Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out a full recap of 2022’s most significant footnotes and milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances.
Now that the year has come to a close, and with a major assist from UFC research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll, here are some of 2022’s most significant milestones from the events, the fights and individual performances in the octagon.
Nevada gave a suspension to Askar Mozharov, a former UFC fighter who has been accused of significant record falsification.
[autotag]Askar Mozharov[/autotag] has received punishment for a failed drug test stemming from his one and only UFC bout.
At a monthly commission meeting Tuesday, the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Mozharov for six months and fined him 10 percent of his purse in addition to legal fees after he failed a urinalysis test surrounding his June 4 loss to [autotag]Alonzo Menifield[/autotag] at UFC Fight Night 207.
Mozharov’s urine tested positive for GW1516 sulfone, a hormone and metabolic modulator. While he violated the NAC standard, he was below the threshold for a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency violation.
According to the commission, Mozharov’s cooperation and admission to the violation contributed to his sanction. The fines totaled $2,529.75 ($2,000 + $529.75 in legal fees). He will be eligible to return to competition Dec. 4.
In the lead-up to UFC Fight Night 207, Mozharov was the subject of much controversy and attention when leading MMA databases Sherdog and Tapology discovered that his professional record had been falsified, which Mozharov denied doing. At the start of fight week, his record was recognized as 25-7. By week’s end, it was 17-13.
Mozharov, 27, lost to Menifield by first-round TKO. He was subsequently released from the promotion. He has not been scheduled for a publicly known bout since but recently indicated on a since-expired Instagram story he hopes to return at middleweight.
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Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 275 in Singapore.
The light heavyweight division has a new leader.
At UFC 275 in Singapore, [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] defeated Glover Teixeira in the main event to become the new light heavyweight champion. The fight was one of the best title fights in the division’s history, filled with wild back and forth exchanges up until the final moment that saw Prochazka slap on a rear-naked choke and get the tap with just a few seconds remaining in the final round. Not only a new champion, but Prochazka is also the new No. 1 in the division, and he also cracks into the men’s P4P rankings at No. 15 in this week’s rankings update.
[autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] was also in action in the co-main event at Singapore Indoor Stadium. The dominant women’s flyweight champion picked up another title defense, although it certainly wasn’t the easiest of her run as Taila Santos proved to be a formidable opponent. So much that one judge scored the bout in Santos’ favor, prompting the latest judging debate. At the end of it all, Shevchenko retains her title and holds her No. 1 position, while Santos also stays at the same position at No. 7 in the division.
Check out all of the other moves in this week’s rankings update following UFC 275, and before UFC on ESPN 37 in Austin, Texas.
Check out how female fighters reacted to Felice Herrig’s retirement from MMA at UFC Fight Night 207.
Now-former UFC strawweight [autotag]Felice Herrig[/autotag] did not retire on a win, but she certainly earned the respect of her fellow fighters in the process.
The seasoned veteran hung up the gloves on Saturday night following her submission loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC Fight Night 207 in Las Vegas. The decision to leave MMA put an end to a noteworthy run that spanned from 2009 to 2022.
Herrig (14-10 MMA, 5-5 UFC) retires with 24 professional fights under her belt. She’s mainly known for her long run in the UFC, but she also competed in other major organizations such as Bellator and Invicta FC.
Throughout her career, Herrig defeated notable opposition such as Alexa Grasso, Cortney Casey, Kailin Curran and others. She also earned one $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus and was in a co-main event of a UFC Fight Night card.
Several female fighters took to social media to pay tribute to Herrig’s career. Below you can see the reactions.
UFC prospect Jeff Molina has experienced newfound fame for supporting LGBTQ people that he doesn’t fully comprehend.
UFC flyweight prospect Jeff Molina has experienced newfound fame that he doesn’t completely comprehend.
“I feel weird being appreciated for something that should just be f*cking common decency,” Molina said Monday on “The MMA Hour.”
After his split decision win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 207, Molina (11-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) went off on the backlash he received since announcing mid-fight week that he was excited to wear the promotion’s designated Pride Month shorts in support of the LGBTQ community.
