Knockdown Daily 1/22/22: Charles Johnson Stops Carlos Mota To Defend LFA Belt
Charles Johnson's win over Carlos Mota leads the MMA headlines for Friday
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Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue will cover all the recent news surrounding MMA and will provide a short preview for tonight’s UFC pay-per-view event.
News
Charles Johnson Earns Fifth-Round Stoppage To Defend LFA Belt, Hand Carlos Mota First Loss
Charles Johnson had a tough win on Friday night, stopping Carlos Mota early in the fifth round of a fight to defend his LFA Flyweight Championship. The fight headlined LFA 122, which took place Friday from The Factory at the District in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Johnson was hurting Mota right out the gate in the final round, backing him up with shots that were landing cleaner than in previous rounds. After Mota was rocked by a shot, Johnson came forward with a right hook and a right cross that knocked him down and finished the fight.
The fight was an incredibly close battle prior to the stoppage, as a fast pace from Johnson and Mota held up for four rounds. The momentum of the fight went back and forth throughout. Mota certainly had his moments in the fight, statistically keeping up with Johnson in the striking department.
The fight was Johnson’s third title win in LFA. He became the promotion’s interim LFA Flyweight Champion in July 2021, going five rounds for a split decision win over Yuma Horiuchi.
Just a month later, Johnson stopped Joao Camilo to defend his belt. He was promoted to the main LFA Flyweight Champion recently after former titleholder Victor Altamirano signed with the UFC.
After the fight, Johnson mentioned that he wants a shot in the UFC next.
“In the last 365 days I’ve beaten two undefeated fighters … I feel like what else can I do?” said Johnson in his post-fight interview.
Johnson wasn’t the only person who thinks he’s ready for the UFC shot. In agreement were the fans in attendance and those who run LFA as a promotion.
“He’s made his footprint here in the LFA history. I hope to see him move onto that next level now,” said LFA CEO Ed Soares on the broadcast.
Mota entered the weekend with an undefeated record of six wins. This included two previous LFA fights, including a 36-second victory he earned in 2019.
A full report on LFA 122 can be read here.
Here are the quick results:
Preliminary Card
Bout 1: Zac Moore def. Jared Medley via Decision, Unanimous (Amateur)
Bout 2: Will Monroe def. Avery Wilson via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:38) (Amateur)
Bout 3: Elmar Umarov def. Turner Williams via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:57)
Bout 4: Brittney Cloudy def. Annette Nichols via TKO, Doctor Stoppage (RD 1, 3:14)
Main Card (9:00PM EST / 8:00PM CST) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 5: Dan Moriarty def. Jett Shell via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:48)
Bout 6: Sarek Shields def. Jeremiah Curtright via TKO, Unable To Answer Bell (RD 2, 5:00)
Bout 7: Glaucio Eliziario def. William Starks via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Arthur Estrazulas def. Brant Moore via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:08)
Bout 9: Charles Johnson def. Carlos Mota via TKO, Strikes (RD 5, 0:45) (LFA Flyweight Championship)
UFC 270 Lineup Loses Two Fights
UFC’s January 22nd pay-per-view event took some big hits Friday, losing two matchups that were set to happen on the card.
The middleweight fight between Rodolfo Vieira and Wellington Turman was pulled from the card early Friday morning, per Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes.
A follow-up report from Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie detailed that a medical issue on Vieira’s side forced him out of the fight.
Vieira and Turman were set to meet on the PPV portion of Saturday’s card.
The matchup between undefeated featherweight Ilia Topuria and rising Canadian Charles Jourdain is also off the card, as first reported by Gonzalo Campos of Eurosport.
Topuria was reportedly withdrawn from the fight after suffering a medical issue.
Heavyweights Alexander Volkov, Tom Aspinall To Headline March 19th UFC Event
Heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall will get his first UFC main event shot later this year, facing Alexander Volkov at the promotion’s March 19th card.
The fight will headline UFC’s return to the O2 Arena in London, England, per ESPN reporter Brett Okamoto.
