2/3/24: Dustin Poirier Confirms UFC 299 Booking After Hinting At Departure
Plus: A preview of tonight's UFC and 'Road To UFC' cards
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue has a main story for you, two preview articles, plus a lengthy news section covering everything from business to regional MMA. Let’s begin.
Dustin Poirier Confirms UFC 299 Fight After Sudden Cancellation Talk
For a few hours on Thursday afternoon, the presence of Dustin Poirier at UFC 299 was in doubt.
A series of social media posts from the 14-year UFC vet chronicled how his March 9th pay-per-view match against Benoit Saint-Denis was on, then off, then back on.
Since early January — when it was announced by UFC CEO Dana White — a fight between Poirier and Saint-Denis has been expected for UFC 299 next month. However, Poirier made it sound like the plans derailed on Thursday with a short social media post.
“My fight’s off but [I’m] still working,” Poirier captioned a photo of him in a gym alongside Bellator and UFC alum Sabah Homasi.
Ariel Helwani reached out to Poirier for comment after the lightweight’s post caused a stir. Poirier told him that the fight was never agreed to in a contract, and “we couldn’t come to terms.”
UFC in the past has announced fights before they were officially agreed to via written contract, a move that has been scrutinized for being unfair to fighters and fans alike. Earlier this week, news broke that a March 30th headlining fight between Sean Brady and Vicente Luque had been removed from the promotion’s lineup. While an injury to Brady was the cause for the fight being pulled, it also came out that the bout had yet to be contractually agreed upon as well.
Poirier’s seemingly sudden exit from UFC 299 caused a frenzy online, although it didn’t last long. Four hours after his first post insisted that an agreement wasn’t met, Poirier announced that the fight was back on the schedule.
“Sorry folks, I jumped the gun,” Poirier said. “I couldn’t get a hold of my manager for a few days. I just spoke with him and Hunter [Campbell]. Misunderstanding on my part. Fight is on! See you March 9th Miami!!!”
It is not known at the moment if Poirier is still in a verbal agreement with the UFC, or if his recent post confirms that he has signed a contract for his fight.
Poirier’s last fight was a second-round loss to Justin Gaethje in 2023. In his milestone 30th appearance in the UFC, Poirier will take on Saint-Denis, who has won four consecutive fights via finish since 2022.
Middleweights Try To Get Ball Rolling Again In APEX Main Event
Just two weeks before Georgia’s Ilia Topuria will look to become a champion at featherweight, fellow countryman Roman Dolidze will try to get one step closer to bringing gold home in the middleweight division.
Dolidze is scheduled to make his first-ever UFC main event appearance on Saturday night, taking on Nassourdine Imavov at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Dolidze has been on the rise at middleweight in recent years, having picked up six wins and two losses since his 2020 promotional debut. His strongest UFC run yet, which included finish wins over Jack Hermansson and Phil Hawes, was brought to a sudden end early last year when former title challenger Marvin Vettori beat him on scorecards.
With the focus of earning his first main event win and moving up from his eighth-place spot in the UFC rankings, Dolidze will take on 11th-ranked 185-pound fighter Imavov.
Imavov will similarly be trying to earn a win for the first time in a while. His last appearance, a UFC 289 fight against Chris Curtis, ended due to a no-contest after an accidental clash of heads. Before then, Imavov lost a five-round unanimous decision to Sean Strickland, who went on to win the UFC Middleweight Championship two appearances later.
Saturday will be a chance for Imavov to earn his first victory in more than a year’s time. And while Imavov has appeared in a headlining bout in the promotion before, he’ll be trying for his first win under that spotlight this weekend.
Saturday’s UFC card is certainly one of the lower-importance fight nights of the year for the promotion. Combining the facts that it's a main event clash between two contenders coming off a loss with neither having any former title experience, plus the fact that it's a card inside the small studio location, makes it less intriguing than many other offerings from the promotion this year.
The co-main event will see 13th-ranked lightweight Renato Moicano making his return against Drew Dober. Moicano has been out of the cage since late 2022, when he beat Brad Riddell via submission. While Moicano looked to follow-up on that win with a 2023 fight against Arman Tsarukyan, a knee surgery caused him to sit out that entire year. Dober has found success against lower-ranked lightweights over the past two years, having won four of his last five fights. He’ll be trying to break into the rankings with a win this weekend.
