12/30/23: News Catchup, OKTAGON 51 Results, RIZIN 45 Preview
Catching you up on headlines from the MMA world as Knockdown News returns
Welcome back to the Knockdown Daily! The newsletter’s usual end of year break is done and we are officially back in publication. Today’s issue will catch you up on all the latest news from the past week, plus a preview for RIZIN 45, which takes place on early Sunday morning.
Quick programming note: The December 31st Knockdown Daily will be sent out late by a few hours tomorrow. This will allow a report on RIZIN 45 to be included in the post. The usual publication time of the Knockdown Daily, 5:00AM EST, is a few hours earlier than when the event is expected to conclude. We hope you understand!
ALSO: Knockdown Daily will also be off for January 1st and 2nd (all Tuesdays are off), and will return on the 3rd to kick off the first full week of newsletters for 2024. We’re looking forward to an amazing year of MMA journalism and news with you!
UFC Officially Unveils New Anti-Doping Policy
The long-awaited details on UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy have been revealed.
UFC’s multi-year relationship with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) crashed and burned just months ago, coming to an end with a fiery press conference where a couple prolific names in the promotion denounced the testing body. UFC’s partnership with USADA will officially expire at the conclusion of 2023, bringing in the era of the “UFC Anti-Doping Policy.” Details of this new policy, which will come into effect on January 1st, 2024, were revealed earlier this week.
UFC’s new anti-doping plan is very similar to the system that USADA operated under, except with new names and organizations in charge of many steps along the way.
UFC will continue out of competition testing, a way of testing athletes that USADA was known for. This style of testing allows the anti-doping body to test UFC fighters throughout the year, unrelated to their scheduled fights.
UFC will work with Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) to dispatch staff that can execute “no-notice sample collections” on fighters for their out of competition testing. DFSI works with many notable sports leagues, including the NFL and FIFA.
Dr. Daniel Eichner of the Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) will act as the new anti-doping program’s Science Advisor, and will oversee the analysis of samples taken from fighters.
Sanctions that result from certain drug tests on fighters will be handled by a newly-formed organization named Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), which will be led by former FBI agent George Piro.
UFC’s announcement emphasized the independence of the test analysis and violation sanction decisions in their announcement. However, some details about these two groups were not touched on. In both mentions of Dr. Eichner and Piro, it was not specified in UFC’s news release how many other staff members the two will work with. It also wasn’t necessarily outlined if SMRTL or CSAD will have protections set up that allow them to provide their work without influence or interference from the UFC.
UFC’s drug testing will follow a new “UFC Prohibited List.” This list is modelled after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) list, although is a separate entity.
UFC has set up an online portal for anti-doping resources, including downloadable documents for their anti-doping policy, prohibited list, and more.
Bojan Velickovic Wins OKTAGON Tipsport Gamechanger Bracket
Bojan Velickovic is officially the Tipsport Gamechanger Welterweight Champion. The 35-year-old Serbian overcame Andreas Michailidis on Friday night to win the year-long OKTAGON MMA tournament, earning him a grand prize of €1 million.
Velickovic’s win headlined OKTAGON 51, which took place at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic this weekend.
It took somewhat of a comeback performance for Velickovic to defeat UFC vet Michailidis. Velickovic had to endure a tough first round where Michailidis was active with ground and pound punches and nearly finished the fight.
After surviving the opening frame, Velickovic started to win the fight with his grappling. He was able to tie the fight after the second round, as informed by the open scoring system shown on the broadcast. He got on the back of Michailidis in the third round, locking up a rear naked choke that forced a tap.
Velickovic’s victory on Friday closed out a four-fight, 16-man tournament that OKTAGON started in March. Velickovic’s road to the finals included a pair of first-round finish wins.
Michailidis joined the tournament after ending a four-fight UFC run in 2022. He beat Leandro Silva on his way to the finals, and stopped Louis Glismann in just 33 seconds during a semi-final bout.
