The Weekly Roundkick on MMA: Chandler, Baeza, More

Welcome to the Weekly Roundkick, where you can get all your MMA news in one spot. In the age of Covid, the UFC has done a great job of being the leaders of industry in making sure the show goes on. Here’s everything that you might’ve missed this week in the MMA world.

Biggest Free Agent Landed

• Michael Chandler, Former Bellator Lightweight Champion has signed with the UFC and will be in as a replacement in the Khabib vs Gaethje fight (via Bjpenn). For Chandler, this is huge for his career. He’s been wanting to prove that he’s one of the best 155 pounder on the planet and now being in the UFC, he has the chance to prove just that. 

Fight Announcements

• • Miguel Baeza vs Jerimiah Wells is off. Wells was replacing Mickey Gall for this fight. Mickey Gall had pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed training injury. Jerimiah Wells had put his name in and was selected as a replacement for the fight. Now, for an undisclosed reason, Wells has also pulled out (MMAJunkie). For the undefeated Baeza, this delays his potential run to a title. For now the best option is to stay ready and hope someone in his division has a fight open up.

• Dustin Poirier vs Tony Ferguson is off… for now. Dana has claimed that Dustin has priced himself out of the fight and that that he didn’t really want the fight. Dustin replied with a tweet “I WANT THE FIGHT”. Ferguson has gone to bat for Dustin telling Dana to pay him so they can fight. It seems like there is pressure from both fighters to have this fight but it seems it’s too expensive for Dana. Dana currently has said that Ferguson is also out of UFC 254.

• • #15 Drew Dober vs #8 Diego Ferreira is on for November 7th. #15 Ranked Lightweight Dober, is set to take on another rising star in #8 Ranked Diego Ferreira (MMAJunkie). Unsure if this is the main event or not, but no matter what other fight is on this card, I’m taking this fight for Fight of The Night. 
  • Malcolm Gordon vs Su Mudaerji has been agreed upon for November 28. Two Fresh UFC prospects in Malcolm Gordon and Su Mudaerji have agreed for a fight in late November (via MMAJunkie). For these two, this is going to be important for the near future of these prospects making a run for the rankings.
  • Khadis Ibragimov vs. Danilo Marques added to UFC 253 (via MMAFighting). For Ibragimov, he’s coming in off of 3 losses in a row after starting 8-0. If he wants to continue his UFC career, this is a must-win for him.

• Weili Zhang Vs Rose Namajunas is in the works according to Dana White. When asked about the future of this division, Dana says they’re working on making this fight happen. After a potential fight of the year candidate effort by Weili, a fight with a game Thug Rose will undoubtedly make for another great fight.

• • Thiago Santos vs Glover Texiera has been cancelled. Thiago Santos has now tested positive for Covid-19. This fight was supposed to happen this last weekend but Texiera tested positive. Now the future of this fight is in Jeopardy.

• Ketlen Vieira vs Sijara Eubanks has been scheduled for UFC 253 (via BJpenn). Sijara Eubanks is stepping in on short notice to replace Marion Reneau after her decision win last weekend. 

Other MMA News

• • Bellator has signed a deal with CBS Sports. Look for more MMA to be on the national scene starting October 1st!

• Fight Island Confirmed! UFC will start running events on Fight Island Starting on UFC 253 on Saturday, September 26th and run weekly shows up until UFC 254 on October 24th (MMAFighting)

• Dana White Contender Series. On Season 4 Week 7 of the the Contender Series, Dana awarded 3 contracts were awarded. Jordan Williams won a contract in his third attempt. Others awarded were 3x National Boxing Champion Danyelle Wolf and Collin Anglin.

• Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson re-enters the USADA testing pool (via MMAFighting). With this being reported, this puts Rumble about 6 months away from being able to return to the octagon. 

You can follow Johnathan Ramlakhan on Twitter @ThreePieceCombo