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Dana White finally confirmed Aljamain Sterling as the #1 contender for the 135 pound belt.

Dana White was more nebulous than a magic 8-ball after UFC on ESPN 15 when it came to fight announcements. Eschewing any solid ‘Yes’ for the most part, we got a lot of ‘Probably’ and ‘Most Likely’ answers during Saturday’s post-event press conference. ‘Probably’ when it came to Tony Ferguson vs. Dustion Poirier, and then ‘Most Likely’ when it came to Petr Yan’s next bantamweight title challenger.

Unfortunately for Frankie Edgar, it’s not gonna be him based on his gutsy split decision win over Pedro Munhoz in the main event (watch the highlights here).

“There’s some things that have to play out and there’s people ahead of him,” White said. “He put on a good showing tonight and put himself in a good position, but … he’s got some work to do there … Two [more fights] or one, we don’t know, it depends on who he fights next.”

That’s very good news for Aljamain Sterling, who has been the consensus #1 contender at bantamweight according to pretty much everyone BUT White. After weeks of waffling and ‘Ask Again Later’ answers, the UFC president finally gave Sterling his due.

“It’s more than likely going to be Sterling,” he told Heidi Androl on the ESPN+ post-show.

A very happy sounding Sterling took to Twitter to celebrate that mild acknowledgement.

Of course, all of this is contingent on the UFC being able to get Yan and Sterling to sign on the dotted line. We’re sure Yan’s management probably want a more bankable name that isn’t likely to drag him to the mat and dominate him with wrestling. And we’re sure Sterling wants to get paid, something the UFC is surprisingly reluctant to do when it comes to lower weight contenders (example: Henry Cejudo taking a pay cut to rematch Demetrious Johnson).

Let’s hope the UFC manages to put the pieces together, cuz this would be one hell of an end of year scrap.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Former UFC champion Frankie Edgar feels he silenced critics after winning his bantamweight debut against Pedro Munhoz on Saturday.

On Saturday night, Frankie Edgar stepped inside the Octagon as a bantamweight, his third weight class in the UFC. The 38-year-old ex-lightweight champion came out victorious with a split decision verdict over Pedro Munhoz.

Edgar primarily utilized his combination punching for five rounds to carry himself to victory against the harder-hitting Munhoz. After the dust settled, “The Answer” felt completely satisfied with his first jump at 135 pounds.

“I got my feet wet,” Edgar told Jon Anik during the post-fight interview. “I think the sky’s the limit for myself. I didn’t look slow in there. Pedro’s a top dog, and that makes me a top dog.”

With back-to-back losses entering the contest, a lot of doubt was cast over Edgar and his capability to compete at the highest level. After a victory over the number five-ranked contender, he feels he proved all of his detractors wrong.

“I head a lot of MFers barking that I’m old, I’m slow,” Edgar said. “I definitely proved them all wrong. I still got some fight in this tank, baby, and we’re gonna make a run at 135.

“He was number five and that (win) might’ve put me in the top five. Three weight classes, I’m showing I could compete with the best at 38 years old. I don’t want to hear nothing from anybody.”

The win over Munhoz ended Edgar’s two-year victory drought as he improves to record of 24-8-1 (with 11 wins by stoppage).

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

UFC on ESPN 15 went down last night (Sat., Aug. 22, 2020) from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada featuring a Bantamweight bout between Frankie Edgar and Pedro Munhoz. After 25 minutes of back-and-forth action, “The Answer” won a split-decision (highlights). In the co-headlining act, Mike Rodriguez knocked out Marcin Prachnio in the very first round to pick up his first win in 1.5 years (see it here).

