Mokaev (10-0, 1NC) came away from the London-based event with a neck crank submission win of his own, but not before he had to escape several tight sub attempts by Brazil’s Filho. Among them, a particularly painful looking kneebar that left the 22-year old Mokaev unable to fully support his own weight, with his left leg appearing to be badly damaged.

That Mokaev managed to turn things around and win the fight was impressive; avoiding surgery is a stroke of pure luck. The Dagestani-born Brit revealed on social media that he suffered only a “partial MCL tear, Grade 2” in the bout.

“6-8 weeks I will be back training,” Mokaev added in a separate post. “Thank you for all your messages, I received crazy amount of the support about my knee! It’s a strap season for me and my people!”

Mokaev entered the UFC as one of the hottest prospects in years, and has lived up to every bit of the hype he carried with him. Not only has the youngster started his professional career unbeaten, but his amateur run is practically unparalleled — he went 23-0 as an ammy, winning the 2020 IMMAF WMMAA OCEANA Championships in the process.

While he has no opponent booked, Mokaev has expressed an interest in returning to action in July.

The post Muhammad Mokaev Reveals Partial MCL Tear Following UFC 286 Bout appeared first on Cageside Press.

Now 2-1 in their career series, Edwards has seemingly closed the door on the rivalry. So where does he go from here? That is a very, very interesting question at this point.

Leon Edwards

There is a controversy brewing in the welterweight division and it is muddying the already murky waters of the title picture. Dana White has now said that Colby Covington is the next opponent for Leon Edwards after his massive trilogy victory over Kamaru Usman. The problem with that is that most seem to believe that Covington has not yet earned another title shot — he is 2-2 in his last four and has already had two shots at the belt — while Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rahkmanov are on lengthy win streaks against top competition. Shavkat is the more fan-friendly fighter and is more marketable, his undefeated record and perfect finishing rate are the stuff of a promoter’s wildest dreams, but Belal is currently ranked higher and has beaten more ranked opponents, including Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in his last three.

Be that as it may, Dana’s word is law more often than not due to a lack of an Ali Act or similar legislation governing mixed martial arts. It seems likely that Colby will end up with the next title shot, though the pot is further stirred by champion Leon Edwards saying that if he gets a contract with Covington’s name on it, he will not sign it.

Edwards’ Next Fight: Colby Covington

Justin Gaethje

Now is the time. There will never be a better opportunity than this. Justin Gaethje just upset Rafael Fiziev to maintain his number three ranking at lightweight. Sitting at number two is a familiar face, Dustin Poirier. These two legends of lightweight violence met once before in one of the best fights in MMA history and a rematch (ideally as a five round fight) could have no other outcome but an all-out war. Dustin and Justin know no other way.

Both have fought many of the guys near them in the rankings. Both are coming off of a win, but are not yet deserving of a title shot. The winner may get one last chance to push for a title shot though, as their careers stretch on.

Gaethje’s Next Fight: Dustin Poirier

Gunnar Nelson

Gunni got his second win in as many fights since returning from a lengthy layoff last year as he finished Bryan Barbarena by submission. Nelson was once a staple of the welterweight top 15, and could be again soon. Now, with a winning streak in hand, it’s time to give him either a ranked opponent or one just outside the top 15. Nelson was originally booked to fight Daniel Rodriguez at UFC 286, but D-Rod had to pull out. It makes perfect sense to just put that fight back together, and have the winner fight a ranked fighter next.

Nelson’s Next Fight: Daniel Rodriguez

Jennifer Maia

Former title challenger Maia got a second win in a row, her first winning streak since 2019, at UFC 286 over rising, undefeated prospect Casey O’Neill. The Brazilian sits at eighth in the UFC women’s flyweight rankings but will likely move up when the rankings are updated. For now, right next to her sits Lauren Murphy. Both Maia and Murphy have been staples of the flyweight division since its inception essentially, and a match between these two well-rounded vets in the middle of the rankings makes perfect sense for both athletes next (sorry, Jojo).

