Author: Dan Hiergesell

Austin Vanderford, also known as Mr. Paige VanZant, made good on his short-notice Octagon debut earlier tonight (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) at UFC Seattle LIVE on ESPN+ from inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash., turning Contender Series standout Nikolay Veretennikov into a grappling dummy.

It didn’t take Vanderford long to secure a takedown in the first round and lean on his strong top game. The former Bellator MMA middleweight title challenger logged almost four minutes of top time over the first five minutes as he didn’t give his opponent a second to breathe. It was total domination.

Vanderford went back to the well in the second round and scored another early takedown. Veretennikov didn’t offer much defense at all, but did avoid some fight-ending submission attempts. Unfortunately for him, Vanderford decided to abandon his submission game and started to unload heavy ground-and-pound while locking up one of Veretennikov’s arms. Eventually, the punches added up and forced the referee’s hand.

Check out Vanderford’s TKO finish below:

Sadly, the action didn’t stop there. After the loss, Veretennikov made his way over to Vanderford and pushed him against the cage. The two exchanged a quick word or two and Vanderford pushed Veretennikov back before flipping him off. The Seattle crowd roared for Vanderford as chants of “U-S-A” broke out.

It was a wild scene for a fight that came together just earlier this week. Check out the post-fight melee below:

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For complete UFC Seattle results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

Dmitry Bivol proved he’s the best light heavyweight in the world earlier today (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) at “Last Crescendo” LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, pulling off a comeback majority decision win over former foe Artur Beterbiev in a highly-anticipated main event rematch. In the process, Bivol walked away with the WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO and The Ring light heavyweight titles.

Bivol got off to a hot start and looked to be out to an early lead. That was until Beterbiev invested in body shots that eventually slowed Bivol down. This allowed Beterbiev to do some good damage up top as Bivol’s footwork and defense were a bit diminished. Bivol got off some punches along the way, but Beterbiev ate them moving forward and did whatever he needed to do to close the gap and impose his will.

Bivol looked to regain some momentum in the sixth round only to have Beterbiev steal it back with a late barrage along the ropes that had the challenger hurt. Beterbiev was back to his controlling ways in the seventh as he cut the ring off, forced Bivol to burn extra gas, and maintained a destructive pace. Bivol dug deep, though, and made a comeback in the eighth and ninth rounds to put a little pressure on Beterbiev.

The final few rounds were all Bivol as the challenger looked fresh and dialed in. He landed combinations upstairs and hard body shots, all while moving to avoid any powerful counter shots by Beterbiev. The champion didn’t have much of an answer as Bivol was simply faster, more precise, and mixing it up every step of the way.

It was an incredible rematch to say the least and one that delivered from the opening bell to the last. In the end, it was Bivol who did enough over the course of 12 rounds to walk away with the win and light heavyweight bragging rights.

Check out the full fight video highlights below:

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For complete ‘Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2’ results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

Joseph Parker left nothing to the imagination earlier today (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) at “Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2” LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, stopping fellow heavyweight Martin Bakole with a violent second-round knockout.

This heavyweight co-main event came together just a few days ago after IBF heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois fell ill and was forced to withdraw from a showdown with Parker. In stepped Bakole, who traveled half way across the world to get to Saudi Arabia in time. The fighter from Congo came into Saturday massively overweight and considerably out of shape because he didn’t find out he was fighting until Thursday of this week.

Parker, who holds the WBO interim heavyweight title, was expected to take care of business against Bakole. However, when heavyweights start throwing anything can happen, which is why boxing fans were still excited for the late-notice matchup.

It didn’t take Parker long to find his range and unload a powerful right hand. Bakole was exchanging at the same exact time which left himself open to be hit. Parker’s punch slammed into the top of Bakole’s head and sent him into a tizzy. Bakole eventually fell to the canvas and the fight was waved off.

This victory pushes Parker’s current win streak to six and sets him up for a massive heavyweight fight his next time out, which is likely to take place against Dubois. You can check out Parker’s second-round knockout over Bakole below and let us know who he should fight next!

