MMA
Controversial MMA finish gets a ruling from California officials
Published
3 months agoon
Phumi
Nkuta’s bid to overturn the lone loss of his professional
career did not go in his favor.California State Athletic Commission denies Phumi Nkuta appeal
Nkuta’s bid to overturn the lone loss of his professional
career did not go in his favor.
The California State Athletic Commission on Monday denied Nkuta’s
appeal to overturn his technical submission defeat against Adriano
Moraes at
MVP: Ronda
Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Nkuta argued that Moraes held a fight-ending choke beyond the final
horn and that referee Herb Dean
mishandled the sequence.
However, the commission ruled there was insufficient evidence to
change the official result.
California State Athletic Commission denies Phumi Nkuta appeal
after Adriano Moraes fight
On May 16, Nkuta and Moraes clashed in a flyweight bout on the main
card of MVP's Rousey vs. Carano-headlined event.
Near the end of the fight, Moraes had Nkuta in a choke. As the
final bell rang, the former held on to the choke for what Nkuta
claims was around 2.15 seconds after the horn. The official result
was a technical submission victory for the former One
Championship titleholder.
Nkuta then filed an appeal to overturn the loss, claiming that he
was still conscious when the final bell rang, but went out after
time had expired because Moraes held the choke. He further argued
that the fight should have gone to the judges' scorecards, where
Nkuta believes he did enough to secure a decision victory.
CSAC executive director Andy Foster
did not deny that the choke was held for longer than it was
necessary, but said that there was no definitive evidence that
Nkuta was not unconscious at the bell.
“I bet I’ve watched it 80 times now. We’ve watched it over and
over. I’m still unsure when he went unconscious. When we’re not
sure about something, it needs to be clear and convincing evidence
if this commission is going to flip a fight, just to be very
clear,†Foster said of the judgement (via MMA Junkie).
Nkuta, who traveled from Las Vegas to Sacramento to attend Monday’s
hearing in person, said that he remembers hearing the final horn.
The commission did not respond directly to these arguments from
Nkuta and his attorney, Lance Spaude, apart from a brief comment by
commissioner Dr. AnnaMaria De Mars, a former judo champion and the
mother of Ronda Rousey.
“We ask the officials to make a judgement call under very difficult
circumstances,†Dr. De Mars said. “You’re there. There are millions
of people watching you. To change somebody’s decision, it has to be
very egregious. I’m sitting here thinking about choking people and
how fast your reaction time is. Is holding something for two
seconds, when he’s under just as much pressure as you, a real
egregious, deliberate foul? I just don’t see it that way.â€
The CSAC has denied Phumi
Nkuta's appeal that Herb Dean
mishandled the end of his bout vs. Adriano
Moraes on
#RouseyCarano. The result stands pic.twitter.com/XiuJm1CMA4— Nolan King (@mma_kings)
July 13, 2026
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MMA
13-0 Jacobe Smith reportedly draws UFC veteran Randy Brown on Halloween
Published
1 hour agoon
October 26, 2026

	
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		<h1>13-0 Jacobe Smith reportedly draws UFC veteran Randy Brown on Halloween</h1>
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				<a href=”/authors/Sourav-Chakraborty-1731″>Sourav Chakraborty</a>				<span>Oct 22, 2026</span>				 <a class=”comments” href=”https://www.sherdog.com/news/news/130-Jacobe-Smith-reportedly-draws-UFC-veteran-Randy-Brown-on-Halloween-203294#insticator-commenting” data-page-id=”article-203294″/>			</div>
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 <div class=”content body_content”>
 Unbeaten welterweight <a href=”/fighter/Jacobe-Smith-394506″>Jacobe
Smith</a> will reportedly put his perfect record on the line
against <a href=”/organizations/Ultimate-Fighting-Championship-2″>
Ultimate Fighting Championship</a> veteran <a href=”/fighter/Randy-Brown-115641″>Randy
Brown</a>.<p>Smith is coming off a first-round knockout of <a href=”/fighter/Bruce-Whitehead-176151″>Bruce
Whitehead</a> at <a href=”/events/UFC-332-Silva-vs-Wang-114123″>UFC
332</a> on Oct. 3. The 30-year-old needed just 92 seconds to
improve his professional record to 13-0. He now faces a more
experienced opponent in Brown, who has competed in the UFC since