Maia’s Next Fight: Lauren Murphy

Marvin Vettori

Vettori beat surging contender Roman Dolidze in a razor-thin, and somewhat controversial, decision in the main card opener in London on Saturday. Vettori has established himself firmly as a top-five fighter at middleweight but has already faced most of his peers nearby in the rankings. One name ‘The Italian Dream’ has not fought is knockout artist Jared Cannonier. Vettori and Cannonier seem to have styles that will give each other pause; Vettori has the chin to withstand Cannonier’s power but Dolidze had success lobbing bombs at Vettori, perhaps Jared can do it better. With Vettori ranked fourth and Cannonier ranked third, it only makes sense for these to rankings neighbors to face off next in a top bout at 185lbs. Even Vettori suggested this booking made sense following UFC 286.

Vettori’s Next Fight: Jared Cannonier

The post What’s Next: UFC 286 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

What’s next for Usman, and the losing side of the UFC 286 main card? Let’s take a closer look.

Kamaru Usman

Next to nobody expected Kamaru Usman to fall to Leon Edwards in the pair’s second meeting, and by the fifth round of that fight, it looked as if those predictions were spot on. Then came a stunning come-from-behind head kick KO landed perfectly by Edwards in the final minute of the fight.

Less than a year later came the rubber match of the trilogy (Usman had won their first meeting, a three-rounder, back in 2015). UFC 286, in London, home field advantage for Edwards if you believe in such things. Despite suffering a point deduction for a fence grab, Edwards managed to come away with a majority decision win, retaining the title and settling things with Usman.

Where does that leave Kamaru? In uncharted territory. He had all but cleaned out the weight class prior to Edwards, with perhaps the exception of Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov — two fighters expected to compete later this year. Jorge Masvidal faces Gilbert Burns later this month; Usman has already beaten both. Khamzat Chimaev has moved on to middleweight for the time being, leaving Usman in limbo, with no one clamouring for a fourth Edwards fight. With Israel Adesanya no longer champ, a move to 185 is an option, but Usman isn’t the biggest 170lb fighter, and could run into issues there with some of the bigger middleweights.

Colby Covington is getting the next title shot, and that leaves Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson as the next highest-ranked fighter who is both available, and who Usman hasn’t actually faced before. If Chimaev changes course and sticks to 170, that’s real interesting, but a 9lb weight miss last time isn’t helping his case. Otherwise, book Thompson vs. Usman for the clash of styles.

Usman’s next fight: Stephen Thompson

Rafael Fiziev

“Ataman” was actually favored by many to get past Justin Gaethje at UFC 286. Then Gaethje went and reminded everyone exactly who he is: the most violent man in MMA history. After a close couple of rounds, Gaethje pulled away in the third, landing his jab seemingly at will and peppering Fiziev with uppercuts.

Fiziev was left bloody, eye swollen, momentum temporarily halted. Or maybe we should say slowed. The bout earned Fight of the Night for good reason, and Fiziev now has six straight post-fight bonuses: a very Gaethje-like feat.

Ranked just a couple of spots behind Rafael Fiziev at lightweight is Arman Tsarukyan. The Armenian is coming off a win over Damir Ismagulov, but the whole “winners vs. winners” thing falls by the wayside here. Lightweight is all killer, no filler. Fiziev is still a very formidable test for anyone in the division, and these two are neck and neck in the rankings.

Fiziev’s next fight: Arman Tsarukyan

Bryan Barberena

Welterweight Barberena didn’t last long once Gunnar Nelson got him to the ground. That’s not too surprising, since on the ground is where Nelson excels. “Bam Bam” is more than capable of putting on some fun, explosive performances, as he did against Matt Brown and Robbie Lawler.

Barberena was on something of a “legend killer” tour prior to Nelson, with Brown, Lawler, and Rafael dos Anjos. Having lost to RDA and Nelson (a fight he took on short notice), let’s put him back on that tour. Tim Means fits the bill: “The Dirty Bird” has been around long enough to be considered part of the old guard at this point, puts on entertaining, violent fights, and has spent over a decade in the UFC (after debuting as a pro in 2004).

Both men are coming off two losses. Let’s see if Bam Bam can smash the Dirty Bird, or if the wily veteran has too many tricks under his wing.

Barberena’s next fight: Tim Means

Casey O’Neill

“King” Casey O’Neill had the chance to insert her name into an increasingly crowded title picture at 125lbs — a title picture that changed overnight with Valentina Shevchenko losing to Alexa Grasso earlier this month.

Jennifer Maia had other plans.

