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Aspinall Title Talk, Silva's Title Shot Bid, Moicano vs Ortega Pick

Dana White says the promotion will discuss Tom Aspinall's heavyweight belt, Jean Silva lost to Diego Lopes at Noche UFC, and the drama with Francis Ngannou refuses to die down.

Aspinall Title Talk, Silva's Title Shot Bid, Moicano vs Ortega Pick

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Saturday's Noche UFC card kept the featherweight picture moving while Dana White spent his weekend stirring up three separate storylines at once. Here's what's actually in motion heading into the next stretch of cards.

Aspinall's Belt Under the Microscope

Dana White confirmed the UFC will sit down and discuss whether Tom Aspinall should be urged to vacate the heavyweight title after nearly a year on the sidelines with an eye injury. There's no ruling yet, just White saying the conversation is coming, but it's the clearest signal so far that the promotion's patience has a limit. We're hearing that Aspinall hasn't defended the belt in that stretch, and with the heavyweight division stuck in limbo, this is a decision that could shape the next several cards.

Jean Silva Wants His Shot Now

Silva headlined Noche UFC 4 in Glendale and got tagged early by Jose Miguel Delgado before turning it around, dropping him in round three and finishing with a one-armed rear-naked choke. Afterward Silva didn't hedge about what's next, saying flatly, "I'm next, and I will be champion." We're hearing that Sterling threw out his own pitch for a December fight, telling him, "Or we can fight for it. December. Run it." With the featherweight title picture still sorting itself out, Silva's performance gives him a real case to jump the line.

White and Ngannou Still Not Talking Peace

Dana White used a sit-down on the Nightcap Show to take another shot at Francis Ngannou, criticizing the former heavyweight champion's conduct throughout his career and shutting the door on any kind of UFC return. This isn't a new fight breaking out, it's the same one continuing, and White made clear there's no scenario right now where Ngannou walks back through that door. Whatever respect exists between the two clearly isn't enough to get a deal done.

Zuffa Boxing's Big Weekend

Ryan Garcia reportedly defeated Conor Benn by second-round TKO, and even though the stoppage drew some side eye, White wasn't bothered by it, saying "it wasn't horrible." On the same weekend, Jai Opetaia scored a nasty ninth-round standing knockout over Noel Mikaelian to defend his cruiserweight titles, then immediately stared down David Benavidez in the ring, all but setting up a matchup between the two next year. Boxing under the Zuffa banner keeps producing finishes that double as its own kind of matchmaking.

Pimblett's Name Gets Floated for Topuria

Away from the cage, a former UFC champion suggested Ilia Topuria should be matched up next against Paddy Pimblett. It's just an outside opinion for now, not anything the UFC has moved on, but it's the kind of suggestion that tends to pick up steam once fans start repeating it.

Sources

Every source behind today's roundup (14)

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

Open Scoring MMA is a daily AI-produced MMA and UFC news podcast. Listen to today's episode, read the full Feed, or get every episode by email.

