At the end of last month, ESPN announced the nominations for this year’s ESPYs (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award).

In the competition for MMA fighter of the year (the award is given for achievements in 2021), Kayla Harrison, Charles Oliveira, Kamaru Usman and Alexander Volkanovski are nominated. Although the awards ceremony is only three days away, it is known who will be presented with the award on Wednesday.

Many agree that the award should have gone to one of the duo Usman-Oliveira, and last night Megan Olivi revealed during the broadcast of the UFC event that the award went to Charles Oliveira. Last year, the Brazilian defeated Michael Chandler by knockout in the second round to become the UFC lightweight champion.

 

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Oliveira’s title was contested until he defeated Dustin Poirier, who was considered the best lightweight fighter after the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Dustin was busy with matches with Conor McGregor and therefore did not appear in the title match after Khabib retired. He got the opportunity to take over the throne from Oliveira in the 12th month of last year, but Charles Oliveira showed him and all the critics why he is the champion.

Unfortunately, the UFC on ABC 3 program did not entertain us with the main fight of the evening as it entertained us with most of the other matches on the program. The match between Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega ended in the first round, but the stoppage came in a way we never like to see.

Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez stressed all week that they are friends and that they do not prefer confrontation. However, once they got the signal to start the match, friendship was put aside and both went for the win.

Ortega reached the clinch relatively quickly, pressed Rodriguez against the cage, and was looking for an opportunity to take the fight to the ground floor. Yair seemed calm and for the most part, we watched Ortega throw occasional knee strikes from the clinch, while Yair hit Ortega’s “calf” with his heel in a somewhat strange but ingenious way. Four minutes before the end of the round, Ortega took the fight to the ground floor, and just when it seemed that Yair might be in big trouble, Ortega separated from Rodriguez who tried to catch him in a lever, and after separating from Rodriguez, Ortega laid down and he grabbed his shoulder. It was the end of the fight because Brian’s shoulder “popped” and he could not continue the fight.

As for Brian, he has now lost two in a row and three in his last four appearances. However, no one will particularly regret such a defeat.

Rodriguez said after the fight that it was an accident and that he prefers to win in a different way. He added that he is ready to give Ortega a rematch, but that he will let the UFC decide what’s next for him.

A truly unfortunate ending to the main fight of the night. We watched a great event through the remaining 11 matches, and it’s a real shame that the main fight of the evening didn’t arrive or flare up. That’s how Rodriguez won, and whether the UFC will give him the promised “title shot” after this kind of victory is hard to say. Josh Emmett could profit from this as he is the other legitimate contender to be the next challenger and his win over Calvin Kattar is still more significant than this win over Ortega.

No one expected the match between Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez to end in the first round, especially not the way it did. After a little more than four minutes of the fight, Ortega’s shoulder “popped” during a “grappling” sequence, and that was the end of the fight.

Yair Rodriguez said right after the match that he is ready for a rematch, and Brian Ortega also expressed his desire for it if Rodriguez does not get a “title shot”. We almost didn’t get to see anything from these two, and we’re sure they would have watched a great match if there hadn’t been such an interruption.

In those four minutes, Rodriguez landed 23 significant shots, and Ortega landed one less. It was a fairly even match. Rodriguez seemed a bit more refined in the stance, but that was expected. Ortega was trying to get a takedown, and shortly after the first successful takedown, there was actually a break.

“The grip was tight on my arm and there was a dislocation. There was no ‘armlock’ or any kind of intervention, none of that. It was a freak accident. It’s the first time in my career this has happened, the first time ever, actually,” Ortega began in a conversation with Megan Olivi after the match, and then expressed additional disappointment.

“Everything went in my favor. I won every minute of that fight. I stuck to my tactics. The world saw that I needed to show what I do best, which is grappling and control. As soon as we ended up on the ground, my hand popped out.”

In the continuation of the conversation, Ortega added “how he will pray to God that he does not have to undergo surgery” in order to return to performances as soon as possible. He pointed out that he has already undergone shoulder surgery twice and knows how difficult it is to go through all that.

Here are the results of UFC on ABC 3:

Probably the greatest BJJ master of the featherweight division would love to fight the greatest BJJ master on the roster.

After more than nine months, Brian Ortega will step into the UFC cage again tonight. The second-ranked challenger of the UFC featherweight division suffered a heavy beating from Alexander Volkanovski in the ninth month of last year, and today he will look for a return to victory against Yair Rodriguez.

Ortega is in a somewhat unenviable situation within the featherweight category. Through his last three appearances, he fought for the title twice and lost both times. Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski totally outclassed him, but they are also the only fighters who managed to defeat him.

There is no doubt that T-City still hopes to win the featherweight title, but a move to lightweight is also part of his ambitions.

“At some point, I would like to move up and fight in the lightweight category. Who knows? Maybe I’ll have to shut everyone up and go to a higher category. In the future, I’ll fight in the lightweight category.”

