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Arnold Allen and Calvin Kattar squared off in the main event of UFC Vegas 63 in a matchup of top-10 featherweights as Allen sought to maintain his UFC perfect record. Allen enters the battle fresh off of his biggest career victory, a first-round TKO victory over Dan Hooker back in March at UFC London. Before that, he achieved important victories over opponents like Sadiq Yusuff, Nik Lentz, Gilbert Melendez, and Mads Burnell. While this was going on, Kattar had just defeated Giga Chikadze after losing to Max Holloway and was coming off a contentious split decision loss to Josh Emmett. As a result of a knee injury, Allen ultimately prevailed by second-round TKO against Kattar, who appeared to have blown out his knee at the end of the first round. Here is what we believe the English fighter in the UFC Vegas 63 main event should do after the fight. Due in large part to the fact that Arnold Allen hasn't been fighting regularly because of injuries, he has been lurking under the radar for years. He was finally ready to compete in his first UFC main event, but sadly, it was cut short due to an injury that left him in an awkward position. Early on, Allen was succeeding, but there was no clear victory for him. He demanded a shot at the temporary title after his win. He, Josh Emmett, and Yair Rodriguez will face off in the final matchup for the interim belt. All three have valid arguments, but we anticipate a match between Allen and Emmett for the temporary belt sometime in the first quarter of 2023. Speaking to former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping following his victory, Allen stated: "Volkanovski asked the guys to make a statement and it's another injury, TKO by injury. I can't really ask for a title shot off this, maybe give me the interim job... If Volkanovski's gonna be out for a while going up in weight, give me the interim shot. I feel like I deserve it." Former champion Daniel Cormier thinks the featherweight class should be discontinued since UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is vying for a second title. At UFC 284 on February 11 in Perth, Australia, Volkanovski has his sights set on Islam Makhachev, a colleague of Cormier's and the recently crowned lightweight champion. Since the champion appears to be tied, Cormier wants Arnold Allen, the victor of UFC Fight Night 213, and Josh Emmett, who is on a roll, to square off on the same card. "Arnold Allen deserves to fight for some portion of the championship. I believe his humility in that moment is what actually turned me about. And honestly, Josh Emmett does deserve an interim title fight also. Those guys should not have to wait for the champion as he tries to chase down greatness." Cormier added: "Give the champion an opportunity to do something truly special, but allow for the weight class to continue to move and see if something shows itself... I don't like when a guy has to win double digit fights in the UFC in order to earn a championship opportunity. It seems like way too long and I would like to see Allen fighting for some portion of the championship."

When Israel Adesanya switched to MMA in 2017, he wasn't thinking about getting even. With consecutive first-round knockout victories that secured him a UFC deal, Adesanya played up to his reputation by defeating Rob Wilkinson in the second round in his UFC debut. Except for a failed attempt to become a double champion against Jan Blachowicz, Adesanya hasn't lost a fight since. Adesanya asserts that he has advanced significantly after his KO loss to Pereira because he has carved out a place for himself in MMA history. The only knockout loss of Adesanya's career, in his opinion, actually strengthened him in a variety of ways. But whether he asked for it or not, he understands that he now has the chance to change the course of history. The Last Stylebender claimed in an interview with The Allstar that: “There’s a little extra motivation, definitely. Now that it’s here, I didn’t ask for it, the universe bestowed this upon me, and it’s a great opportunity to rewrite history." Israel Adesanya, the middleweight champion of the UFC, is eager to take on Alex Pereira. On Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York, Adesanya will face Pereira in the main event of UFC 281, hoping to record his sixth successful championship defense. Adesanya is eager to avenge his two kickboxing defeats against Pereira, one of which was by knockout. The 33-year-old said in a fight camp video uploaded to his YouTube channel: "Beating him, that's what matters. Like, the belt, f**k the belt. Just beating him, a killer like him, that's what matters." In 2016, Adesanya and Pereira had their debut fight under the Glory Kickboxing brand. Adesanya was defeated by "Poatan," who won by unanimous decision. A year later, the two faced off again, with Pereira delivering a more convincing victory. Adesanya was initially outworking Pereira, but in the third round, "Poatan" knocked him out with his trademark left hook. Pereira is considered the most likely candidate to end Adesanya's dominant middleweight title reign based on their prior performance. “We’ve dusted that off, we’ve cut it off, and I can see what I did wrong,” Adesanya said. “So, it’s not gonna be like last time. This is a different fighter you’re facing, and now I’ve become another fighter. I’ve re-birthed myself. I’ve re-birthed it, and I just feel like I want to have fun. That’s the goal. But this fight, I’m gonna have fun. That’s the ultimate goal. And when I have fun, I’m the best in the world.”

