Alves, who won his season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil in 2014, was entering the bout off a trio of losses, and was 1-4 in his last five fights under the UFC banner. As for Magomedov, he had come into the promotion behind a lot of hype, but had dropped his last two, against Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho.

The first round began very quickly with Magomedov almost immediately shooting for a takedown and initiating a little scramble. Magomedov was able to briefly secure a guillotine, before Alves returned to his feet and the two men clinched up against the cage. Both fighters began to let their hands go with Magomedov definitely scoring some cleaner shots.

Nearly midway through the round and Alves looked for a big punch, missed and exposed his back. Magomedov seized the opportunity and brought Alves to the ground. Abus was in a modified mount landing damaging strikes as his opponent was desperately trying to slide to the cage in order to return to his feet. With 45 seconds left in the round, Alves exploded to his feet and started throwing strikes before Magomedov again shot for a takedown. Alves again momentarily locked up a guillotine but his opponent escaped, started working and landing strikes as the round ended with Warlley clearly looking exhausted.

The second round began with Alves throwing hard punch and kick combinations before clinching and pushing his opponent to the cage. Magomedov was able to reverse this position and secure yet another takedown. Magomedov temporarily threatened a choke before moving to full mount, completely flattening out his opponent. Abus was peppering his opponent with strikes as Alves struggled to get to a hip and return to his feet. The two fighters were perfectly in the center of the octagon as Alves tried desperately to get to a hip. With a minute and a half left, Magomedov landed an absolutely devastating series of elbows that cut Warlley right under his eye. With 30 seconds left, Magomedov was looking to isolate the arm before abandoning it in favor of keeping Alves on his back. That is how the round would end with Alves again lying flat on his back, an exhausted, bloody mess.

The final round opened with Alves temporarily losing his balance off of a kick and hitting the ground. 45 seconds into the round and Alves landed a nasty body kick that doubled over his opponent. However, Magomedov was able to quickly secure yet another crucial takedown and mat return his opponent, halting a standup attempt.

Warlley’s back was now against the cage as he sat upright with Magomedov trapping both of his legs. After a scramble, Alves exploded off the cage with his legs but gave up his back and his opponent locked up a body triangle. With a minute and a half left, Magomedov briefly locked in the choke before deciding to let it go. Alves was able to escape from the body triangle, but Magomedov once again moved to a modified mount and began to drop ground and pound. With 30 seconds left, Warlley was trying desperately to lock in a guillotine, squeezing hard. But with just moments left on the clock, Magomedov popped his head out and disengaged, walking away triumphantly, hands raised.

Official Result: Abus Magomedov def. Warlley Alves by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

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Due to how the main and co-main event came about, neither of the losing fighters lost any stock. Let’s take a look at what could be next for the losers of the night.

Alexander Volkanovski

The featherweight champion once again dared to be great. This time, under much more unfortunate circumstances. Despite only having 10 days notice, Alexander “The Great” made championship weight and seemed prepared for the moment.

Subsequently, the 35-year-old suffered just his second loss via knockout, as Islam Makhachev caught him with a perfect left high kick.

During the post fight press conference, Volkanovski emotionally opened up to the media, admitting that he was getting to a dark place in his mind when he didn’t have a fight booked, and that was the reason he took the fight on such short notice. Before his fight with Islam, the plan seemed for Volkanovski to defend his 145lb title against Ilia Topuria in January.

Volkanovski wants to stick to that plan and said he wants to get back in there as soon as possible, and implored the UFC keep him busy. I envisage a busy 2024 for the featherweight King.

Volkanovski’s Next Fight: Ilia Topuria 

Kamaru Usman

Similarly to Volkanovski’s situation, former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman came into his fight with Khamzat Chimaev with nothing to lose.

Chimaev is one of the most feared fighters in the world, so for Usman to drop everything he was doing and to take the fight on 10 days’ notice at UFC 294, was nothing short of admirable. Not only that, but he put on a terrific performance and had a case for winning the fight.

However, two of the three judges scored it in favour of “Borz” and Usman’s losing skid continued.

