LAS VEGAS – MMA Junkie is on scene and reporting live from Friday’s official UFC Fight Night 245 (ESPN+) fighter weigh-ins at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, which kick off at noon ET (9 a.m. PT).
Among those weighing in are middleweight contenders Anthony Hernandez (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Michel Pereira (31-11 MMA, 9-2 UFC), who meet in the main event, and Rob Font (20-8 MMA, 10-7 UFC) and Kyler Phillips (12-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC), who fight in the bantamweight co-feature.
The full UFC Fight Night 245 weigh-in results include:
Anthony Hernandez has one goal in mind: Get his hands on the UFC middleweight title. The next step for the surging middleweight is a victory in his first promotional main event this weekend.
Hernandez faces Michel Pereira in the headliner of UFC Vegas 99 at the APEX this Saturday. “Fluffy” enters the bout on a five-fight win streak, and believes a victory will send a message to Dana White and company that he’s ready to fight the tippy-top guys at 185 pounds. Eventually, he’d like to make his way to a title fight with current champion Dricus du Plessis, not just for the chance to accomplish his goal, but because of the stylistic matchup it can produce for the fans.
“He mixes it up, you know what I mean,” Hernandez told MMA Fighting. He’s a big, strong motherf*cker but he mixes MMA up very well, and I think it would be a f*cking great fight with him. He’s a tough motherf*cker. He’s got a chin, he can hit. Like, he hits people and puts them to sleep. You know what I mean? It’s an exciting fight to me. That would be f*cking fun.
“And he’s just doing his thing, good on him. I’ll see you soon.”
Advertisement
After losing to Kevin Holland at UFC Jacksonville in May 2020, Hernandez has done nothing but win. But he also learned a valuable lesson in the loss to Holland in that he won’t compete unless he’s as close to 100-percent healthy.
The 30-year-old certainly feels as healthy as he’s ever been as he prepares to face Pereira, who is now 2-0 with a pair of quick finishes since making the move up to middleweight. To say Hernandez was excited to face somebody like Pereira would be a massive understatement.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, the f*cking wild guy, the guy who does backflips,” Hernandez said. “I really don’t watch f*cking fighting that much, but I know who he was because that motherf*cker, he’s dope to watch, I’m not gonna lie. He f*cking does backflips and shit. I’m like, ‘Bro, I can’t do none of that shit.’ Motherf*cker is like a f*cking freak athlete, all like backflips and like all that fancy shit.
“But now I’m f*cking stoked. This is one of those fights where I see Fight of the Night all over it because we’re both some tough motherf*ckers. We both can take a shot and we’re both f*cking pretty violent, you know what I mean? So I’m f*cking stoked for this fight. It’s going to be a f*cking big test and I’m looking forward to showing you guys how I do that shit.”
Advertisement
Hernandez is known for his finishing ability, a fan-friendly style, but also the incredible pace he puts on his opponents. He plans on doing the same thing to Pereira
“I think my style is perfect to beat him,” Hernandez explained. “I just have to have my hands up and not get caught with no crazy shit. I mean, he’s f*cking wild. He’s calmed down a lot… I’ve noticed he’s, he knocked the last two 185 [pounders] out with just straight rights.
“So yeah, I don’t plan on standing in front of him in the distance. I plan on fighting this motherf*cker and taking it to him. I know that he has like wild, f*cking crazy two rounds, but I’m in shape for 10 so I can keep that pace for all five.
“I hope he’s in shape, that’s all I’ve got to say.”
The former UFC heavyweight champion finally returns to MMA after almost over two and a half years away from the sport. Ngannou takes on PFL champion Renan Ferreira in the main event of PFL: Battle of the Giants this Saturday in Saudi Arabia, and plenty has happened (and not happened) in the heavyweight landscape.
Is Ngannou still considered the best heavyweight in MMA today? What can we expect from his return? Does Ferreira have a solid chance at pulling off the upset?
Advertisement
MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Matthew Wells, Danny Segura, and host Gorgeous George discuss Ngannou’s return at PFL: Battle of the Giants, along with other key bouts on the card, including Cris Cyborg vs. Larissa Pacheco.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there’s an MMA show every other day.
As you may have heard, there’s rumors currently swirling around the top of the bantamweight division, with Umar Nurmagomedov supposedly fighting Song Yadong soon instead of getting an expected title shot against Merab Dvalishvili. That’s led to further speculation that Dvalishvili could take on Sean O’Malley in an immediate rematch, which makes no sense, but this is the world we’re living in now.
