MMA News

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

UFC featherweight fighter Justin Jaynes was cut by the UFC on his birthday, says his coach at Xtreme Couture, Eric Nicksick. Jaynes most recently made headlines when he admitted he bet his entire $25,000 purse on himself in June for his fight against Charles Rosa. Although Jaynes put up a valiant effort and nearly had a third-round comeback submission win, he ultimately came up short and lost a split decision. The loss to Rosa dropped Jaynes’ UFC record to 1-4 with a four-fight losing skid. Typically, when a fighter loses four in a row, they will be released by the promotion, so it’s not surprising that he was released considering his record. However, what is especially odd about this cut is that the UFC allegedly waited until his 32nd birthday on August 10 to inform Jaynes that he was cut for a fight that took place back on June 26.

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira says he is open to a future boxing match, saying that “I want to test myself” in the ring. Oliveira is the best lightweight fighter in MMA right now and the UFC champion, so he has plenty of opponents to face in the Octagon — including UFC superstar Dustin Poirier — before he even thinks about making a move to boxing. But in a recent interview with AG Fight, Oliveira admitted that he is interested in making the move to the sport of boxing in the future. According to “Do Bronx,” he is intrigued by participating in a boxing match.

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

UFC middleweight Luke Rockhold criticized the UFC and Dana White for creating a narrative “for the fans to want to hate on fighters.” Rockhold is set to make his return to the Octagon for the first time in over two years in November at UFC 268 when he takes on rising contender Sean Strickland. Rockhold has voiced his frustrations about the way the UFC has handled their relationship with him in the past, and now that he’s coming back to the Octagon, he continues to vent his issues.

Cole Shelton - August 16, 2021

Cheick Kongo still believes he should’ve gotten an immediate rematch against Ryan Bader. At Bellator 226 in September of 2019, Kongo fought Bader for the heavyweight title and the fight ended in a No Contest due to an eye poke. Since then, Kongo has only competed once losing a split decision to Tim Johnson last October.

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

Former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub defended youngster Sean O’Malley, telling matchmaker Sean Shelby to treat UFC fighters like “human beings.” O’Malley is one of the biggest young stars in the UFC right now, and the promotion reportedly wants him to fight veteran Frankie Edgar at UFC 268 in November at Madison Square Garden in New York City. However, “Suga” reportedly turned the fight down, citing his desire to fight in Las Vegas instead of New York due to tax reasons. As well, O’Malley said his coach, Tim Welch, will not be available to corner him the week of UFC 268. In response to O’Malley turning down the fight, the UFC matchmaker Shelby apparently had some strong words for O’Malley, including taking a shot at his friendship with 6ix9ine.

Harry Kettle - August 16, 2021

Former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor has given his thoughts on what he believes to be the most effective martial art. “The Notorious” has had many great successes throughout the years in his mixed martial arts career, and while he may seemingly be on the downward turn after consecutive losses to Dustin Poirier as well as a broken leg, he still has the kind of spirit that will lead anyone to believe he can rise back to the top once again.

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

Deiveson Figueiredo trashed “p*ssy” UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno, while saying that he demands a trilogy fight for the 125lbs title. Figueiredo and Moreno have fought in a pair of memorable fights over the past year. The first time they met was in the main event of UFC 256 last December, with the pair fighting to a majority draw in a “Fight of the Year” candidate. Figueiredo actually would have won the fight had it not been for a point deduction for a low blow. Because it was a draw and since it was such an action-packed fight, the UFC booked the immediate rematch for UFC 263 in June, and this time, Moreno won the belt with a rear-naked choke submission win.

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor says that he will be “walking straight into a title shot” in his return to the Octagon next year. Bisping suffered a broken leg and lost via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July. He has had surgery on his leg and is expected to return to active competition in 2022. During a recent Q&A session with fans on his Twitter, McGregor was asked by a fan if he would consider coming into boxing instead when he returns, presumably because he wouldn’t have to throw leg kicks like in MMA. McGregor, however, is convinced that his leg is going to be stronger than ever for kicking, and so a return to MMA is in the cards for him, and he also believes he will walk right into a title shot.

Adam D Martin - August 16, 2021

Conor McGregor fired back at Michael Bisping over his recent Daniel Cormier comments, saying that “I collect commission on all of his fights.” In the wake of his loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, McGregor and Cormier have been going at it on social media. Taking to his own podcast to defend Cormier, Bisping then told McGregor that DC would “rip him limb from limb” if the two ever met in the Octagon. During a Q&A session with fans on Sunday evening, one fan asked McGregor what he thought about Bisping’s recent comments. The Irishman replied to the poster, though he later deleted the comment. Check out what “Notorious” said in response to Bisping below.

