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The three most compelling fighters are all strangely sidelined and Justin Gaethje’s barnburner was just the performance to steer his future towards a belt. Interim or otherwise.

If Cerrone vs Iaquinta is a stinker (unlikely, but possible) then the contender-rich lightweight division will all of a sudden have an Interim Champ of either Dustin Poirier or Max Holloway, and only one man ready to fight for a belt: The Highlight.

Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Chris.

Tony who? UFC featherweight champion, Max Holloway, has an opportunity to avenge his 2012 loss to Dustin Poirier when “Blessed” jumps up to the lightweight division to battle “The Diamond” for the division’s interim title, caused by the extended absence of suspended 155-pound kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov. In the UFC 236 co-headliner, another substitute strap will be up for grabs, thanks to an injury to Robert Whittaker, when Kelvin Gastelum tries to shut down middleweight striking sensation, Israel Adesanya.

Event: UFC 236: “Holloway vs. Poirier 2”
Date: Sat., April 13, 2019
Location: State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia
Broadcast: Pay-per-view (PPV), ESPN, ESPN+

UFC 236 Main Event:

155 lbs.: Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier for interim lightweight championship

UFC 236 Co-Main Event:

185 lbs.: Kelvin Gastelum vs. Israel Adesanya for interim middleweight championship

UFC 236 PPV Main Card (10 p.m. ET):

205 lbs.: Eryk Anders vs. Khalil Rountree
170 lbs.: Dwight Grant vs. Alan Jouban
205 lbs.: Nikita Krylov vs. Ovince Saint Preux

UFC 236 ESPN Prelims (8 p.m. ET):

155 lbs.: Matt Frevola vs. Jalin Turner
125 lbs.: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Wilson Reis
170 lbs.: Max Griffin vs. Zelim Imadaev
135 lbs.: Boston Salmon vs. Khalid Taha

UFC 236 ESPN+ Prelims (6 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Curtis Millender vs. Belal Muhammad
135 lbs.: Montel Jackson vs. Andre Soukhamthath
125 lbs.: Poliana Botelho vs. Lauren Mueller
135 lbs.: Randy Costa vs. Brandon Davis

*Fight card, bout order and the amount of matches subject to change.

For more upcoming UFC events click here.

Prior to Justin Gaethje facing Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 back in 2017, Eddie proclaimed the winner would be dubbed “UFC’s Most Violent Man.” After intense back-and-forth action, Alvarez managed to knockout Gaethje to not only win the award, but also hand “The Highlight” his first ever loss.

Fast forward to a year and a half later, and the title to the most violent man in the world has gone to Gaethje. That’s according to UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, who was floored by “The Highlight’s” first round knockout win over Edson Barboza last night (March 30, 2019) at UFC on ESPN 2 (see it again here).

“To be considered the most violent man in the most violent sport in the world is a fucking crazy position, but in my mind @justin_gaethje is that man,” said Rogan via a Facebook post.

“Congrats on an incredible KO victory last night over one of the most dangerous strikers in the sport!”

Move over, Francis.

Indeed, Justin has left behind a path of destruction over the course of his eight year career to the tune of 17 knockout victories. During his time inside the UFC’s Octagon, he’s knocked out James Vick, Michael Johnson and Barboza rather violently.

Known for pushing the pace and never backing down, even against an aggressive foe, Justin truly leaves it all in the cage, which is why he has become a fan-favorite and one of the most-anticipated fighters to watch compete.

Of course, his aggressiveness has at times cost him, suffering knockout defeats to Eddie Alvarez and Dustin Poirier after perhaps going in a bit overzealous. Still, it’s his style that has made him who he is today; which is one of the most exciting and feared fighters regardless of weight class.

Now, the question remains: Is he violent enough to hand Khabib Nurmagomedov his first-ever defeat?

Edson Barboza may not have won in the Octagon last night, but he gained something much more special just a few hours later.

In the main event of UFC Philadelphia, Justin Gaethje and Edson Barboza went to war. Unfortunately for Barboza he came up on the short end of the stick, suffering a knockout loss in the first round. While losing a fight is just about the worst thing that can happen to a fighter, Barboza’s day did a 180 pretty quickly.

Right after the fight the Brazilian fighter headed back to Florida to be with his wife Bruna, who was about to give birth. Barboza is now the proud father of a daughter named Victoria. He posted the happy news on social media:

His wife also posted a photo of Edson, the newborn Victoria, and his son Noah:

Aww.

Barboza can now kick back and enjoy fatherhood for a bit while the UFC sorts out what’s next for him in the tough lightweight division. The loss was his third in his last four fights, but he’s been fighting elite competition the whole time.

Following one of the most bizarre incidents in boxing in a long time, Kash Ali attempts to explain why he bit his opponent’s stomach and got disqualified.

Crazy and bizarre things happen in combat sports. As fans, we’ve seem all sorts of stuff that catches us completely off guard. Two men get into a fight, and sometimes emotions take over. But British boxer Kash Ali took that to a whole new level in Liverpool over the weekend.

Ali was fighting David Price, and doing pretty well. But in the fifth round, he just decided to tackle his opponent to the floor after getting clipped with a shot. And bite him on the stomach.

Seriously. Don’t believe me? Here’s all the video of the incident.

He was obviously disqualified. After the fight, Ali talked to IFL.tv about the incident, and his explanation is almost as bizarre as his actions (transcribed by Bad Left Hook):

“It was out of order what happened. I thought it was a good fight. I had him hurt in the fifth, I could’ve stopped him, which I would’ve — I ended up wrestling him down. Stupid thing, what I did. Ridiculous. There’s no excuses for it.”

“I think just the build-up for the fight — it’s my first time boxing on a big stage, I was so pumped up, I just wanted to fight,” Ali said. “The street mentality kicked in. That was stupid. The worst thing is, it’s not like I was behind or getting my ass kicked or nothing. He even said to me afterwards, ‘You had me beat there.’ I just apologize to all the fans. I’m sorry to everyone. It won’t happen again.”

He is asked what was going through his head at the time:

“When I ended up on top of him, I’m just thinking — this is f—king stupid — boxing went out the window, I thought, ‘This is a fight now,’” he said. “I should’ve kept my cool and thought about getting back up and knocking him out. But it was stupid. I have nothing else to say. It was out of order, and I apologize to him.”

Wow.