UFC Headlines: Upcoming Fights and Retired Fighters Expected to Return

Till moves up to fight Gastelum

After making a huge splash in the welterweight division, going 5-0 with one draw in his first six UFC fights, Till now finds himself in the midst of a two-fight losing streak. He worked his way to a title shot against former champion Tyron Woodley and lost via submission. In his latest effort, Till was knocked out by Jorge Masvidal. It’s well documented that Darren Till is absolutely massive at welterweight and that he struggles to cut the necessary weight. Till will now leave the brutal weight cut behind him as he is set to make the move up to the middleweight division to take on the former interim-title challenger Kelvin Gastelum.

Gastelum is no stranger to Till’s situation. A former welterweight himself, Gastelum moved up to the middleweight division in 2016 and has gone 3-2 with one no-contest and is ranked as the UFC’s number four middleweight. His last fight was a five-round war for the interim middleweight title against Israel Adesanya – a fight in which both men earned performance of the night honors. In fact, Gastelum has earned performance of the night honors in his last three fights and there’s no reason to think he can’t make it four in a row with his upcoming fight with Till.

The bout is set to take place on November 2 at Madison Square Garden at UFC 244. It is likely that this fight could be placed as the third fight on the card or even the co-main event. The main event has yet to be confirmed for the card but a welterweight title bout between champion Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington seems the most likely.

Greg Hardy’s next fight is set

Controversial UFC heavyweight and former NFL star Greg Hardy, has signed his next bout agreement. On October 26, Hardy will take on Jarjis Danho in Singapore. It will be Hardy’s fourth fight under the UFC banner.

After losing his UFC debut by disqualification due to an illegal knee, Hardy has gone on to win two fights in a row – both by the first-round TKO. The latest of which came against Juan Adams on July 20 in which the TKO took just 45 seconds to achieve.

Jarjis Danho hasn’t competed in the UFC since 2016. He has yet to win under the banner. His professional record sits at 5-1-1 with one no-contest.

Former champ set to face Mickey Gall

The former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, “The Natural Born Killer”, is set to take on Mickey Gall on December 7 in Washington, D.C. Some argue that Condit’s best days are behind him as he finds himself currently riding a five-fight losing streak, albeit all those losses have come against top contenders. His last win came against Thiago Alves in 2015. His last fight was against Michael Chiesa on December 29, 2018, at UFC 232. He lost the bout by kimura submission in the second round.

Mickey Gall has had a fairly rocky ride lately himself, going only 2-2 in his last four. Gall’s last fight was on August 3. He fought and defeated Salim Touahri via unanimous decision. Prior to that fight, Gall dropped his fight against Diego Sanchez via a second-round TKO.

The UFC on ESPN card, live from Washington, will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris.

Retirees expected to return to the cage

Gustafsson eyes comeback against Rockhold

After dropping two fights in a row to current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former title challenger Anthony Smith, Alexander Gustafsson announced his retirement from the sport of MMA. Now he seems to be going back on his words as it was reported that he would like to return to the octagon to take on former middleweight champion and newest member of the light heavyweight division – Luke Rockhold.

Gustafsson and Rockhold traded many verbal jabs with each other during the build-up to Rockhold’s light heavyweight debut but a fight never materialized and Gustafsson signed to fight Smith and Rockhold went on to debut against Jan Blachowicz.

The 32-year-old Gustafsson says he is in talks with the UFC but wants to get back into fighting shape first before officially signing any bout agreement.

”Rumble” set to return as heavyweight in 2020

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has said that he expects to return to the octagon in 2020. Johnson was last seen in the UFC on April 8, 2017, at UFC 210 where he lost his title fight against former light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. He has spent much of the past few years in the emersed in the bodybuilding culture.

Johnson is set to re-enter the USADA testing pool which requires a minimum of six months worth of testing before a fighter is able to compete. Should Johnson return, he will fight as a heavyweight which will mark his fourth weight division as a UFC fighter. As massive as Johnson physically is now, it’s hard to believe that he once competed in the 170lbs welterweight division.

A couple of rumored opponents for the knockout artist include Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem.

Other Headlines

C.B. Dolloway suspended two years

UFC middleweight veteran C.B. Dolloway has been suspended by USADA for two years after testing positive for several banned substances.

An out-of-competition urine sample of Dolloway’s tested positive for human growth hormones, clomiphene, anastrozole, among other substances. The 35-year-old last fought in September 2017 against Khalid Murtazaliev. Dolloway lost the bout via second-round TKO.

UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs. Zhang results

Weili Zhang def. Jessica Andrade via TKO (Round 1)

Li Jingliang def. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos via TKO (Round 3)

Kai Kara-France def. Mark De La Rosa via unanimous decision

Song Kenan def. Derrick Krantz via unanimous decision

Mizuki Inoue def. Wu Yanan via split-decision