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UFC 270 live results and analysis — Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane are former sparring partners. That might be the only thing the two agree on at this point.

At a news conference Thursday, Ngannou and Gane argued if they were actually ever “teammates.” They couldn’t agree whether Ngannou knocked Gane out with a head kick or just hurt him temporarily. And whatever relationship they once had has certainly been frayed by Ngannou’s messy falling-out with his former coach — and Gane’s current coach at MMA Factory in Paris — Fernand Lopez.

None of that will really matter Saturday night. Ngannou, the UFC heavyweight champion, and Gane, the interim champ, will fight to unify the UFC heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 270 at the Honda Center. The back-and-forth barbs will be decided in the Octagon. ESPN has Ngannou tied for No. 4 on its pound-for-pound top MMA fighters list. At heavyweight, ESPN ranks Ngannou No. 1 and Gane No. 2.

There are other storylines at play here, too. Ngannou would become a restricted free agent if he loses to Gane. He has indicated that he plans on venturing into the boxing world at some point. Even if Ngannou wins and holds on to the title, which would extend his contract, he has said that he does not plan on competing again under this current deal.

Ngannou (16-3) knocked out Stipe Miocic to win the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 260 last March. The Cameroon-born fighter has won five straight, all by KO/TKO. The 6-foot-4 Ngannou, 35, is considered one of the most fearsome power punchers in MMA history. Gane (10-0) won the interim heavyweight title by stopping Derrick Lewis via third-round TKO at UFC 265 in August. The French fighter is a perfect 7-0 in the UFC.

Gane, 31, is a former Muay Thai star and TKO heavyweight champion in MMA. He has said that he believes this fight will be about his technique against Ngannou’s power and strength.

In the co-main event, Brandon Moreno defends his UFC flyweight title against former champ Deiveson Figueiredo in a trilogy bout. Moreno (19-5-2), the UFC’s first Mexican-born champion, beat Figueiredo (20-2-1) by third-round submission at UFC 263 in June to win the title. The two fought to a draw in their first meeting at UFC 256 in December 2020. Moreno is ranked No. 8 on ESPN’s pound-for-pound list. He is ranked No. 1 at flyweight, with Figueiredo slotted at No. 2.

Also on the card, the always-exciting Michel Pereira takes on Andre Fialho at welterweight, Cody Stamann draws Said Nurmagomedov in a featherweight bout and Australian prospect Jack Della Maddalena meets Pete Rodriguez at welterweight.

Follow along as Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Jeff Wagenheim recap the action, or watch the fights live on ESPN+ PPV.

Fight in progress: Men’s bantamweight: Raoni Barcelos (16-2, 5-1 UFC, -500) vs. Victor Henry (21-5, 0-0 UFC, +380)

Results:

Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena (11-2, 1-0 UFC) def. Pete Rodriguez (4-1, 0-1 UFC) by first-round TKO

Those in the know about Australian MMA think Della Maddalena has a chance to be a big star. It was pretty clear to see why Saturday evening.

In his UFC debut, Della Maddalena used his slick boxing to earn a TKO win at 2:59 of the first round over Rodriguez. The finishing blow, after Della Maddalena already bloodied Rodriguez’s nose, was a step-back straight left hand that dropped Rodriguez. Referee Frank Trigg was quick to step in and stop the fight without Della Maddalena needing to land another shot.

“I was waiting for the jitters and they never came,” Della Maddalena. “Same as usual.”

Della Maddalena used his southpaw boxing skills to perfection, working a nice jab and landing hard right hooks and straight lefts. The jab bloodied up Rodriguez’s nose. Della Maddalena landed a hard left and a right hook prior to the left-hand finish.

Della Maddalena, 25, has not lost since his first two pro bouts in 2016, a streak of 11 straight victories. The Australia native earned his way into the UFC via Dana White’s Contender Series. He beat Ange Loosa via unanimous decision back in September.

Rodriguez, a 25-year-old Arizona resident, had four knockouts in four career fights coming in.

Men’s bantamweight: Tony Gravely (22-7, 3-2 UFC) vs. Saimon Oliveira (18-4, 0-1 UFC) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Gravely, of Virginia, turned Saturday’s bantamweight bout into a wrestling match, as he racked up 11 total takedowns and 11:28 worth of control time. Judges awarded the 30-year-old efforts with unanimous scores of 30-27.

Oliveira was clearly the more dangerous man on the feet, but he simply couldn’t keep the fight there. He repeatedly attacked Gravely with the guillotine choke — a maneuver he has finished multiple fights with in his career — but could never quite secure it.

Gravely spent the majority of the fight either on top or clinched with Oliveira along the fence. It was not the most scintillating performance, but is still the result Gravely was looking for. He suffered a second-round knockout loss to Nate Maness in his last bout in September. Oliveira threatened Gravely with a few big shots here and there, including a flying knee and spinning backfist, but it was Gravely’s fight for the most part.

Oliveira is now 0-1 in the Octagon, as this was his UFC debut.. He earned a contract on the Contender Series last year.

Lightweight: Matt Frevola (9-3-1, 3-3-1 UFC) def. Genaro Valdez (10-1, 0-1 UFC) by first-round TKO (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Frevola swung. Valdez swung. For 195 seconds, that is what they did in the slobberknocker to end all slobberknockers.

Frevola got the better of a wild exchange midway through the round to get a knockdown, but Valdez bounced right back up, wobbly but still swinging for the fences.

But Frevola, who is 31 and fights out of Huntington, New York, didn’t stop his attack and kept knocking his opponent to the canvas. He was credited with four knockdowns but it seemed like more. Even so, the four knockdowns would be a UFC record for a fight ending in the first round.

Unable to turn out the lights on Valdez, Frevola finally got a dominant position on top of his opponent, rendered him defenseless on his stomach and dropped punch after punch until referee Mike Beltran jumped in to end it at 3:15. The win halted Frevola’s two-fight skid and gave him his first finish since 2017.

Valdez, a 30-year-old Mexican, suffered the first defeat of his career in his UFC debut.

Strawweight: Vanessa Demopoulos (7-4, 1-1 UFC) def. Silvana Gomez Juarez (10-4, 0-2 UFC) by first-round submission (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

Demopoulos made a very, very early bid for MMA comeback of the year.

After Gomez Juarez dropped her hard with a right hand, Demopoulos kept her composure and locked in an armbar submission finish at 2:25 of the first round.

Demopoulos jumped into interviewer Joe Rogan’s arms in jubilation following her postfight interview.

“I woke up on the ground for a second,” Demopoulos said of getting cracked with the right hand.

But Demopoulos came to very quickly, realized she had an underhook from the bottom and used that to leverage herself into an armbar from the bottom. Demopoulos then swept into top position, still with the armbar intact, and finished the fight beautifully.

“I love jiu-jitsu,” Demopoulos said. “I could do jiu-jitsu all day long every single time.”

Demopoulos, 33, picked up her first UFC victory after dropping her debut against JJ Aldrich last August. The Ohio native, who fights out of Fight Ready in Arizona, earned just her second win in her last five fights.

Gomez Juarez, a 37-year-old Argentinean fighting out of Mexico, is now 0-2 in the UFC.

Women’s flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius (7-1, 1-0 UFC) def. Kay Hansen (7-5, 1-2 UFC) by unanimous decision (Watch this fight on ESPN+)

This fight was a step up to something bigger for both women. Jasudavicius was making her UFC debut. Hansen was competing at 125 pounds for the first time after making her first two Octagon appearances at strawweight.

But Hansen also had something else to overcome: inactivity. She was fighting for the first time since November 2020.

Jasudavicius, 32, from Ontario, Canada, was the sharper fighter, fending off four Hansen takedown attempts in the first round. She earned one of her own, then maintained control the rest of the way. One judge scored all three rounds for Jasudavicius, while the other two had it 29-28. This was Jasudavicius’ third win in a row.

Hansen, a 22-year-old from Fullerton, California, lost her second fight in a row after a three-fight winning streak.

Still to come:

Heavyweight championship: Francis Ngannou (c) (16-3, 11-2 UFC, +130) vs. Ciryl Gane (ic) (10-0, 7-0 UFC, -155)
Men’s flyweight championship: Brandon Moreno (c) (19-5-2, 7-2-2 UFC, -175) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2-1, 9-2-1 UFC, +150)
Welterweight: Michel Pereira (26-11 2 NC, 4-2 NC UFC, -280) vs. Andre Fialho (14-3 1 NC, 0-0 UFC, +230)
Men’s bantamweight: Cody Stamann (19-4-1, 4-3-1 UFC, +160) vs. Said Nurmagomedov (14-2, 3-1 UFC, -190)
Welterweight: Trevin Giles (14-3, 5-3 UFC, +100) vs. Michael Morales (12-0, 0-0 UFC, -120)

(c) = defending champion; (ic) = interim champion



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UFC 257 Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier — Live updates and results

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Conor McGregor is not looking past Dustin Poirier, but “The Notorious” definitely had a big picture in mind as he prepared for their UFC 257 main event Saturday on Fight Island. And that big picture includes staying active and eventually fighting for the lightweight belt.

Current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has made it clear he intends to retire, and it seems a matter of if — not when — Nurmagomedov relinquishes the belt, so Saturday’s main event has huge title implications.

ESPN has Poirier ranked No. 3 and McGregor ranked No. 10 in the world at 155 pounds. It’ll be McGregor’s first fight since a 40-second knockout over Donald Cerrone at UFC 246 in January 2020, and his first time at lightweight since a 2018 loss to Nurmagomedov. McGregor and Poirier fought before, with McGregor winning a featherweight fight by first-round TKO at UFC 178 in 2014.

McGregor (22-4) has won three of his past four fights, with the only loss during that span coming to Nurmagomedov in a title bout. The Ireland native was the first concurrent double champion in UFC history, winning the lightweight belt against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016 while holding the featherweight title. McGregor, 32, is the biggest moneymaker in UFC history and even transcended MMA in 2017, crossing over to boxing in a match against Floyd Mayweather.

Poirier (26-6, 1 NC) has just one loss in his past eight fights, also to Nurmagomedov. The Louisiana native, who trains out of American Top Team in Florida, is coming off a unanimous-decision win over Dan Hooker last June. Poirier, 32, is 10-2 (1 NC) since that 2014 loss to McGregor and has been a perennial contender at lightweight.

In the co-main event, former Bellator three-time lightweight champion Michael Chandler will make his long-awaited UFC debut against Hooker. ESPN has Hooker No. 6 and Chandler No. 7 in the world at lightweight. The winner would also put himself in the title conversation.

Also on the card, Jessica Eye and Joanne Calderwood meet in a women’s flyweight grudge match; Amanda Ribas faces Marina Rodriguez in a women’s strawweight contender bout; and top prospect Arman Tsarukyan takes on Matt Frevola in a lightweight contest.

Fight in progress:

Light heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr. (9-4, 2-2 UFC, -330) vs. Marcin Prachnio (13-5, 0-3 UFC, +260)

Results:

Catchweight (150 pounds): Movsar Evloev (14-0, 4-0 UFC) defeats Nik Lentz (30-12-2 1 NC, 14-9-1 1 NC UFC) by split decision

Movsar Evloev headed to Fight Island with a purpose — to get a number next to his name. It didn’t look promising early, but he ultimately topped UFC veteran Nik Lentz in a 150-pound catchweight fight, and when the next set of featherweight rankings come out, Evloev likely will have just that. Evloev remained undefeated and won the bout by split-decision 29-28, 29-28, 28-29. He has won all four of his UFC bouts by decision.

The fight didn’t start out in Evloev’s favor. The -700 favorite from Russia was caught in a number of Lentz’s guillotine choke attempts in the first round. Evloev remained patient and fought his way out, ultimately landing a few key shots on Lentz in the closing seconds. Even though Evloev was in inferior positions for most of the round, Lentz’s face was bloodied as he walked back to his corner.

The second round showed a different side of Evloev, who landed at will with furious combinations. Lentz went back to the guillotine attempt nearly every time Evloev changed levels, but Evloev was evasive and showed brilliance in the scramble to avoid getting finished.

The third round was nonstop aggression from Evloev with essentially the entire round taking place on the feet. Evloev mixed in some kicks with his never-ending jabs, constantly touching Lentz at all times and putting his cardio to the test.

After the fight, Evloev pleaded to Dana White and asked for a top-15 opponent next.

Lentz has lost his past three bouts. The former D-1 wrestler had the record for most guillotine attempts in UFC history entering the bout with 20, and added to that total throughout the night.

— Andrew Feldman

Watch this fight on ESPN+.

Men’s flyweight: Amir Albazi (14-1, 2-0 UFC) vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov (13-5, 0-2 UFC) by unanimous decision

It’s early in his UFC career, but Albazi sure seems like he’ll be a handful for even the best fighters in the flyweight division.

Albazi defeated Zhumagulov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) in a complete performance to open UFC 257 on Saturday. Albazi got it done with every aspect of MMA, from striking to wrestling to grappling.

“I like to finish fights to be honest,” Albazi said. “But Zhalgas is very tough. I hope to get a finish next time.”

Albazi was in Zhumagulov’s face from the opening bell. Zhumagulov got some licks in early, swinging with hard punches and landing a few of them in the first round. Albazi, though, would not be deterred. He moved forward with feints followed by combinations and never let Zhumagulov truly get comfortable in the cage. He took Zhumagulov down briefly at the end of the round and then did so again in the third, taking Zhumagulov’s back.

Albazi, 27, has won three straight, including his first two in the UFC. The Sweden-born fighter of Iraqi descent has lost only to former UFC flyweight Jose Torres in his career. Zhumagulov, a 32-year-old Kazakhstan native, has dropped two in a row and is still searching for his first UFC victory.

— Raimondi

Watch this fight on ESPN+.

Still to come:

Lightweight: Dustin Poirier (26-6 1 NC, 18-5 1 NC UFC, +250) vs. Conor McGregor (22-4, 10-2 UFC, -310)
Lightweight: Dan Hooker (20-9, 10-5 UFC, -140)vs. Michael Chandler (21-5, 0-0 UFC, +120)
Women’s flyweight: Jessica Eye (15-8 1 NC, 5-7 1 NC UFC +100) vs. Joanne Calderwood (14-5, 6-5 UFC, -120)
Middleweight: Andrew Sanchez (13-5, 5-3 UFC, +120) vs. Makhmud Muradov (24-6, 2-0 UFC, -140)
Strawweight: Marina Rodriguez (12-1-2, 2-1-2 UFC, +260) vs. Amanda Ribas (10-1, 4-0 UFC, -330)
Lightweight: Matt Frevola (8-1-1, 2-1-1 UFC, +475) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (15-2, 2-1 UFC, -650)
Middleweight: Brad Tavares (17-7, 12-6 UFC, -125) vs. Antonio Carlos Junior (11-4 1 NC, 7-4 1 NC UFC, +105)
Women’s bantamweight: Julianna Pena (10-4, 5-2 UFC, +110) vs. Sara McMann (12-5, 6-5 UFC, -130)



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