MMA News
Photo | Francis Ngannou is looking absolutely jacked ahead of UFC 249
Chris Taylor - May 2, 2020
Former heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou will return to the Octagon at UFC 249 for a pivotal clash with Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The bout will mark Ngannou’s first appearance since June of 2019, where he scored a first round TKO victory over former title holder Junior dos Santos in Minneapolis.
Michael Bisping responds after Paulie Malignaggi claims he could still KO Conor McGregor in Boxing
Chris Taylor - May 2, 2020
Michael Bisping is not buying Paulie Malignaggi’s claim that he could still knockout UFC star Conor McGregor if they were to have a boxing match. Earlier this week in a interview with ESPN Ringside, Malignaggi guaranteed that he would stop McGregor in a proposed boxing match.
Tyron Woodley says he has agreed to fight Gilbert Burns in UFC headliner
Cole Shelton - May 1, 2020
Tyron Woodley appears ready to return to the Octagon and will do so against Gilbert Burns. Woodley has been clamoring to get a fight since his UFC London scrap against Leon Edwards was canceled. He called out Colby Covington and asked for a rematch with Kamaru Usman, yet it appears he won’t get either. Instead, he says he’ll be fighting Gilbert Burns, who has called out the former welterweight champion countless times.
Dana White says there's an “interesting” option other than Kamaru Usman for Jorge Masvidal
Cole Shelton - May 1, 2020
Jorge Masvidal may not be fighting Kamaru Usman next time out. Before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the sports world, Masvidal was expected to battle Usman for the welterweight title at International Fight Week in July. Yet, nothing was ever made official and now, that may no longer be the fight.
Johny Hendricks reflects on Georges St-Pierre loss years later: "Not having a win over GSP hurt me"
Cole Shelton - May 1, 2020
Johny Hendricks says he doesn’t think about the Georges St-Pierre fight anymore. Back at UFC 167, St-Pierre was looking to defend his welterweight title against Hendricks. It was a back-and-forth fight but when the final bell rang, most fans and media, including UFC president Dana White thought Hendricks had won. But, the judges’ gave GSP a hard-fought split decision victory.
Dana White reveals official UFC fight cards for May 13 and May 16 events
Chris Taylor - May 1, 2020
Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are gearing up for a return to action next weekend with UFC 249 set to take place on May 9 in Florida. The promotion is hoping to make up for multiple postponed events by holding three fight cards in just eight days. In addition to UFC 249 on May 9, the organization is also planning to hold events in Jacksonville, Florida on May 13 and May 16.
Douglas Lima believes he could KO Kamaru Usman and "it wouldn’t take much either"
Cole Shelton - May 1, 2020
Douglas Lima hopes he and Kamaru Usman will fight each other one day. Currently, Lima is Bellator’s welterweight champion while Usman is the UFC’s 170-pound champion. Although a fight between them seems unlikely due to the lack of cross-promotional interest by Dana White, Lima hopes it can happen one day, but he isn’t holding his breath.
Paige VanZant, Austin Vanderford explain why they started posing naked on Instagram
Tom Taylor - May 1, 2020
Paige VanZant and Austin Vanderford — possibly MMA’s most famous husband and wife duo — have recently been having some fun on their Instagram accounts. The kind of fun that doesn’t involve clothes. Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, VanZant and Vanderford opened up on how this playful series of photos came about.
Dana White names three UFC fights that failed to meet his expectations
Tom Taylor - May 1, 2020
It’s always disappointing when a fight we’re expecting to be a barnburner turns out to be a dud. UFC President Dana White is not immune to that disappointment. Speaking during a recent AMA on Reddit, the UFC boss was asked to name a few fights that he expected to be great but ended up being stinkers.
Jack Hermansson says UFC still wants him to fight Chris Weidman
Adam Martin - May 1, 2020
Middleweight contender Jack Hermansson says the UFC still wants him to fight Chris Weidman after their fight for UFC Oklahoma City was canceled. Hermansson was set to fight Weidman in the main event of the Oklahoma City card that was eventually canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the bigger problem is that Hermansson is from Europe and there are travel restrictions right now to get him to the United States. The UFC was already looking at alternate opponents for Weidman, including matchups against Yoel Romero and Edmen Shahbazyan.
Khabib Nurmagomedov had "the best training camp" for UFC 249
Tom Taylor - May 1, 2020
UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov says his training camp for his nixed UFC 249 fight with Tony Ferguson was among the best he’s ever had. Nurmagomedov was originally expected to defend his title against Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249 card on April 18. Unfortunately, amid growing travel restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic, the champ wound up getting stuck in his native Russia, unable to depart for his fight with Ferguson. This marks the fifth time a planned bout between the pair has fallen through.
Tyron Woodley explains why he's confident he'd beat Israel Adesanya
Tom Taylor - May 1, 2020
It’s no secret that former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley has some issues with UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. During a recent episode his Hollywood Beatdown show on TMZ Sports, Woodley fired another verbal volley at Adesanya, and also explained why he believes he’d defeat the middleweight champ in a fight.
Ovince Saint Preux expects to be outweighed by roughly 40lbs in UFC heavyweight debut
Tom Taylor - May 1, 2020
Ovince Saint Preux is a long-time UFC light heavyweight contender, but his next fight will occur in the promotion’s heavyweight division. The former interim light heavyweight title challenger will step up a division to battle Ben Rothwell on May 13. The decision to accept this fight came after his planned fights with Shamil Gamzatov and Ion Cutelaba fell through due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Marvin Vettori will be “pissed” if negative media helps screw over another UFC event
Harry Kettle - May 1, 2020
UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori believes the media will be the ones to blame if the upcoming string of UFC events do not go ahead as planned. Vettori, who is riding a two-fight win streak following his loss to Israel Adesanya back in April 2018, is considered to be one of the rising stars in the middleweight division. However, he hasn’t been able to get back into the Octagon since October after he had two fights, against Darren Stewart and Karl Roberson, called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UFC star Conor McGregor delivers medical supplies to children’s hospital in Ireland
Harry Kettle - May 1, 2020
UFC star Conor McGregor continues to assist his local area during the COVID-19 pandemic after delivering medical supplies to a children’s hospital in Crumlin. While there have been more than a few negative stories in the world of mixed martial arts over the course of the last few months, it appears as if McGregor is ready to swoop in and become the hero none of us knew we needed.
UFC releases new fight week safety protocol for athletes competing during pandemic
Natasha Hooper - May 1, 2020
The UFC has announced its new protocol to ensure the safety of fighters for its three upcoming cards on May 9, 13, and 16. The promotion intends on hosting a trifecta of fighting events this month in Jacksonville, Florida. The first event will be UFC 249 on May 9, which had previously been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Donald Cerrone wants to become first UFC fighter to fight three times in one week
Adam Martin - April 30, 2020
UFC welterweight Donald Cerrone says he wants to become the first fighter in UFC history to fight three times in one week. Cerrone takes on Anthony Pettis in a rematch at UFC 249 next Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida. Living up to his ‘anywhere, anytime’ mantra, “Cowboy” took the fight against Pettis on short notice in an effort to help the UFC save the UFC 249 card which had been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Douglas Lima "disappointed" Rory MacDonald left Bellator but hopes trilogy happens down the line
Cole Shelton - April 30, 2020
Douglas Lima says he’s disappointed Rory MacDonald left Bellator as it ruined plans for a trilogy fight. MacDonald is the former Bellator welterweight champion but after losing his belt to Lima in the grand prix final, he left in free agency to PFL. Many were surprised as they figured the Canadian would re-sign to set up the trilogy with Lima, which the Brazilian thought would be the case.