What’s next for O’Neill? She still has plenty of time to develop as a fighter and work her way to a title shot, though Erin Blanchfield and Manon Fiorot are likely ahead of her among the new generation of women’s flyweights. For now, the loser of next week’s Maycee Barber vs. Andrea “KGB” Lee fight seems perfect, especially given the timing, and how close they all are in the 125lb rankings.

O’Neill’s next fight: KGB vs. Barber loser

Roman Dolidze

Georgia’s Roman Doldize swung like Babe Ruth, but there was no home run knocked out of the park at UFC 286. Instead, Marvin Vettori weathered the storm and came away with a unanimous decision win, mainly because he was the more well-rounded fighter.

Dolidze’s power, and willingness to stand and trade bombs, well both are impressive. The problem he ran into Saturday at UFC 286 came when Vettori had enough of a chin with withstand the onslaught, then mixed in some leg kicks and generally proved to be the more technical fighter. Vettori is far from the most elusive tactician on the roster, and you can imagine the Adesanya’s of the world simply dancing around Dolidze.

The Georgian is going to need to work on a plan B; Andre Muniz could be the man to force that. He’s coming off a loss, close to Dolidze in the rankings, and his grappling could be a threat if the Georgian can’t land the KO. Not a huge step up, but at least one of them rebounds.

Dolidze’s next fight: Andre Muniz

The post What’s Next: UFC 286 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

Despite that, Covington is in the business of booking the biggest fights possible. And the biggest fight in or out of the UFC remains Conor McGregor.

“Conor’s done some great things in the sport, he’s a great fighter, but his time is passing,” Covington told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the O2 Arena, where he was on hand for UFC 286. “He’s made a lot of money, so he just doesn’t have that same hunger and same drive that he used to when he first started fighting.”

Like many, Covington suggested that McGregor needs to get back in the USADA pool prior to returning to competition — though the UFC has the option to issue an exemption to that requirement.

That said, Covington, who claims to have cut 18lbs of weight in a day as a back-up for this weekend’s card, is open to the “Mystic Mac” match-up.

“If Conor wants to fight one day and do business, it’s probably the biggest fight the UFC would ever do,” he exclaimed.

As unlikely as the fight may seem, McGregor has signalled that his upcoming fight with Michael Chandler is going to come at welterweight. He also has his eye on a title in a third weight class, so the stars could potentially align some day.

For Covington, it’s all about what’s best for business.

“I’m here to do the biggest and best business for the UFC. This is not a game. This is a business. We’re here to make money, and I want to make a lot of money for the UFC. The UFC has changed my life in ways that I never thought possible. I love the UFC so much for what they’ve done for me,” Covington went on to explain. “So I want to repay the favor, I want to do the biggest and best business for the UFC. If they want to sit down at the table and they think that’s the biggest and best fight we can do, then let’s do it.”

Watch the full UFC 286 press conference appearance with Colby Covington above.

The post Colby Covington on Hypothetical McGregor Bout: “Probably the Biggest Fight the UFC Would Ever Do” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Now three fights into his short UFC tenure, you notice that “White Kong” is feeling more comfortable fighting under the promotional banner. On the lead up to his fight with Gordon, a lot of the talk drifted towards his rivalry with Muhammed Mokaev, but Hadley didn’t let that get in the way of his performance.

Malcolm Gordon came into the fight 3.5lbs over the flyweight limit putting this fight into jeopardy, but fortunately, it went ahead with Gordon forfeiting 30% of his purse. Talking about his opponent coming in overweight, Hadley said following the fight that “3.5lbs is a lot especially at flyweight level, percentage wise it’s a lot more than at another weight, he’s missed it by quite a lot.

“And yeah, I took 30% of his purse but it’s not a lot when you’ve missed the weight by that much. I do think it was a strategic move, the last two opponents have missed weight by quite a bit. I think it was strategic because he wants to come in the bigger man and try and hold me on the floor.”

Hadley scored a first round TKO, debilitating Gordon with some beautiful body shots on the way to a ground-and-pound finish. This stood as the 26-year-olds first UFC fight in the UK despite there having been two UK events last year.

When talking about the home crowd during the post fight scrum, Hadley said “I felt like a modern day gladiator coming out and all the people are there thinking in my mind they’re all there for me. I felt like a modern day gladiator, blood thirsty, I was blood thirsty. I don’t want to be too graphic but fighting gets me going.”

