UFC

Despite being winless in his past four fights and only having one match in the past six years, Nick Diaz is aiming high as he ponders a return to the UFC later this year.

Speaking to TMZ Sports, Diaz said he's "working" on a fight for the end of this year and he's targeting welterweight champion Kamaru Usman as his opponent.

"I wanna fight for the title," he said. "I don't wanna do all this—I'm 38 years old."

Diaz returned from a six-year hiatus in September 2021 to fight Robbie Lawler. He was knocked down in the third round and the referee gave him the opportunity to get back on his feet, but he verbally quit to end the match.

UFC President Dana White told ESPN's Brett Okamoto three months after the fight that he doesn't think Diaz should continue to fight.

"Regardless of how good he looked [against Lawler] or what he did after such a huge layoff, I don't think Nick should fight," White said. "It's not that I was in favor of it. He's a grown man and can do whatever he wants to do. I just don't think that Nick does it because he loves it. I think Nick does it because he has to do it."

Diaz hasn't won a fight since UFC 137 in October 2011 when he beat B.J. Penn by unanimous decision. He's since gone on to lose to Carlos Condit and Georges St-Pierre. 

Anderson Silva also defeated Diaz at UFC 183, but the result was overturned to a no contest after Silva failed multiple drug tests prior to the fight. Diaz was suspended for five years by the Nevada State Athletic Commission because of a positive marijuana test leading up to the fight. It was the third such failed test of his career.

Usman is arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts. The Nigerian Nightmare has a 20-1 career record (15-0 in the UFC) and has successfully defended the welterweight title five times since beating Tyron Woodley to win the crown at UFC 235.

An official date has yet to be announced, but White confirmed in January that Leon Edwards will be the next challenger for Usman.

Edwards defeated Nick's brother, Nate, in his most recent fight at UFC 263 in June.   

Ketlen Vieira stayed the course and won a grueling split decision over Holly Holm in the main event of UFC Fight Night 206 from the UFC's Apex Facility in Las Vegas.

From the outset, the main event was a battle of positioning. Vieira had multiple failed takedown attempts, while Holm controlled the Brazilian with her clinch game against the fence.

Vieira was able to turn the tide for a bit in the second round. She got enough momentum into a hip throw takedown to get Holm to the ground and pinned Holm against the cage in her own clinch, even grabbing on to a choke that was deep enough put the former champion in danger.

How did Holly escape this 🤯 #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/HLUrWcr83D

— UFC (@ufc) May 22, 2022

The third round featured a little bit of both fighters' strengths. Holm continued to hold position in the clinch for large swaths of the round, but Vieira landed some substantial strikes.

Holm's cardio was on display in the fourth round. While Vieira appeared to slow the 40-year-old, Holm stuck with her gameplan and even landed a front kick to the face that rocked her opponent.

Holm was again able to control for most of the fifth round with her clinch game, but it wasn't enough to convince the judges she deserved to have her hand raised.

The win is Vieira's second win over a former champion in a row. With two five-round victories over Holm and Miesha Tate, it's getting harder to argue against her getting a shot at the winner of Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes.
  

Main Card

• Ketlen Vieira def. Holly Holm by split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)

• Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

• Chidi Njokuani def. Dusko Todorovic by knockout (elbow) at 4:48 of Round 1

• Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

• Junyong Park def. Eryk Anders by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

            

Prelims

• Joseph Holmes def. Alen Amedovski by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:04 of Round 1

• Jailton Almeida def. Parker Porter by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:35 of Round 1

• Uros Medic def. Omar Morales by TKO (punch) at 3:05 of Round 2

• Jonathan Martinez def. Vince Morales by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

• Chase Hooper def. Felipe Colares by TKO (punches) at 3:00 of Round 3

• Sam Hughes def. Elise Reed by TKO at 3:52 (elbows) of Round 3

             

Michel Pereira def. Santiago Ponzinibbio

The scorecards were all over the place, but Michel Pereira picked up a unanimous decision victory over Santiago Ponzinibbio in the co-main event.

On paper, this one looked like it would be a slugfest, and it didn't disappoint.

Pereira put the pressure on early. His pace was difficult for the Argentinian to match, and Pereira seemed to have a power advantage in the first round.

Midway through the second round is where things started to get interesting. Pereira has become a more measured fighter as his UFC career progresses but Ponzinibbio was able to draw out his inner brawler. By the third round, both fighters were swinging and throwing caution to the wind. 

Gonna need some ice packs after this brawl 😬 #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/fo0kMFiiOo

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 22, 2022

Ultimately, Pereira did enough to get the nod from the judges, although the second round could have gone either way. With Pereira winning the first and Ponzinibbio winning the third, it was a tough fight to score. 

             

Chidi Njokuani def. Dusko Todorovic

Chidi "Bang Bang" Njokuani lived up to his moniker and added another highlight-reel knockout to his resume with a first-round stoppage of Dusko Todorovic. 

THAT ELBOW WAS NASTY 🤯 #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/vtpOZ0Ee8Q

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 22, 2022

Njokuani showed just how little space he needs to create a fight-ending blow with this one. While clinched up with Tudorovic, he unleashed an elbow that landed flush and earned him his second first-round knockout in as many fights.

The middleweight has already made quite the statement just two fights into his UFC career. He knocked out Marc-Andre Barriault in 16 seconds in his UFC debut.