According to UFC Roster Watch, eight competitors were dropped from the UFC's official roster last night. Misha Cirkunov, Louis Cosce, Charlie Onitveros, Nick Maximov, Magomed Mustafaev, Jesse Ronson, Cameron VanCamp, and Darian Weeks are the competitors who have had their ranks erased. These fighters haven't necessarily been cut from the UFC just because they were taken off the roster. Some may not have signed new contracts after their old ones expired. However, this is frequently a hint that a fighter's time in the Octagon may be coming to an end. One of these competitors, Cirkunov, is the most well-known; he competed in a co-main event match last year. In that bout, Ryan Spann used a TKO to defeat the Canadian. Cirkunov's four-fight losing streak began with the defeat to Spann and included losses to Krzysztof Jotko (who was also recently released), Wellington Turman, and Alonzo Menifield. The Menifield defeat—a TKO—took place at UFC Vegas 62 last month. After joining the UFC in 2015, Cirkunov began his career in the Octagon with a four-fight winning streak, stopping Alex Nicholson, Nikita Krylov, and Ion Cutelaba. He was inconsistent after those victories, losing to Volkan Oezdemir, Glover Teixeira, and Johnny Walker while also defeating Jim Crute and Patrick Cummins. Following a victory on the Contender Series, Cosce advanced to the UFC. He failed to win the promotion twice, most recently falling to Trevin Giles. To face Kevin Holland in 2020, Onitveros joined the UFC as an extremely last-minute substitute. He fell short by giving in. He then dropped his following three UFC matches. Maximov, who is coached by the Diaz brothers, recently suffered a defeat against Jacob Malkoun despite having a winning record in the UFC (3-2). Since 2015, Mustafaev has competed five times for the UFC. The Dagestani defeated Rafael Fiziev in 2019 with a stunning spinning backfist KO victory. Ronson had an 0-2 (1 NC) record with the UFC since joining in 2020. VanCamp went 0-2 after debuting with the promotion this year. Weeks, who fought pro in boxing and MMA before joining the UFC went 0-3 in the Octagon.

Sean Brady had a lot to deal with during the UFC 280 fight week, and he still does when it comes to bad fans abusing social media for malicious purposes. Brady said that those fans threatened him in a direct message to his wife on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour. Brady suffered his first professional defeat at UFC 280 when Belal Muhammad stopped him. On Instagram, he and his wife started receiving remarks regarding his performance. His wife got a troubling message from a fan before the fight. VanCamp's record after making his promotion debut this year was 0–2. “Someone messaged her and said that if I won the fight against Belal that they would kill me and bury me in the desert – it was pretty bad,” Brady said. “She was right there front row sitting with [Joe Pyfer], and she busted through the security and got to me when I was walking out of the [octagon], but she was right there [in Abu Dhabi] with me, [and] she got messages.” In an Instagram post following the bout, Brady discussed the need to make changes and get out of his comfort zone, but he also mentioned how fans were “mocking my wife” after the result. Whether it’s because they lost a bet on the fight or are just insecure, Brady doesn’t understand why fans of the sport act like this, especially since there are so many who have respect for the sport and its athletes. Brady is now 15-1 as a pro and 5-1 inside the octagon, and he believes the loss will end up being a good thing for him, even saying it was a giant weight lifted off of his shoulders. As far as those fans giving him and his family grief, Brady knows that social media isn’t the real world. “I know for a fact you wouldn’t say that s*** if we were in real life,” he explained. “That’s the problem: Those people get to hide behind these screens and say these things. I lost a fight, but my life isn’t over. I still live my dream every day. These people hate their lives, and that’s why they do what they do. “I almost kind of feel bad for them, but I’d like to slap the s*** out of them at the same time.”