Earlier in the night, Polish talent Piotr Wawrzyniak captured an interim middleweight title belt with a third-round finish of Vlasto Cepo. OKTAGON 51 also included appearances from former UFC talents Mallory Martin and Karlos Vemola.
Here are the quick results from Friday’s card:
Main Card (12:00PM EST / 6:00PM CET) (OKTAGON PPV / DAZN)
Bout 10: Bojan Velickovic def. Andreas Michailidis via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 3:21) (Tipsport Gamechanger Welterweight Final)
Bout 9: Piotr Wawrzyniak def. Vlasto Cepo via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 3:19) (Vacant Interim OKTAGON Middleweight Championship)
Bout 8: Samuel Kristofic def. Karlos Verriola via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:48)
Bout 7: Daniel Skvor def. Martin Zawada via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Stefano Paterno def. Ion Surdu via Submission, Armbar (RD 2, 2:37)
Preliminary Card
Bout 5: Karol Rysavy def. Henrique Maduereira via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:59)
Bout 4: Eva Dourthe def. Chiara Penco via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Radek Rousal def. Kallum Parker via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Mallory Martin def. Magdalena Sormova via Decision, Split
Bout 1: Hassan Shaaban def. Tomas Fiala via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:58)
Five Changes Hit January 13th UFC ‘Fight Night’
UFC’s first card of 2024 underwent a massive number of changes over the holidays.
A total of five updates were recently announced by UFC for their January 13th show from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Preston Parsons has received a new matchup at welterweight. While Parsons was originally scheduled to face Bassil Hafez, who was coming off a UFC debut loss from July, he will now meet Matthew Semelsberger. Both fighters will be trying to get back into the win column with the appearance.
A new matchup has also been set up for Westin Wilson. The 34-year-old was initially lined up to face Gabriel Santos, who similarly is winless in the UFC thus far. Instead, he’ll face promotional newcomer Jean Silva, who earned a contract in September with a decision win over Kevin Vallejos on “Dana White’s Contender Series.”
Changes were also made at flyweight. Due to visa issues on the part of Denys Bondar, he was removed from a fight against UFC debutant Felipe Bunes. Now, Bunes will meet Fury FC vet Joshua Van, who has picked up two wins since joining the UFC roster in June. Bunes is coming over to the UFC after earning the LFA Flyweight Championship in early 2023.
A pair of bantamweight fights have also fallen off the January 13th UFC card. Yana Santos was pulled from her bout against Norma Dumont, and Ketlen Vieira withdrew from a fight against Macy Chiasson.
The first UFC card of 2024 will be headlined by a light heavyweight rematch between Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker. Here’s an updated look at the card:
Bout 12: Magomed Ankalaev (18-1-1) vs. Johnny Walker (21-7) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 11: Matheus Nicolau (19-3-1) vs. Manel Kape (19-6) (Flyweight)
Bout 10: Jim Miller (36-17) vs. Gabriel Benitez (23-10) (Lightweight)
Bout 9: Ricky Simon (20-4) vs. Mario Bautista (13-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 8: Phil Hawes (12-5) vs. Brunno Ferreira (10-1) (Middleweight)
Bout 7: Andrei Arlovski (34-22) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (10-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 6: Matthew Semelsberger (11-6) vs. Preston Parsons (10-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 5: Marcus McGhee (8-1) vs. Gaston Bolanos (7-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Faris Basharat (11-0) vs. Taylor Lapilus (19-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Westin Wilson (16-8) vs. Jean Silva (11-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 2: Felipe Bunes (13-6) vs. Joshua Van (9-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 1: Tom Nolan (6-0) vs. Nikolas Motta (13-5) (Lightweight)
RIZIN 45 Ends The Year In MMA From Japan
The annual tradition of Japanese mixed martial arts on New Year’s Eve will continue this Sunday when RIZIN 45 takes place from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
At a glance, RIZIN 45 is an odd card. The same night that you have some of the top flyweight and bantamweight talents competing, you also have five MMA newcomers and a few fighters with negative pro records. However, RIZIN is not your usual MMA promotion. As is the case with every RIZIN card — and especially their New Year’s Eve billings — they focus on appealing to many types of combat sports viewers.
