MMA News

Cole Shelton - June 30, 2021

Sean O’Malley will fight on UFC 264 next weekend after all. It was revealed on Tuesday that Louis Smolka was out of his fight against O’Malley due to a staph infection. After the news became public, several bantamweights began calling him out and O’Malley hinted on social media he agreed to face Ricky Simon. Unfortunately, Simon couldn’t make the weight and O’Malley revealed on his Twitch that he will now face UFC newcomer Kris Moutinho.

Adam D Martin - June 30, 2021

UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira says he is confident that he would knock out Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier if they fight. Oliveira won the vacant UFC lightweight title when he knocked out Michael Chandler at UFC 262 in May. The winner of his last nine fights in a row, “Do Bronx” seems poised to fight the winner of the UFC 264 trilogy fight between McGregor and Poirier next. Speaking to the media ahead of next weekend’s blockbuster event, Oliveira said that he is feeling good about the possibility of facing either “Notorious” or “The Diamond” and is predicting that he will knock out either man if they step foot into the Octagon with him.

Cole Shelton - June 30, 2021

Artem Lobov doesn’t think Conor McGregor needs to leave John Kavanagh to become a world champion again. After McGregor suffered a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, many said the Irishman needed a change of camps. Yet, for Lobov, he says that will never happen due to the fact McGregor is loyal. He also says it doesn’t make sense to leave the coach that made him become a two-weight world champ.

Adam D Martin - June 30, 2021

Jake Paul donated $5000 to the GoFundMe for UFC fighter Sarah Alpar, adding “imagine a rookie in the NBA had to start a GoFundMe to play.” Earlier this week, Alpar let her fans know that she was starting a fundraiser in order to raise money for fight camp expenses. The 30-year-old Alpar fought on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019 and made it to the UFC with a submission win over Shanna Young. She then made her UFC debut in September 2020 and lost via third-round TKO to Jessica-Rose Clark. Alpar then had two fights fall apart for May 2021 against Stephanie Egger and Lupita Godinez, before finally being re-booked for her second UFC fight when she faces off against prospect Erin Blanchfield, but that won’t take place until Septmber.

Adam D Martin - June 30, 2021

Women’s combat sports superstar Paige VanZant has no regrets about leaving the UFC for BKFC, calling it “the best decision I’ve ever made.” VanZant competed in MMA from 2012 to 2020, and between 2014 and 2020 she fought exclusively for the UFC, where she went 4-5 overall. After becoming a free agent last summer, VanZant decided to take her talents to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Although she lost a decision to Britain Hart in her BKFC debut, VanZant has already been booked for her next fight, a rematch with her former UFC opponent Rachael Ostovich.

Adam D Martin - June 30, 2021

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and her husband, former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, revealed their baby’s gender. Rousey and Browne announced back in April that the UFC Hall of Famer is pregnant with her first child and expecting to give birth to the baby in September. Two months later, and Rousey and Browne are now ready to reveal the gender of their child to the world. Check out the video that Rousey and Browne posted on their YouTube featuring a gender reveal.

Adam D Martin - June 30, 2021

UFC featherweight fighter Justin Jaynes explained why he shot for a late takedown in his recent fight against Charles Rosa at UFC Vegas 30. Jaynes lost a split decision to Rosa at this past weekend’s UFC Vegas 30 card. While a preliminary card featherweight bout typically wouldn’t be getting so much attention, this particular fight did because Jaynes revealed that he bet $25,000 on himself to win the fight. Unfortunately for Jaynes, he came up just short on the judges’ scorecards.

Adam D Martin - June 30, 2021

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg said in a recent interview that “the best thing for my career was leaving the UFC.” Cyborg was once the UFC women’s featherweight champion, but after beating Felicia Spencer at UFC 240 in July 2019, UFC president Dana White released her from her contract after not being able to come to an agreement on a rematch with Amanda Nunes. Cyborg then became a free agent and, not long after that, she signed with Bellator. She has since become the Bellator women’s 145lbs champion as she has continued to dominate her foes.

