Poland’s Oleksiejczuk found himself trapped in a nasty Kevin Holland arm-bar in the opening round at UFC 302, but simply refused to succumb to the pain, gutting it out longer than most would deem wise. When the arm appeared to pop, bent backward at an unnatural angle, the ref waved things off — although Oleksiejczuk immediately protested the stoppage.

While the result will go down as a defeat for Michal Oleksiejczuk officially, there is some good news. In a statement to MMA Junkie, the middleweight has revealed that his arm is not in fact broken, as many had assumed.

“I feel good,” Oleksiejczuk told the outlet on Tuesday. “My mental is OK. My arm is not broken. I think that I want a fight in a few months. I will be ready. … I didn’t tap. My arm is not broken. I felt great in this fight. This stoppage is not good. It’s not correct, in my opinion. … In my opinion, the stoppage is not correct. I think that if the fight was longer, my chance in this fight is [better].”

While the arm not being broken is a silver lining, it’s difficult to argue against the stoppage, as nearly everyone watching was wearing a grimace. The ref’s job is to protect the fighter, and he did just that.

The loss dropped Oleksiejczuk to 1-3 across his last four fights, putting him in a precarious position moving forward.

The post Oleksiejczuk Says Arm Not Broken Despite Gnarly Scene at UFC 302 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Dustin Poirier

Dustin Poirier was submitted via d’arce choke by Islam Makhachev Saturday night in the UFC 302 main event. It was his third unsuccessful attempt at the UFC LW title, and he’s won two of his last five.

It’s difficult to pick an opponent for Dustin, as he has fought all of the top-level guys. Most of them multiple times already. He’s expressed he doesn’t have much interest in a gatekeeper type role, either. If a third bout with Max Holloway is something that interests Dustin, then that is the fight to make. Especially with the crazy result of Max’s UFC 300 co-main event fight for the BMF title, KO’ing Justin Gaethje in the literal last second of the fight.

Dustin’s next fight: Max Holloway

Paulo Costa

Paulo Costa lost his second fight in a row at UFC 302 when he was thrashed in a controversial split decision by Sean Strickland. ‘The Eraser’ has now lost four of his last five fights since being finished at the hands of Israel Adesanya in his middleweight title attempt in 2020.

Paulo is the #7 ranked UFC middleweight with a 6-4 record with the promotion. At this point, none of Costa’s six wins are still signed to the promotion.

As a fan favorite, Costa should fight a guy that is knocking on the door of being ranked and that fighter could very well be, Roman Kopylov. Roman picked up a win in the feature prelim on Saturday night and has victories in five of his last six, including four finishes.

Paulo’s next fight: Roman Kopylov

Michal Oleksiejczuk

Michal Oleksiejczuk was quickly submitted via a nasty armbar in 94 seconds, at the hands of Kevin Holland, on Saturday night. Since moving from 205lbs. to 185lbs. and starting off with pair of first round finishes against Sam Alvey and Cody Brundage in 2022, Michal has won just one of four fights.

Albert Durev would be a good fighter for Michal as he is 2-2 in the UFC. Durev last competed in July of last year when he was submitted by Jun Yong Park. Durev was supposed to compete against Robert Bryczek at the APEX in Vegas back in February but had visa issues. The pair were even supposed to fight in 2022 before for Michal withdrew, so it’s a fight that would make sense.

Michal’s next fight: Albert Durev

Alex Morono

Alex Morono lost a gruelingly paced, unanimous decision at UFC 302 to Niko Price. It’s tough to pick a fighter for Morono as he has 20 fights in the UFC and has fought most vets of the promotion. (Including Niko.)

UFC young bloods, Mike Malott and Gilbert Urbina were announced to fight at UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Barber in Colorado on July 13th. Malott is a 2021 contender series product. Mike fumbled a ranking as a UFC welterweight in his last time out, at UFC 297, when he was TKO’d in the third round by #12 ranked, Neil Magny. Urbina is 1-2 in the UFC and came off of The Ultimate Fighter Season 29. He’s 28, with losses to solid competition in Byan Battle and Charles Radtke while in with the UFC.

