MMA News

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2020

Upcoming UFC bantamweight title challenger Petr Yan has fired a shot at red-hot bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley, and it’s a doozy. Yan targeted O’Malley on Twitter, telling O’Malley to put his long arms—one of his most effective weapons in the cage—where the sun don’t shine.

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2020

Josh Emmett picked up a big unanimous decision win over Shane Burgos in the co-main event of UFC on ESPN 11 last weekend, but it came at a cost. Emmett sustained a litany of serious injuries in the fight, including a severe leg injury in the early moments of the opening round.

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2020

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is set to release a children’s book. Volkanovski announced his book in an interview with 7 News Australia. The book, which will apparently be about his life as a world champion, is targeted for release ahead of his July 11 title fight with Max Holloway.

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2020

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 11 card, and unfortunately, the new edition has generated even more controversy than normal. All over social media, fight fans have been sharing their gripes about the new rankings. The main concern is that Josh Emmett didn’t gain any ground for defeating Shane Burgos in a 2020 Fight of the Year Contender in the card’s co-main event, while Burgos tumbled a ridiculous four spots in defeat. In other words, the fight did nothing for either man in terms of the rankings. Considering Emmett left the Octagon with a litany of injuries, and Burgos put forth an incredible performance in defeat, that’s very unfortunate.

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2020

A UFC cutman is under investigation for wearing a pair of QAnon patches on the broadcast for last weekend’s UFC on ESPN 11 broadcast. For those unfamiliar, QAnon is a far-right group that pushes a conspiracy about “a supposed secret plot by an alleged ‘deep state’ against Donald Trump and his supporters,” per Wikipedia.

Natasha Hooper - June 24, 2020

Max Rohskopf has defended his corner after they insisted he continue to fight despite his decision to quit at UFC on ESPN 11. During last weekend’s preliminary fight card, Rohskopf made his UFC debut against lightweight standout Austin Hubbard. The striking onslaught of his opponent built up and forced the debutante to throw the towel in after the second round. His corner challenged his decision and insisted he fight it out into the third round. Rohskopf continually responded by telling his coach, Robert Drysdale, to “call it” and “I don’t have it.” This gained criticism from members of the MMA community such as Anthony Smith, who felt that the fighter’s coaches should have put an end to the action.

Natasha Hooper - June 24, 2020

Sean O’Malley has claimed that Rebook only paid him $3k as part of their sponsorship deal, despite him generating the company over a million dollars in sales. The UFC’s underpayment of fighters has become a hot topic as of recent, and its sponsorship deal with Reebok is no exception.

Cole Shelton - June 23, 2020

Dan Hooker believes if he knocks out Dustin Poirier this weekend it will make Justin Gaethje look bad. Gaethje and Poirier fought back in 2018 where “The Diamond” scored a fourth-round TKO win. Since then, Poirier went on to fight for the lightweight title while Gaethje is now the interim champion.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has no interest in seeing Mike Tyson fight Jon Jones in MMA, boxing, or any other arena. Last month, the heavyweight boxing legend Tyson, now 53, announced plans for a return to the ring.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

53-year-old boxing legend “Iron” Mike Tyson has shared some brand new training footage, and he looks absolutely lethal. Tyson has been the talk of the combat sports world of late, having recently laid out plans for a return to the ring.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 23, 2020

Michael Bisping isn’t ragging on Max Rohskopf but he does feel the young fighter will regret quitting at UFC on ESPN 11. Rohskopf collided with Austin Hubbard in the opening bout on the UFC on ESPN 11 card. The action took place this past Saturday night (June 20). It was clear that Hubbard was too much for Rohskopf and the fighter told his coach, Robert Drysdale that he was done. Rohskopf ended up telling referee Mark Smith that he wanted out of the fight and the bout was stopped.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

Combate Americas today announced that it will return to live television with a sports industry-first, interactive new Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight series from a state-of-the-art closed set in Miami, Fla. on Friday nights, beginning August 28, and continuing with two special events on Sept. 11 and Sept. 25 in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. The events will air live on television in the U.S. in Spanish on Univision (12 a.m. ET/11 p.m. CT) and TUDN USA (12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT), in English on AXS TV (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT) and in Mexico on Televisa Canal 5 (11 p.m. local time).

Adam Martin - June 23, 2020

UFC welterweight contender Geoff Neal said he’s frustrated with his long layoff and admitted that he went back to his second job as a server to make money. Neal is currently the No. 11 welterweight in the UFC rankings but he is having major troubles getting another fight lined up. Despite being a perfect 5-0 in the UFC and coming off of a huge TKO win over Mike Perry at UFC 245 last December, Neal told James Lynch of theScore that no one wants to fight him because he is such a dangerous fighter yet ranked in the bottom half of the top-15.

Adam Martin - June 23, 2020

The full betting odds have been released for Saturday night’s UFC on ESPN 12, featuring a main event between lightweights Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker. The five-round main event sees Poirier look to bounce back after his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, while Hooker will look to add to his three-fight win streak after defeating Paul Felder in his last outing. In the co-main event, a pair of fan-favorite welterweights go at it as the striker Mike Perry takes on the grappler Mickey Gall.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

Kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki, a member of the UFC light heavyweight division, has provided an update for his fans after close to two years away from competition. Saki has not been in action since a shocking knockout loss to Khalil Rountree in July of 2018. Speaking on Instagram on Tuesday, the Turkish knockout artist provided an update for his followers, explaining that he recently underwent the first of two surgeries to repair injured elbows.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

The medical suspensions for last Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 11 card have been released, and as expected, co-main event star Josh Emmett is facing a long sit. Emmett battled Shane Burgos in the UFC on ESPN 11 co-main event. While he ended up winning a unanimous decision, Burgos didn’t make it easy on him. Emmett wound up leaving the Octagon with a litany of serious injuries. Those injuries could keep him out of the cage for 180 days.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

If Dan Hooker defeats Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC on ESPN 12 this weekend, he believes there’s only three opponents that make sense for his next fight. Hooker feels that a win over Poirier should earn him a lightweight title shot, which would mean a fight with the winner of the upcoming title unification bout between undisputed champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champ Justin Gaethje.

Tom Taylor - June 23, 2020

Josh Emmett picked up an important victory and a $50,000 bonus check at UFC on ESPN 11 last Saturday, but it came at a cost. Emmett met fellow top-10 featherweight contender Shane Burgos in the card’s co-main event. The pair battled tooth and nail for three wild rounds, with Emmett ultimately capturing a unanimous decision victory. Both men earned bonuses for the fight, which instantly stood out as a 2020 Fight of the Year contender.