Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out all the fighter walkout songs from Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event at “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
While it takes intense training, world-class skills and maybe even a bit of luck to register a UFC win, picking the right song to accompany you to the cage is a key talent, as well.
Inside, see what the fighters from UFC on ESPN+ 30 went with as their backing tracks in Abu Dhabi.
Ariane Lipski’s kneebar was tough to watch, so we can only imagine how it felt to be on the receiving end of the winning hold.
Human knees are not meant to bend in the direction [autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag] found her left knee going into on Saturday night, and that made for a quick victory for [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag].
Lipski (13-5 MMA, 2-2 UFC), an impressive competitor out of Brazil, saw an opening in a grappling exchange, straightened the leg out, and leaned all the way back, causing Carolina (6-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) to tap at the 1:38 mark of the opening round in their UFC on ESPN+ 30 main card bout at Flash Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
That marked both the seventh first-round finish in Lipski’s career, and the second-fastest submission victory in UFC flyweight history.
“She was trying to take my neck,” Lipski said in her post-fight interview. “I have trained this sub before then I pushed her leg and I was pretty sure it was working.”
That’s two straight wins for Lipski, who has left an 0-2 UFC start in her dust.
You can check out her wince-inducing handiwork below (via Twitter):
"The Queen of Violence" @Ariane_lipski lives up to the name with this kneebar 😳 #UFCFightIsland2 pic.twitter.com/sxrZLDDsul
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 19, 2020
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
Check out our staff members’ picks for the UFC on ESPN+ 30 main card in Abu Dhabi.
| Figueiredo vs. Benavidez |
Gastelum vs. Hermansson |
Diakiese vs. Fiziev |
Carolina vs. Lipski |
Askarov vs. Pantoja |
|
| MMA Junkie readers’ consensus picks 2020: 60-36 |
 Figueiredo (58%) |
 Gastelum (57%) |
 Diakiese (78%) |
 Lipski (51%) |
 Pantoja (71%) |
| Dan Tom @DanTomMMA 2020: 78-28 |
 Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Nolan King @mma_kings 2020: 78-28 |
Figueiredo |
 Hermansson |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Farah Hannoun @Farah_Hannoun 2020: 77-29 |
Figueiredo |
Hermansson |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Mike Bohn @MikeBohnMMA 2020: 75-31  2014 Champion |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Simon Samano @SJSamano 2020: 74-32 |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
 Carolina |
 Askarov |
| Simon Head @simonhead 2020: 73-33 2019 Champion* |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Askarov |
| Brian Garcia @thegoze 2020: 72-34 2017 Champion |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Carolina |
Askarov |
| Dave Doyle @davedoylemma 2020: 70-36 |
Benavidez |
Hermansson |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Danny Segura @dannyseguratv 2020: 70-36 |
Figueiredo |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Ken Hathaway @kenshathaway 2020: 70-36 2018 Champion |
Benavidez |
Hermansson |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Askarov |
| George Garcia @MMAjunkieGeorge 2020: 67-39 |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Carolina |
Pantoja |
| John Morgan @MMAjunkieJohn 2020: 67-39 |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Pantoja |
| Abbey Subhan @kammakaze 2020: 65-41 |
Benavidez |
Gastelum |
Diakiese |
Lipski |
Askarov |
| Matt Erickson @MMAjunkieMatt 2020: 41-65 |
Benavidez |
Hermansson |
 Fiziev |
Lipski |
Askarov |
The UFC’s third of four straight events on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi goes down Saturday with a vacant flyweight title fight getting a redo in the main event.
UFC on ESPN+ 30 takes place Saturday at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The card streams on ESPN+.
(Click here to open a PDF of the staff picks grid in a separate window.)
In the main event, [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) takes on [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] (28-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) in a rematch for the vacant 125-pound title. Figueiredo knocked out Benavidez in February, but was not eligible to win the title because he missed weight. But Friday, he hit the title-fight limit on the scale. He’s more than a 2-1 favorite, but it’s the underdog, Benavidez, with a big 11-3 lead in the picks from our 14 editors, writers, videographers and radio hosts.
