This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 79 saw a spate of decisions on the prelims with just one official finish (vintage Tim Means!) and a DQ stoppage as the most notable moments. The main card, on the other hand, saw all fights end in a finish with the exception of the co-main event, which was a good fight. The headliner would end early, but not on a high note. Unfortunately, as R…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comWe’re kind of having a hard time believing this is even an Apex card. We have three ranked fights and tons of recognizable names on the bout sheet—even across the prelims. This is the exact opposite of what we’ve been getting. Is this the beginning of a new era? One where the matchmakers show that they appreciate the insane amounts of money we fans dump…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 79 isn’t too bad. No, really, we mean it. Let’s start with the fact that we got THREE ranked fights on an Apex show. They aren’t fights that are going to set the world on fire, but they’re solid and more importantly, they’re inside the Top 15. It’s also an event that seems to not have been ravaged by injury cancellations and bout reshuffling, …

This is FREE episode week!California’s athletic commission is experiencing what appears to be a slow death. Fight Opinion’s Zach Arnold wrote extensively about it on Bloody Elbow and the word he used was “atrophy”. That seems like a perfect word to describe what happens when higher taxes, mergers, attempts to force sanctioning for promotions like Power Slap and a spate of other factors create the perfect storm for collapse. Aside from a few Bellator shows and a Top Rank boxing card here and there, there’s not much action happening on California’s sunny grounds. We discuss it.We also dive into the WWE-UFC merger that left over 100 people without jobs thanks to a gutting of WWE’s office personnel roster. We looked back on the highs and lows of Noche UFC and we looked forward to a few fights on the UFC Vegas 79 card—weak as it may be. Here’s a look at the three fights we chose:Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. If you share our mission, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today.UFC Vegas 79* Rafael Fiziev  vs.  Mateusz Gamrot 155 lbs * Bryce Mitchell  vs.  Dan Ige 145 lbs * Marina Rodriguez  vs.  M. Waterson-Gomez 115 lbsThank you for reading this article and listening to the podcast. Please consider subscribing to the Bloody Elbow Substack to enjoy our daily premium content. Your paid subscriptions are helping build our new site and keeping hope alive that our staff will remain intact. If you haven’t already, please pledge with a paid subscription today. If you have, please share this post far and wide.Follow us as @BloodyElbow on twitter, facebook, instagram, and at BloodyElbow.Substack.com & BloodyElbowPodcast.Substack.com.Thank you for listening to the Level Change Podcast. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comListen, that main event was a really good fight—maybe the best of Valentina’s career, but it should not have been a draw. We felt Grasso took three rounds but we’re fine if you scored it the other way. How one judge scored round 5 a 10-8 is beyond the realm of comprehension.Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. If you share …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comNow before you get upset, we want to preface this with the fact that this card was positively ravaged with cancellations and late replacements, hence the title. And to be fair, there are still some interesting bouts at play here. Tracy Cortez vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius is an amazing matchup between two tough-as-nails women. Lupita Godinez vs. Elise Reed i…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comThat’s right, folks, a UFC title will be contested on TV with no PPV purchase required. Valentina Shevchenko will attempt to reclaim her belt from Mexico’s Alexa Grasso this Saturday night and we are pumped! Even Connor has begrudgingly admitted an admiration for Valentina aka the object of his ire and disdain for several years now.Bloody Elbow is fight…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comNow that the UFC-WWE merger is complete, the new company, TKO Holdings has been creating a stir since the move was first announced. With a joint valuation of more than $21B, far exceeding that of any other sports property, the venture has the potential to see even more dominance across the sports entertainment spectrum. During the official festivities M…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comA lot has happened in the last two weeks. The court gave a date in the antitrust suit, the defendants requested an appeal, the plaintiffs responded and we’ve got all the pertinent details. Spectrum and Disney have been in a battle over rising rates to broadcast Disney’s content—specifically ESPN. John opines on how that could affect the UFC.Bloody Elbow…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 293 had some wild moments, for sure. Whether it was Charlie Radke and Manel Kape hurling homophobic slurs, Alexander Volkov snagging a rare Ezekiel choke over Tai Tuivasa or Sean Strickland taking the belt off Israel Adesanya, there was quite an array of instances that none will soon forget. Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and t…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.com*Note: Due to a technical issue, the first 39 seconds of the episode are missing. The issue has since been resolved. Thank you for your understanding.UFC 293 is here and from the looks of things, it’s not the best card. Sure, there’s definitely a few fun fights but you wouldn’t know which end is up by looking at the bout sheet order. Did we really need …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 293 is a card that seems like it was cobbled together from the leftover parts of a better PPV. We’re not saying it’s bad, but we’re not going to go as far as to call it great. We did notice the matchmakers clearly didn’t put much thought into the bout order, and setting the Tafa-Lane rematch for the main card rather than Mullarkey-Makdessi seems kin…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 293 is just around the corner and despite a lot of criticism, we like the card. It’s not heavy on fights that will make a sizable impact on the rankings, but where it lack importance in that regard, it makes up for it with entertainment value. What’s not to love about Carlos Ulberg vs. Dan Un Jung? Manel Kape may be fighting a late replacement but F…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Paris looked awful on paper but in practice, it worked out well. The finishes outweighed the decisions and the ones that went to the scorecards were mostly fun fights. As the title notes, Cyril Gane had an easy night. Serghei Spivak, for whatever reason, decided not to engage with the Frenchman. He was easily bullied around the cage, continuously on…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comFor a quick minute or so earlier this summer, we were lulled into a sense of security by the UFC. Just hear us out for a second before you get out the butterfly nets. We already know Apex cards are the “it’s okay to miss” events, but we knew when a show was targeted for anywhere else, it would end up with better matchmaking. Yet here we are, in Paris, w…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comYep, UFC is treating Paris to an almost good card. Fight cancellations and reshuffling definitely wreaked havoc on this event but there are still some bright spots worth noting. Rose Namajunas vs. Manon Fiorot is one of them. Namajunas will present the toughest challenge to date for Fiorot and the winner here could end up facing the champ or possibly go…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comNate Quarry might be most famously known for his fight with Kalib Starnes or for his comeback fight against Pete Sell, but he is doing much bigger things these days. These days, he’s known as one of the original plaintiffs in the UFC antitrust suit, but because he was part of the identity class, which was denied class certification, he is no longer a pl…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comSince the antitrust case finally received its class certification from Judge Boulware, the community has been abuzz with what the honorable judge’s written opinion means. The commentary from him was quite serious and he appears to clearly side with the plaintiffs. He used pointed language that left no doubt of this.Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comWe hated this main event going in, but in practice, it was a damned good fight. The Korean Zombie went out on his proverbial shield after putting forth a great effort, albeit one that fell short. The thing he was known for—leaving it all in the cage—was displayed once again, as the 36-year-old did just that, choosing to go for broke in the center of the…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Singapore is a top-loaded event with the majority of the “good fights” happening on the main card. What’s left to the prelims is a spate of barely recognizable names, and in some cases, completely unrecognizable. Not to us, of course. We know every fighter in existence, their full backgrounds, their 3rd grade report card scores—we know EVERYTHING. B…