Michael
Chandler’s
UFC career is undoubtedly at a crossroads after his latest
loss. 

Former UFC welterweight Matt Brown
recently slammed Chandler’s lackluster run in the promotion.
Chandler suffered a lopsided first-round knockout loss against
Mauricio
Ruffy at
UFC White House. Despite being 2-6 in the UFC, Chandler has
never fought on a Fight Night outside of a numbered UFC
card. 

Brown believes Chandler’s stardom is undeserved based on his UFC
career. Brown believes Dana White should cut Chandler from the
roster or politely ask him to hang up his gloves. According to
Brown, Chandler should try fighting in smaller promotions if he
wants to continue competing. However, Brown believes Chandler
clearly has no place in the UFC.

A Better Fit Elsewhere

“With Michael
Chandler, just his whole UFC run hasn’t been anything to note…
He shouldn’t be the star that he is in the UFC,” Chandler told
MMAFighting.com. “How are you 2-6 and you’re as
big of a star as him… I would not be excited to see him fight
again. If I’m Dana White, I either cut him or tell him, ‘Look, you
need to retire, bro.’… If he wanted to keep fighting, I think he
would probably fit into other organizations. I would like to see
him in bare-knuckle, Gamebred MMA stuff. I think there’s fun things
for him to do. He is clearly not a UFC-level guy.”

Chandler (23-11) made a statement with a vicious first-round
knockout of Dan Hooker in
his UFC debut in 2021. However, “Iron” has since managed to defeat
only Tony
Ferguson while suffering six losses — most of them being
lopsided. 

Meanwhile, Brown (24-19) holds the record for the fifth-most
finishes in UFC history and the second most KO/TKO wins in UFC
history. “The Immortal” scored a first-round knockout win over
Court
McGee in his last UFC outing in 2023 before announcing his
retirement in 2024.  

Pedro
Rizzo has some thoughts about Alex
Pereira’s unsuccessful heavyweight debut.

Considered one of the most agressive strikers in
UFC heavyweight history, Rizzo spoke with Sherdog.com about the
co-main event of
UFC White House, when Pereira was knocked out by Ciryl Gane
in the second round.

Rizzo revealed that he tabbed “Poatan” as favorite before the
fight. In his opinion, the weight gain weight was not the problem
for Brazilian.

“The primary issue, in my opinion, was the loss of reach
advantage,” Rizzo said. “Alex is too tall for middleweights and
light heavyweights, and he lost that advantage at heavyweight.”

The finishing sequence made Rizzo recall another famous heavyweight
fight.

“Whenever I see a southpaw knocking down a right hander with a
counter jab, it reminds me of Fedor [Emelianenko’s] fight with
Matt
Mitrione, which, by the way, was a very similar move to this
one with ‘Poatan’ and in exactly the same circumstances: The right
hander not stepping outside and the southpaw’s lead hand landing
first. Against a southpaw, the right hander always has to step
outside and get their head out of the line of the strike, otherwise
you’re faced with a counter jab. I posted a video on my Instagram
comparing both finishes, and you can see that both Fedor and
‘Poatan’ did exactly the same.”

Dean Controversy

Regarding Pereira’s complaints about illegal strikes, Rizzo
acknowledged that referee Herb Dean made
a mistake. However, he also recognized the complexity of the
situation, especially considering the speed of the action and the
fact that Gane’s initial strikes were legal.

“Undoubtedly there were some illegal strikes in the whole sequence,
but it’s difficult to say that it influenced the final result of
the fight,” Rizzo said. “In a barrage of punches, if one lands on
the back of the neck it’s difficult to stop, but if there were
more, Herb
Dean should have followed the rules and stopped, called
attention to the situation and restarted.”

Rebounding from Defeat

With the experience of having fought for the UFC heavyweight belt
on three occasions (once against Kevin
Randleman and twice against Randy
Couture) and having faced all the greatest heavyweight
grapplers of his generation, Rizzo believes “Poatan” has an
excellent opportunity to rebound.

