MMA News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 15, 2020

Daniel Cormier feels Gilbert Burns would’ve bested Kamaru Usman based on “The Nigerian Nightmare’s” UFC 251 performance. Usman put his UFC welterweight championship on the line against Jorge Masvidal on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It was a mostly one-sided affair, although Masvidal showcased improved takedown defense and hung in tough until the final frame. Usman earned the unanimous decision victory for his second successful title defense.

Adam Martin - July 15, 2020

A rematch between light heavyweights Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis has been set for an upcoming Bellator event that takes place on September 11. Combate was the first to report the rematch between Machida and Davis and confirmed it will be the main event for the Bellator event. The fight will be set for three rounds as Bellator does not do non-title five-round fights as the UFC does. Bellator is returning to action next week after having missed the last five months due to the coronavirus pandemic and the promotion has been busy announcing fights for its return to television screens.

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.

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 President Dana White recently provided an update on a long-awaited middleweight title fight between champ Israel Adesanya and challenger Paulo Costa. Fans have been dying to see Adesanya and Costa, both undefeated, fight for middleweight gold for close to a year.

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.

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.

Natasha Hooper - July 15, 2020

New UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan has been getting into it with resurgent contender Cody Garbrandt on social media. “No Love” was less than impressed with Yan’s UFC 251 performance against Jose Aldo which he won by TKO in the fifth round. Garbrandt was quick to call out the star but “No Mercy” was just as quick to fire back.

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

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.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2020

Dan Ige is no stranger to being the betting underdog. Ige has been the underdog in his past three fights against Edson Barboza, Mirsad Bektic, and Kevin Aguilar and yet won all three contests. But, entering his July 15 main event against Calvin Kattar, it will be the toughest opponent he has faced and he’s excited Kattar took the fight given he is lower in the rankings.

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

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.

Adam Martin - July 14, 2020

UFC president Dana White says it’s still possible Khabib Nurmagomedov fights in September following the death of his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov, the UFC lightweight champion, is set to take on interim champ Justin Gaethje at UFC 253 on September 19. However, after his father passed away recently after a battle with COVID-19, many fans and media members speculated that the fight could be pushed back to a later date to give Nurmagomedov time to mourn his father’s passing.