6/15/25: Kamaru Usman Takes Down Joaquin Buckley For First Win In Years
Also: Phil De Fries defends his KSW heavyweight title for the 12th time
Welcome to a Sunday edition of the Knockdown Daily! Today’s issue is all about fights. We have reports on four different cards from last night: UFC, KSW, OKTAGON, and RIZIN details all in today’s length newsletter. Tons to discuss, so let’s just get to it!
Former Champ Kamaru Usman Leans on Wrestling To Overcome Joaquin Buckley & Earn First Win In Years
After years of not putting together the performances he wanted, Kamaru Usman is officially back in the win column.
The welterweight vet used his dominant wrestling to stop the hype train of Joaquin Buckley on Saturday night, securing his first win since his UFC title reign came to an end a little under three years ago.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” went the distance against Buckley, getting a unanimous decision nod in the main event of a card from the StateFarm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Just 30 seconds into the headlining bout, it became clear that the wrestling-focused style that brought Usman to the championship level in the late 2010s would be prevalent in his performance this weekend.
Usman shot in for a takedown early in the fight, getting Buckley to the mat with a little over four minutes to work. Buckley struggled significantly with not only defending takedown attempts but also escaping one-sided positions on the mat, finding himself trapped for large periods of time on his back.
Heading into the championship rounds, Usman had already banked a significant lead on scorecards against Buckley, who had no answer to his wrestling after 15 minutes of action. While down on scorecards, an aggressive Buckley started to become a threat in the final moments of the fight.
A tiring Usman saw the first bit of significant resistance to his takedown attempts appear in the fifth round, as Buckley was able to shake off a few of his attempts. This allowed the “New Mansa” to charge forward with combinations in the closing minutes, stinging Usman with hard shots as he pushed for a late finish.
Usman easily lost the final round, but knew once the final horn went that he had secured his first win in a long time.
38-year-old Usman hadn’t gotten his hand raised in years, as a series of losses against respected names had left him winless since 2022.
Usman’s multi-year run with the welterweight title famously came to an end at UFC 278, when a fifth-round head kick from Leon Edwards erased the significant lead he had on scorecards.
Usman took a pair of majority decision losses in 2023, dropping a rematch to Leon Edwards, then having an unsuccessful trip up to middleweight against Khamzat Chimaev.
A win on Saturday proved not only that Usman can still beat relevant names in the class, but that he can do so in dominant fashion.
“It feels good,” a choked-up Usman said in his post-fight interview. “It’s been a while. I needed to get that monkey off my back. I know I’m still able to do this at the highest level. Sometimes when you’re going up against a young, hungry guy like that, you gotta pull out the skills and use your experience. That’s what I did tonight.”
Buckley walked into this weekend as the clear A-Side to the fight, as a series of wins over the past few years has given him significant momentum at welterweight.
The 31-year-old contender had won his last six prior to Saturday, including stoppages over names like Colby Covington, Stephen Thompson, and Vicente Luque. A win on Saturday would’ve likely moved him into the division’s top five.
“We’re just getting started,” an optimistic Buckley said after the loss. “We’ll be back.”
Here are a few other headlines from Saturday’s UFC card:
Two-time UFC Strawweight Champion Rose Namajunas (14-7) held onto her #7 ranking at flyweight on Saturday, getting past 11th-place Miranda Maverick (15-6) in an incredibly back-and-forth battle in the co-main event. Namajunas had success with her striking, including a knockdown at one point, but had to survive some tough moments to get to the decision win. Maverick most notably had a tight arm triangle choke attempt in the second round that put Namajunas in trouble, although she was able to endure the moment. “Thug Rose” is now back in the win column after losing a five-rounder to Erin Blanchfield last November.
The featured prelim of the night came to a sudden end after an illegal upkick from Paul Craig (17-9-1) took Rodolfo Bellato (12-2-1) out of the fight. Many considered the injury a bluff from Bellato, who argued that he was knocked out by the blow. The strange sequence, which has people in debate about whether or not Bellato was being truthful regarding the shot’s damage, ended in a no-contest.
