The Hall at Live Casino

Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Dana White was blown away by the latest fight on The Ultimate Fighter 33. It wasn’t a technical masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but UFC flyweight hopefuls Imanol Rodriguez (Mexico) and Arshiyan Memon (India) certainly entertained the onlookers at UFC APEX, including White, their potential boss. In the end, it was Rodriguez who came out on top with a blistering standing TKO win in the first round. Team Daniel Cormier’s Rodriguez (5-0) and Team Chael Sonnen’s Memon (7-0) both entered this week’s fight with undefeated records, and their raw talent and inexperience were on full display. Rodriguez continually landed his right hand on a retreating Memon, who seemed caught off guard by Rodriguez’s aggression. A Rodriguez body kick had Memon wincing and Rodriguez pounced for the finish, but somehow Memon managed to survive and recover. Rodriguez didn’t let up. Memon was firing wild and then made the mistake of telegraphing a takedown, which Rodriguez stuffed before taking Memon’s back. He flattened Memon out, forcing Memon to turn over and give up full mount. Again, Memon somehow slipped out of a disadvantageous position. His luck soon ran out, though. Inexplicably bursting with confidence, Memon dropped his hands and prompted Rodriguez to bring it on, which Rodriguez did with several right hands to the face. Rodriguez battered Memon against the cage, throwing bombs until referee Mark Smith jumped in for the save. Afterwards, White praised both competitors for the effort, telling Memon “that’s one of the best fights I’ve seen in a minute.” Cormier is now up 2-1 on opposing coach Sonnen, with Rodriguez joining welterweight teammate Daniil Donchenko in the winner’s circle. Also on this episode, Sonnen brought in another former TUF standout as a guest coach, TUF 20 winner and inaugural UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza. In next week’s welterweight matchup, Team Cormier’s Jeff Creighton (USA) fights Team Sonnen’s Andreeas Binder (Ireland). The Ultimate Fighter 33 airs live every Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Unlike most editions of TUF, coaches Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen will not fight at the conclusion of the season as both are long retired. The finalists of the TUF 33 welterweight and flyweight tournaments will compete for a six-figure UFC contract in the show’s live finale fights. A date for those bouts is yet to be announced. Here are the TUF 33 rosters divided by team: Team Cormier Flyweights Eduardo Henrique (13-2), Brazil Alibi Idiris (10-0), Kazakhstan Imanol Rodriguez (5-0), Mexico Tumelo Manyamala (6-1), South Africa Welterweights Rodrigo Sezinando (8-1), Brazil Daniil Donchenko (11-2), Ukraine Jeff Creighton (11-3-1), USA Alex Sanchez (15-3), Mexico Team Sonnen Flyweights Joseph Morales (12-2), USA Furkatbek Yokubov (13-4), Uzbekistan Roybert Echeverria (10-2), Venezuela Arshiyan Memon (7-0), India Welterweights Diego Bianchini (9-1), Brazil Matt Dixon (11-1), USA Richard Martins (9-1), Brazil Andreeas Binder (10-1, 1 NC), Ireland Here are the quarterfinal results so far: Joseph Morales def. Eduardo Henrique via first-round submission (rear-naked choke) Daniil Donchenko def. Richard Martins via decision Imanol Rodriguez def. Arshiyan Memon via first-round TKO (strikes) Advancing to semifinals: Morales, Donchenko, Rodriguez Eliminated: Henrique, Martins, Memon

Jesus Pinedo knocked out Gabriel Braga in 2023 | Scott Taetsch, PFL Jesus Pinedo is looking for a statement victory when he faces Gabriel Braga on June 12 in Nashville, competing for a spot in the 2025 PFL featherweight tournament finals. Pinedo and Braga first met in April 2023, when Braga entered as a short-notice replacement and won a split decision in Las Vegas. The rematch went down eight months later for the 145-pound championship, when Pinedo claimed the $1 million prize with a third-round knockout. The official score is 1-1 going into PFL 5 on Thursday, but the Peruvian talent disputes that. “You’ve heard me say this before, I’ll say it again and I’ll continue to say it forever: I did not lose that first fight against Gabriel Braga,” Pinedo told MMA Fighting through a translator. “Right now I believe that I’m 2-0 and June 12 I’m gonna go 3-0. I’m gonna go in there break him get the stoppage and continue on to the finals.” Pinedo calls the Brazilian “a very respectable opponent”, but predicts another emphatic finish to advance for the $500,000 final clash with whoever emerges victorious from Movlid Khaybulaev vs. Tae Kyun Kim. “When we face off I’m coming to break him and I’m going to get my spot in the finals,” Pinedo said. “Gabriel’s game is his fight IQ, it’s undeniable. He’s a great fighter, no one’s denying that, but what I bring to the table in our fight, he can’t stop. I’m coming in there to break him. I’m coming into they got the win. I don’t think he has the game plan to figure me out