I bring all this up to say that if O’Malley needs advice on how to deal with Dvalishvili’s relentless wrestling offense, well, I know I a guy.
(Big thanks as always to @Barrelelapierna for their weekly lists of the best KOs and submissions, and to @Grabaka_Hitman for uploading many of the clips you see here. Give them a follow and chip in on Patreon if you can.)
Advertisement
Turpal Gediev vs. Raatbek Kambarov
Hey, “Suga,” why didn’t you just do this to stop Dvalishvili’s takedowns?
At an Integra FC 19 show in Tbilisi, Georgia, Turpal Gediev made fighting look so easy as he stopped a shooting Raatbek Kambarov by simply spinning and planting his foot in his face. Seriously, this technique would have saved O’Malley a lot of trouble (and posting on social media).
Often, I’d call this sort of thing a fluke, like maybe Gediev was planning to kick the body and Kambarov just happened to duck into it, but after several replays, it actually looks like Gediev might have set that up. Either that or he made an incredible read-and-react play, which is mind-blowing in itself.
Will Fleury vs. Pavol Langer Max Holzer vs. Mohammed Sadok Trabelsi
This news may have flown under the radar in North America, but over in Europe there was no bigger story than Oktagon MMA cramming 59,000-plus rabid MMA fans into Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany.
Advertisement
Though exact numbers are difficult to verify, as with any combat sports event, it’s clear that OKTAGON 62 was a smashing success, and the promotion has truly built something special even without larger-than-life names in the lineup.
NEW ATTENDANCE RECORD
OKTAGON 62 has set the official record for an MMA event attendance this past Saturday with 59,148 fans filling Deutsche Bank Park Stadium in Frankfurt.
This was only made possible by our incredible OKTAGON MMA fans! Together, we all made history! pic.twitter.com/XxrdqUpreV
Those long walkouts can kill your cardio, a trap that the wise-beyond-his-years Holzer deftly avoided. Not coincidentally (IMHO), he finished his opponent in Round 3 to improve to 9-0 as a pro.
Advertisement
Adrian Bleszynski vs. Samuel Vogt
Speaking of late finishes, Adrian Bleszynski capped off a win in the fourth with this grueling finish of Samuel Vogt in the main event of Babilon MMA 48 in Sosnowiec, Poland.
That wasn’t exactly the most effective use of guard by Vogt. Great patience by Bleszynski to pick his shots and find a home for some accurate and heavy leather to shut Vogt’s lights off.
Andre Borges vs. Rodrigo Lidio Inglesson de Lara vs. Marlon Brito Anderson Ferreira vs. Walber dos Anjos
The knockouts were flowing at Centurion FC 23 in Rio de Janeiro, with both of the evening’s title fights ending via fisticuffs.
Andre Borges claimed Rodrigo Lidio’s welterweight title in violent fashion, loading up a left hand and letting Lidio have it just seven seconds into Round 2.
Advertisement
That’s three straight wins now for Borges, who has been one or two good wins away from signing with a larger promotion. He has losses to The Ultimate Fighter 32 winner Mairon Santos and recent UFC competitor Nick Fiore, names that could have pushed him towards a Contender Series opportunity had the result gone the other way. At 33, it might be too late for Borges to get that call, so he’ll have to settle on busting heads on the regional scene, which he’s doing just fine.
Inglesson de Lara, though? He has future UFC fighter written all over him. The 30-year-old lightweight claimed a vacant title on Saturday with a gorgeous body shot knockout of Marlon Brito.
What looked like a routine striking exchange turned out to be the end for Brito as his insides gave out on him. De Lara improves to 10-1 with the win.
Anderson Ferreira unleashed the best in the semifinals of the CFC one-night tournament, clipping Walber dos Anjos with a right hand, bonking him with a hammerfist, and then ruining him with a head kick.
Advertisement
Unfortunately for Ferreira, he’d later go on to lose by first-round submission to Paulo Henrique in the finals, but man, what a KO.
Kai Katayama vs. Shota Arikawa
What were you doing when you were 16? I wasn’t delivering highlight-reel knockouts, that’s for sure.
Kai Katayama, on the other hand…
Those legs are absolute thunder and you can’t help but feel for Shota Arikawa, who just happened to get caught in the storm.
Advertisement
Best of all, Lucas Bourdon’s note-perfect description of Katayama’s fighting fit.
Shootboxing pants, gladiator skirt AND prajieds? Kid is a RPG character in the mid-game when you have pieces from 3 different armor sets for the stat boosts. https://t.co/URF3tpljn0
If you know of a recent fight or event that you think may have been overlooked, or a promotion that could use some attention, please let us know on X — @AlexanderKLee — using the hashtag #MissedFists.
