Issue 176
March 2019
The UFC matchmaking woes continued into UFC 228 where Darren Till was given the opportunity to fight for UFC gold for the first time.
The original plan was for Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley to unify the UFC welterweight title, but after Covington pulled out, Till was given the fight on short notice.
Much of the build-up to the fight focused on the Liverpudlian’s weight cut following the issues he had earlier in the year, but come weigh-in day he tipped the scales at 169-pounds and made his fight with Woodley official. Unfortunately for him, Woodley dominated the fight from the very start and after being leveled with a huge counter overhand he was finished on the mat via a D’Arce choke.
The event also saw the UFC’s first-ever female flyweight champion Nicco Montano stripped of her title. Montano was expected to defend her belt for the first time against Valentina Shevchenko, but the champion was hospitalized during her weight cut and was forced to pull out of the bout. Shevchenko would eventually claim the title in December, but it was another frustrating week for the Kyrgyzstani-Peruvian fighter who had predicted the champion wouldn’t make it to the Octagon.
September also marked the UFC’s debut in Russia. Many of the UFC’s biggest Russian names didn’t feature on the Moscow card, though wins for Petr Yan, Mairbek Taisumov, Rustam Khabilov and Alexey Oleynik were enough to send the local fans home happy.
Outside of the Octagon, Jon Jones avoided a four-year ban from USADA and was handed just a 15-month retroactive suspension after an independent arbitrator ruled that he did not intentionally cheat after testing positive for a banned substance during UFC 214 fight week.
Bellator 206 on September 29 featured a rare champion vs champion showdown with middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi taking on welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. MacDonald was attempting to do what only Joe Warren had done previously and claim a second Bellator title in a different weight class, but Mousasi proved to be way too much for him on the night.
On the same card, Douglas Lima and Andrey Koreshkov kicked off the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix with Lima advancing into the next round after winning via submission in the fifth round. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson also defeated Wanderlei Silva in the fourth chapter of their long and storied rivalry to level their series up at two apiece.
Also this month
- Thiago Santos stepped in on short notice to defeat Eryk Anders at UFC Fight Night Sao Paulo on another fight card riddled with injuries.
- UFC and Bellator bantamweight veteran Michael “Mayday” MacDonald announced his retirement after suffering another broken hand following his fight with Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 202 in July.
- Fans in the UK and Ireland suffered the heartbreak of missing out on the ending of the MacDonald vs Mousasi fight after the event ran late and the broadcast switched to an episode of children’s TV show, Peppa Pig.
