Ahead of the UFC 291 co-main event, watch Jan Blachowicz brutally knock out Luke Rockhold to spoil his move to light heavyweight in 2019.
Luke Rockhold had a rough welcome to the light heavyweight division courtesy of [autotag]Jan Blachowicz[/autotag].
At UFC 239 in July 2019, Rockhold moved up to 205 pounds in hopes of a new start to his career. He was coming off a knockout loss to Yoel Romero in an interim middleweight title fight. But things didn’t go as planned for the former 185-pound titleholder. Blachowicz knocked him out in brutal fashion in the second round with a convincing finish that sparked Blachowicz’s best UFC run, which eventually led him to the light heavyweight belt.
You can watch Blachowicz’s brutal finish in the video above.
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Blachowicz returns to the cage Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 291 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. He welcomes former middleweight champion Alex Pereira to the light heavyweight division.
Blachowicz is coming off a draw against Magomed Ankalaev in a title fight for the vacant light heavyweight title in December 2022. Prior to that, Blachowicz had a TKO win over Aleksandar Rakic in his first fight after he lost the title to Glover Teixeira.
Pereira is coming off a knockout loss to Israel Adesanya in which he lost the middleweight title. The defeat snapped a seven-fight winning streak, which included a TKO win over Adesanya to claim the belt in November 2022.
Thiago Santos is proud of the fact that he convinced one judge he was better than Jon Jones while fighting essentially on one leg.
In UFC heavyweight champion [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ illustrious career, only one judge has seen one of his opponents as the winner. And that distinction goes to [autotag]Thiago Santos[/autotag].
It happened in July 2019 at UFC 239, where Santos took then-light heavyweight champ Jones to the brink – made him look human, even. After five grueling rounds, many observers believed Santos won that fight and one judge agreed, awarding him a score of 48-47. But the two other judges scored it the other way, 48-47 for Jones, allowing him to escape with the title.
Afterward, it was revealed that Santos tore his ACL, MCL, PCL, and meniscus in his left knee in the early going of the fight. That means he managed to beat Jones, according to one judge, essentially on one leg for most of the fight.
Almost four years later, Santos looks back on his gutsy performance with pride.
“I’m proud of myself about that fight,” Santos told MMA Junkie Radio. “This fight was very important, because I had a big injury. I overcame. I didn’t give up in that fight. I fought until the end. It was a great fight. I’m proud of this fight, for sure, against one of the best of all time.”
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Santos’ career might’ve turned out different had he managed to convince another judge that he was the worthy winner. After a 16-month layoff because of his knee injury, he returned and lost four of his next five bouts to finish his UFC contract.
Santos (22-11) wasn’t re-signed and is set to begin a new chapter in his career with the PFL next week. His promotional debut is set for April 1 at 2023 PFL 1 in Las Vegas where he’ll meet reigning light heavyweight champ Rob Wilkinson in his season opener. It’s a matchup that Santos is thankful for.
The way Santos sees it, everything happens for a reason – including his narrow loss to Jones.
“I’m proud of every fight, every moment of my career,” Santos said. “Everything is part of my journey. I’m very proud of myself.”
MMA Junkie’s Simon Head looks back at five memorable moments from UFC “International Fight Week” down the years.
The UFC’s annual MMA celebration, “International Fight Week,” is one of the most keenly-awaited moments of the year, as the promotion stacks the deck with multiple title fights and, sometimes, multiple cards in Las Vegas for a full week of fan-friendly events, capped off by a stacked show (or two or three).
This year’s “International Fight Week” was supposed be this week, but the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic put those plans on the shelf. The UFC instead is in Abu Dhabi for a 14-day, four-event run on Yas Island.
“International Fight Week” has certainly produced some remarkable memories down the years, so here at The Blue Corner we’ve taken a look back to pick out some of the biggest moments served up by the UFC’s annual summer jamboree.
Here, in chronological order, are five UFC “International Fight Week” moments that will live long in the memory.
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2013: Weidman starches Silva at UFC 162
[autotag]Anderson Silva[/autotag] was on top of the world heading into Las Vegas in 2013. “The Spider” arrived in Las Vegas riding a 17-fight winning streak. He’d defended the UFC middleweight title 10 times and had even found time to jump up to light heavyweight and score a trio of impressive finishes, including stoppages of “TUF 1” legends Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar.
It seemed as if Silva could do no wrong, but when he stepped into the octagon at the Mandalay Bay to take on the unbeaten New Yorker [autotag]Chris Weidman[/autotag], few could have predicted the outcome.