“He arrived at an excellent time for his style, where most fighters
are strikers. In my time, I didn’t have that freedom to impose my
stand-up game, since I faced the greatest generation of heavy
wrestlers and grapplers in UFC history,” Rizzo said. “I fought
Severn, Randleman, Coleman, Barnett, Couture twice. I still believe
that ‘Poatan’ is the greatest striker in MMA today. I would like to
see an immediate rematch. I still think that on a normal day he
will knock out Gane.”

Alexander
Volkanovski is not ruling out a double-champ bid for the third
time in his
UFC career.

Justin
Gaethje (28-5) recently dethroned Ilia
Topuria in a massive upset to win the undisputed lightweight in
his third attempt. Volkanovski (28-4) admits that he is open to
moving up to lightweight to challenge Gaethje for the title.
However, the UFC featherweight champion is not sure if he is
currently in a position to call for a lightweight title shot.
Volkanovski notes that he had defended the featherweight title four
times in his first stint before calling for a lightweight title
shot against Islam
Makhachev. Volkanovski also admits that Arman
Tsarukyan should ideally get the next title shot at
lightweight. However, “The Great” also notes that Tsarukyan has not
exactly been a company man.

‘I’m Not Going to Call for It’

“Of course, I’ll do it,” Volkanovski said on YouTube. “I’m going to
call it when I I feel like I deserve it, and you’ve seen when I was
defending my belt five times before I asked for the double champ,
and then had the fight with Islam. Like that’s just how it is… So,
I’m not going to call for it. That’s the type of champion I am. I
think you need to earn it. But if the UFC was to offer it, of
course, see two 38-year-old fellas go at it in the lightweight
division? 100%. Of course I would. But, Arman should be next. But
when you’re not doing what the the UFC wants and you’re not, you
know, being a company man, you can be punished for it. So we’ll see
what happens.”

Volkanovski gave Makhachev one of the toughest tests of his career
while making his first unsuccessful double-champ bid in 2023. The
Australian subsequently defended his featherweight title one more
time before making another short-notice double-champ bid against
Makhachev, who violently knocked him out in the rematch.
Volkanovski then went on to lose the title against Topuria, who
moved up after defending it once. Volkanovski has since won the
vacant title against Diego Lopes
and defended it in a rematch against Lopes. 

Meanwhile, Tsarukyan has been sidelined from the lightweight title
picture since pulling out of a title challenge against Makhachev
last year. “Ahalkalakets” was supposed to weigh in as the backup
fighter for the title fight between Topuria and Gaethje at
UFC White House earlier this month. However, finding both
Topuria and Gaethje healthy, Tsarukyan chose to compete in a
wrestling match against Tony
Ferguson instead of weighing in as the backup fighter for the
main event at the White House. 

Sharabutdin
Magomedov believes Michel
Pereira is a “hypocrite.” 

Magomedov is scheduled to fight Pereira in a middleweight tilt at
UFC
Baku on Saturday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku,
Azerbaijan. Magomedov recently went off on Pereira for supporting
Israel. Pereira walked out with the Israeli flag for his
first-round knockout win over Andre
Petroski in 2023. 

“Shara Bullet” condemns Pereira’s support of Israel in the ongoing
crisis with Palestine. Magomedov also notes that Pereira rescued dogs from a flood in Brazil soon after showing
his support for Israel. Magomedov believes Pereira was only pulling
off a publicity stunt by rescuing dogs in Brazil. Magomedov also
jokes that “Demolidor” was missed during the floods in Dagestan
this past April.

‘Farming Likes on Instagram’

“In my eyes, he’s a hypocrite,” Magomedov told Red Corner MMA. “To
raise the flag of Israel after the fight [the state] that, in front
of billions of people, committed genocide against Gaza, against
kids and women. And at the very moment when the whole world
condemned it, he raised the flag of Israel. Then he went to Brazil
to rescue dogs from a flood. Honestly, if he only really cared
about dogs, it would have been a different story. But he is just
farming likes on Instagram. By rescuing dogs, he’s just chasing
Instagram hype and likes. Do you know what his most popular video
on Instagram is? Where he’s saving dogs. The dog savior. We really
missed him in Dagestan when the flood happened.” 

