UFC

Cris Cyborg has unfinished business with Amanda Nunes.

The Bellator women's featherweight champion told TMZ Sports she'd relish the opportunity to avenge her December 2018 loss to Nunes.

The 36-year-old made her professional debut in May 2005, and she'll be just shy of her 17th anniversary in the cage when she fights Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279 on April 23. The Brazilian star told TMZ Sports she set a goal of trying to hit 20 years before she hangs up her gloves.

That gives her some more time for the stars to align regarding the Nunes rematch.

Nunes only needed 51 seconds to knock Cyborg out at UFC 232. Cyborg later said the defeat provided a silver lining since she may not have signed with Bellator when she did if she had beaten Nunes.

As long as the two are fighting in separate promotions, a return bout obviously isn't going to happen. Cyborg's Bellator deal may be nearing an end, though, which could set the stage for a return to the UFC.

Considering how the sides parted ways in 2019, however, UFC president Dana White may not be rolling out the red carpet.

Khamzat Chimaev defeated Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision at Saturday's UFC 273, a welterweight battle so good it won Fight of the Night honors, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Burns is seeking a rematch.

"I think the judges do whatever they have to do, but I'm just thinking we aren't done," he told TMZ Sports. "Me and Khamzat have to see each other again. Somebody gotta go down next time, I don't care how many rounds we need in there."

Chimaev seems inclined to grant him that rematch:

In 5 rounds I will take your soul see you soon boy 🤪🤙🏼

— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) April 12, 2022

The two certainly had nothing but respect for one another after their first bout concluded:

All respect from @KChimaev after his hard-earned victory 💪 #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/wuoDGt8oE2

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2022

But Burns feels like he can catch Chimaev in a rematch.

"Definitely a lot of pop in his hands," he said. "That guy hits very hard. But like I said before, I have a ton of respect for this guy, but I don't see no Superman. I don't see no murderer, no monster. I see a guy just like me with a lot of will, a lot of heart, trying to get a finish."

It's unlikely the rematch would happen immediately, with UFC President Dana White already telling TMZ he was interested in seeing Chimaev face Colby Covington. The winner of that bout would almost assuredly get a matchup with welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

Burns (20-5) has already faced Usman, losing to him by TKO at UFC 258 in February 2021. He believes if Usman and Chimaev ever faced off, the reigning champion would prevail:

That would be a tough fight. I still think Kamaru hits harder. Kamaru put me out, you know? [Khamzat] hit me with everything and he didn't put me out. ... The IQ of Kamaru Usman, if I gotta answer that question right now, will be the difference. Kamaru is a very intelligent and tested fighter. He's been in the wars, he's been against best guys around and I think Kamaru's MMA wrestling is better than Khamzat's. That's my takeaway.

Chimaev (11-0) is a perfect 5-0 in his UFC career and is one of the fighting promotion's top up-and-coming stars. He's likely just a win away from a title shot. But if he doesn't beat Covington, he'll have Burns waiting in the wings for a much-anticipated rematch.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has issued a statement for the first time since being arrested on an attempted murder charge. 

In a statement on Twitter, Velasquez thanked his supporters and called the story of the shooting "complex and slowly unraveling as we speak."

pic.twitter.com/osPxi0QfHf

— Cain Velasquez (@cainmma) April 12, 2022

TMZ Sports reported March 1 that Velasquez was arrested in San Jose and booked on an attempted murder charge for a shooting near a local high school. One person was shot.

Per Robert Salonga of the Mercury News, Velasquez shot at a man who had recently been charged with molesting a close relative of the former mixed martial arts star. 

"Velasquez’s shots wounded the defendant’s stepfather in the encounter off Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue on the southern edges of San Jose, multiple law-enforcement sources confirmed," Salonga wrote. 

Velasquez was formally charged with attempted murder, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle or aircraft, three counts of assault with a firearm, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, willfully discharging a firearm from a vehicle, and carrying a loaded firearm with intent to commit a felony.

Per court documents obtained by ESPN's Marc Raimondi, Velasquez could face more than 20 years of jail time if he is convicted on all charges. 

According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office (h/t Raimondi), Velasquez was following Harry Eugene Goularte's truck in an "11-mile, high-speed chase" when he rammed into the truck with his vehicle "and then fired a 40-caliber handgun multiple times into the truck, which carried Goularte and two older relatives."

Paul Bender, Goularte's stepfather, was struck once in the arm and torso but is expected to survive. 

Velasquez is best known for his stint in UFC from 2008-19. He went 14-3 in his mixed martial arts career and was a two-time UFC heavyweight champion. The 39-year-old also had a brief stint in WWE, including losing to Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel in October 2019.    

