Knockdown Daily 5/7/22: Charles Oliveira Stripped of UFC Lightweight Championship
Major implications for today's UFC Lightweight title bout leads the MMA headlines for Saturday
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s a busy issue, preparing you for today’s UFC event and recapping the top headlines from the past 24 hours.
News
Charles Oliveira Stripped of UFC Lightweight Championship After Missing Weight For UFC 274 Bout
Charles Oliveira was stripped of champion status Friday after missing weight for his UFC 274 main event fight.
Oliveira came in half a pound over the championship lightweight limit (155 pounds) at Friday’s weigh-ins. After being given an extra hour to cut weight and another chance to hit the scale, he was not able to reach the limit required for the title bout.
Because of this, Oliveira has been stripped of his UFC Lightweight Championship ahead of his headlining fight against Justin Gaethje.
The sanction means that a win for Oliveira on Saturday night would cause the UFC to leave the weekend without a champion at lightweight. Oliveira being stripped of the belt was confirmed by the promotion to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.
Gaethje – who hit the lightweight limit without any trouble Friday – is still able to earn the title if he wins in the main event of UFC 274.
Ryan Bader Sweeps Scorecards In Rematch Against Cheick Kongo
Bellator Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader used his wrestling to put on a dominant showing against Cheick Kongo, defeating him via unanimous decision on Friday night.
Bader’s win headlined Bellator 280, which took place from the Accor Arena in Paris, France.
All five rounds of Bader’s fight were the same for him. He used every frame to either get Kongo up against the fence or take him to the ground. The few times that the fight hit the ground, Bader was active with short punches toward Kongo.
Bader ended up taking all rounds on the scorecards, making it a decisive victory for him.
Bader has now defended his heavyweight title twice. His previous appearance came just earlier this year when he worked toward a decision victory against interim titleholder Valentin Moldavsky.
Friday’s main event was a rematch. Kongo first fought Bader in 2019, but that bout resulted in a no-contest due to an eye poke. Kongo’s previous win was a submission over Sergei Kharitonov from the main event of a 2021 Bellator card.
A full report on Bellator 280 can be read here.
Here are the quick results:
Preliminary Card (1:00PM EDT / 7:00PM CEST) (Youtube)
Bout 1: Bourama Camara def. Victor Verchere via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:06)
Bout 2: Youcef Ouabbas def. Matthieu Duclos via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:17)
Bout 3: Lucie Bertaud def. Katarzyna Sadura via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Yves Landu def. Gavin Hughes via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:01)
Bout 5: Soren Bak def. Charlie Leary via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Jordan Barton def. Fabacary Diatta via Decision, Split
Bout 7: Thibault Gouti def. Lewis Long via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Piotr Niedzielski def. Pedro Carvalho via Decision, Split
Main Card (4:00PM EDT / 10:00PM CEST) (Showtime)
Bout 9: Gregory Ben def. Mike Shipman via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:11)
Bout 10: Lorenz Larkin def. Kyle Stewart via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 4:44)
Bout 11: Davy Gallon def. Benjamin Brander via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 3:18)
Bout 12: Yoel Romero def. Alex Polizzi via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 4:59)
Bout 13: Ryan Bader def. Cheick Kongo via Decision, Unanimous (Bellator Heavyweight Championship)
Kayla Harrison Opens Third PFL Run With Decision Victory
Two-time PFL Lightweight Champion Kayla Harrison started her third season with a slow-paced victory, controlling Marina Mokhnatkina for a unanimous decision win.
Harrison’s win headlined a PFL card on Friday night from the eSports Arena in Arlington, Texas, USA.
Harrison controlled Mokhnatkina through most of the fight in clinch positions up against the cage.
Harrison expressed discontent with the result due to her inactivity during it.
“I think it was utter dogcrap. Sorry to the fans, I wanted to put on a better show for you,” said Harrison in her post-fight interview.
Harrison now has three points in the PFL lightweight division, tying her with four others. She kept her undefeated record intact with the victory, moving herself to 13 consecutive wins since turning pro in 2019.
Harrison picked up four wins last year, all of which came via finish.
Mokhnatkina was making her first PFL regular-season appearance. She won her promotional debut in a non-tournament fight last year, defeating Claudia Zamora.
More details on the recent PFL event can be seen at this link.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card (5:30PM EDT / 4:30PM CDT) (ESPN+ / TSN Direct)
Bout 1: Martina Jindrova def. Vanessa Melo via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Olena Kolesnyk def. Abby Montes via Decision, Split
Bout 3: Jarrah Al-Silawi def. Gleison Tibau via Decision, Split
Bout 4: Sadibou Sy def. Nikolay Aleksakhin via Decision, Split
Bout 5: Genah Fabian def. Julia Budd via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 6: Dilano Taylor def. Joao Zeferino via Decision, Split
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (ESPN2 / TSN 2)
Bout 7: Larissa Pacheco def. Zamzagul Fayzallanova via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:25)
Bout 8: Rory MacDonald def. Brett Cooper via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 2:23)
Bout 9: Anthony Pettis def. Myles Price via Submission, Triangle Choke (RD 1, 4:17)
Bout 10: Carlos Leal def. Ray Cooper III via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Kayla Harrison def. Marina Mokhnatkina via Decision, Unanimous
Dan Argueta Wins LFA Bantamweight Championship In Close Split Decision Over Diego Silva
Undefeated Dan Argueta had a hard-fought five-round performance against Diego Silva on Friday night to earn the LFA Bantamweight Championship.