Pereira (32-14) had justified carrying the Israeli flag, saying that he
has many Israeli friends and he was triggered after watching some
videos of “children.” The Brazilian is coming off an upset win over
Zachary
Reese that saw him rebound from a three-fight slump. Meanwhile,
Magomedov (16-1) is coming off a win over Marc-Andre
Barriault that saw him rebound from his lone professional loss
against Michael
Page. 

Islam
Makhachev once used a one-liner to invite Daniel
Cormier’s kids to Dagestan, and the rest is history. 

Makhachev’s advice to Cormier for his kids was “send 2-3 years
Dagestan and forget.” The phrase has since become a part of
sporting folklore, transcending the world of MMA. Makhachev
recently revealed that almost every athlete he meets from any sport
reminds him of his famous one-liner. Makhachev claims tennis icon
Novak Djokovic once told him that his phrase is used in the 2026
Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain’s locker room.
Makhachev also recalls former boxing heavyweight champion Anthony
Joshua seeking his approval to print T-shirts saying “2-3 years
Dagestan.”

A Lasting Impact

“Whoever I meet, any athlete, any level,” Makhachev told Adam Zubayraev. “..I met Djokovic,
Djokovic told me that in the PSG locker room they say, ‘Hey, send
him to Dagestan for 2-3 years.’ I’m not really sure how it spreads.
Joshua, the boxer, comes up to me and says, ‘I want to go for two
or three years, can I make a t-shirt that says 2-3 years Dagestan?’
I told him, ‘Of course you can.’”

Makhachev (28-1) also admits that he has helped boost “sporting
tourism” in Dagestan. The UFC welterweight champion revealed that
his gym is mostly crowded with people wanting photographs or to
join a training session. Makhachev is currently scheduled to defend
his welterweight title against Ian Garry
(17-1) at UFC
330 on Aug. 15 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

This past week, Alex
Pereira made it clear that he was not happy with what
transpired in the
UFC White House co-main event.

“Poatan” came up short in his bid to become a three-division
champion when he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to
Ciryl
Gane on June 14 in Washington, D.C. After the event, Pereira

expressed his frustration that veteran official Herb Dean
failed to acknowledge that illegal strikes that Gane landed to the
back of the Brazilian’s head during the finishing sequence.

White discussed the situation during the
UFC Fight Night 279 post-fight press conference on Saturday.
While the UFC CEO didn’t necessarily fault Dean, he recognized
Pereira’s anger as legitimate.

„If you watch the fight it’s undeniable that he got hit with some
strikes to the back of the head, but in the middle of the action,
when it’s going on and guys are rolling around trying to get out of
it,“ White said (transcription via MMAjunkie.com) „Sometimes the fouls happen.
Maybe Dean should’ve said, ‚Watch the back of the head‘ or warned
him or something like that. But I don’t know. I can tell you this:
Alex
Pereira is not a whiner. And Alex
Pereira doesn’t complain about things or make excuses after
fights. So I have to believe that he believed that. That he truly
believed that was true.”

Not a Whiner

It’s currently unclear if Pereira and his team will attempt to
appeal the result. The Brazilian has stated that he plans to remain
in the heavyweight division going forward.

„That’s something [an appeal] they’ll have to work out with the
commission. Not my area,” White said. “Like I said: Alex Pereira is
not a whiner. The guy doesn’t ever complain about anything. So you
have to believe if the’s that serious about it, that he’s upset
about and believes it to be true.“

Justin Gaethje doesn’t think Ilia Topuria will ever be the same
after their UFC White House fight. | Getty/UFC

Justin
Gaethje doesn’t sound like he’s ready to call it a career.

But when he is ready to return to the Octagon, it likely won’t be
against Ilia
Topuria — at least not until “El Matador” picks up another
victory.

“Right now I’m planning on [continuing],” Gaethje said recently on
”The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast podcast. “There’s
not something natural in me that feels like it’s over. I can’t say
that I have a name. [Ilia] doesn’t get a rematch. He can try but he
doesn’t get one. He quit on the stool, I stopped him twice, what
else do I have to f—ing do?