because I’m such a unique fighter. So on June 12, I’m gonna get that victory.” “I’m always confident, but the confidence never comes over beating opponents or getting wins over certain opponents,” he continued. “My confidence comes from every morning I’m waking up 4:30 in the morning, I’m going to run, I’m doing all the reps that I needed to do in order to be successful. So the confidence that I have, it’s all from training, it’s all from what I’m doing outside of the cage that’s what gives me my confidence.” Pínedo scored 15 of his 24 professional wins by knockout, but feels that his ground game is often overlooked. His most recent submission victory happened in 2018, back in his days as Inka FC champion in his native Peru, and is proud to represent luta livre in the cage. “A lot of people don’t know that [I’m a luta livre black belt], they think we don’t train wrestling, but the reality is that day to day, what we’re doing the most is wrestling and grappling,” Pinedo said. “That’s where the strength comes in for the academy that I train at. And if the fight goes there, then I have no reservations showing the world my grappling game and coming out on top of the submission victory if I have to.” PFL inked a broadcast deal with FOX Sports Mexico this past March and company CEO Peter Murray mentioned the possibility of launching a PFL Latin America league “as early as next year.” Pinedo said that the MMA scene in Peru is “growing year over year” even though it’s not a country filled with elite fighters competing in world-class promotions, likes other Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico, but Peruvian fighters are “making some noise and they’re making a name for themselves and representing the country well.” PFL has yet to announce plans for a Latin America show in 2026, but Pinedo would love to be the face of that company — and maybe headline a PFL show in Peru one day. “That’s definitely a dream of mine,” Pinedo said. “It’s something that’s always top of mind. I’m hoping to chase this championship final in the world tournament and then with two belts under the PFL banner I hope that that’s going to be enough to bring the PFL show here to Peru where I can fight. The future is a little ambiguous, we don’t know how things are going to roll out, but I’m going to keep doing my part and keep winning and becoming a champion. And I know that that’s the only going to help the case to get PFL to come to Peru.”

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images Julianna Peña needs clearance on a couple of potential injuries before competing again following her submission loss to Kayla Harrison in the UFC 316 co-main event this past Saturday night. That’s according to the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board after the commission issued the medical suspensions related to the card in Newark with Peña’s name headlining the list of fighters looking at mandated layoffs. Peña’s night ended in the second round after Harrison applied a nasty kimura on the ground that saw the now former champion tap out. As a result, the commission is suspending Peña indefinitely until she gets clearance from an orthopedist on both her left elbow and left shoulder before she can compete again. The loss cost Peña the women’s bantamweight title and dropped her to 3-3 in her past six fights overall. Also on the main card, Kevin Gastelum was handed a mandatory 30 day suspension with no contact after his decision loss to Joe Pyfer but he was also issued an indefinite suspension pending clearance from a dentist for a loose right maxillary incisor. Mario Bautista is also required to sit for the next 30 days after he received a mandatory suspension with no contact due to facial lacerations suffered in his victory over former Bellator champion Patchy Mix, who was making his octagon debut. Here are the full medical suspensions related to UFC 316: Julianna Peña: Indefinite suspension pending clearance from an orthopedist on her left shoulder and left elbow Kelvin Gastelum: 30 day suspension, no contact. Indefinite suspension pending clearance from a dentist for loose right maxillary incisor Mario Bautista: 30 day suspension, no contact for facial lacerations Vicente Luque: 45 day suspension, 30 days no contract for scalp hematoma Bruno Silva: 30 day suspension, no contact for TKO loss Brendson Ribeiro: 30 day suspension, no contact for TKO loss Serghei Spivac: 30 day suspension, no contact. Indefinite suspension pending x-rays of right foot and orthopedist clearance of right foot. Khaos Williams: 45 day suspension, 30 days no contact for left forehead laceration. Ariane Da Silva: 30 day suspension, no contact for left leg trauma. Indefinite suspension pending x-rays on left leg. Jeka Saragih: 60 day suspension for knockout loss, 45 days no contact Quillan Salkilld: 30 day suspension, 21 days no contact due to head contact. Indefinite suspension pending x-rays on right foot. Mark Choinski: 21 day suspension, no contacts for left calf.

Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC Merab Dvalishvili has an uncanny ability to break his opponent’s will and that usually happens with his relentless pressure and non-stop conditioning but his head coach doesn’t believe that’s what led to Sean O’Malley’s downfall at UFC 316. After beating O’Malley by decision in their first encounter this past September, the UFC’s reigning bantamweight champion somehow managed to top himself in the rematch with an impressive third-round finish after snatching a nasty choke that ended the fight. Once again, Dvalishvili’s wrestling and grappling took center stage but John Wood believes he saw O’Malley’s demeanor change even earlier in the fight when they were trading shots on the feet. “I do believe that knockout was an option,” Wood told MMA Fighting. “I don’t know if everybody noticed but he was touching him pretty good and rocked him a couple of times. The goal again is finish however we can finish. Win the fight. The first goal is to win the fight. But the things that Merab does and the things that Merab brings to the table and I caught a lot of shit the other day for saying I truly believe we could have finished the last three fights. No problem. “There are moments in all those fights where the person, the fighter broke and they didn’t want to be there anymore. They do things, whether it’s subconsciously or they’re seeing it, where they don’t want to be there and they give options and opportunities to get out of there.” So when exactly did O’Malley break in the rematch? Wood says there were a couple of moments that stood out to him but the real highlight was when Dvalishvili got through O’Malley’s takedown defense, lifted him into the air and brought him crashing back down again in the center of the cage. O’Malley said after the first fight ended that a hip injury prevented him from really training his grappling before facing Dvalishvili but he had nothing holding him back this time. While Wood gives O’Malley credit for showing improvements, he knows that slam takedown from Dvalishvili had to take a toll on him in the fight. “I think that was the start of it,” Wood said about the takedown leading to O’Malley’s demise. “I think even in round one, there was some success where I told Merab all camp, there’s going to be a moment real quick when he gets out there where he goes ‘oh shit, this feels very oddly similar but worse.’ I think that happened after the first round. “But yes, when another man picks you up like a child and carries you and throws you down and does whatever and it just seems like nothing you’re doing is working, there’s just no way not feel a certain way. Merab’s just got Sean’s number. That happens sometimes in fights and styles.” Wood stated numerous times leading up to the rematch that he expected Dvalishvili to look for the finish so he wasn’t the least bit surprised that the Georgian fighter snatched that choke in the third round to put O’Malley away. As impressive as that was, Wood promises that Dvalishvili is just getting started when it comes to showing off his ability to put opponents away and he expects O’Malley was just the first of many to experience that. “Mark my words, this won’t be the first and only submission,” Wood said. “There will be knockouts. There will be TKO’s. He’s still getting better and I think that Sean did better but Sean defended takedowns in the first one. Sean did things later in the rounds in the first fight and as a coach it’s my job to figure out what in a rematch, what they think they’re going to do better and we have to change and adjust and change those strategies and change those timings and it worked out perfectly. “Merab is special. People are now starting to realize that. His timing, his vision, the way he listens and learns, he’s special. So he can adapt to anyone at any point in time. He figures it out. He downloads and computes and he does it on the go. He does it in a chaotic, hectic manner.” With two wins over O’Malley and the second fight ending in a finish, Dvalishvili now moves forward with his career as he begins seeking out new challenges. Fighters like Cory Sandhagen and Mario Bautista are probably near the top of the list of potential contenders who have never fought the champion previously but Dvalishvili obviously isn’t opposed to rematches if that’s what the UFC wants from him. Given the lay of the land at bantamweight, Wood expects Dvalishvili to focus on new objectives while putting O’Malley in his rearview mirror but he doesn’t discount the possibility that the UFC would put that fight together again in the future. “In the realm of reality, I’d say we’re not going to see it again,” Wood said about Dvalishvili facing O’Malley for a third time. “In the realm of the UFC and them deciding a win changes everything. If O’Malley goes out there and starches