control the clinch for the most part the rest of the round.

Heading into the second round it seemed Ashmouz was waiting for Peek to throw so he could counter with a punch or takedown. Peek started the first half of the round really good hurting Ashmouz a couple of times with stinging right hands. Peek started to work the body to open up the shots to the head but Ashmouz was able to capitalize on his wrestling again. Peek tried to use some of his offesnive wrestling in the second round but Ashmouz was able to defend and put Peek back on the ground slamming him for a 7th takedown to end the second round.

Peek was having a hard time finding Ashmouz there to be hit but he wasn’t going to go down without fight. In the third and final round Peek stepped on the gas and seemed to sting Ashmouz with a few more right hands and an uppercut. However it didn’t take long for Ashmouz to go back to the well with is wrestling that worked majority of this fight. Peek was not an easy task to keep down as he got out of the clinch and got into a brawling exchange with Ashmouz. Ashmouz was able to get Peek back up against the cage to end the round with another takedown.

The Red Fox had a very impressive performance against Trevor Peek who is not exactly the easiest fight to take the way he fights. Ashmouz stated after his dominant 30-27 victory “We know he’s an agressive guy so we just worked on timing the takedowns that was the plan”. Trevor Peek is now on a two fight skid following this loss and will need to get a huge win next time out.

Result: Yanal Ashmouz def. Trevor Peel via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28×2)

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News of the bout was first broken by Robert Tellez (@Bert_MMA on X formerly known as Twitter). It’s a lightweight bout that is scheduled three, five-minute rounds on the preliminaries of the UFC APEX card in Las Vegas.

Peek also confirmed the booking on social media.

Trevor Peek (9-2) has been both exciting and violent for the entirety of his short UFC career to date. The 2022 Contender Series Alum has gone 2-2 with the promotion but was able to secure a performance bonus in his debut with the company, by stopping Erick Gonzalez. While he has been entertaining, with his unorthodox striking, Trevor has struggled to find the finish and the win column in the bouts since. Peek was last in action a couple of months ago when he lost a unanimous decision to Charlie Campbell.

Yanal Ashmouz (7-1) has just a pair of bouts for the UFC. A veteran of both the PFL and CFFC promotions, Yanal made his UFC debut with a vicious first round KO over Sam Patterson in early 2023. Yanal’s most recent fight was last July when he lost a unanimous decision at the hands of Chris Duncan. It was a striking heavy fight which is a common theme for the fighter, as most of Yanal’s wins are by KO/TKO.

The card on the September 7 is filling out nicely, with the main event being Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady. With the addition of Trevor Peek vs. Yanal Ashmouz to its undercard, UFC Vegas 97 is now up to 10 fights with a four-fight main card at the writing of this article. Here is the line up so far:

• Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady
• Calivn Kattar vs. Kyle Nelson
• Jessica Andrade vs. Natalia Silva
• Matt Schnell vs. Alessandro Costa
• Andre Lima vs. Felipe dos Santos
• Jaqueline Amorim vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
• Isaac Dulgarian vs. Brendon Marlotte
• Andre Petroski vs. Dylan Budka
• Gabrial Santos vs. Yizha
• Trevor Peek vs. Yanal Ashmouz

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Chris Curtis would compete in his second split decision fight of 2024, but this time, he was on the losing end of said decision. Eight decisions on a 12-fight card with three of the five-fight main card bouts ending in split decisions.

Chris Curtis

Curtis lost a very close fight to Brendan Allen on Saturday night, falling to 5-3, 1 NC in the UFC. Chris also tweaked his hamstring in the second round before severely injuring it just moments before the end of the bout.

Chris Curtis could very well be out of action for an extended period of time due to the hamstring injury. Chris will likely be out for the better part of a year depending on the severity his injury. With that in mind, there are a couple of fighters that could potentially make for good fights when Curtis returns to the octagon (the loser of Anthony Hernandez vs Roman Dolidze, in June, would be ideal but Curtis will still be recovering). The front runner for Curtis would have to be a fighter like Roman Kopylov. Roman is 4-3 in the UFC but has won foue of his last five fights all by stoppage. And Kopylov is still early-ish in his pro fight career with 15 fights. It’d be a great striking battle and a good welcome back for Chris.

Curtis’ next fight: Roman Kopylov

Alexander Hernandez

Alexander Hernandez had himself a rough night at UFC Vegas 90. Hernandez missed weight on the scale in third fight at 145lbs, ahead of losing a split decision on Saturday night.

Hernandez now has a 6-7 record in the UFC and is winless at 0-3 in the featherweight division. If Hernadez insists on staying at 145lbs, then a good matchup for him would be Morgan Charriere. Morgan fought just prior to Hernadez and though he only has just two fights with the promotion, he has 30 professional MMA fights. Hernandez does not have much leverage at featherweight.

