MMA News

Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski ripped “unprofessional” opponent Brian Ortega ahead of their title fight at UFC 266. Volkanovski puts his 145lbs belt on the line this Saturday night when he faces his TUF 29 coaching rival Ortega for featherweight supremacy. Volkanovski enters this fight on a 19-fight win streak, which includes a perfect 9-0 mark in the UFC alone, while Ortega enters this fight with a 7-1, 1 NC record in the Octagon. Fans are very much looking forward to this fight, one that pits two of the best featherweights on the planet against one another, not to mention two men that do not necessarily like each other.

Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley says that he is going to honor his word and get the “I Love Jake Paul” tattoo this weekend. Woodley and Paul met last month in a boxing match in Cleveland, Ohio, and Paul ended up winning the fight via split decision. Because Paul won the fight, Woodley was supposed to get the tattoo, but instead, he used it as a bargaining chip to secure a rematch. Woodley told Paul that if he agreed to the rematch, that he would get the tattoo. But at this point, Paul has not accepted the rematch with Woodley as he’s currently pursuing a fight against Tommy Fury in boxing instead. However, it appears that Woodley wants to be a man of his word and honor his bet with Paul to get the tattoo saying that he loves his opponent.

Cole Shelton - September 23, 2021

Martin Sano Jr. is eager to finally make the walk to the Octagon. Sano Jr., a protégé of Nick Diaz, has not fought since 2017 and is 0-2-1 in his last three fights. However, he still is 4-2-1 as a pro and has fought for promotions likes Bellator and WSOF, but when Diaz was announced to make his return, he got his pupil in Sano Jr. signed to the UFC and to fight Matthew Semeslberger at UFC 266.

Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021

Former UFC featherweight champion and current bantamweight title contender Jose Aldo welcomed new challengers, saying to them “Let’s fight!” Aldo last fought at UFC 265 in August when he won a unanimous decision over fellow Brazilian Pedro Munhoz. It was Aldo’s second straight win at 135lbs following a decision nod over Marlon Vera last year. Following the win over Munhoz, Aldo used his post-fight interview as an opportunity to call out former bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. However, it appears as if Dillashaw is banged up and likely won’t be able to fight before the end of the year. If it’s Aldo’s goal to step back into the cage before 2021 is up, then he will likely have to fight someone else instead, and that’s why he is now welcoming new challengers.

Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul shared the DMs he sent to Bellator fighter Dillon Danis while issuing a final warning to rival Tommy Fury. Paul took to his social media on Wednesday to release a two-minute clip of him talking about both Danis and Fury. Check out what “The Problem Child” said in the video below.

Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021

UFC president Dana White reacted to Conor McGregor’s botched first pitch at the recent Chicago Cubs Game, saying “I’ll never do it. Never.” McGregor was a special guest earlier this week at Wrigley Field in Chicago and he threw out the first pitch ahead of the Cubs’ game, which turned out to be a terrible throw that saw the ball completely miss the plate. It was an awful throw by McGregor and he has been getting flak on the internet from fans about how bad his arm is, but as far as White goes, McGregor’s terrible throw just shows you that throwing a pitch is a lot hard than it looks.

Adam D Martin - September 23, 2021

The Bellator 266 fighter salaries have been officially released to the public, and light heavyweight Yoel Romero banked the largest payday. MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the salaries for Bellator 266 after obtaining the information from the California State Athletic Commission. The highest-paid fighter on the card was Romero, who took home $150,000 flat for his split decision loss to Phil Davis in the main event of Bellator 266. Despite the fact that Davis was the one who won the fight, he received only $100,000 for the victory. That’s because Bellator has a flat pay system for many of its top fighters and not the traditional show and win bonuses for them. So in the case of Romero and Davis, they would have been guaranteed those purses win or lose.

Harry Kettle - September 23, 2021

UFC featherweight Brian Ortega has explained how TJ Dillashaw’s big comeback win over Cory Sandhagen has helped him heading into UFC 266. This Saturday night, Ortega will return to the Octagon for the first time in almost a year to take on Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC featherweight championship. It’ll serve as his second bite at the cherry to win the strap, almost three years on from when he fell short against Max Holloway.

