Mayra Bueno Silva

After the biggest victory of her career, over elder stateswoman of the division Holly Holm, Mayra Bueno Silva called out former champion Julianna Pena. Beating the third-ranked contender does absolutely put her on the shortlist for a shot at the vacant women’s bantamweight title alongside Pena and Raquel Pennington – and perhaps Ronda Rousey if rumors are to be believed.

Silva has now won four in a row since moving up from flyweight; 135-lbs is clearly the division for her. Still, Pennington is on a five-fight winning streak and has beaten more high-ranking contenders. But Silva is now just one win away. What better matchup for her, then, than the most recent title challenger, Irene Aldana? A win would put her in line for a shot at whoever wins the vacant belt in the next title fight.

Silva’s Next Fight: Irene Aldana

Jack Della Maddalena

Maddalena infuriated fans and his coaches alike by going for guillotines and ending up on bottom against Bassil Hafez in the UFC Vegas 77 co-main event. He eked out a split decision but it was far from comfortable, especially compared to his first four UFC fights, each of which he finished in the first round.

Hafez was only a short notice debutant and exposed some potentially massive holes in the hot prospect’s game. Jack was ranked fourteenth coming into the fight and before he goes further in the division he needs to have those holes truly tested. Enter Neil Magny. The owner of the most fights in UFC welterweight history has long been the traditional test for rising prospects. Jack Della Maddalena should be no different, and Magny’s wrestling should put him to the test.

Maddalena’s Next Fight: Neil Magny

Francisco Prado

Prado picked up his first UFC win by knocking out the knockout artist Ottman Azaitar. A spinning elbow and ground strikes got the job done, and now the twenty-one year old Argentinian fighter can look to the future, having proved himself at a high level.

Prado has a long ways to go at such a young age and should be built up slowly in the promotion to give him time to develop before hitting the upper echelon of lightweights. A good opponent for him at the mid-level of the lightweight division would be Loik Radzhabov. Radzhabov lost his last fight after winning his UFC debut, so he is 1-1 just like Prado. Prado would also get a chance to avenge his fellow countryman, Esteban Ribovics, who lost to Loik earlier this year.

Prado’s Next Fight: Loik Radzhabov

Jun Yong Park

‘The Iron Turtle’ has now won four straight fights, including three by finish, and seven of his last eight. That win streak ties him for second longest in the middleweight division. It is clearly time for the Korean brawler to dip his toes into facing ranked competition.

Most of the middleweights ranked tenth to fifteenth who are coming off of losses are already booked, but tenth ranked Jack Hermansson is not. Hermansson has lost two of his last three and he needs to give someone lower than him in the rankings a chance, like Park. Both men have well-rounded skillsets and the bout is competitive on paper.

Park’s Next Fight: Jack Hermansson

Norma Dumont

Norma Dumont is in a tricky spot. She has fought all but one of her UFC fights at 145-lbs but the women’s featherweight division is nearly empty and may be closing entirely now that Amanda Nunes has retired. Yet Dumont is calling for a title fight after her latest win. Who would she even face though? Is there anyone to face?

She is ranked thirteenth in the bantamweight division. The best option is not to have her fight in a non-existent division. We know she can make the cut to 135-lbs. She has now won three in a row, it makes sense for her to fight a fellow ranked contender, like Julia Avila, who is coming off of a win as well.

Dumont’s Next Fight: Julia Avila

Nazim Sadykhov

‘The Black Wolf’ improved to 2-0 in the UFC with a second round stoppage of Terrance McKinney to open the UFC Vegas 77 main card. Sadykhov fought smart, weathering the storm of the explosive McKinney in the first round before reversing a takedown and choking him out in the second.

The Azerbaijani fighter who trains under Ray Longo has a bright future ahead of him. At twenty-nine years old he is entering his prime and should look to make a run at the rankings, where teammate Matt Frevola resides. Another well-rounded lightweight on a two-fight winning streak in the UFC is Rafa Garcia. At twenty-eight, Rafa is in a similar spot to Nazim and only one man can move on in the shark tank that is lightweight.

Sadykhov’s Next Fight: Rafa Garcia

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 77 Winners appeared first on Cageside Press.

What’s next for Holm and the rest of the main card losers? Read on.

Holly Holm

Holly Holm has been a main event player for what seems like forever. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion is also seemingly always in the mix, just one win away from a title shot.

