Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the history of weigh-in misses in the UFC in 2023 and fights canceled due to weight management issues.
The old adage is that the fight before the fight in MMA is the one with the scale.
Weight-cutting struggles and eventual weight misses are a regular part of the sport. Throughout 2023, we updated this story each time there was an infraction on the UFC scale – or fights that were scrapped because of issues with a fighter’s weight.
Here’s the final list. Fighters listed are in chronological order of their scheduled bouts.
(List updated after UFC 296 weigh-ins in Las Vegas, Dec. 15, 2023.)
Here are the top four honorable mentions and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Submission of the Year” award for 2023.
With another action-packed year of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie takes a look at the best submissions from January to December. Here are the top five and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Year award for 2023.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice for Submission of the Year.
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In a year filled with memorable MMA events for the UFC, Bellator, PFL, ONE Championship and more, one stood out from all the rest.
A disclaimer: We’re sorry, UFC Austin. We’re sorry, Bellator 300 and Bellator 301. We’re sorry UFC 285. You all were good. Great, really.
But you fell just short of the top.
UFC 295 at the mecca of combat sports, Madison Square Garden in New York, is MMA Junkie’s 2023 Event of the Year.
The UFC’s 30th anniversary event was supposed to feature one of its biggest all-time stars, Jon Jones, in a heavyweight title defense against former champion Stipe Miocic, regarded by many as the best heavyweight in MMA history because he had three consecutive UFC title defenses – a low number for a record, but the record nonetheless.
But Jones injured his shoulder training, and rather than keep Miocic on the card, they saved the two of them for (hopefully) this year, and put an interim title on the line between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich.
The previous co-feature vacant light heavyweight title fight between former middleweight champ Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka was elevated to the headliner on the pay-per-view main card, which kept the show with a pair of title fights at the top of the bill.
When it comes to star power at the end of the night, UFC 295 may not have been the promotion’s sexiest offering ever at the Garden. It has to compete with previous MSG headliners with names like McGregor and St-Pierre and Cormier and Diaz and Adesanya and Covington and Masvidal, so there’s no shame in that.
But what UFC 295 lacked in mega-names, it made up for when it mattered. All five fights on the main card were finishes for the 19,000-plus in the building, and eight of the 13 bouts overall were stoppages. And let’s face it: Finishes go a long way.
That’s why it was hard to pass up UFC on ESPN 52, which took place less than a month later in Austin, Texas. That show didn’t have the promotional punch a pay-per-view provides – it merely was a Fight Night card streamed on ESPN+. Hell, UFC Austin wasn’t even officially announced by the company until several weeks before the show.
But from a highlights standpoint, UFC on ESPN 52 came through with a ridiculous nine submissions in 12 fights. Add in a Fight of the Night bonus and $50,000 for every stoppage on the card, and the UFC gave out $500,000 in extra checks in just that one night.
But UFC 295 inches above UFC Austin for its main card finishes under a much brighter spotlight in Midtown Manhattan, and with the pressure to deliver absent the previously planned heavyweight headliner. That one of those finishes was Pereira in the co-feature to win a title in a second division just seven bouts into his UFC tenure is the icing on the proverbial cake.
We’d be remiss to not shout out Bellator 300 and Bellator 301 again, as well as UFC 285 and UFC 290. Bellator 300 was a historic event number for the promotion and came at a time of uncertainty in the promotion. Four title fights were scheduled, though the show wound up with just three. Still, the ambition behind setting out to do four to begin with is admirable. Bellator 301 in November will go down as the promotion’s final show before its sale to the PFL, and it doesn’t get much more historic than the last of anything.
At UFC 285 in March, Jones won the heavyweight title with a quick submission of Ciryl Gane to become a two-division titleholder. That show in Las Vegas had four submissions on the main card.
If he could do it all over again, Ciryl Gane wishes he had listened to coach Fernand Lopez when he fought Jon Jones.
[autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] was disappointed in his performance against [autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag].
For the first time in his career, Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was stopped when he was submitted in just over two minutes by Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) in their vacant heavyweight title fight this past March at UFC 285.
In what was his heavyweight debut, Jones dragged Gane down and submitted him with a front guillotine choke, but Gane said Jones’ strength did not surprise him.
“Like I said before this fight, I knew already Jon Jones is an athlete,” Gane told MMA Junkie on Wednesday. “He’s an athlete like me. He did a lot of sports; me too. He’s not only just physical, but in his brain. Everything is ready to be a good athlete and physically also. And I knew already he’s going to be ready for this fight. He trained a lot during the three years, so I was not surprised by that, no.”
