Up Next! Font Battles Garbrandt On ESPN+!

UFC

It’s a battle of Top 5 bantamweights with a future title shot on the line as No. 3-ranked Rob Font looks to win his fourth straight at the expense of former 135-pound champion and No. 4-ranked veteran Cody Garbrandt….


UFC

It’s a battle of Top 5 bantamweights with a future title shot on the line as No. 3-ranked Rob Font looks to win his fourth straight at the expense of former 135-pound champion and No. 4-ranked veteran Cody Garbrandt.

Event: UFC Vegas 27: “Font vs. Garbrandt”
Date: Sat., May 22, 2021
Location: APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada
Broadcast: ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET | 7 p.m. ET)

UFC Vegas 27 Main Event On ESPN+:

135 lbs.: Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt

UFC Vegas 27 Main Card On ESPN+ (7 p.m. ET):

115 lbs.: Carla Esparza vs. Yan Xiaonan
265 lbs.: Justin Tafa vs. Jared Vanderaa
145 lbs.: Felicia Spencer vs. Norma Dumont
125 lbs.: David Dvorak vs. Raulian Paiva
185 lbs.: Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan

UFC Vegas 27 Prelims Card On ESPN+ (4 p.m. ET):

145 lbs.: Bill Algeo vs. Ricardo Ramos
265 lbs.: Ben Rothwell vs. Chris Barnett
170 lbs.: Court McGee vs. Claudio Silva
125 lbs.: Victor Rodriguez vs. Bruno Silva
145 lbs.: Josh Culibao vs. Yilan Sha
155 lbs.: Damir Hadzovic vs. Yancy Medeiros
155 lbs.: Rafael Alves vs. Damir Ismagulov
135 lbs.: Sarah Alpar vs. Stephanie Egger

*Fight card, bout order and number of fights remain subject to change due to COVID-19.*

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 27 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For more upcoming UFC events click here.

Dominick Reyes Admits Trolls & Social Media Impacted His Mental Health

Dominick Reyes says he went into a dark place after his UFC 253 TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz due to social media and trolls. Entering the fight, Reyes was considered the uncrowned champion as many thought he beat Jon Jones. However, that overconfidence e…

Dominick Reyes says he went into a dark place after his UFC 253 TKO loss to Jan Blachowicz due to social media and trolls. Entering the fight, Reyes was considered the uncrowned champion as many thought he beat Jon Jones. However, that overconfidence ended up costing him as Blachowicz came out strong and scored a […]

Watch Adesanya react to Weidman’s horrifying leg break

Israel Adesanya reacts following his loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Watch Israel Adesanya’s reaction to Chris Weidman’s gruesome injury at UFC 261. Israel Adesanya reacted to Chris W…


UFC 259: Jan Blachowicz v Israel Adesanya
Israel Adesanya reacts following his loss to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Watch Israel Adesanya’s reaction to Chris Weidman’s gruesome injury at UFC 261.

Israel Adesanya reacted to Chris Weidman’s horrifying leg break at UFC 261 as many of us did at home.

‘The Last Stylebender’ was sat comfortably watching TV before jumping out of his seat and shouting ‘what the f-ck’ as Uriah Hall snapped Weidman’s leg with a checked low kick at 0:17 of the first round.

Check out his reaction below, courtesy of @MiracleMMA.

Weidman was stretchered out of the Octagon and immediately taken to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. The former middleweight champ appears to be on the mend and is determined to ‘get through this’, no matter what.

“I just want to let everybody know I’m so thankful for all the love and support. I really wanted to get back to you all. I know Uriah Hall was super classy and upset that this happened to me and I really appreciate that. I know Anderson Silva came out and said some real nice things. It’s pretty brutal, but I’m gonna get through this.”

Adesanya will return to the cage to defend his middleweight title against Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, which is set to take place on June 12 at a TBA location.

UFC signals intent to get into the NFT and cryptocurrency game

The UFC might be upping their digital presence. | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The UFC might be about to start selling non-fungible tokens. UFC parent company ZUFFA LLC…


UFC digital.
The UFC might be upping their digital presence. | Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The UFC might be about to start selling non-fungible tokens.