2016.</p><p/><h2>Jacobe Smith vs. Randy Brown reportedly set for UFC’s Oct. 31
Las Vegas card</h2>
<br/>
Brown has made 22 UFC appearances and is coming off consecutive
losses to <a href=”/fighter/Gabriel-Bonfim-185083″>Gabriel
Bonfim</a> and <a href=”/fighter/Kevin-Holland-108999″>Kevin
Holland</a>. According to <a href=”https://x.com/BigMarcel24/status/2112393151889445298″ target=”_blank”>Marcel Dorff</a>, “Rude Boy†will face Smith, who is 4-0
in the UFC after earning a contract on <a href=”/organizations/Dana-Whites-Contender-Series-12411″>
Dana White's Contender Series</a>.<p>The welterweights are slated to meet at <a href=”/events/UFC-Fight-Night-292-Moicano-vs-Nolan-114214″>
UFC Fight Night 292</a> on Oct. 31 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas. A
lightweight matchup between <a href=”/fighter/Renato-Carneiro-61700″>Renato
“Money†Moicano</a> and <a href=”/fighter/Tom-Nolan-244655″>Tom Nolan</a>
headlines the card.</p><p/><center>
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”>
<p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”><a href=”/fighter/Randy-Brown-115641″>Randy Brown</a>
vs. <a href=”/fighter/Jacobe-Smith-394506″>Jacobe
Smith</a> #UFCVegas123 – October 31st 🎃 https://t.co/8dwrRwecot</p>
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) <a href=”https://x.com/BigMarcel24/status/2112393151889445298?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>
October 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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 <b>UFC Fight Night 292</b>
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 <a href=”/events/UFC-334-Gane-vs-Hokit-114293″>
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 <b>UFC 334</b>
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 <a href=”/events/UFC-Fight-Night-294-Prochazka-vs-Stirling-114295″>
 <div class=”calendar-date”>
 <div>Nov</div><div>21</div><div>2026</div>
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 <b>UFC Fight Night 294</b>
 Prochazka vs. Stirling </div>
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 <a href=”/events/UFC-Fight-Night-296-Riyadh-114777″>
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 <div>Dec</div><div>05</div><div>2026</div>
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 <b>UFC Fight Night 296</b>
 Riyadh </div>
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 <a class=”fow” href=”/fighter/Taylor-Lapilus-97337″><img src=”https://www2-cdn.sherdog.com/_images/pictures/20260523115829_PFL_20260523_JP1_5585.JPG” style=”object-position: center 15%”/><div>Taylor Lapilus</div></a>
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 <a href=”/fighter/Movsar-Evloev-183539″><img src=”/image_crop/72/72/_images/fighter/1648843996605_20220401041310_Movsar_Evloev_ff.JPG”/><div>Movsar Evloev</div></a><a href=”/fighter/Vadim-Nemkov-143059″><img src=”/image_crop/72/72/_images/fighter/1650579447945_20220421061722_Vadim_Nemkov.JPG”/><div>Vadim Nemkov</div></a><a href=”/fighter/Alexander-Volkanovski-101527″><img src=”/image_crop/72/72/_images/fighter/1697784432618_20220325081549_Alexander_Volkanovski_ff.JPG”/><div>Alexander Volkanovski</div></a><a href=”/fighter/Sergey-Bilostenniy-200819″><img src=”/image_crop/72/72/_images/fighter/1777556099491_177755609300eb2194f249011fbffc88f3c0ebbaed-1-1.png”/><div>Sergey Bilostenniy</div></a> </div>

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 <a href=”/fighter/Petr-Yan-186873″>Petr Yan</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Pouya-Rahmani-431583″>Pouya Rahmani</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Merab-Dvalishvili-157355″>Merab Dvalishvili</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Joji-Goto-220099″>Joji Goto</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Ramazonbek-Temirov-215649″>Ramazonbek Temirov</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Oleg-Popov-209999″>Oleg Popov</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Aaron-Pico-191127″>Aaron Pico</a> | <a href=”/fighter/Abubakar-Nurmagomedov-86474″>Abubakar Nurmagomedov</a> </div>
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MMA
Alex Pereira says Josh Hokit would be much easier fight than Sergei Pavlovich
Published
13 hours agoon
October 25, 2026
Alex
Pereira has explained his frustration with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight matchmaking.Alex Pereira explains UFC matchmaking frustration and why
Pereira has explained his frustration with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight matchmaking.