the next guy, everybody’s going to jump back on the bandwagon … and he’ll come and they might say ‘when I fought Merab the second time … I’m not saying they’ve said this but ‘I had an injured foot’ or [whatever] to maybe get back. One or two more knockouts, you know how things work. “If the UFC sees that they can get behind it and their marketing machine and they can make dollars and cents out of it, then they’ll do it. You are not in the business of rankings of the best guy should always fight the next best guy and the next best guy should fight the champion. That’s not the way it goes. So I do see a potential of him being back in the mix after some time.” What would O’Malley have to do in order to justify a third fight against Dvalishvili? His coach believes that’s a massive climb back up the bantamweight ladder but he doesn’t put it past O’Malley — Wood just knows the chances of that fight happening again any time soon is very unlikely. “I don’t think Sean is going to be the next best guy for a while,” Wood said. “I think there’s other guys. He would have to go through a murderer’s row and beat all those guys pretty handily to get back. So as far as with him, [does he go to] 145 [pounds], those guys are big and O’Malley does the size and the range but he’d have to stack on some muscle. He doesn’t have a very big frame from what I see. So that might not be the smartest thing. “But I think there are some good fights for him that he can win at [135 pounds] and then figure it out from there. Go win a couple more and then make that decision. He’s obviously a very talented fighter that people want to watch.”

Photo by Joy Malone/Variety via Getty Images Sydney Sweeney has played numerous roles throughout her career but the 27-year-old Emmy nominated actor had to put her body through some serious changes to play boxer Christy Martin. The biopic that still doesn’t have a name based on Martin’s life features Sweeney in the lead role and she jumped head first into the part, which included a rigorous training schedule so she could look and perform like a championship boxer. Sweeney ultimately gained more than 30 pounds for the role while also taking boxing lesson to ensure she pull off all facets for the role. “I loved it,” Sweeney told W magazine. “I came onboard to play Christy, and I had about three and a half months of training. I started eating. I weight-trained in the morning for an hour, kickboxed midday for about two hours, and then weight-trained again at night for an hour.” The dramatic transformation was recognized immediately when Sweeney posted a photo on social media showing off what she looked like as Martin. During her boxing career, Martin only stood about an inch and half taller than Sweeney but she primarily competed between 147 to 168 pounds during her career. A multi-time champion, Martin was one of the first women ever inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and Sweeney wanted to make her proud while playing the part in the movie. “My body was completely different,” Sweeney said. “I didn’t fit in any of my clothes. I’m usually a size 23 in jeans, and I was wearing a size 27. My boobs got bigger. And my butt got huge. It was crazy! I was like, Oh my god But it was amazing: I was so strong, like crazy strong.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) She may be playing a boxer in her upcoming film but Sweeney actually has a long history with combat sports. Sweeney has made numerous appearances at UFC events over the years and that speaks to her original discipline when she trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu for six years when she was a teenager. “My mom told me from a very young age to fall in love with as many things as possible,” Sweeney said. “And so I did fall in love, again and again: I love sports. I love being outside. I was on the ski team, and I wakeboarded. I slalom ski on water. I was on the soccer team and the softball team. “And then my parents got me into grappling, which is like wrestling, and kickboxing. I was the only girl at the dojo. I trained there from 13 until about 19. I fought all guys. I liked to think that if shit went down, I might be able to step up.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sydney Sweeney (@sydney_sweeney) Filming the biopic about Martin’s life took a real physical toll on Sweeney but she speaks glowingly about the part and her excitement for the film to be released. Immediately after production wrapped, Sweeney had to shift gears yet again and drop all the weight and muscle she put on to play Martin within seven weeks as she prepared to go back to her familiar role as Cassie on the hit HBO series Euphoria. There’s no word yet when the biopic starring Sweeney hits theaters but she’s obviously proud of her work and hopes she made Martin proud with her portrayal.