Michael Bisping has officially ruled out Michael Chandler as a top lightweight contender after UFC 314.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] has officially ruled out [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] as a top lightweight contender after UFC 314.
Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) suffered a third-round TKO loss to [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] (23-3 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in Saturday’s co-main event at Kaseya Center in Miami. The former Bellator champion and UFC title challenger now has lost three consecutive fights and five of his past six.
Chandler constantly uses the moniker “see you at the top,” but Bisping believes those days are over.
“I don’t say this lightly, but that was a career-killing performance for Michael Chandler,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Yes, of course, he’ll fight again. Yes, he’ll still make money. Yes, people will want to tune in. But that’s it. There ain’t no more title talks, there is no more,’see you at the top.’ There’s none of that.
“Paddy Pimblett just put an end to all of that. If he was 30 years old, he could have another go. He could dust himself off and have another crack at the whip. But no, father time is undefeated. He’s 38 years old, and there ain’t no way that he’s getting back into title contention ever again.”
On the contrary, Bisping was very impressed with Pimblett’s largely one-sided performance against Chandler.
“Paddy Pimblett looked ridiculous,” Bisping said. “He looked like the guy that he’s always spoke about, the person that he says that he is, the person that calls out everyone, that dismisses all the opposition at the top. And for someone who doesn’t call people out, he called out everyone.
“Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, he did not give a single f*ck and rightly so. The man is coming to be a champion. Will he do that? We don’t know, but I’ll tell you what: After this performance, everyone’s going to be taking him a lot more seriously. He looked like a killer tonight.”
Michael Bisping questions if Patricio Freire has suffered too much damage to impact his UFC 314 performance.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] questions if [autotag]Patricio Freire[/autotag] has suffered too much damage to impact his UFC 314 performance.
Freire (36-7 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes his octagon debut against former interim featherweight champion [autotag]Yair Rodriguez[/autotag] (16-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s main card opener at Kaseya Center from Miami (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN/Disney+, ESPN+).
Freire has had a long-tenured career at Bellator, capturing both the featherweight and lightweight titles simultaneously. Although “Pitbull” has a wealth of experience and standout wins throughout his career, the 37-year-old has lost two of his past three fights – one of them by first-round knockout.
“Can the old guy get it done? Patricio ‘Pitbull,’ 37 years old coming over from Bellator, where I think he was a four-time champion,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Biggest win probably (was) when he knocked out ‘Iron’ Mike Chandler in the very first round, vicious right hand. He’s got good jiu-jitsu, but he’s 37 years old. There’s a lot of wear and tear, there’s a lot of miles on the clock, and that’s not surprising when you look at the amount of experience.
“Forty-three professional fights, 36 wins, seven losses, but he has been knocked out twice. However, when you’ve fought that many times, there’s no problem with that. Of course, he’ll be taking on the one and only Yair Rodriguez, one of Mexico’s finest. This man is not to be underestimated. He fought for the belt before against Alexander Volkanovski, didn’t go his way, got stopped in the third round, and then he got stopped again against Brian Ortega. He’s trying to prove is he still relevant in the division.”
Outside of Movsar Evloev, it’s muddy waters at the top of the featherweight division. That’s why Bisping thinks the next title challenger could emerge from this matchup.
“Are either of these guys going to be the next man to fight for the featherweight strap because guess what? That’s what’s at stake here,” Bisping continued. “One of these guys might be the next person to fight for the belt because Volkanovski wants to be active – that’s if he gets the job done.”
Michael Bisping says there’s more pressure on Michael Chandler than Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] says there’s more pressure on [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] than [autotag]Paddy Pimblett[/autotag] at UFC 314.
Chandler (23-9 MMA, 2-4 UFC) takes on Pimblett (22-3 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in Saturday’s five-round co-headliner (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Kaseya Center in Miami.
Chandler hasn’t won a fight since knocking out the skidding Tony Ferguson in May 2022. Bisping sees the Pimblett fight as a must-win scenario for the former UFC title challenger.
“Put up or shut up, mainly for Michael Chandler,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Michael Chandler has spoken about being champ. Of course, he’s thrilled audiences, he’s provided excitement, he’s fought nothing but the best of the best in the division, gone up against the likes of Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje. He’s had really fun fights. However, he’s been losing. He has lost four out of six fights (in the UFC). He’s lost four of his last five. So now, he needs a win.”
