MMA News

Adam Martin - March 23, 2020

UFC president Dana White confirmed Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson for the lightweight title is still a go and the event will be closed off to fans. Despite White trying his best to keep UFC events from being scrapped, the UFC was forced to suspend its operations due to the coronavirus outbreak, which led to UFC London, UFC Columbus, and UFC Portland being postponed. UFC 249 will not be allowed to take place in Brooklyn, New York, but White has remained adamant that the card, featuring the main event for the lightweight belt between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, will still go on.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2020

On Sunday, Serbian Battle Championship announced that it had signed former UFC bantamweight champ Renan Barao to a multi-fight deal. It appears there’s been some kind of miscommunication.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2020

Fan favorite UFC welterweight “Platinum” Mike Perry believes he’s got the skills to be a champion in any weight class below his current division. Unfortunately, he also admits that he’s a little too big to drop south of welterweight. Perry made this comment on Twitter on Thursday.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2020

According to a new report from USA TODAY, the 2020 Olympics will be most likely postponed from this summer to sometime in 2021. The upcoming Olympic Games, which were scheduled to begin on July 24 in Tokyo, Japan, have been the topic of much discussion as the coronavirus pandemic has swept the planet over the last few weeks. Obviously, the risks associated with such a massive, international event are incredibly high, not to mention the logistical nightmare of organizing the event with so many travel restrictions in place.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2020

Din Thomas, a long-serving coach at American Top Team in South Florida, has parted ways with the world famous MMA gym. Thomas announced his departure, which he says was amicable, to MMA Fighting. The long-time coach says he now plans to train fighters as a head coach.

Adam Martin - March 23, 2020

MMA legend Tito Ortiz says that a muscle relaxer caused his bout against Albert Del Rio to briefly be overturned to a No Decision. Ortiz defeated his rival Del Rio at a Combate Americas event in Hidalgo, Texas back in December via first-round submission. The win gave Ortiz his first three-fight win streak since back in 2006. However, the result of the fight was later turned to a No Decision (or No Contest) after Ortiz’s drug test results were flagged. Fortunately for Ortiz, however, the Texas State Athletic Commission soon afterward reversed their original call and reinstated his win back after looking into the case further.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2020

Khabib Nurmagomedov has packed his bags and returned home to his native Russia. The undefeated UFC lightweight champion is gearing up for a title defense opposite undefeated champion Tony Ferguson. The bout was originally expected to go down at UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, yet as the coronavirus pandemic has swept the planet, the status of the card has become quite uncertain. We already know it won’t be happening in New York, and perhaps not even on US soil.

Adam Martin - March 23, 2020

Former UFC welterweight Ben Saunders says he was willing to fight on five days’ notice in order to get another chance to fight in the Octagon. The UFC was forced to cancel its card scheduled for London and immediately began looking at other options in order to save the event. UFC president Dana White admitted the promotion was in talks of doing a card at a tribal casino in Oklahoma, but ultimately couldn’t pull off the event due to the coronavirus quarantine. Saunders, though, was willing to fight on that card in order to get another chance to fight in the Octagon.

Natasha Hooper - March 23, 2020

Marvin Vettori wants to run it back in the Octagon with Israel Adesanya. Until then, the middleweight slugger wants fans to realise that Adesanya isn’t as great as they think he is. Vettori fought “The Last Stylebender” in 2018. He lost the bout via split decision, but believes he had the upper hand in the close contest.

Harry Kettle - March 23, 2020

UFC welterweight Leon Edwards has revealed the lengths that the promotion wanted him to go to in order to fight Tyron Woodley this past weekend. Due to the chaos surrounding the sports world courtesy of the coronavirus outbreak, the UFC London card, scheduled for this past Saturday night, was called off with the UFC hoping to reschedule the event over in the United States.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2020

Chan Sung Jung, better known as The Korean Zombie, is prioritizing a UFC featherweight title shot over a showdown with his nemesis Brian Ortega. The undead Korean contender and Ortega were scheduled to fight back in December, but the bout fell through when Ortega sustained an injury. Since then, the pair have exchanged quite a bit of trash talk, and there was an even an infamous incident between their teams at UFC 248 earlier this month.

Natasha Hooper - March 23, 2020

Tito Ortiz may be taking up a new career as an infectious disease specialist, as he has shared a conspiracy theory about the coronavirus outbreak. During a live stream on social media, Ortiz declared that Coronavirus is a man-made illness.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

Former UFC bantamweight champion Renan Barao has signed a new free-agent deal with the Serbian Battle Championship. SBC recently announced the signing of Barao to a multi-fight deal. Here’s the statement the promotion released on Instagram regarding Barao’s arrival.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

Boxing legend Mike Tyson predicts that we will see more MMA vs. boxing crossover bouts in the future, including potentially with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Tyson recently spoke to The Sportsman and gave a fascinating interviewing answering questions about a wide variety of topics. Many of the topics included Tyson’s own boxing career, but he was also asked about the possibility of MMA vs. boxing crossover bouts.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

Legendary MMA referee Big John McCarthy recently explained the proper way to judge an MMA fight, using Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero as an example. McCarthy is the most experienced official in mixed martial arts and was instrumental in the creation of the Unified Rules of MMA and the judging criteria for the sports. Since retiring from officiating a few years ago, McCarthy currently works as a commentator for Bellator and also hosts the “Weighing In” podcast with former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

Nearly 18 years later, relive one of the greatest knockouts of all time in the UFC between Phil Baroni and Dave Menne at UFC 39. In just his sixth pro fight, Baroni met the former UFC welterweight champion Menne in a main card bout at UFC 39: Ricco Rodriguez vs. Randy Couture in September 2002. At that time Menne was one of the top-five welterweights in the sport while Baroni was an emerging prospect. The UFC paired them up and it produced fireworks.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

UFC lightweight contender Conor McGregor issued a statement on his social media reminding fans to be vigilant during the coronavirus pandemic. McGregor is one of the most influential figures in all of professional sports, so anytime he talks, people listen. On Saturday, McGregor took to his Instagram to remind fans to be vigilant during the coronavirus pandemic, giving hope to those in Ireland as the numbers of those infected have been dropping in recent days.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Jan Blachwoicz shared a fan-made promo video for a potential fight against champion Jon Jones. Blachowicz knocked out Corey Anderson in the main event of UFC Rio Rancho with Jones in attendance, and many believe the UFC will book this matchup next. Although some believed Dominick Reyes should get the rematch with Jones after a razor-thin controversial decision loss at UFC 247, all signs are pointing to Blachowicz getting the next title shot.