UFC parent company ZUFFA LLC has reportedly filed a couple of new trademark applications which signal their intent to get in on the current boom in block-chain technology.

Josh Gerben reported the filings, revealing that the UFC have looked to trademark the term ‘UFC’ in relation to cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Both crypotcurrency and NFTs are made on a block-chain, meaning they are digital assets that are created by banks of servers solving complex equations. Once one of these assets is created it is unique and impossible to copy.

NFTs are block-chain created assets with are assigned other forms of media, like artwork. Because block-chain technology allows for this ‘cryptoart’ to be impossible to copy these NFTs can sell for eye-watering amounts of money.

Why people are buying cartoon cats on the blockchain

The NBA has recently hit gold with their NFT program NBA Top Shot. Top Shot users pay cryptocurrency for digital packs of highlights. Each highlight was created in a limited batch and has its own serial number.

Top Shot users buy and sell highlights with high prices being spent on clips with low serial numbers that feature star players. A LeBron James dunk recently sold for over $200,000.

If the UFC follows the NBA’s model we could see UFC fights, highlights or fighter likenesses being turned into NFTs. Current UFC contracts would allow the UFC to do this without consulting fighters or giving fighters a share of what these NFTs could make. If a fighter were to make their own NFTs using footage of them during a UFC fight, they would risk being sued for piracy by the UFC.

Producing NFTs releases an extremely high amounts of carbon, which worsens our current climate crisis. The cryptoart market has also been accused of exploiting artists and other content creators, with NFT makers stealing works and turning them into tokens without consent or the offer of royalties.

Another reason people should be wary of NFTs is because buying an NFT does not mean you are buying the rights to that image, music, video etc. Buying an NBA highlight that is one of 5,000 does not mean you own the rights to that footage. You can’t do anything with that highlight other than watch it and sell it to someone else.

Fight Archives: Bob Sapp gets TKOd by kickboxer half his size

‘The Beast’ Bob Sapp in one of his legendary open-weight bouts.

Size doesn’t always matter. Since we’re now in an era of freakshow fights, I thought I’d chime in on the conversation. Here we have a David vs. Goliath sh…


‘The Beast’ Bob Sapp in one of his legendary open-weight bouts.
‘The Beast’ Bob Sapp in one of his legendary open-weight bouts.

Size doesn’t always matter.

Since we’re now in an era of freakshow fights, I thought I’d chime in on the conversation. Here we have a David vs. Goliath showdown you probably didn’t think you’d want to see.

Bob Sapp is a legend in his own right. In his heyday, the man compiled a total of 64 fights in kickboxing and MMA combined. He’s also infamous for participating in numerous open-weight matchups.

Here he is in his second pro fight at PRIDE 21 in 2002 against Kiyoshi Tamura. With a whopping 140-pound edge over his opponent, Sapp saw fit to throw his weight around. Literally.

Bob Sapp PRIDE 21

Sapp seems to thrive in the undying demand of a good spectacle, which is probably why he decided to take on more open weight bouts. In 2011, he was matched up against Hungarian fighter Tivadar Kunkli in a kickboxing bout in Budapest.

Like usual, Sapp’s obvious game plan was to use his 100-pound weight advantage in his favor. As soon as the fight started, he immediately clinched up for some dirty boxing.

Kunkli, however, was having none of it. He broke off the tie-up and landed a head kick to send the big man down to the canvas. Sapp continued to play his game, but Kunkli now has him figured out.

Bob Sapp kickboxing
Oh-wayy!!!

This seemed to have upset Sapp who then switched to full-on pro-wrestling mode after eating an elbow to the face. It angered the home crowd as cans began flying into the ring.

Sapp re-engages the tie-up, only to eat another hard elbow to the face. He drops to the canvas and is unable to continue. Fight over.

At 47 years old, Sapp continues to fight on. In 2018, he notched his first MMA win in over eight years. Sideshows and controversies from recent years aside, all respect to the man and his body of work.