MMA News

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2020

The UFC is feverishly attempting to get back to regularly scheduled programming despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. That means many fighters will be getting the call to compete during the pandemic. Not all fighters, of course, are going to be willing to put themselves and their loved ones at risk of infection. Speaking to MMA Fighting, MMA manager Brian Butler-Au explained that, to his knowledge, fighters aren’t being penalized or punished if they decline to fight during the pandemic.

Natasha Hooper - April 24, 2020

Aljamain Sterling feels “left behind by the UFC” due to Dominick Cruz’s title shot against Henry Cejudo. The bantamweight champion, Cejudo, was scheduled to defend his title against Jose Aldo at UFC 250. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Aldo was forced to stop his training camp in Brazil and ultimately withdrew from their bout. The UFC rushed to find a replacement, and the division’s former champion, Dominick Cruz, stepped up to the plate.

Natasha Hooper - April 24, 2020

Leslie Smith, who was scheduled to compete on the canceled Bellator 241 card, has revealed Bellator paid her more than double the $20,000 the fighters on the ill-fated UFC London card received for their canceled fights. All MMA events have been thrown up in the air due to the coronavirus pandemic. Bellator decided to postpone its events for the foreseeable future—including the Bellator 241 event Smith was supposed to fight Jessy Miele on. The UFC has also put its events on hold and canceled the UFC London card on March 21. However, UFC president Dana White intends on returning to action next month with a revised UFC 249 card.

Christopher Taylor - April 23, 2020

Bellator fighter Dillon Danis took to social media earlier today where he proclaimed that the next time he sees Ariel Helwani, he plans on dropping him. The jiu-jitsu standout, Danis, took to Twitter with the following message for the popular ESPN journalist.

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2020

Jimi Manuwa is interested in making his return to the Octagon against Luke Rockhold. Manuwa has not fought since UFC Stockholm last June where he suffered a vicious head kick knockout loss to Aleksandar Rakic. It was his fourth straight loss including three by knockout. But, he has since hinted at a return and even told BJPENN.com he is looking to return and compete again inside the Octagon.

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2020

Justin Gaethje says he wasn’t happy the UFC announced he would be fighting on May 9 before he was ever offered the bout. Gaethje originally agreed to fight Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18 for the interim lightweight title. Yet, the event was canceled and the promotion moved the event to May 9.

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2020

Felicia Spencer is confident she has what it takes to beat Amanda Nunes. Spencer was expected to battle Nunes for the featherweight belt at UFC 249 on May 9. Yet, the fight was postponed after Nunes said she wouldn’t be fighting during the pandemic. The Canadian, Spencer, is now in a wait and see approach as to when the fight will happen. But, the delay has not derailed her confidence.

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2020

Weili Zhang is one of the newer UFC champions but she has been undefeated inside the Octagon. The China native won the belt last August with a quick knockout win over Jessica Andrade. She then defended her title in an absolute war against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248. Zhang has shown her knockout power but has also proven she has the cardio to go five hard rounds and keep coming forward. She also has good takedown defense and solid jiu-jitsu leaving her hard to beat. But, the strawweight division has a plethora of challenges like Tatiana Suarez, Rose Namajunas, and rematches with Jedrzejczyk and Andrade.

Adam Martin - April 23, 2020

UFC lightweight contender Alexander Hernandez admits that he may have contracted the coronavirus from his head coach, but still planned on fighting anyway. Hernandez was set to fight Islam Makhachev at the original UFC 249 card in Brooklyn in what would have been one of the biggest fights of his career to date. When the coronavirus pandemic meant that travel restrictions around the world were tightened, the UFC called upon Omar Morales to fight Hernandez instead, at the rescheduled card in Tachi Palace.

Adam Martin - April 23, 2020

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is already thinking about retirement and says he has “four of five more years” left of fighting in MMA. Johnson is universally regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters to ever compete in mixed martial arts. The ONE Championship Flyweight Grand Prix champion is next set to take on the promotion’s flyweight champ Adriano Moraes at a ONE event on May 29 in Manila, though that event is doubtful due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jason Kindschy - April 23, 2020

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”531983″ player=”21002″ title=”BJJ with BJ Step Through The Passage Drill ” duration=”30″ description=”BJ Penn demonstrates “Step Through The Passage Drill “” uploaddate=”2020-03-18 23:38:19″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/15717/thumb/531983_t_1584574708.png” contentUrl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/15717/sd/531983.mp4″”] In this segment of BJJ with BJ, “The Prodigy” shows a simple yet effective drill to help develop guard passing.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2020

The UFC London card, which was scheduled to go down on March 21, was unfortunately one of several fight cards to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after the card was canceled, reports surfaced that the fighters who were scheduled to compete on the bill were paid for their efforts. They had, after all, undergone expensive training camps for the event.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2020

Ali Abdelaziz sees two key areas where his client Justin Gaethje can beat Tony Ferguson in their UFC 249 interim title fight. First, Abdelaziz believes Gaethje’s wrestling could pose problems for Ferguson, who has struggled with high-level wrestlers like Kevin Lee before.

Mike Pendleton - April 23, 2020

Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler had two classic fights during their time with Bellator MMA and while there has always been chatter of a trilogy, those hopes were ended when Alvarez went to the UFC and then later moved on to ONE Championship. As he was approaching free agency after his UFC run, Alvarez considered running it back with Chandler and recently revealed that both he and Chandler pitched the fight to other promotions.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2020

Tyron Woodley started the week in a heated war of words with UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, and is ending it bt jawing back-and-forth with Adesanya’s friend and training partner Dan Hooker. Not long after Woodley and Adesanya started skirmishing on Twitter, Hooker joined the fracas.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2020

UFC play-by-play man Jon Anik is very confident the promotion will be able to go ahead with the planned UFC 249 card on May 9. Anik, who is a proud “degenerate gambler,” even set the odds for the card happening at a solid 9/10.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2020

Today, Joe Rogan is as much a part of big UFC cards as the Octagon itself. Way back in 1997 when he debuted with the promotion, however, he was an unfamiliar face to many fight fans. The UFC recently released footage of the first time Rogan ever appeared on a UFC broadcast, and it’s a trip. See it below.

Harry Kettle - April 23, 2020

UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje has admitted that if anyone is going to prevent him from dying in the Octagon, it’ll be his head coach Trevor Wittman. Gaethje is known for being a bit of a wild man in his style and how he puts people away when he’s fighting. Thankfully for him, his last three wins have seen him escape relatively unscathed – but that isn’t always guaranteed to happen.