Argueta’s win headlined LFA 131, which took place at the Oshkosh Arena in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.
Argueta’s fight was close throughout and ended in a split decision.
Silva had a quick start to the fight, scoring a takedown early in the first round and using most of that frame to keep Argueta down. The second round remained on the feet, where Silva and Argueta had back-and-forth exchanges.
Argueta scored two takedowns in the third round, using those moments to attempt submissions and keep Silva down. Silva continued to succeed on the feet later in the fight, landing with combinations of punches. Argueta consumed lots of shots in the fight, in part due to a style that saw him not keep his hands up during exchanges.
Argueta’s final round was his best, taking Silva down early in the frame and getting on his back for a rear naked choke attempt.
Argueta was critical of his performance afterward but saw positives to his performance after going five rounds for the first time.
“It wasn’t the prettiest but I showed my grit,” said Argueta, who had an emotional post-fight interview alongside his parents.
Now undefeated with eight wins, Argueta called for a spot in a major MMA promotion.
Argueta has scored four consecutive wins in LFA since 2020. His previous victory headlined a card in February, stopping Mairon Santos in the third round with strikes.
Santos was making his LFA debut in the appearance. He was coming off a recent title win in CES from earlier this year, where he beat UFC alum Andre Soukhamthath.
Quick Results:
Preliminary Card
Bout 1: Jeremy Strobel Jr. def. Andre Sellars via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 1:11) (Amateur Bout)
Bout 2: Dalton Holmes def. Malaquais Jarmon via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:32) (Amateur Bout)
Bout 3: Edwin Jimenez def. Randy Rivera-Santiago via Decision, Split (Amateur Bout)
Bout 4: Maria Henderson def. Jena Williams via Submission, Triangle-American (RD 3, 1:41) (Amateur Bout)
Bout 5: Christy Tyquiengco def. Leslie Hernandez via Decision, Split
Bout 6: Nick Klein def. Tristan Overvig via Decision, Unanimous
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 7: David Evans def. Gary Konkol via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Kegan Gennrich def. Austin Lutchen via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 9: Wes Schultz def. Hamza Salim via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Myktybek Orolbay def. Jalin Fuller via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Darrius Flowers def. Tim Hiley via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 0:43)
Bout 12: Dan Argueta def. Diego Silva via Decision, Split (Vacant LFA Bantamweight Championship)
Preview
UFC 274: Oliveira vs. Gaethje
High-ranked lightweights will headline UFC’s pay-per-view event on Saturday night from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
In the main event, Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje will meet. The bout was first expected to be a normal title fight – but after Oliveira missed weight on Friday, everything changed.
On Saturday night, former champion Oliveira is fighting to remain at the top of the lightweight division. On the other side, a prize for Gaethje is much grander: if he wins this weekend, he’s officially the king of 155.
A preview of that fight, plus the entire UFC 274 card, can be read here.
Here’s the bout order:
Early Prelims (5:30PM EDT / 2:30PM PDT) (ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 1: Journey Newson (9-3) vs. Fernie Garcia (10-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Loopy Godinez (7-2) vs. Ariane Carnelossi (14-2) (Strawweight)
Bout 3: Kleydson Rodrigues (7-1) vs. CJ Vergara (9-3-1) (Flyweight)
Bout 4: Tracy Cortez (9-1) vs. Melissa Gatto (8-0-2) (Flyweight)
Bout 5: Andre Fialho (15-4) vs. Cameron VanCamp (15-5-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 6: Blagoy Ivanov (18-4) vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima (19-7-1) (Heavyweight)
Preliminary Card (8:00PM EDT / 5:00PM PDT) (ESPN / TSN 5)
Bout 7: Brandon Royval (13-6) vs. Matt Schnell (15-6) (Flyweight)
Bout 8: Macy Chiasson (7-2) vs. Norma Dumont (7-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 9: Francisco Trinaldo (27-8) vs. Danny Roberts (18-5) (Welterweight)
Bout 10: Randy Brown (14-4) vs. Khaos Williams (13-2) (Welterweight)
Main Card (10:00PM EDT / 7:00PM PDT) (PPV)
Bout 11: Donald Cerrone (36-16) vs. Joe Lauzon (28-15) (Lightweight)
Bout 12: Ovince St. Preux (25-16) vs. Mauricio Rua (27-12-1) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 13: Michael Chandler (22-7) vs. Tony Ferguson (25-6) (Lightweight)
Bout 14: Rose Namajunas (11-4) vs. Carla Esparza (18-6) (UFC Strawweight Championship)
Bout 15: Charles Oliveira (32-8) vs. Justin Gaethje (23-3) (UFC Lightweight Championship)
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