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Who will have the better UFC career between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Khamzat Chimaev? That was a question in our UFC on ESPN 38 takeaways.
What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 38 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
Carlos Ulberg made quick work of Tafon Nchukwi to close out the prelims of UFC on ESPN 38 in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – The improvements of [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] continue to show each time out.
Closing out the preliminary card of UFC on ESPN 38 at the UFC Apex, Ulberg (5-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) wasted little time finding the chin of Tafon Nchukwi. Ulberg didn’t rush the action, though.
After finding the range with quick punches high and to the body, he saw the opening he needed and landed a sharp left hand to stun and wobble Nchukwi (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC). Ulberg blitzed in with a flurry of punches and referee Herb Dean rushed in to stop the fight just 75 seconds into the contest.
Check out video of the finish in the video below (via Twitter):
ULBERG WITH A STATEMENT 👊 #UFCVegas57 pic.twitter.com/EbB92pmXs0
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 26, 2022
The win marked the second straight for Ulberg, who entered Saturday’s fight on the heels of a unanimous decision victory over Fabio Cherant at UFC 271. Sharing the training room with UFC champions [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] and [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] appears to be paying dividends as Ulberg turned in a near-flawless performance.
Up-to-the-minute results of UFC on ESPN 38 include:
Light heavyweight prospects Tafon Nchukwi and Carlos Ulberg will square off in June.
UFC light heavyweight prospects will square off in June.
[autotag]Tafon Nchukwi[/autotag] faces [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night on June 25 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Two people with knowledge of the booking informed MMA Junkie of the matchup Wednesday but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Nchukwi (6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) has split his first four octagon appearances. After defeating Mike Rodriguez last September, the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate was stopped by Azamat Murzakanov at UFC Fight Night 203 in March.
After losing his promotional debut to Kennedy Nzechukwu in a Fight of the Night effort at UFC 259, City Kickboxing’s Ulberg (4-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Fabio Cherant at UFC 271 in February.
With the addition, the UFC’s June 25 lineup now includes:
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As a result of their UFC 271 bouts, all 28 fighters were handed medical suspensions of varying durations by the Texas commission.
Two fighters are facing indefinite suspensions as a result of their UFC 271 bouts.
UFC 271 took place Saturday at Toyota Center and featured 14 bouts, including a middleweight title rematch between champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] and challenger [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag].
Of the 10 main card competitors, hometown favorite Derrick Lewis received the longest suspension from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) for his upset knockout loss to Tai Tuivasa. He now faces two months on the shelf.
Two preliminary card fighters, Marcelo Rojo and Maxim Grishin, were suspended indefinitely. Unlike many other commissions, TDLR does not release injury details, so specific causes for their suspensions are not known.
On Tuesday, MMA Junkie acquired a full list of medical suspensions from MixedMartialArts.com, the official record keeper of the Association of Boxing Commissions. All fighters’ suspensions can terminate sooner should they be cleared by a doctor.
Check out the full UFC 271 medical suspensions below.
Two of City Kickboxing’s rising stars will compete at UFC 271.
Two of City Kickboxing’s rising stars will compete at UFC 271.
The Feb. 12 event, which is expected to be headlined by the Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker title fight rematch, does not yet have a publicly known venue or location.
But two fighters from New Zealand’s famed City Kickboxing team have been confirmed for the card. [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] (3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will meet [autotag]Fabio Cherant[/autotag] (7-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) in a light heavyweight bout and [autotag]Mike Diamond[/autotag] (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will make his promotional debut when he takes on [autotag]Orion Cosce[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout.
Two people with knowledge of the matchups recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Cageside Press was first to report the Ulberg fight, whereas MMA Fighting was first to report the Diamond booking.
Ulberg will look to rebound from his UFC debut loss in March. The accomplished kickboxer, who earned a UFC deal on the Contender Series, was stopped by Kennedy Nzechukwu in the second round at UFC 259, earning the “Fight of the Night” honors for his efforts. Meanwhile, Cherant will also be in search of his first octagon win. The former LFA champion dropped his first two octagon bouts to Alonzo Menifield, and most recently William Knight in August.
Two-time King in the Ring kickboxing tournament winner “Blood” Diamond was signed to a four-fight UFC deal in July. The Zimbabwe-born fighter is unbeaten in his MMA career, most recently scoring a unanimous decision win over Dimps Gillies in February 2020. His opponent Cosce punched his ticket to the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2020 when he rallied to TKO Matt Dixon. However, Cosce would suffer his first-career defeat in his promotional debut when he was stopped by Phil Rowe in July.