Some notable matchups will also take place lower on the card. Ranked flyweights will compete as rising Natalia Silva will meet Viviane Araujo. Silva has gone undefeated through four UFC fights, including a recent decision over Andrea Lee. A win against Araujo, a 10-fight UFC vet who has faced many of the more experienced names in the division, would be a big one for Silva.
Also on the main card, undefeated middleweight talent Aliaskhab Khizriev will end a 22-month absence from competition against Makhmud Muradov.
The featured prelim will see Molly McCann make her strawweight debut against Diana Belbita. McCann is making the move down after suffering a pair of first-round submission losses in the 125-pound division.
Here’s a full look at tonight’s card:
Main Card (7:00PM EST / 4:00PM PST) (ESPN+)
Bout 13: Roman Dolidze (12-2) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (12-4) (Middleweight)
Bout 12: Renato Moicano (17-5-1) vs. Drew Dober (27-12) (Lightweight)
Bout 11: Randy Brown (17-5) vs. Muslim Salikhov (19-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 10: Viviane Araujo (12-5) vs. Natalia Silva (16-5-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 9: Aliaskhab Khizriev (14-0) vs. Makhmud Muradov (26-8) (Middleweight)
Bout 8: Gilbert Urbina (7-2) vs. Charles Radtke (8-3) (Welterweight)
Preliminary Card (4:00PM EST / 1:00PM PST) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Molly McCann (13-6) vs. Diana Belbita (15-8) (Strawweight)
Bout 6: Charles Johnson (13-6) vs. Azat Maksum (17-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Themba Gorimbo (11-4) vs. Pete Rodriguez (5-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 4: Blake Bilder (8-1-1) vs. Lee Jeong-yeong (10-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Julija Stoliarenko (11-7) vs. Luana Carolina (9-4) (Flyweight)
Bout 2: Marquel Mederos (8-1) vs. Landon Quinones (7-2-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Thomas Petersen (8-1) vs. Jamal Pogues (10-4) (Heavyweight)
Rocky ‘Road To UFC’ Season Set To Conclude In Las Vegas
The “Road To UFC” tournament will not go out with a bang this weekend, but that makes the most sense considering how messy the tournament has been in its final months.
“Road To UFC,” an Asia-focused tournament that gives eight-man bracket winners a contract to fight on the UFC roster, came back for its second season in 2023. While the tournament offered a bridge into the UFC for prospects and veterans alike from across a continent, it also lasted longer than expected and had many bumps in the road.
The first six events of the tournament went well, with fighters from flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight competing on shows in China and Singapore. But once the finals came around, the series started to run into some issues.
The initial plan was for the “Road To UFC” tournament to have its finals in China on December 9th as part of the promotion’s first “Fight Night” card in the country since 2019. However, plans had to change after UFC moved their early December 2023 card to Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
A similar issue occurred in the 2022-23 tournament, as the finals were moved from South Korea to Nevada.
Nearly two months after they were originally planned to first happen, the “Road To UFC” tournament finals will take place on Saturday evening from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The card will air following UFC’s “Fight Night” card on their “Fight Pass” service.
If the location and event change wasn’t enough, the latest tournament ran into another issue in recent weeks: The bantamweight final between Xiao Long and Lee Chang-ho was postponed and will happen at a later date.
Three tournament finals will take place on late Saturday evening from Vegas. While the “Road To UFC” tournament focuses on many different countries in Asia, Japan and China specifically are represented in this weekend’s fights.
Former UFC fighter Rongzhu will try to rejoin the promotion with a win against seven-fight undefeated lightweight prospect Shin Haraguchi. Rongzhu briefly fought on the UFC roster from 2021 to 2022, leaving after winning just one of his three fights.
ONE Championship vet Li Kaiwen will take on experienced fighter Yizha in the featherweight finals. Yizha will be appearing in a tournament finals for the second time — he lost a split decision in the 2022-23 finals to Lee Jeong-yeong, who is fighting this weekend as part of UFC’s “Fight Night” lineup.
