MMA News
John McCarthy believes second attempt at UFC 249 will be successful
Tom Taylor - May 5, 2020
Veteran MMA referee turned Bellator commentator John McCarthy believes the UFC’s second stab at promoting UFC 249 will be a success. UFC 249 was originally expected to go down in Las Vegas on April 18. As the coronavirus crisis took hold, however, the card was briefly relocated to the Tachi Palace Casino on the same date, and ultimately canceled altogether.
Tyron Woodley set to compete on new season of "The Titan Games" with The Rock
Natasha Hooper - May 5, 2020
Tyron Woodley is joining the cast of “The Titan Games,” a show created by pro wrestling legend Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. According to The Rock, Woodley will be joining the cast of professional athletes for the upcoming season of The Titan Games on NBC. The sophomore season will premier on Memorial Day, May 25, with a two-hour episode.
Fan favorite Matt Brown returns to the Octagon on May 16
Natasha Hooper - May 5, 2020
Matt Brown will return to action in a rescheduled welterweight matchup with Miguel Baeza on May 16. The UFC fan favorite will collide against “Caramel Thunder” Baeza at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The card will air on ESPN/ESPN+.
PHOTO | Henry Cejudo appears to have suffered a nasty cut ahead of UFC 249
Harry Kettle - May 5, 2020
UFC Bantamweight Champion Henry Cejudo appears to have suffered a nasty cut prior to UFC 249 this weekend. While Cejudo’s “cringeworthy” persona may have been at the forefront of the conversation over the last year or so in regards to his career, the focus has now shifted to his potentially career-defining showdown with Dominick Cruz this Saturday night. Cruz, the former king of the division, will challenge for the UFC Bantamweight Championship in the co-main event of UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Justin Gaethje believes he will knock Tony Ferguson "out cold" at UFC 249
Cole Shelton - May 4, 2020
Justin Gaethje believes he will knock out Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 249 to win the UFC’s interim lightweight title. Gaethje originally stepped up on short notice to fight Ferguson on April 18 for the interim belt. But, the event was postponed and he will now get the fight with basically a full training camp under his belt. So, for “The Highlight” that gives him full confidence that he will ultimately knock Ferguson out.
UFC 251 officially postponed
Adam Martin - May 4, 2020
Alexander Volkanovski will have to wait a while to defend his belt in Australia as the upcoming UFC 251 pay-per-view event has been officially postponed. The UFC men’s featherweight champion Volkanovski was being targeted for a title defense against Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 251, which was set for June 6 at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. Instead of having his first title defense come in his home country, Volkanovski won’t get that opportunity anymore as UFC 251 has been officially postponed.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik plans to KO Francis Ngannou in "one of the best fights of 2020"
Cole Shelton - May 4, 2020
Jairzinho Rozenstruik is expecting to continue his knockout streak on Saturday night when he takes on Francis Ngannou at UFC 249. Rozenstruik and Ngannou were expected to headline UFC Columbus and then fight on April 18, but those events were canceled. Now, for Rozenstruik, he finally gets his wish of fighting Ngannou on May 9.
Tony Ferguson says he hasn't "had this confidence in a long f*****g time" ahead of Justin Gaethje fight
Cole Shelton - May 4, 2020
Tony Ferguson is confident he’ll be able to beat Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 249. Ferguson will battle Gaethje for the interim lightweight title, where he enters the bout as a slight favorite. Although he was originally supposed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov, “El Cucuy” says it doesn’t matter as he is always preparing for multiple opponents at once.
Daniel Cormier sends a message to Stipe Miocic: "Hurry up and sign the contract"
Mike Pendleton - May 4, 2020
Former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is eager to get his trilogy fight with Stipe Miocic. Cormier defeated Miocic back in 2018 at UFC 226 to become a two-weight world champion, holding both the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles at the time of his astonishing first-round knockout of Miocic. The two would eventually rematch in August of 2019 at UFC 241 and this time it would be Miocic who came away victorious, winning back the heavyweight title. With the matchups split between the two, the UFC and both fighters want a trilogy to happen and now “DC” is calling for the champion to hurry up.