In one of the most anticipated fights of the year on Saturday, Paul defeated former UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, by unanimous decision for the biggest success of his boxing career. Jake Paul is accustomed to facing criticism, and his most recent victory over Anderson Silva is no exception. Paul made an appearance on The MMA Hour to discuss his most significant victory. Paul is still processing his monumental victory a few days later. “It’s still pretty crazy to me, beating one of the greatest combat strikers of all time,” Paul told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I’m just proud of myself. I’m proud I was able to execute everything we worked on in the gym. This is the first fight where everything was slowed down for me, and I was able to really, really handle the moment really well and execute the game plan perfectly. I felt really comfortable in there, and here we are. It’s unbelievable, it’s surreal. I can’t believe I actually pulled it off, but I’m very proud of myself.” Paul added a finishing touch to his victory by submitting Silva with a short right hand in the final round of the fight, in addition to outworking Silva throughout eight rounds. Although the knockout made it clear who had won the fight, for the most part, it also sparked suspicions that it had been "fixed" by conspiracy theorists. "I lose faith in my generation and my peers, and us in a society in a world just when I see that type of stuff and that type of stupidity. Yeah, it just sucks. It sucks because I work so hard for this. I dedicate everything. Sacrifice everything every single day... bust my b*lls... Have a 15-person team working around the clock helping me become the best boxer possible. And when I do something like beating Anderson Silva, yeah, they try to take it away from me, but I know deep down, and I guess that really matters." Even though Paul probably still faces some naysayers, Silva was a significant step up in opposition. It demonstrated how hard the YouTube celebrity works to become a better boxer. Paul acknowledged that the outcome would have been very different if the battle had taken place a year earlier. Despite the result, some fans remained dubious about the former YouTuber's skills and the veracity of his fights. It makes sense to believe that a fighter with the reputation of "The Spider" should triumph just based on his combat background. But the judges felt it was a one-sided battle, therefore that wasn't the case. Boxer Tommy Fury, who also made an appearance on The MMA Hour, was one of 'The Problem Child's doubters. Silva's advanced age was cited by Fury as a consideration. "Please, look what a 48-year-old man has done with him... He looked like he'd been in there fighting with the WBC light heavyweight champion. He looked gone like he went through the trenches in that fight. He got roughed up and that's a 48-year-old man."

According to the numbers, Beneil Dariush should be Islam Makhachev's first championship contender. At UFC 280, Dariush defeated Mateusz Gamrot with a dominant victory to extend his winning streak to eight matches. However, a prospective super fight between Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski buried his resume. The forthcoming UFC 284 event in Perth will feature a matchup between the two champions who have both indicated interest in doing so. Dariush is therefore compelled to express her frustration. His UFC 280 media day was held on, the 33-year-old said: "It still sucks. Being backup, losing that positions sucks. Losing the title shot sucks. It’s all as crappy as it gets but I understand why they’re doing what they’re doing." Since the Dagestani duo has turned their attention toward the unbeaten featherweight champion for the first title defense, Dariush believes he has three good choices. “I guess right now my options are the winner of Dustin Poirier (and Michael Chandler), Charles (Oliveira), or (Rafael) Fiziev,” Dariush said on Morning Kombat. “Those are the three options. … Those are great fights, so let’s just figure this out and move forward.” Oliveira had been supposed to fight Dariush in October 2020, but the fight was called off when Oliveira withdrew for unspecified reasons. In February, he was scheduled to take against Makhachev, but he had to cancel due to an ankle ailment. Oliveira recently defeated Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler in title fights, while Rafael Fiziev, who is on a roll, has his sights set on Justin Gaethje, a former title challenger who is presently out due to nose surgery. Whoever Dariush faces next, he intends to turn around quite quickly. It's no secret that Dariush tried to book himself against the two former lightweight championship contenders before UFC 280. The Assyrian-American boxer admitted that neither man is a match that the matchmakers are excited about for him. Dariush recently spoke with Morning Kombat's Luke Thomas and said the following: "I've tried fighting Chandler and Poirier and I haven't really gotten much of a response back, so I'm not gonna really chase that fight. As far as the top five goes, I'm trying to think who's available." Dariush stated that he will not compete against Rafael dos Anjos and Justin Gaethje, two athletes he regards as close friends. In light of this, Rafael Fiziev and Arman Tsarukyan have emerged as Dariush's top two choices in the UFC lightweight division. Dariush appears to be leaning toward a confrontation with Fiziev out of the two. "That leaves me with Fiziev. That'd be a fun fight. I would really enjoy that fight because, as far as the striking goes, you know he's gonna put pressure on me. And he's one of the few people who can put pressure on me." Dariush asserts that he fully comprehends the UFC's continued preference for larger stars over him. Despite this, he is pledged to obtain the title shot the traditional way: by defeating everyone else.

