Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Terrence McKinney hasn’t had a win go past the first round in more than five years. He hopes his latest quick finish starts something big.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Terrence McKinney[/autotag] beat Mike Breeden with a first-round TKO Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with McKinney, who hasn’t had a win go past the first round in more than five years.
AJ Dobson beat Tafon Nchukwi at UFC on ESPN 51 for his first UFC win after decision losses in his first two fights in the promotion.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]AJ Dobson[/autotag] beat Tafon Nchukwi with a unanimous decision Saturday on the main card at UFC on ESPN 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Dobson, who got his first UFC win after decision losses in his first two fights in the promotion.
Martin Buday won for the 12th straight time, but got his first stoppage win in the UFC when he tapped Josh Parisian at UFC on ESPN 51.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag] beat Josh Parisian with a first-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ESPN 51 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Buday, who won for the 12th straight time, but got his first stoppage win in the UFC.
UFC featherweight Isaac Dulgarian is confident his flashy record is no fluke after another first-round stoppage at UFC on ESPN 51.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Isaac Dulgarian[/autotag]’s record seems too good to be true to some, but Dulgarian assures he’s the real deal.
The featherweight prospect made his UFC debut this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51. He stopped his opponent Francis Marshall (7-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) in the first round to further his impressive undefeated record with all first-round stoppages. To some, they may see it as luck, but not Dulgarian (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC).
“It showed that everything I’ve done to this point hasn’t been a fluke,” Dulgarian told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight news conference. “It hasn’t been a joke. I’m here. I’m ready to fight the best in the world, and I am one of the best in the world.”
Dulgarian not only wants to make sure people know his record is not pure luck, but he also wants to let his future rivals know that he’s game to go the distance.
“I don’t want to go three rounds, but I know there’s people in the world that can push me to three rounds,” Dulgarian said. “I’ll keep taking the first-rounders. I try to finish in the first round, always, but I just want people to know I’m going to stick around that whole fight – the whole 15 minutes.”
Dulgarian also thinks he’s being doubted by many, despite his promise.
“People say I haven’t had the toughest opponents, but if you look at anyone in the regional scene, they haven’t had the toughest opponents, either,” Dulgarian said. “People were saying I can’t go three rounds, and I proved I don’t necessarily have to. I can go three rounds with anyone in the world.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
21-year-old UFC prospect Iasmin Lucindo calls out former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Iasmin Lucindo[/autotag] thinks it’s time she faces same of the more known names in her division.
The 21-year-old strawweight prospect is looking to test herself against former UFC title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz following her latest win in the octagon. Lucindo (15-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is coming off a win over fellow Brazilian Polyana Viana (13-6 MMA, 4-5 UFC) on the main card of UFC on ESPN 51, which took place Saturday at the UFC Apex.
“Karolina the Polish fighter – I don’t know how to pronounce her last name – (is whom I want next),” Lucindo told reporters. “I’ve been watching ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ the veterans against the new generation, and I want to propose that: the new generation vs. the veteran. I’m also a fan of hers, too, and I think that’s a great fight.”
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Lucindo, who’s now on a two-fight winning streak since losing her UFC debut on short notice in August 2022, thinks she’s physically ready to take on Kowalkiewicz, but sees it as a tough test mentally.
“I think it would be a great fight, and with my style I see a lot of striking, a lot of standup,” Lucindo said. “And also, I think it’s an opportunity to challenge myself because it’s someone that it’s not just for the style, but the experience. I wouldn’t be challenging myself physically, I would be challenging myself mentally and psychologically to see how ready I am.”
As far as where could that fight land, Lucindo likes the idea of fighting in home soil in the upcoming UFC Fight Night event in Sao Paulo on Nov. 4.
“If it were in Brazil it would be wonderful,” Lucindo said. “Who doesn’t want to fight in Brazil? It will be amazing, and it would be wonderful, and I came out of this fight 100 percent. If Dana (White) wants to give me that fight, I will be ready for it.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
Analysis of the top storylines from UFC on ESPN 51, including Vicente Luque’s win after a brain bleed and Cub Swanson’s debatable decision.
What mattered most at UFC on ESPN 51 in Las Vegas? Here are a few post-fight musings …
Da’Mon Blackshear is confident his twister submission win send a message to the rest of the UFC bantamweights.
LAS VEGAS – The UFC’s bantamweight division should be paying attention to [autotag]Da’Mon Blackshear[/autotag].
Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51, Blackshear submitted Jose Johnson with one of the rarest submissions in the game: a twister. There’s only been two other twister submission wins recorded in the 30-year history of the UFC. This, at least for Blackshear (14-5-1 MMA, 2-1-1 UFC), should send a statement to the rest of the fighters competing at 135 pounds.
“It puts a lot of guys on notice, and they’re going to be a lot more hesitant to go to the ground with me,” Blackshear told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight press conference.
Blackshear submitted Jose Johnson (15-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) for his second straight win. Blackshear said he knew the move was a possibility, given some things he had picked up in preparation.
“He got into turtle, and it was something I had seen on film,” Blackshear said. “Whenever someone takes him down, he likes to get in that turtle position. I threw one hook and he kind of flattened out. I went in to try to get the twister. I had to re-adjust my grip a couple of times because he pushed it over his head and I ended up going for the rear-naked choke kind of grip. But I slide it up to his temple to press and crush his spine.
“When I was in there, putting pressure on, I’m like, ‘I have to break this dude’s spine for him to tap,’ and that’s what I was able to do.”
As far as the historic win, Blackshear is happy to be one of the few to pull the twister off in the octagon.