The winner of this bout would be perfect for a guy like Morono who likes to stay active and a good name for either of these fighters.

Alex’s next fight: Winner of Mike Malott vs. Gilbert Urbina

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

Elizeu Zaleski lost a unanimous decision in the opening PPV bout of UFC 302, to Randy Brown. With Brown’s callout of #12 ranked Neil Magny, it’s safe to assume Elizeu is essentially a rankings gatekeeper at 170lbs.

Elizeu’s next opponent should be Khaos Williams as the pair both lost decisions to Randy Brown recently. Khaos lost a split decision to Brown in May of 2022. He’s 6-2 in the UFC and took just 90 seconds to finish Carlston Harris in the co main event a couple of weeks ago. The KO won Khaos his fourth performance bonus, so needless to say, it’d be a dangerous fight for the 14 -fight UFC veteran.

Elizeu’s next fight: Khaos Williams

The post What’s Next: UFC 302 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I knew I had won all three rounds so when Bruce Buffer started saying the name of the judges I was scared,” Lima told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator at his post-fight scrum.

“I was like no way they’re going to give it to this son of a b*tch. It was pretty clear for me and I think everybody else. When they announced the second scorecard I looked to my manager who was like ‘don’t worry about it’, and then they announced my win. I was able to relax a little bit more.”

Lima (9-0) didn’t just have to deal with a split decision when it came to this fight. He missed weight by 4 pounds on Friday morning and he gave up 30% of his purse.

“I’m very upset as everybody was with my weight miss. It’s something that’s not normal for me. I don’t quite know what happened. I did all that I could,” he said.

“I was in the bathtub between 6am and 9am trying to make weight. Still thinking about staying at flyweight. If (my team) they think it’s better to go to bantamweight I’ll do that easily as well. I’m very upset, but I’m willing to do whatever is best to make sure it never happens again.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Andre Lima above.

The post Andre Lima Vows To Not Miss Weight Again, Surprised By Split appeared first on Cageside Press.

Almeida, who has also competed at light heavyweight, came into the promotion on a full head of steam and notched wins over Jair Rozenstruik and Derrick Lewis prior to running into Blaydes at UFC 299 in March. After being stopped in the second round, Almeida faced heavy criticism for blowing his gas tank early in the fight.

“The way that I lost to Blaydes, a lot of people discredited me,” Almeida (21-3) told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. “And coming back here, facing a great grappler like my opponent is, getting the finish especially in the first round, it takes some of the pressure off.”

Following his win over Alexander Romanov, Almeida called out Ciryl Gane, though the match-up is less about the opponent and more about the locale.

“That’s the thing, this week I was able to see the Statue of Liberty, and it got my blood going, stated Almeida. “I want to see the Eiffel Tower now, I want to start doing a little bit more sightseeing. It just happens that Ciryl is probably going to be the main event there so I want to fight.”

“I want to fight in Paris. It doesn’t matter— if it’s Cyril great, if he doesn’t want to fight me, whatever. I’ll fight anybody there.”

Later, Almeida revealed that he had injured his knee in the fight with Romanov. “So we’ve got to have that checked out first. But nobody’s going to take the idea of fighting in Paris out if my head.”

Watch the full UFC 302 post-fight press conference with Jailton Almeida above.

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Middleweight Kopylov (13-3) became the first to defeat Almeida, a highly decorated kickboxer who has shared the ring with Alex Pereira three times, in mixed martial arts. To do so, Kopylov took the obvious path, exploiting Almeida’s weakness in wrestling over the course of a grueling fight.

“Majority of my fights in my career did not last three rounds, they finished way earlier. So of course we knew that he was a very decorated kickboxer, we knew his base was kickboxing,” Kopylov told media outlets including Cageside Press backstage at the Prudential Center.

“The idea was to wrestle as much as possible. I think it was a new look for the fans, to see that I’m able to wrestle.”

At one point, Kopylov scored a knockdown, but failed to capitalize when letting a wounded Almeida back to his feet might have been the best option.