Christopher Taylor - September 22, 2021

Nick Diaz says he “took harder punches watching” his little brother fight Leon Edwards at UFC 263 than he ever has in sparring or any fights. Diaz will make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon on Saturday when he squares off in a rematch with Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. The pair originally collided seventeen years ago in a welterweight bout at UFC 47, with the Stockton native emerging victorious by way of second round knockout.

Christopher Taylor - September 22, 2021

Former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has been forced to withdraw from her slated UFC main event with Ketlen Vieira. Tate (19-7 MMA) and Vieira (11-2 MMA) were scheduled to clash in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 195 on October 16. However, according to a recent report from Sherdog, ‘Cupcake’ has been forced out of the contest after contracting Covid-19.

Christopher Taylor - September 22, 2021

Nick Diaz will make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon on Saturday when he squares off in a rematch with Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. The pair originally collided seventeen years ago in a welterweight bout at UFC 47, with the Stockton native emerging victorious by way of second round knockout. This time around Diaz and Lawler will compete at middleweight, a decision that was made earlier this week.

Christopher Taylor - September 22, 2021

New footage has surfaced of Bellator fighter Dillon Danis being choked by security prior to his arrest in New Jersey. On Monday afternoon a video surfaced on social media (see that here) showing ‘El Jefe’ struggling with police officers before eventually being handcuffed and taken into custody.

Cole Shelton - September 22, 2021

Robbie Lawler didn’t seem to mad that Nick Diaz asked for their UFC 266 fight to be at middleweight. Diaz is set to return to the Octagon in a highly-anticipated rematch against Lawler. Although both men are known for their time as welterweights, on Tuesday, it was revealed their fight was changed to a middleweight fight due to Diaz asking for it. For Lawler, he says he’s a little light but he’s ready to fight.

Cole Shelton - September 22, 2021

Paige VanZant turned down a chance to fight for Bellator to sign with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship but she admits she’d love to fight for Bellator. VanZant has gone 0-2 in BKFC and her next fight could be do-or-die for her career with the sans gloves promotion. She says she only has one fight left on her deal and after that, she is open to signing with Bellator.

Adam D Martin - September 22, 2021

Pound-for-pound boxing great Canelo Alvarez shared his honest thoughts on YouTuber Jake Paul, suggesting that “maybe it’s good for boxing.” Alvarez is the top P4P boxer on the planet right now, and he next steps into the boxing ring when he fights the unbeaten Caleb Plant on November 6. Ahead of the fight, Alvarez and Plant took part in the pre-fight press conference. Following the presser, Alvarez spoke to reporters and he was asked questions on a number of topics, including the YouTuber Paul.

Cole Shelton - September 22, 2021

In the co-main event of UFC 266, Valentina Shevchenko is looking to defend her flyweight belt as she faces Lauren Murphy. Ahead of the fight, the champ is a massive -1250 favorite while the challenger is a +750 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. To no surprise, the pros are unanimous in thinking Shevchenko remains the flyweight champ, the bigger question for the pros was whether or not the champ finishes the fight.

Adam D Martin - September 22, 2021

UFC president Dana White explained why this weekend’s highly-anticipated Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler 2 fight will now take place at 185lbs. Diaz and Lawler will meet in a rematch 17 years after they first fought at UFC 47 in 2004, where Diaz scored a KO over a young Lawler. All these years later and these two are now set to rematch this Saturday night at UFC 266 in Las Vegas. Originally, the fight was set to take place in the welterweight division. But as we draw closer to the fight, Diaz now wants the fight to take place in the middleweight division. Remember, Diaz hasn’t fought since 2015 against Anderson Silva and that fight was at middleweight. The last time that Diaz fought at welterweight was way back in 2013 and he apparently doesn’t want to cut weight again, according to UFC president Dana White when speaking to reporters this week.

Adam D Martin - September 22, 2021

UFC fan-favorite Nick Diaz will be in welterweight title contention with a big win at UFC 266, says his longtime teammate, Gilbert Melendez. Diaz takes on Robbie Lawler in a five-round, non-title welterweight rematch at UFC 266 this Saturday night. The two rivals previously met way back in 2004 at UFC 47, with Diaz knocking Lawler out 17 years ago. All these years later and the two will now rematch. While neither man is ranked right now, it’s a big enough fight that Diaz’s teammate believes that “The Stockton Bad Boy” will move into title contention at 170lbs with a win.