While RIZIN 45 will see kickboxers try out MMA in a way that feels adjacent to influencer combat sports, the evening will also include many major MMA bouts, including a quality title fight in the main event.
The promotion will crown its first-ever flyweight champ in the main event, as Kyoji Horiguchi will take on Makoto Shinryu. This matchup is a real battle between a veteran and a rising star. Horiguchi has nearly done it all: Lengthy UFC run, titles in Bellator and RIZIN, more than 10 RIZIN bouts. But Shinryu is 23, has quality wins on the regional scene — including a CFFC title victory — and has lost just once as a pro. Either the old guard will prevail on Sunday, or a new generation will lead RIZIN’s newest division.
The RIZIN belt with the most lineage, bantamweight, was expected to be on the line in the co-main event when Juan Archuleta put the title up against former champ Kai Asakura. However, drama ensued on Saturday evening after Archuleta missed weight for the bout by nearly three kilograms, which roughly equals six pounds. At the time of publishing this story, Archuleta was officially stripped of the title, although the status of his fight against Asakura remained up in the air.
In the past, RIZIN has used a strict ruleset for when a fighter misses weight in a title fight. While a fighter who missed can compete in previous instances, a victory of theirs would immediately be changed to a no contest, and they cannot win the championship under any circumstance. However, for the fighter who didn’t miss weight, they can both win the fight and earn the title, if successful. It’s not known at the moment if this ruleset will be applied for the fight between Archuleta and Asakura.
Archuleta captured the belt in July, overcoming Hiromasa Ougikubo on scorecards. Before then, he had wins over quality names Naoki Inoue and Kim Soo-chul. Asakura briefly held the belt in 2020, and has competed in four title bouts during his time with RIZIN.
I wrote a longer preview of RIZIN 45 for Bloody Elbow, where I’ll also be providing live updates for the card on Sunday. The live results piece can be read here.
Here’s the full lineup:
Main Card (12:00AM EST / 2:00PM JST) (FITE / RIZIN PPV)
Bout 17: Kyoji Horiguchi (31-5) vs. Makoto Shinryu (16-1-1) (RIZIN Flyweight Championship)
Bout 16: Juan Archuleta (29-4) vs. Kai Asakura (20-4) (RIZIN Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 15: Kleber Koike (31-7-1) vs. Yutaka Saito (21-7-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 14: Ren Hiramoto (2-3) vs. YA-MAN (0-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 13: Seika Izawa (11-0) vs. Miyuu Yamamoto (6-7) (Super Atomweight)
Bout 12: Tsuyoshi Sudario (8-2) vs. Mikio Ueda (2-1) (Heavyweight)
Bout 11: Hiromasa Ougikubo (25-8-2) vs. John Dodson (24-13)
Bout 10: Yuki Motoya (34-11) vs. Vince Morales (13-7) (Bantamweight)
Bout 9: Shinobu Ota (4-3) vs. Ryusei Ashizawa (0-0) (Bantamweight)
Bout 8: Kota Miura (2-0) vs. Kouzi (0-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: Igor Tanabe (4-0) vs. Shinsho Anzai (9-5) (Welterweight)
Bout 6: Jo Arai (16-9-2) vs. Hiroya (8-12-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Yuta Kuto vs. Rukiya Anpo (Lightweight Kickboxing)
Bout 4: Satoshi Yamasu (13-7) vs. Suguru Nii (16-12) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Tatsuki Shinotsuka vs. Daichi Tomizawa (Bantamweight Kickboxing)
Bout 2: Ryujin Nasukawa (0-0) vs. Shin Jung-min (Catchweight 119 lbs)
Bout 1: Yushi (3-1) vs. Jo Hiramoto (0-0) (Bantamweight)
Notes On: UFC, ONE Championship & LFA
A second MMA title fight has joined ONE Championship’s March 1st event from the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. Reinier de Ridder (16-1) will attempt to hold onto his remaining MMA title when he faces two-division champion Anatoly Malykhin (13-0). Malykhin took de Ridder’s 225-pound light heavyweight title in 2022 with a first-round finish win. He will now come after his belt at 205 pounds, which de Ridder has defended twice since first earning in 2020.