Despite that, we now get to see “The Nigerian Nightmare” properly prepare for another fight at middleweight. This fight with Chimaev had high stakes attached to it, as Dana White announced that the winner would fight for the middleweight title next.

With that being said, it is only right that Usman’s next fight is with a top five contender. Dricus Du Plessis is likely going to get snubbed for the next title shot. He is seemingly being punished for not accepting a short turnaround fight with Israel Adesanya for UFC 293. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Usman and Du Plessis matched up next.

Failing that, I’d like to see Usman vs Vettori next.

Usman’s Next Fight: Marvin Vettori or Dricus Du Plessis

Magomed Ankalaev & Johnny Walker

Fans were practically robbed of getting to see this number one contender fight as it was called a no contest after Ankalaev landed an illegal knee to the head of a downed Walker.

After Dan Movahedi called in the ringside doctor, he did his routine tests to see how compromised Walker really was. After asking him ‘what country are you in?’ and Johnny Walker replying ‘the desert’, he decided that wasn’t good enough and told the ref to call the fight.

The only thing that makes sense from here, is for these two to run it back. Ankalaev’s last two fights have been highly controversial which has been extremely unfortunate for his title push.

Magomed Ankalaev & Johnny Walker to run it back

Warlley Alves

After losing back-to-back fights in the 170lb division, the 32-year-old Brazilian decided to move up to middleweight to try and turn his fortune around.

Unfortunately for Alves though, he was met by the high-rolling Ikram Aliskerov, who brutally KO’d him inside the first round.

It is uncertain whether Alves will decide to stay at middleweight or if he will move back down to welterweight for his next fight, but I think the move up could be beneficial for him.

For his next outing, I wouldn’t mind seeing Alves vs Brundage.

Alves’ Next Fight: Cody Brundage

Muin Gafurov

After an unsuccessful UFC debut back in June, Tajik Muin Gafurov was looking to pick up his first win under the UFC banner.

He was once again given an extremely tough matchup at UFC 294, giving him the task of trying to solve the Said Nurmagomedov puzzle. Unfortunately for the 27-year-old, the puzzle stood as too tall of a task as he was submitted in round one.

With the bantamweight division arguably being the deepest in the UFC, there are a multitude of fun matchups for Gafurov.

Dan “The Determined” Argueta is someone I’d like to see him face next.

Gafurov’s Next Fight: Dan Argueta

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Ikram was scheduled to fight Nassourdine Imavov, a top-15 ranked middleweight, but when Imavov pulled out he was scheduled to face aging welterweight Warlley Alves in Abu Dhabi. Warlley entered the cage on a two-fight losing streak for his first middleweight fight since 2014. His opponent seemed to be one of the hottest new talents in the UFC 185-lb division after knocking out Phil Hawes in his UFC debut. Aliskerov is also known for being arguably UFC 294 card-mate Khamzat Chimaev’s toughest pre-UFC fight; he defended Chimaev’s takedowns in their BRAVE CF bout back in 2019 but was then knocked out.

Both men opened orthodox as Warlley threw a leg kick to kick the opening round off. Ikram ate a few more of those without returning fire; soon a leg kick buckled his knee slightly. Ikram looked to set up his counter right hand as Warlley came into the pocket and had some success with that and push kicks to the stomach. Aliskerov landed a right hand followed by a jab that dropped Warlley momentarily. He got back up but Ikram poured on the volume and a flying knee seemed to seal the deal as Alves collapsed after only a few more punches, causing the referee to stop the fight.

Ikram Aliskerov looked like the real deal as he got a stoppage in less than half a round. He thanked the UAE fans for their support and called for a top-10 opponent for his next fight.

Official Result: Ikram Aliskerov def. Warlley Alves by TKO (flying knee and punches) Round 1, 2:07

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Dalby had picked up a win last time out, defeating Claudio Silva at July’s UFC London card. Alves for his part was coming into the night off a loss to Jeremiah Wells.

Round one began with an early blitz from Warlley Alves, exactly as you’d expect. A slip from the Brazilian brought on a clinch initiation from Dalby, but Alves controlled the clinch with an under-hook. Dalby did a good job of turning Alves on the fence and landed a few knees to the body, softening the Brazilian brawler up. A break in clinch saw the fight get back to the middle of the Octagon with Alves landing a few punishing leg kicks.