Bellator lightweight champion Patricky Pitbull has disclosed that Usman Nurmagomedov's supporters have been verbally abusing him on social media. On November 18 at Bellator 288, "Pitbull" is slated to face Nurmagomedov in his first title defense. After his brother Patricio Pitbull relinquished the belt in November of last year, the Brazilian claimed the vacant title. The Irish fighter was TKO'd by the 36-year-old in the second round, giving him his first piece of Bellator gold and avenging a loss to Peter Queally months earlier. One of Bellator's quickest-emerging talents is Usman Nurmagomedov who holds a record of 15-0. The 24-year-old has never lost in his MMA career and is the cousin of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. In an exclusive interview with James Lynch, Patricky Pitbull was questioned if he had ever experienced such abuse before a fight. "I'm here to fight, I don't care about this. These guys like to talk to sh*t on my Instagram... They come everyday to insult my history, talk sh*t and insult me. So f**k everybody, I don't care about them. I will destroy Usman... Every day I look to my Instagram, I get a lot of messages from Russians talking sh*t about me, I don't care. I train hard every day to beat my opponent." Pitbull, on the other hand, believes that no opponent is less deserving of the accolade. In a recent interview, the Brazilian expressed his honest sentiments regarding his future opponent. The 155-pound Bellator MMA champion, a 23-fight veteran of the promotion, believes that his opponent has been given the chance to compete for the championship based solely on his last name. “I’m very happy to fight with him, I’m ready for anything, I don’t think he deserves this title fight, he (received the title shot) because he has a big nickname, Nurmagomedov”, said Pitbull as he revealed his thoughts about his upcoming opponent. Usman Nurmagomedov had an accomplished career to date. He has the chance to go down as the third-youngest fighter to win a Bellator belt at age 24. This criticism has been leveled at Islam Makhachev as well, so Nurmagomedov is not the only member of his camp to experience it. The UFC 280 main event's second-round submission of 155-pound contender Charles Oliveira for the lightweight championship silenced his detractors.

Now that he's a free man, Georges St-Pierre isn't ruling out a comeback to combat sports. After nearly five years have passed since his retirement fight against Michael Bisping at UFC 217, where St-Pierre won the middleweight title and cemented his status as one of the greatest fighters of all time, the UFC Hall of Famer and former two-division champion revealed that he is no longer under contract with the organization. “I’m already out of my UFC contract. I’m out. I couldn’t be here today [working with Showtime] if I was under UFC contract,” St-Pierre said ahead of the Paul vs. Silva fight. “It might piss off the UFC that I’m here, but I did it because, like I said, I have the freedom now to do whatever I want, with whoever I want, whenever I want. “If I wanted to [I could compete in boxing],” St-Pierre continued. “You never say never. If it’s for a good cause, it’s well organized, who knows? I could do boxing or grappling. Who knows? But my days of trying to prove I’m the strongest man in the world, it’s gone. I have other priorities in life and I’m still training, I’m still getting it. When I go with a guy, when I spar with a guy, I still get it. But my heart is not there anymore.” The best welterweight to ever compete in mixed martial arts is usually regarded to be St-Pierre, 41. The Canadian legend finished his career in 2017 with a 13-fight winning streak and numerous records for the 170-pound weight class. He successfully defended his welterweight belt nine times in a row before relinquishing it and retiring from the sport for four years in 2013. With stunning stoppage victories over Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, St-Pierre holds the distinction of having defeated every man he has ever faced. While St-Pierre's legacy may exist in the octagon, he recently stated to the media that if he ever returns to active combat, it will be in a sport with fewer dangers than mixed martial arts. “I might compete because I’m in an entertainment business, in boxing or in grappling, something that is safer than MMA,” St-Pierre said. “Not MMA. Something that is safer, that has less risks, because I have a lot more to lose and it’s not my priority anymore. And yeah, why not? You know what I mean? If it’s well done and everything. But something like a boxing match with small [gloves], nah, I’m done with it. Do you think that we will be seeing GSP compete once again in the combat sports at the age of 41? Let us know in the comments.