“I knew that I landed a really good shot. I didn’t really recognize it right away, but I heard my corner,” the 33-year old recalled. “My corner said ‘back up, let him up.’ If I did that earlier than I think I would have been able to finish the fight.”

Now hitting the end of his prime, the former FNG middleweight champ is looking to stay busy in 2024. “I want to be active. If possible, God-willing as they say, I’d love to fight two more times this year. I think I’ll be ready for September, and if it’s possible, if the promotion would allow it, I would love somebody from the top 15.”

As for who in the top 15 he’d like to face, “anybody,” finished Kopylov.

Watch the full UFC 302 post-fight press conference with Roman Kopylov above.

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“My goal was to get a knockout. I’m not happy (that) I didn’t get the knockout,” Hafez told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I put a show on for the fans. My goal was to get a finish, always to get a finish, but I’m happy that I put on a slobber knocker as Joe called it, meeting Joe Rogan was awesome, but yeah man I definitely was looking to strike with Mickey.”

Hafez (9-4-1) faced a Gall that had been working his striking and many had said he had developed a good jab. Hafez ate all of Gall’s shots and more to land his own devastating strikes.

“He hit hard, but not as hard as JDM (Jack Della Maddalena) hit, and regardless I believe in my chin. I’m going to die on my sword. If I get knocked out out there I get knocked out. I train with guys like Justin Gaethje. It’s something that I’m just going to be getting used to,” he said.

Compared to his UFC debut this fight was likely the one he should have fought first. Getting a short notice bout against JDM at the UFC APEX was a wild debut for Hafez.

“My debut was a crazy debut. It felt great to have a full camp. I’m grateful the UFC gave me the opportunity,” he said.

“I look forward to working my way up and getting that rematch (with JDM) one day.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Bassil Hafez above.

The post Bassil Hafez Compares Gall Win With JDM UFC Debut appeared first on Cageside Press.

“I don’t plan on retiring until God takes my legs from me. Or my arms so I’ll be here as long as (Sean) Shelby sends me nice contracts,” Price told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

Price (16-7) isn’t retiring and it’s a good thing as he revealed he and his wife are expecting their 7th child.

“A month ago she’s like acting all weird. I’m like, you pregnant girl? She goes ‘what do you think?’ and I was like, ‘that’s a yes!’. Number seven’s in the oven, let’s go boys,” Price said.

The fight went to the judges scorecards following 15 hard-fought minutes with Morono. The whole night scores had been all over the place so any fight going to the judges made fighters nervous.

“Going to the scorecards I figured that I had it because I had more ground control with ground and pound. When I’m on the ground I’m not like just sitting there looking at you,” he said.

“I’m not a guard player, I’m not a lay and prayer, I’m trying to open up elbows. I’m trying to open up hammer fists. Even when he had me in that omaplata I was trying to elbow him in the head, but that mechanics wasn’t working. I figured I had it. I felt it.”

Going into the last round his corner had a clear message for him.

“It’s 1-1 right now,” he said.

“Get ready, bite down, you have five minutes to get it done.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Niko Price above.

The post Niko Price Not Slowing Down Following Morono Victory appeared first on Cageside Press.

Brown (19-5), coming out of his win with Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos, was talking about the relief he felt following the fight, from “just natural anxieties,” when Kevin Holland snapped Michal Oleksiejczuk’s arm. The scene played out on a TV in the media room, and Brown couldn’t tear his attention away.

“Oh my God. Kevin Holland has him in an arm-bar, about to break that sh*t. Please, don’t- just tap. Just tap,” Brown exclaimed when Holland first latched on with the arm-bar.

It didn’t happen. The Polish middleweight stuck it out, then had the fight stopped after his arm bent backwards at an unnatural angle. “Oooh! Oh, that’s broken. Sh*t, that’s a broken arm. He tapped. Looked like a tap to me. Sh*t.”

If nothing else, the moment outlined how it’s not just fans, but fighters who get caught up in the moment. As for Brown, he’s looking to work his way into the rankings after multiple win streaks, and years of being overlooked.