Arguably the most memorable performance of the night came from Georgia’s own Malcolm Wellmaker (10-0), who scored a right hook knockout in just half a round against the returning Kris Moutinho (14-7). This was a short-notice opportunity for Wellmaker, who won his UFC debut back in April with a similarly impressive right-hand finish in just two minutes.
Another highlight reel performance from the prelims came when Jose Ochoa (8-1) floored Cody Durden (17-8-1) at the very start of the second round with a left hook, setting up for a ground and pound finish. Peru’s Ochoa was returning after losing his UFC debut late last year.
A gigantic upset emerged on the main card, as +500 underdog Alonzo Menifield (17-5-1) snatched Oumar Sy’s (11-1) undefeated record in a decision result. There isn’t anything more interesting about the fight than that, really. It wasn’t a fun one, but no doubt a big performance for Menifield.
Here are the quick results from Atlanta:
Main Card (10:00PM EDT) (ESPN / ESPN+)
Bout 13: Kamaru Usman def. Joaquin Buckley via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Rose Namajunas def. Miranda Maverick via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Edmen Shahbazyan def. Andre Petroski via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Raoni Barcelos def. Cody Garbrandt via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Cody Brundage via Technical Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Alonzo Menifield def. Oumar Sy via Decision Unanimous
Preliminary Card (7:00PM EDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Paul Craig vs. Rodolfo Bellato via No Contest, Illegal Upkick (RD 1, 4:59)
Bout 6: Michael Chiesa def. Court McGee via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 5: Malcolm Wellmaker def. Kris Moutinho via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:37)
Bout 4: Jose Ochoa def. Cody Durden via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:11)
Bout 3: Ricky Simon def. Cameron Smotherman via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Phil Rowe def. Ange Loosa via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 4:03)
Bout 1: Jamey-Lyn Horth def. Vanessa Demopoulos via Decision, Unanimous
Phil De Fries Taps Out Kickboxer Arkadiusz Wrzosek To Defend KSW Heavyweight Title For 12th Time
12 fights later, there’s still no end in sight for the KSW Heavyweight Championship reign of Phil De Fries.
The seemingly never-ending title run for De Fries was extended this weekend when he handed Polish kickboxer Arkadiusz Wrzosek his first pro loss in the main event of KSW 107 from the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland.
Exploiting the lack of experience Wrzosek has in grappling, De Fries took the Polish talent to the mat in the opening minute of their clash. A controlling few minutes on the ground came to a sudden end when De Fries found the opening for an Americana submission while in side control. Cranking on an arm of Wrzosek caused a tap almost immediately, continuing the Briton’s long run as heavyweight king.
Former UFC fighter De Fries has held KSW’s heavyweight title since 2018, a level of longevity that is almost never seen in any promotion or league in combat sports. He has been a defending champ the entire way, with Saturday marking the 12th time he has retained his title.
Wrzosek, a former GLORY Kickboxing talent who notoriously had a two-fight rivalry with Badr Hari, entered Saturday’s title fight with the hype of a fast rise in the KSW cage. He made quick work of numerous opponents over the past couple of years, knocking out former boxer Artur Szpilka in 14 seconds and beating former PFL talent Matheus Scheffel in only 25 seconds in his most recent performances.
KSW Bantamweight Champion Sebastian Przybysz Overcomes Knockdown To Stop Short-Notice Opponent
After a hectic week that saw a last-minute opponent change, Sebastian Przybysz can at least say he has defended his KSW Bantamweight Championship for the first time.
Przybysz entered this weekend with the belief that he would put his title on the line against Oleksii Polischuck, a Ukrainian contender who had won three of his past five KSW appearances. But, after drama at Friday’s weigh-ins, plans had to change.
Polischuck missed weight for his bantamweight fight against Przybysz, causing KSW to make a major change to Saturday’s lineup. Promotional newcomer Marcelo Morelli, a nine-fight Venezuelan talent who was originally booked to meet Islam Djabrailov earlier on the undercard of the show, was suddenly promoted to a title shot against Przybysz, replacing Polischuck.