After visiting the tyrannical leader of Chechnya this weekend, Islam Makhachev became the most recent UFC champion to be photographed with him. The newly crowned UFC lightweight champion paid a special trip to Chechnya after receiving a hero's welcome when he returned to Dagestan last week. There, he met with Kadyrov, the dictator who is under U.S. sanctions for well-documented human rights abuses like forced disappearances, torture, summary executions, and war crimes, for a photo opportunity with the championship belt. The Akhmat MMA fight club and the ACA promotion, both of which are subject to U.S. Treasury penalties, were also photographed with Makhachev. The president of the fight club who was included on the U.S. Treasury sanctions list in 2018 for "extrajudicial executions, torture, or other serious abuses of internationally recognized human rights" was also depicted. His name is Abuzayed Vismuradov. Additionally, he was charged with participating in a scheme that "illegally imprisoned and tortured individuals based on their actual or imagined LGBTI status." Later, state media in Chechnya released the images. Makhachev is far from the first UFC fighter to visit Kadyrov. In the past, notable former UFC champions such as Frank Mir, Chris Weidman, Fabricio Werdum, Frankie Edgar, Kamaru Usman, and Khabib Nurmagomedov have all made appearances alongside the Chechen dictator. Kadyrov has also attended the UFC’s debut event in Moscow, Russia in 2018 and was later present at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi the following year. Kadyrov has not physically attended a UFC event since 2019, although he has remained active inside the organization. At UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, UFC celebrity Khamzat Chimaev was spotted with Kadyrov's adolescent boys. The young people had recently returned from Mariupol, the Russian-occupied port city that was completely destroyed. While there, they participated in propaganda photo ops by dressing as soldiers. In an unidentified location, video showed the three adolescents firing assault guns and grenade launchers from behind covert shrubs. After purportedly seizing three Ukrainian POWs, who were afterwards displayed on Kadyrov's social media platforms, the youngsters later returned to Chechnya.

Henry Cejudo, a former two-division UFC champion, hopes to challenge 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley for the interim UFC bantamweight championship at UFC 284 on February 12, 2023, at the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. Cejudo seemed to be mocking current UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, with the suggestion of an "interim title." At UFC 280 earlier this month, Sterling defeated T.J. Dillashaw via second-round TKO to successfully defend his title. Aljamain Sterling, the UFC bantamweight champion, asserted that it is too soon for him to resume competition after his championship defense against Dillashaw. Instead, he plans to return in the middle of 2023. Thus, Henry Cejudo desires Sean O'Malley to come next. Sean O'Malley, who defeated former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280, is now the top-ranked bantamweight in the promotion. After the incident, "Triple C" issued a title bout challenge to Aljamain Sterling. Sterling rejected Cejudo's challenge and indicated that he would like to take on O'Malley. Not to be outdone, Cejudo continued to fire shots at the "Funk Master" while simultaneously focusing on O'Malley. In their first bantamweight title fight in March 2021, Aljamain Sterling defeated Petr Yan via DQ (Disqualification), according to Henry Cejudo, who has repeatedly accused Sterling of acting and faking an injury. On that basis, Henry Cejudo now seems to have equated the character "Funk Master" to actor Denzel Washington from Hollywood. Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) has already finished his six-month stint in the USADA program and is hungry to reclaim the bantamweight championship he has never dropped. Therefore, Cejudo wants current No. 1 ranked bantamweight challenger O'Malley to compete for the interim title at UFC 284 in Perth if Sterling decides to take a break. Cejudo pleaded his desire with UFC president Dana White via Twitter to schedule a match between Sean O'Malley and himself Cejudo at UFC 284. In their May 2020 UFC bantamweight title showdown, Dominick Cruz was defeated by Henry Cejudo via second-round TKO. In the post-fight interview, Cejudo later made his retirement announcement. Sean O’Malley and Cejudo have been seen before exchanging words. After Sean O'Malley's match against Pedro Munhoz in July of this year, Cejudo confronted him backstage. O'Malley discussed the event in an episode of the Timbo Sugarshow podcast and implied that Cejudo frequently singles out certain competitors just to get attention. According to "Sugar," Cejudo decided to return to the octagon to resolve his financial problems. "I think he retired, wanted more money from the UFC, and the UFC's like, 'Alright.' Then he's calling everyone out. He's coming back. I think he's running out of money. Because he retired, he wanted more money."

