Welcome to a Monday edition of the Knockdown Daily! Today’s issue includes a preview of the week ahead, plus 10 takeaways from the past few days in MMA. Even though we’re heading into a week without UFC fights, there are certainly still a few notable cards taking place within the sport. Let’s discuss it all!
Just a reminder: The Knockdown Daily does not send out an issue on Tuesdays. We’ll be back Wednesday with a new issue jam-packed full of news!
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A Look At The Week Ahead
Friday
PFL 2024 #3
The first leg of PFL’s 2024 regular season will conclude on Friday night when featherweights and welterweights compete at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
As mentioned in previous issues, the fighters appearing on Friday night will be attempting to score points in the regular season standings. After the roster fights twice, the top four fighters in the standings will move onto a single-elimination bracket to crown this year’s winner.
Much like last weekend’s card, Friday will represent how much PFL’s acquisition of Bellator has played into its rosters this year. 11 different fighters will be making their PFL debuts after previously fighting on Bellator cards. Promotional veterans like Brennan Ward, Logan Storley, Goiti Yamauchi, and UFC alum Kai Kamaka III will all be in action.
Veteran Andrey Koreshkov will get the main event spotlight of the evening, taking on undefeated Magomed Umalatov in a welterweight season bout. Koreshkov quietly put together a series of wins near the end of his Bellator run, scoring five consecutive victories in recent years. His last win saw him overcome Lorenz Larkin in a split decision.
Even though Umalatov has been on the PFL roster since 2021 and has never lost a fight, he has yet to capture a belt in the promotion. He qualified for the playoffs last year after earning a pair of season victories, although had to withdraw from the bracket before facing Magomed Magomedkerimov in the semi-finals.
2022 champion Brendan Loughnane will make his return in the co-main event spot of the night, taking on former Bellator title challenger Pedro Carvalho.
Loughnane had a stellar 2022 season, earning four consecutive wins and finishing Bubba Jenkins in the finals of the playoffs. While his 2023 started with a finish over former UFC contender Marlon Moraes, the run he had going was stopped later that year with a 94-second finish by Jesus Pinedo. He’ll now try to get his momentum going once again against Carvalho, who struggled near the end of his Bellator run.
Carvalho suffered a first-round finish loss in his last appearance, getting put away early by Aaron Pico. He has lost three of his last five, a ratio of wins that will need to change if he hopes to succeed within the PFL format.
PFL’s regular season will take the month of May off after this weekend, then will return with a trio of cards in June that will help finalize the playoff brackets.
All fights are regular season bouts on Friday, except for the first and second matchups of the evening. Tyler Diamond versus Otto Rodrigues is being billed as an alternate bout for the featherweight season, and Thad Jean’s appearance against Romain Debienne is listed as a “showcase.” A previously promoted alternate fight at welterweight between Zach Juusola and Luca Poclit is no longer listed on the card, per a recent social media post by the promotion.
Here’s the full lineup:
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 9:00PM CDT) (ESPN / ESPN+)
Bout 12: Andrey Koreshkov (27-4) vs. Magomed Umalatov (14-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 11: Brendan Loughnane (27-5) vs. Pedro Carvalho (13-8) (Featherweight)
Bout 10: Logan Storley (15-2) vs. Shamil Musaev (16-0-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 9: Gabriel Alves Braga (12-1) vs. Justin Gonzales (14-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 8: Goiti Yamauchi (28-6) vs. Neiman Gracie (12-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 7: Bubba Jenkins (21-7) vs. Kai Kamaka III (12-5-1) (Featherweight)
Preliminary Card (6:00PM EDT / 5:00PM CDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 6: Adam Borics (18-2) vs. Enrique Barzola (20-7-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 5: Timur Khizriev (14-0) vs. Brett Johns (20-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Laureano Staropoli (13-5) vs. Murad Ramazanov (11-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 3: Don Madge (10-4-1) vs. Brennan Ward (17-7) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Tyler Diamond (12-3) vs. Otto Rodrigues (14-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Romain Debienne (10-4) vs. Thad Jean (6-0) (Welterweight)
Saturday
OKTAGON 56: Aby vs. Creasey
Aaron Aby will get a second chance at OKTAGON gold when he faces Sam Creasey this weekend. The duo will face off for the OKTAGON Flyweight Championship when the promotion comes to the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
Aby challenged for the 125-pound OKTAGON title late last year against U.S. prospect Elias Garcia, although he was unable to call himself champion by the end of the night. After two rounds of action, a doctor stoppage took Aby out of the fight and prevented him from earning the first title of his career. According to an announcement made by the promotion when revealing this weekend’s headliner, Garcia was later stripped of the belt after refusing to take a rematch against Aby.