Mike Malott had more to celebrate from UFC 273 than just his first-round TKO of Mickey Gall.

In his post-fight interview in the Octagon, Malott used the opportunity to draw attention to the daughter of coach Joey Rodriguez who has been diagnosed with cancer. He asked fans to donate money toward the cause.

The Canadian told reporters that fans inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena began giving him money as he left the arena floor.

Mike Malott told the media backstage that fans gave him money as he walked out of the arena for his boxing coach's 15-year-old daughter GoFundMe account. ♥️

She's currently battling cancer. #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/LelR5dikmG

— Danny Segura (@dannyseguratv) April 10, 2022

Jake Paul pledged $10,000 as well (warning: link contains profanity).

UFC President Dana White also said Malott wouldn't need to donate his $10,000 in show money since the company would match his entire payout from Saturday night for the Rodriguez's family fund.

The GoFundMe for Angie Rodriguez, who has Stage 3 lymphoma, set an original goal of $50,000. The total donations have nearly doubled that figure, with $95,640 raised so far.

In an Instagram post Sunday, Malott thanked White and Paul for their gestures and said the fans in Jacksonville, Florida, "absolutely blew me away with generosity!"

"Thank you to everyone for helping and donating," he said. "Faith in humanity restored."

The 30-year-old made his UFC debut Saturday. He earned a contract after submitting Shimon Smotritsky in a fight for Dana White's Contender Series last October.

Alexander Volkanovski defended his featherweight title and earned an extra $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night at UFC 273, per MMA Fighting.

Volkanovski earned a fourth-round knockout over Chan Sung Jung in the only stoppage among the five bouts on the main card. He improved to 24-1 in his career, including 11 straight wins in UFC.

Aleksei Oleinik won the other Performance of the Night bonus with his first-round submission of Jared Vanderaa.

The Fight of the Night bonus went to Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns after their three-round battle:

CHIMAEV SURVIVES TO STAY UNDEFEATED 😤 #UFC273pic.twitter.com/CyLFRAq8b0

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 10, 2022

Chimaev was the winner by unanimous decision, but both competitors left it all on the mat during a thrilling battle.

It was the 11th straight win for Chimaev to begin his professional career, earning a bonus in each of his last five fights since joining UFC.

Sometimes life doesn't deviate from the script. Sometimes the favorite cashes. Sometimes "on paper" becomes "in real life" with nary the batting of an eyelash.

Because sometimes you have a fighter like Alex Volkanovski.

Whenever you see the UFC featherweight champion compete, you're seeing the best version of himself. You're getting something steady and thoughtfully crafted. You're getting predictable excellence, a complete physical and mental product.

The main event at UFC 273, which went down Saturday from Jacksonville, Florida, was just the latest case in point. Volkanovski defended his 145-pound title for the third consecutive time with a dominating, semi-disturbing dismantling of a supremely tough but gravely overmatched Korean Zombie (government name Chan Sung Jung). The official result was a rare standing TKO at 45 seconds of the fourth round.

"I said all this week that I was on another level," Volkanovski told broadcaster and podcaster Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight. "I can't be stopped, and I just showed...it's just drive. The drive to be better."

How good is he really? Volkanovski is third on the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings and could be No. 2. And there's always some flutter of discussion about Volkanovski being the best featherweight in MMA history. 

"He's better than he's ever been," Rogan observed after Saturday's fight. "And he was already the best." 

I'm gonna stop you right there, Joe. Even after another master class like this one, Volkanovski is still only second fiddle. It's a good string section, but for the foreseeable future, he's second-best nonetheless. But let's get back to that.

On Saturday, Volkanovski spent the opening minutes of Round 1 working behind a jab so fast you could hear it before you saw it. Zombie tried to trade, but it was immediately clear he'd brought a rubber hose to a jousting match. His face was soon tenderized. Leg kicks were of course a factor. The champ was just piecing him up, in other words, even as he carefully conserved energy for subsequent rounds.

It was much the same in the second, with Zombie looking flat-footed and lunging after Volkanovski with his hands low, getting either nothing or tagged for the effort. Volkanovski opened up a bit and hit two takedowns. Zombie landed, but there just was no zip on his side of the table. 

Volk is dominating TKZ
😤 #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/omweZLtL0W

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 10, 2022

In the third, Zombie eventually found a home for the uppercut, but Volkanovski took the hit and went right back to work. Zombie's takedown defense, honed by a fight camp spent with wrestling/UFC all-timer Henry Cejudo, was in evidence. But the champ simply wouldn't allow any one thing to slow him down. Zombie never quite knew what was coming, thanks to the champ's constant feints and the unpredictability of his combination sequencing.