If Hernandez chooses to move back to lightweight where he is 6-4 in the UFC, he should fight, the winner of the Terrance McKinney vs Esteban Ribovics fight. That fight is about a month away and would throw Hernandez right back into the mix at 155lbs. A couple of finishes or impressive wins and he’d be knocking on the door of being ranked.

Hernandez’s next fight at featherweight: Morgan Charriere

Hernandez’s next fight at lightweight: Terrance McKinney vs Esteban Ribovics winner

Morgan Charriere

Morgan was on the wrong side of a split decision in a hard-fought bout against Chepe Mariscal. The bout won fight of the night honors and raised Morgan’s stock, as it was just his second bout in the UFC.

A solid name, as previously mentioned, would be Alexander Hernandez. Alexander has won only one fight of his last five and is 0-3 as a featherweight. Hernandez has 13 fights in the UFC and is has made a considerable name for himself, which could be a great opportunity for a fighter like Charriere. Not to mention, the timing would work as the two shared a card and both fought to split decisions in three round bouts.

If Hernandez is not available, Charriere could fight Seung Woo Choi, his original matchup. “Sting” pulled out of the bout with Morgan and has a 4-5 record with the UFC, 11-6 in pro MMA. The two matchups very well and either way exciting things on the horizon for Morgan Charriere.

Charriere’s next fight: Alexander Hernandez or Seung Woo Choi 

Christos Giagos

Christos Giagos is now 6-8 after two stints with the UFC having shared the octagon with the likes of Charles Oliveria, Drakkar Klose, Arman Tsarukyan, Thiago Moises and Daniel Zellhuber. An undefeated Gilbert Burns was Giagos welcome to the UFC back in 2014.

Giagos has fought some monsters over the course of his career and still has a pretty solid record. Christos is obviously a fighter that is used to measure just how skilled up and coming hype trains are within the UFC, as is evident thru his last couple of fights.

Give Giagos the winner of the Chase Hooper vs. Viacheslav Borshchev. Both fighters have under 10 fights in the UFC and have shown promise with the promotion. Both fighters are also earlier on in their careers.

Jordan Leavitt would also be another good matchup, as he is coming off of a loss in November of last year to Chase Hooper. Leavitt would be available since he does not have a fight booked.

Giagos’ next fight: Winner of Chase Hooper vs. Viacheslav Borshchev or Jordan Leavitt

Trevor Peek

Peek lost a gruelingly paced fight at UFC Vegas 90 where he hung in there but ultimately just gave up too much control on the ground to get the win.

Trevor Peek is a Contender Series product that just has a knack for unadulterated violence. Violence and cardio, as well as being very unorthodox. After winning his Contender Series fight in 2022, Peek has now gone 2-2 while with the UFC. Peek has never been finished in his career and has just one finish while in the UFC.

While Peek is always in fun fights, in some respects he is still developing. Trevor only has 11 pro fights so a fight against 7-2, Alex Munoz would make sense. Munoz is also a Contender Series vet and has been out of action since July of 2023 when he beat Carl Deaton III. Munoz is 1-2 in the UFC losing to Nasrat Haqparast and Luis Pena.

Peek’s next fight: Alex Munoz

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Campbell’s UFC debut last year went swimmingly as he stopped Alex Reyes in the first round with a seemingly never-ending barrage. The LAW MMA prospect took on Trevor Peek, the Southern fighter who’s drawl and wild-fighting style had captivated many fans while only being 2-1 in the UFC. Campbell once again won in exciting fashion on this card, but both men won in a way, as Peek and him will both be in top contention for the card’s ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus after the event is over.

Charlie Campbell’s gameplan appeared kick-heavy, as he used his length to maintain distance while consistently damaging Peek’s legs and body. Trevor finally just rushed forward to clinch but ate a knee on his way in and could not get Campbell down at first. He eventually did and landed a grounded knee but Campbell got right back up and escaped. Peek’s wild blitzes succeeded in putting Charlie on the back foot at times, but he rarely landed clean punches and when he got to the clinch usually just ate a knee before Campbell escaped. Campbell got a takedown of his own late, and after one round he was clearly up 10-9.

The second round started the same way until Charlie got sucked into a wild pocket exchange with Peek, who then tried to take him down. He failed his shot. Campbell escaped and then landed three straight low kicks, as it began to be clear that Peek’s leg was compromised. Peek did some damage on a clinch break and chased Charlie across the cage, but a reactive double leg led to Campbell landing a takedown and taking Trevor’s back. Peek got back up and his wild aggression hurt Charlie, turning Campbell into the one shooting desperately. However he fired back and landed good shots on Trevor, who took him down with thirty seconds left. Campbell got back up and used the collar tie to beat up Trevor’s midsection with knees before the bell.