And at the 125-pound limit, former Strawweight King of Pancrase Rei Tsuruya will face Jiniushiyue. Tsuruya has strung together eight wins since debuting just three years ago.
Here’s a full look at this weekend’s card:
Main Card (11:30PM EST / 8:30PM PST) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 3: Rongzhu (24-5) vs. Shin Haraguchi (7-0) (Road To UFC Lightweight Final)
Bout 2: Li Kaiwen (12-5) vs. Yizha (24-4) (Road To UFC Featherweight Final)
Bout 1: Rei Tsuruya (8-0) vs. Jiniushiyue (13-2) (Road To UFC Flyweight Final)
Notes On: TKO, UFC, ONE Championship, KSW, PFL Europe, OKTAGON, Cage Warriors & LFA
Former TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon has been under federal investigation for sexual misconduct since 2022, per a recent Wall Street Journal report. Over the past few months, New York prosecutors have reportedly been interviewing alleged victims of McMahon. Last summer, a search warrant was executed on McMahon. The Journal reports that the search looked for any documents that mentioned allegations of “rape, sex trafficking, sexual assault, commercial sex transaction, harassment or discrimination.” The full story can be read here.
McMahon stepped down from his TKO Executive Chairman position last week after a former WWE staffer filed a lawsuit against him with the accusation of sex trafficking. On Friday, Vice’s Tim Marchman published a story speaking to numerous legal experts about the nondisclosure agreement that Grant signed following her departure from WWE. Experts thought the document was “poorly drafted” and “unenforceable under common law contract doctrine.” You can read Marchman’s full story here.
A week of ups and downs for TKO Group Holdings — the publicly traded company that represents the UFC and WWE — left the stock at $85.09 per share on Friday afternoon, nearly unchanged from where it was a week prior. While the 15 percent increase of share value in late January due to a WWE deal with Netflix has faded in recent days, that specific business day still leaves the stock up eight percent over the past month.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has signed a new deal with Spotify for his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. Spotify has paid $250 million for a partnership of an undisclosed period of time, per a report from Todd Spangler of Variety. Rogan initially struck a three-and-a-half year deal with Spotify in 2020 worth $200 million. A big difference in his new deal is that the show will no longer be exclusive to Spotify.
Hyder Amil (8-0) has been given a third opponent for UFC’s February 10th card from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. After being matched against Shayilan Nuerdanbieke and Melsik Baghdasaryan, Amil has now been matched against short-notice opponent Fernie Garcia (10-4), per Marcel Dorff. Garcia has suffered three consecutive losses since his 2022 UFC debut. Amil will be making his UFC debut, entering after wins in Bellator and LFA and a 2023 victory on “Dana White’s Contender Series.”
Undefeated Vitor Petrino (10-0) will try for his fourth consecutive UFC win on March 2nd, facing Tyson Pedro (10-4), per an announcement made by the promotion. Pedro last appeared three months ago, stopping Modestas Bukauskas in the second round with punches. Pedro has won three of his four fights via finish since returning in 2022.
Flyweights Alessandro Costa (13-4) and Kevin Borjas (9-2) will meet at UFC’s May 4th card, per Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes. Borjas lost his UFC debut late last year to Joshua Van. Costa has dropped two of his three appearances in the promotion since debuting just over a year ago.
Two MMA bouts took place as part of ONE Championship’s “Friday Fights 50” card from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Carlo Bumina-ang (5-0) remained undefeated with a quick performance over Xie Zhipeng (3-1). After dropping Xie with a left hand, Bumina-ang was able to put in an arm triangle choke for a submission victory. Bumina-ang has now earned four victories in ONE Championship since August 2023.
Avazbek Kholmirzaev (7-1) won his promotional debut in the first round, catching Leandro Gomes (5-2) with a guillotine choke from top position.
A grappling match between Josh Barnett and KSW Heavyweight Champion Phil De Fries will take place as part of KSW EPIC on February 24th.
Also added to KSW EPIC is a light heavyweight MMA bout between Ivan Erslan (13-3) and Bogdan Gnidko (10-1).
