UFC lightweight Natan Levy has revealed why he almost had to pull out of his UFC Vegas 53 fight with Mike Breeden last weekend. Levy, who graduated through Dana White’s Contender Series with an impressive submission victory over Shaheen Santana in 2020, was looking for his first win on MMA’s biggest stage on April 30….
UFC lightweight Natan Levy has revealed why he almost had to pull out of his UFC Vegas 53 fight with Mike Breeden last weekend.
Levy, who graduated through Dana White’s Contender Series with an impressive submission victory over Shaheen Santana in 2020, was looking for his first win on MMA’s biggest stage on April 30. Having lost to Rafa Garcia on debut, the Israeli’s sophomore appearance was certainly a crucial one.
For three rounds, the pair went at it hard, leaving everything inside the Apex-located cage. Throughout the 15 minutes, both landed powerful blows, as well as finding success in the clinch and when the contest reached the ground.
The two 155lbers were clearly exhausted after delivering a war early on the card. In the end, it was Levy who had his hand raised via unanimous decision. Had the main event between Marlon Vera and Rob Font not been as good as it was, both men would have likely left Vegas $50,000 richer after their gritty displays.
Despite ultimately recording his first UFC victory, and doing so with a memorable bout, Levy has revealed that his efforts were almost stifled by a training partner, of all people.
Levy: He Didn’t Let Go…
During an interview with Sportskeeda MMA days out from his UFC Vegas 53 success, Levy discussed the adversity he had to fight through in the build-up to the event.
After noting that he’d entered the fight injured, Levy revealed that the unsafe work of a sparring partner had left him with a compromised arm during camp. After getting caught in an armbar by a talented jiu-jitsu practitioner, the 7-1 Israeli said his tap went unnoticed, or perhaps deliberately unanswered.
“I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to make it to the fight but they really helped me through it,” revealed Levy. “All the injuries that I had, you know, just the moment I signed the contract, I had some idiot who came into the gym. He was pretty good in jiu-jitsu and got me in an armbar. I tapped, (but he) didn’t let go (and) my arm popped.”
Judging by Levy’s comments, it seems his situation was relatively similar, just with actual physical damage to his arm.
Given this revelation, Levy’s first UFC victory is perhaps that extra bit impressive in the eyes of fans, and even more memorable for the 30-year-old. It stands to reason he’ll be a lot warier of gym newcomers in his future camps…
What did you make of Natan Levy’s performance given the training incident he experienced ahead of the event?
UFC heavyweight Jake Collier has rejected claims that he deliberately avoided interacting with Andrei Arlovski following their collision this past weekend. In the UFC Vegas 53 co-main event, Collier looked to break his habit of trading wins and losses, which he’s done since a five-fight win streak was snapped in 2014. In his way of…
UFC heavyweight Jake Collier has rejected claims that he deliberately avoided interacting with Andrei Arlovski following their collision this past weekend.
In the UFC Vegas 53 co-main event, Collier looked to break his habit of trading wins and losses, which he’s done since a five-fight win streak was snapped in 2014. In his way of doing so was former champion Arlovski, who was appearing in his 56th professional fight and 38th in the Octagon.
Across three rounds, both men threw hard and connected with the kind of shots that could have put many other heavyweights away. Despite Arlovski’s age and Collier’s size, neither man let up, with both men putting on an impressive display of conditioning.
After going the full 15-minute distance, the bout went to the judges’ scorecards, where the 43-year-old fell on the right side of a split decision, a result that’s been heavily debated since.
After the result was announced, a visibly disappointed Collier was quick to leave the cage, with a chasing Arlovski not far behind. Ultimately, the Belarusian-American had to return for his interview, meaning the pair didn’t exchange post-fight pleasantries.
While some accused “The Prototype” of disrespecting a legend of the sport, Collier has assured that all was not as it seemed.
Collier: I’d Never Disrespect Arlovski
Collier recently took to social media in a bid to clarify the situation. In a tweet, the 33-year-old claimed that he’d simply been told to leave the cage by Octagon officials, and by the time he decided to turn back to address Arlovski, the veteran was already in conversation with Michael Bisping.
Clarify, it looked like I walked away from @AndreiArlovski at then end of the like a poor sport, I was told to leave the cage, then to go back and he was in an interview. I'd never disrespect an opponent like that, let alone a legend who I have the utmost respect for#UFCVegas53
“Clarify, it looked like I walked away from @AndreiArlovski at then end of the like a poor sport, I was told to leave the cage, then to go back and he was in an interview. I’d never disrespect an opponent like that, let alone a legend who I have the utmost respect for #UFCVegas53”
Given how quick many were to bring out the ‘robbery’ claims following the fight, Collier would have perhaps been forgiven had his emotion and disappointment forced his quick exit.
