MMA News

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

Bellator MMA fighter Dillon Danis claimed that former UFC champion Tyron Woodley was contractually not allowed to KO Jake Paul in boxing. Woodley and Paul met in a professional boxing match at the end of August in Paul’s backyard of Cleveland, Ohio. It was a competitive fight that went the full eight contracted rounds, but at the end of the fight, it was Paul who was awarded a split decision. Most people who watched agreed that Paul did enough work to win enough rounds on points to earn the decision, but it is also fair to say that Woodley had some of the biggest moments of the fight. Namely early on in the contest when he knocked Paul into the ropes.

Cole Shelton - October 20, 2021

Ricky Glenn wanted to be active this year after having hip surgery that kept him out of action from November 2018 until June of 2021 when he made his return. In his return fight, Glenn moved up to lightweight and scored a 37-second KO win over Joaquim Silva. After the fight, he thought he would get a quick turnaround, but nothing came up until he saw Diego Ferreira pulled out of his fight with Grant Dawson and Glenn jumped at the opportunity to face him at UFC Vegas 41.

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

MMA legend and current Bellator heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko blasted UFC president Dana White, saying “he has no respect towards fighters.” Emelianenko is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, having fought for many of the top fight promotions in the sport’s history. The Russian currently stars for Bellator MMA, where this weekend he fights UFC veteran Tim Johnson in a heavyweight bout that headlines Bellator 269. There is a chance that this could be the final fight of Emelianenko’s incredible MMA career, and if it’s the case, then he would do so without having fought for the UFC. It’s arguably the biggest “what if” story in mixed martial arts history as Emelianenko was never able to prove his heavyweight greatness at the UFC level.

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

UFC president Dana White reacted after promotional superstar Conor McGregor allegedly attacked DJ Francesco Facchinetti in Italy. McGregor allegedly broke the nose of Facchinetti this past weekend at a party in Rome. According to the DJ, he and McGregor were having a good time at a party when McGregor got angry out of nowhere, punched the DJ in the face, and broke his nose. According to the DJ, he now plans on suing McGregor for this incident. Of course, it’s far from the first time that McGregor has been in trouble with the law, so it’s only natural that his boss, White, was asked about the incident involving the UFC’s biggest star when speaking to the media.

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland credited “white trash f*ck” Conor McGregor for reaching the “pinnacle of success” in MMA. McGregor got into another incident this past weekend after allegedly punching and breaking the nose of Italian DJ Francesco Facchinetti. It is far from the first time that McGregor has gotten into trouble with the law, and it likely won’t be the last. When speaking to host Michael Bisping on the “Believe You Me” podcast, Strickland was asked his thoughts on the whole situation with McGregor. As far as Strickland goes, McGregor is everything that a successful MMA fighter could be, but he is still a “white trash f*ck.”

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley took a shot at former champion Dominick Cruz, telling him that “you need to learn from the daddy.” O’Malley is set to return at UFC 269 on December 11 when he takes on Raulian Paiva in a bantamweight bout set for the main pay-per-view card. On the prelims of the same event, Cruz fights Pedro Munhoz in another important fight at 135lbs. Both O’Malley and Cruz were connected to a fight against each other, but ultimately the UFC decided to go in another direction for both men. However, that hasn’t stopped Cruz from saying that O’Malley declined to fight him. As far as O’Malley goes, that simply is not the case.

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Marvin Vettori blasted “crazy” Paulo Costa for drinking a bottle of wine before his Israel Adesanya fight. Costa fought Adesanya for the UFC middleweight title last October at UFC 253 and he suffered a second-round knockout loss for his troubles. Following the fight, Costa revealed that he was hungover in the Octagon after having drunk a bottle of wine the night before the fight. According to Costa, he had problems sleeping so he drank the bottle in order to help him fall asleep. While Costa eventually did fall asleep, being hungover in the fight clearly was not a good idea as he ended up looking listless and suffered a knockout defeat.

Harry Kettle - October 20, 2021

Aljamain Sterling has revealed that training with Merab Dvalishvili helped him realise that he wasn’t healthy enough to compete at UFC 267. Next weekend, Petr Yan will meet Cory Sandhagen with the winner walking home as the UFC interim bantamweight champion. The match-up was initially supposed to see Sterling defending the undisputed strap against former champion Yan in a rematch of their controversial showdown earlier this year. However, continued neck issues have prevented it from taking place.

