Knockdown Daily 8/5/22: UFC Looking To Make Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler
A potential high-level fight at lightweight leads the MMA headlines for Friday
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s an incredibly busy issue, providing you with a news catchup and a preview of tonight’s top MMA events. Let’s start!
News
Report: Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler Being Attempted For UFC 281 In November
A fight between two of the lightweight division’s top names is near being finalized.
UFC is reportedly in the process of finalizing a fight between Dustin Poirier and Michael Chandler for their November 12th pay-per-view card. Should the fight be made official, it would join what is expected to be UFC’s annual appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, USA.
Ariel Helwani first announced the potential matchup during “The MMA Hour” on Wednesday.
The potential booking could mark Poirier’s return to the cage after nearly a year without a fight. The two-time title challenger has been searching for a fight for months, calling out notable talents Nate Diaz and Chandler.
Poirier’s last appearance was in a title fight late last year, suffering a third-round rear naked choke submission against Charles Oliveira. Before then, he had attained a three-fight winning streak, including two consecutive wins over Conor McGregor.
Chandler scored a highlight-reel knockout earlier this year, catching Tony Ferguson with a front kick in the second round. That victory snapped a two-fight skid for Chandler, including a 2021 title fight.
CFFC Bantamweight Champion Da’Mon Blackshear To Make UFC Debut Against Youssef Zalal on August 13th
CFFC Bantamweight Champion Da’Mon Blackshear will get his UFC call-up later this month, facing Youssef Zalal. The matchup is scheduled to take place at the promotion’s August 13th event, per Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie.
The fight is expected to be at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California, USA.
Blackshear recently had a strong run in regional promotion CFFC. He earned their 135-pound belt last year, picking up a first-round rear naked choke submission over DeAndre Anderson.
He has defended his belt once since then, submitting Josh Smith at CFFC 108 in May.
The booking will be Zalal’s first appearance in over a year. He will be fighting to snap a three-fight skid – a streak that could mark the end of his promotional run if it continues.
Zalal was originally scheduled to face Crisitian Quinonez, but plans changed after visa issues forced the promotional newcomer off the card. Zalal’s last fight dates back to June 2021, when Sean Woodson picked up a split decision win.
Two Flyweight Bouts Join October 15th UFC Card
A pair of notable flyweight matchups have recently joined UFC’s October 15th show.
Askarov Returns From First Loss Against Royval
Appearing for the first time since suffering his only career defeat thus far, Askar Askarov will face Brandon Royval in October. The pairing was confirmed by MMA Junkie first.
Askarov took his sole defeat in March, not being favored on judge’s scorecards after going three rounds against high-ranked contender Kai Kara-France.
He had built up a strong promotional run before then, scoring three wins and one draw since 2019. Most notably, he beat veteran Joseph Benavidez in 2021.
Royval will be fighting to keep his strong 2022 rolling. He has already picked up two victories this year, beating Rogerio Bontorin on scorecards and taking a quick submission victory against Matt Schnell.
Undefeated Taira To Face Vergara
Coming off a strong promotional debut, undefeated flyweight Tatsuro Taira has been booked to meet CJ Vergara. MMA Junkie’s Nolan King first reported the pairing recently after an announcement was made by Taira’s management.
Taira, a 22-year-old from Okinawa, Japan, won his UFC debut in May. He went the distance against Carlos Candelario to win via unanimous decision, marking the beginning of his run in the promotion. That victory moved his record to a flawless 11 wins – a record that he mostly developed on the Japanese regional scene.
Vergara is also coming off his first UFC win. That victory came at UFC 274 earlier this year, when he beat Kleydson Rodrigues in a split decision.
Vergara was unsuccessful in his previous UFC bout, dropping a decision to Ode Osbourne in 2021.
Five Matchups Set For October 29th UFC Event
UFC’s October 29th card is quickly being built up, as a total of five bouts have been reported for the show already.
Barboza vs. Topuria Lined Up
Undefeated featherweight Ilia Topuria will get the chance to face a veteran later this year, as he has agreed to meet Edson Barboza in October. Reporter Laura Bynilla was the first to report the bout.
Topuria has risen up the featherweight ranks quickly since joining the UFC roster in 2020. He scored his third consecutive win via finish earlier this year, putting away Jai Herbert in March. Before then, he scored victories over Ryan Hall and Damon Jackson.
Barboza has faced some of the most notable featherweight names in recent years. He will enter this booking with the goal of snapping a two-fight skid, coming off losses against rising talents Giga Chikadze and Bryce Mitchell.
Veteran Arlovski To Face Rogerio de Lima
Amid one of the most successful runs of his entire career, heavyweight vet Andrei Arlovski will face Marcos Rogerio de Lima in October, per Raphael Marinho of Combate.
Arlovski, a veteran of more than two decades, is currently on a four-fight winning streak. Two of those wins have already come from this year, recently defeating Jared Vanderaa and Jake Collier. If he can pull off a win in October, he will officially be on the third-best run of his UFC career (his two more successful runs were both six-fight winning streaks).
Rogerio de Lima will be fighting to return to the win column in this booking. His last appearance was on a pay-per-view card in May, when he dropped a decision to Blagoy Ivanov. He had a two-fight winning streak going before then.
