MMA News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 4, 2025

Bo Nickal kept things short in his reaction following a second-round TKO loss to Reinier de Ridder. The UFC middleweight fight was held inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. Nickal was undefeated going into the fight, but de Ridder’s pressure ending up winning the evening. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder scored the finish after landing a series of strikes that was topped off by a knee to the body that sent Nickal crashing to the mat.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 4, 2025

Cory Sandhagen believes he’s closer than ever to securing a UFC title opportunity. Sandhagen went one-on-one with former UFC Flyweight Champion Deiveson Figueiredo this past Saturday. The bantamweight tilt headlined UFC Des Moines inside Wells Fargo Arena. The bout ended in the second round after Figueiredo suffered a knee injury, which Sandhagen believes he caused by getting the better of his opponent in a leg lock position.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 4, 2025

Belal Muhammad has reflected on his favorite moment during his UFC title win against Leon Edwards. Muhammad challenged Edwards for the UFC Welterweight Championship on July 27, 2024. Muhammad executed his game plan flawlessly, scoring a unanimous decision victory thanks to his superior grappling. This marked the first UFC title win for Muhammad.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 4, 2025

Arman Tsarukyan has explained shutting down a UFC bout offer against a top-10 lightweight. Tsarukyan’s next fight has not been revealed since he pulled out of a scheduled UFC lightweight title fight back in January. Tsarukyan was planned to challenge Islam Makhachev in a highly anticipated rematch. Hours before the weigh-ins, Tsarukyan informed UFC officials that he suffered a back injury and had to be removed from the card.

Harry Kettle - May 4, 2025

UFC middleweight contender Reinier de Ridder has called for a showdown with Sean Strickland after his win at UFC Des Moines. Since entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Reinier de Ridder has looked like an absolute machine. That was especially true in his co-main event contest with Bo Nickal last night. He looked dominant from start to finish, and he was eventually able to secure the finish as a result of some really nasty knees that the American wrestling sensation simply couldn’t handle.

Harry Kettle - May 4, 2025

UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen believes he caused Deiveson Figueiredo’s knee injury in his win at UFC Des Moines. Last night in the main event of UFC Des Moines, Cory Sandhagen showed up. He looked calm, confident and composed, and he managed to finish Deiveson Figueiredo. While some have opted to look at it as an injury-based TKO, others have correctly identified that it was Cory’s work that led to the injury. In picking up the win, he has vaulted himself right back into title contention – and in some style, too.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

The Octagon returned to Iowa for tonight’s UFC Des Moines event, and four fighters wound up taking home performance bonuses. The fight card was headlined by a key men’s bantamweight matchup between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. The highly anticipated contest resulted in an extremely impressive showing from Sandhagen. After landing some solid low kicks and jabs in the opening couple of minutes, ‘The Sandman’ promptly took the fight to the floor and landed some solid ground and pound before the horn sounded to end the opening round. Then, in round two, Cory Sandhagen once again got Deiveson Figueiredo to the floor and wound up finishing him with a knee bar submission hold. The bout was ruled a TKO stoppage due to injury, but there was no doubt that ‘Figgy’ tapped from the leg lock.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

Tonight’s UFC Des Moines fight card was headlined by a key men’s bantamweight matchup between Cory Sandhagen and Deiveson Figueiredo. Sandhagen (18-5 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since suffering a decision loss at the hands of Umar Nurmagomedov this past August in Abu Dhabi. Prior to that setback, ‘The Sandman’ had strung together a three-fight winning streak, which included a TKO victory over Song Yadong.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

Tonight’s UFC Des Moines fight card was co-headlined by a highly anticipated middleweight bout between Bo Nickal and Reinier de Ridder. Nickal (7-1 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since this past November at UFC 309, where he outpointed veteran Paul Craig on route to a unanimous decision victory. The 29-year-old had previously gone a perfect 4-0 inside of the Octagon, earning stoppage wins in three of those four contests.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC Des Moines results, including the middleweight co-main event between Reinier de Ridder and Bo Nickal. Nickal (7-1 MMA) was last seen in action this past November at UFC 309, where he outpointed veteran Paul Craig on route to a unanimous decision victory. The 29-year-old has gone a perfect 4-0 thus far inside of the Octagon, earning stoppage wins in three of those four contests.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC Des Moines results, including the welterweight bout between Santiago Ponzinibbio and Daniel Rodriguez. Ponzinibbio (30-9 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since scoring a TKO victory over Carlston Harris this past January in Las Vegas. That win snapped a two-fight losing skid for the ‘Argentine Dagger’, who had previously suffered Octagon defeats to Muslim Salikhov and Kevin Holland respectively.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

We have you covered for all of tonight’s UFC Des Moines results, including the lightweight bout between Jeremy Stephens and Mason Jones. Stephens (29-22 MMA) has spent the past few years competing under the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship banner, where he went a perfect 3-0 while scoring TKO victories over Eddie Alvarez and Jimmie Rivera.

Chris Taylor - May 3, 2025

The Octagon returns to Iowa for tonight’s UFC Des Moines event, a 12-bout fight card headlined by Cory Sandhagen vs. Deiveson Figueiredo. Sandhagen (17-5 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since suffering a decision loss at the hands of Umar Nurmagomedov last August in Abu Dhabi. Prior to that setback, ‘The Sandman’ had strung together a three-fight winning streak, which included a TKO victory over Song Yadong.

Harry Kettle - May 3, 2025

Cory Sandhagen has given his thoughts on what Sean O’Malley can do to defeat Merab Dvalishvili in their rematch. In the main event of UFC 316, Sean O’Malley will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship. Dvalishvili was able to take the belt from ‘Suga’ last year in their first encounter, with many wondering whether or not the outcome would be different if they were to run it back. Well, next month, we’ll get the chance to find out.

Harry Kettle - May 3, 2025

Arman Tsarukyan heavily implied that he still wants to collide with Islam Makhachev after his win at Karate Combat last night. On Friday night, Arman Tsarukyan grappled against Makasharip Zaynukov at Karate Combat 54 in Dubai. It served as the first time that he’s been in active competition since withdrawing from his title fight against Islam Makhachev, which was scheduled to take place at the start of the year. Alas, Arman was able to rebound well here, defeating Zaynukov in a tight and tense affair.

Harry Kettle - May 3, 2025

UFC legend Daniel Cormier has revealed that he wishes he had gone out on top in his mixed martial arts career. When it comes to talking about the greatest of all time, a few names tend to pop up pretty frequently. This includes Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Amanda Nunes, Demetrious Johnson and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, there are also a few fringe names that are introduced into the conversation every now and then – with one of them being Daniel Cormier.

BJ Penn Staff - May 2, 2025

Former UFC middleweight Sam Alvey just knocked out Tyrone Spong. Yes, you read that sentence correctly.

BJ Penn Staff - May 2, 2025

Muhammad Mokaev may no longer be part of the UFC roster, but there is no questioning his talent. The Russian-born Englishman signed the UFC with a 5-0 record in 2022. It quickly became apparent he was a world class talent. Within a few years, he had beaten the likes of Tim Ellliott, Alex Perez and Manel Kape to improve his pro MMA record to 13-0. However, things then took a turn for the worst — and not because he lost a fight.