As for Pimblett, Bisping thinks a loss wouldn’t set him back that much, whereas a win would result in big implications.
“Paddy Pimblett, it’s not necessarily put up or shut up for him,” Bisping added. “If he loses to Michael Chandler, he’s still a young guy. It would be his first loss in the UFC. It’s not the end of the world. It’ll be a bump in the road.
“He’ll have to regroup, he’ll have to rebound, he’ll have to start the win streak again. But if he gets the job done against Michael Chandler, and he just might do that, if he can do that, I’m telling you, Paddy Pimblett is probably one fight away from fighting for a belt.”
Brad Tavares tied Michael Bisping’s UFC middleweight win record by beating Gerald Meerschaert, but he wants more accolades.
LAS VEGAS – UFC middleweight veteran [autotag]Brad Tavares[/autotag] has caught up to Hall of Famer [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] in the record books.
On the main card of UFC on ESPN 65 at the UFC Apex, Tavares (21-10 MMA, 16-10 UFC) ended a two-fight skid with a unanimous decision win over Gerald Meerschaert. It was a significant result for Tavares, who proved doubters wrong while also making history.
“I think for one, it ties me for the most wins in UFC middleweight history,” Tavares told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “Two, I think it just shows the rest of the division that if anyone thought I was on my way out, or whatever they were thinking, that I’m still here, I’m still learning, I’m still growing.
“I feel like I still have room, as crazy as it is, I’ve been in it 20-plus fights, 15 years, and I still feel like I have that mentality that I can do more, I can do better. I can still evolve. There’s a lot more things that we were working on that I wasn’t able to show tonight.”
The win over Meerschaert (37-19 MMA, 12-11 UFC) was Tavares’ 16th victory in the middleweight division, tying Bisping for most in division history. He already held the record for most fight time and is also first in the record books with 14 middleweight decision victories. Tavares is also tied with Neil Magny for most decision wins in the promotion’s overall history.
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“To be honest, the stats thing, it’s important, I like it,” Tavares said. “I’m humbled by it, but it’s not something I really think about or look forward to. Tonight, I didn’t even realize that. I knew I was up there close to Mike or whatever, I didn’t know if I was past him or whatnot.
“Like I said, I don’t really pay attention too much. But he brought it to my attention in the post-fight interview. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah! I caught you Mike.’ … Nothing but respect for that guy and all he’s accomplished.”
While Tavares said he doesn’t really focus on the numbers, he admitted he is looking forward to passing Bisping with another win.
Check out Tavares full post-fight interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 65.
Michael Bisping credits Ian Machado Garry for facing Carlos Prates on short notice.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] credits [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] for facing [autotag]Carlos Prates[/autotag] on short notice.
Garry (15-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) takes on Prates (21-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) April 26 in the UFC on ESPN 66 main event at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Prates was already in camp, but for Geoff Neal at UFC 314 on April 12. His bout was scrapped when Neal withdrew. Machado Garry didn’t have a fight booked, but jumped on the opportunity when the promotion was offered a new UFC on ESPN 66 main event after Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree was canceled.
“I think it makes all the sense in the world,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “For Carlos Prates, it’s a chance to get a big win over somebody like Ian Garry. And for Ian Machado Garry, he gets to step in there with a hot prospect right now. Someone that’s knocking everybody out, someone that’s a lot of fun, someone that likes to party, someone who doesn’t give a sh*t what people think.”
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This marks the second-straight time Garry will be facing a dangerous contender on short notice. This past December, Garry was pulled from his UFC on ESPN 63 headliner vs. Joaquin Buckley in order to face Shavkat Rakhmonov a week earlier in a five-round title eliminator at UFC 310. He lost the bout by unanimous decision.
“Fair play to Ian Garry for stepping up to the plate here because this is not an easy matchup,” Bisping said. “Ian Garry, what is he going to do? I don’t think he’s going to go out there and look to take down Carlos Prates. Yes, of course it’s mixed martial arts, but Carlos Prates training with the Fighting Nerds, these guys are ready for everything.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 66.
Here’s what you need to know to watch UFC on ESPN 65 on ESPN and ESPN+.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
The UFC is back in its “Sin City” home base this week with UFC on ESPN 65 in Las Vegas.
Here’s how to watch UFC on ESPN 65 with a pair of featherweight scrappers at the top of the card.
Broadcast and streaming info
UFC on ESPN 65 has a main card that starts at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN and ESPN+. The preliminary card airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET.
