Author: Dan Hiergesell

One of the biggest boxing matches of the year will unfold later tonight (Sat., April 16, 2022) live on Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., as WBC/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (27-0, 21 KO) makes his return to the boxing ring against WBA welterweight champion Yordenas Ugas (27-4, 12 KO).

Spence, who is one of the pound-for-pound best fighters in the world today, hasn’t competed since a decision win over Danny Garcia back in Dec. 2020. The 32-year-old fighter was scheduled to fight Manny Pacquiao in Aug. 2021, but Spence suffered a nasty retinal tear that forced him to withdraw from the fight. He’ll look to make his return to the ring later tonight in effort to claim another welterweight strap.

Ugas, on the other hand, is coming off the biggest win of his professional career. The Cuban fighter ended up taking Spence’s spot against Pacquiao last August and earned an upset decision win over the boxing legend. The victory extended Ugas’ current win streak to four and catapulted him into this title unification bout with Spence.

It’s a welterweight clash you won’t want to miss. Check out below for all the ways to catch the action later tonight on PPV:

Start Time

• Sat., April 16, 2022, from inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
• Main card begins at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.
• ‘Spence Jr. vs. Ugas’ main event will begin around midnight ET

Online Viewing

• ‘Spence Jr. vs. Ugas’ PPV main card can be purchased through the Showtime Sports network for $74.99.

Television Viewing

• ‘Spence Jr. vs. Ugas’ PPV main card can be purchased through Showtime via Apple TV (4th Gen+), Roku, Fire TV, Xbox One, and Android TV.
• You can also check with your local cable/satellite provider to order the ‘Spence Jr. vs. Ugas’ PPV main card.

Mobile Viewing

• ‘Spence Jr. vs. Ugas’ PPV main card will be accessible through the Showtime app. Click HERE for details.

Main card

• Welterweight: Errol Spence, Jr. (c) vs. Yordenis Ugas (c)
• Lightweight: Isaac Cruz vs. Yuriokis Gamboa
• Lightweight: Jose Valenzuela vs. Francisco Vargas
• Welterweight: Cody Crowley vs. Josesito Lopez

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of tonight’s main event right HERE. The Showtime pay-per-view (PPV) kicks off at 9 p.m. ET, with Spence and Ugas likely to make the walk closer to midnight.

A very important welterweight clash will unfold later tonight (Sat., April 16, 2022) at UFC Vegas 51 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Vicente Luque takes on Belal Muhammad in a main event rematch nearly six years in the making.

While Muhammad will have a chance to avenge his previous TKO loss to Luque this main event matchup in Vegas holds a little more importance than just redemption. Luque is currently ranked No. 5 in the division while “Remember the Name” is ranked No. 6. The winner should be able to wiggle his way into title contention as the year goes on. It’s a crucial opportunity for both fighters to say the least.

For Luque, he’ll have a slight advantage entering this rematch. Not only is “Silent Assassin” coming off four-straight finishes inside of the Octagon but he already holds a knockout win over Muhammad. MMA history doesn’t always repeat itself, but Luque is feeling confident entering the rematch.

That said, Luque isn’t in a rush to produce a first-round finish over Muhammad like he did back in 2016. “Silent Assassin” will still be looking to stop Muhammad in his tracks, but believes it could happen later in the fight.

“I don’t think so. I do believe I can finish him, maybe in the third or fourth [round],” Luque told ESPN MMA. “I don’t think it’s gonna be a quick one. You know, he’s a much better fighter. He has shown that he’s super tough. He can take shots and he has a lot of heart but I do think I can finish him.”

Muhammad, who is coming off back-to-back wins over Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia, has only been finished once in his entire MMA career and that came against Luque. “Remember the Name” has looked real good in every department of late and could give Luque real trouble if he can get his wrestling going early.

That said, Luque has proven to be one of the very best finishers in MMA today and has a really good chance of ending this one early (again).

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 51 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 8:30 p.m. ET.

For more UFC Vegas 51 fight card news click here.

It all goes down later tonight (Sat., April 16, 2022) at UFC Vegas 51 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as Vicente Luque meets fellow welterweight contender Belal Muhammad in a main event rematch.

