Author: Dan Hiergesell

Gerald Meerschaert rebounded in dramatic fashion earlier tonight (Sat., Apr. 17, 2021) at UFC Vegas 24 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., when the middleweight veteran stopped Bartosz Fabinski via first-round submission (guillotine choke).

Both fighters came out swinging and nearly ended the fight early. After the brief exchanges it was Meerschaert who secured control of Fabinksi’s neck and dropped to the canvas for a guillotine choke. Fabinski tried to fight the hands but “GM3” is a straight wizard with his submissions. Bartosz eventually went to sleep and the referee stepped in.

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

This is a massive win for Meerschaert after getting stopped by Khamzat Chimaev in just 17 seconds his last trip to the Octagon. The veteran fighter is easily one of the best submission experts on the UFC roster today and this finish just bought him more time at 185 pounds.

For complete UFC Vegas 24 results and coverage click HERE.

UFC Vegas 24 will be without its co-main event later tonight (Sat., Apr. 17, 2021) at UFC Vegas 24 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., as a lightweight tilt between Jeremy Stephens and Drakkar Klose has been removed from the card.

According to the UFC Vegas 24 broadcast, Klose was forced out of the co-main event due to an injury. The details of the injury are unknown at this time, but ESPN’s Ariel Helwani is reporting that the injury is related to Stephens pushing Klose at Friday’s ceremonial weigh ins.

About an hour after the cancelation Klose took to social media to explain the situation. He confirmed that he started feeling numbness in his hand and tightness in his neck after Stephens pushed him at the weigh ins.

This is devastating news to a ESPN card lacking drawing power on a Saturday night that will also feature a Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren boxing match on PPV (details HERE). Stephens vs. Klose was nothing spectacular, but they’re two very entertaining fighters who created quite the buzz following Friday’s dust up. The promotion will be looking to reschedule the lightweight matchup as soon as possible.

With the Stephens vs. Klose bout cancelled, UFC Vegas 24 will proceed with the following lineup:

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT

Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Jeremy Stephens vs. Drakkas Klose CANCELED
Andrei Arlovski vs. Chase Sherman
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Jacob Malkoun
Tracy Cortez vs. Justine Kish
Alexander Munoz vs. Luis Pena

‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN/ESPN+)
7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m. PT

Juan Espino vs. Alexandr Romanov
Lupita Godinez vs. Jessica Penne
Bartosz Fabinski vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Anthony Birchak vs. Tony Gravely
Austin Hubbard vs. Dakota Bush

For complete UFC Vegas 24 results and coverage click HERE.

Tony Gravely kept things rolling earlier tonight (Sat., Apr. 17, 2021) at UFC Vegas 24 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., when the bantamweight prospect finished veteran Anthony Birchak via second-round TKO (punches).

Despite a brief guillotine attempt by Birchak this “Prelims” opener was all Gravely. The talented bantamweight used his wrestling to take Birchak down, score some points, and sap Birchak’s energy. In Round 2, Gravely was able to land some offense on the feet and cracked Birchak with a vicious left hand. Gravely pounced on top for some insurance shots before the fight was waved off.

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

This win is Gravely’s second straight under the UFC banner and should allow him to creep towards the top 15 heading into the second half of 2021. It is also Gravely’s seventh TKO finish in his last nine professional wins.

For complete UFC Vegas 24 results and coverage click HERE.

It all goes down later tonight (Sat., Apr. 17, 2021) at UFC Vegas 24 live on ESPN/ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., as former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker meets perennial contender Kelvin Gastelum in the main event.

In addition to the middleweight headliner, fan favorite Jeremy Stephens will make his move back up to lightweight in a co-main event scrap with Drakkar Klose, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will fill in on short notice against “Vanilla Gorilla” Chase Sherman, and middleweight knockout sensation Abdul Razak Alhassan will look to end a two-fight skid when he matches up against rising prospect Jacob Malkoun.

Take a look below at UFC Vegas 24’s complete fight card line up and start times:

Main Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
10:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. PT

Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Drakkar Klose vs. Jeremy Stephens CANCELED
Andrei Arlovski vs. Chase Sherman
Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. Jacob Malkoun
Tracy Cortez vs. Justine Kish
Alexander Munoz vs. Luis Pena

‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN/ESPN+)
7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT

Juan Espino vs. Alexandr Romanov
Lupita Godinez vs. Jessica Penne
Bartosz Fabinski vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Anthony Birchak vs. Tony Gravely
Austin Hubbard vs. Dakota Bush

Here are all the ways to catch the action:

Online

• UFC Vegas 24: ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’ entire fight card can be viewed via the ESPN+ streaming app.
• Subscriptions cost $5.99 per month.