Francis Ngannou and Renan Ferreira meet Saturday in the main event of PFL: Battle of the Giants at The Mayadeen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom.
Francis Ngannou vs Renan Ferreira PFL Super Fights preview
Ngannou (17-3) hasn’t competed in MMA since successfully defending the UFC heavyweight championship against Ciryl Gane in January 2022. Ngannou fought Tyson Fury and lost a split decision then followed up that sterling performance by taking on Anthony Joshua this past March, a fight in which he was dominated and lost by second-round knockout. In MMA, Ngannou has won six fights in a row dating back to November 2018, with five finishes during that span. … Ferreira (13-3) is the reigning 2023 PFL heavyweight champion after scoring three knockouts last season. Ferreira is coming off a 21-second dismantling of Bellator heavyweight champ Ryan Bader this past February.
Francis Ngannou vs Renan Ferreira expert pick, prediction
A PFL heavyweight tournament winner who is already accruing an insane highlight reel, Ferreira has proven to be an undeniable force in this weight class.
Not only is Ferreira massive in all the measurements that are the primary talking points for MMA pundits and gamblers alike, but the Brazilian can move surprisingly well for a man of his size and skills only appear to be improving since he moved shop stateside to train at American Top Team.
Advertisement
Although Ferreira’s ground game is still a work in progress, “Problema” has been seemingly upgrading his striking presence a la Alex Pereira imitations in the way in which he’s jabbing to the body and kicking at calves.
These weapons, of course, will be a potent two-way street when facing a fighter with some length parity who can also jab and low kick.
Enter Ngannou.
Jan 22, 2022; Anaheim, California, USA; Francis Ngannou (red gloves) before his fight against Ciryl Gane during UFC 270 at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Advertisement
Although MMA’s beloved lineal heavyweight champ was last seen hitting the canvas opposite Anthony Joshua in a boxing bout, it’s hard to question the life-changing power that Ngannou possesses.
From the lead-hand work he displayed against Stipe Miocic to the ability to adjust demonstrated against Ciryl Gane, Ngannou – with the help of bright minds like Eric Nicksick and company – will undoubtedly be the more flexible fighter from a tactical standpoint.
That said, for as natural as wrestling has seemingly come to Ngannou, it’s hard to know just how sharp those tools will be given everything that has been going on in his life (in and out of the ring).
For that reason, I can understand why anyone would be tempted to take a flier on the underdog in Ferreira.
Advertisement
Aside from heavyweight MMA being the most volatile sector of a volatile sport, Ferreira has legitimate counters that could hurt Ngannou that range from intercepting hooks to sneaky lifting knees. In fact, I believe that countering will be a key dynamic in this contest.
For as good as Ferreira’s offense is, the towering Brazilian is not beyond being countered. However, Ferreira is also at his best when he is the one with the striking initiative, so being able to take that away from the PFL tournament champion is also a big factor for those who have had success against him – – which is usually accomplished via a heavy wrestling-based attack.
I’m not sure if Ngannou can or will come out of the gate looking to wrestle, but I do suspect that those opportunities will naturally present themselves the longer this fight progresses. I also think that Ngannou’s countering presence will be a factor regarding winning or stalemating exchanges (as I wouldn’t be entirely shocked to see portions of this fight resemble the staring contest Ngannou had with Derrick Lewis).
Aggressive exchanges will be your usual heavyweight coin flip scenarios, but I can’t help but stick with Ngannou as far as a side goes.
Advertisement
My inherent bias toward Ngannou’s camp aside, Ngannou is the more proven product both on the feet and the floor.
I’ll be happy to see Ferreira get his guaranteed $2 million, but the official pick – so long as neither party immediately steals the other’s consciousness – is for Ngannou to drag things out a bit from a shaky start to find a ground-and-pound stoppage by the end of Round 3.
Francis Ngannou vs Renan Ferreira odds
Despite the oddsmakers opening the champion as a wider favorite, public money has come trickling in on the challenger, listing Ngannou (-310) and Ferreira (+225) via FanDuel.
Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira start time, how to watch
As the main event, Ngannou and Ferreira are expected to walk out to the cage at approximately 7 p.m. ET. The fight will stream on ESPN+ pay-per-view in the U.S. and DAZN pay-per-view internationally.
The first six games of the season for the Dallas Cowboys have felt more like six years. They’ve seen their Super Bowl dreams deteriorate. They’ve seen all their old problems resurface. They’ve even lost all three of their games at home.
