11/12/23: Alex Pereira Earns UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

Two new champions were crowned at UFC 295 last night.

Welcome to the Sunday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue is incredibly busy, covering three events and a big news story that broke on Saturday. Let’s begin.

Alex Pereira Stops Jiri Prochazka, Earns UFC Light Heavyweight Belt

Alex Pereira became the new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion on Saturday night, scoring a second-round finish against Jiri Prochazka to earn the vacant title.

Pereira’s victory headlined UFC 295, which was the promotion’s seventh time appearing at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.

Pereira floored Prochazka in the second round of their title fight, catching him coming in with a left hook for a knockdown. A hurt Prochazka then seemingly went out while on the ground due to a series of elbows from Pereira, causing the referee to step in and stop the fight. This was a finish that many disputed after the fact, as Prochazka was quick to spring up after the referee intervened.

Pereira has now claimed two titles since joining the UFC roster in 2021. He won the UFC Middleweight Championship in late 2022, stopping Israel Adesanya. After dropping that title in a rematch, Pereira started a new campaign up at 205 pounds. Pereira beat former champ Blachowicz, then was booked for the vacant title fight on this weekend’s card.

The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship was vacated earlier this year by prior titleholder Jamahal Hill due to injury. It was announced on Saturday night that the plan is for Pereira to face Hill in the near future.

Prochazka was appearing for the first time since he won the UFC light heavyweight title with a win over Glover Teixeira in 2022. He had to drop the belt shortly after that win due to a shoulder injury.

In the co-main event, Tom Aspinall became the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion with a 69-second victory over Sergei Pavlovich. This title fight was made after a bout between UFC Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones and former titleholder Stipe Miocic departed UFC 295 in recent weeks.

Aspinall floored Pavlovich with a pair of right cross shots, causing the fight between the talents to end quite early. The victory made Aspinall the third-ever Briton to earn a UFC Championship, following Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards.

Aspinall has now earned seven wins through eight UFC appearances, with his sole loss coming due to a knee injury. All of his wins in the promotion have come via finish, with almost all being in the first round.

Pavlovich had a similar streak of finishes on his record prior to Saturday as well. He had a six-fight streak of first-round stoppage wins before UFC 295, including wins over vets Curtis Blaydes and Derrick Lewis.

I wrote a longer recap and column on UFC 295 for POST Wrestling, which you can read here if interested.

Here are the quick results for UFC 295:

Main Card (10:00PM EST) (PPV)
Bout 13: Alex Pereira def. Jiri Prochazka via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:08) (Vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 12: Tom Aspinall def. Sergei Pavlovich via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:09) (Vacant Interim UFC Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 11: Jessica Andrade def. Mackenzie Dern via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 3:15)
Bout 10: Benoit Saint-Denis def. Matt Frevola via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:31)
Bout 9: Diego Lopes def. Pat Sabatini via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:30)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EST) (ESPNews / ESPN+)
Bout 8: Steve Erceg def. Alessandro Costa via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Loopy Godinez def. Tabatha Ricci via Decision, Split
Bout 6: Mateusz Rebecki def. Roosevelt Roberts via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 3:08)
Bout 5: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borshchev via Decision, Majority Draw
Early Prelims (6:00PM EST) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 4: Jared Gordon def. Mark Madsen via TKO, Strike (RD 1, 4:42)
Bout 3: John Castaneda def. Kang Kyung-ho via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Joshua Van def. Kevin Borjas via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Jamall Emmers def. Dennis Buzukja via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:49)

Usman Nurmagomedov Suspended Six Months In California, Removed From Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix

Undefeated Bellator Lightweight Champion Usman Nurmagomedov has been removed from Bellator’s ongoing 155-pound grand prix after failing a drug test.

On Saturday, California State Athletic Commission Executive Officer Andy Forster informed Marc Raimondi of ESPN that Nurmagomedov was given a six-month suspension in the state of California and a $50,000 fine. News of Nurmagomedov’s positive drug test was first reported by Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com.

ESPN confirmed with sources that Nurmagomedov was suspended for a prescription medication, although the exact medication wasn’t specified. Foster told Ariel Helwani that Nurmagomedov did not apply for Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE), which could have helped him avoid being sanctioned.

Along with the penalty of being removed from the tournament, suspended, and fined, Nurmagomedov will enroll with the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA), and his October win over Brent Primus from Bellator 300 will be overturned to a no-contest. It has yet to be revealed if he will lose his Bellator Lightweight Championship as well.

Nurmgomedov’s victory over Primus was a semi-final bout as part of the Bellator Lightweight World Grand Prix. Next weekend, Alexandr Shabliy and Patricky Pitbull will compete in the other half of that bracket. It is not known at the moment who, if anyone, they will face in the finals of that tournament.