On MMA Decisions, all 14 scoring media members had the fight in favor of Collier, with six even seeing it 30-27. Of the near-300 fan scorecards submitted, 82.6% believe “The Prototype” did enough to deserve victory.
Marlon Vera had something to say to fighters who cut large amounts of weight following his win over Rob Font at UFC Vegas 53 tonight. The unanimous decision victory means #8 ranked bantamweight Vera is now riding a three-fight win streak, and in defeating the #5-ranked Font, the 29-year-old will likely enter the division’s top…
Marlon Vera had something to say to fighters who cut large amounts of weight following his win over Rob Font at UFC Vegas 53 tonight.
The unanimous decision victory means #8 ranked bantamweight Vera is now riding a three-fight win streak, and in defeating the #5-ranked Font, the 29-year-old will likely enter the division’s top five in the coming days. Both Vera and Font took home an extra $50,000 for what was a thrilling, back-and-forth Fight of the Night performance.
The fight, however, was fought at catchweight thanks to Font missing the 135-pound weight cut-off. The 34-year-old tipped the scales at 135.8 pounds, and as a result, had to forfeit 20% of his fight purse. In addition to taking home a lighter than usual fight purse, Font has now suffered back-to-back defeats, having previously lost to José Aldo in December.
PHOTO: ZUFFA
Marlon Vera Slams Fighters Who Make Big Weight Cuts As Cheaters
At the UFC Vegas 53 post-fight press conference, Marlon Vera didn’t hold back when asked his thoughts on Font’s failed weight cut. The Ecuadorian said that while he didn’t have a problem with weight cutting per se, he did take issue with those fighters who cut a significant amount of weight.
“It just told me how big the guy is for the division,” said Vera. “Some ’35ers should fight at ’45, but seems like they don’t have the balls to do it, you know? They know how to cut weight … I don’t have any problem about it, but I do believe big weight cuts … it’s just as equal as cheating. You know, I’m a guy who keeps my weight at ’52, ’55 … but it’s also because I’m training year-round. So, if you’re not consistent enough, it will catch up to you one day … and we saw that tonight.”
What do you think? Do you agree with Marlon Vera that fighters who make big weight cuts are cheating the system?
On Saturday night, UFC Vegas 53 went down from inside the MMA leader’s home base, the APEX facility, in Nevada. Following in the footsteps of some of the top featherweights, welterweights, and women’s strawweights, the latest UFC Fight Night saw the bantamweights take center stage to close out the month of April. In a bout…
On Saturday night, UFC Vegas 53 went down from inside the MMA leader’s home base, the APEX facility, in Nevada.
Following in the footsteps of some of the top featherweights, welterweights, and women’s strawweights, the latest UFC Fight Night saw the bantamweights take center stage to close out the month of April.
Elsewhere on the card, the likes of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, entertaining veteran Darren Elkins, rising lightweight Grant Dawson, and unbeaten behemoth Alexandr Romanov were all in action.
So, could UFC Vegas 53 send us into another pay-per-view fight week off the back of a memorable card? Let’s find out with the positives and negatives.
What is in the Las Vegas water lately? A fight day cancelation is always frustrating but at two events in a row? Get outta here.
Last weekend saw the return of undefeated heavyweight prospect Romanov and his bout with Chase Sherman pushed back a week after a number of fights had already taken place. This time, it was the turn of Carlos Candelario vs. Tatsuro Taira. While this one did at least come pre-event, it was still far from ideal.
This contest pitted two exciting newcomers together in what looked set to be a fast-paced flyweight bout. While Candelario, whose only defeat came on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, would’ve also been fun to watch, it was Taira who I, like most, had my eye on.
The Japanese 125lber boats a perfect 10-0 record and is still just 22 years of age, not to mention he’s riding a 19-fight win streak if his amateur results are taken into account. To lose the debut of such a promising fighter last minute was certainly a negative.
Thankfully, just as Romanov vs. Sherman was re-arranged for UFC Vegas 53, Candelaro vs. Taira is set to go down at the next UFC Fight Night on May 14, meaning that its initial cancelation will likely be a short-term negative.
Carlos Candelario vs. Tatsuro Taira is OFF of tonight's card and has been postponed to the May 14th card per the UFC.
There’s only so many times this can be listed as a negative before it simply becomes an expected part of the broadcast. At UFC Vegas 53, it took just two fights for one of the color commentators’ lack of grasp of the scoring criteria to shine through.
During the barnburner between Natan Levy and Mike Breeden (more on that soon), Jon Anik and Michael Bisping pondered whether the American had edged the second frame, which the Israeli had controlled more of but with little damage. In response, Cruz claimed that control time matters.
I’ll list below a quote from the criteria that shows why the former UFC bantamweight champion was wrong with his assessment.