Former ARES FC and Brave CF champion Abdoul Abdouraguimov (17-1) has been booked for his second PFL appearance. He is expected to meet Jack Grant (19-7) at the promotion’s March 7th event at the Accor Arena in Paris, France. Abdouraguimov won his promotional debut with a first-round submission over Brad Wheeler last September. Grant is joining the PFL roster with a strong record: He has fought for a title three times in Cage Warriors and is coming off wins in Bellator and Brave CF.
Two more fights have been confirmed for OKTAGON’s Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix opening round, which will take place on March 2nd from Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Undefeated Hafeni Nafuka (8-0) will try to keep his success going against Predrag Bogdanovic (15-1). Nafuka picked up a pair of quick submission wins in OKTAGON last year after previously finding success on the German regional scene. Bogdanovic has put together an impressive record with wins in Serbia. He will make his OKTAGON debut at the start of this tournament.
Former OKTAGON Welterweight Champion Mateusz Legierski (10-1) will start his tournament run in a rematch against Matous Kohout (9-6). Legierski, a titleholder in the promotion four years ago, has put together a trio of victories since returning from KSW. A fight against Kohout was part of that winning streak, as Legierski submitted him via rear naked choke in 2022. Kohout is coming off a decision victory over Robert Pukac from OKTAGON 47.
Carlos Elizarraraz (2-3-1) will try to keep his sole winning streak as a pro alive when he faces Miguel Peimbert (2-4) at Cage Warriors 166 on February 23rd in San Diego, California, USA.
Cage Warriors has re-booked Lone’er Kavanagh (5-0) against Shawn Da Silva (6-0) at flyweight for their March 30th show in London, England. The bout was first scheduled for Cage Warriors 157 last year, but didn’t happen due to Da Silva suffering an injury. Both are strong prospects at 125 pounds: Kavanagh has three wins in Cage Warriors, and Da Silva has two since over the past year.
Taka Mhandu (4-2) has a chance for his third consecutive Cage Warriors win at their April 6th card in Dublin, Ireland, fighting Rory Evans (6-6) at bantamweight. Evans hasn’t had as much luck as of late, having lost three of his four appearances last year.
The first bout for the April 20th Cage Warriors card in Glasgow, Scotland has been announced: Reece McEwan (7-2) will face off against former UFC fighter Cameron Else (10-6). McEwan was unsuccessful in a bantamweight title attempt last year, losing a five-round unanimous decision to Liam Gittins. Else is returning to the regional scene after suffering a pair of UFC losses.
A press release from LFA has confirmed six more bouts for their February 9th card from the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
After winning his LFA debut with a first-round finish over Kyler Fairchild last summer, Alik Lorenz (3-1) will return to face Monte Deon Ogbonna-Morrison (3-2).
Middleweight prospects Mansur Abdul-Malik (3-0) and Allan St-Gelais (1-0) will face off. Abdul-Malik has won all three of his pro fights via finish in the first round. St-Gelais is returning after winning his pro debut in 2020.
Robson Junior (4-2) snapped a two-fight skid in his last appearance with a 29-second win against Andres Murray. He will try to build off that victory next weekend against Carlo Ricci (3-3), who had a two-loss 2023. Junior was originally scheduled to face Princeton Jackson (3-0), who is now out of the lineup.
Grace DiFrancesco (1-0) will appear in LFA as a pro for the second time, facing Aline David (0-0). DiFrancesco fought in LFA three times last year: Twice as an amateur, then won her pro debut against Jasmine Pouncy in November. She’ll now face a newcomer who scored three victories as an amateur from 2021 to 2022.
Combate Global alum Johan Rodriguez (1-0) will make his LFA debut against Jeremiah Humphrey (0-0) at welterweight. Humphrey is debuting after a six-fight amateur career.
Undefeated amateur Paul Marghitas (3-0) will face Lucas Hightree (1-1).
A middleweight fight between Liam Anderson (5-2) and Maurice Morris (6-4) will take place at LFA 177 on February 23rd from Niagara Falls, New York, USA. Anderson has earned three consecutive victories since 2022, including a pair of wins in LFA. Morris will be trying to bounce back from an unsuccessful LFA debut, which he took to Wes Schultz last month.