6/26/25: Jon Jones Denies Leaving Scene of Accident In February
Also: Three UFC main events announced for this summer
Welcome to a Thursday edition of the Knockdown Daily. We have another busy newsletter for you today. Three newly announced UFC main events to discuss, the latest on Jon Jones’ recent legal battle, and so, so much more. Let’s begin.
Recently Retired Jon Jones Denies Involvement In February Hit And Run
Days after Jon Jones announced his retirement, marking an end to one of the most prominent MMA careers of the 2010s, it’s not the former two-division champ’s legacy as a fighter that has been the biggest topic around the sport.
Instead, it’s been a new allegation of fleeing the scene of a car accident that has been the top story surrounding Jones this week. New details from Jones’ lawyer, as well as recently obtained police body camera footage, have helped shed extra light on the ex-fighter’s recent run-in with the law.
Body camera footage obtained by MMA Junkie shows an Albuquerque police service aide responding to a call during the early morning of February 21st, the night that Jones was alleged to have fled the scene of an accident by foot. The aide is seen approaching a car that has been involved in a crash, causing exterior damage and forcing the airbags to deploy.
A distressed woman sat inside the passenger seat of the car, with nobody else in the vehicle. A criminal complaint filed later on would mention that she showed “signs of significant intoxication.” The woman claimed that the driver of the car fled the scene immediately following an accident, later saying that the man was UFC fighter Jones.
The woman, who mentioned that she wasn’t wearing pants, eventually got who she claimed was Jones on the phone.
The man on the other side of the call dodged questions as to whether he was driving the car that crashed that night. Instead, in an aggravated tone, he seemingly made threats to hurt the police aide.
“You won’t be the first guy this year that I’ve threatened, swear to God … My brothers, they kill people for way less,” the caller said.
Later interviewed days after the February car accident, Jones denied being present for the crash. Instead, he claimed that he received a call from the woman—who had spent time at his residence earlier that day—after the accident had occurred.
When asked about his alleged threatening comments on the phone call, Jones told police the person he was on the phone with “immediately opened the conversation with unprofessional language, which led him [Jones] to doubt the legitimacy of the individual’s claim,” per documents obtained by the Albuquerque Journal.
A statement from Jones’ attorney, Christopher Dodd, strongly denied that Jones was ever at the scene of the crime.
“In the thousands of cases I have handled in my career, I have never seen a case as strange and unwarranted as this one … Jon was not driving that night; he wasn’t in the car,” Dodd told Sportsnet. “It appears that an intoxicated woman used a false allegation against Jon to avoid being arrested for DWI, and the police fell for it.”
Jones is no stranger to criminal cases involving vehicular malpractice. He was notoriously convicted of a hit and run in 2015, causing him to serve 18 months of probation and ending his record-setting light heavyweight UFC title reign.
Jones has also previously pled guilty to a DUI in 2012 and a DWI in 2020.
The charge of misdemeanor leaving the scene of an accident was filed last week by prosecutors, setting up a bond arraignment on July 24th that Jones is expected to appear for.
UFC Unveils Three Main Events For Summer World Tour
A trio of massive main event bookings have been announced by the UFC in recent days, revealing what will get the biggest spotlight during the promotion’s most notable “Fight Night” cards of the summer.
The company’s long-awaited return to mainland China, their annual “Noche UFC” lineup, and the promotion’s yearly trip to France all have headlining acts set. Here’s a quick rundown of it all.
Ex-Title Challenger Diego Lopes To Face Finisher Jean Silva At ‘Noche UFC’
Surging featherweight contender Jean Silva will look to take down recent title challenger Diego Lopes in the main event of UFC’s annual Mexican Independence Day card.
Silva and Lopes have been booked for the main event of “Noche UFC,” a September 13th card which was originally expected to take place in Mexico before later getting moved to the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, USA.
Lopes, a Brazilian fighter who has trained in Mexico since he was 19 years old, will be making his first appearance since losing a featherweight title bid earlier this year to Alexander Volkanovski.
The five-round defeat Lopes took in April, getting shut down by the technical Australian striker, ended an impressive five-fight streak that made him one of the division’s top contenders. Past wins included victories over Brian Ortega and Dan Ige, as well as a trio of finishes against lower-ranked names.
Lopes will try to preserve his status as one of the top 145-pound talents against Silva, a flashy finisher who has yet to lose in the UFC.
Lopes has earned five UFC wins since his early 2024 promotional debut, all of which have come via stoppage. His first-ever five-round assignment emerges after already earning two wins earlier this year, stopping Melsik Baghdasaryan with strikes, then surprisingly submitting grappling ace Bryce Mitchell in April.