Peek hurt his foe in a blitz early in round three, forcing Campbell to shoot a takedown, but that only got him stuck against the fence in the clinch. When he escaped, Peek just kept coming and forced Charlie back so fast he fell over, but when Peek got on top, Campbell reversed and scrambled to the back. He locked up a body triangle, potentially saving him as his performance on the feet was looking quite bad as he got more tired and the reckless aggression of Trevor began to be more effective. Peek exploded out of the position with ninety seconds left but Charlie maintained the back body-lock. Peek eventually escaped but got stuck on the ground again when Campbell chain wrestled to top position despite a bad initial shot. From there he was able to ride out the round and seal his victory.

There was little doubt as the scorecards were read, and indeed Charlie Campbell won 30-27 on all scorecards. In his post-fight interview he said that he was afraid of the Apex after being knocked out there on DWCS but also that in facing his fear he became better.

Official Result: Charlie Campbell def. Trevor Peek by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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UAE Warriors alum Mohammad Yahya steps into the octagon for the first time at UFC 294 this weekend, where he’s set to take on Trevor Peek. The card is topped by the rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, while Yahya vs. Peek arrives on the prelims.

Mohammad Yahya
Standing at five-foot-nine
Fighting at 155 lbs (lightweight)
29-years-old
Fighting out of United Arab Emirates
Training out of JRCS
A pro record of 12-3
7 KO/TKOs, 2 Submissions

How Yahya will fare in the UFC:

I don’t understand this signing from a talent skill standpoint but I understand it for a few reasons. He is a hometown fighter and is a UAE champion. I don’t like the signing because of all the UAE Warrior’s fighters, Yahya would not come to mind to sign. He’s on a good winning streak but he has not got one good, high-level win. Even his losses are to lower-level guys.

Yahya is just a basic fighter. Nothing he does impresses me. On the feet, I’d say his hands are fine but he has a lot of flaws. Yahya holds his hands low, curls up when taking damage, and he brings his hands back to his face too slow. His striking defense is too much of a liability and his chin is concerning.

At times he will take the fight down and will tend to use the wrestling later the fights goes. I don’t rate either his wrestling and jiu-jitsu too high. He may get takedowns in the UFC but I don’t see him outclassing anywhere on the mat with his ground game. Yahya is nothing special and you can find multiple fighters at his level fighting regionally all over the world. I see him struggling to get a win in the UFC.

How he matches up with Peek:

It’s weird to say but I feel really good about Peek in this fight. Peek has some of the worst techniques you will see. What he does have is constant pressure, heavy hands, a rock-solid chin, and a valuable gas tank.

Yahya, I don’t see having any advantage in this fight. On the feet, Peek hits harder and throws more volume. That mixed in with the striking defense and chin of Yahya is a bad matchup for him. Also as long as the fight goes the pace I believe it will, it will eventually break Yahya. I don’t think we will see much grappling in this fight. I like Peek in this fight by TKO and I feel weirdly confident about it.

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Yahya, who is the former UAE Warriors lightweight champion, is on a five fight win streak, heading into his promotional debut.

The 29-year-old has already fought inside the Etihad Arena on several occasions, during his tenure with UAE Warriors.

His opponent for this one, Trevor Peek, earned his contract through Dana White’s Contender Series, and since that has gone 1-1. His last fight came against Chepe Mariscal in June, where he was on the wrong side of a decision.

Mohammad will be the first fighter born in the UAE to compete inside the UFC Octagon. At the UFC 294 media day, he spoke about the emotions he is feeling ahead of his history making fight.

“It feels great obviously, I’m very proud to represent my country in the biggest league, it’s always been a dream and I’m here now, ready to represent.

“I always thought I’d get the opportunity and I feel the opportunity is up to God, so all I did was stay ready and I knew the opportunity would come and when it does come I need to be 100% ready and that’s where I’m at right now.”

Despite Yahya being a 10 year professional, his name may be a new one for fans around America and Europe. He explained what those fans can expect from him come Saturday night.

“I like to perform and put on a good show for everyone that is watching, I never like to have a boring fight and that’s what they can expect, a really good fight. He’s (Peek) going to come forward so It’s going to make for a good fight.”

Watch the full UFC 294 media day appearance from Mohammad Yahya above.

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Mariscal was filling in for Victor Martinez, taking the tried and true path of salvaging a fight to earn his spot in the UFC. And if you’d paid attention to the lightweight prospect, you knew you were in for something special.

That’s just what fans got at UFC Jacksonville, with one of the best fights of the year playing out on the preliminary card.