Aby has returned to the win column since that 2023 defeat, overcoming Christopher Daniel on scorecards in January. He’ll now take on Creasey, a Cage Warriors veteran who will be making his OKTAGON debut.
Creasey fought in Cage Warriors for a large part of his career, appearing 18 times from 2016 to 2023. His run included numerous title fights and a year-long reign as champ that started in 2021. He’s making the move over to OKTAGON’s title picture after picking a pair of victories last year.
Saturday’s OKTAGON card will also include the final opening round bout in the Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix, as Akonne Wanliss and Sahil Siraj will face off. Wanliss and Siraj were initially expected to meet in early March on a card with most round of 16 fights in the grand prix. However, after a backstage altercation where Wanliss was attacked by cornermen representing Siraj, their bout was moved ahead to this weekend.
Siraj is a lightweight prospect who came over to OKTAGON last year. He won his debut with a first-round finish over Giorgi Gogotchuri. Siraj, a Swedish stand-out, signed onto the OKTAGON roster after previously earning wins in promotions like KSW, Cage Warriors, and Brave CF.
Many notable European talents are booked for the OKTAGON 56 undercard. Bellator alum Will Fleury, former Cage Warriors Middleweight Champion Mick Stanton, and rising Irish fighter Shem Rock are among the names set to fight earlier in the evening.
Here’s how the full show looks:
Main Card (12:00PM EDT / 5:00PM BST) (OKTAGON PPV)
Bout 13: Aaron Aby (16-8-1) vs. Sam Creasey (18-5) (Vacant OKTAGON Flyweight Championship)
Bout 12: Akonne Wanliss (7-2) vs. Sahil Siraj (9-2) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 11: Shem Rock (9-1-1) vs. Stefano Catacoli (7-1) (Catchweight 150 lbs)
Bout 10: Daniel Svkor (7-3) vs. Will Fleury (11-3) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 9: Andrej Kalasnik (10-5) vs. Liam Etebar (8-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 8: George Staines (1-0) vs. Tomas Ciganik (1-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 7: Jakub Dohnal (12-4) vs. James Hendin (8-2) (Featherweight)
Bout 6: Denis Frimpong (1-2) vs. Callum Mullen (5-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Mick Stanton (12-8) vs. Kamil Wojciechowski (8-1) (Middleweight)
Bout 4: Max Handanagic (9-6-1) vs. James Dixon (4-2) (Welterweight)
Bout 3: Ammari Diedrick (4-2) vs. Daniel Hromek (3-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 2: Beau Gavin (0-1) vs. Mbaye Gaye (0-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 1: Megan Morris (2-2) vs. Aitana Alvarez (5-5) (Flyweight)
Cage Warriors 171
Cage Warriors will return to Scotland for the first time in over a decade on Saturday night, presenting a jam-packed 18-fight lineup from the Braehead Arena in Glasgow.
European promotion Cage Warriors has only visited Scotland a couple of times in the past, with an April 2013 event being the last time they touched down in the city. That card featured Joanne Wood in the co-main event, a fighter who would go on to have a 17-fight UFC career before retiring this year.
The biggest spotlight of the night will go to lightweights, as Scottish veteran Chris Bungard will headline the show against Dumitru Girlean. Bungard has put together a pair of wins since losing a title shot against George Hardwick in 2022. His last appearance, a late 2023 fight against Perry Andre Goodwin, saw him score a triangle armbar submission in the first round.
Girlean, an Italian prospect with a reputation for finishing fights, is riding the momentum of a submission victory over Simone Patrizi from last year. He’ll be searching for his third Cage Warriors win this weekend.
Reece McEwan will also return to action, facing UFC alum Cameron Else at bantamweight. McEwan lost a title bout in November of last year, going five rounds against Liam Gittins but not receiving the scorecard nod in the end. He had an impressive Cage Warriors record before then, stringing together four wins in just over a year’s time.
Else will be appearing for the first time after his unsuccessful two-fight UFC stint. He is coming off a lengthy layoff, with his last fight taking place just under two years ago.
There are numerous Scottish prospects on Saturday’s busy card, including names like Aidan Stephen and Sean Clancy Jr. Non-Scottish talents like Ieuan Davies and Khadim Dia will be in action as well.