Gane admits he did not follow the plan of his coach, Fernand Lopez, who urged him to jab and not lunge forward. However, it was a missed left cross that allowed Jones to grab a hold of him and take him down.
“I don’t know why exactly, but I cannot manage my distance very well during some moments, and I did a mistake,” Gane said. “It wasn’t possible to manage the distance, and I did some stuff to break this atmosphere, and I did a mistake at this moment.
“Maybe he knew already I’m going to do this mistake, and he took his opportunity. … During all the camp Fernand Lopez told me every time we started training, jab and no big hand. Just jab. And what I did? A big hand. Big mistake, and he took the opportunity.”
Daniel Cormier said Jones looked visibly slower at heavyweight, and although Gane only stood with him for a few seconds, he agreed that Jones did not look too fast in there.
“He was not fast,” Gane said. “Maybe he was not fast, but I was not good, too. I didn’t manage my distance. I was not good, but I remember he was not fast. He didn’t have fast hands. He had power because he touched me, I don’t remember where, but he landed some punches with power, but not fast.”
Gane will look to rebound when he faces Serghei Spivac (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) in a UFC Fight Night headliner on Sept. 2 at Accor Arena in Paris.
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Jon Jones’ career is as decorated as they come, with wins over various legends, UFC Hall of Famers and top contenders.
[autotag]Jon Jones[/autotag]’ UFC career has been marred by long layoffs caused by suspensions due to a number of legal run-ins and positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs, but that hasn’t stopped many from calling him the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.
Since making his professional debut in 2008, Jones is 26-1 with one no contest and his lone defeat a December 2009 disqualification due to illegal elbows in a fight he was dominating. He’s perhaps the most naturally gifted fighter to ever grace the cage, and his resume is as decorated as they come, with victories against various legends, UFC Hall of Famers and top contenders across two generations of light heavyweights. He’s also won the UFC heavyweight championship.
You can check out one highlight and one photo from each of his 23 UFC bouts below.
As we near the halfway mark of 2023, Daniel Cormier listed his top three UFC fights of the year.
As we near the halfway mark of 2023, [autotag]Daniel Cormier[/autotag] listed his top three UFC fights of the year.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Cormier said there have been “some tremendous battles” so far in 2023, but three particular ones stood out for the former UFC dual champion.
All three of Cormier’s picks earned Fight of the Night and took place at UFC 284, UFC 285 and UFC 286.
Scroll below to see Cormier’s selections.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from March 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submission from March 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from March 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from March 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for March.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Curtis Blaydes doesn’t see Ciryl Gane filling the holes in his grappling game after his UFC heavyweight title submission loss to Jon Jones.
[autotag]Curtis Blaydes[/autotag] doesn’t see [autotag]Ciryl Gane[/autotag] filling the holes in his grappling game.
Gane (11-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) was quickly taken down and submitted by Jon Jones (27-1 MMA, 21-1 UFC) in their vacant heavyweight title fight earlier this month at UFC 285.
Wrestling also cost Gane in his title fight against Francis Ngannou at UFC 270, in which he was taken down four times. “Bon Gamin” is already back to work and intent on improving his grappling, but the UFC’s leader in most takedowns landed doesn’t see Gane ever reaching a high enough level.
“I think he’s like a lot of guys: He got away without having to wrestle, just like Francis when he fought Stipe (Miocic)” Blaydes said in an interview with LowKick MMA. “He got away with not having to learn how to wrestle. It’s not just him.
“There’s a lot of guys with holes in their games because they only focus on one aspect of MMA. It’s not like we didn’t already know that it was a hole. I know a lot of people are expecting him just to plug it. It takes years to learn how to grapple. He’s not going to get it. He’s not going to get it. I don’t expect him to get it.”
Considering the stylistic matchup, Blaydes (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) says the Jones vs. Gane fight played out the way he expected it to – just quicker.
“I don’t think anyone expected it to end that fast,” Blaydes said. “But I’m not shocked at how he was able to take him down and hold him down and get on his neck.
“When you have a hole that big in your grappling and then you are going against Jones who, that’s like a strength of his – I thought it was going to be elbows. I didn’t think it would be a submission. So I guess that was a little surprising, but I’m not surprised he got the finish. I was expecting the finish.”
Blaydes will look to emerge as a title contender when he faces the streaking Sergei Pavlovich in the UFC Fight Night 222 headliner April 22.