Television

• UFC Vegas 24: ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’ main card and “Prelims” can be viewed via ESPN. Check your local providers or click for instant access to ESPN.
• UFC Vegas 24: ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’ entire fight card can also be streamed via Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and ChromeCast.

Tablet/Mobile

• UFC Vegas 24: ‘Whittaker vs. Gastelum’ 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 24 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.

Jake Paul and Ben Askren will finally lock horns inside of the boxing ring later this evening (Sat., April 17, 2021) live on FITE TV from inside Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta, Ga., as the two men headline Triller Fight Club’s newest event.

Despite Paul’s lack of combat experience and this being Askren’s professional boxing debut, this is expecting to be one of the most talked about fights of the year. Paul has done a tremendous job of talking trash and building the hype for this fight while “Funky” has done his part as well.

Fight fans really don’t know what to expect tonight as this fight is already a circus, but it’s going to be watched by over a million people. Not too shabby for Paul, who is making just his third boxing appearance, and for Askren, who is coming out of retirement for a $500,000 payday.

With a loaded PPV card beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET, Paul vs. Askren is likely to begin sometime around 11:30 p.m. ET. The PPV main card will also feature a heavyweight clash between former UFC champion Frank Mir and veteran boxer Steve Cunningham. It’s very likely that Mir is put out early and the rest of the PPV card speeds up.

If things run late (or early) Mania will be sure to provide an updated start time for tonight’s Paul vs. Askren main event. You won’t want to miss it!

For the complete Triller Fight Club PPV lineup and musical guests for April 17 click here.

Jake Paul is hoping to take care of business against Ben Askren this weekend and then turn his attention to former UFC champion Conor McGregor.

Paul, who is set to meet Askren in the headliner of Triller Fight Club’s pay-per-view (PPV) boxing event later tonight (Sat., April 17, 2021) live on FITE TV from inside Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta, Ga., is doing anything and everything he can do stand out in the combat sports world. Knocking out former NBA star Nate Robinson with one punch last year has certainly helped Paul’s ascension, but the YouTube sensation is still looking to take his boxing career to an entirely new level.

Over the past few months Paul has gone out of his way to take some digs at McGregor, UFC president Dana White, and much of the MMA community in effort to create more buzz for his boxing match. It has rubbed a lot of fighters the wrong way, but Paul swears it’s all in good fun.

“I’m just having fun and trolling,” Paul told MMA Fighting. “I’ve sort of purposefully pitting the MMA community against me so they tune into this fight. It worked.”

One of the biggest feuds Paul has created this year has been his ongoing spat with White. The UFC president revealed last month that he’d be interested in betting $1 million on Askren to defeat Paul in their boxing match this weekend. Paul quickly responded and offered to not only match White’s bet up to $2 million, but he also challenged the UFC frontman to a boxing match later this year.

“I’m excited for Dana White to lose a million dollars,” Paul said. “But other than that, I’m going to prove millions and millions and millions of people wrong and they have motivated me to become the best version of myself over the last couple of years.”

Outside of White, Paul has invested a lot of his social media time in badmouthing McGregor and trying to goad the Irishman into a highly-lucrative boxing fight. McGregor hasn’t voiced his opinion on Paul (just yet), but there’s no way he isn’t aware of the YouTuber’s challenge. After all, Paul has verbally berated McGregor and even sent a $50 million offer to fight.

If Paul is able to take out Askren this weekend and add to his growing collection of highlight-reel finishes then he may finally capture McGregor’s full attention.

“I think we both are on a road to each other,” Paul said about McGregor. “He wants another boxing fight. He wants to fight Manny Pacquiao. He would get toasted. He just keeps on taking Ls. So I think him fighting me would not only be his money fight, but it would technically be the easiest challenge, right? Fighting Jake Paul would probably be easier than fighting Manny Pacquiao and it would be just as big.

“I think we’re a lot closer to a Jake Paul-Conor McGregor fight than anyone thinks. I think it could happen in the next 24 months.”

McGregor, who has been angling for a return to boxing since his megafight opposite Floyd Mayweather Jr. back in Aug. 2017, is currently scheduled to fight Dustin Poirier in a trilogy bout at UFC 264 this July. If “Notorious” can defeat Poirier and regain some momentum in UFC it may make sense for him to do another crossover bout and finally put Paul in his place.

“Conor’s the big name,” Paul said. “He’s a A-list celebrity, and there are very few fighters who are A-list celebrities. So we’ll see what happens. I hope he wins against Dustin, I guess, so that the fight becomes more exciting.”

For the complete Triller Fight Club PPV lineup and musical guests for April 17 click here.