MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

Jake Paul is already training for his April 17 boxing match with Ben Askren, and he’s enlisted the help of UFC star Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal fought Askren in 2019, knocking the wrestling specialist out with a flying knee in just five seconds. It was the fastest knockout in UFC history. In anticipation of his April boxing match with Askren, Paul has moved to Miami to pick Masvidal’s brain. The pair are already working together, and drilling attacks that Paul hopes will beat Askren even faster than Masvidal did.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

Manny Pacquiao and his team feel there’s no longer any demand for a boxing match with former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor. Heading into his UFC 257 fight with Dustin Poirier, McGregor was linked to a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao sometime later in the year. After McGregor lost to Poirier via second-round TKO, however, interest in the matchup has waned.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

American Top Team coach Mike Brown believes UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal has earned a marquee fight. Masvidal has not fought since July, when he lost a decision to Kamaru Usman in a short-notice welterweight title fight. Prior to that, he was riding stoppage wins over Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz, which turned him into one of the sport’s biggest stars.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

Justin Gaethje would consider walking away from the UFC forever if Conor McGregor is granted an immediate lightweight title shot. McGregor fought in the main event of UFC 257 last weekend, when he was knocked out by Dustin Poirier. With this result, McGregor and Poirier entered into a 1-1 tie, as McGregor beat Poirier by first-round knockout in the featherweight division in 2014.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

Veteran mixed martial arts referee Marc Goddard has a message for fans who berate fighters when they’re riding tough losses. Goddard took to Twitter to share this message over the weekend, seemingly in response to Conor McGregor’s shocking, second-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

Bellator MMA star Dillon Danis believes he could submit UFC lightweight contender Justin Gaethje in less than 30 seconds. Danis, an accomplished Brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelt who never shies away from a little pot-stirring, made this bold proclamation on Twitter on Wednesday night.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2021

UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik is interested in a future fight with former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones ruled over the UFC light heavyweight division for many years, but recently vacated his title with plans to make a permanent move up to the heavyweight division.

Drake Riggs - January 27, 2021

In the past, the few fighters that have defeated Conor McGregor have gone on to become superstars in their own right. Perhaps Dustin Poirier is next? Well, social media metrics from the UFC 257 event would indicate that things are trending in the right direction for “The Diamond”.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

UFC lightweight Rafael dos Anjos says he’s a bad matchup for Conor McGregor, suggesting he would utilize a lot of calf kicks if they fought. Dos Anjos and McGregor were originally supposed to meet back at UFC 196 in March 2016, but dos Anjos pulled out of the fight due to injury. He was replaced by Nate Diaz, which led to one of the greatest moments of all time when Diaz tapped McGregor out. Instead of fighting McGregor in a money fight that day, dos Anjos instead didn’t get that fight, and then he lost his title in his very next outing in an upset to Eddie Alvarez, while McGregor and Diaz exploded into mega superstars.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2021

Justin Gaethje is hoping to rematch Dustin Poirier in the very near future. In April of 2018, Gaethje and Poirier headlined a Fox card in what many thought could be a Fight of the Year contender. Ultimately, it did not disappoint as both men had moments in the fight but Gaethje seemed to tire out and was TKO’d in the fourth round.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2021

Michael Chandler knows Jake Paul picked Ben Askren for a reason, but he believes people can’t overlook “Funky” in their fight. On April 17, Paul is set for his third professional boxing match against Askren in what should be a very intriguing bout. This will be the first time Paul fights a legit fighter, as his other two wins are over a YouTuber and an ex-NBA player.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2021

Justin Gaethje was very happy to see Conor McGregor get knocked out by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. Throughout McGregor’s career, he has been full of trash talk, but in his last two fights that have changed. However, the Irishman and Gaethje have still taken shots at one another, and many thought they would fight last year, but it never came to fruition. After all the talk, “The Highlight” says he loved seeing a loudmouth like McGregor get knocked out.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

YouTuber star turned boxer Jake Paul is only following two accounts on Instagram. The social media platform Triller, and the wife of his next opponent, Ben Askren. Askren and Paul are slated to meet in an eight-round boxing exhibition match on April 17. While the fight is still months away, the pair are already ramping up the trash talk.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

UFC featherweight Max Holloway was chosen as the top performer for the month of January by several fighters, including Michael Chandler. Holloway had what some say is the single-greatest performance in UFC history earlier this month on Fight Island, when he beat down the durable Calvin Kattar for five rounds, landing a world-record 445 significant strikes along the way. It was an absolutely phenomenal victory by Holloway that will almost assuredly guarantee he fights for the featherweight belt later this year. It’s also the type of big win that had him a near-unanimous winner of the UFC performer of the month crown for January.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

UFC legends Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier have been friends for many years, and have been known to swap some light hearted trash talk on occasion. That’s exactly what happened when Cormier presented Nurmagomedov with the UFC’s Submission of the Year award for 2020.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

Javier Mendez, the head coach behind Khabib Nurmagomedov, says Conor McGregor would get smashed in a rematch with the lightweight champion. Like pretty much everybody, Mendez was watching last Saturday’s UFC 257 card very closely. After seeing McGregor get stopped by Dustin Poirier in the main event, he has some concerns about the Irishman’s preparation.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

UFC veteran Gray Maynard said seeing Spencer Fisher with dementia was the “turning point” for him to warn fighters of the dangers in MMA. Fisher recently shared his story about the true costs of competing in combat sports in an in-depth interview with MMAFighting.com. A long-time UFC veteran, the 44-year-old Fisher came out and shared with MMA fans that he has dementia. During part of the story, there was an anecdote with Fisher and Maynard, who had met him at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. According to Maynard, seeing Fisher in the poor condition he was in marked the turning point for “The Bully” to come out and warn other fighters about low pay the very real dangers of long-term brain trauma.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

The poster for the upcoming UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns pay-per-view has been officially unveiled ahead of next month’s highly-anticipated card. UFC 258 is set to take place on February 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be headlined by UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman against top contender Gilbert Burns. This is actually the third time the promotion has attempted to book this matchup, following two previous botched attempts at UFC 251 and UFC 256. Fingers crossed that both Usman and Burns will remain fully healthy and they are able to meet inside the Octagon in just over two weeks.