Silva looked loose and confident. Overconfident, as it turned out. While the champion clowned and taunted Weidman, the young challenger stayed composed as he refused to be goaded into opening up by the Brazilian. Then, just moments after Silva had waved him in and pretended to be hurt by a punch, Weidman found Silva’s chin and hit the jackpot.
A huge left hand landed perfectly on Silva’s chin and dropped the champion hard. He looked almost done at that point, but Weidman wasn’t taking any chances and pounced on “The Spider” to finish the fight with heavy ground strikes. It left the MMA world stunned as the man painted by some as an untouchable champion was finally beaten, and in emphatic fashion, too.
Weidman’s knockout victory still ranks as one of the most stunning upsets ever seen in a UFC championship fight and it elicited a classic – and true – quote from Joe Rogan, who said, “You can’t play games in the octagon.”
Silva found that out to his cost, and the Brazilian legend has never held UFC championship gold since.
Michael Chiesa caught wind of Diego Sanchez’s potentially deadly move before the two entered the cage at this past July’s UFC 239.
That potentially deadly move [autotag]Diego Sanchez[/autotag]’s coach warned about backstage at UFC 239? [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] caught wind of the plans before the two entered the cage.
As he sat backstage at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, Chiesa said rumblings started swirling about some odd happenings in his opponent’s locker room. The current welterweight contender and winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 15” said he knew from the moment he signed on to fight Sanchez, a few odd moments were likely, but this went beyond anything he could anticipate.
“We’re in the back, and the antics are already going on through fight week, so I’m obviously assuming things are going to be a little weird on fight night – not this bad,” Chiesa told MMA Junkie. “It kind of started when Don House came and wrapped my hands, and he was just kind of laughing. He was like, ‘Man, he’s being a wild man back there,’ not really giving me details, but I’m already catching wind that things are kind of weird in the locker room. Then the person that I’m not going to name came to me and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got to tell you, there’s talks of this crazy submission that he wants to try on you.'”
As MMA Junkie previously reported, Sanchez’s current manager and trainer, Joshua Fabia, warned Nevada Athletic Commission and UFC officials that he had armed his athlete with a maneuver so dangerous that it could potentially paralyze or even kill Chiesa if applied in the fight.
“I got a demonstration of what it was, and I mean, I immediately started laughing,” Chiesa said. “I was like, ‘If you think for a second you’re going to like reverse ‘Stone Cold Stunner’ me in a high-level mixed martial arts contest, you’re off your (expletive) rocker – pardon my language. But yeah, I knew what the move was.
“It was like if he had my chin, and his chest was on the back of my head like a guy would go for a guillotine, and it was like he was going to rotate and turn his back to me while still holding my chin, basically putting the back of my neck on his shoulder, and drop down. We started laughing. We’re like, ‘This is so funny.'”
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Commission officials weren’t quite as entertained and wanted to speak with UFC officials before allowing the fight to continue, though the group eventually decided that the risk of Sanchez actually completing such a technique was minimal.
For his part, Chiesa said he never felt any type of heightened concern for his own well-being. In fact, he said his team discussed the possibility of intentionally giving up his neck in the fight just so that when Sanchez applied the hold and began to turn his body, Chiesa could immediately take the back.
“This is the same time I’m hearing about the burning of the sage and all the incense and stuff,” Chiesa said. “Buddy, it’s like you’re prepping to go to a yoga class or something. Like, I’m about to (expletive) beat you up, and you’re trying to figure out how to do these fruitcake moves, and you’re sticking tea tree oil up your nose or whatever the hell it was.
“I knew all this stuff was happening, and it was just funny to us. I think that for them, the shock came from the commission because they’re making a big deal about it, so they’re kind of like, ‘What the hell?’ But no, never at any point did I feel like I was about to be in any type of – there’s no immediate danger to go beyond getting in a mixed martial arts fight, so – the guy’s just nuts.”
Chiesa was dominant in the contest, cruising to a decision win, 30-26 on all three judges’ cards, and he’s since added a win over former UFC champ Rafael dos Anjos to his record, as well, putting him on a three-fight winning streak in the division.
With the pre-UFC 239 incident now public knowledge some seven months after it unfolded, Chiesa said he doesn’t hold any ill will toward Sanchez. However, he does hope that the 38-year-old Sanchez will seek out some additional guidance in the final stages of his legendary MMA career rather than his recent practice of entering the cage with Fabia as his lone cornerman.
“I’m not trying to disrespect (Fabia),” Chiesa said. “He has a particular thing he does well, but I really wish we could see Diego with like, a boxing coach and a couple other guys.”
Diego Sanchez’s coach explained to the commission how he taught his pupil a lethal choke that might be used in the UFC 239 fight.
