Author: Dan Hiergesell

Kevin Holland is out to prove his worth in the middleweight division later today (Sat., Apr. 10, 2021) at UFC Vegas 23 when he takes on rising contender Marvin Vettori in the main event.

This is a massive opportunity for Holland after coming off a lackluster performance opposite Derek Brunson at UFC Vegas 22 last month (highlights HERE). Holland talked a big game leading up to the fight and during the five-round main event, but ended up producing a complete dud. The talented middleweight received considerable backlash for his performance against Brunson and needs a big win this weekend to reclaim his divisional footing.

“It’s funny that everybody wanted to see ‘Big Mouth’ until ‘Big Mouth’ didn’t do his job and they got all upset and mad,” Holland told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole. “Then, all of a sudden, they wanted ‘Trailblazer.’ So what is it? Do you want a dull, boring experience where everything is the same or do you want something fun, something different? Remember this: The same people who got upset were the same ones who loved ‘Big Mouth’ so much.”

Holland was riding a five-fight win streak entering his bout with Brunson so the lack of offense and mid-fight adjustments was a little surprising. “Big Mouth” just didn’t seem to have the same focus that he usually brings inside of the cage. Holland’s head coach, former UFC fighter Travis Lutter, believes that’s due to a combination of Brunson’s game plan and his own lack of ability to refocus Holland in the corner.

“Brunson didn’t give Kevin the space he needed to do the things he did to Jacare,” Lutter said. “Derek’s a lot more in your face and was playing a lot tighter. He wasn’t interested in passing, where Jacare would have passed and tried to end the fight. And I think [Holland] got frustrated and I feel I made a mistake as a coach in the corner. I couldn’t get him out of it. He was over there talking to Khabib and I really think it was because he was embarrassed.

“He operates on being embarrassed more than almost anything, and he was embarrassed. So I think now his attitude is, ‘OK, f—k you all, I’ll show you I can be as good as you thought.’ He went the 25 minutes and he knows now it isn’t as bad as he thought. But during the fight when I went to the corner, I couldn’t get him snapped out of it. I think if I’d have sent one of the other coaches in to talk to him, he’d have recognized something was wrong and maybe changed.”

Luckily, Holland has all the tools needed to make the right adjustments and come back with a bang this weekend at UFC Vegas 23. In fact, Lutter believes Holland is the most gifted fighters he’s ever worked with. All it takes are a few tweaks and “Big Mouth” can fight his way back into the title mix at 185 pounds.

“As far as raw talent is concerned, Kevin’s the greatest I’ve ever been around,” Lutter said. “I haven’t been around Jon Jones, but I’ve heard the rumors of him and I’ve watched him fight and I put Kevin up there like that. I trained with GSP [Georges St-Pierre], I trained with Randy Couture, Guy Mezger. All these different guys I’ve trained with and honestly, Kevin is the most talented guy. He’s incredibly gifted.”

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 23 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 11:30 a.m ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” at 12 noon, before the ABC/ESPN+ kickoff at 3 p.m. ET.

Impa Kasanganay looked like an absolute beast in his UFC welterweight debut earlier today (Sat., Apr. 10, 2021) at UFC Vegas 23 live on ABC/ESPN+, ESPN from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., when the former middleweight prospect stopped Sasha Palatnikov via second-round submission (rear-naked choke).

Kasanganay was all over Palatnikov early with heavy pressure along the cage and multiple takedowns. Palatnikov was savvy enough to defend and get back to his feet, but Kasanganay’s power was eventually too much to handle. During a transition to the canvas Kasanganay was able to grab a hold of a rear-naked choke. He didn’t even lock his hooks in but Impa was still able to squeeze for the finish.

Check out the highlights above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.

This is a massive win for Kasanganay as he tries to shed off his infamous knockout loss to Joaquin Buckley back in Oct. 2020. If this is any indication of what Kasanganay can bring to the table at 170 pounds the rest of the welterweight division should be on notice.

For complete UFC Vegas 23 results and coverage click here.

Fight fans will have to wait a little longer before seeing the rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan.