Alves began investing in the body kicks to try and slow down the pressure of the Dane. Again, Dalby recognised the weakness of Alves and once again initiated the clinch where he was able to dominate once more. A few oblique kicks from Alves saw the round finish.

The lead leg of Dalby was once again the target Alves was aiming for to begin round two, which was unusually followed by a level change from Alves. Dalby tried throwing up a triangle attempt, but Alves did well to slip out of it. Despite getting Dalby down to the ground, he wasn’t able to make it pay, and failed to land a single shot whilst on the ground. Nicolas Dalby looked the far fresher of the two come the midway point of round two and his striking was an example of that. A huge right elbow followed by a trade of right hands saw round two spring into life. Dalby not only threw with more volume in round two, but he also seemingly landed the more damaging shots.

Coming into round three, Dalby still looked the fresher of the two fighters. However, Alves came out like a man possessed, knowing he could very well need the finish. The experience of Dalby once again noticed the danger of trading with Alves, and he again took the fight to the cage and wore on Alves with the clinch. Despite how Alves’ cardio had held up in previous fights, he came into this one in great shape, and that was exemplified in the final minutes of round three. The two began trading straight punches with just over a minute left in the frame, with Dalby gaining a second wind. To see out the third and final round, Dalby finished the fight off how he began it, with Alves up against the cage in the clinch.

Come the scorecards, two judges saw it for Dalby, no small feat in enemy territory.

Official Result: Nicolas Dalby def. Warlley Alves by split decision (29–28, 28–29, 29–28) 

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During week six of Dana White Contender Series, the broadcast announced Jack Della Maddalena would be fighting Warlley Alves in early 2022. Last week, the UFC announced via press release that the pair would be fighting on January 22, at UFC 270.

Maddalena (10-2) defeated Ange Loose in a tremendous fight to receive an Ultimate Fighting Championship contract. The Australian fighter is riding a 10-fight win streak with nine finishes. He snapped his 100% finish streak in his last outing.

In January, Alves (14-5) returned from a lengthy layoff and finished hot prospect Mounir Lazzez in less than three minutes with a body kick. In his last outing, he got knocked out by a debuting Jeremiah Wells at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov. The Brazilian has alternated wins and losses in his last six fights.

MMA Junkie was first to report the news that Viacheslav Borshchev will debut against Dakota Bush on January 15 at UFC Fight Night: Kattar vs. Chikadze. Both fighters would confirm the news on their Instagram.

Borshchev (5-1) received a contract after knocking out Chris Duncan on week seven Dana White Contender Series. He is riding a three-fight win streak, with all three of those wins coming by way of TKO.

Bush (8-3) will be looking for his first UFC win in January. He lost a unanimous decision to Austin Hubbard at UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Gastelum in April. Bush was scheduled to fight Zhu Rong in September; however, he tested positive for COVID-19, and the fight was scrapped.

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Alves was a tough draw for a first UFC fight, and Wells appeared to be in for a war on Saturday. But he handled it like a seasoned pro.

Wells, like he’s done his entire career, bull rushed forwards and shoved Alves to his back to start. Wells eventually let Alves back to the feet and stung him with a few shots on the way up. He kept aggressive on that body lock but eventually separated. When separated Wells was swinging for the fences but Alves was never in his preferred range. Wells went back to the clinch and Alves pulled guard for a guillotine. He didn’t complete it but ended the round on top.

Round two saw Wells catch Alves with a right hand early, dropping him. He followed up with a flurry of punches and it put the Brazilian out cold.

🇺🇸 Jeremiah Wells, welcome to the BIG show!

[ #UFCVegas30 | LIVE on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/jagRwi7lyf

— UFC (@ufc) June 26, 2021

Official Result: Jeremiah Wells def. Warlley Alves by knockout, Round 2, 0:30

The post UFC Vegas 30 Results: Jeremiah Wells Sleeps Warlley Alves in Debut appeared first on Cageside Press.

