Fight Sports Daily, October 9: Iglesias Wrecks Zaren in Seven, Moura Makes BJJ History, and Vegas 122 Weighs In

LAS VEGAS — Thursday night delivered exactly what fight fans asked for: a title-fight stoppage in Quebec City, history on the grappling mats in Las Vegas, and a morning scale session that set up Saturday’s main event. Here is where the fight world stands on October 9.

El Tornado does it again

Osleys Iglesias warned everybody. The Cuban southpaw spent the week as the most avoided man at 168 pounds, and last night at the Théâtre Capitole in Quebec City he showed why, breaking down Denmark’s Oliver Zaren round after round before stopping him in the seventh to retain his IBF and IBO super middleweight titles.

The pattern was set early: Iglesias controlled the distance with a precise power jab, cut Zaren over the left eye in the middle rounds, and then pounced in the sixth with two knockdowns. Zaren beat the count both times and came out for the seventh after a ringside physician’s exam, but his trainer — former super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler — had seen enough and threw in the towel about halfway through the round, with the official stoppage coming at 1:29 of the seventh. Zaren (19-1-1, 8 KOs) took his shot and showed real toughness; he just never found a way to make Iglesias hesitate.

Iglesias did not waste the microphone afterward. “I hope the winner [Canelo-Mbilli] faces me. I’d like my next fight to be a Unification,” he said, pointing directly at the October 31 WBC title fight between Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli in Riyadh. It is a bold call for a champion making his first IBF defense, and it is also the only call that makes sense: at 16-0 with 15 knockouts, Iglesias has run out of people at this level who can take his power. We break down where he stood going into the night, and the unification picture is only getting more interesting from here.

The undercard held up its end. Montreal’s Wilkens Mathieu passed the toughest test of his young career, taking a split decision over Vladimir Shishkin (98-92, 98-92, 97-93) to keep his NABF super middleweight title — a useful measuring stick, given that Iglesias stopped Shishkin about a year ago. Leila Beaudoin’s win over Brisa Alfonzo keeps her on track for a full title shot, Imam Khataev handled Padraig McCrory, and Dzmitry Asanau beat Luis Santana in their battle of unbeaten lightweights.

History on the mats: Moura becomes UFC BJJ’s first double champ

While Quebec City watched a coronation by stoppage, the Meta Apex watched one by survival. Cassia Moura edged Adele Fornarino by split decision in the UFC BJJ 12 main event to claim the inaugural women’s flyweight title — and with it, become the first double champion in UFC BJJ history, adding the new belt to the bantamweight crown she already holds.

It was nearly a disaster for the champion. Fornarino, the 2024 ADCC double-gold winner, went straight for Moura’s legs from the opening exchange and had a heel hook locked in as the horn sounded — Moura’s face told the story even as she refused to tap. The co-main delivered a cleaner coronation: Renato Canuto took a unanimous decision over Ethan Crelinsten to win the vacant lightweight title, finally capturing UFC BJJ gold after falling short in his first appearance.

The night’s loudest pop belonged to the undercard. Gabriel Almeida, making his UFC BJJ debut, heel-hooked former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns at 4:34 of the first round — a nasty, clinical finish that had the 40-year-old veteran grimacing before the tap. Burns took it with class, posting afterward that he was “humbled on winning or defeat” and promising to be back soon. Also on the card: Thaynara Victoria submitted Danielle Kelly with a first-round armbar, and the leg-lock parade continued with heel-hook and ankle-lock finishes for Kade Anastasios, Raphael Ferreira, and Landon Elmore.

One scale, one miss, one main event

Friday morning at the Meta Apex, the scale did its usual sorting. Brendan Allen (186) and Christian Leroy Duncan (185) both made the middleweight limit without drama, making tomorrow’s UFC Vegas 122 main event official — five rounds, the No. 4 against the No. 10, and the Englishman’s first UFC headliner suddenly very real.