Sterling, who captured the UFC bantamweight title last month at UFC 259 after Yan was disqualified for an illegal knee (see it HERE), was expected to book a rematch with the Russian fighter shortly after their first fight. “Funk Master” received considerable backlash for the way he handled the DQ win and was hoping a rematch with Yan would solidify his roll as the UFC’s 135-pound champ.

Unfortunately, Sterling is set to underdog surgery next week for a neck injury and will now be sidelined until October at the very earliest, per a report by ESPN. This puts the rematch with Yan on the back burner for much longer than expected, but Sterling has to get healthy before he steps back inside of the Octagon later this year.

According to “Funk Master,” doctors have diagnosed him with a herniated disc and will operate to fix his C6-C7 vertebrae.

“They told me I will heal in three months, and can start doing cardio to get myself ready,” Sterling told ESPN. “They wouldn’t want to see me take a fight until they see everything has fused in my neck correctly. Five months would be ideal, if I heal up really quick. I’m excited. The faster I heal up, the faster I can fight. We’ll find out in the next three months, and get something on schedule.”

While we wish Sterling the best with his surgery this is not great news if you’re Yan. The former UFC bantamweight champion was hoping to land a quick rematch with Sterling considering he was winning the first fight before the illegal knee landed, but “No Mercy” will have to wait deep into 2021 to score that opportunity. As you may have guessed, Yan was not too happy to learn about Sterling’s upcoming surgery and prolonged absence from competition.

“Just strip this laughing stock from the title,” wrote Yan via Twitter.

With Sterling out of commission for the next six months it is unknown at this time if Yan will wait for his rematch or schedule another fight before “Funk Master” returns. Yan would be ill-advised to pass up another UFC title shot, but activity is key these days. Maybe the Russian contender wants to keep his nose wet and fight one more time before his rematch with Sterling.

Of course, UFC could also implement an interim title since Sterling’s championship reign started off on the wrong foot anyways. Such a situation would have to include Yan and likely the winner of the upcoming matchup between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen this May (details HERE).

What say you, Maniacs? Should UFC strip Sterling of his title? If not, should Yan wait until October for the rematch?

Sound off!

It all goes down later today (Sat., Apr. 10, 2021) at UFC Vegas 23 live on ESPN+, ESPN, and ABC from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., as middleweight contender Marvin Vettori meets late-replacement Kevin Holland in a five-round main event.

In addition to the middleweight headliner, rising featherweight youngsters Arnold Allen and Sodiq Yusuff will meet in an exciting co-main event, women’s strawweight contender Mackenzie Dern will take a big step up in competition in a matchup with Nina Ansaroff, and welterweight veteran Mike Perry looks to reclaim his footing at 170 pounds in a barn burner contest opposite Daniel Rodriguez.

Take a look below at UFC Vegas 23’s complete fight card lineup and start times:

Main Card (ABC/ESPN+)

3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT

Marvin Vettori vs. Kevin Holland
Arnold Allen vs. Sodiq Yusuff
Sam Alvey vs. Julian Marquez
Nina Ansaroff vs. Mackenzie Dern
Mike Perry vs. Daniel Rodriguez

‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN/ESPN+)

12:00 p.m. ET / 9:00 a.m. PT

Jim Miller vs. Joe Solecki
Scott Holtzman vs. Mateusz Gamrot
John Makdessi vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
Yorgan De Castro vs. Jarjis Danho
Hunter Azure vs. Jack Shore
Luis Saldana vs. Jordan Griffin
Da Un Jung vs. William Knight

Early ‘Prelims’ Undercard (ESPN+)

11:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. PT

Impa Kasanganay vs. Sasha Palatnikov

Here are all the ways to catch the action:

Online

• UFC Vegas 23: ‘Vettori vs. Holland’ entire fight card can be viewed via the ESPN+ streaming app.
• Subscriptions cost $5.99 per month.

Television

• UFC Vegas 23: ‘Vettori vs. Holland’ main card can be viewed via ABC. Check your local provider or click for instant access to ABC Live.
• UFC Vegas 23: ‘Vettori vs. Holland’ undercard “Prelims” can be viewed via ESPN. Check your local providers or click for instant access to ESPN.
• UFC Vegas 23: ‘Vettori vs. Holland’ can also be streamed via Xbox One, Apple TV, Android TV, Samsung Smart TV, and ChromeCast.