Jeremiah Wells
5’9″
Welterweight
34-years-old
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Renzo Gracie Philly
8-2-1
3 KO/TKO
3 Submissions

How will Wells fare in the UFC:

Wells is a bit old to be labeled as a prospect but he’s always fought good competition. He’s never fought anyone with a losing record and has beaten a combined record of 48-17. He’s basically earned his way to the UFC octagon.

Wells on the feet is all about explosiveness and power. You will frequently see him throw superman punches. He likes to throw spinning attacks and flying knees as well. Wells fights mainly in bursts as he’ll barrage forward with output. Wells will usually end flurries in takedowns from the body lock. He’s such a powerhouse he can just force guys to the mat. There will be a lot of opponents in the UFC that won’t go down from a simple body lock however. And with Wells only being 5’9″ it’s going to be hard to close the distance rushing forward the way he does.

When Wells completes takedowns his control is usually rock solid. He will at times ride out a position too long but his jiu-jitsu is pretty good. When he gets a dominant position like the mount his ground and pound are good and he has a dangerous RNC. His takedown defense needs improvement and off his back, he struggles. Wells does show good knowledge off his back but struggles to get out from underneath of good wrestlers.

There are some fighters in the UFC Wells can beat, but his style will either win him fights or (more so) hold him back. Just being a blitzer with power and strength will only get you so far against top-notch fighters. Being already 34 will be an issue as well. The UFC welterweight he resembles in my opinion is Dwight Grant.

• Striking: B-
• Kickboxing: C+
• Clinch: B
• Wrestling: B-
• Grappling: B-
• Striking Defense: B-
• Takedown Defense: C
• Cardio: C+
• Biggest Strength: Knockout power
• Biggest Weakness: Off his back

How he matches up with Alves:

Fighting against a veteran like Warlley Alves on short notice is a tough go. Alves has a clear advantage on the mat so Wells will definitely have to stop Alves with strikes. Alves isn’t the best striker but can very well hold his own. He’s only been finished by strikes by James Krause. Krause is a far different striker than Wells. I can’t see Wells exploding on a guy like Alves who has fought opponents like Krause, Randy Brown, Colby Covington, Alan Jouban, Mounir Lazzez, Bryan Barberena, and Kamaru Usman. This is just a good match up for Alves who can just use his jiu-jitsu and keep the distance controlled.

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The UFC announced on Monday that Alves will stay on the card, also known as UFC Vegas 30, and welcome former CFFC Welterweight champion Jeremiah Wells to the UFC this Saturday. Wells would confirm the news on his Instagram.

Alves (14-4) returned in fantastic fashion early this year on ‘Fight Island.’ He finished hot prospect Mounir Lazzez in less than three minutes with a body kick in that match-up. The TKO of Lazzez earned the Brazilian a Performance of the Night bonus. Alves had been out of action for 14 months prior. He was originally set to face Ramazan Emeev this Saturday.

Wells (8-2-1) hasn’t been in action since he defeated Marco Smallman for the vacant CFFC welterweight title. Wells vacated the title when he was signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was scheduled to make his UFC debut against Miguel Baeza last year in September at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley; however, Baeza was not medically cleared to compete. Wells now steps in on a week’s notice to finally make his debut.

UFC Vegas 30 will take place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas and broadcast on ESPN+. The event is headlined by heavyweights Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov.

With the latest addition, the fight card now includes the following match-ups:

• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Raoni Barcelos vs. Timur Valiev
• Tanner Boser vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Michel Prazeres vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
• Justin Jaynes vs. Charles Rosa
• Danilo Marques vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
• Isaac Villanueva vs. Marcin Prachnio
• Warlley Alves vs. Jeremiah Wells
• Renato Moicano vs. Jai Herbert
• Nicolas Dalby vs. Tim Means
• Julija Stoliarenko vs. Julia Avila
• Daniel Pineda vs. Andre Fili
• Yancy Medeiros vs. Damir Hadžović

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MMA Fighting was the first to report the news that The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3 winner Warlley Alves will fight Ramazan Emmev on June 26 at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event. Both fighters would subsequently confirm the booking on their Instagram Stories.