“I knew it was pretty rare, but I didn’t know how many times it’s been hit. It’s definitely something I wanted to do,” Blackshear said. “I wanted to make history – most strikes thrown, or anything. I made history, so it’s good.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
See who Rafael dos Anjos should fight next after his loss to Vicente Luque in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner.
[autotag]Rafael dos Anjos[/autotag] once again experienced the struggle and wrath of being an undersized welterweight Saturday when he was controlled and outworked by Vicente Luque in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner.
Former lightweight champion dos Anjos (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) is at a tricky stage of his career. At 39, he is wise enough to know his body can’t handle the stress of cutting down to 155 pounds anymore. But being at 170 pounds is going to provide the difficult obstacle of facing bigger and stronger men like Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC), who is not typically known for his takedown ability, but scored a career high eight en route to a unanimous decision win at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
There’s no perfect answer here for “RDA,” honestly. He’s approaching the 15-year anniversary of his UFC debut, and with five fights remaining on his UFC contract, it’s probably hard to turn his nose up at what will likely be the final significant paydays of his combat sports career. The financial upside makes him willing to put himself at a competitive disadvantage for these fights, and that’s just the reality of his current situation.
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The UFC could throw him the bone of giving him some more manageable opposition, however, and that’s why when assessing the lay of the land at welterweight, Gunnar Nelson sticks out as a matchup that could make sense.
Yes, Nelson (19-5-1 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is another grappler whose Plan A would certainly be to take dos Anjos down and submit him, but he is not a physically imposing presence in the division compared to others, nor does he have an exceptional takedown game. There’s a good chance dos Anjos could keep that one standing for long enough to have a solid shot at winning.
On the flip side, too, Nelson is coming off back-to-back wins and has probably earned a shot against a reputable opponent like dos Anjos. He’s struggled to get over the hump when sharing the octagon with high-profile names like Gilbert Burns, Leon Edwards and Demian Maia, and at 35, a fight with dos Anjos might be his final chance to prove he can be something more than he’s shown to this point.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
See who Vicente Luque should fight next after his victory over Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC on ESPN 51 headliner.
[autotag]Vicente Luque[/autotag] returned to action at UFC on ESPN 51 following one of the scariest situations a fighter can ever find themselves in, and he managed to get the win.
After his career was jeopardized by a brain bleed following his August 2022 knockout loss to Geoff Neal, Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) finally stepped back in the octagon on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas and used a grappling-heavy strategy to defeat former UFC champ Rafael dos Anjos (33-15 MMA, 21-13 UFC) by unanimous decision.
The result snapped a two-fight losing skid for Luque, and was an important moment for the Brazilian to take the first steps of overcoming the emotional and physical trauma of his brain injury. He’s not typically known for his wrestling game, but Luque scored a career-best eight takedowns over 25 minutes to secure the win.
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Typically known for being much more exciting, Luque did what he had to do to for the victory, and it’s hard to blame him. He made it clear post-fight that he wants to be back in the thick of things in the welterweight division, though, and that means facing someone in the top five. He also threw out the idea of welcoming Dustin Poirier to welterweight, but “The Diamond” hasn’t indicated of late that jump up from lightweight is part of his immediate plans.
Keeping Luque away from a massive hitter for at least one more fight doesn’t seem like the worst idea, though, and given who is booked, who is expected to be book and who is available at 170 pounds, matching him up against Sean Brady wouldn’t be an awful idea.
A pairing with Brady (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), who hasn’t competed since suffering his lone career loss to Belal Muhammad at UFC 280 in October, would allow Luque to show how far his defensive grappling has truly come, and, if he can keep it standing, provide a window to add another vicious knockout to his record.
It seems like a smart booking on both sides, especially if Luque is looking to keep active and doesn’t want to wait for multiple other fights to play out before finding his next dance partner.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
Khalil Rountree wants to headline a UFC event.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] wants to get reps under five rounds of fighting.
Now on a four-fight winning streak and standing out once again in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, Rountree is hoping to get a main event opportunity next. He’s not interested in more attention or getting his face on a poster. Rountree is setting his sight on the UFC title, and fighting 25 minutes is a good way to prepare.
“The reason why I want to fight five rounds is because I want to be ready for a championship fight as soon as possible,” Rountree told reporters at the UFC on ESPN 51 post-fight press conference. “I’m ready for a title, but I have to fight five rounds before I can fully say that.
“I’ve never fought a main event before. Where my mind is and where I’m going, I’m here to fight the best. I’m here to go after it and be a contender. So whoever makes sense in a five-round main event to help either of us get toward that belt, then that’s who it is. I’m not picking and closing opponents.”
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Just two years ago, Rountree (12-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) was on a 1-3 run and contemplating retirement. Today, that’s a much different story. Rountree has four consecutive stoppage wins and hungry for more. This past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 51, he put away former heavyweight Chris Daukaus (12-7 MMA, 4-4 UFC).
Rountree says the turnaround largely can be attributed to coaches Lorenzo Pavlica and John Wood.
“My coach Lorenzo has taken me in, and I might get emotional just because this is really serious to me; this is serious stuff. At the beginning of my career, when I first got signed to the UFC, I dealt with a little of struggles. I didn’t know if I belonged in the UFC. I’m just kind of riding the wave.
“My career at the beginning was a bit of a fluke, if I’m being honest. I went into ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ I lost. I won. I didn’t win the final, but got awarded a contract. It was just a lot of ups and downs. But between John and Lorenzo, they both knew that I had potential. Both of those guys have put a lot of belief in me and have been with me through this whole journey, through my ups and downs. … It’s all coming full circle, and I think it just has to do with the guys that are in my life on a daily basis.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 51.