Drake Riggs - October 19, 2021

Despite the strawweight division being loaded with contenders, Zhang Weili will get an instant rematch with new champion Rose Namajunas. First colliding with Namajunas at UFC 261 in April, Zhang (21-2) attempted to defend her 115-pound UFC crown for just the second time – her first coming over the legendary Joanna Jedrzejczyk in March 2020. Unfortunately for China’s first promotional titleholder, “Magnum” fell to a quick head kick knockout in only 78 seconds.

Cole Shelton - October 19, 2021

Fedor Emelianenko is set for his return fight in Russia as he will headline Bellator 269 against Tim Johnson. When Bellator announced Emelianenko would be fighting at home for the final time, many thought he would face a legend. The likes of Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett all expressed interest but in the end, Emelianenko picked Johnson. According to the Russian, he says it was an obvious choice to face Johnson.

Cole Shelton - October 19, 2021

Paddy Pimblett doesn’t see a reason to fight anyone ranked on his current contract. Pimblett made his UFC debut back in September and scored a first-round KO over Luigi Vendramini. It was a highlight-reel finish and after the fight, many wondered what would be next for him, with some thinking he would get a ranked opponent, but Pimblett says that will not be the case.

Drake Riggs - October 19, 2021

Joanna Jedrzejczyk is letting it be known that her place in the official UFC rankings is none of her concern. The former undefeated 115-pound strawweight queen last fought in 2020’s Fight of the Year when suffering a split decision loss to Zhang Weili at UFC 248 in March. At present, the Polish superstar finds herself ranked at No. 2 in her division and even moved up in the pound-4-pound list following Marina Rodriguez’s victory over Mackenzie Dern – one of Jedrzejczyk’s detractors.

Adam D Martin - October 19, 2021

Former UFC middleweight champion and current color commentator Michael Bisping analyzed UFC 269’s Leon Edwards vs. Jorge Masvidal fight. Edwards returns later this year at UFC 269 when he takes on Masvidal in a three-round welterweight bout. According to Edwards, the UFC has told him that if he wins the fight, he will be given the next title shot at 170lbs. Speaking on his YouTube channel, one of Edwards’ fellow Brits in Bisping broke down the fight with Masvidal. As far as Bisping goes, this is a very difficult fight to predict, but he does think Edwards holds several advantages.

Adam D Martin - October 19, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards says he has been promised a 170lbs title shot with a win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 269. Edwards has gone unbeaten over his last 10 fights in a row and he has been adamant that his next fight would be for the title. However, Edwards finally caved and accepted the UFC’s offer to fight Masvidal. The two rivals meet at UFC 269 in December and, according to Edwards, it’s a No. 1 contender fight for him as he has been promised that he will get the next title shot against the winner of UFC 269’s Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2.

Adam D Martin - October 19, 2021

Top contender Colby Covington claims that the UFC threatened to strip his rival, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, of his 170lbs title. Covington returns to the Octagon next month when he fights Usman in the main event of UFC 268 in what is a rematch between the two longtime rivals. The two welterweights previously met in the main event of UFC 245 in December 2019, a fight that Usman won via fifth-round TKO. Nearly two years later and now Covington will finally get his chance to fight Usman again. Only, according to Covington, it nearly didn’t happen at all.

Cole Shelton - October 19, 2021

Tim Johnson says it is still surreal to think he is fighting Fedor Emelianenko in Russia, in what could be the Russian’s final fight. When Bellator announced Emelianenko would be fighting back home in Russia, many thought he would be fighting a fellow legend. Yet, that wasn’t the case as instead, he will be fighting Johnson at Bellator 269, who has a theory as to why Emelianenko picked him.

Adam D Martin - October 19, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Marvin Vettori plans on having face-to-face chat with “puppet” Paul Felder over his UFC commentary. Vettori recently took to social media to put Felder on blast following his commentary in the Dan Hooker vs. Nasrat Haqparst fight at UFC 266 last month. According to the Italian, he was not being fair to Haqparast during his commentary for the fight, and he took to Twitter to put Felder on blast. As far as “The Italian Dream” goes, Felder was being biased during his commentary and he felt like he had no choice but to call him out for his analysis.

Adam D Martin - October 19, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor sent a message to his longtime rival Nate Diaz on social media, reminding him to “know who made you.” McGregor and Diaz fought twice back in 2016. In their first meeting at UFC 196 in March 2016, Diaz pulled off an incredible upset when he submitted McGregor in the second round. In the rematch at UFC 202 in August 2016, McGregor got revenge when he won a majority decision in what was an all-out war between the two rivals. In the five years since then, we have been rumored to get a trilogy fight at points, but so far we haven’t seen it. That being said, both McGregor and Diaz still continue to take shots at each other on social media.