Exclusive MMA Interviews News
After "hanging with" Khabib and Islam in training, Kyle Crutchmer has the confidence to make a Bellator title run
Cole Shelton - June 7, 2021
Kyle Crutchmer has all the confidence in the world to be a Bellator champion. Crutchmer is coming off his first career loss as he lost a hard-fought decision to Kemran Lachniov at Bellator 249 in October, who is on the newest season of TUF. Although it was Crutchmer’s first career loss, he says he took a lot from it as he learned how to mix in his striking and grappling.
Youssef Zalal expects to finish Sean Woodson to get back into the win column
Cole Shelton - June 3, 2021
Youssef Zalal isn’t putting any pressure on himself ahead of his upcoming fight. On the prelims of UFC Vegas 28, Zalal is set to face Sean Woodson in a very intriguing featherweight bout. After starting out his UFC career 3-0, Zalal is now on a two-fight losing skid and could be fighting for his job. Although he is on a losing skid, he still expected to get tough fights and that’s exactly what he gets in Woodson.
Brian Maxwell eyes stoppage win over Chad Johnson to become an "instant superstar"
Cole Shelton - June 3, 2021
Brian Maxwell never thought he would ever be boxing on a Floyd Mayweather undercard, or boxing former NFL star, Chad Johnson. On Sunday in Miami, Maxwell will have an exhibition boxing match against six-time NFL Pro Bowler in Chad Johnson aka Chad Ochocinco. The retired NFL star is now 43-years-old but has been training boxing for years and will finally take a fight and Maxwell never thought he would be his opponent.
Marcin Tybura eyes KO win over Walt Harris at UFC Vegas 28 to earn top-five opponent
Cole Shelton - June 2, 2021
Marcin Tybura had a phenomenal 2020 and is looking to build off of that on Saturday. After being TKO’d by Shamil Abdurakhimov in April of 2019, he returned in September of that year and was knocked out in just 59 seconds by Augusto Sakai. After the losses, he had a new mindset for fighting and went 4-0 in 2020 with wins over Sergey Spivak, Maxim Grishin, Ben Rothwell, and a TKO win over Greg Hardy.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik eager to right the wrong of his last fight with a "great performance" against Augusto Sakai
Cole Shelton - June 1, 2021
Jairzinho Rozenstruik wasn’t happy with the way he fought his last fight. In the main event of UFC Vegas 20, Rozenstruik suffered a decision loss to Ciryl Gane in a very lackluster fight. Both men rarely threw and for Rozenstruik he says he was disappointed in his performance and is glad to be making a quick turnaround.
Sean Woodson expects to finish Youssef Zalal to "prove I belong" in the UFC: "I have a chip on my shoulder"
Cole Shelton - May 31, 2021
Sean Woodson is looking to remind UFC fans that he’s a problem in the featherweight division. Woodson came into the UFC at 6-0 after winning a flying knee KO over Terrance McKinney on the Contender Series. In his debut, he earned a decision win over Kyle Bochniak. In his second appearance, he took on short-notice replacement Julian Erosa. Early on, he had success but in the third round he lost by submission for his first career loss. Although it was disappointing, he says it was a good learning experience.
Montana De La Rosa expects to "dominate" Ariane Lipski on the ground en route to stoppage win
Cole Shelton - May 31, 2021
Montana De La Rosa knows she has a clear path to victory over Ariane Lipski on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 28. De La Rosa is making a quick turnaround after her draw against Mayra Bueno Silva in February. For the 26-year-old, she still thinks she won the fight but wanted a quick turnaround after the result.
Jared Vanderaa happy with "fun ass fight" against Justin Tafa, in no rush to make move up heavyweight ranks
Cole Shelton - May 27, 2021
Jared Vanderaa was excited when he found out he was fighting Justin Tafa and the scrap lived up to his expectations. Although Vanderaa knew he had the grappling advantage, he wanted to get into a striking fight with Tafa to show off his striking. However, in the fight, Vanderaa suffered a cut in his hairline, but when he saw all the blood rushing down him, he was worried the cut would stop the fight.
Justin Tafa says he’s ‘coming for war’ against Jared Vanderaa at UFC Vegas 27
Andrew Whitelaw - May 22, 2021
Justin Tafa hasn’t been in the UFC long, but his no-nonsense style means he’s fast becoming a fan favourite. The 27-year-old lost a split decision to Carlos Felipe in his last outing. It was an action-packed affair and one which he felt should have gone his way.