Djabrailov was matched with Polischuck, keeping them both in the lineup as well.
Entering as a +500 underdog who had little time to prepare for the high-stake fight, it’s not surprising that Morelli lost, getting submitted in the third round with a rear naked choke. However, it was certainly shocking when the rising bantamweight put Przybysz in trouble during the second round, dropping him with a counter right hand.
The knockdown caused some adversity for Przybysz in a fight that he was expected to win quite easily. He was quick to recover from the shot, getting back up to his feet and returning to a slow-paced stand-up battle against Morelli moments later.
After a back-and-forth striking battle on the feet for nearly 15 minutes, a hard left hook from Przybysz sent Morelli tumbling to the mat in the third. Quick to capitalize on the knockdown, Przybysz took the back of Morelli for a rear naked choke, earning a tap in just seconds later.
Przybysz kicked off his second bantamweight title reign earlier this year, earning the vacant title with a five-round performance over Bruno Azevedo. For years, the promotional vet was shut out of the title picture due to numerous unsuccessful appearances against then-champ Jakub Wiklacz. Once Wiklacz left the promotion in late 2024, an opening emerged for him to chase the title once again.
Here are the quick results for KSW 107:
Main Card (1:00PM EDT / 7:00PM CEST) (KSW PPV)
Bout 9: Phil De Fries def. Arkadiusz Wrzosek via Submission, Americana (RD 1, 3:33) (KSW Heavyweight Championship)
Bout 8: Sebastian Przybysz def. Marcelo Morelli via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 3, 4:30) (KSW Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 7: Roman Szymanski def. Kacper Formela via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:15)
Bout 6: Damian Piwowarczyk def. Cedric Lushima via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 1, 2:05)
Bout 5: Mateusz Pawlikd def. Wiktor Zalewski via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 2:14)
Bout 4: Damian Stasiak def. Michal Domin via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Oleksii Polischuck def. Islam Djabrailov via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 1, 2:23)
Bout 2: Kamil Szkaradek def. Kenji Bortoluzzi via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Wojciech Kawa def. El Hadji Ndiaye via Decision, Unanimouys
Karlos Vemola Sneaks By Attila Vegh In Trilogy Fight At OKTAGON 72
Karlos Vemola got the last laugh in the biggest rivalry in OKTAGON history.
In front of a massive crowd inside the Fortuna Arena—a football stadium with a capacity of 19,000 fans in Prague, Czech Republic—Vemola walked away from his multi-decade MMA career after winning a trilogy fight against long-time rival Attila Vegh.
In a five-round war that came down to the final few minutes, Vemola took a unanimous decision win in what is expected to be the final pro fight in both his and Vegh’s careers.
Early on, a trend emerged in the fight: Vemola was the dominant fighter at close range, and Vegh had a significant advantage when at kickboxing length.
For the first 10 minutes of the fight, Vemola was mostly able to keep Vegh against the cage in body lock positions, using these moments to chip away at him with strikes. However, during other brief pockets of time, Vegh would find distance and score damaging blows, proving that Vemola couldn’t give him too many opportunities at range if he wanted to win.
Vegh made it a much more competitive fight in the third, when he nearly stopped Vemola after wobbling him with a left uppercut. He unloaded a long series of shots against a dazed Vemola, then scored a takedown to control the rest of the round on the mat.
The fight had become even by the end of the fourth, as Vegh continued to be the more effective striker at range, slicing Vemola open with a knee to the head at one point.
It was tied on a pair of scorecards with just five minutes to go, meaning a strong round from either fighter would’ve secured them the win. Vemola’s control in close range returned with force in the final round, scoring a pair of takedowns and keeping Vegh against the fence for large periods of time. After 25 minutes of action, Vemola won on all three scorecards.