“His next challenge can’t be me. He needs to fight Paddy [Pimblett] or someone like that.”

Gaethje entered
UFC White House as a significant underdog against Topuria, the
undisputed lightweight champion. While Topuria enjoyed a strong
second round, the rest of the bout belonged to Gaethje, who
battered the previously undefeated star until his corner called off
the fight after four rounds.

Lost Aura?

Gaethje compared the performance to his UFC 249 victory over
Tony
Ferguson. Not only did “The Highlight” claim interim
lightweight gold with that victory, but he ended Ferguson’s 12-bout
promotional winning streak in the process. “El Cucuy” was never the
same after that, and he exited the
UFC on an eight-fight skid. Gaethje doesn’t see Topuria
returning to his previous form after taking a serious beating in
the UFC White House main event. More than that, he believes Topuria
has lost the mystique that he possessed as an unbeaten fighter.

“The odds are f==king great against that right now,” Gaethje said.
“I hope he does [bounce back], and I know he has the skill to be a
champion again. However, same thing with Tony
Ferguson. I didn’t break Tony
Ferguson’s confidence. I changed the perception of his
opponents of him and that is a huge factor when you go in there.
…

“Before this, he was the guy you couldn’t get through, that you
couldn’t push through, that you couldn’t survive with. And once I
showed people that all you’ve got to do is get through that, then
nobody is ever going to go in there thinking he’s unbeatable now.
And that was his identity. That’s going to be such a tough task for
him, to fight people that aren’t scared of him.”

Kyoji Horiguchi’s title hopes took a hit on Saturday. |
Getty/UFC

Kyoji
Horiguchi’s hopes at making a late career run at
UFC flyweight gold hit a serious speed bump on Saturday
night.

The American Top Team product suffered a third-round technical
knockout loss to Manel Kape
in the
UFC Fight Night 279 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on
Saturday night. Things were going well for Horiguchi in the first
two frames before Kape flashed his formidable power during the
decisive sequence 2:42 into the third stanza.

The Dream Doesn’t Die

Horiguchi, who defeated Kape in Rizin Fighting Federation in 2017,
initially challenged for the UFC flyweight title in April 2015,
when he suffered a fifth-round submission loss to Demetrious
Johnson. The 35-year-old reflected on the loss in a brief
statement on social media.

“Thank you all for your support,” Horiguchi wrote on X (via
Translate). “I got spectacularly knocked out. I’m truly sorry. Kape
was strong. “Thank you! This is why I can’t quit martial arts. I’ll
retrain and be back in no time! I’m not giving up on my dream
yet.”

Horiguchi had been unbeaten in his last eight professional outings
prior to facing Kape. He kicked off his second UFC tenure with
back-to-back triumphs over Tagir
Ulanbekov and Amir Albazi.

Umar
Nurmagomedov is excited for a potential fight against Yadong
Song. 

Nurmagomedov was originally scheduled to fight David
Martinez at
UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25. However, the booking has fallen off
as Martinez is forced out with an injury. Nurmagomedov has been
rumored to face Song at a later date. 

Nurmagomedov recently admitted that he is interested in the matchup
against Song because he considers the Chinese fighter to be a
“punching bag.” Nurmagomedov was not impressed by the one-sided
beatdown that Song suffered against Sean O’Malley earlier this
year. Nurmagomedov doesn’t rank Song among the best fighters in the
division.

Not in the Same League

“Of course, I’m interested,” Nurmagomedov told told Adam Zubayraev. “ [Song] is a punching
bag. How did he do against O’Malley? He was dead by the third
round. Fourth round, he was taking knees to the face (Song vs.
O’Malley was three rounds)…I don’t consider him a top-class
fighter, honestly.”

Nurmagomedov (20-1) was undefeated in seven
UFC outings before suffering his lone professional loss in a
failed bantamweight title bid against Merab
Dvalishvili last year. Nurmagomedov has since rebounded with
wins over Mario
Bautista and Deiveson
Figueiredo. Meanwhile, Song (23-9) has alternated losses
against Petr Yan and
O’Malley with wins over Henry
Cejudo and Figueiredo in his last four outings.  

