MMA News

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

Robert Whittaker is up next for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in his next title defense, confirmed UFC president Dana White. Whittaker was expected to be next in line to fight Adesanya following three straight wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum, but he had to turn down the title shot against Adesanya at UFC 263 for several reasons. According to Whittaker, the turnaround following the Gastelum fight in April was too soon for him to fight again in June, especially since he needed to quarantine once he got home to Australia. With Whittaker not being able to take the fight for June 12, the UFC instead got Marvin Vettori to fight Adesanya, and the champ defended his title with a unanimous decision victory at UFC 263.

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 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 featherweight Chase Hooper issued a statement following his loss at UFC 263: “I always give it my all and leave everything in the cage.” Just 21 years of age, Hooper is one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster, but he entered his UFC 263 fight against Steven Peterson with a 2-1 record in the promotion. A talented Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, Hooper defeated Daniel Teymur in his UFC debut via TKO and also submitted Peter Barrett via heel hook in his last outing, which sandwiched a unanimous decision loss to Alex Caceres in between. With Hooper being super young and improving his game, he entered the fight with Peterson as a very slight favorite to win. However, the fight did not go his way, and Peterson ended up winning a clear decision.

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 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

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul reacted to the fights at UFC 263, claiming that he will knock out Nate Diaz after he KOs Tyron Woodley. Paul has become one of the biggest names in combat sports these days after winning several boxing matches over the likes of Ben Askren and Nate Robinson, and this summer he takes on the former UFC welterweight champion Woodley. Paul has often been tweeting during the UFC cards as of late, and it was no different this weekend at UFC 263. Following the fight between Diaz and Leon Edwards, Paul took to his social media to claim that he will knock Diaz out, once he gets through with Woodley after their boxing match on August 28.

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 slammed Tyron Woodley ahead of the Jake Paul boxing match, saying that he hasn’t won an MMA fight in three years. Woodley recently concluded his UFC contract following four straight losses to Vicente Luque, Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns, and Kamaru Usman. Not long after this contract expired, Woodley agreed to terms with Paul for a boxing match later this summer. The two will now meet on August 28 in a highly-anticipated boxing match between the YouTuber Paul and the former UFC welterweight champion Woodley. But while the fight seems destined to be a pay-per-view blockbuster, it doesn’t appear as though White is a fan of it.

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

Leon Edwards reacted after UFC president Dana White reaffirmed that Colby Covington is next in line for UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman. Edwards defeated Nate Diaz via unanimous decision in a five-round fight at UFC 263 on Saturday night. The win was Edwards’ ninth victory in a row, save for a No Contest with Belal Muhammad earlier this year. The Brit looks like he is ready to compete for a title and he’s hoping that he gets the opportunity to get his rematch with the champ Usman later this year. But according to White, the next title shot is still going to go to Covington.

Christopher Taylor - June 13, 2021

Israel Adesanya had a brief scare in tonight’s rematch with Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, this after getting caught in a rear-naked choke. After seemingly cruising through the opening two rounds of his rematch with Vettori, Adesanya was taken down in the early moments of round two. ‘The Italian Dream’ quickly transitioned to the champs back and proceeded to lockup a rear-naked choke. However, ‘Stylebender’ miraculously broke free from the hold and instantly transitioned into top position.

Christopher Taylor - June 12, 2021

Nate Diaz returned to the Octagon for the first time in over a year and a half this evening at UFC 263 for a welterweight bout with Leon Edwards. Diaz (20-13 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since suffering a TKO loss to Jorge Masvidal in November of 2019. Prior to that setback, ‘The Stockton Slugger’ had earned a unanimous decision victory over former lightweight title holder Anthony Pettis.

Chris Taylor - June 12, 2021

The Octagon returned to Arizona for tonight’s UFC 263 event, a fourteen-bout fight card headlined by a rematch between Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori. The middleweight title fight proved to be a dominant showing from Adesanya. The champ was able to seemingly stifle the grappling of Marvin Vettori, which left the Italian standing in Izzy’s wheelhouse. Although ‘Stylebender’ did not deliver on the finish that he promised, he won every round on all three of the judges scorecards.

Christopher Taylor - June 12, 2021

Light heavyweight prospect Jamahal Hill has issued a statement following his nasty TKO loss to Paul Craig at tonight’s UFC 263 event. Hill (8-1 MMA) had entered Saturday’s contest with hopes of keeping his perfect record in check. In his most recent previous this past September, ‘Sweet Dreams’ scored a second-round TKO victory over Ovince Saint Preux to extend his then-perfect record to 8-0.