Here’s a look at the card:
Main Card (3:30PM EDT / 8:30PM BST) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 18: Chris Bungard (19-8) vs. Dumitru Girlean (7-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 17: Reece McEwan (7-2) vs. Cameron Else (10-6) (Bantamweight)
Bout 16: Sean Clancy Jr. (3-0) vs. Lucas Rodrigues (6-6) (Welterweight)
Bout 15: Aidan Stephen (9-4) vs. Gianluca Scottoli (9-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 14: Scott Malone (9-6) vs. Nicolas Leblond (9-4) (Flyweight)
Bout 13: Keir Harvie (6-3-2) vs. Kaique Modesto (6-4) (Bantamweight)
Preliminary Card (11:30AM EDT / 4:30PM BST) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 12: Konstantinos Ntelis (8-2) vs. Jan Quaeyhaegens (11-5) (Lightweight)
Bout 11: Paull McBain (7-3) vs. Alberth Dias (6-4) (Featherweight)
Bout 10: Jack Eglin (4-2) vs. Daan Duijs (9-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 9: Carlo Pedersoli (14-5) vs. Wallison Henrique (16-14) (Welterweight)
Bout 8: Jamie MacDonald (3-0) vs. Nell Ariano (0-0) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 7: Ieuan Davies (4-0) vs. Diego Dickson (4-3) (Catchweight 167 lbs)
Bout 6: Michael Blair (2-2) vs. Dec Dean (1-2) (Lightweight)
Bout 5: Ronal Siahaan (8-1) vs. Igor Wojtas (10-9) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Damon Donald (1-0) vs. TBC (Featherweight)
Bout 3: Iain Postlethwaite (6-6) vs. Pav Sahota (5-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Khadim Dia (4-0) vs. Mush Aslani (4-4) (Welterweight)
Bout 1: Cornellius Aritonang (3-0) vs. Thomas Hepburn (1-1) (Featherweight)
10 Takeaways From The Weekend
Discussing Alex Pereira, Max Holloway, Kayla Harrison, Belal Muhammad, PFL’s light heavyweight division, and more.
Alex Pereira might be the next era-defining fighter at light heavyweight. Ever since Jon Jones left light heavyweight in pursuit of a title in the promotion’s top weight class, 205 pounds has been left without a top name to represent the division. One of the top divisions in UFC history has seen its belt get hot potato’d around, going from one champion to the next for years. However, for the first time since 2021, we now have a champion who has defended his belt once. Alex Pereira made quick work of Jamahal Hill on Saturday night, flooring him with a shot that ended the fight in just three minutes. He has now overcome three different former champs in the division, as he has previous wins over Jiri Prochazka and Jan Blachowicz. Pereira has the flashy performances (have you ever seen a boring Pereira fight?) and the high-level success that can make him the face of a division and one of the biggest names in the UFC. The longer he can keep doing exactly what he’s doing now, the more he will stick out as a top fighter in the promotion and an era-defining figure at light heavyweight. We’re not there yet, but we might arrive there in the near future.
Now is the right time for a Max Holloway title shot. Heading into this weekend I knew that Max Holloway’s fight against Justin Gaethje would be a barnburner, but I worried it would take Holloway, arguably the most qualified contender at featherweight, out of the title mix. Luckily, after putting on a stellar performance and walking out with an all-time knockout win, Holloway is still in the running. I strongly believe that now is the best time to give Holloway one more shot at the belt. Apart from his losses to Alexander Volkanovski, who is no longer the champion, Holloway hasn’t lost at featherweight in over a decade. He’s the highest-ranked fighter who hasn’t faced champ Ilia Topuria, and he has beaten lower-ranked talents Brian Ortega and Yair Rodriguez in the past. While he’s 32, meaning he’s not old by any stretch, he has a lot of mileage from big fights. He can still put on good performances, but you never know how many more big fights can come out of a talent who has fought into championship rounds 10 times before. Holloway had a strong case for a shot before this weekend, and the type of performance he delivered against Gaethje certainly didn’t hurt his argument for a shot. I know there are other contenders who are also eligible, but I think the next chance should go to Holloway.
Zhang Weili is building an impressive legacy at strawweight. In the short history of the strawweight division, there’s a case to be made that Zhang Weili is the second-most important fighter that the weight class has seen. After Joanna Jedrzeczyk, the most successful 115-pound champ by a wide margin, Zhang has put together an important legacy in the weight class. It was noted on Saturday night that she has appeared in seven different title fights since joining the UFC roster. Her hard-fought five-round win against the tough Yan Xiaonan made her the second-ever champion in strawweight history to defend their belt more than once. We’re currently watching someone build a career that will be looked back on as one of the best in the weight class. As time goes on, we’ll get to see how much bigger she can become.
