MMA News
UFC, Strikeforce veteran Renato Sobral opens up on struggles with CTE
Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019
Renato Sobral — better known by the nickname “Babalu” — is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The former UFC and Strikeforce fighter opened up on these struggles, which he believes most fighters are doomed to endure, in an interview with Brazil’s PVT. ”Today I can’t walk a straight line, I lost sight of my left eye, which is a big price (to pay),” Sobral said (translation via MMA Fighting). “I have no balance today, my balance is almost zero. When I’m fighting, when I’m in a jiu-jitsu tournament or in training, it feels that my balance is normal again, but it’s complicated on a daily basis. But the guys that start fighting have to know that the price to pay will come one day. For everyone. People only talk about the good things today, what they have accomplished, what happened, but what about what you’ve lost? What happened to you?
VIDEO | Watch the trailer for the first comedy special from UFC vet Brendan Schaub
Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub has a stand-up comedy special on the way, and on Tuesday afternoon, he dropped the trailer for this Showtime-backed project. See it below:
Dana White meets with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn
Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019
UFC President Dana White has recently laid out plans to venture into the boxing business, and on Monday, he gave us reason to believe these plans could actually be taking shape. On his official Twitter account, the UFC boss shared a photo of himself and English boxing promoter Eddie Hearn meeting at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas.
UFC Ottawa official fight card and start time
Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019
On Saturday night, the UFC will return to our screens with its second offering from the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Canada. Featuring a key lightweight contender bout, and some of Canada’s top MMA talent, this UFC Ottawa card looks like it could be a solid night of fights. The card will be topped by a lightweight showdown between ranked contenders Al Iaquinta and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Iaquinta will look to build on the momentum of a recent defeat of Kevin Lee, while Cowboy, who also fought on the UFC’s first show in Ottawa, will look to make it two in a row after stopping Alex Hernandez in January.
Bellator 220 medical suspensions: Rory MacDonald facing long-term sit
Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019
Bellator 220 was a great card, highlighted by some fun back-and-forth fights, and handful of grisly finishes. While these factors made for an entertaining card, they unfortunately also meant that several fighters on the bill were handed lengthy medical suspensions by the California State Athletic Commission. Main event fighter Rory MacDonald, for example, could be out 180 days after his back-and-forth fight with Jon Fitch, while Veta Arteaga is facing a lengthy sit due a cut sustained in her loss to Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, and Liam McGeary has been sidelined due to a broken jaw.
Greg Hardy sets sights on Stipe Miocic, Derrick Lewis, after first UFC victory
Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019
Over the weekend, disgraced former NFL player Greg Hardy picked up his first UFC victory, thumping the completely passive Dmitrii Smoliakov to a first-round TKO. With this first UFC win in the books, Hardy is already setting his sights on some of the UFC heavyweight division’s premier players, such as former champ Stipe Miocic and former title challenger Derrick Lewis.
Champion vs champion rematch in the works between Ayaka Hamasaki and Jinh Yu Frey for RIZIN 16
Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019
In MMA’s lightest division, the spotlight isn’t too bright in North America, but the fighters are still lighting things up. Leading the way for them in the West is the Invicta FC atomweight champion, Jinh Yu Frey (8-3). After six fights in the promotion, the seventh was her crowning moment when she defeated Minna Grusander via unanimous decision. Since then, Frey has successfully defended the title once by defeating Grusander in their instant rematch.
Adli Edwards vs. Terrance McKinney in the works for Contender Series
Nolan King - April 29, 2019
Another 145-pound matchup is in the works for this summer’s return of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. A bout between featherweight up-and-comers Adli Edwards (6-1) and Terrance McKinney (6-1) is in the works for July 23, sources tell BJPenn.com. North Carolina’s Adli Edwards is coming off of four straight victories entering his first Contender Series appearance. In his last outing, Edwards stormed into enemy territory, defeating previously unbeaten Brendon Marotte at Combat Zone 70.