Watch the full UFC 286 post-fight press conference appearance by Jake Hadley above.

The post UFC 286: Jake Hadley Believes Gordon’s Weight Miss ‘Was Strategic’ appeared first on Cageside Press.

Originally, Murphy was scheduled to take on fellow Brit Nathaniel Wood, but due to injury, Wood pulled out of the bout. For a while it looked as though Murphy’s bad luck would continue and he wouldn’t find a late notice opponent, but with just over a week to go, Santos accepted the call.

Despite how close the fight was, Murphy picked up the victory maintaining his undefeated status. Nathaniel Wood though is of the opinion that Gabriel Santos won the fight and that “they [judges] gave that to Lerone.”

Congrats Gabriel santos on a great win

— Nathaniel Wood (@LastKingsmanMMA) March 19, 2023

In the post fight scrum, Lerone Murphy reacted to Wood’s comments, saying “Where’s Nathaniel Wood? Is he under here (looking under table)? Because he’s running from me. Listen, the next UK card in July or whenever it is, if I don’t get a number next to my name give me Nathaniel Wood and I’ll break him.”

Nathaniel Wood recently made his way up to the featherweight division to try and become more active as he was struggling to do that in the 135lb division.

When asked by Cageside Press at the post fight scrum what his reaction was to Nathaniel Wood’s tweet, he told us “Nathaniel Wood can f*ck off, sorry about my language but he’s not here, where is he. He booked the fight and pulled out four weeks ago why’s he tweeting about me. Tell him to come and fight me then and make the fight. Don’t pull out.”

Watch the full UFC 286 post-fight press conference with Lerone Murphy above.

The post UFC 286: Lerone Murphy Claims He’ll ‘Break’ Nathaniel Wood If Matched Up Again appeared first on Cageside Press.

While Duncan (8-0), a former Cage Warriors champ signed directly to the UFC, came away with the win, the fight did not go how he wanted it to. Rather than a flashy finish or hard-fought decision, opponent Dusko Todorovic fell to injury early in the fight, apparently tearing something in his knee.

“Extremely anticlimactic,” Duncan called the turn of events following the fight, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “I was looking forward to coming in and just putting on a show you could say.”

Duncan was just starting to get comfortable in the fight when “whatever happened, happened with his knee and he just collapsed to the floor,” the middleweight recalled.

“It was a stranger moment, but it’s out of our control. Certain things are out of our control. I’m just glad I got to experience this whole Fight Week with the UFC on such a big card. I hope to get back in here in the very, very near future.”

“I wish him a speedy recovery,” Duncan added. “Shouldn’t happen. That’s not the way anybody wants to go in a fight, win or lose. So I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Moving forward, Duncan feels his next UFC fight will be a second debut of sorts. “It’s not really enough time to get experience, but it’s enough experience to get a feel for another walkout, and the cage itself,” he stated. “Going into my next fight, in my head I’m still 0-0 in the UFC. You could say it’s another debut.”

As for when that might be, ‘CLD’ noted there were rumors of the UFC returning to England over the summer. “If that’s the rumor and it comes to light then yeah, I definitely want to be on that card.”

Watch the full UFC 286 post-fight press scrum with Christian Leroy Duncan above.

The post UFC 286: Christian Leroy Duncan Wishes Fallen Foe Todorovic a Speedy Recovery appeared first on Cageside Press.

Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, fighters in the top 10 of the flyweight division aren’t too keen on fighting him, which resulted in him having to take a fight with a UFC debutant just to stay active.

In his win over Jafel Filho this past Saturday, he had to show his grit and desire to break out of a devastating knee bar in which he claimed he heard his knee ‘crack three times’. On the lead up to his fight with Filho though, the talking points surrounded his rivalry with fellow British prospect, Jake Hadley.

At the UFC 286 media day on Wednesday, Hadley claimed that Mokaev tried to initiate a fight with him at the fighter hotel, but Hadley was focussed on not ruining the status of his own fight.

The aforementioned Hadley was also victorious this weekend, beating Malcolm Gordon in the first round which led to media members asking Mokaev about the potential of them finally fighting sooner rather than later.