And boy, do they ever need their bye week after their humiliating, 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions last Sunday. They are beaten, bruised and their egos are battered. It is the perfect time for a rest.
Advertisement
But as they take their break, there’s no avoiding how bad the start to their season has been at times. Even their 3-0 start on the road has been propped up by games against the Browns (1-5) and Giants (2-4). It’s not all terrible. They are a .500 team and they’re only one game back in the NFC East race.
It just hasn’t been the championship-caliber start they expected in a season when their owner promised they were “all in.”
So, as the Cowboys take stock of where they are, FOX Sports NFL writers David Helman and Ralph Vacchiano will do that too, turning this week’s Cowboys corner into a not-quite-midseason report card. Here are the grades for some key people and the team overall:
Head Coach Mike McCarthy
Advertisement
Helman: I’ve been a longtime defender of McCarthy, because he’s brought a level of stability to Dallas that the organization hadn’t seen in decades. You can scoff at the playoff failures all you want, but 2021-23 was the first time the Cowboys had strung together three consecutive playoff appearances since they were winning championships in the 90s.
With all of that said, I’m just not sure what I’m supposed to defend six weeks into 2024. This team looks mostly abysmal on both sides of the ball, and a lot of that lies at McCarthy’s feet. He certainly deserves some blame for a shaky offensive performance, as he is in his second year as the playcaller. Everything looks hard for that unit. The Cowboys can’t run the ball, their receivers can’t generate separation and they can’t convert in the red zone. There are no “easy” buttons in this offense. Some of that might be on the front office for failing to upgrade the personnel, but a good playcaller can negate some of that. McCarthy has not.
McCarthy might not oversee the Dallas defense on a day-to-day level, but as the head coach, he still bears some responsibility for that side of the ball — which, yikes.
All in all, I’ll give McCarthy credit that the team is 3-3, and the Cowboys have managed to outplay some of the manageable teams on their schedule. That’s not the expectation or the standard in Dallas, though.
Vacchiano: The bar for the Cowboys quarterback is high because he’s got MVP talent. But he’s really treading a dangerous line this season because he knows he has to carry his one-dimensional team and he really doesn’t have a great array of weapons. The result is that he tends to force throws at times, which is a big reason why he’s got six interceptions so far and nearly had a few more.
To be fair, he kind of has to force some of those throws. He needs to make things happen, because no one else on offense will. And the defenses are just waiting for him, because they certainly don’t respect the Dallas run game. But unfortunately for Prescott, he needs to recapture his MVP form for the Cowboys to be any good. That means he has to do better than the eight touchdown passes he’s thrown in his six starts, and cut down on his interceptions since he’s on pace for what would be a ridiculous (and career-high) 17. The turnovers, especially, have to stop, regardless of the circumstances.
Advertisement
Grade: B
Owner/GM Jerry Jones
Vacchiano: He already got an F for the offseason when he passed on all the available running backs (including Derrick Henry, who got just $9 million guaranteed from Baltimore). Now he’s passed on available receivers like Davante Adams (traded to the Jets) and old friend Amari Cooper (traded to the Bills). Meanwhile, he continues to make the laughable excuse that they don’t have the salary cap room to add any outside help.
He does get credit for locking up Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to long-term contract extensions and for his plan to lock up Micah Parsons in the offseason. That’s great for the future, but what about the now? Maybe he’ll wake up before the trading deadline. But for now, the only good thing Jones has done to help his team is not panic. He could become reactionary and fire McCarthy or something. But he at least is smart enough to recognize they’re just one game back in the NFC East and the division and conference are very ripe for the taking. He just has to do something to help them take it.
Advertisement
Grade: D
Offense
Vacchiano: The Cowboys have the NFL’s 14th-ranked offense, and it’s only that high because of Prescott and Lamb. There is nothing else they have going for them. They are arguably the most one-dimensional team in the NFL. That is going to be a huge problem for them going forward.
Granted, Prescott and Lamb are good enough to carry this offense a long way, especially if they get hot. But the offensive line is starting to show cracks, and that really won’t help a rushing attack that ranks dead last in the NFL, generating just 77.2 yards per game. That’s pathetic, but not surprising considering the Cowboys decided pairing Rico Dowdle with whatever is left of Ezekiel Elliott was somehow a good idea.
Advertisement
If they don’t develop (or find) a running game or at least a second option in the passing game, they are doomed to have a middling offense all year.