“Successful execution of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals, and the achievement of advantageous positions that produce immediate or cumulative impact with the potential to contribute to the end of the match…”
The key words being, “contribute to the end of the match.”
Simply put, top and bottom fighters during grappling exchanges are scored based on the impactful nature of their actions, rather than the position itself. Control time does not fit into the equation if not effectively put to use.
MMA is an offensive sport and is all about pursuing a finish to the fight. Control time without submission attempts or impactful strikes is essentially meaningless when it comes to scoring a fight.
Dominick Cruz: "Control time does matter"
MMA scoring: Control time doesn't matter. #UFCVegas53
Cruz was at it again later in the night, suggesting that Jake Collier’s takedown with less than 10 seconds of the third round remaining, which resulted in about 5 seconds of top control and nothing else, is what ‘stole the round’ for him. *sigh*
Positive – An Early Back & Forth Brawl
After an entertaining fight for as long as it lasted between Gina Mazany and Shanna Young, the card’s strong start continued thanks to the efforts of Natan Levy and Mike Breeden.
For three rounds, the pair went at it hard, leaving everything inside the Octagon. Throughout the 15 minutes, both landed hard blows and had success in the grappling department.
The two lightweights were visibly exhausted after delivering an early Fight of the Night contender. In the end, it was the Israeli who had his hand raised via unanimous decision, but Breeden certainly did his stock no harm at UFC Vegas 53.
Add this bout to the list of reasons why fans should never sleep on preliminary cards…
“Gifted” Gabe Green. If by “gifted,” he means gifted with immense toughness and recovery ability, then absolutely.
Picking up where the previous fight left off, Green and Yohan Lainesse threw down in the third bout of the night. Early on, the Canadian’s power was on full show and looked set to be the difference.
If the first round didn’t already suggest that, the thunderous right hand that practically face-planted Green in the second certainly did. When he hit the ground, it seemed that the fat lady had her mic on. She eventually sang into it, but not before the Californian had recovered and finished the fight himself.
Towards the end of the second frame, Green unloaded with alternating shots to the head and body. Nothing is more frustrating than watching a fighter let their hurt opponent off the hook by throwing solely to the protected head.
On Saturday, Green showed exactly why digging into the open body can be so effective. After one particularly strong shot to the liver sat Lainesse down, some ground-and-pound forced referee Herb Dean to step in.
Impressive comeback, vicious finish, and a UFC Vegas 53 positive.
It’s hard to imagine a fighter branded as a favorite ever being able to do justice to odds as lopsided as -2500. But if I was to hazard a guess at how they’d do it, it’d go something like Alexandr Romanov’s performance at UFC Vegas 53.
In the space of just over two minutes, the Moldovan put a beating on his American counterpart that included takedowns, ground and pound, and a submission. Romanov’s first takedown came in less than 15 seconds. While Sherman may have grown in confidence after making his way back to his feet, that was quickly slammed out of him courtesy of a brutal suplex.
From there, it was relatively easy for “King Kong.” After advancing to full mount, he delivered some hard shots to “The Vanilla Gorilla” against the cage, before locking in an Americana for the tap.
The positive here isn’t the result — that was expected. It’s the fact that a serious prospect in the heavyweight division went out there and dispatched a lower-level opponent in as brutal a fashion as he needed to, enhancing his reputation as a name to watch. An additional contender is always a positive.
With that, a big fight should be next for him, and the name of #13-ranked Augusto Sakai certainly wasn’t a bad one for Romanov to call out during his time on the mic post-fight.
Was Darren Elkins vs. Tristan Connelly ever going to end any way other than with both men beaten and bloody? The term ‘as advertized’ was invented with these kind of matchups in mind.
When Elkins is in action, two things are promised: damage and blood. Courtesy of his aggressive strategy and the ability of fellow veteran Connelly to match him, that’s exactly what we got.
Ultimately, after some brutal exchanges and thunderous elbows, the pair fought to the final buzzer, soon after which Elkins was awarded the unanimous decision victory.
Not many people have sent a ‘re-sign me’ message quite like “The Damage” did on Saturday night. Give that man a new deal, Shelby!
Pre-UFC Joanderson Brito has arrived in the Octagon, and in some style. The one and only man to finish Andre Fili with strikes prior to UFC Vegas 53 was current #3-ranked featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez back in 2016. That is certainly not bad company for “Tubarão.”
It took less than a minute for Brito to close the contest. He did so in textbook fashion, probing with his sharp jab before flattening “Touchy” with a looping overhand right that twisted him into the 1996 Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt classic (Google might be needed for that one…).
Fili gave a valiant effort to recover, but after two more flash knockouts on the ground, Herb Dean had seen enough and the bout was over after just 41 seconds.