Episode transcript

Read the full episode transcript

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 87 for September 13th, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: Dana White is not letting this Ngannou thing go, Nora. Not even a little.
NORA: Nope. Fresh interview, same message. No truce, no return, no interest in bringing Francis Ngannou back into the UFC.
DUKE: He's just going scorched earth on the guy's whole career at this point.
NORA: And look, this isn't new venom, but it means the door on a Ngannou UFC return stays bolted shut for as long as White's running things.
DUKE: Which matters because heavyweight is a mess right now anyway.
NORA: It absolutely is, and that leads right into the other heavyweight story.
DUKE: Aspinall.
NORA: Dana White says the promotion is going to sit down and actually discuss whether Tom Aspinall should be stripped of the heavyweight title.
DUKE: He's been out, what, almost a year with that eye issue?
NORA: Almost a year, yeah, and White's basically saying the belt can't just sit frozen forever.
DUKE: That's brutal for Aspinall, he didn't do anything wrong here, he got hurt.
NORA: Sure, but from a division health standpoint, White's not wrong either. You can't build a heavyweight picture around a champion who can't fight.
DUKE: If they strip him, who's even fighting for it?
NORA: That's the conversation that hasn't happened yet, but it's coming.
DUKE: Alright, Noche UFC. Big weekend for the featherweights.
NORA: Jean Silva and Jose Miguel Delgado headlined Noche UFC in Glendale on September 12th, and it was not a clean night for him.
DUKE: He was slow to start, right?
NORA: In the opening round, yeah, he just put his fists out and circled the octagon at the start. But Silva composed himself, found his rhythm, and finished it in round three with a one arm rear naked choke.
DUKE: That's a gutsy comeback finish.
NORA: It is, and it keeps Silva squarely in the featherweight title conversation at one hundred forty five.
DUKE: And Brandon Moreno was on that card too.
NORA: He returned to his winning ways, back in the win column.
DUKE: Good week for him after everything he's been through at flyweight.
NORA: And don't sleep on the other result, Alexa Grasso took a unanimous decision over Manon Fiorot.
DUKE: That's a real step for her back toward the belt.
NORA: Big one. Fiorot's a legit gatekeeper at women's flyweight, and Grasso just walked through her on the scorecards.
DUKE: Now Silva's not being shy about what's next either.
NORA: Not at all. Quote, I'm next, and I will be champion, end quote.
DUKE: Bold, but he just backed it up with a finish.
NORA: And here's the fun part, Aljamain Sterling fired back at him.
DUKE: Sterling wants in on this?
NORA: Quote, or we can fight for it. December. Run it, end quote.
DUKE: So now it's not just Silva calling for gold, it's turning into a two man scrap for who even gets the shot.
NORA: Which is great for the division honestly, featherweight needed some fresh fire under it.
DUKE: Speaking of fresh fire, Ilia Topuria getting called out for a fight I actually want to talk about.
NORA: Here we go.
DUKE: A former UFC champion said Topuria should be fighting Paddy Pimblett next.
NORA: The Baddy getting mentioned in the same breath as Topuria, that's a massive compliment to how far Pimblett's climbed.
DUKE: I mean, come on, Paddy against Topuria, that's a pay per view number on paper, that's a genuine spectacle.
NORA: It's not booked, it's just a suggestion from a former champ, but it tells you where the industry's head is at with Pimblett right now.
DUKE: The Baddy's arrived, is what that tells me. Alright, let's jump to the boxing side for a second, because Ryan Garcia had a moment. And there was some grumbling about that stoppage being early.
NORA: Dana White got asked about it directly and basically shrugged it off, quote, it wasn't horrible, end quote.
DUKE: That's about as lukewarm a defense of a stoppage as you'll ever hear.
NORA: It kind of is. And Chris Eubank Junior, who's got history with Benn, weighed in on the loss too.
DUKE: Eubank always has something to say when Benn's involved.
NORA: That rivalry never really cools off, and every time Benn loses big it stirs that whole thing back up.
DUKE: Let's get to the grappling world for a second, because ADCC had a wild one.
NORA: Day two of the twenty twenty six World Championships, and the story everyone's talking about actually happened on day one, Gordon Ryan getting jumped in a brawl.
DUKE: Wait, jumped? Like an actual fight broke out?
NORA: An ugly one, three people ended up suspended and banned from the event over it.
DUKE: That's insane for a grappling tournament, that's supposed to be the disciplined side of combat sports.
NORA: Apparently not this year. Day two is medal rounds, so the actual jiu jitsu story is still developing.
DUKE: One more before we get to the cards, Jai Opetaia.
NORA: Defended his cruiserweight titles with a nasty ninth round standing knockout over Noel Mikaelian.
DUKE: And then he did something after the fight that got people talking.
NORA: He stared down David Benavidez right after, setting up a potential fight between the two of them next year.
DUKE: Opetaia's the top cruiserweight on the planet, if that fight happens that's a legitimate superfight.
NORA: It's not signed, but the stare down was the whole point, get the fans talking now.
DUKE: Okay, let's look ahead. Contender Series is Tuesday, September fifteenth.
NORA: We're hearing that Dana White's Contender Series: Season Ten, Week Six is on that date.
DUKE: These Contender Series nights are always a coin flip for finding the next real prospect.
NORA: That's the whole appeal, you're watching future UFC rosters get built in real time.
DUKE: Then the big one, UFC three thirty one on September nineteenth.
NORA: Alexandre Pantoja against Joshua Van, reportedly for the flyweight title, running it back. We're still waiting on official word for the co-main event.
DUKE: A loss there sets him back significantly in that title picture.
NORA: No he can't, a loss there sets him back significantly in that title picture.
DUKE: After that we've got a run of cards. September twenty sixth, Raoni Barcelos versus Raul Rosas Junior headlines a Fight Night.
NORA: Rosas Junior's still one of the youngest guys on the roster, that fight's a real test for him against a veteran.
DUKE: Then UFC three thirty two on October third, with Natalia Silva versus Wang Cong.
NORA: And a week later, October tenth, Brendan Allen is reportedly headlining against Christian Leroy Duncan at UFC Vegas 122.
DUKE: Busy stretch coming up, we're not short on things to talk about. Alright, let's get into our pick. Nora, you've got a pick for us.
NORA: We do.
DUKE: And the betting line's saying what, roughly?
NORA: Line implies about sixty four percent. So we're sitting well above the market on this one.
DUKE: That's a real gap, why?
NORA: Two things.
DUKE: Reach matters a lot when Ortega likes to close distance and get to the clinch.
NORA: Exactly, and the bigger piece is Moicano's a strong grappler with legit striking too. Ortega's elite off his back with jiu jitsu, but if a strong wrestler puts him on the mat on their terms instead of his, that's a problem for him.
DUKE: So it's not that Ortega's jiu jitsu isn't good, it's that Moicano might never let him use it the way he wants.
NORA: That's the read exactly.
DUKE: I like it, I've always thought Ortega's chin and gas tank get questioned once a fight drags.
NORA: This is a value pick for us, we like it more than the line does.
DUKE: Alright, before we go, let's talk about the model itself for a second, because I want to check the temperature.
NORA: Fair. We're seventy four and twenty two on the season, hit rate of about seventy seven percent.
DUKE: And the market?
NORA: Market's actually hitting seventy eight and a half percent right now.
DUKE: So the market's beating us.
NORA: Technically, yeah, we are not beating the market overall this year.
DUKE: Ouch.
NORA: But look at the value plays specifically, thirteen and two when we've flagged something as a value pick.
DUKE: That's a completely different story.
NORA: It is, and on average when we've called a value pick, we've been running about ten and a half percentage points higher than what the market's pricing.
DUKE: Ten point four points, that's a real edge when we actually see it.
NORA: That's the whole point of flagging them separately, the overall record's just okay, but when we see a genuine mispricing we've been right more often than not.
DUKE: So don't judge the model on the whole slate, judge it on the value calls.
NORA: That's exactly the pitch.
DUKE: Fair enough, I'll take it. And hey, personal record check, I'm sitting at one and one this year.
NORA: I'm zero and one.
DUKE: We're both due.
NORA: We are.
DUKE: That's the show for today, folks.
NORA: Big week coming, don't miss Contender Series Tuesday and UFC three thirty one right behind it.
Think we're wrong? Tell us in the comments. Before you go, two quick things. Check out our free Fight Tracker at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed. That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.