Winner: Frankie Edgar

Who He Should Fight Next: Dominick Cruz

Edgar made good on his Bantamweight debut by narrowly defeating Pedro Munhoz after five rounds of action. And no, Ali, it wasn’t a good enough win for a title shot. What I do want for “The Answer” next is a match up against former division king, Dominick Cruz. “The Dominator” hasn’t competed since getting knocked out by Henry Cejudo earlier this year. Both he and Edgar are as seasoned as they come and they have some of the best foot work in the business. Two former champions, all-time greats, mixing it up…what’s not to like? A win for either man here could be the fast track back to title contention.

Winner: Mike Rodriguez

WHo He Should Face Next: Ovince Saint Preux

Rodriguez scored an impressive first-round knockout win over Marcin Prachnio in the very first round, giving him a win in his first-ever co-headlining duties. It was a great way to seize the moment for Rodriguez who was bumped up after Ovince Saint Preux was forced to bow out of his fight against Alonzo Menifield. That’s why I feel he deserves a chance to face “OSP” next. The former 205-pound title contender hasn’t exactly looked great as of late, but it would still be a huge notch on Mike’s belt if he can pull of a win.

Winner: Joe Solecki

Who He Should Face Next: Mark Madsen

Solecki is now 2-0 inside the Octagon following his standing rear-naked choke victory over Austin Hubbard. He remains undefeated at 10-0 and has shown much promise in his young combat career. A fight against Madsen sounds appealing given the fact that they both just defeated Hubbard and they are relatively young in their UFC careers, both with two wins a piece. Madsen obviously has the wrestling advantage, but Solecki has a better overall MMA game. It’s an interesting match up that isn’t as easy as it seems to predict.

Winner: Shana Dobson

Who He Should Face Next: Ashley Yoder

Dobson lived to fight another day inside the Octagon after snapping her three-fight losing streak with a win over Mariya Agapova via second round technical knockout (TKO). She shouldn’t expect UFC to roll out the red carpet for her anytime soon, though, since she has a ton of ground to make up following her skid. A fight against Yoder — another struggling combatant with two straight losses — sounds about right. Yoder came up short against Randa Markos and Livia Renata Souza so she needs a win in the worst way. While one win over Dobson won’t raise her stock all that much it will help her keep her spot on the bloated UFC roster.

Winner: Daniel Rodriguez

Who He Should Fight Next: Alan Jouban

Rodriguez has won nine straight and is 3-0 inside the Octagon after defeating Dwight Grant via first-round knockout. Jouban, meanwhile, signed a new UFC deal after losing to, you guessed it, Dwight Grant, over a year ago. Jouban obviously has the experience advantage here but he is just 1-3 in his last four fights dating back to 2017. A fight against Rodriguez might not be the type of name Jouban is looking for, but given his skid he isn’t in the position to be turning down anything.

For complete UFC on ESPN 15 results and coverage click here.

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Bellator MMA is reportedly headed to CBS Sports Network.

Bellator MMA’s television home has been Paramount Network (formerly Spike TV) since 2013, but that’s reportedly coming to an end after next month.

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reports that the Viacom owned promotion will leave Paramount after its September 12th event (headlined by Juan Archuleta vs. Patrick Mix for the bantamweight title). As for what’s next, CBS Sports Network beckons.

Ratings for Bellator MMA have noticeably sagged over the past couple of years, particularly since Spike rebranded as Paramount Network, and cable companies such as Comcast took it off basic cable packages. CBS Sports Network does not have too many major live sports contracts outside of UEFA Champions League soccer and lower-level college football games, so viewership is unlikely to shoot back up to what we saw from around 2013-2017. However, CBS Sports Network does have the Bellator MMA: Recharged program, which showcases some of the promotion’s best moments over the years, so it’s only logical to get live fights as well.

By the way, Bellator still has a contract with DAZN but DAZN has noticeably been shedding sports rights around the world and is having a significant problem getting big boxing matches booked with a reduced budget. Helwani also reports that the Bellator-DAZN partnership is uncertain.

If all holds true then you can expect to find Bellator on CBS Sports Network in the immediate future, and perhaps occasionally on CBS and Showtime down the line.