“To be honest I want to fight tough guys, there’s tougher guys, Matheus Nicolau there’s Amir Albazi there’s top 10, I want to fight hard guys who knock me down I get back up, I want guys like this. Going backwards (he’s the exact level) for me as Malcolm Gordon, I think he’s nothing special but if he enters top 12 or 11 it’s possible.

“But now I go back again, I beat him and they’ll say, ‘you beat Jake Hadley he’s like a crackhead from Birmingham’.” Mokaev said.

Unfortunately for the British fight fans, it seems unlikely that a fight between these two men will happen, unless completely necessary.

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Muhammad Mokaev above.

The post UFC 286: Muhammad Mokaev Wants To Fight ‘Tougher Guys’ Than Jake Hadley appeared first on Cageside Press.

In that Contender Series win, Duncan scored a come from behind knockout over fellow prospect, Charlie Campbell. With that highlight knockout gaining traction on social media, that made Duncan an instant ‘must watch’ before he’d even strapped up the official leather UFC gloves.

For him though, preparing for his UFC debut wasn’t the only thing he’s being doing for the past however many weeks. Duncan admitted that during his preparation for his fight with Omar Morales, he had still being working full-time in his day job as a personal trainer.

“This fight meant a lot to me because financially I was working full time before I left to go to ATT [American Top Team], so this kind of puts a stamp on that I’m now a professional athlete and I can leave my work, not completely but not rely on work itself to look after my family.” Duncan said.

Despite admitting that he won’t give up his job as a personal trainer completely, he did joke that he would be bumping up his prices due to the inevitable demand since his UFC win.

“A lot of my clients know that this will be my career eventually and it’s more the reliability of it, if I don’t need to rely on it the job doesn’t seem as much as a job. If I could do that on the side and help the people that want to be helped, I’ve got a lot of great clients back home so it’ll be great to get back to them,” the Scotsman said.

Duncan’s clients though, may have to come to terms with the fact that their personal trainer is now a fully fledged UFC fighter who may be unavailable quite soon. Duncan admitted he wants a ‘quick turnaround’ due to inactivity in the past six months.

“If I could get a quick turnaround this time around from Sean (Shelby), if Sean can get me matched I would really appreciate it, because since my Contender Series fight that’s been nearly six months, that’s too long for me, I would really appreciate if Sean could get me something really quick,” he said.

Watch the full UFC 286 post-fight press conference appearance by Chris Duncan above.

The post UFC 286: Chris Duncan Was Working Full Time In Preparation for His Debut appeared first on Cageside Press.

In his last outing, Shore tasted defeat for the first time in his 17 fight career with that resulting in him wanting to move up a weight class from bantamweight. With Shore always being one of the more promising prospects at 135, it was going to be interesting to see where he would fit in at featherweight.

With that being said, the performance he put on against the Finnish, Amirkhani, was a promising one for his run in the division.

It could be argued that he could’ve fought a ranked opponent, but because of it being his featherweight debut, it was questionable if he’d look like a natural 145lber.

Shore though feels as though he fit in well and didn’t feel small against Amirkhani, he said: “I felt like a featherweight I felt solid, when we locked up I didn’t feel out strengthened or out sized. I committed to this fully last August so I’ve still got a lot of time yet to grow into the weight class.

“But I don’t want to come full circle and end up doing at featherweight what I was doing at bantamweight and cutting a sh*tload of weight and depleting myself I want to have that middle ground where I can cut a little bit of weight so that I’m not undersized but I still want to keep it sensible so that I’ve got that speed and endurance, because I do feel like I’ve got some of the best cardio in the UFC…” Shore said.

Jack Shore wasn’t the only one who was fighting this training camp though. The 28-year-old opened up about his fathers fight against cancer which began during this camp.

“It’s been a tough camp, you know with my old man going through (what he’s going through), he’s such a strong out there character, we’re used to him not missing a session in the gym and on our case constantly so for him to have to be absent at times because of the treatment he’s had to have, I mean he’s literally finished chemo (chemotherapy) two weeks ago, he had a week of rest and it’s fight week.

“At the beginning when I got offered the fight I didn’t want to take it because of the time scale.” Shore said.

The Welsh prospect though did take the fight and made his entire family proud and will now take time out to look after his father.

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Jack Shore above.

The post UFC 286: Jack Shore Opens Up About ‘Tough Camp’ Following Win Over Amirkhani appeared first on Cageside Press.