Drake Riggs - June 29, 2021

Jeremy Stephens was just a day away from stepping into the Octagon with Drakkar Klose in what would have been his last time out. As one of the longest-tenured athletes in the UFC, Stephens has practically seen it all — but having a fight canceled via shove was a new experience. Stephens ended up getting physical with his would-be opponent at weigh-ins ahead of UFC Vegas 24. As a result, the two never got to fight.

Andrew Whitelaw - June 29, 2021

Ever since he decided to try his hand at boxing, Jake Paul has had no shortage of suitors looking to teach him a lesson, the latest being Hector Lombard. The former Bellator middleweight champion took to instagram to make an intriguing offer and wrote,

Drake Riggs - June 29, 2021

Believe it or not, Chael Sonnen’s epic rivalry with Anderson Silva wasn’t his most volatile. However, due to the Silva saga, Sonnen made no alleys when it came to fighters from Brazil — Wanderlei Silva included. “The American Gangster” began singling out “The Ax-Murderer” on multiple occasions after heading from middleweight to light heavyweight in 2013. The most notable being his callout after defeating Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

Cole Shelton - June 29, 2021

Tatiana Suarez will finally make the walk to the Octagon again. Suarez, who many pegged as a future UFC champion, has not competed since she beat Nina Nunes at UFC 238 in June of 2019. Since then, she has been dealing with neck injuries but has recently been cleared. The plan was for her to also move up in weight to flyweight.

Cole Shelton - June 29, 2021

Dustin Poirier has a reason as to why he will finish Conor McGregor again at UFC 264. Poirier and McGregor had their highly-anticipated rematch on Fight Island in January at UFC 257. Early on in the fight, the Irishman had success but Poirier kept landing leg kicks which opened up the head, and “The Diamond” capitalized with a second-round TKO win.

Adam D Martin - June 29, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated following UFC Vegas 30, and women’s bantamweight contender Julia Avila is among those moving up. Avila submitted Julija Stoliarenko in a women’s 135lbs bout on the preliminary card. After two close rounds which actually had the judges split heading into the third and final round, Avila put a stamp on the victory by catching a rear-naked choke submission late in the final stanza. It was a tremendous performance by Avila, and she afterward took to social media to vent that she wasn’t one of the card’s $50,000 bonus winners. Regardless of whether or not she got a bonus, Avila looked good and is now the No. 14 ranked fighter at 135lbs.

Adam D Martin - June 29, 2021

UFC bantamweight star Sean O’Malley is in need of a new opponent after Louis Smolka withdrew from their scheduled upcoming bout at UFC 264. O’Malley and Smolka were set to meet on the main card of UFC 264, which is scheduled to take place on July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, the fight is now off, according to MMA journalist Ariel Helwani. He confirmed the news that Smolka has withdrawn from the fight following a cryptic tweet from O’Malley suggesting a change.

Adam D Martin - June 29, 2021

Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen reacted after one of his longtime rivals, UFC superstar Jon Jones, blocked him on Twitter. Sonnen took to social media on Tuesday to reveal that Jones hit the block button and no longer will see Sonnen’s tweets, to which “The West Linn Gangster” wrote the following.

Cole Shelton - June 29, 2021

Charles Rosa was shocked when he saw that Justin Jaynes was betting his entire fight purse on himself. Rosa and Jaynes were set to fight on the prelims of UFC Vegas 30 and on paper, it was a competitive fight. Yet, the fight garnered major attention on fight week when Jaynes revealed he was betting his entire fight purse on himself. For Rosa, he says he doesn’t know why he did that as he believes it added more pressure on him than necessary.

Adam D Martin - June 29, 2021

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz says that his client, PFL women’s lightweight star Kayla Harrison, is “Ronda Rousey 6.0.” Harrison is currently running through the field in the PFL season three women’s lightweight tournament and looks to be one of the best female fighters in the sport right now. A former Olympic gold medalist in judo, Harrison’s MMA career has always — fairly or unfairly — been compared to Rousey’s since she was also an Olympic gold medal judoka before turning over to mixed martial arts. Since making the transition to MMA in 2018, Harrison is a perfect 10-0 in MMA with eight wins by stoppage. She has been dominating everyone in her weight class, and she doesn’t appear to be on the verge of losing any time soon.