It appears that Askar Askaraov's inclusion on the UFC roster is in doubt. Askaraov said in an Instagram post on Saturday that he had received "a great reaction" after requesting that the UFC let him out of his contract, which, he noted, has just one bout left. “Due to my return being delayed due to medical reasons and being my last fight under my contract, I asked UFC to release me,” Askarov wrote in Russian, according to the translation. “To which, I received a positive response. First, let’s put our health in order, and then we will see what and how.” Whether Askaraov's post indicates that he has been released is unknown. When sources tried to ask the UFC, they didn't confirm or announce the athlete release statement. At 125 pounds, Askarov, 30, is ranked No. 4 in the most recent official UFC rankings. At UFC Fight Night 212 two weeks ago, he was scheduled to face No. 5 Brandon Royval, but Askarov (14-1-1 MMA, 3-1-1 UFC) withdrew on the day of weigh-ins due to problems with weight-cutting. When Askarov competed against Joseph Benavidez at UFC 259 in March 2021, he failed to make weight. At 127 pounds, he suffered a financial setback following his unanimous decision victory. He suffered his first defeat in March when Kai Kara-France defeated him at UFC on ESPN 33. With the victory, Kara-France earned a crack at the interim title, forcing Askarov to start over. In July, he was scheduled to meet Alex Perez, but Askarov canceled. A difficult period for the Dagestani fighter was made worse by missing weight before the bout.

Israel Adesanya, the middleweight champion of the UFC, has high admiration for a certain Dana White's Contender Series veteran and regularly keeps an eye on the division for prospective future opponents. The Last Stylebender has already beaten some notable names in the division as he sets for another title defense at UFC 281. As he faces Alex Pereira in the UFC 281 main event in a few weeks, the champion is finishing his fight camp. Adesanya stated he is preparing for what he calls his biggest battle yet because the opponent has previously defeated him in kickboxing. If Adesanya triumphs, it will be his sixth championship defense and he is eager to carry on his ruthless rule over the division. On Jake Paul's YouTube show, Adesanya made an appearance as a guest and shared the names of a few divisional rivals he has been keeping an eye on. The champion maintained the "anyone can get it" attitude, although he did list a few fighters he would like to spice things up with in the future, including Gregory "Robocop" Rodrigues and Khamzat Chimaev, who would come as a surprise given his current ranking in the category. “A good fighter actually I want to fight is the guy that – he kind of just fought not too long ago, ‘Robocop’ is his name,” Adesanya said on BS w/ Jake Paul. “He’s a Brazilian guy. He had that gash, you cannot forget that gash. He had that cut. That guy. “He’s solid, he’s a good fight. No beef, no nothing. I just think he’s going to come up to the top and I’d like to test myself against a guy like that.” The gash Adesanya was referring to, was a severe scar Rodrigues received from Chidi Njokuani's knee during their UFC Fight Night 210 match. As of right now, Rodrigues has four victories in the middleweight division of the UFC. Although he is not currently in the promotion’s rankings, his performance in this year's back-to-back victories over Julian Marquez and Njokuani has shown that he could be a viable candidate. The mention by the division champion has caught the attention of rising middleweight Rodrigues, who is presently scheduled to compete against Brad Tavares at UFC 283, and he's absolutely up for the battle should their paths meet in the future. “My goal is the belt and if you continue as champion, for sure we will fight soon!” Rodrigues wrote on Twitter.