Marlon Vera tells UFC Jacksonville haters to "f*ck off"
Adam Martin - May 4, 2020
UFC bantamweight Marlon Vera fired back at the critics of UFC Jacksonville in an interview with CBC Sports, telling haters of the event to “f*ck off.” Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, UFC president Dana White was adamant the show would go on, and he lived up to his promise. Starting this weekend, the UFC will hold four events in Jacksonville: UFC 249 plus three UFC Jacksonville Fight Night cards set to take place over the course of May. Considering the circumstances, the events are under intense scrutiny from a certain section of fans and the media who are worried about the potential spread of the coronavirus. Nevertheless, the show will go on for the UFC.
Donald Cerrone reflects on first Anthony Pettis fight: “He kicked my liver out of my body”
Natasha Hooper - May 4, 2020
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has an opportunity to avenge a loss in a rematch against Anthony Pettis at UFC 249. In recent fights, the UFC veteran has suffered three back-to-back TKOs against Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. However, his first knockout loss came from Pettis. The former lightweight champion body kicked his way to victory in the first round of their 2013 bout. Now, the pair will get the chance to run it back on the revised UFC 249 card on May 9. Cerrone intends on getting back to winning form (without suffering a body kick in the process).
Francis Ngannou admits "it’s been very exhausting, very frustrating" to train through bout cancelations
Tom Taylor - May 4, 2020
Francis Ngannou is days out from a crucial heavyweight matchup with fellow knockout artist Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The bout will go down on the main card of UFC 249 this Saturday. While this matchup will finally go down this Saturday, Ngannou originally expected it to happen much sooner.
Full betting odds released for UFC 249
Adam Martin - May 4, 2020
The sportsbooks have released the full slate of betting odds for this weekend’s UFC 249 event, including the main event of Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje. UFC 249 was originally set to take place on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York, and later at Tachi Palace in Leemore, California. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, both of those previous versions of the card were canceled. But UFC president Dana White remained adamant all along that the show would go on, and when the state of Florida declared sports an essential business, it allowed the UFC the opportunity to hold its events there.
UFC Kazakhstan canceled, Petr Yan and Marlon Moraes now in limbo
Adam Martin - May 4, 2020
The upcoming UFC Kazakhstan card in June has been canceled, leaving main event bantamweights Petr Yan and Marlon Moraes in limbo. UFC Fight Night 177 was set to take place on June 13 at Astana Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The card was set to be headlined by Yan and Moraes, but according to a report from MMAFighting.com, the event had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. That means that Yan and Moraes will now have to be rescheduled to another card.
Justin Gaethje: “I don’t think I would have taken the fight against Khabib on short notice"
Tom Taylor - May 4, 2020
Justin Gaethje is days out from a short-notice interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, but he says he might not have accepted a short-notice fight with Ferguson’s originally scheduled foe, undisputed lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Ferguson was originally expected to fight Nurmagomedov on April 18, but when Nurmagomedov got stranded in Russia, Ferguson was booked for a short-notice fight with Gaethje. The April 18 card was subsequently canceled, and Ferguson and Gaethje were rebooked for a fight on May 9.
Jon Jones explains why he dislikes Colby Covington more than Cormier, Adesanya or Danis
Tom Taylor - May 4, 2020
UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has no shortage of haters, doubters, and rivals. Of all his enemies, however, he seems to dislike Colby Covington the most. On Sunday night, Jones took some time to interact with his fans on Twitter. One fan asked Jones who he dislikes the most out of Colby Covington, Israel Adesanya, Daniel Cormier and Dillon Danis.
PHOTO | Paulo Costa is as jacked as ever during coronavirus pandemic
Tom Taylor - May 4, 2020
The gym closures and social distancing measures associated with the coronavirus pandemic have not stopped UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa from maintaining his physique. The Brazilian middleweight, who is expected to get the next crack at the division’s reigning champion Israel Adesanya, is looking as monstrous as ever, despite the challenges created by the pandemic.
VIDEO | Conor McGregor dominates boxing champ in MMA sparring session
Tom Taylor - May 4, 2020
Back in 2013, ahead of his fight with Max Holloway, Conor McGregor stepped into the cage for an MMA sparring session with former WBC featherweight champ Patrick Hyland. Suffice it to say it did not go well for the boxer. See the pair’s lopsided training session below: