Marvin Vettori is looking to cut the line into a championship bout after his main event win at UFC on ESPN 19.

Vettori (16-4-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC), who beat Jack Hermansson (21-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s middleweight headliner at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, originally called out Paulo Costa after his win in pursuit of a title shot.

However, not long after, he changed his mind, and said a title bout should be on deck.

“Before I called out ‘Borrachinha,’ but to be honest with you, (expletive) ‘Borrachinha.’ He just came out of a crazy loss. Why would I even fight him?” Vettori told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at the post-fight news conference. “I want to go straight to the title, man. I’ll be honest, I like the fight, but I feel like the top five there’s no opposition. There’s no real opposition.

“(Jared) Cannonier just lost, Darren Till is – I don’t even think he’s top five – ‘Borrachinha’ just lost brutally and Jack was No. 4. (Robert) Whittaker wants to just enjoy Christmas with his kids, but I don’t blame him it just doesn’t really seem like he wants to fight for the title.”

Vettori served as a replacement opponent against Hermansson in their matchup, and ended up putting on a strong performance over five rounds to claim the win. He’s now won four consecutive fights, and is likely to find himself highly ranked at 185 pounds in the coming days.

For the Italian, the win was a big stepping stone to his ultimate goal: A rematch with Israel Adesanya (20-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC). He fought the reigning UFC champ to a split decision at UFC on FOX 29 in April 2018, and has since expressed the belief he deserved the win, which he would solidify in a second showdown.

“Israel is full of (expletive),” Vettori said. “He was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think I will ever see Marvin again, he will never will make it to the title.’ Well guess what mother(expletive)? I’m here. So, he thinks he has it all figured out. He has nothing figured out. I know his true colors. I met him a few times. I fought him. I knew his true colors. I want that fight.”

Vettori brushed off the notion that Adesanya will follow through on a move up to the light heavyweight division, and predicted Glover Teixeira will get the title shot against champ Jan Blachowicz instead.

If Adesanya does get the shot at the 205-pound belt, though, that means Vettori will have to fight someone else.

UFC president Dana White was presented with the idea of a Vettori vs. Costa (13-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) bout, and although he didn’t commit to making it, his interest was obvious.

“I love that fight,” White said at the post-fight news conference. “Love it. We’ll see (if we make it), but I love that fight.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/marvin-vettori-reneges-paulo-costa-plan-wants-israel-adesanya-rematch-ufc-on-espn-19

(Click on the fight below and then scroll down to see in-fight live stats and full results, courtesy of Fight Analytics. Full live results for the first UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori (formerly Hermansson vs. Holland) bout from the Apex in Las Vegas is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Saturday, Dec. 5, on MMAWeekly.com)

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori start times

• UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori main card start time: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+
• UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori prelims start time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on ESPN2 and ESPN+

NOTE: To select the appropriate fight, click on the images with the yellow name plates at the bottom of the Fight Analytics window and drag until you see the fight you are interested in. Quick results are located below the Fight Analytics window.

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori live results

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori takes place on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It is the promotion’s sixth event in Sin City since returning from a five-week, five-event stint at the Flash Forum on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi. The fight promotion will close out 2020 in Las Vegas, though several states, including Nevada, are currently teetering on the brink of a return to at least a partial shutdown because of the global coronavirus pandemic.

UFC President Dana White and Company restarted the professional sports world with UFC 249: Ferguson vs. Gaethje on May 9 followed by two more events in Jacksonville, Fla., all within an eight-day span.

UFC Vegas 16 features a middleweight bout between highly regarded Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori headlines the card. Hermansson was originally supposed to face Kevin Holland in the main event before Holland was forced out after testing positive for COVID-19.

Holland has already been rescheduled to face Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC 256 on Dec. 12. Interestingly, Jacare was originally slated to fight Vettori before Holland’s COVID-19 positive result forced a swap of opponents.

Check out the MMAWeekly.com Rumors page for more scheduled events and rumored fight cards.

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori results

UFC Vegas 16 Main Card (10 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+)

• Main Event: Jack Hermansson vs Marvin Vettori
• Co-Main Event: Ovince Saint Preux vs Jamahal Hill
• Gabriel Benitez vs Justin Jaynes
• Montana De La Rosa vs Taila Santos — COVID Cancellation
• Roman Dolidze def. John Allan by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Nate Landwehr vs Movsar Evloev — COVID Cancellation
• Jordan Leavitt def. Matt Wiman by KO (slam) at 0:22, R1

UFC Vegas 16 Preliminary Card (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN+)

• Louis Smolka def. Jose Quinonez by TKO (punches) at 2:15, R2
• Jimmy Flick vs Cody Durden — Medical Cancellation
• Ilia Topuria def. Damon Jackson by KO (punch) at 2:39, R1
• Jake Collier def. Gian Villante by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori face-offs

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/ufc-vegas-16-hermansson-vs-vettori-live-results-espn-19

UFC Vegas 16 underwent a slew of last-minute cancellations on Saturday just hours prior to the event’s start time. COVID-19 was responsible for the cancellation of two bouts, while medical issue nixed a third bout.

The UFC Vegas 16 fight card is headlined by a middleweight showdown between Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori. That bout was already a late shift in the program.

Hermansson was supposed to have faced Kevin Holland at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, but Holland fell out after testing positive for COVID-19.

Less than a week from the fight, UFC officials shifted Vettori from his UFC 256 bout on Dec. 12 into the UFC Vegas 16 main event opposite Hermansson. In a swap of opponents, Holland has been penciled in to face Vettori’s UFC 256 opponent, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, on the Dec. 12 fight card.

UFC Vegas 16 loses three bouts on fight day

Though Friday’s weigh-in should have signaled the solidification of the UFC Vegas 16 line-up, there were three fight day casualties.

“Due to positive COVID-19 tests, the featherweight bout featuring Nate Landwehr vs. Movsar Evloev and the women’s flyweight bout featuring Montana De La Rosa vs. Taila Santos have been canceled,” read a UFC statement sent to MMAWeekly.com.

“In addition, due to a non-COVID related medical issue with Cody Durden, his flyweight bout against Jimmy Flick has also been canceled.”

New UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori start time

As a result of the bout changes, UFC Vegas 16 will now begin at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Hermansson vs. Vettori remains the five-round main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The entire fight card will be broadcast on ESPN 2 and ESPN Deportes in English and Spanish and simulcast on ESPN+. The main card begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. The prelims will kick off at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.

UFC Vegas 16: Hermansson vs. Vettori Live Results

TRENDING UFC and Yoel Romero part ways

UFC Vegas 16 Face-Offs: Hermansson vs Vettori

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Article source: https://www.mmaweekly.com/saturdays-ufc-vegas-16-loses-three-bouts-just-hours-prior-to-event-start

“As far as takeaways for the next fight, I’m so happy I got that fight in before I got to fight for the title, to be honest. I’m happy that I got another buffer between me and the title. I’m glad that I got to have this fight so that I could get used to being back in the cage.

“It’s not that I necessarily experienced something in this fight that I’m like, ‘Oh man, I really gotta be careful next fight,’ or anything like that. It’s more like, ‘Oh, alright. This is what it’s like to fight with four-ounce gloves again,’ and having someone knee me in the face while you’re on the ground, which is legal in this organization. Just being ready for all that and experiencing it. It’s different than sparring. Doing the actual thing, experiencing the live opponent that’s really trying to hurt you. I needed that again, so I’m glad I got that before I got my title run.”

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/one-championship-122-garry-tonon-explains-beowulf-callout-thanh-le

Jon Jones (right) and Matt Hamill at the TUF 10 Finale weigh-ins.

(Editor’s note: This post originally published aon Feb. 27, 2019.)

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones lost a fight before. What, this is news to you? It really did happen.

The night was Dec. 5, 2009. The event was The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale in Las Vegas. The opponent was Matt Hamill.

It was Jones’ fourth fight in the UFC, and folks already were getting excited about him as a prospect. He was the next hot thing in MMA.

That is, until Hamill dropped the hammer on Jones (not really). More like, with an assist from referee Steve Mazzagatti, Jones was disqualified for dropping illegal elbows and took the L – the only one of his career. Four fights later, Jones was UFC light heavyweight champion for the first time. To this day, nobody has managed to solve the Jones puzzle.

Anthony Smith, against monumental odds, is looking to convince us that he can do just that on Saturday at UFC 235. And so, with their clash on deck, we take a look back at the weird circumstances surrounding Jones’ only defeat that really wasn’t but technically was.

Please enjoy this latest installment of “Beer Goggle History” in the video above.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/12/ufc-jon-jones-vs-matt-hammill-beer-goggle-history