MMA News

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2020

When Kevin Lee fights Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC Brasilia this weekend, there will not be any fans in the building. That’s because the UFC has converted the card to a closed-door event to mitigate risk associated with the coronavirus. While this quiet, closed-door event will be an unfamiliar setting for Lee, he doesn’t seem to worried about it.

Natasha Hooper - March 12, 2020

Step aside Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones. UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov says that UFC bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo is currently the greatest combat athlete of all time. The all-access docu-series Anatomy Of A Fighter followed Nurmagomedov as he attended a recent media day for his management company, Dominance MMA. “The Eagle” made this appearance surrounded by MMA stars including Kayla Harrison, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Justin Gaethje.

Adam Martin - March 12, 2020

Joanna Jedrzejczyk praised her rival Weili Zhang after their war at UFC 248, calling the UFC women’s strawweight champion ‘a very tough b*tch.’ Jedrzejczyk and Zhang fought 25 of the most action-packed minutes you will ever see in an MMA fight in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 248. The two slugged it out for five rounds, battering each other’s faces and bodies, with Zhang eventually emerging as the winner by a narrow split decision to keep the belt.

Cole Shelton - March 12, 2020

In the main event of the closed-door UFC Brasilia card, Kevin Lee is going into hostile territory when he battles Charles Oliveira. Heading into the fight, Lee is a -145 favorite while the Brazilian is a +115 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The slight majority believe Kevin Lee gets it done but many also believe this is a true pick’em fight.

Harry Kettle - March 12, 2020

Chan Sung Jung aka The Korean Zombie is ready to proceed with preparations for his expected fight against Brian Ortega following the American’s recent apology. The two men, who were scheduled to fight back at UFC Busan before Ortega had to pull out due to injury, had been going back and forth at one another ever since UFC 248. At the event, “T-City” prompted a physical altercation with Korean Zombie’s friend and translator Jay Park as a result of Ortega believing Park was trying to instigate trash talk between them.

Harry Kettle - March 12, 2020

There will not be any fans in the building for Saturday night’s UFC Brasilia card. On Thursday, Brazilian publication Combate reported that the UFC has converted the card to a closed-door event amid growing concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Cole Shelton - March 11, 2020

Alexander Volkanovski plans on defending his featherweight title in the main event of UFC 251 at home in Australia. Volkanovski won the belt back at UFC 245 with a decision win over Max Holloway. Since then, he had hand surgery but says he will be ready to defend in Australia where he expects to rematch Holloway.

Cole Shelton - March 11, 2020

Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe Valentina Shevchenko vs. Weili Zhang is a true superfight, at least not yet. Zhang has talked about wanting to fight Shevchenko down the line, but the flyweight champion doesn’t seem so interested. She said the Chinese champion isn’t an elite fighter and will loser her belt in her next fight. So, a champion vs. champion fight doesn’t make sense, and Sonnen agrees.

Natasha Hooper - March 11, 2020

Don’t let Alexander Volkanovski’s height of 5’6″ inches deceive you, the current featherweight champion has fought contenders in significantly heavier weight classes. However, the journey to drop the pounds previously plagued “The Great” with multiple ailments: The Australian athlete joined the Joe Rogan Experience podcast today to discuss his recent title victory against Max Holloway. He also explained his transition from professional rugby to MMA and his dramatic weight loss that happened in the process:

Cole Shelton - March 11, 2020

Pedro Carvalho is confident he will become Bellator’s new featherweight champion on Friday. In the main event of Bellator 241, Carvalho is set to battle Patricio Freire in the quarter-finals of the featherweight grand prix. It is a fight “Pitbull” picked during the selection show, which for Carvalho shows it is destined he becomes a world champion on Friday.

Cole Shelton - March 11, 2020

Renato Moicano is looking to snap his two-fight losing streak when he moves up to lightweight at UFC Brasilia to battle Damir Hadzovic. In his last fight, he was knocked out by Korean Zombie in the main event of UFC Greenville in just 58 seconds. After a bad weight cut for that one, he realized it was time to move up.

Adam Martin - March 11, 2020

A featherweight matchup between Edson Barboza and Josh Emmett is the latest addition to the upcoming UFC Fight Night card in Oklahoma City. Barboza has been teasing a move down to 145lbs for a few months now, and he will get the chance to fight a top-10 ranked opponent when he takes on Emmett at UFC on ESPN+  32, taking place on May 2 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It seems likely that Barboza vs. Emmett will be a main card bout for the event headlined by middleweights Chris Weidman and Jack Hermansson.

Tom Taylor - March 11, 2020

On Wednesday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine laid out new rules “in regard to mass gatherings in Ohio.” These rules immediately stand out as a problem for the upcoming UFC Columbus event. Shortly, we will be issuing rules in regard to mass gatherings in #Ohio. Every expert has told us that there is a risk in any kind of mass gathering – the closer you are to other people, the bigger the risk. You must ask yourself if going to a large gathering is necessary.

Tom Taylor - March 11, 2020

MMA fans were pretty disappointed by the UFC 248 main event, which pitted middleweight champ Israel Adesanya against challenger Yoel Romero. Former fighter and MMA analyst Chael Sonnen believes that’s because, as fans, we’re accustomed to amazing fights. Or as he puts it, “spoiled beyond belief.” The man’s not wrong.

Harry Kettle - March 11, 2020

Former UFC light heavyweight title contender Anthony Johnson has provided fans with an update regarding his return to mixed martial arts. Johnson, 36, has not been in the Octagon since UFC 210 in April 2017. On that night in Buffalo he was submitted by Daniel Cormier, failing to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from “DC” for the second time.

Tom Taylor - March 11, 2020

Diego Sanchez’s choice to continue working with controversial coach Joshua Fabia has been a hot button issue of late. One of the latest fighters to chime in on the topic is UFC welterweight James Krause, who would love to test himself against Sanchez in the Octagon. “There’s a couple of different routes I could go,” Krause told MMA Junkie with regards to his next fight. “I feel like the two routes are like fighting some legends of this sport. A couple of names come to mind like Diego Sanchez, Carlos Condit. I have a thing for Diego for some reason. I can’t stand his coach (Joshua Fabia). I feel like they’re selling wolf tickets to the sport of MMA, to the fans of MMA.

Tom Taylor - March 11, 2020

Bellator MMA talent Dillon Danis has a long-standing beef with YouTube star Logan Paul and his brother Jake. Based on this grudge, it should come as no surprise that Danis had something to say about Paul’s recent sparring session with UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa. Paul and Costa sparred at the UFC Performance Institute last week. The pair engaged in some wrestling work — in which Paul did surprisingly well — and a bit of boxing. The boxing ended with a headache for Paul, who was sent crashing to the mat by a huge punch (though not everyone believes the impact was legit).

Tom Taylor - March 11, 2020

Earlier this week, video surfaced of a sparring session between top middleweight contender Paulo Costa and YouTube star Logan Paul. During this session, which included some wrestling and some boxing, Costa ultimately sent Paul careening to the canvas with a punch — though not everybody believes the knockdown was legit.