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Matt Brown argues Tom Aspinall vacating heavyweight title creates more problems than it solves

Published

2 months ago

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Matt Brown argues Tom Aspinall vacating heavyweight title creates more problems than it solves

Tom Aspinall announced on Monday that he was vacating his UFC heavyweight title after suffering a setback in his recovery following multiple surgeries to repair damage done to his eyes following a fight against Ciryl Gane back in 2025.

It's a heartbreaking turn of events for Aspinall after he waited so long to become undisputed champion —while also trying to fight Jon Jones to for that title — but now he's out of action for an undetermined amount of time and the UFC has to figure out what to do with the heavyweight title. Technically, Ciryl Gane could easily just get promoted to undisputed champion after he defeated Alex Pereira at the UFC White House card to claim the interim belt but that doesn't solve the bigger problem when it comes to the overall heavyweight division.

Following his loss to Gane in June, Pereira went on the offensive claiming referee Herb Dean was partially to blame for his downfall after he failed to penalize Gane for illegal shots to the back of the head. Pereira has continued to call for a rematch and now it seems like he might actually get his wish but is that what's best for the Brazilian and the rest of the division?

“I think the downside of that fight – if Alex goes out and loses again, what does that do to his stock?†retired UFC welterweight Matt Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I know what he did at [middleweight and light heavyweight], it was amazing stuff. That shit's in the past. You're a heavyweight now.

“You lose twice, you're not fighting Tom Aspinall when Tom Aspinall comes back. I don't know what that does to his future of big fights. I don't know what big fights you make after that. That's what I mean by his stock. Everyone is going to respect Alex Pereira the same but what do “

There's little argument that Pereira is the biggest name at heavyweight right now as he already commands superstar status whenever he competes. If he can go out and avenge that past loss to Gane and become undisputed heavyweight champion, it's a history making moment for Pereira because he would be the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles across three divisions.

But the flipside to that result is Gane knocks out Pereira again and now one of the UFC's most popular fighters is stuck in limbo and the heavyweight diviiosn still doesn't look that much better in his absence.

“Maybe he beats Ciryl the next time. I would pick Ciryl to win, I picked him the first time but that's where it starts to hurt his stock at that point,†Brown said. “Guys can be resistant to that when you're Conor [McGregor level superstar] or Ilia [Topuria] or maybe even Alex but with him being 39 and you've got the other potentials in the division like [Josh Hokit] or Gable Steveson, if he loses that fight, the future doesn't look quite as bright for him as it's looked in the past.â€

While Gable Steveson is just starting out his UFC career, he's obviously got the potential to rescue the heavyweight division thanks to his wrestling pedigree where he's an Olympic gold medalist but he's probably still years away from compting for the belt.

The other option is the always outspoken Josh Hokit, who is undefeated and certainly not afraid to call his shot whenever he fights. The problem with Hokit is his outlandish behavior isn't exactly attractive for most fans and it's unclear if the powers-that-be at the UFC want to put a title around his waist.

Add to that, Brown acknowledges that Hokit's style could be a serious problem for anybody else at heavyweight including Gane and Pereira.

“Hokit's not a great matchup for [Pereira],†Brown said. “I'm sorry. I think it's a winnable fight for Alex and if Alex is able to win that fight, I think that's phenomenal win. It's going to get a lot of eyeballs, a lot of people would loves to see Hokit get knocked out.

“I think it would bring a lot more attention to Alex so it probably would be the fight to make. But that's not a bright future. If you lose to Ciryl Gane and then you're fighting Josh Hokit, that's not a great situation to be in.â€

As of now, the UFC hasn't made any announcements regarding the future of the heavyweight division with Aspinall vacating the belt and taking time off to recover from his eye injury.

It's impossible to know for sure what UFC CEO Dana White is going to decide but Brown knows the options are limited and not all that appealing right now.