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For complete ‘Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2’ results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

Shakur Stevenson made things look easy earlier today (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) at “Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2” LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the WBC lightweight champion obliterated late-notice replacement and active electrician, Josh Padley, with a late-round body shot TKO.

Stevenson, 27, was originally expected to defend his WBC title against Floyd Schofield Jr. before the latter was “poisoned” and unable to compete. In stepped Padley, who had amassed an undefeated record of 15-0 entering Saturday night. The English fighter is also a full-time electrician and was only given a few days to prepare to fight one of the best young champions in the sport.

For that reason and more, Stevenson was expected to mop the floor with Padley from the opening bell to the final second of the fight.

It may have taken a bit longer than expected, but Stevenson started to piece Padley up in the middle rounds. Padley did fairly well in the beginning frames and even landed some solid punches, but the longer the fight went the more it favored the champion. It also didn’t help that Padley seemed to injure his left hand along the way.

With one hand cooked and a gas tank depleted, Padley didn’t have much to offer down the stretch. This allowed Stevenson to work inside and land crushing punches to the body. The champion would go to secure three knockdowns in the ninth round alone before Padley’s corner finally threw in the towel.

Check out the video highlights below:

Stevenson, who pushes his undefeated pro boxing record to 23-0 with this lopsided beatdown over Padley, could be destined for great things in 2025. That may include a showdown with one of boxing’s other standout lightweight champions; Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, or Keyshawn Davis.

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For complete ‘Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2’ results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

Agit Kabayel put the heavyweight division on notice earlier today (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) at “Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2” LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, becoming the first fighter to stop Zhilei Zhang with a blistering body shot knockout to claim the interim WBC heavyweight title.

Zhang was coming off a memorable knockout win over Deontay Wilder his last time out and was expected to give the undefeated German contender a true run for his money. Unfortunately for “Big Bang” and his massive fanbase, Kabayel was on point from the opening bell. Outside of a knockdown in the middle frames, Kabayel was able to avoid most of Zhang’s power shots. He was active at every turn and really invested in work to the body that significantly slowed Zhang.

In Round 6, Kabayel’s attacks to the body paid even more dividends. A wicked left hook to the body slammed into Zhang and crumbled him in the center of the ring. The referee administered the count and Zhang was unable to continue. It was a incredible performance for Kabayel, who becomes the first fighter to ever stop the Chinese heavyweight.

Check out the finish below:

Kabayel, 32, now pushes his undefeated pro boxing record to 26-0. This is undoubtedly the biggest victory of his career and it should set him up for a huge heavyweight fight with one of the bigger names in the division his next time out.

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For complete ‘Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2’ results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.

Agit Kabayel put the heavyweight division on notice earlier today (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) at “Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2” LIVE on DAZN pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, becoming the first fighter to stop Zhilei Zhang with a blistering body shot knockout to claim the interim WBC heavyweight title.

Zhang was coming off a memorable knockout win over Deontay Wilder his last time out and was expected to give the undefeated German contender a true run for his money. Unfortunately for “Big Bang” and his massive fanbase, Kabayel was on point from the opening bell. Outside of a knockdown in the middle frames, Kabayel was able to avoid most of Zhang’s power shots. He was active at every turn and really invested in work to the body that significantly slowed Zhang.

In Round 6, Kabayel’s attacks to the body paid even more dividends. A wicked left hook to the body slammed into Zhang and crumbled him in the center of the ring. The referee administered the count and Zhang was unable to continue. It was a incredible performance for Kabayel, who becomes the first fighter to ever stop the Chinese heavyweight.

Check out the finish below:

Kabayel, 32, now pushes his undefeated pro boxing record to 26-0. This is undoubtedly the biggest victory of his career and it should set him up for a huge heavyweight fight with one of the bigger names in the division his next time out.

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For complete ‘Beterbiev vs. Bivol 2’ results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.