MMA News

BJ Penn Staff - April 16, 2025

We’ve seen a lot of former Bellator fighters make the move to the UFC over the last few years. From the sounds of it, another fighter is preparing to make that same move. For many years, Bellator was considered the second biggest promotion in MMA. However, the promotion was recently purchased by the Professional Fighters League (PFL). While some Bellator fighters have been successfully integrated into the PFL roster, a great many have expressed dissatisfaction with the a lack of fight offers from PFL brass. That includes decorated MMA veterans like Gegard Mousasi and Corey Anderson. It also includes Patricio “Pitbull” Freire, who came up short in his UFC debut against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314 last weekend. Aaron Pico also makes the list. The wrestler-turned-KO-artist recently signed with the UFC himself, though his debut is not yet set.

Cole Shelton - April 16, 2025

Ilia Topuria is confident his next fight will be against Islam Makhachev. Topuira vacated his featherweight title as he planned to move up to lightweight. The thought was that he would face Makhachev for the belt right away. However, the lightweight champ has said he doesn’t want to fight Topuria and instead believes he needs to get a win first.

BJ Penn Staff - April 16, 2025

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington is known as one of the biggest trash talkers in MMA. Some of his remarks have been somewhat questionable in terms of veracity, and his recent remarks about Hollywood actress Megan Fox definitely fit that bill. Covington recently linked up with streamer N3on, and during their conversation, claimed he got a DM from Fox.

BJ Penn Staff - April 16, 2025

Some hardcore MMA fans may remember Alex Nicholson from his brief stint as a member of the UFC roster. Well, Nicholson has long since left the promotion, but is still competing regularly in combat sports, and his latest fight ended with a little extra drama. Nicholson, a training partner of “Platinum” Mike Perry, debuted in the UFC in 2016, suffering a devastating submission loss to Misha Cirkunov at light heavyweight. He then dropped down to middleweight. In his first middleweight fight, he scored a first-round KO over Devin Clark — one of the best wins of his career. Unfortunately, he was then defeated by Sam Alvey and Jack Hermansson, and was sent packing from the promotion.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 16, 2025

Kyoji Horiguchi has no problem fighting Alexandre Pantoja for the right price and prize. Horiguchi and Pantoja are longtime training partners. The two have been able to avoid fighting one another, as Horiguchi had been competing under the Rizin banner. Now that Horiguchi has returned to the UFC, it’s left the door open to fight Pantoja, who happens to be the reigning UFC Flyweight Champion.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 16, 2025

Newly minted UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski has revealed why a fight with Movsar Evloev is intriguing to him. Volkanovski silenced the doubters who thought he’d be on the receiving end of a third straight knockout loss. He defeated Diego Lopes via unanimous decision on April 12 to become a two-time UFC featherweight titleholder. The title victory comes after Volkanovski suffered back-to-back finishing losses against Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria.

Harry Kettle - April 16, 2025

UFC president Dana White has defended the promotion’s decision to book a rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley. As we know, Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley are set to run it back at UFC 316 on June 7. It will serve as an immediate rematch for O’Malley, who hasn’t competed since his initial loss to Merab. While it wasn’t all one-way traffic, the majority of people believe that the Georgian decisively won the contest. Since then, he’s also successfully defended the strap against Umar Nurmagomedov.

Harry Kettle - April 16, 2025

UFC featherweight contender Movsar Evloev has given his thoughts on Yair Rodriguez claiming that he should receive a title shot after UFC 314. For the longest time now, Movsar Evloev has been a top contender in the UFC’s featherweight division. Despite that, he hasn’t really been given his flowers by a lot of MMA fans. Many aren’t that impressed by his style and don’t believe he’s deserving of a crack at the title. However, now that Alexander Volkanovski is once again the champion, you’d have to think he’d be more than happy to give someone like Movsar a shot.

Harry Kettle - April 16, 2025

Former World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall has admitted that he’s been humbled in the past by training with Tom Aspinall. As we know, Tom Aspinall is one of the most dangerous fighters in mixed martial arts. He is the interim UFC heavyweight champion, and he’s hunting down the undisputed gold which is currently held by Jon Jones. Ever since arriving in the promotion, he has done nothing but impress the masses with the quality and efficiency of his performances inside the Octagon.

Cole Shelton - April 15, 2025

Henry Cejudo believes that had Max Holloway fought Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 314, the Hawaiian would have gotten his hand raised. Holloway is 0-3 against Volkanovski, and he was dominated in the third fight, as it was the most lopsided fight of their trilogy. Yet, Cejudo believes Volkanovski didn’t look as good as he once did, which is why he thinks Holloway would have beaten him.

BJ Penn Staff - April 15, 2025

UFC star Islam Makhachev does not want to fight Ilia Topuria — at least, if his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov is to be believed. Makhachev is the UFC lightweight champion. He is also the top fighter in the promotion’s hallowed pound-for-pound rankings. That list also includes Topuria, who is a touch lower down the list.

BJ Penn Staff - April 15, 2025

Sean O’Malley has been training with one of the best fighters in MMA history ahead of his UFC 316 rematch with Merab Dvalishvili. UFC 316 goes down on June 7 in Newark, New Jersey. O’Malley will meet Dvalishvili in the main event.

BJ Penn Staff - April 15, 2025

It’s been a little while since a UFC star appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The wait is over, thanks to a recent visit from former featherweight champion Ilia Topuria. Topuria is one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC right now, sporting a perfect 16-0 record. He has spent the bulk of his career competing in the featherweight division. In early 2024, he captured the division’s title with a knockout of featherweight legend Alexander Volkanovski. Later in the year, he defended the title with a knockout of another legend in Max Holloway. He was the first man to stop Holloway with strikes.

Cole Shelton - April 15, 2025

Marvin Vettori shared a heartfelt message after his younger brother Patrick Vettori died in a house fire at age 30. According to Italian news station TgCom24, the fire broke at Patrick’s apartment in Mezzocorona. He reportedly had put a pan on the stove but fell asleep on the couch, leading to the accident.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 15, 2025

Ian Machado Garry believes he had something to do with Shavkat Rakhmonov’s inability to compete for gold at UFC 315. Belal Muhammad is scheduled to put the UFC Welterweight Championship at stake against Jack Della Maddalena on May 10. It was revealed that Rakhmonov couldn’t accept the title fight due to an injury. The UFC ended up pulling Maddalena from a planned UFC London bout with Leon Edwards, so that the UFC 315 main event could be made official.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 15, 2025

Amanda Nunes appears to be heading for a return to the Octagon at some point, and she’d prefer to fight Kayla Harrison. Nunes retired from pro MMA competition after scoring a unanimous decision victory over Irene Aldana on June 10, 2023. Just 10 days later, the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship was vacated. The current titleholder is Nunes’ old foe Julianna Pena.

Cole Shelton - April 15, 2025

The UFC was in Miami, Florida, for a stacked UFC 314 card on Saturday. The main event saw the vacant featherweight title up for grabs as Alexander Volkanovski took on Diego Lopes. UFC 314 also saw Paddy Pimblett taking on Michael Chandler in a five-round co-main event fight at lightweight.

Harry Kettle - April 15, 2025

UFC legend Dustin Poirier has given his thoughts on who Paddy Pimblett could face off against next inside the Octagon. On Saturday night, Paddy Pimblett really arrived in the UFC’s lightweight division. He’s been in the promotion for a good few years now but against Michael Chandler, he proved that he is elite. He was able to get the better of his opponent in pretty much every department, and in the third round, he was able to finish the job with a nasty knee followed by strikes on the ground. You may not like him, but you’ll have a hard time not respecting him after a performance like that.