A video shared by MMA Junkie of Molina’s remarks went viral and has been viewed 1.1 million times on Twitter as of this writing, making it a whirlwind almost 48 hours for the 24-year-old.
Jeff Molina goes *off* about the negative comments he received for wearing UFC's pride month shorts.
"I just thought in 2022 people would be a little more open-minded and not pieces of sh*t. But I guess I was wrong."#UFCVegas56 | Full video: https://t.co/mOxnqIFGCb pic.twitter.com/aKeVUUeXyg
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 5, 2022
Molina indicated that most of what he’s received has been positive and come from folks who don’t normally follow MMA, but there’s a side that continues to rear its ugly head.
“I’ve been getting both sides of it,” Molina said. “And that’s fine, man. The hate doesn’t bother me. It’s more shocking than anything.”
He continued, “I feel like I’m being appreciated for something I shouldn’t be appreciated for if that makes sense. … It’s like being applauded for saying murder is wrong. It should just be common (sense) – rape is wrong, racism is wrong, being hateful toward someone for who they love is wrong. Who the f*ck cares, man, at the end of the day? That’s the only thing that makes me feel weird about the situation.”
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Ilia Topuria was not impressed with Movsar Evloev’s performance at UFC Fight Night 207.
[autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] was not impressed with [autotag]Movsar Evloev[/autotag]’s performance at UFC Fight Night 207.
Evloev (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) dominated Dan Ige in Saturday’s co-main event at the UFC Apex and proceeded to call out Arnold Allen.
Topuria (12-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) was surprised that Evloev didn’t mention his name or show desire to rebook their bout from UFC 270 in January, which was scrapped after Evloev tested positive for COVID-19.
@MovsarUFC You fight shamefully! Another decision without any attempt to finish it. On top of that you don't know how to speak. You don’t have the balls to call me out! Now everyone can really see how you run away! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣shamefully 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) June 4, 2022
“@MovsarUFC You fight shamefully! Another decision without any attempt to finish it. On top of that you don’t know how to speak. You don’t have the balls to call me out! Now everyone can really see how you run away! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣shamefully 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️”
Though Topuria’s last fight took place at lightweight when he scored a Performance of the Night knockout of Jai Herbert at UFC Fight Night 204 in London, it appears “El Matador” initially had his eye on the winner of the featherweight bout between Evloev vs. Ige by tweeting this prior to the fight.
Movsar and Ige both suck. I hope to see something special that could motivate me to fight the winner. #UFCVegas56
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) June 4, 2022
“Movsar and Ige both suck. I hope to see something special that could motivate me to fight the winner. #UFCVegas56.”
@MovsarUFC It was always the same with you guys when it comes to a 1 on 1, have never and will never dare against us. I know people from Ingushetia who are warriors and you are a dumbass who has no balls to confront me alone and you say you are the next champ?🤣🤣🤣
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) June 6, 2022
“@MovsarUFC It was always the same with you guys when it comes to a 1 on 1, have never and will never dare against us. I know people from Ingushetia who are warriors and you are a dumbass who has no balls to confront me alone and you say you are the next champ?🤣🤣🤣”
After Evloev pulled out of their UFC 270 bout, Topuria drew Charles Jourdain instead. However, he didn’t end up competing on the night when weight-cutting issues forced him out of their featherweight bout. Following his win over Herbert, Topuria stated that he’s aiming to fight at both featherweight and lightweight to remain active.
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Lucas Almeida believes he proved why he belongs in the UFC with his third-round finish of Mike Trizano
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Lucas Almeida[/autotag] showed everyone why he was brought into the UFC after picking up one win following his loss on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021.
The Brazilian featherweight returned to Jungle Fight, where he was champion of the lightweight division to record a first-round submission victory. A few months later, Almeida (14-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was making the walk to the octagon at the UFC Apex to face the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 27, Mike Trizano.
Looking to “win and convince,” Almeida entered his UFC with the goal of finishing his opponent, and did just that in the third round. The first two frames of the bout were hotly contested, but Almeida clipped Trizano (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with a hard left hook that led to the end of the fight.