Veteran broadcaster [autotag]Karyn Bryant[/autotag] serves as desk anchor and host at UFC on ESPN 65.
Retired veteran lightweight [autotag]Paul Felder[/autotag], former Invicta FC champion [autotag]Michelle Waterson-Gomez[/autotag] and “The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] join her at the desk as analysts at the desk throughout the broadcast and on the post-fight show.
Longtime UFC correspondent [autotag]Megan Olivi[/autotag] will conduct pre and post-fight interviews backstage with some of the athletes on the UFC on ESPN 65 card, as well as report additional real-time updates for the event.
[autotag]Brendan Fitzgerald[/autotag] will serve as the leading man on the mic from cageside at UFC on ESPN 65.
He’ll command play-by-play and be joined in the booth by UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] and former UFC/WEC bantamweight champion [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag].
Brendan Fitzgerald, Dominick Cruz, Michael Bisping
(Mike Bohn—MMA Junkie)
Main event: Josh Emmett
Record: 19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC Opponent: Lerone Murphy (15-0-1 MMA, 7-0-1 UFC) Division: Featherweight Key wins: Bryce Mitchell, Calvin Kattar, Dan Ige, Shane Burgos, Mirsad Bektic, Ricardo Lamas Misc.: Emmett is coming off what no doubt was a particularly satisfying result when he sent professed nazi and Hitler fan and sympathizer Bryce Mitchell into a deep enough realm that when he woke up and saw his shadow, it guaranteed at least six more years of him thinking the earth is flat. That snapped a two-fight skid to Ilia Topuria and Yair Rodriguez, the latter of which was in an interim title fight.
Dec 16, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Josh Emmett (red gloves) reacts after knocking out Bryce Mitchell (blue gloves) during UFC 296 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
Main event: Lerone Murphy
Record: 15-0-1 MMA, 7-0-1 UFC Opponent: Josh Emmett (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) Division: Featherweight Key wins: Dan Ige, Edson Barboza, Misc.: For the second time in three fights, England’s Murphy is in a main event. His first, against Edson Barboza less than a year ago, was a Fight of the Night winner. His climb up the UFC ladder has been steady, but a win over Emmett with Barboza and Dan Ige the two before it would be a stellar resume notch.
Lerone Murphy def. Dan Ige, UFC 308 (via UFC)
Co-main event: Joanderson Brito
Record: 17-4-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC Opponent: Pat Sabatini (19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC) Division: Featherweight Key wins: Jack Shore, Jonathan Pearce, Andre Fili, Diego Lopes, Chepe Mariscal Misc.: Brito had a five-fight winning streak snapped by a split decision loss to William Gomis in Paris this past September. The five wins before that all were stoppages, including two for post-fight bonus awards.
Co-main event: Pat Sabatini
Record: 19-5 MMA, 6-2 UFC Opponent: Joanderson Brito (17-4-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) Division: Featherweight Key wins: Jonathan Pearce, Lucas Almeida, Jamal Emmers Misc.: Sabatini has traded wins and losses his past five fights, but got back on the uptick with a first-round submission of Jonathan Pearce this past fall.
UFC debut: Torrez Finney
Record: 10-0 Opponent: Rob Valentin (10-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) Division: Middlweight Misc.: For some reason, a whole bunch of fighters have gotten into the UFC with underwhelming decision wins on DWCS. Anymore, it seems like the only requirement is win and you win a contract. That wasn’t the case for Finney, who finally will make an actual UFC walk – after three wins on DWCS. His first one was a submission in 2023 that wasn’t good enough – and he was the only one on the card who didn’t get a contract that show. A decision in 2024 wasn’t good enough, either – and again he was the only one on the card who left the building without a contract from Dana White, even though another decision winner got a deal. The same season, he returned and got a stoppage win – and finally a deal.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 01: Torrez Finney reacts after defeating Abdellah Er-Ramy of Morocco in their middleweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season eight, week eight event at UFC Apex on October 1, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
UFC debut: Luis Gurule
Record: 10-0 Opponent: Ode Osbourne (12-8 MMA, 4-6 UFC) Division: Flyweight Misc.: Gurule’s split decision win on DWCS this past October was enough to get the 31-year-old Coloradan into the UFC.