Or she was. That’s not the case now, after Holm found herself submitted by Mayra Bueno Silva, a rising star at 135lbs. “The Preacher’s Daughter” is now 1-2 in her last three fights, having lost to Silva and Ketlen Vieira, with a win over Yana Santos between those setbacks.

At 41, Holm might have another run in her. She might not. But first and foremost, she needs to put a couple of wins together. The problem with Holm is, she’s fought just about everyone. She’s beat Raquel Pennington twice (who is likely to face Julianna Pena for the title next). She’s beat Irene Aldana, who just came up short in a title shot. And really, do you want to derail too many contenders by putting them in against Holm, who is still a very capable fighter?

The fight that makes sense here, and it’s by no means an original thought as social media has been all over it, is Miesha Tate. Tate was supposed to fight Silva earlier this year, but was forced out. She’s signalled a possible return this fall. Tate defeated Holm to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight championship in 2016; a rematch feels overdue.

Holm’s next fight: Miesha Tate

Bassil Hafez

Bassil Hafez may have lost a split decision to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Vegas 77, but he came out a winner regardless. Hafez was an unknown before taking a short-notice opportunity against JDM, then pushed the Australian to the limit — becoming the first man to take him the distance in the UFC.

Fight fans should now be curious to see what Hafez can do with a full camp. His next fight won’t come against a rising star like Maddalena, but it shouldn’t come against a total unknown either. Might as well reward him with a decent name. Andre Fialho fits the bill — he’s 2-4 in the UFC but always puts on fun fights.

Hafez’s next fight: Andre Fialho

Ottman Azaitar

Lightweight Ottman Azaitar is 2-2 in the UFC, which often spells doom in the promotion — especially since he has now lost two straight. But if he sticks around, someone like Nikolas Motta, who suffered a loss of his own recently, makes sense.

Azaitar’s next fight: Nikolas Motta

Albert Duraev

2021 Contender Series winner Albert Duraev is now 2-2 in the UFC, but coming off a single loss to Jun Yong Park in a very fun fight.

Bruno “Blindado” Silva is coming off a loss to Brendan Allen not too long ago. We had other ideas for Silva at the time, but man, this feels like another banger.

Duraev’s next fight: Bruno Silva

Chelsea Chandler

Poor Chelsea Chandler. After winning her promotional debut last year following a change in opponents, she finally got a full camp and a fight at 145lbs — a division the UFC seems primed to kill off now that Amanda Nunes has retired. Worse, she was turned into a meme after turning and fleeing from Norma Dumont in the opening round, as she endured a barrage of strikes from the Brazilian.

Chandler is now the biggest MMA meme in ages— but she’s at least taking it all in stride, even adding to the trend herself.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CuxPdCyP2wZ/

Kudos to Chandler for having a sense of humor. And it’s worth noting that escaping the beatdown at least kept her in the fight to the final bell. Chandler is now 1-1 in the UFC, but if she’s sticking around featherweight, there’s virtually no one for her to fight, because the promotion never bothered to build the division. Yana Santos is coming off a featherweight loss, so maybe if she opts to stay at 145, that works. If not, Chandler might be better off heading to 135. She hasn’t competed there since 2019, and has missed the bantamweight limit once — but unless the UFC has a change of heart, it feels like the options at 145 are limited.

Chandler’s next fight: Yana Santos (if both stay at featherweight)

Terrance McKinney

Terrance McKinney came into the UFC on a tear, and is a consistently entertaining fighter. He has, however, stumbled of late at 1-3 in his last four. Nazim Sadykhov, his opponent at UFC Vegas 77, felt like a winnable fight for “T-Wrecks,” but that might have had more to do with Sadykhov being in just his second UFC fight. In any case, Sadykhov came away with the submission win.

McKinney needs to regroup. Also, timing is everything in fighting. Kamuela Kirk is coming off a loss of his own one week prior to McKinney’s latest setback. He’s 1-2 in the UFC. This lines up rather well. And it should show whether McKinney is ready to stick around for the long haul.

McKinney’s next fight: Kamuela Kirk

The post What’s Next: UFC Vegas 77 Losers appeared first on Cageside Press.

On top of that, the card got off to in inauspicious start when decision after decision piled up. The only finish on the prelims, in fact, was an injury TKO that came in a freak accident as Istela Nunes tried to post while being taken down by Viktoriia Dudakova.