At the end of the third, a huge combination dropped Zombie and led to ground strikes. Referee Herb Dean would have had every reason to stop it, but he didn't. And of course, his corner didn't save him. They all asked Zombie, who, being a fighter, let them off the hook by saying he still wanted to fight even though he couldn't find his stool. So the punishment continued.

It didn't last much longer. With his face a single swollen bruise, his eyesight quite possibly compromised and his legs trembling underneath him as if awaiting last call on a midwinter booze cruise, Zombie was brave but doomed. Volkanovski clocked him with one more crushing one-two combination, and still the Zombie didn't fall, and finally Dean swooped in and pulled the champion away from his beaten victim.

Good stoppage from Herb Dean. He saw enough after Volkanovski rocked Zombie again.

That was a mauling. Zombie wasn't competitive in that fight for a minute.

— Luke Thomas🏋️‍♀️ (@lthomasnews) April 10, 2022

According to UFC stats, Volkanovski outlanded Zombie 138-48 in significant strikes. 

"[Zombie] actually took a lot more [punishment] than I wanted him to," Volkanovski told Rogan. "I thought they could have stopped it a bit earlier. I started kind of feeling bad in there, but that's the sport we're in."

There may have been bigger moments on the Volkanovski highlight reel. That third round against Brian Ortega, for instance, when he gutted through two serious choke attempts. His first fight with Max Holloway, where he landed a featherweight-record 75 leg kicks. 

But this was the most emphatic beating, and it was the best version of a champ that was already pretty elite. And yet he still has work to do if he's going to catch Jose Aldo as the featherweight GOAT.

Volkanovski is 24-1, 11-0 in the UFC and 10-0 as a UFC featherweight with the three title defenses. He also of course has a decision win over Aldo.

Nevertheless, Aldo is 31-7, 13-6 in the UFC and 10-4 as a UFC featherweight, but with seven title defenses over two separate title reigns. And that's before we get to the WEC, which was the sport's premier home for lighter-weight fighters back when the UFC's lightest division was lightweight. Aldo notched wins over Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber and current American Top Team coaching mastermind Mike Brown, just to name a few.

So, yes. Volkanovski has work to do. In fact, he himself acknowledged that fact before the fight.

"I believe I've still got more work to do," he said when asked about his GOAT status. "I give Aldo the respect. To be champion for as long as he was is incredible. No matter the opposition that I'm facing with guys like himself and Max, I think I'm fighting absolute killers. …And for him to be for so long, it's saying something."

And there's the mention of Holloway. Although Volkanovski has beaten him twice, both men know there's unfinished business there. Although Volkanovski didn't name any specific name after Saturday's win, he did make mention of the "fight that was originally supposed to be scheduled"—which of course was a third bout with Holloway.

Volkanovski isn't better than Aldo yet. He is better than Holloway. Thankfully for him and all of us, that's something Holloway can do something about. 

In their rematch six months after Volkanovski took Holloway's title, now fighting in front of that eerie 2020 pandemic silence, it was much closer. After Holloway clearly won the first two rounds with damaging shots and better use of range, Volkanovski turned up the workrate round over round until the final moments of a wild, empty-the-tank fifth round. It could not have been much closer, especially in the third and fourth. The champ defended by a 47-48, 48-47, 48-47 split decision.

Recall now that a close loss and a robbery are not the same thing. Their rematch was close, but it didn't rise to the level of injustice. Still, there's certainly an easy case for a trilogy match when you have greats this great and stakes this high. Yet another Volkanovski fight that, if we're lucky, will play out in accordance with its makings.

Volkanovski knows how great he is and how great he can be. Just as he took his time tearing into the Zombie on Saturday night, Volkanovski will take his time climbing the featherweight mountain. He knows exactly where the story is going. We're all just lucky we have good seats.

Khamzat Chimaev, Aljamain Sterling and Alexander Volkanovski walked away as big winners at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Volkanovski finished the night on a strong note. He was absolutely dominant in his third title defense. "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung lived up to his name by absorbing a ton of punishment, but the cumulative effect was too much even for him. 

Volk is dominating TKZ
😤 #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/omweZLtL0W

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 10, 2022

The Australian's speed and power were simply too much for the challenger. Whether he was leading the dance or countering Jung's offense, he held the advantage in nearly every exchange. 

Ultimately, referee Herb Dean had to save Zombie from himself. He called the fight after Volkanovski landed four devastating punches in a row. 

It was another bullet point on Volkanovski's resume as the best featherweight of all time. 

Elsewhere on the card, Chimaev proved himself as an elite welterweight and Sterling solidified his status as a UFC champion. Here's a look at what all went down in Jacksonville.  