In addition to the 170-pound clash, UFC Vegas 51 will feature a slew of exciting matchups from top to bottom. This includes a middleweight matchup between prospects Caio Borralho and Gadzhi Omargadzhiev, a welterweight clash involving knockout artists Miguel Baeza and Andre Fialho, and the return of lightweight veteran Drakkar Klose.

Take a look below at UFC Vegas 51’s complete fight card line up and start times:

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT

Vicente Luque vs. Belal Muhammad
Caio Borralho vs. Gadzhi Omargadzhiev
Miguel Baeza vs. Andre Fialho
Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Wu Yanan
Pat Sabatini vs. T.J. Laramie
Mounir Lazzez vs. Ange Loosa

‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN2/ESPN+)
5:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. PT

Devin Clark vs. William Knight
Lina Lansberg vs. Pannie Kianzad
Drakkar Klose vs. Brandon Jenkins
Rafa García vs. Jesse Ronson
Chris Barnett vs. Martin Buday
Jordan Leavitt vs. Trey Ogden
Istela Nunes vs. Sam Hughes
Heili Alateng vs. Kevin Croom

Here are all the ways to catch the action:

Online

• UFC Vegas 51: ‘Luque vs. Muhammad 2’ entire fight card can be viewed via the ESPN+ streaming app.
• Subscriptions cost $5.99 per month.

Television

• UFC Vegas 51: ‘Luque vs. Muhammad 2’ main card can be viewed via ESPN. Check with your local providers or click HERE for instant access to ESPN. The “Prelims” portion will air on ESPN2.
• UFC Vegas 51: ‘Luque vs. Muhammad 2’ entire fight card can also be streamed via Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and ChromeCast.

Tablet/Mobile

• UFC Vegas 51: ‘Luque vs. Muhammad 2’ entire fight card can be viewed via ESPN+ streaming app through Google Play and iTunes stores.

Bars

• Check out a list of sports bars and pubs near you that will most likely be showing tonight’s fights CLICK HERE.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 51 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 8:30 p.m. ET.

For more UFC Vegas 51 fight card news click here.

A.J. McKee tasted his first professional loss last night (Fri., April 15, 2022) at Bellator 277 live on Showtime from inside SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., when the Bellator MMA featherweight champion relinquished his title in a rematch against Patricio Pitbull.

McKee, who submitted Pitbull in their first meeting back at Bellator 263, was the betting favorite entering the rematch. The formerly undefeated champion was talking a big game during Fight Week and seemed to be setting himself up for another highlight-reel performance. However, Pitbull rolled out a patient gameplan that broke down McKee over the course of five rounds and allowed the Brazilian to recapture his 145-pound crown.

Despite this being the first loss of McKee’s MMA career the young fighter handled it pretty well after the fight. McKee didn’t make any excuses for his performance, but did mention that he’s done competing at the featherweight level. The cut seems to take a big toll on the 27-year-old fighter and McKee wants to avoid any unnecessary damage to his body moving forward.

“At the end of the day, it’s back to the drawing board. Shit, I want my rematch at ‘55 then,” said McKee during Bellator 277’s post-fight press conference. “Like I’ve been telling ya’ll, I’m done with ‘45, unless we get some super-fights going.

“I’ve been at ‘45 for years and years and years, cutting a lot of weight. I don’t think people want to see what goes into it,” he said. “It’s a lot of work not just myself, for my team, for my family. It’s rough seeing me get down to ‘45s.”

Assuming McKee intelligently builds himself up for a move up to lightweight he should have no trouble fitting in. The former Bellator featherweight champion sports a big frame and should be able to benefit from a less grueling weight cut. McKee would also be interested in running it back a third time with Pitbull as long as the fight happens at 155 pounds.

“Sure, (I’m open to a trilogy) at ‘55. Why not? Faster, stronger, bigger. Yeah, I’m gonna unleash that beast. Monster-style, baby.”

For complete Bellator 277 results and coverage click here.

Khamzat Chimaev may have struggled to put away Gilbert Burns earlier this month at UFC 273, but the welterweight contender has so much more to offer inside of the cage.

Entering his fight with Burns the undefeated Chechen fighter carried an insane amount of hype with him having gone 4-0 inside of the Octagon with only a few shots absorbed. In turn, Chimaev was a massive betting favorite and many expected him to steamroll “Durinho” and continue his meteoric rise.