Rising Light Heavyweight Jacoby To Face Rountree
Dustin Jacoby’s fast-paced and successful light heavyweight campaign could continue later this year when he faces Khalil Rountree. This booking, along with two other bouts written about below, were first mentioned in a report by Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
Jacoby has strung together an impressive six wins and one draw since re-joining the UFC roster in 2020. He had a quick victory in his last bout, stopping Jung Da-un in the first round of a bout last month.
Rountree, a UFC vet of 12 appearances, enters this bout on a two-fight winning streak. Both wins in that run have come via finish, recently beating Modestas Bukauskas and Karl Roberson.
Holmes, Park To Meet At Middleweight
In a middleweight bout, Joseph Holmes and Park Jun-yong will face off.
Holmes picked up his first UFC victory quite recently, scoring a 64-second rear naked choke submission against Alen Amedovski. He lost his debut earlier this year, dropping a decision to Jamie Pickett.
Park has much more UFC experience, currently boasting a promotional record of four wins and two losses. His last fight was a split decision win over Eryk Anders.
Hooper Booked Against Garcia
In a featherweight bout, Steve Garcia and Chase Hooper are expected to compete.
Hooper is coming off a finish win from earlier this year, stopping Felipe Colares in the third round of a May bout. If Hooper can win in October, the appearance will mark the first time that he has put together two consecutive wins since he joined the UFC roster in 2019.
Garcia is coming back after suffering a quick finish loss in June, getting beat in just over a minute by Maheshate.
Daniel Santos To Search For First UFC Win Against John Castaneda on October 1st
Fighting to bounce back from an unsuccessful UFC debut, Daniel Santos is expected to meet John Castaneda at the promotion’s October 1st event.
News of the matchup was confirmed recently by Nolan King and Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie.
Santos suffered a loss in his first UFC appearance, dropping a decision to Julio Arce in April. The fight marked somewhat of a return for Santos, as he was competing for the first time since late 2019.
Prior to joining the promotion, he attained nine wins and one loss as a pro.
Castaneda will be aiming to move his winning streak to a trio of victories. His last victory came in February when he pulled off a third-round submission against Miles Johns.
Previews
PFL 2022 #7
And then there were four.
All six of PFL’s divisions have officially entered their playoff stage, meaning many fighters are just two wins away from becoming champion and earning a $1 million grand prize. The first two divisions to begin their brackets, the light heavyweight and lightweights, are expected to compete Friday night at the Hulu Theatre in New York City, New York, USA.
A full preview of the card can be read here.
Here’s a look at the bout order:
Preliminary Card (6:00PM EDT) (ESPN+ / TSN Direct)
Bout 1: Cory Hendricks (9-4) vs. Marthin Hamlet (9-4) (2023 PFL Light Heavyweight Season Qualifier Bout)
Bout 2: Marcelo Nunes (8-1) vs. Dylan Potter (10-5) (2023 PFL Heavyweight Season Qualifier Bout)
Main Card (7:00PM EDT) (ESPN / TSN 2)
Bout 3: Rob Wilkinson (15-2) vs. Delan Monte (9-2) (PFL Light Heavyweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Bout 4: Olivier Aubin-Mercier (15-5) vs. Alexander Martinez (10-2) (PFL Lightweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Bout 5: Omari Akhmedov (23-7-1) vs. Josh Silveira (9-0) (PFL Light Heavyweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Bout 6: Anthony Pettis (25-13) vs. Stevie Ray (24-10) (PFL Lightweight Playoff Semi-Final)
Postlims (9:00PM EDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Brahyan Zurcher (3-0) vs. Ricardo Jimenez (0-1-1) (2023 PFL Featherweight Challenger Series Qualifier)
Bout 8: Elvin Espinosa (6-0) vs. Corey Jackson (5-1) (2023 PFL Lightweight Challenger Series Qualifier)
Bout 9: Lucas Barbosa (2-1) vs. Elmar Umarov (4-1) (Welterweight)
Bout 10: Alexei Pergande (1-0) vs. Elvis Lebron Quiles (0-0) (Lightweight)
Bout 11: Mahmoud Sebie (2-1) vs. Itso Babulaidze (1-0) (Welterweight)
LFA 138: Farias vs. Tanaka
LFA will also present a card this weekend from the Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA. Bantamweight and featherweight talents will be the focus of the night, with those two weight classes making up more than half of the card.
Bantamweights will headline the card, as Ary Farias and Michinori Tanaka will meet.
Here’s a look at the lineup in total:
Preliminary Card
Bout 1: Triston Gwaltney (6-1) vs. Abbas Mounshed (2-0) (Amateur Catchweight 165 lbs)
Bout 2: David Wright (2-0) vs. Gabe Conner (0-0) (Amateur Catchweight 195 lbs)
Bout 3: Jared Brown (0-0) vs. Ryan Hoover (1-0) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Ashton Kirby (0-0) vs. Kallum Parker (1-0) (Featherweight)
Main Card (9:00PM EDT / 8:00PM CDT) (UFC Fight Pass)
Bout 5: Motaz Askar (3-0) vs. Chris Mecate (4-1) (Catchweight 150 lbs)
Bout 6: Jota Ninomiya (1-0) vs. Nick Talavera (2-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 7: AJ Cunningham (8-2) vs. Shea Conley (6-4) (Catchweight 148 lbs)
Bout 8: Elijah Johns (8-2) vs. Masuto Kawana (5-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 9: Askar Askar (13-2) vs. Diego Silva (14-7) (Bantamweight)
Bout 10: Ary Farias (11-3) vs. Michinori Tanaka (14-3) (Bantamweight)
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