After a disappointing debut loss to Bill Algeo, this could well be the result that sets the 27-year-old Brazilian prospect on track for a fast rise up the 145-pound ladder.
If you’d expected a dull heavyweight slog in the UFC Vegas 53 co-main event, you were sorely mistaken.
Andrei Arlovski and Jake Collier threw hard for the duration and with a level of conditioning you wouldn’t expect from a 43-year-old and from a man of Collier’s size. After a tight three rounds, the former champ fell on the right side of a split decision.
While I did score the fight for Collier, calls of ‘robbery’ seem misplaced. Either way, however you scored the contest, no one can deny the toughness and durability of “The Pitbull.”
Remarkably, Arlovski is now on a four-fight win streak. Who’d have expected that sentence to make sense in the year 2022? With the victory, the veteran equaled Jim Miller and Donald Cerrone for the most wins in UFC history (23).
What a way to cap off a thoroughly entertaining card. As promised, Rob Font and Marlon Vera went to war in the Fight of the Night, proving exactly why the bantamweight division is regarded as one of, if not the, most entertaining weight classes in the world.
Towards the end of the second frame, Vera, who had seemingly been biding his time, joined the party, dropping his foe and threatening a finish. A fast and furious third stanza ended with the same aesthetic: Vera pummelling a downed Font.
In the fourth, a back kick to the head made it a trio of knockdowns from rounds 2-4. Once again, Font incredibly survived to reach his corner, although that was largely due to the Ecuadorian’s bizarre decision to give Font about 30 seconds on his back free of any offense.
Credit also has to go to Tyson Chartier, who asked his man if he was able to continue, something we don’t often see.
Despite his wobbly moments and multiple trips to the canvas, Font never stopped pushing forward and playing his part in an incredible headline clash. Ultimately, he was left pretty unrecognizable.
After 25 minutes, “Chito” was awarded a unanimous decision victory that will certainly mark his breakthrough into the elite at 135 pounds. Welcome to the main event winners’ circle, Marlon Vera.
Marlon Verla showed why he’s a future bantamweight title contender at UFC Vegas 53 tonight by defeating Rob Font in a contender for fight of the year. The unanimous decision victory was Vera’s third in succession, with the 29-year-old having previously defeated Davey Grant and Frankie Edgar last year. Font, meanwhile, is now on a…
Marlon Verla showed why he’s a future bantamweight title contender at UFC Vegas 53 tonight by defeating Rob Font in a contender for fight of the year.
The unanimous decision victory was Vera’s third in succession, with the 29-year-old having previously defeated Davey Grant and Frankie Edgar last year. Font, meanwhile, is now on a two-fight losing streak, having lost a decision to José Aldo in December.
The fast-paced main event bout saw both fighters exchange a high volume of strikes, with Font initially gaining the advantage. However, in round two, Vera sent Font sprawling to the canvas and almost finished him with ground and pound.
Font recovered in round three to take the advantage on the feet, but a huge knee from Vera knocked Font down and he was almost put away yet again. Font was sent to the canvas for a third time in round four thanks to a massive head kick from Vera. But the American made an admirable recovery in the final round, matching Vera on the feet before the Ecuadorian landed yet another head kick late on that seriously wobbled Font.
With this win over the #5-ranked bantamweight Font, we can expect the #8 ranked Vera to enter the division’s top five in the coming days.
You can catch all the highlights of the main event below.
Likely to crack the UFC bantamweight top-5 come the release of the official rankings next week, surging contender, Marlon Vera turned in a career-best performance against division staple, Rob Font in the main event of UFC Vegas 53 — battering the Massachusetts native in a unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) victory. Managing to land a […]
Likely to crack the UFC bantamweight top-5 come the release of the official rankings next week, surging contender, Marlon Vera turned in a career-best performance against division staple, Rob Font in the main event of UFC Vegas 53 — battering the Massachusetts native in a unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) victory.
Managing to land a trio of spectacular knockdowns against Font in the second, third, and fourth rounds, Vera rallied from a slow-start in the first frame, to take the latter frames — toying with New England Cartel staple, Font toward the end of the fight.
Clipping Font upon entry in the final stages of the second round, Vera dropped the #5 ranked contender, before then launching with a pair of hook kicks, wobbling and dropping Vera once again.
Following his victory, Vera, who was overcome with emotion, was joined in the Octagon by his partner and children set sights on the contenders within in the top-5 of his bantamweight division.
Below, catch the highlightsfrom Marlon Vera’s massive career win over Rob Font
Likely to crack the UFC bantamweight top-5 come the release of the official rankings next week, surging contender, Marlon Vera turned in a career-best performance against division staple, Rob Font in the main event of UFC Vegas 53 — battering the Massachusetts native in a unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 49-46) victory. Managing to land a […]