In the co-main event, [autotag]Kelvin Gastelum[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) meets [autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in a middleweight bout. The fight is a pick’em with the oddsmakers, but Gastelum has a sizable 9-5 lead from our pickers.
Also on the main card, [autotag]Marc Diakiese[/autotag] (14-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is a -160 favorite in his lightweight fight against [autotag]Rafael Fiziev[/autotag] (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), and he’s the closest thing we have to a unanimous pick with 13 of 14 of our staff members taking him to win.
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag] (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag] (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in a women’s flyweight fight that has Lipski as just a slight favorite. But she’s a heavy favorite in the picks at 11-3.
And to open the main card, [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] (22-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is more than a 2-1 favorite against [autotag]Askar Askarov[/autotag] (11-0-1 MMA, 1-0-1 UFC) at flyweight. He’s hoping to get the next title shot with a win, but he’s got just an 8-6 picks lead.
In the MMA Junkie reader consensus picks, Figueiredo (58 percent), Gastelum (57 percent), Diakiese (78 percent), Lipski (51 percent) and Pantoja (71 percent) are the choices.
Check out all the picks above.
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For Luana Carolina, “UFC Fight Island” represents more than just a return from a pandemic-enforced layoff.
ABU DHABI – The UFC’s current run on “Fight Island” represents an opportunity for many international fighters to get back to work after a pandemic-forced layoff. For [autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag], her time away from competition started much earlier.
“It was very weird because I was having a lot of pain in camp, but I was training through it,” Carolina told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “Then one day I couldn’t even lift anything from the ground. I couldn’t sit down. I couldn’t stand up – just completely froze.”
Carolina made her way to the UFC through the Brazilian edition of Dana White’s Contender Series. She then proved victorious in her UFC debut, picking up a decision win over Priscila Cachoeira at UFC 237 in May 2019.
Carolina was then expected to compete at this past August’s UFC on ESPN+ 15 event in China, when she realized something was wrong.
When she consulted doctors, Carolina found out she had a “really serious spine fracture” that forced her to bed rest for a full month.
“I had to stay completely still for a month, then the next month, I had to do physical therapy very slowly,” Carolina said. “Then the next month, physical therapy alongside with muscle workouts to make my muscle strong again. I couldn’t even sleep on my side, so it was serious, but no surgery. Three months of recovery, and then I was able to come back and start training again.”
Carolina said she was told the injury is actually quite rare in adults and was a stress fracture most often in seen in child gymnasts. Incredibly, she insists she’s no healthier than ever before.
“I had some time off, but now I’m back and better,” Carolina said.
[lawrence-related id=535213,535937]
Carolina (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) now takes on fellow Brazilian Ariane Lipski (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event in Abu Dhabi. The bout streams live on ESPN+ following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
The women’s flyweight contest was originally set for May before the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced a move to June, then to July. Carolina said she didn’t mind the rescheduling, as it simply allowed her more time to prepare.
“The China fight that I got injured, it was a very quick turnaround for me because I won in May, and then I had a month off, and then I accepted the fight to have like 45 days to train,” Carolina said. “Now I had almost a year to study my game, to really train my mind and to train my skills. I came back and I trained a lot.
“This fight was rescheduled three times, so I had a great camp, and I’m super ready for it.”
Both Carolina and Lipski consider themselves strikers, so the contest could prove quite entertaining. For her part, “Dread” definitely sees it playing out as a standup battle.
“It’s going to be a great stylistic matchup,” Carolina said. “We’re both strikers. She’s very aggressive. She loves to walk forward all the time. I also love to strike, so I think the fans are in for a great show.”
What comes after remains to be seen. Carolina admits she’s not looking too far into the future. The comeback means everything, and though she hopes to make up for lost time, she knows it all starts with her efforts on Saturday.
“Right now, I’m only thinking about this next bout,” Carolina said. “But I want to fight at least three times a year. This year, since it’s a shortened year, I want to fight at least twice, but yeah, I surely want to stay busier than before.”
Luana Carolina spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event in Abu Dhabi.
Luana Carolina spoke to the media ahead of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event in Abu Dhabi.