“I’m down. You know me, I’m a gamer. I’m a gamer. I’m down to fight anybody, but you heard my callout, that’s what I want. I think it’s time I move forward.”

The callout, made during his interview with Joe Rogan, was of Geoff Neal. “It’s my time,” stated Brown, saying Neal was “that guy right now, and I need you.”

“The one guy that beat me in the past five years, he got ranked after beating me, I’m still unranked,” Brown later added. “I think I should be ranked, but honestly again, I’m not the one to make that decision. I’m fine with just getting paid and beating up on the guy’s that are not as good, but if you get me in the rankings, I know that means more money, that means more notoriety, that means I’m able to build a legacy and move forward.”

Watch the full UFC 302 post-fight press conference with Randy Brown above.

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“Yeah Herb Dean’s fault,” Holland joked with reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.

“I asked him to stop it a little early, but Herb Dean was like, I got a little longer. I’m a little nicer to big bro. Big bro don’t f*ck around.”

Holland (26-11) caught Oleksiejczuk in a tight arm bar. With it being so early in the first round and both men dry it was a very tough submission to get out of. With his arm fully extended Oleksiejczuk refused to tap and may have in fact injured his arm before Dean stopped the fight.

“When I first put him in the arm bar I heard the pop. After that it wasn’t popping again and I was like I’m going to have to do a full-blown break so I kept trying to like Chihuahua scoop. Get myself underneath there, and then hit a good pull after that,” he said.

“Guy’s tough as nails, hit me with a good shot, tough guy. That guy didn’t do anything wrong to me so I don’t want any harm to happen to him. I definitely want to win the fight because I like both my checks, but no harm I wish done to him. I hope it’s truly not broke because he seemed to be a cool guy.”

Next up for Holland…well whatever he wants with his history of taking any fight. There is one he’d like to slide in for however.

“Hopefully (Vicente) Luque pulls out,” he said.

“And I get (Nick) Diaz.”

Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Kevin Holland above.

The post UFC 302: Kevin Holland Reacts to Oleksiejczuk Arm-Bar appeared first on Cageside Press.

Makhachev (26-1), who earned both Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night after winning via D’arce choke, told media outlets including Cageside Press following the event that “I think I saved this card today, because all these fights are boring, all the arena almost sleep. We show with Dustin, a great performance.”

“Dana gave me two bonuses. Before I remember when I have first contract, I’m happy when I have a bonus. Now, it’s okay,” Makhachev added with a laugh.

The lightweight champ, now on a 14-fight win streak, did not come away from the bout unscathed. Poirier turned up the heat in the fourth and early part of the fifth round, stuffing takedowns, working the body, and landing a few decent shots upstairs.

“I think it’s my first cut. It’s okay,” Makhachev said of the damage. “This is MMA, not soccer, not basketball. This is MMA, we fight, we try to crush each other, beat each other. Dustin today gave me a hard time.”

Up next, Islam Makhachev is looking to return for a big fight in New York City— a dream fight, he revealed. “Honestly it’s my dream to fight in Madison Square Garden. Now I think the U.S. fans like me, because we show a good fight tonight.  If they give me a chance to come back in Madison Square Garden, this is my dream, fighting in this arena.”

Asked about the possibility of setting a record for lightweight title fights, Makhachev stated that “I don’t follow, beat some record or something like this. If you want a great legacy, you have to get a second belt. That’s my opinion.”

That’s what Makhachev is looking for next: a second title, a shot at welterweight gold. Dana White told reporters earlier in the night that while open to it, Arman Tsarukyan was the opponent the UFC had in mind for their lightweight champ next.

“I’m ready, man. Dana has my number, just call me and [give me] some new challenge,” Makhachev said in response to that pairing. Asked whether he was impressed with Tsarukyan’s run since their first meeting in 2019, which saw Makhachev claim a decision win, he said only that it doesn’t make sense to have a rematch. “I need some new challenge. But if Dana wants, no problem.”

Watch the full UFC 302 post-fight press conference with Islam Makhachev above.

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