Arman Tsarukyan should be next in line at lightweight. Well, next-next. Coming out of this Saturday’s card, I thought Arman Tsarukyan was the clear next challenger in line for lightweight champ Islam Makhachev. He overcame Charles Oliveira, a former champ in his own right who was near another title fight last year before injury got in the way, beating him via decision. However, just a few hours later, it was announced that Makhachev will fight Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. It’s hard to get mad about that matchup: Poirier is a solid contender and the fight was likely finalized before Tsarukyan even got the chance to make his case this weekend. But once that fight is past us, Tsarukyan seems to be the clear next opponent in line. With wins over Beneil Dariush, Damir Ismagulov, and now Oliveira, it makes sense to put him against the champ soon.
Kayla Harrison proved doubters wrong. There were a lot of people doubting Kayla Harrison, and they honestly had good reasons. We had never seen her weigh the bantamweight limit or better yet compete in it. And we had only seen her against strong talents a few times since her 2018 debut, so Holly Holm was a fighter who could potentially cause problems against her. But Harrison had a perfect weekend from weigh-in to performance, hitting the limit and submitting Holly Holm in the second round with a rear naked choke. After a UFC debut that went as close to perfect as you could hope, Harrison is likely in a strong position for a potential bantamweight title fight. If she’s not next for the belt, she’s easily one more fight away.
Bo Nickal was a little too tough on himself. Bo Nickal absolutely dominated Cody Brundage before submitting him in the second round with a rear naked choke. Afterwards, the undefeated talent was disappointed and gave himself a thumbs down. Really? As the fights get tougher for Nickal, he won’t be having those lightning-fast finishes anymore, and that’s totally fine. As long as he keeps winning, puts on successful performances and faces talent of increasing skill level, Nickal should keep his head high.
Overall, UFC 300 was a hit. You don’t always get the best performances when you make the best fights. Incredible matchups can end up playing out like bland fights. Was that the case at UFC 300? Far, far from it. I can’t complain. UFC 300 was crafted to be a stacked card and played out like an incredible show. They had some nice tributes to the past (including a “Face The Pain” intro and some other clips), honoring the years that led up to the event. From the fights to the presentation, Saturday’s show was done well. As a critic, the job is to poke holes in a topic and find flaws. But you also have to give credit where it’s due, and a lot of credit is due to the UFC after the event this weekend.
What is going on with Belal Muhammad?! When I got a gig writing for Bloody Elbow a year ago, my very first story highlighted Belal Muhammad claiming that he is ready for a title shot. 12 months later, he’s still calling for that fight and not much has changed. With a winning streak that dates back to 2019 and victories over names like Vicente Luque and Sean Brady, he has one of the strongest resumes for a fight against Leon Edwards. However, there seems to be a growing contingent of fans who think UFC simply doesn’t want to give it to him. But on the other side of things, UFC keeps showing him on pay-per-view broadcasts—like they did on Saturday night—giving him that platform to call for a fight. Does UFC actually want to make that fight, but something else is stopping it from being finalized? Is UFC showing Muhammad’s pleas for a shot simply to embarrass him? Do they simply not see the irony in showcasing someone while icing them out of a fight? I don’t know which of these situations is the actual truth. All I know is that I’m confused.
PFL’s light heavyweight division is one to watch. Friday night had an electric lineup of fights, and a big part of that was PFL’s light heavyweight division. The season kicked off with five different fighters all scoring first-round finishes, putting them essentially tied for first place in the division. When they return in June, the 205-pound class will have an interesting night: Among the numerous winning names, three of which are former PFL champions, only four can make the cut for the playoffs. It’ll be a night of standings mathematics and high-stakes fights.
Two events in, PFL have been great this year. It doesn’t feel like PFL has always had the greatest reputation online. Their show pacing can be rough and their quality of cards has been criticized as not ideal. However, after two weeks of their 2024 season, I have to admit: It’s been a good season. Both shows have presented quality lineups and good fights. Arguably most important, PFL has also improved on something that seemed to be their biggest flaw: Pacing! PFL still has eight more events to go in their marquee schedule this year, but I like what I’m seeing so far.
One extra note: I was on POST Wrestling’s UFC 300 post-event podcast on Sunday. If you want to hear extra thoughts on the weekend, feel free to give it a listen!
Back when I was more invested in this, I really thought Oktagon would be the next promotion to breakthrough (to a KSW level of appeal). What say you?