MMA News

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

UFC champ Kamaru Usman fired back at Conor McGregor, telling him to “be quiet before I call Poirier or Khabib or Diaz to finish you again.” McGregor did a Q&A with fans this weekend and during one point in the conversation, he said that he will go up to 170lbs and spark the champ, Usman. “The Nigerian Nightmare” saw the comments from McGregor and fired back at him in a tweet of his own.

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.

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.

Harry Kettle - August 16, 2021

Ali Abdelaziz has claimed the reports linking Khabib Nurmagomedov with a move to a Russian football club are “fake news”. Over the course of the last few days there have been rumblings that Khabib, who retired from professional mixed martial arts last year, has formally signed a contract with Russian third division side FC Legion Dynamo.

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.

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

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul explained why Tyron Woodley training boxing with Floyd Mayweather is actually a “disadvantage” for his rival. Paul takes on Woodley on August 29 in Cleveland, Ohio in what marks Paul’s fourth professional boxing match and Woodley’s debut in the sport. It is expected to be one of the biggest combat sports events for summer 2021, and both men have been training hard for the fight. As part of his training camp, Woodley has been working with the legendary boxer Mayweather in an attempt to gain more boxing skills before the big fight against Paul. But if you ask Paul, working with Mayweather may ultimately prove to be a disadvantage for Woodley, as the former Disney star explained in a recent interview with TMZ Sports.

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

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

New UFC 264 footage shows Conor McGregor telling Dana White of his pre-fight injury, admitting “I had been dealing with it the whole camp.” McGregor suffered a broken leg against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 264, which led to the Irishman losing the fight via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage). It was his second straight loss against “The Diamond,” but unlike the second fight where Poirier left no doubt about the stoppage with a brutal second-round finish, this time around there are some question marks about the way the fight ended due to McGregor having been injured before entering the cage. “Notorious” has admitted that he had fractures heading into the fight but he chose to stay on the card and ended up paying for it with the injury TKO loss.

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

AKA head trainer Javier Mendez explained how money and fame “one hundred percent” changed former UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov retired earlier this year from MMA with a perfect 29-0 record in the sport, including a 13-0 mark in the Octagon alone. The Russian started off at the bottom of the UFC when he first joined the promotion back in 2012 before quickly making a name for himself in the Octagon. By 2018, Nurmagomedov was fighting UFC superstar Conor McGregor in a superfight and making a lot of money doing so. In addition to the money that Nurmagomedov made inside the Octagon, he also made a lot of money outside of it from business ventures to speaking appearances. He’s been an incredible success story and it’s proof that if you are talented and work hard in this world that good things can happen.

Christopher Taylor - August 14, 2021

Joe Rogan harped on fans suggesting that Nate Diaz dropped the ball by not going after Leon Edwards after he hurt ‘Rocky’ at UFC 263. Diaz (20-13 MMA) and Edwards (19-3 MMA) collided in a five-round welterweight bout at June’s UFC 263 event in Arizona.