“It sucks for Tom Aspinall,†Brown said. “It sucks for the UFC. It sucks for the fans. It just sucks for everyone involved.â€

Listen to new episodes of The Fighter vs. The Writer every Tuesday with audio only versions of the podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio

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MMA

Ciryl Gane edges Josh Hokit, Kayla Harrison submits Amanda Nunes at UFC 334

Published

8 minutes ago

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November 15, 2026

By

Ciryl Gane edges Josh Hokit, Kayla Harrison submits Amanda Nunes at UFC 334

Ciryl
Gane retained the
Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight championship and
handed Josh Hokit
his first professional loss with a unanimous decision in the main
event of UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden in New York. All three
judges scored the fight 48-47 for Gane.

Hokit (10-1, 4-1 UFC) charged forward and tripped Gane (15-2, 1 NC;
12-2, 1 NC UFC) seconds into the fight. Gane scrambled to his feet
and caught Hokit in the left eye with a finger. The action
continued without a timeout, and Gane landed jabs as Hokit pressed
forward with wide overhand rights. Gane planted his feet and put
together one of his best combinations of the round, but Hokit
lifted and slammed him before the bell.

Gane retains heavyweight title by narrow decision as Harrison
chokes out Nunes

Hokit kept up the pressure in the second round. Gane landed jabs
and counter uppercuts, while Hokit bloodied the champion's nose
with right hands. In the third, Hokit caught a knee to the body and
took Gane's back. After Gane stood, Hokit landed short elbows in
the clinch throughout the rest of the round.

Gane used uppercuts to deter Hokit's entries in the fourth and
began landing more consistently to the body. Hokit's punches lost
some of their power in the fifth, while Gane continued to mix his
attacks to the head and body at range and in the clinch. Hokit
caught Gane with two hard right hooks with about a minute left but
couldn't follow up.

In the co-main event, Kayla
Harrison (20-1, 4-0 UFC) retained her women's bantamweight
title by submitting Amanda
Nunes (23-6, 16-3 UFC) with a rear-naked choke at 1:27 of Round
4. Harrison was returning from neck surgery, while Nunes was
fighting for the first time since retiring as champion in June
2023.

Nunes followed an early leg kick with a combination, stunned
Harrison twice with right hooks and countered a takedown attempt
with a short uppercut. She rolled through a subsequent takedown and
stood, but Harrison threw her back to the mat and landed punches
and elbows from a scarf hold. Nunes went for takedowns of her own
in the second round. She got Harrison down to a seated position
once, but Harrison reversed the next attempt with a throw, trapped
Nunes in a crucifix and landed punches and elbows.

Harrison looked tired at the start of the third. Nunes took her
down against the fence and later took her back when Harrison tried
to throw her. Harrison turned into Nunes' guard and opened a cut
with an elbow. Nunes landed a left hook in the clinch in the
fourth, but Harrison tripped her and secured the choke that forced
the tap. Harrison did not announce a retirement decision in her
post-fight remarks.

Caio
Borralho (19-2, 1 NC; 9-1 UFC) earned his second win of the
year with a unanimous decision over Yousri
Belgaroui (11-4, 3-1 UFC) at middleweight. Borralho took
Belgaroui's back and secured a body triangle in the opening round,
but Belgaroui defended a neck crank and a guillotine before landing
a head kick and a right cross. Borralho hurt him with a right hook
in the second and added a left cross before securing a late
takedown. Belgaroui threatened with a guillotine and briefly hurt
Borralho with a knee in the third, but Borralho took him down
again. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Borralho.

Kevin
Holland (29-15-1, 1 NC; 16-12-1, 1 NC UFC) and Uros Medic
(14-3-1, 8-3-1 UFC) fought to a majority draw at welterweight.
Holland dropped Medic with three uppercuts in the first round and
threatened with a Brabo choke, but Medic escaped. Two accidental
groin kicks slowed Holland in the second. He took the full five
minutes to recover from the second foul, and Medic was deducted a
point.

Holland spent much of the first two minutes of the final round
clinching with Medic. Medic rocked him with three consecutive left
hooks in the closing seconds but couldn't finish him. Two of the
scores announced by Bruce Buffer did not match the official
scorecards, which showed one judge scoring the bout 29-27 for
Holland and two scoring it 28-28.