Grade: B-
Mike McCarthy responds to ‘soft’ label for Cowboys following blowout loss to Lions
Defense
Helman: I’m going to give Mike Zimmer some credit for the factors here that are outside his control. For starters, injuries have been a real thing. Zimmer has yet to have both of his primary corners, Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, available together for a game. That matters for the type of defenses he likes to run. Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence have both also been out now for two weeks, which makes life tough on the pass rush. Eric Kendricks also sat out of the debacle against Detroit.
That stuff does matter. It’s not a good enough of an excuse, though — not considering the depth of ineptitude we’ve seen to this point. The Cowboys were mostly healthy in Week 2 when the Saints ran over them to the tune of 190 yards, and it’s been that bad ever since. Consider this fun stat: In their three losses, their opponents have had 31 total possessions. They’ve scored on 20 of those 31 possessions, which means the Cowboys are allowing points 65% of the time their opponent touches the ball. The Saints and Lions both scored on every possession of the first half! Even if the Dallas offense was playing well, it’d be impossible to win games playing that way. They’re the worst run defense in the league and their pass defense doesn’t do much to offset that issue. It’s a brutal combination. They aren’t even getting takeaways to offset these problems, with just five on the year.
Advertisement
I’m not convinced it’s all Zimmer’s fault between injuries and a lack of personnel, but he also knew what he signed up for when he agreed to join on with a front office that doesn’t spend in free agency and a head coach who is in the last year of his contract. Even with all the variables, this level of execution just isn’t good enough from an NFL defense.
Grade: F
Special Teams
Helman: Finally, something encouraging.
It might not count for much with all of the other issues, but Brandon Aubrey can officially stake his claim as the best kicker in football. The guy has been on an absolute heater, leading the league with 17 made field goals and just two misses on the year. Roughly half of those attempts have come from beyond 50 yards, with a mind-bending long of 65. It speaks to the Cowboys’ ineptitude on offense that Aubrey is routinely kicking from beyond the 35-yard line — but at least he’s justifying those decisions.
Advertisement
Aubrey’s ability to hit kicks from the logo means Bryan Anger hasn’t had to do as much work. The Cowboys’ punter has just 17 attempts this year, which is one of the lower totals in the league.
Add in the fact that KaVontae Turpin has been one of the league’s most dangerous returners in both the kick and punt game, and this is pretty much the only aspect of this Cowboys team worth feeling good about.
Vacchiano: A 3-3 record is OK. Being one game out of the division lead is OK, especially with 11 games still to go. In fact, for the most part, the Cowboys’ start to this season has been generally OK.
The problem is that they set their own bar higher than just OK. It’s not OK that they are so up and down in a year when they were so convinced that they had enough to make a Super Bowl run that they sat out the free-agent market. It’s not OK that coming off three straight 12-win seasons they somehow have to go 9-2 the rest of the way to do it again. And it’s not OK that they are 0-3 at home and two of the losses were by a combined score of 91-28. In fact, all three would have been blowouts if they hadn’t mounted a furious and futile late rally against the Ravens.
If they were a team starting over, or a perennial loser like the Jets, then sure, they could pop the champagne over this and get a mediocre grade. But the standard, as they say, is the standard. And they’re not meeting it right now.
Advertisement
Grade: C
Helman: The record says they’re mediocre, but man this is one of the worst 3-3 teams I can remember watching. To illustrate my point, here’s a fun stat: there are four other 3-3 teams in the NFL right now. Those four teams have point differentials of +32, +16, 0 and -4. The Cowboys’ point differential is -42. They’re escaping by an average margin of 8 points in their wins and getting run out of the building by an average of 22 points in their losses.
So, to Ralph’s point, they’re certainly not meeting the expectation of reaching the playoffs and going beyond. But in addition, they just don’t look like a quality football team right now. Even their wins haven’t been something to get excited about.
The one bright spot is that they’ve done enough to stay in the conversation. They’re .500 and they do have a 1-0 record in the division, which isn’t a terrible place to be. But it’s going to take some serious soul-searching to right the ship. After this week off, it’s back-to-back road trips to San Francisco and Atlanta, followed by home games against Houston and Philadelphia. Then, another road trip to face the upstart Commanders. The next five opponents currently have a combined record of 19-10, and the Cowboys will be lucky to be favored in one of those games. The season’s not over, but it’s on the ropes.
Advertisement
Grade: D
David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He previously spent nine seasons covering the Cowboys for the team’s official website. In 2018, he won a regional Emmy for his role in producing “Dak Prescott: A Family Reunion” about the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Follow him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.
Ralph Vacchiano is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login