No. 5 ranked UFC welterweight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson recently gave his thoughts on the no decision in the UFC Vegas 21 main event between Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad.
The no contest ruling resulted from a brutal eye poke from Edwards to Muhammad in the second round of the fight that rendered him unable to continue.
Before the eye poke that ended the fight, Thompson acknowledged Edwards looked good during the bout despite having not fought in nearly two years.
“He looked really crisp, he looked really sharp. He looked fast,” Thompson said on his new podcast “What’s Up Everybody?!”
“I think that’s the best shape I’ve seen Edwards in.”
Kelvin Gastelum steps in to fight Robert Whittaker
March 17, 2021
It didn’t take long for Robert Whittaker to get a new opponent for his UFC Fight Night headlining bout on April 17. Shortly after it was revealed that Paulo Costa stepped out, Kelvin Gastelum stepped in. The news was initially reported by Peleando podcast host Carlos Contreras Legaspi.
Whittaker was initially slated to face Costa in the April 17 main event, but the Brazilian withdrew after continuing to struggle with his COVID-19 recovery, including a recent bout of the flu.
Instead of rescheduling the bout for a later date, UFC officials inked Gastelum to keep the fight on schedule.
UFC president Dana White on Monday announced that UFC 261 is headed to Jacksonville, Fla., with a full house of fans. The fight card will be topped with three title fights.
VyStar Veteran’s Memorial Arena will be open to a full house, according to White, featuring a blistering tripleheader of championship bouts.
A rematch between UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal tops the UFC 261 bill in Florida. The two first fought at UFC 251 last year, when Masvidal stepped in on short notice, only to lose a unanimous decision to Usman
The fight card also features UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili putting her belt on the line for the second time when she squares off with former champion Rose Namajunas. Zhang was part of the Fight of the Year in 2020, defeating another former champion in Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The UFC hopes she brings that same magic against Namajunas, another fan favorite.
Paulo Costa has withdrawn from his UFC Vegas 24 headlining bout opposite Robert Whittaker.
Sources confirmed that Costa withdrew because of a severe bout of the flu, which has compromised his ability to train. AgFight initially reported that the bout was in doubt, but it now appears to be nixed.
The UFC Vegas 24 fight card is currently slated for April 17 in Las Vegas. It should be noted, however, that UFC 261 also is approved for Las Vegas, though UFC president Dana White on Monday announced that the pay-per-view event would take place to a packed house of fans at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
The win over Cormier was Miocic’s second consecutive victory over DC, following a loss to him in 2018. The back-to-back wins cemented Miocic’s legacy as one of the greatest UFC heavyweights of all time.
Miocic next faces no. 1 contender Francis Ngannou for the second time in the main event of UFC 260 on Saturday, March 27, with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones waiting in the wings.