MMA News

Adam Martin - April 24, 2020

Bellator women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and two other women are suing a former basketball coach for sexual abuse. Macfarlane and the two other student-athletes filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Honolulu Circuit Court that names Punahou School and their former basketball coach Dwayne Yuen among the defendants. Hawaii News Now was the first to report the story.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2020

Francis Ngannou wanted the UFC to promote his May 9 heavyweight scrap with Jairzinho Rozenstruik to an interim title fight. From the sounds of it, the promotion isn’t interested. Ngannou’s request actually had some merit, as reigning heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has not fought since August, and has not yet given a clear timeframe for his next Octagon appearance.

Alfredo Zullino - April 24, 2020

Being signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship is the dream of many fighters around the world. Modestas Bukauskas recently achieve that dream. Back in January, Bukauskas’ management announced his signing with the UFC. Since then, though, the Brit hasn’t been able to step foot into the Octagon.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2020

While Dana White and the UFC are determined to keep things running during the coronavirus pandemic, Bellator boss Scott Coker has pumped the brakes in the name of safety. Coker has postponed a host of Bellator events, and seems to be legitimately concerned with what is happening in the world right now.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2020

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was expected to return to the cage against Jared Cannonier at UFC 248 last month, but ended up withdrawing from the card. It wasn’t immediately clear why Whittaker withdrew from this matchup, but when Dana White seemed to get emotional discussing the former UFC middleweight champ’s situation, the rumors started to fly. One website even reported that Whittaker had taken a step back to donate bone marrow to one of his children.

Harry Kettle - April 24, 2020

Alex Volkanovski has called out four fighters for a potential title showdown if the proposed UFC Fight Island plan goes ahead. “The Great” has held the UFC Featherweight Championship since December 2019, impressively beating former champion Max Holloway to capture the title at UFC 245. Ever since then it’s seemed as if the UFC has been interested in booking an immediate rematch, but due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, it hasn’t quite materialized.

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.

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.

Alfredo Zullino - April 23, 2020

A lot of MMA bouts have been canceled or postponed during the past few weeks, including one involving Italy’s Alessio Di Chirico. The Italian fighter was originally slated to compete on April 11 in Portland against Abu Azaitar. He was later rescheduled to fight Markus Perez on the same date, but the entire card was ultimately called off due to the COVID–19 concerns.

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

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

According to a report from veteran MMA reporter Dave Meltzer, UFC 249 is set to take place on May 9 in Jacksonville, Florida. There have been rumors the UFC intended to hold UFC 249 in Florida, and now we have a city. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that the event will take place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. The UFC has not yet made this official, but Meltzer is well-connected and considering Florida seemed like a likely outcome all along, this appears to be the place where UFC 249 will finally land.

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.

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

Way back in 2001, we met the new president of the UFC. His name was Dana White. Maybe you’ve heard of him. At the time, White was just a young man—with a lot less experience in the combat sports business and a lot more hair. See the UFC boss’s first appearance on camera, which was recently released from the UFC archives, below.