Jan Blachowicz (29-10-1) announced via social media that he will have to undergo a second shoulder surgery, as there was “too much work to do” in one procedure. Because of this, his return to competition will be delayed further.
AJ Dobson (7-2) will face Tresean Gore (4-2) at UFC 298 on February 17th from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, USA, per Dobson’s management team. Dobson scored his first UFC win in August, snapping a two-fight skid with a victory over Tafon Nchukwi. Gore broke a losing streak in his last appearance as well, beating Josh Fremd. Gore’s upcoming appearance will be his first fight in more than a year.
A pair of fights have joined UFC’s February 24th event at Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico.
Looking to bounce back from her sole pro loss, Yazmin Jauregui (10-1) will battle Sam Hughes (8-5), per Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes. Jauregui’s first pro loss was a 20-second defeat to Denise Gomes in July. Hughes is coming off a win against Jaqueline Amorim.
After scoring his first UFC win in just 17 seconds last summer, Jesus Aguilar (9-2) will fight Mateus Mendonca (10-2), as also reported by Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes. Mendonca will be fighting to avoid suffering his third consecutive defeat.
Stephanie Luciano (5-1-1) will make her UFC debut on February 23rd against Shauna Bannon (5-1), per AgFight. Luciano picked up five wins and one loss on the Brazilian regional scene, then earned a UFC contract with a draw result versus Talita Alencar on “Dana White’s Contender Series.” Bannon suffered a loss in her UFC debut to Bruna Brasil.
Both looking to bounce back from first-round losses, Jacob Malkoun (7-3) and Andre Petroski (10-2) will meet in a middleweight bout at UFC’s March 30th event, per an announcement made on social media by Petroski.
LFA’s first event of the year, LFA 174, is up to 12 bouts in total. Six matchups have recently joined the card, which will take place on January 12th from the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, USA.
Four-fight LFA vet and one-time Bellator alum Mitchell McKee (5-0) will attempt to further his bantamweight campaign when he faces Devante Sewell (11-8). Sewell will be appearing in LFA for the third time and searching for his first win under their banner.
Wes Schultz (4-1) will return to LFA against Maurice Morris (6-3) at middleweight. Schultz lost his last LFA appearance, dropping a decision to Dylan Budka in early 2023. He is returning after earning a first-round submission on a GE Fights card in May. Morris is currently on a three-fight winning streak as a pro and fought a whopping five times in 2023.
After picking up two wins in her rookie year as a pro, Kendra McIntyre (2-0) will fight Jayde Sheeley (1-1) at strawweight. McIntyre won her LFA debut in August over Alandria Rosales. Sheeley earned her first victory in June, submitting Diamond Long at LFA 160.
Coming off her first LFA win from September, Cheyanne Bowers (2-1) will fight Whittany Pyles (4-5) at in a flyweight bout. Pyles’ sole LFA fight was a 2022 win over Lisa Mauldin.
Heavyweight amateurs Ezayah Gomez Oropeza (2-0) and Jesse Midas (1-0) will meet. Oropeza made his MMA debut last month. Local reports show that he was sentenced to days in prison last year for third-degree assault.
In an amateur featherweight contest, Xaiver Rosenbloom (2-1) and Dalan Jones (1-0) will collide.