Giannis Bachar Claims Cage Warriors Welterweight Title With 50-Second Knockout Win

Giannis Bachar scored a stunning walk-off knockout win against Omiel Brown to become the new Cage Warriors Welterweight Champion on Saturday night.

Bachar caught Brown less than a full minute into their fight with a counter left hook, causing the fellow challenger to fall forward onto the canvas. The referee was quick to intervene and stop the fight before Bachar could follow up with any more shots.

Brown was the fighter coming forward with strikes prior to the finish and had just stormed toward Bachar with a series of shots before he was caught with the fight-ending punch.

Bachar’s victory headlined Cage Warriors 163, which took place from Indigo At The O2 in London, England on Saturday night. He earned a title that was vacated earlier this year by Rhys McKee, who dropped the belt to join the UFC roster.

Bachar now has an impressive eight-fight winning streak, which has been expanding since 2016. He won his Cage Warriors debut in May, earning a third-round stoppage victory over Carlo Pedersoli.

Brown, a fighter who has competed in Cage Warriors for the entirety of his pro career, was appearing in his first-ever title shot. He earned this opportunity after picking up a first-round finish over Jesse Urholin in July.

Here are all of the results from Cage Warriors 163:

Main Card (4:00PM EST / 9:00PM GMT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 12: Giannis Bachar def. Omiel Brown via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:50) (Vacant Cage Warriors Welterweight Championship)
Bout 11: Will Currie def. Wallison Henrique via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:25)
Bout 10: Shawn Da Silva def. Gerardo Fanny via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Luca Borando def. Wesley Machado via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:54)
Bout 8: Tom Wright def. Jimmy Quinn via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 4:25)
Preliminary Card (1:30PM EST / 6:30PM GMT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 7: Francesco Mazzeo def. Angus Hewett via Disqualification, Illegal Ground Strike (RD 2, 2:00)
Bout 6: Mateusz Figlak def. Denilson Neves via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Tariq Pell def. Michael Blair via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:23)
Bout 4: Kate Bacik def. Sineadh Ni Nuallain via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Teddy Stringer def. Italo Julio via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:13)
Bout 2: Shirzad Qadrian def. Rory Evans via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 2:04)
Bout 1: Adam Darby def. Thorsten Jakobs via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:06)

Patryk Kaczmarczyk Scores Two Knockdoens En Route To KSW 88 Win

Big moments on the feet by Patryk Kaczmarczyk earned him a unanimous decision against former KSW title challenger Daniel Rutkowski on Saturday night in front of his home city of Radom, Poland.

The fight headlined KSW 88, which was Kaczmarczyk’s first main event appearance since joining the KSW roster in 2021.

Kaczmarczyk provided two scares for Rutkowski during the fight, getting him to the ground with knockdowns. Just seconds into the fight, Kaczmarczyk caught Rutkowski with a flying knee to the head, getting him to the canvas. He then controlled the rest of the round on the ground.

In the next round, a head kick from Kaczmarczyk got Rutkowski down once again. This wasn’t as bad of a round for Rutkowski, as he was able to take control of the fight on the ground about halfway through.

Rutkowski made the fight a little closer in the final round, taking down Kaczmarczyk and getting on his back to throw strikes and attempt a rear naked choke.

Kaczmarczyk has now put together three consecutive wins over the past year. Previous victories include a decision over Danu Tarchila and a 63-second finish against Pascal Hintzen.

Rutkowski entered this fight after attaining a trio of wins in KSW. His previous loss came at KSW’s first-ever Radom card, when he lost a featherweight title fight to Salahdine Parnasse.

In the co-main event of the card, FEN Middleweight Champion Piotr Kuberski won his KSW debut with a second-round stoppage against Bartosz Lekso.

Here are the quick results for KSW 88:

Main Card (1:00PM EST / 7:00PM CET) (KSW PPV)
Bout 10: Patryk Kaczmarczyk def. Daniel Rutkowski via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Piotr Kuberski def. Bartosz Lesko via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:12)
Bout 8: Marcin Wojcik def. Luis Henrique da Silva via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:31)
Bout 7: Albert Odzimkowski def. Jorge Bueno via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 1:28)
Bout 6: Stefan Vojcak def. Kamil Gawryjolek via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:06)
Bout 5: Danu Tarchila def. Vladyslav Falbiychuk via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:57)
Bout 4: Ramzan Jembiev def. Rabian Luczak via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:00)
Bout 3: Maria Silva def. Anita Bekus via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Konrad Rusinski def. Krystian Bielski via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 1:33)
Bout 1: Michal Gniady def. Jacek Gac via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:02)