UFC debut: Daniel Frunza
Record: 9-2 Opponent: Rhys McKee (13-6-1 MMA, 0-4 UFC) Division: Welterweight Misc.: Italy-based 30-year-old punched his ticket to the UFC through DWCS this past fall. He has five straight wins, and eight of nine in his career have been stoppages – all knockouts.
UFC debut: Uran Satybaldiev
Record: 9-0 Opponent: Martin Buday (14-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) Division: Heavyweight Misc.: A short-notice UFC opportunity was an easy call for Satybaldiev, from Kyrgyzstan. He normally fights at light heavyweight and comes to the promotion as LFA’s 205-pound champion. But for his debut, he won’t have to stress about cutting weight. He has seven of his nine wins by stoppage, including his two LFA title fights in 2024.
UFC on ESPN 65 main card betting odds
MAIN CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET)
Josh Emmett +260 vs. Lerone Murphy -325
Joanderson Brito -230 vs. Pat Sabatini +190
ChangHo Lee -135 vs. Cortavious Romious +115
Gerald Meerschaert +165 vs. Brad Tavares -200
Luis Gurule -265 vs. Ode Osbourne +215
Torrez Finney -305 vs. Rob Valentin +245
UFC on ESPN 65 prelim betting odds
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MAY 20: (L-R) Vanessa Demopoulos punches Karolina Kowalkiewicz of Poland in a strawweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on May 20, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN/ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
Dione Barbosa -1000 vs. Diana Belbita +650
Daniel Frunza -155 vs. Rhys McKee +130
Loma Lookboonmee -700 vs. Istela Nunes +500
Pedro Falcao +185 vs. Victor Henry -220
Martin Buday N/A vs. Uran Satybaldiev N/A
Talita Alencar -110 vs. Vanessa Demopoulos -110
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 65.
Michael Bisping has full confidence that Tom Aspinall will be the one to solve the Jon Jones puzzle – and quite easily.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] has full confidence that [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] will be the one to solve the [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag] puzzle – and quite easily.
Interim UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall (15-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) is edging closer to his highly anticipated title-unification bout with Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC).
According to DraftKings, Aspinall is currently a small -130 favorite to beat +110 underdog Jones, who, outside of a disqualification loss to Matt Hamill early in his career, has never lost in MMA. Speaking in an interview with Carl Froch, Bisping doesn’t disagree with the odds.
“And he should be,” Bisping said. “Listen, Jon Jones is great, and you can’t deny what he’s done in the octagon, the career that he’s had, and he’s technically unbeaten. However, everyone meets their match eventually. I think Tom Aspinall is the new generation, he’s the new breed, and he will go down probably as the greatest mixed martial artist that we’ve ever had. He’s elite as a heavyweight. A lot of the heavyweights are very good, they’re very strong, they’re powerful, but they’re not as quick and as agile and as technical as Tom.
“Tom’s the whole package. Tom’s like a heavyweight Georges St-Pierre. He’s got no weak areas. He’s got absolute knockout power, super disciplined, super agile on the feet, he finishes everyone really, really quickly. However, he hasn’t gone up against somebody like Jon Jones because the competition in the heavyweight division isn’t necessarily there on a technical level. Jon Jones is, and Jon Jones has fought way better competition than Tom, but Jon hasn’t fought anyone like Tom, either.”
Aspinall’s past five wins have come by first-round knockout, and 14 of his 15 professional wins have come in Round 1. Bisping went as far as to say that Jones would suffer the same fate as Aspinall’s previous opponents.
“I would be very surprised – and this sounds disrespectful, but I’d be very surprised if it got out of the first round,” Bisping said.
Michael Bisping sees a world where Justin Gaethje is next in line for UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] sees a world where [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] is next in line for UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag].
Gaethje (26-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) returned to the win column after defeating Rafael Fiziev a second time at UFC 313 last month. Makhachev already holds wins over No. 1-ranked Arman Tsarukyan and No. 2-ranked Charles Oliveria, and is seeking a fresh matchup for his next title defense.
Although newly minted lightweight and former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria would provide that, Makhachev’s team wants to see him earn the opportunity. That’s where Bisping thinks Gaethje could slide in.
“Charles Oliveira, he’s No. 2, and then we’ve got Justin Gaethje at No. 3,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Now, Justin Gaethje hasn’t fought Islam Makhachev, so that would be a fresh title. Justin Gaethje isn’t getting any younger either. I think we would all sign off on Justin Gaethje vs. Islam Makhachev. Justin gets to go in there, right the wrongs from the Khabib Nurmagomedov fight and finish his career as the UFC lightweight champion of the world.