After sitting down a talented fighter in Tudorovic, his stock will continue to rise. Chidi's brother Anthony had a brief run in the UFC after a successful stint in the WEC. It's looking like Chidi could be around much longer.

               

Tabatha Ricci def. Polyana Viana

Tabatha "Baby Shark" Ricci relied heavily on her ground game to score a unanimous decision victory over Polyana Viana in the women's strawweight division.

The Baby Shark drowned Viana with her aggression in the wrestling department. Viana had some success on her feet but was too content to concede top position when the fight hit the mat. Ricci took advantage with 9:31 of control time.

It's a big win for Ricci moving forward as Viana is easily the best opponent that she has beaten. Although she is 7-1, Ricci's lone loss came against one of the best fighters she has seen in Manon Fiorot. Topping Viana brings some validity to her prospects moving forward.

Ricci still needs to figure out how to close distance effectively in her striking, but she has a good enough grappling base to be dangerous in the future.

               

Junyong Park def. Eryk Anders

Junyong Park kicked off the main card with a split decision victory in middleweight action.

After losing his last bout by second-round knockout, Park was fired up after getting back on track with a win in a close fight.

By SD, Junyong Park takes the win! 👏🐢 What did your scorecards look like?? #UFCVegas55 pic.twitter.com/9V7WyRKRzO

— UFC (@ufc) May 21, 2022

He had to find ways to succeed despite Anders spamming takedown attempts. In all, Park stuffed all but three of 24 takedown attempts by Anders.

While Anders held the advantage in control time, it was Park who dealt the most damage. Park landed 105 significant strikes to his opponent's 65. He was also more efficient, connecting on 57 percent of his significant strikes compared to just 45 percent for Anders.

It was a good example of judges giving credit to the fighter who actually created the most offense rather than the one who exerted the most control time.

The most anticipated women's fight of 2022 now has a date.

The UFC announced on Saturday that the rematch between bantamweight champion Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes will take place in the main event of UFC 277 on Saturday, July 30 in Dallas. Pena had defeated Nunes for the title at UFC 269 in December in what is regarded as one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.

Pena shockingly earned a second-round submission victory over Nunes, which was her first loss since 2014 and ended her title reign after four defenses of the belt. It was a special performance by Pena that saw her batter the former champion with her boxing before sinking in a rear-naked choke and forcing a quick tap-out.

After the loss, Nunes told ESPN that she had been dealing with multiple knee injuries heading into the fight. Universally considered the best women's fighter of all time, Nunes still holds the UFC featherweight championship.

The UFC selected Pena and Nunes to be coaches for the current season of The Ultimate Fighter, which airs on ESPN+. Pena said prior to the season that she was surprised to learn about a certain aspect of Nunes' personality.

"I really thought that I was high maintenance, like the most high maintenance, like no one gets more high maintenance than me. Right? I’m a diva! Then I experienced the things that Amanda was doing," Pena said on the Morning Kombat podcast last month. "My goodness, wow! I didn’t think that."

In addition to Pena and Nunes' titlefight, the UFC 277 co-main event will be an interim flyweight championship bout between Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France.

Lerone Murphy gave a harrowing account Wednesday of a serious bicycle accident he was involved in Tuesday.

Murphy took to Instagram to post a photo of himself in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his head. In the caption, Murphy wrote that he was involved in "another near death experience."

He added that an oncoming car turned "without looking" while he was cycling and they "collided at speed," leaving him with a head wound.

Murphy wrote that the ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive, nearly causing him to "bleed out" from his injury.

Tuesday's cycling accident wasn't Murphy's first traumatic experience, as he survived a shooting in 2013. Murphy was shot in the face and neck after exiting a barbershop in Fallowfield, England, three years before his pro MMA career began.

The 30-year-old is a Manchester, England, native who has four fights of UFC experience under his belt.

Murphy is 3-0-1, including a second-round knockout victory over Makwan Amirkhani at UFC 267 in October in his most recent fight.

Overall, Murphy is 11-0-1 with seven knockouts.

Murphy had been scheduled to return to the Octagon at UFC on ESPN: Blaydes vs. Daukaus in March, but he pulled out of his fight against Nate Landwehr for undisclosed reasons.  

Former UFC fighter Cain Velasquez, who was arrested Feb. 28 and is being charged with attempted murder and 10 additional gun-related charges, was denied bail during a hearing in Santa Clara County (California) court on Monday.

Marc Raimondi of ESPN reported it was the second time Velasquez was denied bail after he was initially denied on March 7.

Judge Shelyna Brown pointed to Velasquez's "reckless disregard for human life" in the decision to deny him bail Monday. She said his "extreme recklessness" is why she denied his bail the first time.

Velasquez was arrested after allegedly chasing Harry Eugene Goularte during what the Santa Clara County district attorney described as an "11-mile, high-speed chase" and then firing a gun into Goularte's vehicle multiple times after ramming the truck.

While Goularte was not injured in the shooting, his stepfather, Paul Bender, was in the vehicle and suffered a non-life-threatening nerve injury in his shoulder when he was hit by one of the bullets.

Goularte has been charged with a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under age 14 and is scheduled for a June 6 plea hearing.

A relative of Velasquez's who is under 10 years old told police in February that Goularte sexually molested them potentially "100 times" inside the bathroom of a daycare center and then informed the child not to tell anyone.

Goularte, who lives in the building that houses the daycare center his mother owns, denied the allegations.

Velasquez's plea hearing is scheduled for June 10. He could face 20 or more years of jail time if convicted on the charges.