Christopher Taylor - August 15, 2021

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor says his new titanium shin bone has him feeling like Arnold Schwarzenegger from Terminator 2. McGregor (22-6 MMA) suffered a nasty leg injury during his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier last month at UFC 264. Due to fractures in both his tibia and fibula, the Irishman had to undergo surgery.

Adam Martin - August 15, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker explained why the promotion’s 145lbs champion AJ McKee is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA right now. McKee recently finished Patricio Pitbull in the main event of Bellator 263 to become the promotion’s new 145lbs champion, as well as the winner of the $1 million dollar grand prize for winning the Bellator World Featherweight Grand Prix. Just 26 years old, McKee is now a perfect 18-0 in MMA. it’s the longest undefeated streak for a fighter in a major MMA promotion, and as far as McKee’s boss Coker goes, it proves that he’s among the best.

Adam Martin - August 15, 2021

Former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez revealed the “mental manipulation” he was put through by his former trainer and mentor, Joshua Fabia. Sanchez left Fabia a few months ago after he was released by the UFC following a disagreement about his medicals. Speaking on a recent Instagram Live session, Sanchez delved into the reasons he finally decided to leave Fabia. According to “The Nightmare,” Fabia was trying to mastermind a plan where he would get a major settlement with the UFC for Sanchez’s injuries. Half of the money would have gone to Sanchez and half would have gone to Fabia. According to Sanchez, the deal mostly would have benefited Fabia.

Adam Martin - August 15, 2021

UFC welterweight title contender Vicente Luque says he is open to being the backup for Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington 2 at UFC 268. Luque is one of the hottest fighters at 170lbs right now as he’s won his last four fights in a row — all by stoppage — including a D’Arce choke submission win over Michael Chiesa at UFC 265 that moved him into the top-five of the UFC welterweight division. Luque has since then called for a title shot against the champion Usman, but the champ is set to take on Covington in a rematch later this year at UFC 268. Although Luque knows that he will have to wait and see what happens in the Usman vs. Covington fight before he gets his crack at the belt, the Brazilian says he is open to being the backup fighter just in case something happens to either fighter. Check out what Luque recently told TMZ Sports.

Adam D Martin - August 15, 2021

UFC analyst Michael Bisping sent a warning to superstar fighter Conor McGregor, saying that “Daniel Cormier will pull you limb from limb.” McGregor has been taking shots at Cormier recently on social media, accusing the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion of being drunk on a UFC set. It’s clear that McGregor does not like Cormier and has been doing everything he can to get under his skin. But if you ask Bisping, McGregor is making a huge mistake by going after Cormier.

Adam D Martin - August 15, 2021

Former UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes explained why MMA is more dangerous than bare-knuckle boxing, in his opinion. Mendes recently announced that he will come out of retirement and fight for BKFC. We haven’t seen “Money” fight since a 2018 knockout loss to Alexander Volkanovski, and the end of his UFC career did not go well for him as he lost three of his final four fights in the promotion — all by knockout. However, after taking nearly three years off to rest and recover, Mendes has the itch to compete again and he will next take his talents to BKFC.

Adam D Martin - August 15, 2021

An MMA referee was disturbingly late in stopping a fighter from being choked unconscious at this weekend’s EFC 88 in South Africa. In a battle of rookie flyweights to open up Saturday’s EFC 88 card in Johannesburg, Julio Plaatjies choked out Teboho Ntene in the first round of their fight with a rear-naked choke submission. However, while it appeared that Ntene had been choked unconscious and Plaatjies told the ref that was the case, the referee refused to stop the fight. The fighter kept the rear-naked choke on for more time than necessary and the fight went completely unconscious. Watch the video of the stoppage below and see for yourself how late it was.

Adam D Martin - August 15, 2021

Street-fighting legend Dada 5000 looked back on his Bellator fight with the late Kimbo Slice, admitting that “I died twice in that ring.” Dada 5000 fought Kimbo Silce at Bellator 149 in February 2016 in Houston, Texas. Slice scored the TKO win in the third round, but as soon as the fight was over, Dada 5000 was put on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest during the fight. Dada 5000 has spoken about the incident in the past, but now, over five years later, he has delved into what happened to him in more detail during a recent interview with Jimmy Smith of Sirius XM’s Fight Nation.

Adam D Martin - August 15, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz says that he “lost respect” for Anderson Silva for making him cut to 195lbs for their upcoming boxing match. Ortiz will take on Silva in an eight-round professional boxing match on September 11, as part of the Triller fight card that also features Oscar de la Hoya and Vitor Belfort in the main event. Just the announcement of Ortiz fighting Silva alone was surprising, but the fact the fight was booked at 195lbs is even more surprising considering Ortiz is now 46 years old and has never weighed that little in his entire MMA career. In fact, according to Ortiz in an interview with TMZ, he is not happy that Silva has forced him to cut down to 195lbs.