“I think somebody like Justin Gaethje, who has put on these legendary fights, these epic battles and just entertained the crowds – just like he did last time out against Rafael Fiziev, what a fight that was. I think the man deserves it, and I think it might just happen because what’s happening is, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira are talking a lot of sh*t back-and-forth, and that just might be the fight that gets made.”
“So there’s Topuria being dismissive, there’s Oliveira talking sh*t,” Bisping said. “Topuria needs to prove himself apparently, according to the champ. Oliveira needs that last final fight to get over the hump to challenge for the belt and, in the meantime, you’ve got Justin Gaethje, a fan favorite, a company man that’s always putting on great fights.
“All Justin Gaethje’s got to do is stay nice and quiet. Let these two keep chatting it up, talking a bit of sh*t, and Justin Gaethje might just emerge out of this as the winner, as the guy that gets to go up against Islam Makhachev. Then Topuria vs. Oliveira, they might fight for the No. 1 contender spot.”
Michael Bisping wants to see Leon Edwards matched with a fellow striker after UFC Fight Night 255.
[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] wants to see [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] matched with a fellow striker after UFC Fight Night 255.
Edwards (22-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) suffered his second-straight loss when he was submitted by Sean Brady in Saturday’s main event at The O2 in London. The loss marked the first time Edwards was stopped in his career.
Former welterweight champion Edwards’ past five fights were against elite grapplers. He initially was scheduled to face Jack Della Maddalena at UFC Fight Night 255 before Della Maddalena was pulled and replaced by Brady. Bisping likes the idea of an England vs. Ireland matchup between Edwards and [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] (15-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC).
“I like the Ian Garry matchup because I think Leon deserves to go out there and fight someone that’s going to give him a stylistically favorable matchup,” Bisping told TNT Sports of Edwards. “I don’t mean a winnable fight, but not a nightmare scenario where another guy is trying to take him down. Give him like what Jack (Della Maddalena) would have been. I think the biggest opponent for Leon Edwards now though is going to be himself. What’s going on in (his head)? Does he accept that, ‘OK, I was just beaten by two really high-level grapplers, maybe the two best grapplers in the division, and I’m still (33) years old, I haven’t slowed down, I haven’t got injuries, I’m not riddled with arthritis.’
“Does he have the strength to say, ‘Hold on a minute. I’m going to rebuild myself.’ Or does he succumb to the self doubt, because that starts to creep in now. You think, ‘Well, I’ve earned a lot of money, I’ve become the champion, I’ve traveled all over the world, I’m set up financially for life. I’m a kid from Birmingham who comes from nothing.’ Because the danger of allowing that mindset to come in is very, very easy, thinking I’ve had my time in the sun. That’s going to be the biggest fight, because if he doesn’t do that, if he can look past that, I still see a world where Leon Edwards could potentially be in in the title mix again. Granted, he’s going to need at least three wins, but he’s got to start getting some wins and finishing some people if those conversations are going to start again.”
“I can’t speak for Leon and what he was feeling at that time,” Bisping told Bloody Elbow. “However, I do have a very different opinion, and that’s why I hesitate to say it because I’m not trying to dismiss his feelings or whatever, but I’m of the mindset that regardless of what time of day it is, when you’re walking out to an arena, and there’s 20,000 people, and you’ve been training for two months, the adrenaline kicks in, and you’re not really going to feel tired.
“However, he did say that he was a little bit off and he felt a step behind, stuff like that, and that does happen. I think maybe he’s perceiving that to be because it was the middle of the night. That’s an obvious conclusion to come to. It’s like, ‘Well, why wasn’t I firing on all cylinders? Ah, well, it was at 5 o’clock in the morning.'”
Edwards will look to rebound when he meets Sean Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 255 (ESPN+) main event at The O2 in London. Bisping expects a better version of Edwards now that he’ll be fighting at a regular timing.
“I think sometimes you just have a bad night at the office,” Bisping said. “Of course, Belal Muhammad was fantastic, he brought his ‘A’ game, and Leon had maybe not his best night. You put it all together and I understand why he would come to that conclusion. Fortunately, this is at prime time in the U.K., so Leon is going to be good. Hhe’s going to be firing on all cylinders, and I can’t wait for it.”