Islam
Makhachev believes teammate Usman
Nurmagomedov will have to compromise on his salary if he moves
to the
UFC from the
Professional Fighters League. 

Nurmagomedov (20-1) is considered one of the best lightweights in
the world, regardless of promotion. Nurmagomedov’s current PFL
contract will expire after he puts his lightweight title on the
line against Archie
Colgan at
PFL New York on July 31 at the UBS Arena in Long Island, New
York. 

There has been speculation about Nurmagomedov potentially signing
with the UFC after his current PFL contract expires. Makhachev
(28-1) believes Nurmagomedov needs to move to the UFC to fully
realize his potential against a higher caliber of opponents.
However, Makhachev claims that Nurmagomedov is getting a hefty
payday in the PFL, which the UFC is unlikely to pay. According to
Makhachev, Nurmagomedov still has ample time to sign another PFL
contract and move to the UFC later in his career to build his
legacy. The UFC welterweight champion believes Nurmagomedov should
sign with the UFC only if the offer is lucrative enough.

Room to Grow

“Looking at the opponents, I’d say Usman should make the move,”
Makhachev told Adam Zubayraev. “To fully realize his
potential, he needs tougher opponents. They push you to grow. I
think Usman still has room to improve… In PFL they pay much more.
The UFC doesn’t like paying that much. If Usman signs, I think he
gets half the purse he gets in PFL… If he works out one more
contract [in PFL], three more fights, he won’t be late for
anything. Let the UFC make him an offer he can’t refuse. But if
they offer a small purse, what’s the point of going?”

Manel
Kape has his revenge, and he’s also $100,000 richer for his
efforts.

“Starboy” secured a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus for
his third-round stoppage of Kyoji
Horiguchi in the
UFC Vegas 119 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. Kape put his foe on wobbly legs with a counter right, then
unleashed a barrage on his grounded adversary — including a vicious
uppercut from behind — that brought a halt tot he contest 2:42 into
Round 3. Kape avenged a 2017 submission loss to Horiguchi that
occurred under the Rizin banner.

An Impressive Debut

Elsewhere, promotional newcomer Murtazali
Magomedov earned a $100,000 “Performance of the Night” check
after making short work of Melsik
Baghdasaryan in a featured featherweight affair. Magomedov
elicited a tapout 1:17 into the opening stanza with a twister, only
the fourth such submission in
UFC history.

Finally, Vinicius
Oliveira and Andre Fili
garnered “Fight of the Night” honors and $100,000 apiece for their
main card featherweight scrap. While Fili had his foe on the
defensive early with a pair of heavy body kicks, “LokDog” rallied
to put the Team Alpha Male veteran away with a volley of punches
and elbows against the cage 4:56 into the second stanza.

Dricus Du Plessis will return at UFC Oklahoma City. |
Getty/UFC

Oklahoma City is getting a marquee middleweight matchup.

Dricus Du
Plessis will square off against Kamaru
Usman in a matchup of former title holders in the UFC
Oklahoma City headliner, the Las Vegas-based promotion
announced on Saturday. The event, also known as UFC Fight Night
281, takes place at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
and airs in its entirety on Paramount+.

High Stakes Affair

Du Plessis hasn’t competed since last August, when he relinquished
the middleweight crown in a lopsided unanimous decision loss to
Khamzat
Chimaev at UFC 319. Prior to that, the South African standout
was 9-0 in the Octagon, earning notable victories against the likes
of Sean
Strickland (twice), Israel
Adesanya, Robert
Whittaker, Derek
Brunson and Darren
Till.

Usman is back in action for the first time since he outpointed
Joaquin
Buckley in the UFC on ESPN 69 headliner last June. While there
were rumors that “The Nigerian Nightmare” would be next in line for
a title shot against Islam
Makhachev, that ultimately did not come to fruition. Usman’s
welterweight championship reign began with a five-round verdict
over Tyron
Woodley at UFC 235, and he authored five successful defenses
before relinquishing the strap to Leon
Edwards in August 2022.