Mariscal opened up the fight with a series of kicks mixing it up. Soon after he caught Peek coming in with a counter right. Peek got inside and started throwing heavy blows creating a dogfight. Mariscal hit a judo throw but Peek jumped up quickly and was throwing away. Mariscal hurt Peek in the clinch with a knee and hit another hip toss and then got onto the back. For a moment he looked like he had the RNC but Peek escaped and got back to his feet. Peek was marching forward throwing big kicks and looping punches that did seem to stun Mariscal briefly. At one point, Peek was throwing his patented standing hammer fists, throwing caution to the wind before Mariscal got another takedown. Peek did scramble but Mariscal was able to win the top position and ended the round with Peek getting to his feet. Pure madness in the first round.

In round two things started a little slower. Mariscal landed a good counter strike as Peek clinched up. Clinching had been a problem for Peek as Mariscal scored another easy takedown. Peek did get back to his feet and landed a few heavy shots to the body. Peek was extremely tired just slipping to the mat and letting Mariscal mount him. Mariscal was sloppy on the back falling off letting Peek on top. Mariscal was able to cut the corner and create a scramble getting on top and back to the feet. To close the round Mariscal landed a few good knees and a nice left hand in the clinch.

In the final round Peek had the first big moment with some clubbing punches putting Mariscal against the cage. Peek was still coming forward throwing hammers. It came at a cost as Mariscal was the one landing clean but Peek was insanely tough taking everything. Mariscal was the cleaner striker however landing the one-two and catching Peek as he was coming forward. Mariscal landed a good front kick to the face which Peek just ate no problem. With a minute left Peek landed some good power shots. It was Mariscal that ended the fight in a big way landing a front kick and a series of output that almost put Peek away. Amazing scrap both and a brilliant effort put forth by both men — but it was Chepe Mariscal coming away with the victory.

Official Result: Chepe Mariscal def. Trevor Peek by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

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All three of those things are born from Peek’s rough adolescent years, which he spent dealing with drug abuse, fighting in the streets and getting in trouble in various ways. However, after finding God, MMA, and the inner power to get sober, Peek has become one of the more talked about prospects in MMA. While those wild days are well behind him, some of the remnants are still there – most notably, the standing hammerfists that he throws.

“I don’t know, man, I guess I’m unique. I’ve been throwing them things for a good while now,” Peek explained. “I originally started throwing them street fighting.”

As he picked his fighting up off the streets and into the gym, he kept doing what felt comfortable, and more importantly effective, to him.

“Eventually, whenever I would be doing bag rounds, I started throwing them – just here and there,” he said. “Man, I can generate so much power and I’ve often wondered whenever I’m throwing them – I don’t know why nobody untilizes these things.”

Although he questions why nobody else throws them, he’s happy to be in a class of his own. He’s got something that people are going to remember his fights by just one fight into his UFC career.

“I’m excited about it. I think it’ll be something that be relate me with – the hammerfists,” Peek said. “I’m excited that I’ve got my own thing started.”

It’s not just fans that he’s won over. He’s also begun to convince experienced striking coaches that he can make it work.

“They’re a little concerned, I guess. My striking coach, Jeff Powell, he gets concerned with it because it leaves you so exposed,” he admitted. “Ultimately, and he’s talked about it a bunch of times, he wants to train me, but he also wants to leave those unique special things that I do. So we’ve actually started working some combinations that are including the ‘tomahawk punch.”

We might see some of those special combinations at UFC Jacksonville this weekend. Peek will get a chance to show off his unique style when he faces Chepe Mariscal as part of the ESPN prelims.

You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 23:44.

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Grant Dawson Interview (2:19)

Kicking off this edition of TTP is our interview with UFC lightweight, Grant Dawson. Dawson discusses his early success in the octagon and why he made changes to his preparation anyways. He talks about his changes in weight class and why that wasnt really a choice for him. He also shares that there is no way that he’s ever going up another weight class. In addition, he also discusses how he fits at American Top Team. And, of course, he’s giving us the lowdown on his UFC Jacksonville matchup with #12 ranked lightweight Damir Ismagulov.

Fights, Dogs, and Parlays: UFC Jacksonville (14:27)

The UFC is back on the road for UFC Jacksonville. The fight card is filled with banger after banger, and we’ll be breaking down a few of them. At the top of the card is a featherweight contest between a couple of title hopeful contenders. Ilia Topuria looks to use Josh Emmett as a springboard for his resume, and Emmett looks to hold off the upstart Topuria to keep his own name in talks. On top of our breakdowns, we’re also giving you an underdog and a plus-money parlay that we think will make your wallet fat this weekend. For this segment, all odds via FanDuel Sportsbook.

Trevor Peek Interview (23:44)

Closing out this edition of TTP is our interview with UFC lightweight, Trevor Peek. We get to talking about the most interesting topic right away – his standing hammerfists. He discusses why he likes them and why some of his coaches might have been slow to come around to them. He also shares the surreal experience of being asked for autographs and pictures, which happened repeatedly at UFC Charlotte. However, he’s not letting any of that go to his head as he tries to continue to build momentum at UFC Jacksonville.

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