Things picked up by the time the main card arrived, however, with the end result at least being watchable. And it was the late-addition co-main event that cashed in when it came to bonuses. Despite being brought in short notice like a lamb to the slaughter, Bassil Hafez put on a heck of a show, taking Jack Della Maddalena the distance for the first time in his UFC career.

Maddalena took home the split decision win, but given how Hafez had been written off, he came out of this one looking golden.

Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC Vegas 77 went to headliner Mayra Bueno Silva, for her ninja choke submission of former champ Holly Holm, and Francisco Prado, who finished Ottman Azaitar on the feet one fight prior.

All four bonus winners will pick up an extra $50,000 for their efforts, on top of their fight purse.

The post UFC Vegas 77 Bonuses: Maddalena and Hafez Snag Fight of the Night appeared first on Cageside Press.

The welterweight prospect was originally scheduled to face Sean Brady at UFC 290 last weekend, and later Josiah Harrell. But when an MRI detected an abnormality with Harrell’s brain (moyamoya syndrome), JDM was left without a gig. Instead of heading home to Australia, however, Maddalena opted to stay in Vegas — and has landed a fight with newcomer Bassil Hafez.

Originally slotted on the prelims, the fight was later bumped up to co-main event status.

If the movie “Rocky” had an MMA equivalent, outside of fighting for a title, this may have been it. Bassil Hafez is well-known within the hardcore MMA fan circles, but the rest of the fanbase got a show tonight when he stepped in on short-notice against JDM.

For the first two round Hafez controlled JDM with a tough wrestling attack. The grappling prowess showed itself as JDM attempted guillotines when taken down, but Hafez was quick to pass guard, avoid getting caught in a closed guard, and get to side control to defend the choke attempt.

JDM had plenty of success in the fight on the feet clearly being superior on the feet than his opponent. When Hafez couldn’t keep him down JDM was able to land plenty of damage forcing Hafez to shoot over and over again to nullify the striking attack of the Australian.

In the third round both men made their case to win the round, and the fight, but ultimately the judges saw it Maddalena’s way. Another win for JDM, but a heck of a story for UFC newcomer Bassil Hafez who clearly captured fans attention with a gutsy performance and a whole lot of heart.

Official Result: Jack Della Maddalena def. Bassil Hafez via Split-Decision (29-28×3)

The post Bassil Hafez Goes The Distance, But JDM Gets The Split-Decision Victory appeared first on Cageside Press.

Silva was respectful, but didn’t hold back in the trash talk on media day saying she would fight Holm for five rounds and then knock her out.

Holm responded as only Holm could do with,”Anybody can dream.”

Will the dream come true for Silva? Will she become the face of the women’s bantamweight division and crash the party at the top of the division, or will Holm the former champion, ruin the party for the Brazilian?

Round 1 Holm came out aggressive throwing multiple flurries of strikes at Silva then clinching her on the fence and peppering the body with knees and short strikes. Silva landed a couple knees, but she had plenty of trouble with the strength and size of Holm.

Silva landed a few big shots on Holm as she opted to stay patient and wait for her opportunity to land a big shot. Still, Holm’s activity and pace was probably too much for Silva to steal the round.

Round 2 Silva comes out and lands a big right hand on Holm forcing to clinch her on the fence to land shots in close.

Silva fought with her on the fence and then snatched a quick standing guillotine! Holm fought it for as long as she could but she was forced to tap! Silva scored the biggest upset of the night, and set herself up for big things in the future coming off a victory over a former UFC champion.

Official Result: Mayra Bueno Silva def. Holly Holm via R2 Submission 0:38

The post Mayra Bueno Silva Scores Upset, Submits Holm With Second Round Guillotine appeared first on Cageside Press.

Ottman had won twelve of thirteen fights by finish, including two knockouts in the UFC, before taking his first pro loss against Matt Frevola in late 2022. The Moroccan knockout artist had the tables turned on him as he was put out cold in the first round. He looked to rebound against the twenty-one year old Argentinian Francisco Prado, who had suffered his first career loss in his UFC debut to Jamie Mullarkey. Prado needed to win this bout and get his first UFC win in order to keep his back from being pressed up against the wall.

Prado the fight on the front foot and quickly shot in for a takedown. Azaitar was able to defend it and push off, forcing Prado to return to striking. Azaitar threw a massive leg kick and Prado turned his leg out for a brutal check, making Azaitar’s shin bleed. Ottman was loading up when he threw punches, some of which were only inches away from the chin of Prado. Prado on the feet mostly threw kicks, very few punches.