With the additions, the UFC 271 lineup now includes:
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Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the octagon the first time. How did the newcomers perform Saturday?
Fighters from around the globe dream of the day they’ll step into the UFC octagon for the first time. For three athletes, Saturday’s UFC 259 event marked that special moment in their career.
Check out this week’s rookie report to see what kind of first impression they made on the sport’s biggest stage from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In a bit of a rarity, the post-fight bonus winners at UFC 259 all came from the preliminary card.
In a bit of a rarity, the post-fight bonus winners at UFC 259 all came from the preliminary card.
The promotion handed out a pair of “Performance of the Night” bonuses and “Fight of the Night” at Saturday’s event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The card had three title fights at the top of the bill.
Check out the $50,000 post-fight bonus winners below.
At UFC 259, Kennedy Nzechukwu and Carlos Ulberg went back and forth until the fight came to an end in violent fashion.
If you skipped [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag], by most accounts, you missed out.
Saturday, Fortis MMA’s Nzechukwu (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and City Kickboxing’s Ulberg (3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) entered the cage during the UFC 259 preliminary card. Ultimately, Nzechukwu’s hand was raised following a violent knockout at the 3:19 mark of Round 2 – but it was a hard-fought road to get the finish.
In the opening minute of the fight, Ulberg rocked Nzechukwu with a high kick. Although he absorbed an onslaught of attack, Nzechukwu survived. Back and forth the two fighters went. Nzechukwu found success with his sneaky left hand, which he surprised Ulberg in on numerous occasions. Meanwhile, Ulberg targeted Nzechukwu’s body. At times, he wound up and landed full-force body blows on Nzechukwu, who was covered up.
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BANANAS first round 🤯 #UFC259 is truly unbelievable! pic.twitter.com/nFWDVuCfWq
— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2021
In Round 2, Ulberg looked refreshed and composed. Despite his calm approach, Nzechukwu caught him with a violent right hand in the midst of an exchange that sent the Israel Adesanya teammate to the mat, propped up against the fence. Nzechukwu swarmed Ulberg and a few follow-up shots finished the fight in the eyes of referee Herb Dean.
OUT COLD. Kennedy Nzechukwu connects with a BOMB to end it 😱
[ 📱 LIVE on Fight Pass, ESPN2, #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/r8A0HnGknt
— UFC (@ufc) March 7, 2021
The win was Nzechukwu’s first UFC finish victory and he spoiled Ulberg’s promotional debut.
UFC 259 took place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
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We want your predictions for UFC 259, which features title fights at light heavyweight, women’s featherweight and bantamweight.
We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC 259 event in Las Vegas.
Our staff picks feature includes the consensus picks from MMA Junkie readers. Simply cast your vote for each bout below, and we’ll use the official tallies that are registered by Thursday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Those MMA Junkie reader consensus picks will be part of the UFC 259 main card staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC 259 takes place Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
Make your picks for the fights below.
It’s become something of a tradition that when Israel Adesanya fights, his teammates join him on the card. That won’t change at UFC 259.
It’s become something of a tradition that when [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag] fights, his teammates join him on the card.
That will be no different at UFC 259, when middleweight champion Adesanya moves up to light heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz and try to claim a second belt in the champion vs. champion headliner of the March 6 event.
UFC officials announced Thursday that Adesanya’s City Kickboxing teammates [autotag]Kai Kara-France[/autotag] and [autotag]Carlos Ulberg[/autotag] have been added to the UFC 259 undercard.
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Kara-France (21-9 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who is No. 10 in the latest USA TODAY Sport/MMA Junkie flyweight rankings, will meet No. 11-ranked [autotag]Rogerio Bontorin[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a matchup of 125-pound competitors looking to take the next step into title contention.
Ulberg (3-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), meanwhile, will attempt to make a splash in his first official octagon appearance. The striking specialist earned a contact on a November Dana White’s Contender Series card, impressing UFC president White with a knockout in just over two minutes. He’ll take on [autotag]Kennedy Nzechukwu[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who is also a veteran of DWCS and has split his first two UFC appearances.
UFC 259 airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+. The event does not have an official location or venue at this time.
With the additions, the latest UFC 259 lineup now includes:
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