While Chimaev did enough to earn the win over Burns it was far from dominant. “Borz’ answered a ton of questions relating to his heart, chin, and conditioning, but his hype train slowed just a bit from not getting the finish.

Luckily, Chimaev has plenty of time to fix his issues and regain any momentum he lost at UFC 273. The undefeated welterweight fighter and his team believe he only showed a portion of his abilities and are excited to unravel the whole arsenal the next time around.

“I need to keep working now, I’ve made many mistakes, I can do better,” said Chimaev during a recent interview with Smesh Bros. “I was chasing a knockout the whole fight and missed many shots as a result. But I’m satisfied overall. I love my job! My coach said that I showed only 30% of what I’ve got. Obviously he wasn’t satisfied at all. And I know what I’m capable of. This fight got the main event type of hype and I was excited and wanted to KO him. And that was my mistake from the start. I should’ve worked cleaner. But I will learn from it. It’s a great lesson for me.”

Chimaev, who is now 5-0 under the UFC banner, is likely to score a No. 1 contender’s bout against former title challenger Colby Covington sometime later this year on ABC. The odds are already in Khamzat’s favor, but he’s going to have to show a little more than he did in his fight with Burns to get past someone like “Chaos.” It will be the ultimate test for Chimaev as he tries to score a title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

What say you, Maniacs? How much more can Chimaev offer inside of the Octagon?

Sound off!

Vicente Luque will thrown down in a main event opposite Belal Muhammad later this evening (Sat., April 16, 2022) at UFC Vegas 51 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, but “Silent Assassin” is no stranger to big-time fights.

Luque, who is currently ranked No. 5 in the UFC’s welterweight division, has been fighting killers almost his entire career. Even before Luque stepped on set of The Ultimate Fighter or made his official debut inside of the Octagon he was competing against some of the best in the sport. What’s even more impressive is the fact that some of those matchups came at a weight class higher than 170 pounds.

One of the biggest wins of Luque’s young career came in a middleweight showdown with none other than Thiago Santos back in 2012. It was only the seventh fight of Luque’s career and one of the only times he’s competed at 185 pounds. As you may have imagined, Luque was pretty intimidated to be fighting someone as big as Santos, who is widely regarded as one of the more physically imposing middleweights (and light heavyweights) in recent memory.

Luckily for Luque, he was able to score a first-round TKO finish and avoid any serious damage at the hands of “Marreta.”

“So that was early in both of our careers, I was training and I got this fight on like three weeks’ notice, something like that,” Luque said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “We knew he was a striker and that’s why we took the fight, I’m a striker as well. Okay, three weeks but it’s a striker, it makes sense it’s going to be the same game. We go there after flying in and when I get to the city we are fighting in, I arrived late so I wasn’t able to weigh in and make the faceoff, so I weighed in with the commission and went back to the hotel and did my recovery.

“The only time I saw Thiago was at the moment of the fight. He wasn’t like how he is now but he was a big guy and I looked at him and was like ‘man what did I get myself into? it didn’t make sense.’ I thought I had to go in there and knock him out as quick as possible and not get hit and it worked out,” Luque continued. “I think it was like 15 seconds, 20 seconds, it was really quick. It was a big win that was a win later on when they were considering putting me on The Ultimate Fighter they saw I had that win and Thiago was already in the UFC, so it made sense. It was a big win in my career.”

As you may know, Santos went on to make his UFC debut just two fights later and did some great things inside of the Octagon, including fighting for the undisputed UFC light heavyweight title against Jon Jones. The Brazilian fighter has lost four out of his last five trips to the Octagon, but he’s one of the most vicious knockout artists of probably the past six years.

Luque, on the other hand, is still trying to fight his way to his first UFC title shot. It’s insane to think that “Silent Assassin” stopped Santos in his tracks so many years ago, but Luque is a bona fide tactician inside of the Octagon. He has finished his last four trips to the cage and will look to stop Muhammad again in their rematch later tonight at UFC Vegas 51.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 51 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 5:30 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 8:30 p.m. ET.

For more UFC Vegas 51 fight card news click here.