Author: Dan Hiergesell

The first-round knockouts kept rolling in earlier tonight (Sat., June 19, 2021) at UFC Vegas 29 live on ESPN2/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as featherweight prospect Seungwoo Choi scored a violent finish over Octagon veteran Julian Erosa.

Choi looked incredible from the early going as the South Korean fighter found his range and started to tag “Juicy J.” A few moments later Choi found a home for a gnarly left hand that planted Erosa on the canvas. Choi rushed in for some hammer fists and put the finishing touches on his biggest career win.

Check out the final highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.

This win now puts Choi on a three-fight win streak in the stacked 145-pound division after starting his UFC career 0-2. If Choi can continue to stand and throw his strikes in bunces he’s going to be a major problem for many featherweights.

For complete UFC Vegas 29 results and coverage click here.

Middleweight prospect Bruno Silva lived up to the hype earlier tonight (Sat., June 19, 2021) at UFC Vegas 29 live on ESPN2/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, when the Octagon newcomer stopped Wellington Turman via first-round knockout (punches).

Turman was able to tap into his own gameplan early and back Silva up along the cage with some good grappling and takedown attempts. Silva remained calm and worked his way into top control during a transition to the ground. At that point, the Brazilian newcomer unloaded powerful and precise punches to put Turman to sleep.

Check out the final highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.

This is exactly what fight fans were expecting to see when Silva’s long-awaited UFC debut was finally booked. The talented middleweight clearly has power for days and didn’t even get to throw strikes on his feet. We can only imagine what that will look like when “Blindado” steps back inside of the Octagon.

For complete UFC Vegas 29 results and coverage click here.

It all goes down later this evening (Sat., June 19, 2021) at UFC Vegas 29 live on ESPN2/ESPN+ from inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, as “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung meets hard-hitting featherweight contender Dan Ige in the main event.

In addition to the featherweight headliner, heavyweight contender Aleksei Oleinik will meet rising prospect Serghei Spivac in the co-main event, Marlon Vera will be back in action to scrap with bantamweight finisher Davey Grant, and the timeless Matt Brown will make his return to the Octagon against Dhiego Lima.

Take a look below at UFC Vegas 29’s complete fight card line up and start times:

Main Card (ESPN2/ESPN+)
7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT

Chan Sung Jung vs. Dan Ige
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Serghei Spivac
Marlon Vera vs. Davey Grant
Julian Erosa vs. Seung Woo Choi
Wellington Turman vs. Bruno Silva
Matt Brown vs. Dhiego Lima

‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN2/ESPN+)
4:00 p.m. ET / 1:00 p.m. PT

Aleksa Camur vs. Nicolae Negumereanu
Kanako Murata vs. Virna Jandiroba
Khaos Williams vs. Matthew Semelsberger
Josh Parisian vs. Roque Martinez
Joaquim Silva vs. Rick Glenn
Casey O’Neill vs. Lara Procopio

Here are all the ways to catch the action:

Online

• UFC Vegas 29: ‘Korean Zombie vs. Ige’ entire fight card can be viewed via the ESPN+ streaming app.
• Subscriptions cost $5.99 per month.

Television

• UFC Vegas 29: ‘Korean Zombie vs. Ige’ main card and “Prelims” can be viewed via ESPN2. Check your local providers or click for instant access to ESPN.
• UFC Vegas 29: ‘Korean Zombie vs. Ige’ entire fight card can also be streamed via Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and ChromeCast.

Tablet/Mobile

• UFC Vegas 29: ‘Korean Zombie vs. Ige’ 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 29 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 4 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN2/ESPN+ main card start time at 7 p.m. ET.

Former UFC champion Rashad Evans is ending his retirement to return to combat sports and score a lucrative fight against Logan Paul or Roy Jones Jr.

This is according to Evans’ manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who revealed the news to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. According to Abdelaziz, negotiations are already ongoing for Evans’ return to action.

Evans, 41, stepped away from UFC and MMA as a whole back in 2018 following a brutal knockout loss to Anthony Smith. It was Evans’ fifth-straight loss at the time which prompted the veteran to hang it up. “Suga” hadn’t been the same since his title loss to Jon Jones back in 2012, but he remained a top level contender for most of his career.

Now, Evans is stepping back into the limelight in hopes of joining the new wave of combat entertainment. With guys like Logan and Jake Paul mixing it up with former world champions for million dollar paydays it makes sense for some of these older UFC and boxing veterans to set up shop and test their hand as well.

It is unknown at this time if either Paul would be interested in a scrap with Evans, who hasn’t competed in over three years. If Evans is unable to lock down a fight with the social media influencers then maybe a matchup with former boxing world champion Roy Jones Jr. would suffice.

What do you think, Maniacs? Should Evans be coming out of retirement? Who do you see him fighting in his return?

Sound off!

The early numbers are in and UFC 263, led by a middleweight rematch between champion Israel Adesanya and rival Marvin Vettori, did considerably well across the board.

According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, UFC 263, which went down on June 12 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona, reportedly did over 500,000 PPV buys in the U.S. only. The event did even better on the global scale with over 600,000 PPV buys.

While these numbers aren’t going to break any UFC records they’re nothing to scoff at. This was Adesanya’s return to middleweight after a failed attempt to capture UFC gold at light heavyweight and it was also Vettori’s first PPV headliner. The middleweight rematch was fairly one-sided, but these numbers show that “Last Stylebender” is one of the bigger stars on the roster.

It should be noted that UFC 263 also featured a flyweight title rematch between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno, as well as a five-round welterweight clash involving Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz. The flyweights certainly produced in their co-main event spot, but it was Diaz who likely boosted the overall PPV numbers in his awaited return to the cage.

In comparison to other recent UFC PPVs, UFC 263 did well for itself. UFC 261, which featured three title fights and a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal, reportedly did 700,000 PPV buys. And UFC 262, which was headlined by a lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler, did over 300,000 buys.

For complete UFC 263 results and coverage click here.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) might be the only sport in the world where you can dislocate an opponent’s arm and then grab a beer with them after the competition is over. That’s exactly what happened last weekend after Paul Craig defeated Jamahal Hill at UFC 263 with a first-round submission (highlights HERE).

Craig and Hill talked a lot of trash before their light heavyweight showdown that sparked UFC 263’s PPV main card. After some crisp punches from Hill it was Craig who was able to pull guard and lock up an arm. Craig cranked so hard that he dislocated Hill’s arm and left it flopping around. Hill, who didn’t miss a beat, kept fighting for a few more seconds before the referee finally stepped in.

After the fight, the two men came together to bury the hatchet. Not only did they meet up after UFC 263 to grab a few beers but Hill was in attendance when Craig’s coach, Brian Gallacher, presented him with his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. Check out the video below:

I didn’t want to do it in the cage and take any attention of his performance and win. It was the right time more a personal moment. More to the point well well over due

Hill, who suffered his first professional loss at UFC 263, can be seen sitting at the same table as “Bearjew.” Some may have expected an awkward moment between the two fighters but cooler heads ultimately prevailed. After all, Craig broke Hill’s arm in the first round. You have to respect that.

For complete UFC 263 results and coverage click here.