Brett Okamoto
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Brett Okamoto
ESPN editor
- Brett Okamoto has reportedly reported to the mixed martial arts and boxing in ESPN since 2010. He covered all the biggest combat sports events during this period, including interviews and in -depth features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer of the film 30 for 30: “Chuck and Tito”, who watched the careers and the rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas and is a passionate golfer less than average during his free time.
Jeff Wagenheim
A former light heavyweight champion again found the throne. Alex Pereira needed less than 90 seconds on Saturday evening to overwhelm Magomed Ankalaev and resume the belt he lost against Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March.
In an equally masterful appearance – although much more drawn – in the co -principal event, Merab Dvalishvili again proved why he was nicknamed “The Machine”. Dvalishvili won his third defense of the male rooster weight title in a unanimous victory over Cory Sandhage. The champion managed to take off Sand Author 20 times and did not reach imperturbable at the end of the five -round glove. Is it possible that Dvalishvili is the best fighter book for book to the world at the moment?
Brett Okamoto and Jeff Wagenheim give their take -away dishes of these title fights, as well as a vintage Knockout by Jiří Pro Pro ProCházka on Khalil Routree Jr.
Pereira’s revenge leaves fans and contemporaries impressed
“Revenge is never a good thing,” said a Pereira in the face of Pierre after the main event of the UFC 320 on Saturday, speaking through an interpreter with the light heavy belt rolled once again around its waist. “It is sometimes a bit of a poison.”
Ankalaev could agree with this feeling after being quickly and violently dethroned by Pereira in a revenge match of their walking fight, in which the Russian had removed the title. But the roaring fans of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and, without a doubt, a lot of eyes at home found that revenge was an impressive show to watch.
It was a crisp heart. It was frightening. It was extremely impressive. And he will live in the memories of all those who have witnessed it.
Pereira had already secured its star place and a legend in the making. The demolition of 80 seconds of this night added another highlight to its wonderful heritage. How many great moments can fans give?
Pereira is 38 years old. He does not have time to lose, and he clearly indicated it from the moment the fight started, crossing the cage and freeing a big punch a few seconds. It is not connected, but he stayed on the offensive and connected to a hammer on the right to the right less than a minute in the fight, having Ankalaev vacillating, who responded with an attempted despair. Pereira defended him, found herself on top and dropped more than two dozen punches and elbows unanswered until the referee Herb Dean happily jumps.
The electrifying finish has left one of the past conquests of Pereira, the former PROCHázka champion, so impressed that he was near the backstrokes. Another competitor of 205 pounds, Carlos Ulberg, also gave respect due to Pereira. These lightly elite heavy goods vehicles could not help marvel at the title holder of their division.
In the end, however, it was Pereira who has shown respect for the most encouraging way. During his post-combat interview, he stopped to ask for a moment of silence in the arena for the family of Arthur Jones, who died this week. The former NFL player is the older brother of the largest MMA Light heavyweight, Jon Jones. It says a lot about Pereira that, in his triumph moment, he took the time of his celebration to offer comfort to another combat legend.
Wow Alex 🙏🏾
– Jonny Meat (@jonnybones) October 5, 2025
The only point that Pereira wanted the world to hear before leaving the cage was that the fighter who lost against Ankalaev seven months ago was a compromised version. Pereira had declared in the contribution of the revenge that he had bounds to the hands and legs during the first fight. “I told everyone that I was not in good condition the last time; nobody believed it,” said Pereira. “You saw it.”
Yes, we did it. And he sent chills. – Wagenheim
Dvalishvili is the n ° 1B fighter for the book in the world in the world
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Merab Dvalishvili beats Cory Sandhage to keep the rooster weight title
Merab Dvalishvili won by unanimous decision on Cory Sandhage to keep his UFC rooster weight championship.
Islam Makhachev will not be satisfied with me for this one – and he will have the opportunity to run the story next month when he increases in weight to fight the Welters Champion Jack Della Maddalena at the UFC 322 – But at the moment, there are two considerations for the best fighter for the book for the world: Ilia Topuria and Dvalisvili. Topuria, the light champion, is always n ° 1 with me because of his ability to put people away, but it is difficult to remember something like what Dvalishvili does.
Some statistics for you of its fight against sandhage: 20 out of 37 on withdrawal attempts, 385 strike attempts and the first UFC fighter with 100 career withdrawals (117 in total). Sandhant was so ready for this opportunity. He was confident, he believed in his game plan and his ability to execute – and Dvalishvili took him out of the arena, smiling as he did. In his fourth fight in 13 months. The whole hyperbole of the world is not enough to describe this. It feels like taking steam. He is completely confusing in these title fights. There was no stress in all of this for him. It’s amazing.
Makhachev is a generational fighter and undoubtedly about to go beyond the heritage of his mentor and retired teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov. And here I am, saying that there is Two fighters better than him in the world. MMA sport sees three talents of all time in Topuria, Dvalishvili and Makhachev. Dvalishvili is officially behind Topuria for me right now, but it’s not much. – Okamoto
Peak Proctházka can always be a UFC champion
There are still questions about Procházka! Yes, he lost twice against Pereira, and when a fighter loses two title fights against the same opponent, this can lead to a long way to a championship fight and, frankly, a loss of faith of the base of the fans. This did not help that Procházka lost these two title fights against Pereira in the seven months.
But this is what can be easy to forget: the first time that Procházka lost against Pereira, he returned from a 17 -month layoff and a serious shoulder injury. The second time they fought, they had agreed to intensify and the head of the UFC 303 in a notice of a few weeks after Conor McGregor withdrew with a broken toe. I am not saying any of this to withdraw to Pereira, but these two losses have presented circumstances less than ideal for Procházka. These are also his only two defeats in the past 10 years.
Obviously, Procházka cannot claim that he is the best light heavyweight in the world because he has lost two times Pereira and that he has never fought Ankalaev. But that could literally be the case. And he could still prove it. – Okamoto