Pereira (13-4) is scheduled to face Sergei
Pavlovich (21-3) at UFC
335 on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Meanwhile,
Josh
Hokit (10-0) will face Ciryl Gane
(14-2) for the heavyweight title at UFC
334 on Nov. 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Pereira said he initially expected either a rematch with Gane or a
grudge match against Hokit, but he sees the Pavlovich booking as a
favorable stylistic matchup.
Alex Pereira explains UFC matchmaking frustration and why
Sergei Pavlovich is more dangerous than Josh Hokit
Pereira lost his UFC heavyweight debut to Gane by technical
knockout in an interim title bout at
UFC Freedom 250. After Tom
Aspinall relinquished the undisputed championship, Pereira said
the promotion discussed a title rematch with Gane or a fight
against Hokit, who has repeatedly criticized “Poatan.â€
Pereira considers Hokit an easier opponent than Pavlovich.
Nevertheless, he said a conversation with UFC executive Hunter
Campbell resolved his frustration, and he now looks forward to the
December bout.
“What got me more upset at that time was because they told me that
I was possibly going to fight Gane for the belt or fight Hokit,â€
Pereira told Ariel Helwani. “And then none of that happened. Coming
from a loss, fighting Hokit would be much, much easier for me than
fighting Pavlovich, who’s supposed to be a harder fight. Hokit
would be a much easier fight for me. We got together [with Hunter
Campbell], we talked, we straightened things out, so it was fine.
Pavlovich is a little more dangerous opponent, but looking at it in
a technical way today, I see that it’s actually also a very good
fight for me.â€
Alex
Pereira reveals what upset him about the UFC’s decision not to
book him against Ciryl Gane
or Josh
Hokit: “What got me more upset at that time was because they
told me that I was possibly going to fight Gane for the belt or
fight Hokit. And then none of that happened. Coming from a loss,
fighting Hokit would be much, much easier for me than fighting
Pavlovich, who’s supposed to be a harder fight. Hokit would be a
much easier fight for me. We got together [with Hunter Campbell],
we talked, we straightened things out, so it was fine. Pavlovich is
a little more dangerous opponent, but looking at it in a technical
way today, I see that it’s actually also a very good fight for
me.â€â€” Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
October 21, 2026
MMA
Islam Makhachev reveals why he turned down January fight with Carlos Prates
Published
15 hours agoon
October 25, 2026
Islam Makhachev has spoken up about why he's not fighting Carlos Prates in January.
For the last few weeks, the MMA world has been flooded with rumors that Makhachev would defend his welterweight title against Prates at UFC 336 in January; however, on Saturday, the UFC announced that those rumors are untrue. Instead, Prates will take on Michael Morales for an interim welterweight title at UFC 336, with the winner unifying against Makhachev sometime next year.
“Prates and Morales will fight, determine who a true worthy contender, and I will fight [the winner]. They will [fight] among themselves. …
“They offered me a fight with Prates, who recently lost to a [Ian Machado Garry] who I beat. If I beat him, Morales would already be next in line, who's not fighting and waiting for [a title shot]. Just let them fight and we will figure out who is the real challenger.â€
Ramadan begins on Feb. 7 and concludes on March 8 in 2027, meaning it is unlikely we will see Makhachev again until next summer.
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