Luis
Gurule (12-4, 2-4 UFC) handed Bilal Hasan
(10-1, 1 NC; 1-1 UFC) his first loss by split decision in the main
card opener. Hasan mixed kicks from both stances and targeted the
body early, but Gurule dropped him with a counter right hook. Hasan
landed knees from the clinch in the second round before Gurule took
him down and delivered elbows late in the round. Gurule took Hasan
down again early in the third despite taking an elbow that opened a
cut above his left eye. He kept Hasan on the mat and landed punches
and elbows through the final bell. Two judges scored it 29-28 for
Gurule, while the third had it 29-28 for Hasan.

Former welterweight title challenger Stephen
Thompson (18-9-1, 13-9-1 UFC) closed the prelims and his career
with a third-round TKO of Charles
Radtke (12-6, 5-3 UFC). Radtke took Thompson down early, and an
accidental clash of heads opened a cut beside Thompson's eye.
Thompson worked back to his feet and found success with jabs as
Radtke slowed. Radtke took him down again in the second but
couldn't keep him there. Thompson nearly finished the fight late in
the round with a kick to the body and a knee.

Thompson wobbled Radtke with a side kick to the face early in the
third, then denied his attempts to take the fight back to the mat.
“Wonderboy†dropped Radtke with a spinning wheel kick to the head
for the TKO at 2:54 of Round 3.

Chris
Duncan (16-3, 7-2 UFC) used a steady diet of kicks to earn a
unanimous decision over Drew Dober
(29-16, 1 NC; 15-12, 1 NC UFC) at lightweight. Duncan targeted
Dober's body and head with kicks but had him on unsteady legs with
a short right hook. Duncan appeared to hurt his leg when a kick
struck Dober's elbow, though he resumed kicking in the second
round. Dober landed two uppercuts late in that round and hurt
Duncan with a flurry in the third. Duncan responded with a slam and
struck from half guard until the bell. The judges scored it 29-28,
30-27 and 30-27 for Duncan.

Terrance
McKinney (19-9, 9-6 UFC) missed weight for his scheduled
lightweight bout but stopped Jim Miller
(39-20, 1 NC; 28-19, 1 NC UFC) at 1:53 of the first round. Both
southpaws landed left hooks in the opening minute, and McKinney cut
Miller above the right eye with jabs. McKinney then dropped him
with a left hand and followed with six more punches on the ground
for the TKO.

Cesar
Almeida (8-3, 4-3 UFC) handed former training partner Donte
Johnson (9-1, 3-1 UFC) his first loss in a brief brawl at a
190-pound catchweight. Almeida dropped Johnson with a right hook
after taking two kicks to the body. Johnson regained his feet and
tried to fire back, but Almeida dropped him again with three right
hands for the TKO at 3:20 of Round 1.

Melquizael
Costa (27-8, 8-3 UFC) held off a late rally from Jared
Gordon (21-10, 1 NC; 9-9, 1 NC UFC) to earn a unanimous
decision at lightweight. Costa attacked the body with kicks in the
opening round and dropped Gordon with a spinning back kick at the
bell. Gordon caught a knee and took Costa down in the second, then
escaped a triangle choke and threatened with a rear-naked choke.
Gordon added two takedowns in the third and took Costa's back again
before the final bell, but Costa did more damage when the fight
returned to the feet. All three judges scored it 29-28 for
Costa.

Decorated jiu-jitsu practitioner Beatriz
Mesquita (9-0, 4-0 UFC) submitted Macy
Chiasson (10-7, 8-7 UFC) at 3:23 of the first round to continue
her rise at women's bantamweight. Mesquita took Chiasson's back,
pulled her to the mat and flattened her out. “Bia†landed punches
before securing the rear-naked choke.

Juan
Diaz (17-1-1, 2-0 UFC) missed the bantamweight limit but earned
a unanimous decision over Heili
Alateng (18-11-2, 6-4-1 UFC). Diaz used his jab to set up
straight rights and uppercuts in the opening round and continued
landing right hands in the second. He controlled the final round
with jabs and combinations and stopped Alateng's only takedown
attempt. Alateng staggered Diaz with a counter right hook with 10
seconds left, but all three judges scored it 30-27 for Diaz.

