MMA News

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori called out Paulo Costa following his loss at UFC 263, saying “I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy.” Vettori lost a unanimous decision to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in their rematch that served as the main event of UFC 263. For Vettori, this was a tough loss because it’s his second defeat to the champ, which means that he won’t be fighting for the title anytime soon unless Adesanya loses it to someone else or moves up to 205lbs permanently. With the belt not in his grasp anytime soon, Vettori is already looking ahead at some of the other top contenders in the UFC middleweight division for his next fight, and the one name who is has zeroed in on is Paulo Costa, the No. 2 ranked middleweight.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Bigfoot Silva suffered a TKO loss in his return to MMA this past weekend in Serbia. Silva traveled to Sabac, Serbia to take on Quentin Domingos at Megdan Fighting 9. For Silva, this was his first MMA fight since 2017 when he was knocked out by Vitaly Minakov in Russia. Since then, he has competed for GLORY kickboxing and BKFC, losing by knockout to Rico Verhoeven and Gabriel Gonzaga, respectively. But after taking the last two years off to rest up, Silva was feeling confident heading into this fight that he could get back into the win column. Unfortunately for Silva, the fight ended like many of his fights do, with him getting stopped with strikes by his opponent, though some have questioned this stoppage.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad praised the “legend” Demian Maia following his win at UFC 263, calling the Brazilian a “class act.” Muhammad won a unanimous decision over Maia on the main card of UFC 263 this past Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona. For Muhammad, this was arguably the biggest win of his career, and by taking out Maia, he will now be ranked in the top-10 of the UFC welterweight division. For Maia, however, this could have been the last time we saw him in the Octagon, as UFC president Dana White suggested later his time with the UFC is over.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo reacted after losing his belt to Brandon Moreno by third-round submission at UFC 263. Figueiredo entered the rematch with Moreno as the champion after they fought to a draw in a 2020 “Fight of the Year” candidate at UFC 256 last December. But after struggling on the scale to make weight on Friday, Figueiredo looked slow in the fight and wasn’t able to get anything going. On the other hand, Moreno looked fast and sharp and he put together the most complete performance of his MMA career to date when he finished Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke. It was an absolutely phenomenal performance by Moreno to steal Figueiredo’s title away from him, and now he’s the new champion.

Harry Kettle - June 14, 2021

Tyron Woodley has issued his response after Dana White’s recent remarks regarding his shift from mixed martial arts to boxing. It was announced recently that Woodley will be taking on Jake Paul in an exhibition boxing match on August 28, with many hoping Tyron can be the one to put an end to Jake’s rise to prominence in combat sports.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

Henry Cejudo praised his former training partner Brandon Moreno after winning the UFC flyweight title from Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263. Moreno finished Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion. Following the event, Moreno ran into Cejudo backstage and the former UFC flyweight champ congratulated Moreno on his victory. The two were former training partners and Moreno even helped Cejudo prepare for his fights with Demetrious Johnson and Jussier Formiga. Cejudo was nothing but happy for his longtime friend.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Paul Craig received his BJJ black belt following his spectacular finish over Jamahal Hill at UFC 263. Craig pulled guard in the first round of his main card fight against Hill on Saturday night and quickly proceeded to pull off one of the most stunning finishes we have seen on the ground in quite some time. Craig was able to grab a hold of Hill’s arm and he dislocated it with an armbar, but the referee didn’t see the injury, nor did he see Hill’s attempt at a tap, and the fight continued on, with Craig raining down hammer fists while having Hill tied up with a triangle. The referee, Al Guinee, then stopped the fight due to TKO (punches).

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori issued a statement following his unanimous decision loss to champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 263. Vettori was confident he had the skillset to beat Adesanya in a rematch after they fought to a split decision three years ago, but the champion proved why he’s the best middleweight in the world with a clear unanimous decision victory.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC lightweight contender Drew Dober reacted after his “Fight of the Night” defeat to Brad Riddell on the preliminary card at UFC 263. Dober and Riddell went to war in the most exciting fight of the night at UFC 263, a match that saw both men stand and bang for 15 minutes with each other and win $50,000 each for “Fight of the Night” for putting on a show for the fans. For Dober, it was a disappointing loss against a talented, albeit unranked opponent in Riddell. Following the fight, Dober took to his social media to react to the loss to Riddell and thank the fans for all of their support.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC fan favorite Nate Diaz wants to fight again in three or four months following his unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263. Diaz dropped a hard-fought decision to Edwards in a five-round fight at UFC 263. After clearly losing the first four rounds of the fight, Diaz nearly made a comeback late in the fifth round when he rocked Edwards in the final minute of the bout, but ultimately, he came up short and lost 49-46 unanimously on all three judges’ scorecards. But while he didn’t get his hand raised against Edwards, Diaz is hoping to get back into the Octagon soon.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC light heavyweight Jamahal Hill praised “warrior” opponent Paul Craig following his brutal submission loss at UFC 263. Hill had his arm dislocated by a first-round armbar submission attempt by Craig in their UFC 263 pay-per-view fight. Craig pulled guard and was able to grab a hold of Hill’s arm, and he was able to dislocate it with a nasty submission. However, referee Al Guinee didn’t see the arm dislocate, and he also missed Hill tapping out, and the fight continued for a few more seconds, with Paul pounding Hill out with hammer fists and winning via TKO. It was an absolutely brutal submission and it temporarily cost Hill the use of his arm. Fortunately, the arm wasn’t broken, but he lost the fight as the favorite nonetheless.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