Alves (14-4) returned in fantastic fashion early this year on ‘Fight Island.’ He finished hot prospect Mounir Lazzez in less than three minutes with a body kick. The TKO of Lazzez earned the Brazilian a Performance of the Night bonus. Alves had been out of action for 14 months prior.

Emeev (20-4) was also victorious on ‘Fight Island’ in January. A week before Alves finished Lazzez, Emeev defeated David Zawada via a split decision. The win was his second in a row and boosted him to 5-1 in the UFC. The Russian is a former M-1 middleweight champion.

With the latest addition, the UFC’s June 26 fight card now includes the following match-ups:

• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Raoni Barcelos vs. Timur Valiev
• Maxim Grishin vs. Ovince Saint Preux
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Punahele Soriano
• Tim Elliott vs. Su Mudaerji
• Michel Prazeres vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
• Justin Jaynes vs. Charles Rosa
• Danilo Marques vs. Ed Herman
• Isaac Villanueva vs. Marcin Prachnio
• Warlley Alves vs. Ramazan Emeev

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Michael Chiesa

After his win at UFC Fight Island 8, Chiesa called out Colby Covington. While the UFC has been looking at booking Covington against Jorge Masvidal, this was actually a really smart call-out. The welterweight division is currently deadlocked waiting on Gilbert Burns to challenge Kamaru Usman for the title. It would seem like Chiesa’s only options to move forward in the division would be Covington, Stephen Thompson, or Jorge Masvidal. Stylistically, the most exciting fight for him would be Covington and that fight would get him closest to a title shot.

Chiesa’s next fight: Colby Covington 

Warlley Alves

Warlley Alves also made a pretty bold call-out after his win at UFC Fight Island 8. Alves called out Nate Diaz, saying that he does not like Diaz’s stance on marijuana and doesn’t feel like marijuana has a place in the sport of MMA. Nate Diaz is known to only take big fights especially at this point in his career. So it is very unlikely Diaz takes a fight with a guy like Alves unless Alves goes on a significant run in the division.

Instead, Alves should look to fight someone like Geoff Neal. That would be an extremely fan-friendly fight. If Alves won that fight he could expect even bigger fights as that win would likely get him inside the top 15.

Alves’ next fight: Geoff Neal

Ike Villanueva

Isaac (Ike) Villanueva was able to knock out Vinicius Moreira in the second round of their bout on Wednesday. This win brings Villanueva to 1-2 in the UFC. He will probably be taking a step up in competition in his next fight because of how impressive the knockout was. A great match-up for Villanueva would be Jake Collier. Collier is a UFC veteran who has been with the company since 2014. Collier had a significant layoff from 2017-2020 and is 1-1 since returning in 2020. This would be a great opportunity for Villanueva to fight a veteran that is still shaking some of the rust off. The weight class could be a question — Ike started at heavyweight and dropped to 205, while Collier started as a middleweight(!) and currently competes as a heavyweight. He’d probably be better off down a weight class however, if Ike doesn’t want to try heavyweight again.

Villanueva’s next fight: Jake Collier 

Viviane Araujo

Viviane Araujo was able to dominate Roxanne Modafferi en route to a unanimous decision win on Wednesday. That win will probably line her up for a shot at someone in the top five. The best stylistic match-up for her in the top five would without a doubt be Jennifer Maia. Both women are black belts in BJJ and are starting to really evolve in the striking department. That division has had a tough (nay, impossible) time defeating champion Valentina Shevchenko. So it would be good to see someone new get their shot to take down the queen. As the most recent title challenge, Maia could propel Viviane Araujo to bigger and better things.

Araujo’s next fight: Jennifer Maia 

Matt Schnell

Matt Schnell won a razor-close split decision win over Tyson Nam at UFC Fight Island 8. Alex Perez is a guy that fought his way through the flyweight division but somehow never met up with Schnell. That should change as Perez is coming off losing to Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title. Perez should be looking for a fight that will keep him at the top of the division. That fight might just be with Matt Schnell, whose only loss in the past two years is to Alexandre Pantoja. Schnell has proven time after time that he is one of the best flyweights in the world and if he beats Perez, he will likely get his chance to show it.

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