Bellator 220 fighter salaries: Rory MacDonald leaves as highest earner
Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019
Bellator 220 went down on Saturday night as it was headlined by two big title fights in the respective welterweight and flyweight divisions. In the co-main event, we saw “The Ilimanator” Ilima-Lei Macfarlane extend her perfect record to 10-0 as she picked up her third title defense by finishing Veta Arteaga in the third-round by TKO (doctor’s stoppage). Macfarlane landed a vicious elbow to the forehead of her opponent that opened a cut that was too severe for the fight to continue.
Report | UFC 243 set for Sydney, Australia with Robert Whittaker vs Israel Adesanya in the works
Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019
Generally, when an interim champion is crowned, we know exactly what fight will be next for them. That, of course, is none other than the undisputed champion. When “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya (17-0) defeated Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 in a fight of the year candidate, he became the new UFC interim middleweight champion. Thus making an encounter with the undisputed champ, Robert Whittaker (20-4), inevitable.
Mike Perry threatens Colby Covington in profane rant: 'I will poke you in the eye'
Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019
Colby Covington recently claimed Mike Perry would be sent back to the regional circuit if he couldn’t get by Alex Oliveira at UFC Fort Lauderdale. In the end, Perry did get past Oliveira, defeating the Brazilian by decision in a Fight of the Night winning scrap. And speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, he took the opportunity to reply to Covington.
Corey Anderson to Joe Rogan: UFC gives Jon Jones 'special treatment'
Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019
Back in December, an anomaly on a Jon Jones drug test caused the entire UFC 232 card to be moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on a weeks’ notice. UFC light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson fought on that card, beating Ilir Latifi by unanimous decision, and was not exactly pleased about this last-minute inconvenience. Given that this was not the first bit of drama caused by Jon Jones over the last few years, it should come as no surprise that Corey Anderson has some strong opinions on the UFC light heavyweight champ — and on the way he’s treated by the UFC.
Uber driver confesses to murder of UFC veteran
Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019
Earlier this month, UFC veteran Rodrigo de Lima was reportedly hit and killed by an Uber driver in Belem, Brazil. The driver, Jefferson Roger Maciel Barata, has now confessed to this crime. He has been arrested and will reportedly be charged with murder (via MMA Fighting).
Jack Hermansson outlines goals after defeating 'Jacare'
Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019
Jack Hermansson picked up the biggest victory of his career over the weekend, walloping former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to a unanimous decision victory in the short-notice UFC Fort Lauderdale main event. While this victory surprised a great many onlookers, Hermansson himself sees it as the result of more than a decade of hard work.
Neiman Gracie calls 'bulls**t' on Rory MacDonald's post-fight comments
Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019
Shortly after battling Jon Fitch to a draw in the main event of Bellator 220, Bellator welterweight champ Rory MacDonald made some comments that cast doubt on his future as a fighter. Most notably, he suggested that he no longer has the desire to hurt people — certainly an issue for those who make their living fighting in a cage.
The biggest winners from UFC Fort Lauderdale
Mike Straus - April 29, 2019
UFC Fort Lauderdale is in the books. We learned a lot from last weekend’s 13-fight card from Southeastern Florida. Let’s take a deeper look at the fighters who did themselves the biggest favors over the weekend in Florida.
UFC 242 set for September 7 in Abu Dhabi, Khabib Nurmagomedov expected to headline
Chris Taylor - April 28, 2019
The octagon will return to Abu Dhabi on September 7 for the promotions UFC 242 event and it is expected that Khabib Nurmagomedov will headline the card. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke the news moments ago on Twitter.
Darrion Caldwell vs Kyoji Horiguchi 2 official for Bellator 222
Drake Riggs - April 28, 2019
The first RIZIN Fighting Federation event of 2019 went down on April 21 with RIZIN 15. It was a great night of fights as per usual from the Japanese based MMA leader. In action, that night was none other than the RIZIN bantamweight king, Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2) who defeated Ben Nguyen via first-round TKO. The dominant 28-year old entered the ring for the first time since he won the title on New Year’s Eve 2018 at RIZIN 14 when he defeated the Bellator champion, Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell (13-2) in a crazy comeback effort.