Silva currently sits 11th in the division, but could move as high as the featherweight top five with a win against second-place Lopes. It’s a big challenge, and we’ll soon find out if he’s ready for it.
China’s Own Zhang Mingyang To Headline UFC Shanghai
One of China’s fastest-rising stars will headline the promotion’s return to the country on August 23rd.
Light heavyweight contender Zhang Mingyang will get his first-ever main event UFC assignment in a little under two months, meeting 205-pound vet Johnny Walker at the Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China.
Zhang hasn’t needed more than a round to dispose of his past three UFC opponents since entering the promotion in early 2024. He most recently gave Anthony Smith a rough retirement fight, finishing him in a little over four minutes earlier this year.
While Zhang has only gone to the third round once in his career, the upcoming main event could push him to four or even five rounds for the first time.
Brazil’s Walker will try to turn around recent misfortune when he appears in China later this year.
Walker suffered back-to-back losses last year, getting stopped by Magomed Ankalaev and then Volkan Oezdemir. While the 14-fight UFC vet has fallen on hard times before—at one point winning just one of his five most recent fights—a defeat in August would be his first time going on a three-fight skid.
Nassourdine Imavov Gets Main Event Spot At UFC Paris
Nassourdine Imavov will headline a fight card in his home country of France for the first time ever on September 6th.
After fellow French stars Ciryl Gane and Benoit Saint-Denis were given the main event spotlight during past UFC trips to the Accor Arena in Paris, it’ll be first-ranked middleweight contender Imavov’s turn later this year when he faces Caio Borralho in a five-round bout.
Imavov has put together a run over the past year and a half that has arguably made him the best contender to face the winner of an upcoming middleweight title fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev. With five-round wins over former champ Israel Adesanya, former title challenger Jared Cannonier, and contender Roman Dolidze, it’s no surprise that Imavov sits first in the division.
Attempting to spoil Imavov’s path toward a future title shot is Borralho, a rising name at middleweight who has yet to lose in seven UFC appearances. After earning a series of wins against unranked and lesser-experienced middleweights in recent years, Borralho earned a massive victory last summer by going five rounds against Cannonier for a decision win.
He’ll step into enemy territory for his next fight, trying to earn a win which would easily catapult him into the title conversation at 185.
Here’s an updated look at UFC’s main event schedule currently:
6/28/25 - UFC 317 - Ilia Topuria (16-0) vs. Charles Oliveira (Vacant UFC Lightweight Championship)
7/12/25 - UFC Nashville - Derrick Lewis (28-12) vs. Tallison Teixeira (8-0) (Heavyweight)
7/19/25 - UFC 318 - Max Holloway (26-8) vs. Dustin Poirier (30-9) (Lightweight BMF Championship)
7/26/25 - UFC Abu Dhabi - Robert Whittaker (26-8) vs. Reinier de Ridder (20-2) (Middleweight)
8/2/25 - UFC APEX - Amir Albazi (17-2) vs. Tatsuro Taira (16-1) (Flyweight)
8/9/25 - UFC APEX - Roman Dolidze (15-3) vs. Anthony Hernandez (14-2) (Middleweight)
8/15/25 - UFC 319 - Dricus Du Plessis (23-2) vs. Khamzat Chimaev (14-0) (UFC Middleweight Championship)
8/23/25 - UFC Shanghai - Johnny Walker (21-9) vs. Zhang Mingyang (19-6) (Light Heavyweight)
9/6/25 - UFC Paris - Nassourdine Imavov (16-1) vs. Caio Borralho (17-1) (Middleweight)
9/13/25 - Noche UFC - Diego Lopes (26-7) vs. Jean Silva (16-1) (Featherweight)
10/4/25 - UFC 320 - TBA
10/18/25 - UFC Vancouver - TBA
Alibi Idiris Wrestles His Way To ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Flyweight Semi-Final Round
Dominant wrestling allowed undefeated Kazakhstani talent Alibi Idiris to advance past the quarter-final round of this year’s “The Ultimate Fighter” tournament against Furkatbek Yokubov.
Despite a point deduction and tough striking from Yokubov, Idiris needed just two rounds to secure a unanimous decision win, putting him past the opening round of the flyweight bracket.
After struggling to keep up with Yokubov on his feet, Idiris started to focus on getting the fight to the mat later in the first round. His wrestling skills proved to be effective, getting Yokubov to the mat and allowing for a long series of ground and pound shots late in the opening frame.
While up on scorecards after five minutes, Idiris suffered a setback early in the second, as an eye poke forced him to be deducted a point on scorecards. His coach, Daniel Cormier, noted that despite the point deduction, if Idiris had the better second round the bout, he would still win the fight within two rounds.
Following the point deduction, the second round proved to be even more dominant for Idiris. He scored numerous takedowns throughout the few minutes, tiring out Yokubov and continuing to stay active with ground and pound shots.
It was clear who would get the nod after 10 minutes.
Idiris, a fighter who has put together 10 pro wins in his home country of Kazakhstan since turning pro in 2019, now joins Joseph Morales and Imanol Rodriguez in the semi-final round of the flyweight bracket. The defeat was a tough loss for Dubai-based fighter Yokubov, who entered this year’s show with the momentum of four straight finishes on the regional scene.
Welterweight will get back into the spotlight next week, determining who will join Daniil Donchenko and Jeff Creighton in the semi-finals.
The next matchup will see “Contender Series” alum Matt Dixon take on Mexico’s Alex Sanchez at 170 pounds.
Dixon has rebounded on the regional since his unsuccessful “Contender Series” showing in 2020, having earned a pair of first-round finish victories. Sanchez has the momentum of big wins from all around the regionals, including a 2021 title win in Combate Global, a championship victory in A1 Combat a little over a year ago, and numerous solid performances in his home country of Mexico.
Notes On: UFC, ONE Championship, KSW & Cage Warriors
UFC
The UFC Hall of Fame is streaming tonight on Fight Pass, with a start time of 10 p.m. ET. The next newsletter will come out Saturday - If I have time to watch, I’ll share some thoughts along with the other coverage I have planned for that day (PFL recap + whatever other madness happens over the next 48 hours.
So the plan to have Sedriques Dumas (10-3)—who was arrested for felony home invasion robbery without a firearm last month—fight this weekend is off. He has withdrawn from his matchup against UFC newcomer Jackson McVey (6-0). This probably wasn’t a smart idea to do, and honestly it’s a little perplexing that it was even tried in the first place. Replacing him will be UFC debutant Christopher Ewert (7-0), who was scheduled to appear on the “Contender Series” later this summer before being fast-tracked to this weekend’s show. Ewert has earned seven wins since turning pro in late 2022, including past wins in prominent promotions Fury FC and Combate Global.
UFC’s July 12th lineup looks pretty much complete at 12 bouts in total… Here are two new additions to that dozen:
Nate Landwehr (18-6) and French star Morgan Charriere (20-11-1) will face off at featherweight. Both are coming back after a loss: Charriere dropped a decision at UFC London to Nathaniel Wood in March, and Landwehr was stopped by Choi Doo-ho late last year.
Searching for his first UFC win, Mitch Ramirez (8-2) will return against Mike Davis (11-3). Former “Contender Series” competitor Ramirez joined the UFC roster on short notice last year, stepping in to fight Thiago Moises. In the underdog position, he expectedly lost. Davis had a four-fight win streak stopped in February when he lost a decision to Fares Ziam. Injuries have slowed Davis’ career so much that this upcoming bout marks the first time he will compete twice in a calendar year since 2019.
Kevin Holland (28-13) will make his fourth appearance of 2025 when he takes on Daniel Rodriguez (19-5) at UFC 318 on July 19th, MMA Fighting confirmed recently. This was a matchup first actually planned back in 2022, but was scrapped after a Khamzat Chimaev weight miss caused UFC to re-arrange numerous fights on a pay-per-view card with just a day’s notice. After losing to Reinier de Ridder in January, Holland has scored wins over Gunnar Nelson and Vicente Luque in recent weeks. Rodriguez is also on a run of two straight wins, recently beating Alex Morono and Santiago Ponzinibbio.
A few big fights have been added to UFC 319, which is set for August 16th in Chicago:
In his second appearance since moving up to middleweight, Michael Page (23-3) will meet seventh-ranked Jared Cannonier (18-8). Page stopped the momentum of rising Russian star Shara Magomedov earlier this year, ending his undefeated streak. The currently unranked Bellator vet could move into the top 10 with a win over Cannonier, who snapped a two-fight skid with a main event stoppage win over Gregory Rodrigues earlier this year.
Featherweights Drakkar Klose (15-3-1) and Edson Barboza (24-12) will face off. Barboza is coming back after losing a five-round “Fight of the Night” against undefeated Lerone Murphy last year. Klose had a four-fight streak of wins brought to a halt in December when Joel Alvarez stopped him in the first round.
27-fight UFC vet King Green (32-17-1) and 16-fight UFC vet Diego Ferreira (19-6) have been matched up. Green is trying to regain some momentum after suffering a pair of tough losses within the past year, getting stopped within a round by Paddy Pimblett and Mauricio Ruffy. Ferreira is returning after losing a decision to Grant Dawson in January.
