Author: Dan Hiergesell

The early bird caught a big worm this morning (Sat., Nov. 25, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 122 live on Fight Pass from inside Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China, as rising contender Kelvin Gastelum scored a huge knockout win over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

The scintillating first-round finish is easily the biggest victory of Gastelum’s young career, but the 26-year-old already has to defend the fact that Bisping is one of the more older and seasoned fighters in the division.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Gastelum during the post-fight press conference (full replay here) when asked if he finished Bisping because of his age. “He was the middleweight champion three weeks ago.”

Gastelum needed this win in a big way. After getting choked out by former UFC middleweight kingpin Chris Weidman this past July, many believed that Gastelum may try to move back down to welterweight. But following a first-round knockout finish over a legendary fighter like Bisping, Gastelum is already taking aim at the top of the middleweight division.

“I heard Robert Whittaker needs a main event opponent over in Australia for February and I’m up for the challenge,” said Gastelum. “You guys say I beat up all the elderly and Robert Whittaker definitely isn’t an elderly. He’s probably my age. So I’m up for that challenge.”

Remember, Whittaker captured the interim UFC middleweight title back in July with a unanimous decision win over Yoel Romero. While Georges St-Pierre would have the first crack at unifying his title with Whittaker after winning the belt at UFC 217 over Bisping, GSP is not guaranteed to stick around at 185 pounds. If that’s the case, Gastelum is more than willing to step up and fight Whittaker at UFC 221 on Feb. 11 in Perth, Australia.

“I feel like Robert Whittaker and I should be next,” explained Gastelum. “We’re two young guys and haven’t even hit our primes. I just beat the guy who was the guy so I should be next.”

While it’s unlikely that UFC will grant Gastelum a title shot over other noteworthy contenders like Weidman and Luke Rockhold, you never really know. Gastelum continues to prove his worth at 185 pounds and just joined Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort as the only fighters to finish Bisping via strikes.

For complete UFC Fight Night 122 results and coverage click here.

While most of you were probably sleeping off this week’s turkey Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to action early this morning (Sat., Nov. 25, 2017) for UFC Fight Night 122 live on Fight Pass from inside Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.

Despite its lackluster star appeal on paper, UFC Fight Night 122 delivered in spades. In addition to Kelvin Gastelum’s main event knockout win over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, the card showcased seven other unique finishes, including 22-year-old Yadong Song’s sensational front choke and Zabit Magomedsharipov’s memorable anaconda submission.

In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home an extra $50,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC Fight Night 122 bonus winners below:

Performance of the Night: Kelvin Gastelum

Performance of the Night: Yadong Song

Performance of the Night: Zabit Magomedsharipov

Performance of the Night: Li Jingliang

For complete UFC Fight Night 122 results and coverage click here.

Most fighters would curl up in a shell and hide under a rock for the remainder of the year if they were choked unconscious by Georges St-Pierre earlier this month at UFC 217 in New York City.

Luckily for fight fans, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is no ordinary fighter. Just weeks after losing his 185-pound title to GSP on the biggest card of the year thus far “The Count” is stepping in for a very bad Anderson Silva and fighting Kelvin Gastelum tomorrow morning (Sat., Nov. 25, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 122 live on Fight Pass from inside Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.

It is an unprecedented turnaround even for an all-time great like Bisping. After all, the 38-year-old just lost his UFC championship to a former welterweight who hadn’t competed in four years. It’s good to know Bisping still has an appetite for combat, especially after the most high-profile loss of his career.

While Bisping has recently hinted at retirement, this late-notice headliner against Gastelum will not be his swan song. Instead, “The Count” will look to quickly regain divisional momentum with a win over Gastelum before he makes his return to England in March and officially steps away from the game forever. It’s a risk for Bisping considering he could enter his retirement bout next year on a two-fight losing streak, but one he’s willing to take after getting submitted by St-Pierre back on Nov. 4.

So as long as Bisping is right in the head and focused on his impending main event bout in Shanghai, we can’t really fault him for wanting to erase the GSP loss as soon as possible. Gastelum is a tough fight for anyone at 185 pounds, especially a striker like Bisping, but it’s a fight that the former UFC champion could certainly win. In fact, Bisping is looking at his matchup with Gastelum as a “win-win situation,” despite his coach going on record that Gastelum is a tougher matchup for Bisping than St-Pierre was.

On top of his confidence, Bisping is coming off a big fight camp, so this isn’t necessarily your ordinary turnaround. Outside of the damage he sustained at the hands of a returning GSP, Bisping has to be considered physically ready for his short-notice bout opposite Gastelum. The only downside is not having enough time to gameplan for his younger adversary, although Bisping’s grappling preparation for St-Pierre could easily be applied to Gastelum.