“I’m just so happy, I woke up this morning and God spoke to me and said it’s going to be a war,” Almeida told reporters through an interpreter at the post-fight news conference. “I knew it was going to be a war. He also said you’re going to knock him out and that’s what I was able to do.”
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Not only did Almeida pick up a win in his UFC debut, but he also took home an extra $50,000 as a part of the Fight of the Night bonus. Aside from a few bumps and bruises sustained during the back-and-forth moments of the fight, Almeida couldn’t be happier with the result considering the path he took to reach the UFC.
“My story is one of overcoming, and that’s exactly what happened,” Almeida said. “I knew I had to overcome, and that overcoming leads to a new Lucas. It’s going to be the story of this new era in my life of a new Lucas.
“I felt that I was not ready for the Contender Series. To go back to Jungle Fight was very important for me. I’ve been a champion there for quite some time, but I was not ready for Contender Series, but I was ready now. I proved why I’m here and why I belong.”
See who Alexander Volkov should fight next after his victory over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the UFC Fight Night 207 headliner.
(ALSO SEE: Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Jairzinho Rozenstruik after UFC Fight Night 207 loss?)
[autotag]Alexander Volkov[/autotag] earned one of the most important wins of his career on Saturday when he defeated Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the UFC Fight Night 207 headliner.
Volkov (35-10 MMA, 9-4 UFC) rebounded from a deflating first-round submission loss to Tom Aspinall in March with a TKO of Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) just over two minutes into the opening round of the heavyweight main event at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“Drago” kept his name among the relevant contenders in the weight class with the victory, and afterward opened up about his strong desire to eventually fight for the championship.
It’ll take some work to get there, though, and Volkov knows as much.
How can he do it? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Volkov’s future after UFC Fight Night 207.
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See who Jairzinho Rozenstruik should fight next after his loss to Alexander Volkov in the UFC Fight Night 207 headliner.
(ALSO SEE: Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Alexander Volkov after UFC Fight Night 207 win?)
[autotag]Jairzinho Rozenstruik[/autotag] is on the first losing skid of his career after falling short against Alexander Volkov in the UFC Fight Night 207 headliner.
Rozenstruik (12-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) suffered a first-round TKO loss to Volkov (35-10 MMA, 9-4 UFC) in the heavyweight main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. With the result, he’s now dropped three of his past four overall.
It’s now uncharted territory for Rozenstruik in his fighting career after debuting with the UFC just over three years ago as an undefeated fighter.
How can he bounce back? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Rozenstruik’s future after UFC Fight Night 207.
Jeff Molina goes off at the criticism he received for wearing UFC’s Pride Month shorts at UFC Fight Night 207.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Jeff Molina[/autotag] is not happy with a portion of the MMA community.
The UFC flyweight prospect fought and won on Saturday night while wearing the rainbow-colored font fight shorts the UFC released in support of Pride Month. Molina (11-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC), who earned a split decision win over Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC Fight Night 207, said he received plenty of fan backlash in the lead up to the fight when he announced he’d be wearing the shorts come fight night at the UFC Apex.
The 24-year-old Molina was surprised to receive such a response.
“I was honestly shocked,” Molina told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “So I picked the colors because I thought it looked cool and then also it supports a good cause, you know. But I will support anything of a community that’s been oppressed and ostracized for some time now for something they can’t help. I’ll get behind any of that.
“I just thought in 2022 people will be a little more like open-minded and not pieces of sh*t. But, I guess I was wrong. It’s just crazy to me. Like, people were saying some, like crazy sh*t.”
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Not only was Molina surprised by the fan backlash, but also upset about it. He calls for more tolerance in the community.
“Dude, it’s f*cking ridiculous,” Molina said. “Man, who would have thunk that in 2022 people are still, who the f*ck cares, bro? Like honestly, it’s not even about being an ally. I’m not saying I’m not, but it’s like just be a f*cking decent person. Like just be a decent human being.
“Like judging someone and trying to justify with religion and saying all sorts of like just spiteful, hateful sh*t, it’s crazy, it’s crazy to me. It’s mind-boggling. It’s like who cares who someone wants to be with or like their sexual preference like and then trying to justify, the irony of trying to justify it by religion or something that’s supposed to be so accepting.”