Trying to avoid the first-ever three-fight losing streak of his career, Gerald Meerschaert (37-19) will take on Michael Oleksiejczuk (20-9). Meerschaert suffered losses to Reinier de Ridder and Brad Tavares in recent months. Oleksiejczuk just climbed out of a three-fight skid by finishing Sedriques Dumas in April.
Attempting to come back from his first pro loss, Rinya Nakamura (9-1) will take on Nathan Fletcher (9-2) at UFC’s August 2nd card. Nakamura was on the losing end of a massive upset result in January, dropping a decision to Muin Gafurov. The 2022-23 “Road To UFC” winner, who had a decorated wrestling career before pursuing MMA, previously had a pair of UFC victories. Fletcher, who signed onto the UFC roster after competing on last year’s season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” is coming back after losing a tight split decision to Caolan Loughran that many saw go the other way.
Deadline reported that Netflix is currently putting together a biopic on Ronda Rousey, and that they have appointed Augustine Frizzell as director for the film/series/whatever it ends up being. The movie will be based on Rousey’s memoirs, “My Fight/Your Fight” and “Our Fight.” The latter of those I reviewed last year for LowKickMMA.
The first-ever UFC BJJ event took place on Wednesday night. UFC’s venture into boxing and (notoriously) slap fighting has received a lot of attention, but their BJJ moves have flown under the radar a little more. I actually saw some comments tonight from out of the loop folks who didn’t even know the event was going down. They’re pouring lots into the sport, signing big names including Mikey Musumeci (who many MMA folks might remember from his appearances in ONE). It’s going to be interesting to see how this venture goes, as they try to put the UFC “formula” on a different combat sport. The first-ever event can be watched for free on Youtube here.
Sidenote: The UFC BJJ belt is ugly.
ONE Championship
ONE Fight Night 35 will take place on September 5th in Bangkok, Thailand. It’s been announced that Jackie Buntan and Stella Hemetsberger will compete for the 125-pound division’s Muay Thai belt in the main event. A new champ is being found after the previous titleholder, Smilla Sundell, vacated the belt in 2024 following a weight miss. Buntan currently holds the division’s kickboxing belt, earning it last November with a five-round performance against Anissa Meksen. She had a ONE Muay Thai record of six wins and one loss before then. Hemetsberger has built up a record of three wins on ONE’s “Friday Fights” series, including a finish win from April, which lasted less than two minutes.
As expected, ONE is already starting to pack on title fights for their November 16th card in Tokyo, Japan:
ONE’s 155-pound kickboxing belts will be unified with Superbon and Masaaki Noiri face off. Superbon, who became a champ last year after beating Marat Grigorian, will be trying to bounce back after losing a Muay Thai title bout earlier this year against Tawanchai. Noiri won his interim title at ONE’s last event in Japan, scoring a third-round finish against Tawanchai.
In a rematch from last November, Oumar Kane (7-1) and Anatoly Malykhin (14-1) will meet for the promotion’s heavyweight MMA belt. Kane prevailed in a close (and honestly not very enjoyable) split decision win last November, ending the undefeated record that Malykhin has carried around in ONE since 2021. The Russian talent—who still carries ONE’s belts at 225 and 205 pounds—will look to regain his third title later this year.
Kristie Neo (former DealStreetAsia reporter) recently wrote an article recapping the latest on ONE’s business in Singapore, Thailand, America, and elsewhere. I recommend giving it a look.
KSW
Patryk Kaczmarczyk (12-3) is out of his KSW 108 main event bout against Leo Brichta (13-5), he announced recently. Taking his place will be Adam Soldaev (9-2), a rising Polish talent who has picked up four wins through five KSW appearances.
Also: It looks like Brazil’s Tamires Vidal (7-4) will make her first post-UFC appearance when she battles Wiktoria Czyzewska (5-1) earlier on that card.
Piotr Kuberski (16-1) will defend his interim KSW middleweight title for the first time when he faces Radoslaw Paczuski (8-2) at KSW 109 on August 14th. Not sure what the story is with Pawel Pawlak, the division’s main champ, who we haven’t seen since last July. But my goodness, Kuberski is one to watch. 14 of his 16 pro wins have come via stoppage, including a third-round finish he earned over Tomasz Romanowski to claim interim champ status. Paczuski has strung together a trio of KSW wins, including a January victory over highly experienced talent Kleber Silva.
Rzeszow, the largest southeastern city in Poland, will host KSW 110 on September 20th. That’s a first-time trip to that city for the promotion.
Cage Warriors
Cage Warriors 195 will take place in Rome, Italy on October 4th.