MMA News

Adam Martin - January 3, 2021

MMA analyst Daniel Cormier praised Islam Makhachev, suggesting the AKA product is one of the most talented fighters in the world. Cormier and Makhachev are teammates at American Kickboxing Academy, alongside UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. With the champion contemplating retirement, fans and media have wondered who could make a run up the division if Nurmagomedov does indeed hang up his gloves. One of those fighters could be Makhachev, the No. 13 ranked UFC lightweight. The Russian is 7-1 overall in the UFC and is in his prime at 29 years old.

Adam Martin - January 3, 2021

A battle of top-15 light heavyweights is lined up for March as Johnny Walker returns to the Octagon against Jimmy Crute. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report that Walker vs. Crute is set for March 27 at the newly-announed UFC Fight Night 190 card. So far there are few details known about this card, but it seems likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas or on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi as all the events are held these days. Walker vs. Crute is the first bout revealed for this March 27 event.

Chris Taylor - January 2, 2021

Surging UFC contender Khamzat Chimaev was hoping to ring in the New Year by scoring his most high profile victory to date. ‘Borz’ was slated to square off against perennial welterweight contender Leon Edwards on January 20, but was forced to pullout of the contest after contracting Covid-19.

Chris Taylor - January 2, 2021

UFC middleweight Darren Till kicked off the New Year by sending a message to the “privileged snowflakes” complaining how 2020 was a tough year. The former UFC welterweight title challenger, Till (18-3-1 MMA), took to Instagram where he shared the following post.

Chris Taylor - January 2, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has reacted following news that Israel Adesanya will challenge Jan Blachowicz. Earlier this week, Dana White announced that the promotions reining middleweight champion in Adesanya would be moving up a weight class to challenge Blachowicz for the 205-pound title at UFC 259.

Chris Taylor - December 31, 2020

Israel Adesanya will look to become a UFC champ-champ in 2021 when he challenges Jan Blachowicz for the promotions light heavyweight title. The UFC’s reigning and undefeated middleweight champion, Adesanya (20-0 MMA), is set to collide with Blachowicz (27-8 MMA) in the main event of UFC 259 on March 6.

Adam Martin - December 31, 2020

UFC president Dana White says he didn’t expect heavyweight Greg Hardy to last as long in the UFC as he has following the Contender Series. After an up-and-down NFL career that saw Hardy make it to the Pro Bowl in 2013 only to leave the league two years later following a domestic violence incident, Hardy made the transition to mixed martial arts and won three fights between 2017 and 2018. After winning two fights by knockout on the Contender Series and another one in Xtreme Fight Night, White took a shot on Hardy and signed him despite being very green with just three pro fights.

Cole Shelton - December 31, 2020

Marlon Moraes has responded to Marlon Vera’s callout. After both Vera and Moraes lost at UFC Vegas 17, many pundits thought pairing them up against each other made sense. “Chito” seemingly agreed as he called out the former title challenger.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

UFC President Dana White says the UFC is still keen to book a welterweight fight between top-5 contenders Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington in 2021. Covington and Masvidal, the No. 1 and 4-ranked welterweight contenders respectively, have been linked to a potential fight for months, but as of yet, the matchup has not come to fruition.

Adam Martin - December 31, 2020

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones confirmed that he has “no intentions of ever going back to light heavyweight” in his career. Jones vacated the 205lbs title back in the summer with a planned move up to the UFC heavyweight division. Right now, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic is set to take on No. 1 contender Francis Ngannou in early 2021, and UFC president Dana White has said that Jones will be next up for the winner.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier isn’t sure what the future holds for his long-time friend and training partner, UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. That being said, he’s taking the champ’s retirement announcement seriously. Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after an October defeat of Justin Gaethje.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

Jake Paul has made some very surprising comments about his brother Logan’s upcoming exhibition bout with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. The Paul brothers, both YouTube stars, have risen to prominence inside the combat sports bubble after a series of high-profile boxing matches with other celebrities.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz has shared his first public reaction to his upcoming title defense against middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. Blachowicz and Adesanya have been linked to a champion versus champion fight for several months, and last night, UFC President Dana White made it official. The fight is targeted for UFC 259 on March 6.

Harry Kettle - December 31, 2020

MMA and BKFC veteran Chris Leben isn’t going to hold back when he takes on Quentin Henry on Super Bowl weekend. Leben, who had previously announced his retirement earlier this year, currently holds a 2-1 professional bare knuckle record with his last bout taking place in June 2019. He’s been able to defeat Phil Baroni and Justin Baesman with his one and only loss up to this point being a decision against Dakota Cochrane.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2020

On New Years Eve in Japan (Thursday morning in North America), RIZIN Fighting Federation wrapped up the year with the stacked RIZIN 26 event. The card was headlined by a bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Kai Asakura and former champion Kyoji Horiguchi. The bout was a rematch of a non-title fight that Asakura won by knockout. This time around, Horiguchi evened the score with a first-round TKO, reclaiming the title and reasserting himself as one of the best bantamweights on earth.

Cole Shelton - December 30, 2020

Leon Edwards will not be fighting on January 20 after all. Edwards was set to headline the card against Khamzat Chimaev in a really intriguing bout. However, it was revealed the Swede was out of the fight due to COVID-19, but Edwards made it clear he still wanted to fight on that date which won’t happen.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2020

UFC president Dana White slammed YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, suggesting that UFC women’s champion Amanda Nunes would put him in a coma. Paul has become one of the biggest names in combat sports ever since he scored a viral KO over Nate Robinson on the undercard of the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. PPV. Since then, numerous high-profile boxers, UFC fighters, and even celebrities have called Paul out for a fight. Most recently he was connected to a matchup with Ben Askren, the former UFC welterweight. White has had some choice words about Paul in recent weeks for his choice of opponents, suggesting Nunes would KO him.

Cole Shelton - December 30, 2020

Israel Adesanya will look to become a UFC champ-champ in 2021. Ever since Jan Blachowicz became the light heavyweight champion, UFC president, Dana White has said he wants to make Blachowicz vs. Adesanya. Now, that is what happened as the UFC boss revealed to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that the fight will take place on March 6 at UFC 259.