It is about Charles Oliveira, according to many the best BJJ master in the history of the UFC. Ortega is also a great master of parterre and it would be a stylistically very interesting showdown.

“It would be a great match. He’s a tough guy and he’s on a great streak right now. I am so happy for him because his story is motivating. He was losing and losing, it seemed like he was done. Everyone forgot about him, and as a fighter, at such moments you wonder if this is the end of your career. But the guy moved up (Oliveira used to compete at featherweight) and started to dominate. How many wins in a row, 10 (11)? He won the belt and defended it once or twice. It’s all motivating. Sharing the cage with such a fighter would be an honor for me. Some may misunderstand this ‘roll call’, but as a fighter and competitor, I want to test myself against the best,” said Ortega.

The UFC president has announced the imminent return of one of the greatest fighters in UFC and MMA history.

The return of Jon Jones to the cage has been met with a lot of criticism, and it hasn’t even been officially stated when he’ll fight again. There is no set date, and there will be no opponent named. Jones’ only public statements have been his announcements that he’s climbing to the heavyweight throne and displaying video of his training. Aside from that, nothing concrete occurred.

Jones, nevertheless, is near to returning, according to Dana White, who was a guest on The Jim Rowe Show yesterday. “Bones” has not fought in more than two years and which of the two heavyweights will be his opponent is now up for debate.

”Jon Jones is ready. We are just waiting for the opponent. It will be Francis Ngannou, depending on how long his recovery will take, or Stipe Miocic,” White said.

Jones claimed via Twitter that he intended to compete for the interim title with Miočić. Jones wanted the bout to take place in the seventh or eighth month, but Miocic preferred a ninth-month date. Ngannou revealed on Twitter that he would return only later this year or early next year, so if Jones is truly ready to return, a fight with Miocic appears to be a good idea.

Jones has not competed in more than two and a half years, as previously stated. Jones made his final fight against Dominic Reyes in the second month of 2020, having been training for his move to the heavyweight class since then. White is concerned about what kind of Jones will return to the cage.

” It will be very interesting because I believe in ‘ring rust’. But despite all the negative things you can say about Jones and his personal life, he is still the best. He is definitely the best of all time, ” Dana White said.

There should not be an issue with Jones’ possibly worse performance because Stipe Miočić has been away from the cage for a long time. His last fight was at the end of the third month of last year, and his vacation was extended as well.

However, the biggest fight this year cannot be forgotten by any means. Hopefully, both will make a speedy return to the ring, and a bout between the greatest UFC heavyweight of all time and perhaps the most legendary fighter in MMA history would unquestionably be the biggest bout on offer from the UFC in 2019.

While there were no household names, the action was certainly not lacking at last night’s UFC on ESPN 38 event. The main fight of the evening provided us with five rounds of pure excitement, which is precisely what fans had hoped for in Mateusz Gamrot and Arman Tsarukyan. This was Gamrot’s first time to headline an event, so he wanted to make a good first impression by winning all three fights. In the end, all three judges scored in favor of Gamrot, giving him a 48-47 score across the five rounds.

“I want Justin Gaethje next. He’s the most brutal fighter in the division and I want him next.” – said Gamrot after the big victory, and in time we will see if Gaethje will accept this challenge.

In the main event, Shavkat Rakhmonov added to his undefeated record with a unanimous decision win over Neil Magny. This time, despite being uncomfortable, Neil Magny could not solve the Uzbek who ended the fight with a guillotine at the conclusion of the second round. This was Rakhmon’s fourth UFC victory, all of which have come by way of submission or knockout. No one has been able to reach a referee’s decision against him in 16 fights; both knockouts and ‘submissions’ are equal to him.

Although he is currently trampling over everything in his path, we will see his full potential against a top-level welterweight opponent, which is presently jam-packed with excellent boxers.

The undefeated streak for Khabib’s nephew Umar Nurmagomedov continued, with him defeating Manessa in three rounds of grappling. The judges gave Umar some rounds with two points difference, according to the referee cards, which show 30-27, 30-26, and 30-25.

“I will continue to fight and I will continue to work on becoming a champion,” Umar said after the big victory in the Octagon.

Check the results of the whole event below.

UFC on ESPN 38 results:

Mateusz Gamrot def. Arman Tsarukyan via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)

Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Neil Magny via submission (guillotine) – R2, 4:58

Josh Parisian def. Alan Baudot via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:04

Thiago Moises def. Christos Giagos via submission – 3, 3:05

Umar Nurmagomedov def. Nate Maness via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 20-25)

Chris Curtis def. Rodolfo Vieira via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Carlos Ulberg def. Tafon Nchukwi via TKO (shots) – R1, 1:15

Shayilan Nuerdanbieke def. TJ Brown via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Sergey Morozov def. Raulian Paiva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Cody Durden def. JP Buys via TKO (hits) – R1, 1:08

Mario Bautista def. Brian Kelleher via submission – R1, 2:27

Vanessa Demopoulos def. Jinh Yu Frey via split judge’s decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)