He failed another two takedowns in the early going and ate a monster body shot from Azaitar. However Prado backed an aggressive Ottman off with a clean clinch elbow when Azaitar started to gain momentum. Prado then threw a spining elbow which cut Azaitar open and threw him to the ground. Francisco got on top, landing massive hammerfists nonstop. Tognoni warned Azaitar to fight back two times before stopping the fight, giving Prado a TKO for the first win of his UFC career. Azaitar protested the stoppage right away, but he had eaten several clean shots in a row after being dropped.

Official Result: Francisco Prado def. Ottman Azaitar by TKO (spinning elbow and hammerfists) Round 1, 4:05

The post UFC Vegas 77: Francisco Prado Stops Ottman Azaitar With Spinning Elbow and Ground Strikes appeared first on Cageside Press.

That said, Park vs. Duraev still carried with it explosive potential, with Duraev looking for his second straight win and third overall in the UFC. South Korea’s Park, meanwhile, had won three straight.

The first round started with Duraev landing a beautiful left hook and some nice rips to the body, leaving Park bleeding early. Park mixed it up early with some good low kicks. Duraev and Park both traded some clean left hooks in the middle of this round. Park seemed to be patient but took a lot of damage throughout the round. Duraev was loading up, using a lot of energy to land big shots. Park jumped the guillotine with about 30 seconds left in the round and had it tight, but Duraev was able to hang on to close out the round.

Duraev and Park quickly got back to action, with Duraev taking Park down at the start of round two. Park did a really good job of getting back to his feet fast, and both fighters went right back to work in the center of the octagon. Duraev and Park were both landing right hands behind their jabs throughout the round. Park started turning up the pace, overwhelming Duraev, and dropping him with an elbow. Park took the back of Duraev after he dropped him and was looking for the rear naked choke. It took him a minute to work the choke, but he eventually found it, finishing Duraev in round two.

This was a great fight from start to finish, starting with Duraev’s strong first round. The second round was different when Park completely took over the fight and turned up the pace a notch to find the finish in round two. This was a huge win for Jun Yong Park, and it’s even better that he got the finish. Park looks to continue to climb the ranks, winning his fourth fight in a row.

Official Result: Jun Yong Park def. Albert Duraev by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 2, 4:45

The post UFC Vegas 77: Albert Duraev Shut Down, Submitted by Jun Yong Park appeared first on Cageside Press.

With a bit of a back-and-forth during weigh-ins on Friday, there was no love lost in this one.

Off the opening bell, Chelsea Chandler went on the attack, but Dumont found success with her counters. She found real success a moment later, rocking Chandler who then turned and fled — straight across the cage, back turned! Dumont chased her down, landing lefts and rights and mixing in some shots to the body. That, however, had given Chandler the time she needed to regain her composure, and she even managed to land a string of lefts.

What a scene 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ZcwqDyf5ji

— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) July 16, 2023

Dumont, meanwhile, looked to fire a head kick. Chandler cracked Dumont with another left, and tied the fight up in a clinch. Putting Dumont on the fence, Chandler looked to sweep a leg, but Dumont reversed. Only to be reversed again. When they did go to the ground, it was Dumont on top, working from guard.

Round two saw the pair in another early clinch, before a bit of a firefight broke out, with both ladies landing heavy shots. Dumont landed a straight right off a 1-2 that forced Chandler back; another right hand landed a moment later. Dumont would then land a takedown, looking to pass into half-guard to no avail.

From bottom, Chandler would look to throw up an arm-bar, to no avail. But she would make it back to her feet by the end of the round.

Dumont opened round three shooting a takedown, and briefly landed it, though perhaps not long enough for it to count officially. Chandler, however, was badly in need of a momentum change, and got that when she landed a takedown of her own. Dumont, however, was herself quickly back up.

When they went back down again at the midway mark, it was Chandler working for a kneebar. But Dumont defended and nearly took the back. When Chandler went fishing for the limb a second time, she did take the back, though she did not have hooks in. The fight, hard-hitting at times early on, had slowed, and Chandler seemed to struggle to find the strength to power up.

Official Result: Norma Dumont def. Chelsea Chandler by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

The post UFC Vegas 77: Norma Dumont Dominant In All Areas Against Chelsea Chandler appeared first on Cageside Press.