While Joshua Fabia has been front and center in the MMA world since last weekend’s UFC Rio Rancho event, the School of Self-Awareness founder made his way to the UFC’s radar much sooner.
According to three people who spoke to MMA Junkie on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly discuss such matters, Fabia’s work with [autotag]Diego Sanchez[/autotag] was brought to the attention of both the Nevada Athletic Commission and UFC officials in the hours ahead of UFC 239 – and the 15-year UFC veteran’s fight with [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] was nearly canceled as a result.
UFC 239 took place last July at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Unbeknownst to either fans or media in attendance, sources revealed that, as Sanchez got his hands wrapped in a shared locker room, NAC officials noticed Fabia was burning incense and asked him to stop. Additionally, an NAC inspector reported Fabia had taken a Q-tip dipped in an unknown substance and inserted it into Sanchez’s nose, prompting commission officials’ concern.
The substance turned out to be a peppermint extract, utilized in hope of opening Sanchez’s airways. NAC officials determined it was not a reason to intervene.
However, at that time, Fabia offered additional information.
Sanchez’s current manager and trainer, who has served as his lone cornerman in each of his past two UFC appearances, said that the attending referee needed to be warned ahead of the fight that Chiesa was in danger of being killed in the octagon.
Fabia told commission officials that he and Sanchez had been working on a choke so brutal, that if he was to apply it to his opponent, the bout should be waved off immediately so as to prevent Chiesa from either death or paralysis.
Fabia was asked to demonstrate the move, which was described to MMA Junkie as a technique that started as a standing guillotine choke but then would see Sanchez rotate his shoulders so that his opponent’s head was braced above his shoulder before slamming down to the floor and breaking his foe’s neck (described in practice as something akin to the professional wrestling move known as the “Stone Cold Stunner”).
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Fabia said the move was something he learned during his work with paramilitary groups in South America.
Armed with this information, commission officials consulted with UFC executives, expressing a potential concern for fighter safety. However, the combined teams ultimately decided the likelihood of Fabia and Sanchez executing some type of unknown fatal maneuver seemed negligible.
NAC officials then discussed with Fabia and Sanchez the importance of sportsmanship, stressing the need for recognizing the bout as a sporting contest and one in which all parties involved would expect to see both contestants safely complete.
Chiesa went on to win via unanimous decision by scores of 30-26 on all three judges’ cards. Both the UFC and NAC declined to comment when contacted by MMA Junkie to discuss what took place prior to the bout.
Sanchez returned to action last Saturday at UFC on ESPN+ 25 in New Mexico, where he was ultimately awarded a win via disqualification after being struck by an illegal knee in the third round of his bout with Michel Pereira.
Here are the top five honorable mentions and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Year” award for 2019.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best knockouts from January to December. Here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Knockout of the Year” award for 2019.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for “Knockout of the Year.”
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Honorable mentions
6. Niko Price def. James Vick at UFC on ESPN+ 19
Known for his creative violence, [autotag]Niko Price[/autotag] (13-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) did not disappoint in his welterweight matchup against James Vick (13-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in October, scoring a knockout with a rarely-successful technique at the top level.
After absorbing some hard shots from Vick on the canvas, Price improvised and sent his foot toward the chin of Vick. A bone-chilling thud sounded as his foot hit Vick flush on the face. Vick’s bloody, unconscious body crumpled onto Price, who landed a few short shots to his already out opponent, and the fight was stopped in less than two minutes.
[autotag]Douglas Lima[/autotag] (32-7 MMA, 14-3 BMMA) respected Michael Page (17-1 MMA, 13-1 BMMA) in the lead-up to their Bellator welterweight grand prix semifinal matchup in May, but the former two-time champion felt strongly that his experience and striking power would make a difference, and he was right.
Lima gave “MVP” a rude welcome to a new level of competition when he scored an absolutely sickening knockout to make the grand prix final. The Brazilian set it up when he dropped Page with a perfectly timed low kick. As Page attempted to stand up, Lima uncorked a beautiful left hand that landed clean and brought an end to Page’s unbeaten run in MMA.
4. Davy Gallon def. Ross Pearson at “MTK MMA: Probellum”
Ross Pearson (20-17) had a rude welcome back to MMA from his retirement courtesy of the unheralded [autotag]Davy Gallon[/autotag] (18-7-2), who in November delivered what could go down as an all-time knockout to occur outside of a major organization.
The lightweight fight was relatively competitive for more than two rounds. In the closing stages of the third, though, Gallon went airborne and unleashed a rolling thunder kick. The heel landed flush on Pearson’s face, and “The Ultimate Fighter 9” winner was immediately knocked out in a shocking finish.