It will be interesting to see how durable Bisping will be this weekend in Shanghai. But if he’s able to keep the fight standing and quickly impose his rangy striking, this may be one of the best decisions of his career. Defeating a hungry contender like Gastelum will help Bisping save some face entering his retirement bout early next year.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 122 fight card, starting with the Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 3:45 a.m. ET, followed by the main card start time of 7 a.m. ET, also on Fight Pass.

Despite being one of the longest fight cards you’re ever going to see, UFC Fight Night 121 offered memorable fireworks last night (Sat., Nov. 18, 2017) live on FOX Sports 1 from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, as Fabricio Werdum shook off monstrous head kicks to out-duel Polish contender Marcin Tybura in the main event.

Before the former UFC heavyweight champion ended Tybura’s divisional ascension, Nik Lentz choked out former training partner Will Brooks (highlights), Tai Tuivasa made good on his Octagon debut with a flying knee knockout of Rashad Coulter (highlights), and flyweight contender Ryan Benoit powered through a broken hand to head kick Ashkan Mokhtarian into oblivion (highlights). Not to mention a bloody preliminary battle between lightweights Frank Camacho and Damien Brown.

In order to sift through the action and see which fighters took home an extra $50,000, we take a closer look at the official UFC Fight Night 121 bonus winners below:

Fight of the Night: Frank Camacho vs. Damien Brown

Performance of the Night: Nik Lentz

Performance of the Night: Tai Tuivasa

For complete UFC Fight Night 121 results and coverage click here.

Rising UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes will step in on three weeks notice to fight Aljamain Sterling at UFC Fight Night 123 on Dec. 9 live on FOX Sports 1 from inside Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, per a bout confirmation by MMA Fighting.

Sterling was originally expected to fight Brazilian veteran Rani Yahya, but Yahya was forced to withdraw from the fight due to injury.

Moraes, 29, is making up for lost time after losing his Octagon debut to veteran Raphael Assuncao back at UFC 212. The former World Series of Fighting (WSOF) champion regained some momentum with a recent split-decision win over former UFC flyweight title challenger John Dodson at UFC Fight Night 120, but a victory over “Funk Master” will push him near the top of the 135-pound division.

Sterling, 28, has been consistently inching closer towards the upper echelon of UFC bantamweight contenders, but always seems to slip up when he’s about to break through. Sterling is coming off one of his best Octagon performances to date — a unanimous decision win over former UFC bantamweight king Renan Barao back at UFC 214 — so it will be interesting to see how “Funk Master” fares against another former world champion.

UFC Fight Night 123 will be headlined by a featherweight showdown between perennial contender Cub Swanson and undefeated prospect Brian Ortega.

For complete UFC ‘Fresno’ fight card news click here.

Most fighters have to wait years into their UFC career to land an opportunity that could catapult them to the forefront of their division. Luckily for Marcin Tybura, who made his Octagon debut just 18 months ago, that opportunity comes later tonight (Sat., Nov. 18, 2017) at UFC Fight Night 121 live on FOX Sports 1 from inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia, when he takes on former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

Tybura, 32, actually lost his first UFC fight last year when he surrendered a unanimous decision to veteran Timothy Johnson. Since then, Tybura has racked off three-straight victories, including an impressive decision win over former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski. As a result of his recent efforts, the promotion has awarded Tybura the opportunity to fight Werdum tonight in Sydney.

The fact of the matter is that Tybura has never come close to fighting a heavyweight quite like Werdum. Arlovski possesses similar experience compared to the Brazilian, but Werdum’s unique ground skills and top-flight resume separate him from almost anyone in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Werdum’s abilities and notoriety are often a curse for young contenders like Tybura, but it can also be a career builder if the former UFC champion happens to be overthrown.

That said, Tybura will have his work cut out for him later this evening in Sydney, especially considering this is going to be his first UFC main event bid. In addition, Tybura is going to be catching Werdum at the worst possible time, as the former UFC champion aggressively works his way back up the heavyweight ladder for another title shot in 2018.

If Tybura is able to get past Werdum and pull off the huge upset then the Polish finisher will immediately jump into title contention entering next year. Casual fight fans may not know who Tybura is or what he’s capable of doing, but the 32-year-old will have the chance to show them when he takes on a legend down under.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 121 fight card, starting with the UFC Fight Pass “Prelims” matches online at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the FOX Sports 1 “Prelims” bouts at 8 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET, also on FOX Sports 1.