Main Card

• Alexander Volkanovski def. Chan Sung Jung via fourth-round TKO (0:45)
• Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan via split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48)
• Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres via split decision (29-28 x2, 28-29)
• Mark Madsen def. Vinc Pichel via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Prelims

• Ian Garry def. Darian Weeks via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27 x2)
• Anthony Hernandez def. Josh Fremd via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)
• Raquel Pennington def. Aspen Ladd via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Mike Malott def. Mickey Gall via first-round KO (3:41)
• Aleksei Oleinik def. Jared Vanderaa via submission (neck crank) (Round 1, 3:39)
• Piera Rodriguez def. Kay Hansen via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
• Julio Arce def. Daniel Santos via unanimous decision (30-27 x2, 29-28)

Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan

Aljamain Sterling took home the bantamweight strap and plenty of validation by winning his long-awaited rematch with Petr Yan. 

While Sterling had to face the criticism of winning a championship belt by disqualification after the first fight, he was able to defend his championship with a more traditional decision victory. 

#UFC273 Official Scorecard: Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMasterMMA) vs Petr Yan

All Tonight's Scorecards: https://t.co/bU5SPXaZ0m pic.twitter.com/Pmnj7F4wqW

— UFC News (@UFCNews) April 10, 2022

Sterling's ability to takedown Yan and get into advantageous positions was his biggest edge in the fight. His second- and third-round performances were his strongest in the fight. The vast majority of the round consisted of Sterling attempting rear-naked chokes and Yan fighting them off. 

This bout certainly opened the door for a trilogy, but it's likely the division will get to move on from the matchup as Sterling utilized his post-fight interview to call out T.J. Dillashaw. 

Khamzat Chimaev def. Gilbert Burns

Khamzat Chimaev remained undefeated at UFC 273, but it certainly wasn't as easy as his previous appearances in the UFC. 

After Chimaev steamrolled the competition in his first four UFC fights, he found a stiff test against Gilbert Burns. The former title challenger hung tough after a typically quick start for Chimaev. The 27-year-old scored an early takedown, but instead of the usual fight-ending ground-and-pound, he struggled to keep the Brazilian down. 

In the second round, we saw Chimaev in trouble for the first time. The two went back and forth, but Burns landed a massive right hand that stung his opponent. Durinho handed the rising star his first losing round. 

WHAT A ROUND 🤯

[ #UFC273 | LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/KOluT78H6K ] pic.twitter.com/m19TzJIx6F

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2022

Chimaev answered any questions about his cardio or heart in the third round. He resorted to a stiff right jab to establish the lead in the crucial round and ultimately earned the decision. 

After watching Chimaev run over his first four opponents, this fight provided a much clearer picture of what he can do in the Octagon. He's among the division's elite, but he still has work to do. 

Mackenzie Dern def. Tecia Torres

The strawweight fight between Mackenzie Dern and Tecia Torres had a little bit of everything in a three-round affair that saw Dern sneak out a split-decision win over Torres. 

Torres and Dern engaged in a tightly contested first round. Torres had more volume, but Dern's strikes appeared to do more damage as the two engaged in a boxing match for most of the first five minutes. 

That round ended up being important for Torres as Dern clearly won the second round. That's because the jiu-jitsu ace was aggressive in going for the submission, attempting one of the more wild Kimura attempts imaginable. 

NASTY. 😬 #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/3dQbblZBGX

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) April 10, 2022

She pulled guard and ended up nearly sinking in the submission from a standing position. 

That didn't end up happening as Torres eventually broke the hold, but Dern simply transitioned to submission attempts off of her initial try until the round was nearly over. 

The win was impressive for Dern in that she was able to use her grappling effectively while doing enough in the striking department to pick up the win. 

Mark O. Madsen def. Vinc Pichel

Mark O. Madsen might not have made many fans with his fighting style but he secured another win and extended his undefeated record to 12-0 against Vinc Pichel to open the main card. 

The first round was a competitive affair with more striking than was expected. 

However, the second round was the most difficult for the eventual winner. Pichel outlanded him on the feet and appeared to have turned the tide. 

Things are getting 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 after 2 💢

[ #UFC273 | LIVE on @ESPNPlus PPV: https://t.co/KOluT78H6K ] pic.twitter.com/GEBjLMRGai

— UFC (@ufc) April 10, 2022

Unfortunately for Pichel, Madsen turned to his Olympic level wrestling in the third and final round to secure the victory. He spent most of the round just maintaining control rather than engaging in a firefight with a dangerous opponent. 

That isn't likely to generate a ton of buzz for Madsen, but he continues to win and get better as he makes his transition from Greco-Roman wrestling to fighting in the UFC.