Evan
Elder (11-2, 4-2 UFC) opened the card with a unanimous decision
over debuting lightweight Samuel
Sanches (11-2, 0-1 UFC). Elder hurt Sanches early with two left
hooks and a knee, then took him down. Sanches grabbed the cage
twice as he stood and began landing combinations, but Elder dropped
him with a right hand before the bell.

Sanches dropped Elder with a right cross 75 seconds into the second
round. Elder got back up, landed punches to the head and body and
took Sanches down. The striking was relatively even in the third,
but Elder landed three takedowns, and Sanches lost a point for
another cage grab. All three judges scored it 30-26 for Elder.

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MMA

PFL Dubai ‘Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

18 hours ago

on

November 14, 2026

By

PFL Dubai ‘Nemkov vs. Bilostenniy’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
PFL Dubai coverage will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.

A
heavyweight title fight headlines PFL Dubai: Tune in on Saturday,
Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. ET on the ESPN app.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

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Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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The Official Result

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Round 2

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Round 3

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The Official Result

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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Round 3

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Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
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The Official Result

Round 1

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Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

Sherdog Scores

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Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 5

Sherdog Scores

Tyler Treese scores the round:
Tudor Leonte scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

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MMA

Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to press charges against Usman Nurmagomedov, wants to help him get out of prison

Published

20 hours ago

on

November 14, 2026

By

Merab Dvalishvili doesn’t want to press charges against Usman Nurmagomedov, wants to help him get out of prison

Merab Dvalishvili doesn't want to make life harder on Usman Nurmagomedov.

On Wednesday, Nurmagomedov and a group of his associates attacked Dvalishvili and his friend Saba Lazishvili in the Yas Hotel lobby in Abu Dhabi ahead of RAF Abu Dhabi. The brawl resulted in 10 arrests, including Dvalishvili and Lazishvili, Nurmagomedov and the other five assailants, plus the two men who recorded the incident.

On Friday, it was reported that Dvalishvili and Lazishvili were released from custody and handed down a Dh50,000 ($14,000) fine for disturbing public security and assaulting others. Nurmagomedov and the five assailants, meanwhile, were sentenced to six months in prison for disturbing public security, causing panic and endangering lives, fined Dh300,000 ($80,000) each, and are set to be deported from the United Arab Emirates after serving their sentences. The two people who filmed the brawl were also sentenced to six months in prison and hit with a Dh300,000 fine each, and a deportation order “for violating privacy by using information technology to film and publish footage of the brawl.â€

But despite being the man who was attacked, Dvalishvili doesn't want Nurmagomedov and his friends to be stuck in jail.

“We don't want to press charges, nothing, bro,†Dvalishvili told Chris Weidman. “We say whatever we can to let them out; we try our best.â€

Dvalishvili also reiterated the same sentiment on his own social media.

Just want to let everyone know I have been released and I am good, healthy and ready to go . I want to thank everyone in Abu Dhabi for your help in resolving this matter. I love visiting Abu Dhabi and am happy to be welcomed. I do hope that they release everyone – I would not press charges. I want peace and the best for all. Thanks everyone for your love and support🦾

Understandably, the brawl caused quite a stir in the MMA world, and while most people seem to agree that Nurmagomedov's unprompted attack was wrong, some have defended his action, including UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, noting that Dvalishvili slapped one of their friends at RAF Georgia earlier this year. Dvalishvili responded to that incident, saying they had talked things out shortly afterward.

“I got provoked in Georgia,†Dvalishvili told Weidman. “He told me, when I'm here, don't talk about Umar. When I go, [I] can talk about Umar. But he yelled it at me, Russian language, and I got provoked, and I reacted like every man would. But after this, when I realized I was in Georgia and all my Georgian guys wanted to fight him, I said we can't. I said, ‘You wanna handshake?' He said yes, and we shake hands. Done, done, done. That was just done.

“I love Dagestan, especially all the hard-working people, bro,†Dvalishvili continued. “All the wrestlers and fighters. Nothing about Dagestan. I respect. It was just between fighters. I respect all the Dagestani people.â€

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