3. Valentina Shevchenko def. Jessica Eye at UFC 238
[autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) got her UFC women’s flyweight title reign off to a good start in June, when she made an example of overmatched challenger Jessica Eye (15-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC) with a brutal knockout.
Shevchenko kept her firm grip on the 125-pound strap when, as one of the biggest betting favorites in UFC title history, “The Bullet” delivered a highlight-reel head kick knockout of Eye in the second round of the contest. Eye was down on the canvas for quite some time after the kick connected, but fortunately came out OK.
2. Anthony Pettis def. Stephen Thompson at UFC on ESPN+ 6
Former UFC and WEC lightweight champ [autotag]Anthony Pettis[/autotag] (22-9 MMA, 9-8 UFC) made a splash in his welterweight debut in March when he upset former title challenger Stephen Thompson (15-4-1 MMA, 10-4-1 UFC) with a brutal knockout.
After getting picked apart and bloodied for the majority of two rounds, Pettis showed his trademark “Showtime” creativity when he bounced off the octagon fence and proceeded to take off with a superman hook punch that caught Thompson completely off guard and put his lights out for the first time in his career.
The most hyped grudge match heading into UFC 239 in July ended in the fastest and perhaps most violent knockout in the history of the UFC.
Veteran welterweight [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] (35-13 MMA, 12-6 UFC) used a hellacious flying knee coming out of the gate to knock Ben Askren (19-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) cold.
The time of the stoppage officially was at the 0:05 mark of the opening round. That beat, by one-second, Duane Ludwig’s record, set in a victory over Jonathan Goulet in 2006.
“I really wanted to beat his ass for 14 minutes and 30 seconds, but it didn’t happen, so back to business,” Masvidal said.
Masvidal, with his hands behind his back, came out at an odd angle and charged at Askren, who attempted to duck under it.
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Instead, the knee landed flush on Askren’s ear, knocking him stiff to the mat. Masvidal landed two more punches to the clearly unconscious Askren before the referee could step in and wave things off.
Masvidal taunted Askren as doctors rushed into the cage to attend to his foe, with whom he had engaged in quite a bit of trash talk leading up to the fight.
“That dude was talking wild, man,” Masvidal said. “I have to show you there’s consequences sometimes, there’s some bad (expletive) out there.”
The victory was by far the biggest in the career of Masvidal, a longtime presence on the scene who is finally breaking through to the top. It also marked the first career loss for Askren, the former Bellator and ONE welterweight titleholder. After regaining consciousness, Askren left the cage under his own power.
Jorge Masvidal had a year to remember in 2019 as he became one of the biggest stars in the UFC. Recap his remarkable year in our end-of-year gallery special.
In his 17th year as a professional MMA fighter, Miami-based welterweight [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] enjoyed the biggest and best 12-month stint of his career, as he elevated himself from a respected, dangerous veteran to one of the UFC’s biggest stars.
On March 16, Masvidal knocked out Darren Till at UFC on ESPN+ 5 in London, then hit another British welterweight contender, Leon Edwards, with his now-infamous “three-piece and a soda” after prematurely halting his backstage interview with UFC broadcaster Laura Sanko.
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Masvidal then went on to starch previously-undefeated former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren with a flying knee at UFC 239, as he lit up International Fight Week with the fastest knockout in UFC history, officially timed at just five seconds.
And Masvidal’s stellar year closed out with championship glory, as he defeated Nate Diaz via doctor stoppage at UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden, where he was presented with the one-off “BMF” title by global superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Check out the story of Masvidal’s incredible year in 2019 via the gallery below.
Can’t wait for UFC 245 to roll around? Get ready for Amanda Nunes’ next fight by giving another look to her last one.
Ronda Rousey. Cris Cyborg. Miesha Tate. Germaine de Randamie. Valentina Shevchenko. Julia Budd.
That list represents a who’s who of women’s world mixed martial arts champions past and present. And the women on that list have something in common: They’ve all been defeated by UFC champ-champ [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag].
Going into UFC 239, just one huge name was left off that ledger: Holly Holm. But on July 6, Nunes (18-4 MMA, 11-1 UFC) added Holm to her impressive list of vanquished foes, with a magnificent performance in a first-round TKO victory to successfully defend her bantamweight title.
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Nunes, who is also UFC featherweight champion, puts her 135-pound belt up for grabs again at UFC 245 on Dec. 14, where she meets de Randamie (9-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) for the second time.
And with the three-title-fight mega-card just a few weeks away, you can whet your appetite for Nunes’ return by reliving her UFC 239 finish of Holm. The UFC has made the bout free for all to watch, and you can check it out in the video linked above.