One fighter missed: Ketlen Souza came in at 117 pounds for her strawweight bout with Loopy Godinez, one pound over the non-title limit on her first attempt. The rest of the card was clean — Matheus Camilo vs. Jai Herbert in the co-main, Andre Fili vs. Kai Kamaka III, Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Otari Tanzilovi, and the Gerald Meerschaert–Julius Walker light heavyweight swing bout all made weight. Prelims start at 5 p.m. ET, the main card at 8 p.m. ET, all on Paramount+. Our full preview has the stylistic breakdown and the undercard fights worth your time.

MSG loses a lightweight scrap

UFC 334 — the promotion’s November 14 date at Madison Square Garden — took a hit this week when the lightweight bout between Nazim Sadykhov and Jefferson Nascimento fell apart entirely. Nascimento withdrew first with an injury; Sadykhov then announced he would not stay on the card against a replacement, revealing in an Instagram post that he had been dealing with his own injury since the first days of camp. The good news, per Sadykhov: no surgery, no prolonged recovery.

The card still has its twin title fights on top: Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit for the heavyweight crown, and Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes for the women’s bantamweight title. But losing a ranked lightweight scrap five weeks out is the kind of quiet erosion that matchmakers hate — and with MSG as the stage, expect the UFC to try to backfill it fast.

October 31 is quietly the best card of the fall

While Iglesias was calling out the Canelo–Mbilli winner, the October 31 card in Riyadh got its full undercard — and it is stacked. Turki Alalshikh confirmed three more title fights for the “Mexico vs. the Rest of the World” show: new WBA super middleweight champion Jaime Munguia makes his first defense against unbeaten Nikita Zon, featherweight champion Rafael Espinoza defends his WBO belt against Lorenzo Parra, and Lindolfo Delgado meets Arthur Biyarslanov for the vacant IBF super lightweight title.

That is four title fights on one DAZN PPV, headlined by Canelo’s return against Christian Mbilli for the WBC super middleweight crown — and it is the card Iglesias has now publicly aimed himself at. The 168-pound division spent the first half of the year fragmented; it is spending the fall trying to put itself back together. Somebody at the top is going to have to fight the Cuban eventually. His words last night suggest he is done waiting politely.

145 is agreed. Signatures are not.

The Shakur Stevenson–Devin Haney build took its biggest step yet on Thursday, and it happened the way everything happens now: on X, at speed. Shakur publicly accepted Haney’s 145-pound catchweight proposal — “145.0 U GOT A DEAL DEEHOE!!!!” — and Haney quoted it with his own declaration: “Crown me #1 P4P after this InshaAllah.”

Read the fine print before celebrating. Shakur’s post agrees to the weight; it does not mention the rehydration clause he had been pushing for — the 10-pound cap on what Haney could regain after the weigh-in — and Haney’s original offer was 145 with no rehydration clause at all. The weight is settled. The rehydration terms may or may not be. And no contract has been signed, no venue announced, no date confirmed beyond the December target. This is the closest the superfight has ever been, which is both genuinely exciting and exactly the sentence that has been true for months. Our running breakdown of the deal — weight agreed, contract not signed — is the one we keep updating as this develops.

The 170-pound traffic jam

Nobody’s division is more fun to argue about right now than welterweight. Carlos Prates, the division’s No. 1 contender, posted a video this week calling himself Islam Makhachev’s “wrestling’s worst nightmare” and warning that the champion’s smothering ground game will not work on him. Makhachev’s coach has reportedly called Prates the biggest threat if the champ gets past his current queue, and Prates certainly believes the fight is his.

Colby Covington told Ariel Helwani he sees it the opposite way: Prates would be “the easiest fight of Makhachev’s career,” taken down and submitted with a kimura or a head-and-arm choke. Meanwhile unbeaten Michael Morales is campaigning for his own lane — calling Prates an ‘easy’ fight for the champion, proposing a Prates eliminator he dubbed “Deadpool vs. Spider-Man,” and teasing a January return that could come against the returning Shavkat Rakhmonov. Makhachev, one defense into his 170-pound reign after beating Ian Garry, has a line forming behind him and no shortage of bad blood to sell. The only thing missing is a date.