Welterweight veteran Demian Maia is likely done with the UFC following his latest loss to Belal Muhammad, says UFC president Dana White. Maia lost a unanimous decision to Muhammad in a main card fight at Saturday’s UFC 263 pay-per-view card. After winning the first round by pushing Muhammad against the fence and securing one takedown, Maia really faded as the fight went on. Muhammad was able to stuff nearly all of his takedowns from there on out and also outstruck him on the feet as “Remember the Name” won a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. For Maia, this was his second straight loss in the UFC following a KO defeat to Gilbert Burns last March.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White reacts to Nate Diaz’s performance at UFC 263, saying “he’s going to be asking us for a six-round fight next time.” Diaz went the full five rounds with Leon Edwards at UFC 263 and dropped a unanimous decision at the end of the 25 minutes. However, while he lost the first four rounds of the fight, Diaz came on strong in the fifth round and nearly knocked Edwards out in the final minute of the fight. Diaz has always been known for his legendary cardio, which is one of the reasons why he wanted this fight to be scheduled for five rounds, and the UFC obliged and booked this fight against Edwards for 25 minutes, which nearly changed the result.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he is open to booking a welterweight matchup between Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal following UFC 263. Edwards defeated Nate Diaz via unanimous decision at UFC 263 to extend his unbeaten streak to 10 fights in a row (9-0, 1 NC). However, White has remained adamant that the next title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will go to Colby Covington next, not Edwards. With Edwards not being next in line for a title shot, that means that Edwards could potentially take another fight instead of waiting around. And if that’s the case, then one fighter that is available for a fight could be his rival Masvidal.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he is not committed to giving Lauren Murphy a title shot against flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko next. Murphy defeated Joanne Calderwood via split decision on the UFC 263 preliminary card for her fifth win in a row, and she wants to fight for the belt next. Murphy hasn’t fought the champion Shevchenko yet so it would be a fresh fight, and based on her five-fight win streak it’s hard to ignore what she has been doing in the division. But as far as the UFC bossman White is concerned, he isn’t sure what he wants to do yet with Murphy.

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

Jon Jones revealed his end goal with his UFC heavyweight run, saying “I’ve always had this thing where I wanted to win 20 championships.” Jones is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and universally regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. He has competed solely at 205lbs for his entire MMA career, but Jones is expected to move up to heavyweight for his next fight in order to challenge UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. However, Jones has been involved in a public pay dispute with UFC president Dana White over how much money he will make to fight Ngannou, and at this point, the fight hasn’t been booked yet. Instead, White has confirmed that Ngannou will fight Derrick Lewis in a rematch at UFC 265 this summer.

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

John McCarthy scolded referee Al Guinee for failing to notice that Jamahal Hill had dislocated his arm in UFC 263 fight with Paul Craig. The UFC headed to Glendale, Arizona for UFC 263, and the athletic commission hired Guinee, a local referee on the regional circuit there, to handle several of the fights on the UFC 263 pay-per-view card. One of the fights that Guinee was assigned to was the Hill vs. Craig light heavyweight bout that opened up the card. However, the referee made a major blunder when he failed to notice that Hill had dislocated his arm against Craig and didn’t stop the fight immediately. He also failed to notice that Hill had indicated a tap, which led to the fighter taking far more damage than he needed to take, and McCarthy wasn’t happy.

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White provided an update on his relationship with Paulo Costa, saying “he said some nutty sh*t and I straightened it out.” Costa recently blasted the UFC over fighter pay, suggesting that he never signed a contract to fight Jared Cannonier this summer because he wanted to get paid more for the fight. Costa compared UFC fighters to YouTubers-turned-boxers such as Jake Paul, who are making huge money these days. In response to those comments from Costa, White quipped that Costa should have started a YouTube channel when he was a teenager.