Aspinall’s run up the heavyweight ranks has been quick. He has picked up four wins since joining the UFC roster in 2020, with all of those performances ending within two rounds.
His last fight was in September when he scored a first-round finish victory against Serghei Spivac.
Volkov will provide an experienced test for Aspinall in the main event. While Aspinall has finished most of his fights early, Volkov is experienced with going five rounds deep into a fight if needed.
The UFC vet of 11 fights is riding the momentum of a unanimous decision victory he earned over Marcin Tybura in October.
Jessica Andrade Set For Strawweight Return Against Amanda Lemos On April 23rd UFC Card
Jessica Andrade will return to strawweight later this year when facing rising contender Amanda Lemos. The fight is expected to go down at UFC’s April 23rd “Fight Night” event, as first reported by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting.
Andrade, a former strawweight champion, had a brief flyweight run over the past two years. She won her debut in the division in 2020, stopping Katlyn Chookagian within a round with strikes.
That victory set Andrade up for a title fight against Valentina Shevchenko. She was unsuccessful in that appearance, getting finished in the second round. Andrade has since bounced back with a victory over Cynthia Calvillo.
Lemos is currently on a strong five-fight winning streak at strawweight. Her last win was a controversial one, as she picked up a razor-thin split decision win over Angela Hill.
Lemos has shown her finishing power in the past as well, stopping Montserrat Conejo and Livinha Souza within a round each.
UFC Looking To Book Neil Magny vs. Max Griffin For March 26th Event
UFC is reportedly attempting to book experienced welterweights Neil Magny and Max Griffin against one another for their March 26th “Fight Night” card. The promotion is currently in the process of finalizing the fight, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting.
The potential matchup was first reported by MagicM_MMA.
Magny scored a decision win in his last appearance, going three rounds against Geoff Neal for a victory in May 2021. Earlier in that year, Magny lost a five-round main event to Michael Chiesa.
Griffin is currently on a three-fight winning streak. He beat a veteran in his last outing, defeating Carlos Condit via unanimous decision in July. The two earlier wins in Griffin’s streak were both stoppage wins.
Preview
UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane
UFC will kick off their 2022 pay-per-view schedule with a big fight at heavyweight, unifying their two championships in a five-round battle. UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou will look to defend his belt for the first time on Saturday night, facing undefeated interim titleholder Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC 270.
The heavyweight fight headlines a card that marks the promotion’s return to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, USA. The card also includes the trilogy fight between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo for the UFC Flyweight Championship.
A full preview of the card can be read here.
Here’s the lineup:
Early Prelims (7:00PM EST / 4:00PM PST) (UFC Fight Pass / ESPN+)
Bout 1: Jasmine Jasudavicius (6-1) vs. Kay Hansen (7-4) (Flyweight)
Bout 2: Vanessa Demopoulos (6-4) vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez (10-3) (Strawweight)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EST / 5:00PM PST) (ESPN2 / TSN 5)
Bout 3: Matt Frevola (8-3-1) vs. Genaro Valdez (10-0) (Lightweight)
Bout 4: Jack Della Maddalena (10-2) vs. Pete Rodriguez (4-0) (Welterweight)
Bout 5: Tony Gravely (21-7) vs. Saimon Oliveira (18-3) (Bantamweight)
Bout 6: Raoni Barcelos (16-2) vs. Victor Henry (21-5) (Bantamweight)
Main Card (10:00PM EST / 7:00PM PST) (PPV)
Bout 7: Michael Morales (12-0) vs. Trevin Giles (14-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 8: Cody Stamann (19-4-1) vs. Said Nurmagomedov (14-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 9: Michel Pereira (26-11) vs. Andre Fialho (14-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 10: Brandon Moreno (19-5-2) vs. Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2-1) (UFC Flyweight Championship)
Bout 11: Francis Ngannou (16-3) vs. Ciryl Gane (10-0) (UFC Heavyweight Championship)
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