MMA News

Adam Martin - July 15, 2020

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker wants to fight Tony Ferguson next even though he knows he’ll be taking a trip to the hospital afterward — win or lose. Hooker is coming off of a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Dustin Poirier at UFC on ESPN 12 in a an epic fight that proved he’s among the elite of the lightweight division. Although Hooker lost the decision, he proved he can hang five rounds with one of the best lightweights of all time in Poirier, and Hooker’s stock arguably went up despite the loss.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes wants the division’s champion, Jon Jones, to be stripped of his title. Jones, who has not fought since he defeated Reyes via controversial decision in February, is currently embroiled in a contract dispute with the UFC, and has stated he’s willing to sit out for multiple years if it means improving fighter pay.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2020

The full lineup for Bellator 242, scheduled for July 24 at the Mohegan Sun Arena, has been revealed. Bellator 242 will mark the promotion’s return from a pandemic-related shutdown. The card will be headlined by a fantastic bantamweight showdown between Bellator staple Ricky Bandejas and former UFC talent Sergio Pettis.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 15, 2020

Brendan Schaub is convinced that only Jorge Masvidal stands a chance against Kamaru Usman. On July 11, Masvidal challenged Usman for the UFC welterweight championship. The two competed on the UFC’s first event in its “Fight Island” trip. The title bout closed out UFC 251. Masvidal fought hard and showcased solid takedown defense but Usman stuck to him like glue and had relentless pressure, which helped him earn the unanimous decision.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2020

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has responded to a recent callout from “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung. Volkanovski is riding the momentum of a successful defense against the former champion Max Holloway, which he earned with a closely contested decision at UFC 251.

Harry Kettle - July 15, 2020

According to a recent report from Combate, Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson’s proposed rematch is set to go down on August 7. The two veterans last fought back at Bellator 165 in November 2016, and on that night, Chandler beat Henderson via split decision to retain the Bellator Lightweight Championship. They were first scheduled to run it back in December 2019 for Bellator’s co-promotion event with Rizin in Japan, but an injury for Henderson ensured that didn’t happen.

Natasha Hooper - July 15, 2020

Heavyweight MMA legend Alistair Overeem is set to return to the Octagon on September 5 against Augusto Sakai. News of the bout, which is expected to serve as the card’s main event, was first reported by ESPN.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2020

Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson, former rivals in the UFC middleweight division, got into a heated Twitter skirmish during the UFC 251 broadcast last Saturday night. During this exchange, Henderson referenced his infamous UFC 100 knockout win over Bisping. He also took a shot at Bisping’s bad eye, which was effectively destroyed in a fight with Vitor Belfort.

Harry Kettle - July 15, 2020

UFC lightweight Devonte Smith‘s sister has been shot and killed in Columbus, Ohio during an incident in the early hours of Saturday morning. Dariene Smith was leaving a nightclub with her friends when an unrelated dispute broke out, and when gunshots were fired, Smith was caught in the crossfire. She was taken to Ohio Health Rehabilitation Hospital, but as reported by 10WBNS, she was later pronounced dead.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2020

Henry Cejudo may be retired, but he is still keeping a close eye on his former division. Following Petr Yan scoring a fifth-round TKO win over Jose Aldo to win the vacant bantamweight title, Cejudo took to Twitter to say he sucked. The Russian then told him if they were to fight, he would retire “Triple C” again.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2020

Jorge Masvidal is focused on getting a rematch against Kamaru Usman. In the main event of UFC 251, Masvidal stepped up on six days’ notice to fight Usman for the welterweight title. It was the first time “Gamebred” would be fighting for UFC gold, but he ultimately came up short losing by decision.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2020

Calvin Kattar expects to extend his winning streak and add another stoppage win to his record tomorrow night. In the main event of Wednesday’s July 15 Fight Island card, Kattar is set to battle rising contender, Dan Ige. It is a very interesting fight, but for many, they believe Kattar should’ve fought a higher-ranked opponent. For him, he says he will have to fight them at some point, so he might as well make it now.

Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020

The official UFC rankings have been update in the wake of Saturday’s UFC 251 card in Abu Dhabi, an as expected after such a huge card, there have been some key changes. Most notably, Jorge Masvidal, who came up short to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the UFC 251 main event, took a one-spot tumble down the welterweight rankings. He’s found a new home behind England’s Leon Edwards.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 14, 2020

Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe there was a robbery at UFC 251 but he does think Max Holloway deserved the nod over Alex Volkanovski. In the co-main event of UFC 251, Holloway challenged Volkanovski in a rematch for the featherweight championship. Volkanovski captured the 145-pound gold back in Dec. 2019 with a unanimous decision win over “Blessed.” In the rematch, “The Great” had a tougher time with Holloway but was able to secure the split decision victory.

Adam Martin - July 14, 2020

UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum says he gave stitches to Alexander Gustafsson during a past sparring session between the two rivals. Werdum meets Gustafsson in an intriguing heavyweight bout at a UFC Fight Island event on July 25. Gustafsson will be moving up to heavyweight for the first time in his UFC career and will be looking to bounce back from a submission loss to Anthony Smith last June. As for Werdum, he recently returned to the Octagon with a split decision loss to Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 249 in what was a disappointing showing by the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Adam Martin - July 14, 2020

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade is staying on Fight Island in hopes of taking a short-notice fight in case someone falls off a card. Andrade lost a split decision to Rose Namajunas on the main card of UFC 251 in an entertaining bout that won her a share of “Fight of the Night” and a $50,000 bonus to boot. Although Andrade lost the decision on the judges’ scorecards, it was a very entertaining bout and it showed that she is still one of the top fighters in the division despite losing back-to-back fights to Namajunas and UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang.

Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020

UFC President Dana White has reacted to the massive success of the UFC 251 card, which is reported to have done 1.3M pay-per-view buys. The card, which was headlined by a welterweight title fight between champion Kamaru Usman and short-notice challenger Jorge Masvidal, went down last Saturday on the UFC’s much-discussed Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Adam Martin - July 14, 2020

The opening betting odds have been released for the UFC 252 main card, including the odds for the bantamweight fight between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera. The UFC officially announced the main card for UFC 252 during the UFC 251 broadcast. The promotion’s next pay-per-view event takes place on August 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of the evening features the trilogy fight between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and rival Daniel Cormier. The odds for that bout were previously revealed last fall, with that fight opening as a Pick ’em.