Tablet/Mobile

• UFC Vegas 23: ‘Vettori vs. Holland’ 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 23 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 11:30 a.m ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” at 12 noon, before the ABC/ESPN+ kickoff at 3 p.m. ET.

Ben Askren is doing everything he can to gain an advantage for his upcoming boxing match against YouTube sensation Jake Paul. This includes getting his hands on a tailor-made boxing robe with “Funky” printed on the back.

Askren, who meets Paul on Apr. 17 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., is coming out of retirement for this boxing payday. The former One Championship and Bellator MMA champion stepped away from combat sports back in 2019 shortly after his submission loss to Demian Maia at UFC on ESPN+ 20. It was Askren’s second-straight defeat after getting starched by Jorge Masvidal in six seconds just a few months prior.

While Askren’s UFC career didn’t necessarily go as planned “Funky” is hoping to step back into the limelight and teach Paul a lesson or two about fighting. After all, Askren has been around combat sports for nearly 20 years. Paul, on the other hand, has about 20 minutes of experience inside of the boxing ring.

Luckily for Askren, he has a pretty sweet boxing robe to throw on before he makes his walk to the ring next weekend on PPV. Askren shared a video of his custom attire early Friday via Twitter. Check it out below:

Boxer or Pimp??? @coinflipatm you guys rock.

All glitz and glamour aside, Askren is going to have his work cut out for him if he plans on defeating Paul next weekend in Atlanta. Not only is Paul younger, faster, and stronger, but he’s talking a very big game. The former YouTube star is going to bring all the heat “Funky” can handle. It will be up to Askren to keep his cool, lean on Paul, tire him out, and flip the script in the later rounds.

If Askren is unable to do that then this custom robe might be the only cool thing he takes away from this.

All that Jon Jones can do right now is prepare for a potential clash with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. The promotion seems reluctant to pay for the former light heavyweight king to put his legacy on the line against “Predator” so Jones is left to play the waiting game.

As he awaits UFC’s best offer, “Bones” is hellbent on becoming the most dangerous heavyweight fighter that he can be. While Jones was a physical force at 205 pounds he was never the most powerful or muscular fighter in the division. He typically let his skill, athleticism and length do the talking.

With the light heavyweight division in his rearview Jones is looking to reinvent himself at the heavyweight level. This has included strenuous workouts, significant weight gain, and tailoring his skill set to be effective against bigger and stronger foe. In fact, Jones is doing whatever he can in training to be as big as Ngannou for when the two heavyweights finally clash.

“Right now, we’re just training. We’re training and just focusing on things we can control, which is being in the best shape and I think me just getting in shape sells the fight even more. People want to see two titans and Francis is already a titan and I’m trying to become a titan. I want to look like a titan,” Jones told Fight Hype. “I want to be the same size as this guy if not bigger when we get out there. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully, the fight happens. We’ve just got to stay focused, stay training, and see what the UFC is going to do on their part.”

While it’s difficult to imagine Jones stepping foot inside of the Octagon for his heavyweight debut and actually being bigger than Ngannou, never doubt the former UFC champion. Jones comes from a family full of professional athletes and has all the ingredients to mold his body into a heavyweight killing machine.

That said, Ngannou is no ordinary heavyweight. He’s the most destructive force in the division in quite some time and can turn anyone’s lights off with one punch, including Jones. It will be up to “Bones” to fine tune his training and become the most effective weapon against “Predator.”

“It feels awesome to train heavy. Good to eat whatever I want, obviously I’m on a great diet right now but get to eat tons of food, a lot of rest,” Jones said. “Right now, I’m just living like a total athlete. I’m excited to compete at my full potential going in there without a weight cut. I have two brothers that are really big boys and I feel like this is the guy I was supposed to be the whole time.”

What do you think, fight fans? Should Jones try to become as big as Ngannou? Will his move up to heavyweight end up backfiring?

Let us know in the comments below!