We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event in Abu Dhabi.
We want your predictions for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 30 event in Abu Dhabi.
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 on ESPN+ 30 event staff predictions we release Friday ahead of the event. UFC on ESPN+ 30 takes place Saturday at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The card streams on ESPN+.
“Fight Island” is real, and now the four cards that will take place there are real, as well.
“Fight Island” is real, and now the four cards that will take place there are real, as well.
UFC president Dana White today announced the complete lineup for the four cards that will take place next month in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. The unique setup has been necessitated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has made it difficult to get international fighters into the U.S. to compete.
“I think this is going to be a really unique experience, not just for the fighters, but for us,” UFC president Dana White said during the announcement. “It’s going to be cool. It’s going to be something different. It’s never been done before, and however long this thing goes on, and however long it’s hard to get people in from other countries, we will have these fights at ‘Fight Island’ – Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.”
First up, it’s UFC 251 on July 11, which features a trio of title fights.
MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 8 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN, ESPN+, 6:15 p.m. ET)
The promotion then returns on July 15 with an event headlined by featherweight contenders [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] (21-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC).
The complete lineup includes:
MAIN CARD (10 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY (7 p.m. ET)
Three days later, on July 18, the promotion hosts its third card in eight days, when top flyweight contenders [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and [autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag] (28-6 MMA, 15-4 UFC) meet for a second time with the vacant UFC flyweight title on the line.
The full card includes:
MAIN CARD (9 p.m. ET)
PRELIMINARY CARD (6 p.m. ET)
Finally, the UFC’s run in Abu Dhabi ends on July 25 with a much-anticipated middleweight contest between former champion [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] (20-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) and former welterweight title challenger [autotag]Darren Till[/autotag] (18-2-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC).
That night’s full lineup includes:
MAIN CARD
PRELIMINARY CARD
The UFC has rebooked Luana Carolina vs. Ariane Lipski and added the matchup to its June 13 card.
[autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag] is back on.
Originally booked for May 16 on the canceled UFC card in San Diego, the matchup will now be a part of the upcoming June 13 lineup expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. That’s pending Nevada Athletic Commission approval to resume combat sports in the state after the coronavirus pandemic forced a pause.
Both fighters recently confirmed the news on social media after an initial report by Combate.
Carolina (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) looks to break the curse of three-straight canceled bouts. Her lone UFC outing took place at UFC 237 in May 2019, when she defeated Priscila Cachoeira by unanimous decision. Thrice Carolina has been scheduled since – with all three fights being scrapped after booking.
Lipski (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) rides high off of her first UFC victory in her third attempt. After dropping back-to-back fights against Joanne Calderwood and Molly McCann to start her UFC tenure, Lipski defeated Isabela de Padua by unanimous decision in November.
With the addition, the UFC’s June 13 lineup includes:
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The UFC has booked a fight between Ariane Lipski and Luana Carolina for a yet-to-be-announced event on May 16.
A flyweight matchup is on tap for May 16.
The UFC has booked a fight between [autotag]Ariane Lipski[/autotag] and [autotag]Luana Carolina[/autotag] for a yet-to-be-announced event on May 16. While unofficial, San Diego is currently the frontrunner city to host the event. No broadcast information has surfaced at this time.
Both fighters confirmed the booking on their respective Instagram pages after an initial report from AG Fight.
In addition to providing confirmation of her fight booking, Lipski (12-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) announced she’s signed a six-fight extension deal with the UFC. A former KSW champion, Lipski signed with the UFC shortly after winning the Polish promotion’s title. After dropping her first two promotional appearances to Joanne Calderwood and Molly McCann, Lipski picked up her first UFC win over Isabella de Padua in November.
As for Carolina (6-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), she has won six straight fights since losing her professional debut in 2015. Carolina punched her ticket to the UFC after an impressive performance on Dana White’s Contender Series Brazil in 2018. At UFC 237 in May, Carolina made a successful UFC debut when she defeated Priscila Cachoeira by unanimous decision.
With the addition, the UFC’s latest May 16 lineup includes:
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