When ex-UFC fighter Vemola and former Bellator champ Vegh first met back in 2019, the bout was billed as the “Fight of the Century” by OKTAGON. The fight headlined a massive card, OKTAGON 15, and saw Vegh head into retirement after a first-round stoppage win.
Vegh ended his absence from MMA last year for a rematch against Vemola in front of 28,000 fans. Vemola, who entered the fight as the OKTAGON Light Heavyweight Champion, secured a second-round arm triangle choke submission win to even up the rivalry.
This weekend’s fight, which OKTAGON billed was for a vanity “Infinity Belt,” closes out the rivalry and is expected to also finish up the lengthy MMA careers for both 39-year-olds.
Earlier in the night, former UFC talent Makhmud Muradov captured an interim OKTAGON Middleweight Championship, beating Patrik Kincl in a five-round decision. The win lines Muradov up for a unification fight at middleweight, presumably in 2026, after the ongoing Tipsport Gamechanger grand prix wraps up.
Here are the quick results from last night’s card in Prague:
Bout 10: Karlos Vemola def. Attila Vegh via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Makhmud Muradov def. Patrik Kincl via Decision, Unanimous (Vacant Interim OKTAGON Middleweight Championship)
Bout 8: Ivan Buchinger def. Vladimir Lengal via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 4:31)
Bout 7: Ronald Paradeiser def. Bojan Velickovic via TKO, Injury (RD 1, 1:31)
Bout 6: Daniel Skvor def. Lucas Alsina via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:38)
Bout 5: Jaime Cordero def. David Hosek via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 4:42)
Bout 4: Jakub Batfalsky def. Karol Rysavy via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Alina Dalaslan def. Roza Gumienna via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 3:19)
Bout 2: Ayton De Paepe def. Roman Paulus via Decision, Split
Bout 1: Jan Stanovsky def. Daniel Solaja via Submission, Armbar (RD 3, 4:33)
Vugar Karamov Wins In Return To Featherweight As Potential RIZIN Title Shot Looms
The former champ regained momentum with a solid win, but it remains unclear if the victory is enough to get him a title shot later this summer.
Former RIZIN Featherweight Champion Vugar Karamov is back in his home weight class and back to his old winning ways.
The Azerbaijani fighter put on a grinding three-round performance on Saturday night, halting the momentum of rising Japanese prospect Shuya Kimura, who entered this weekend with an undefeated record. In a clean scorecard win, Karamov turned Kimura back to close out RIZIN LANDMARK 11 from the Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena in Sapporo, Japan.
Karamov didn’t have the most fan-friendly style this weekend, but he got the job done and avoided a second consecutive loss. Leaning on his grappling skills, Karamov kept Kimura on the mat for numerous minutes at a time, allowing him to attempt chokes and score with shots.
On the feet, karate-based fighter Kimura struggled to get his striking going, leaving him without much to show to judges after three rounds. And while he was able to reverse some positions on the mat for ground and pound shots, those moments were brief, often sandwiched in between commanding sequences from Karamov.
Kimura—a fan favorite to the Sapporo crowd—entered this weekend with a record of five wins, all of which had come via first-round stoppage. His RIZIN debut earlier this year lasted just 54 seconds, putting away Takeji Yokoyama with strikes.
Karamov was making his first appearance since an unsuccessful trip up to lightweight, losing a championship bout to Roberto Satoshi Souza on New Year’s Eve. The 33-year-old has now pieced together a pair of wins and one loss since his featherweight title reign came to an end in late 2023.
Coming out of this weekend, the big question is whether Karamov’s performance has any impact on who will challenge current featherweight champ Razhabali Shaydullaev at “Super RIZIN 4” on July 27th.
Shaydullaev is expected to defend his title at the Saitama Super Arena next month, but an opponent has yet to be announced. The Kyrgyzstan-based fighter recently told Japanese media that he was interested in facing the winner of Saturday’s main event.
Karamov exited Saturday seemingly without any major injuries, making it possible to have a quick turnaround and compete in a little over a month. But, after a performance that, while successful, wasn’t the most entertaining, it’s worth questioning if he’s the choice RIZIN wants for their marquee summer event.
RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara had previously mentioned how he expected Saturday’s headlining bout to determine who would face Shaydullaev in July. However, he expressed interest in possibly choosing another challenger after Saturday’s card. No official decision has been made yet regarding who Shaydullaev will meet in Saitama.
Inside and outside the cage, a few other headlines emerged in Japan this week:
RIZIN announced the lineup for an eight-man flyweight grand prix, which will officially begin at “Super RIZIN 4” on July 27th. The lineup features: Recent flyweight title challenger Nkaziulo Zulu (16-7-1), 21-fight RIZIN vet and former DEEP champ Yuki Motoya (37-13), 2021 bantamweight grand prix winner Hiromasa Ougikubo (27-8-2), former CFFC champ Makoto Shinryu (19-4-1), long-time RIZIN talent Yuki Ito (18-6), fan favorite Hiroya (11-13-1), undefeated Alibek Gadzhammatov (5-0), and Krazy Bee talent Erson Yamamoto (5-7).
Also: “Super RIZIN” will feature matchups involving Ren Hiramoto, Chihiro Suzuki and Kyohei Hagiwara, the promotion announced this weekend.
It was also revealed that RIZIN 51 will take place on September 28th at the Aichi International Arena in Nagoya, Japan. Unless a “LANDMARK” or other card gets announced, it looks like there will be a two-month gap in RIZIN’s schedule after “Super RIZIN 4” takes place in late July.
Damaging boxing from Alexander Soldatkin (15-5) earned him a decision win over Prince Aounallah (20-13) and advanced him past the quarter-final round of RIZIN’s Heavyweight Grand Prix. Hexagone heavyweight champ Aounallah had his face get marked up early on due to stinging blows from Soldatkin. The swelling around his right eye, in particular, had a ringside physician concerned at one point. Germany’s Soldatkin now joins Jose Augusto, Marek Samociuk and Mikio Ueda in the semi-finals round, which will be held later this year.
Stand-out performances from earlier on the card were: Ilkhom Nazimov (12-3) starching Japanese vet Suguru Nii (19-14) in a little over two minutes with a front kick finish, Victor Kolesnik (26-4-1) putting away Shooto champ Sasuke (14-4-1) in the first round with a body shot, and Taichi Nakajima (19-13-1) slicing through Coro (20-22-5) in just 77 seconds. Kickboxing’s infamous rulebreaker Sina Karimian (1-0) won his MMA debut against Hidetaka Arato (11-2) in a fight that wasn’t quite interesting.
Here are the quick results:
Bout 19: Vugar Karamov def. Shuya Kimura via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 18: Yoshinori Horie def. Yamato Nishikawa via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:50)
Bout 17: Ilkhom Nazimov def. Suguru Nii via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:09)
Bout 16: Hiroaki Suzuki def. Sora Yamamoto via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 15: Viktor Kolesnik def. Sasuke via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:43)
Bout 14: Alexander Soldatkin def. Prince Aounallah via Decision, Unanimous (Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarter-Final)
Bout 13: Joji Goto def. Jinnosuke Kashimura via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Sina Karimian def. Hidetaka Arato via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Machi def. Haruka Hasegawa via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Taichi Nakajima def. Coro via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:17)
Bout 9: Tatsuya Ando def. Magerram Gasanzade via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:33)
Bout 8: Kuto Ueno def. Farphayap via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 7: Raiki Endo def. Zhaxibading via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Yuya Uzawa def. Toshizo via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 5: Kanato Ueno def. Kensei Yamakawa via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 4: Suguru Hayasaka def. Arashi Suzuki via Submission, Ankle Hold (RD 1, 3:41)
Bout 3: Yukito Morinaga def. Daiki Kobayashi via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 1, 0:53)
Bout 2: Shuto Hayashi def. Kyohei Nishijima via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 1: Takashi Noto def. Yuki Narita via Submission, Armbar (RD 2, 4:50)