Christos Giagos blasts commentary team for being bias towards Sean Soriano, doubles down on Donald Cerrone callout
Cole Shelton - May 21, 2021
Christos Giagos wasn’t a fan of the UFC 262 commentary team. Opening up the card, Giagos fought short-notice replacement, Sean Soriano. Soriano is one of Michael Chandler’s main training partners. Throughout the fight, Giagos believes the commentary team was biased towards his opponent and they weren’t mentioning anything he was doing well.
Jared Vanderaa predicts "spinning wheel kick KO" over Justin Tafa at UFC Vegas 27
Cole Shelton - May 21, 2021
Jared Vanderaa is looking to get his first UFC win in a big way. On the main card of UFC Vegas 27, Vanderaa is set to return to the Octagon against Justin Tafa. In his promotional debut, Vanderaa suffered a TKO loss to Sergey Spivak, but before the fight, “The Mountain” says he was super nervous and nearly puked prior to walking out.
Yancy Medeiros knows UFC Vegas 27 fight is do-or-die for his UFC career, wants Michael Johnson next
Cole Shelton - May 20, 2021
Yancy Medeiros is returning to the Octagon on Saturday for the first time in over a year. Medeiros enters his UFC Vegas 27 scrap against Damir Hadzovic on a three-fight losing streak and on the last fight of his contract. After the Hawaiian lost to Lando Vannata, he realized he needed to make some changes to his team and that is exactly what he did.
Darrion Caldwell expects to finish Leandro Higo again, plans to reclaim bantamweight title later this year
Cole Shelton - May 19, 2021
Darrion Caldwell is focused on reclaiming his bantamweight title. After Caldwell lost back-to-back fights to Kyoji Horiguchi for the RIZIN title and to lose his Bellator belt, he moved up to featherweight to take part in the grand prix. He beat Henry Corrales by decision and then submitted Adam Borics, but lost in the semis to AJ McKee.
Edson Barboza still "not sure what happened" to Shane Burgos, wants main event against top-five opponent
Cole Shelton - May 19, 2021
Edson Barboza still isn’t sure how he got the KO win over Shane Burgos at UFC 262. Opening up the main card, Barboza and Burgos were engaged in a back-and-forth fight. Both men were landing heavy shots. After the second round, many thought it would come down to the final round, but the Brazilian was dealing with a cut on his shin from all the kicks he landed.
Felicia Spencer eyes first-round stoppage over Noma Dumont, uncertain what her future holds in featherweight division
Cole Shelton - May 18, 2021
Felicia Spencer is just looking to fight and isn’t worried about what happens next. On May 22, Spencer returns to the Octagon against Norma Dumont after she was originally supposed to face Danyelle Wolf. Although she has an opponent change, there was never a time when she thought she wasn’t going to fight.
Rob Font plans to frustrate Cody Garbrandt and force him to make a mistake en route to a KO win
Cole Shelton - May 18, 2021
Rob Font is ecstatic to be headlining his first UFC show. In the main event of UFC Vegas 27 on Saturday night, Font is set to take on former UFC bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt. After Font knocked out Marlon Moraes in the first round in December, he called out TJ Dillashaw and Jose Aldo, as he thought Garbrandt would be going down to flyweight. But, when he was offered this fight, it was an immediate yes for the New England Cartel member.
Austin Vanderford expects to drag Fabian Edwards into the "deep waters," believes a win puts him into title contention
Cole Shelton - May 17, 2021
Austin Vanderford is eager to share the cage with Fabian Edwards at Bellator 259 on Friday night. Vanderford is 10-0 and coming off a decision win over Vinicius de Jesus in his third fight in Bellator. Vanderford is currently the third-ranked middleweight while Edwards is ranked fourth. Although they are both up and comers in the division, Vanderford believes the fight makes sense now.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk recalls almost quitting MMA, 'There was no money'
Drake Riggs - May 14, 2021
In some parallel universe, Joanna Jedrzejczyk never goes on the historic run that she did as UFC strawweight champion from 2015 to 2017. But it very well could have been this universe. Every UFC fighter’s last fight before joining the biggest stage in the sport holds significance in their career. For Jedrzejczyk, if she never got her opportunity to shine against Rosi Sexton in London, that could have been it for her time as a competitor.