Terrance may have been only be 3-2 in the UFC, but he had built a sizable profile for himself based on his thrilling fight style which has seen him finish all his UFC wins in the first round and have a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate against Drew Dober on top of that. He is an excellent finisher, but has had issues with cardio at times. Sadykhov, on the other hand, has not lost a bout since his pro debut, and looked to improve to 2-0 in the UFC with a win against McKinney.

Both men fight primarily as southpaws, which was on display Saturday. McKinney landed a strong straight left off the bat and shot in for a takedown, which Sadykhov defended. However, the ensuing clinch exchange allowed McKinney to keep working to get the fight to the mat and he did so, tripping Sadykhov and taking the back. McKinney locked up a body triangle and threatened a rear-naked choke while landing strikes from the back. It was all that Sadykhov could do to defend the choke, he could not even threaten much of an escape from the position. Finally with forty-five seconds left in the round Sadykhov was able to reverse and escape the body triangle, ending up on top in full guard. They stood back up with thirty seconds left and Sadykhov looked to get his revenge. He landed two left hands before McKinney grabbed onto a single leg and stalled the last few seconds of the round away.

The second round saw Sadykhov come out hard on the front foot, pressing McKinney back and throwing combinations so that he could not be pressed up against the fence himself again. McKinney responded with a takedown attempt which was easily defended, but the second one ended up with McKinney being reversed and forced to the ground. He tried to turn to get up but Sadykhov took Terrance’s back, flattened him out, and instantly locked up a rear-naked choke. Terrance could do nothing but tap.

FLIPS THE SCRIPT! 😳@Naz_MMA gets the round 2 submission win at #UFCVegas77! pic.twitter.com/xAyn9yac0F

— UFC (@ufc) July 16, 2023

Official Result: Nazim Sadykhov def. Terrance McKinney by Submission (rear-naked choke) Round 2, 1:07

The post UFC Vegas 77: Nazim Sadykhov Submits Wrestle-Heavy Terrance McKinney in Second Round appeared first on Cageside Press.

Lutz found some success with his kicks early in the opening round, landing a couple with an audible crack in the opening minute. Those kicks were keeping Baghdarsaryan at a distance, which resulted in Baghdasaryan firing back a kick or two of his own.

It was Lutz, meanwhile, who landed the first takedown of the fight, blasting in and planting Baghdasaryan, who soon had his back to the fence, looking for a way up. Lutz, however, stayed heavy on the legs, and was able to stall Baghdasaryan time and again as he tried to make it make up — which he only did in the dying seconds of the round.

Lutz opened the second with a low kick, while Baghdasaryan stayed outside, no doubt wary of the takedown. Baghdasaryan caught Lutz with a counter coming in, leading Lutz to retreat, and Melsik to chase him down, firing a bit wild but clearly aware that Lutz was compromised.

Unfortunately for Baghdasaryan, Lutz would recover — but Melsik had momentum behind him. Moments later, an unfortunate turn of events: Tucker was hit low, and staggered back, looking to the ref. As the ref moved in to call time, Baghdasaryan connected with a clean head kick. Luckily, it wasn’t full power, even if it was flush — and Lutz took only a few seconds to recover from the low blow.

Closing out the round with one more takedown, Lutz appeared to have survived a scare or two — but the second had been a much better frame for Baghdasaryan.

Round three was halted just as it got started, care of another foul by Baghdasaryan — an eye poke. When they did get going again, it was Lutz in on the legs, trapping Baghdasaryan against the fence. Melsik tried to use the cage for leverage, grabbed the cage, tried crawling away, but could not get Tucker Lutz off him. Not using a whizzer was a curious enough choice, but after Lutz took the back sitting and got one hook in, Baghdasaryan reversed and climbed out.

With two minutes remaining in the frame, however, Baghdasaryan needed to create some space. Instead, Lutz reversed, and went in on a single. Baghdasaryan dropped an elbow, and the pair jockeyed for position, ultimately making the round a fairly close one.

Come the scorecards, all three judges scored the fight for Melsik Baghdasaryan, who admitted that he “underestimated my opponent” following the fight.

29-28 across all of the scorecards 👏

🇦🇲 @Melsik_The_Gun is back in the win column! #UFCVegas77 pic.twitter.com/dRl6CP3hhf

— UFC (@ufc) July 16, 2023

Official Result: Melsik Baghdasaryan def. Tucker Lutz by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC Vegas 77: Melsik Baghdasaryan Wins Decision, Admits He Underestimated Tucker Lutz appeared first on Cageside Press.