MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2020

If you’ve ever heard Joe Rogan commentate a Valentina Shevchenko fight, you know how highly he thinks of her. On a recent episode of his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, however, the UFC commentator went absolutely gaga over the women’s flyweight champ.

Adam Martin - February 19, 2020

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman says he hopes that he and rival Colby Covington can run it back in the future after their title fight at UFC 245. Usman knocked out Covington in the fifth round of their title fight epic back in December to defend the UFC welterweight title for the first time. The fight was not without controversy, as Covington felt referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight early. Still, it was a great title fight between two of the best welterweights in the world, and considering the way it ended, a rematch is something that could very well happen one day.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2020

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson have been scheduled to fight four times previously. As of yet, however, the pair have never actually shared the cage. The hopes is that that will finally change at UFC 249 this April.

Natasha Hooper - February 19, 2020

Referee Marc Goddard says he received death threats after his decision to stop the UFC 245 main event between welterweight champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington. After four rounds of non-stop action in the main event of UFC 245, Usman knocked Covington down in the fifth. Goddard intervened and put a stop to the action, awarding Usman the TKO victory.

Natasha Hooper - February 19, 2020

The judge responsible for the controversial scoring of James Krause vs Trevin Giles at UFC 247 allegedly had a major conflict of interest. Judge Joe Soliz scored the closely contested bout in favour of Giles. This ultimately affected the split decision victory that Giles claimed after three rounds.

Harry Kettle - February 19, 2020

UFC 247 judge Joe Soliz had a conflict of interest when judging the James Krause vs Trevin Giles bout during the event. While there were many great fights and stories told during the event in Houston, many fans and media members alike couldn’t escape the fact that there were quite a few questionable decisions regarding the judging. One such example came during Trevin Giles vs. James Krause which closed out the prelims section of the card.

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2020

Michel Pereira doesn’t believe that his knee collided with the head of Diego Sanchez this past Saturday. At UFC Rio Rancho, Pereira was looking to return to the win column against Sanchez. After dominating the opening two rounds of the fight, Pereira threw a knee that appeared to hit Sanchez in the head while he was grounded. The referee ruled the strike was illegal, and because Sanchez couldn’t continue, he was awarded the DQ win.

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2020

Darren Till has been sending DM’s to Donald Trump to try and get a visa for UFC 248. Till was expected to fight Jared Cannonier on the card but Cannonier recently announced that he was injured and needed surgery. So, Till changed his focus from fighting ‘The Killa Gorilla’ to being the backup/replacement fighter for Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero at UFC 248.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2020

Diego Sanchez was the subject of quite a bit of criticism after he accepted a disqualification win over Michel Pereira at UFC Rio Rancho last weekend. Amid this criticism, Sanchez has taken the time to give the nod to the people who have supported him. He believes Conor McGregor is one of those people. Sanchez and Pereira fought in the co-main event of the UFC Rio Rancho card. The bout ended in the third round when Pereira blasted Sanchez with an illegal knee, and Sanchez said he could not continue.

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2020

Jalin Turner knows the stakes are high for his UFC Auckland fight against short-notice opponent, Joshua Culibao. Entering this fight, Turner is just 1-2 in the UFC with a debut loss to Vicente Luque at welterweight and most recently a decision loss to Matt Frevola. In his last fight, he admits he probably should have pulled out but with his kid being born just weeks after he needed the money and couldn’t risk being on the sidelines with no payday insight.

Natasha Hooper - February 18, 2020

A report from the Dublin City University has raised concerns over weight-cutting methods used by MMA fighters and influenced by their peers. The University report lead by Dr Brendan Egan, David Nolan and John Connor from the School of Health and Human Performance investigated over 260 athletes that take part in rapid weight loss (RWL) practices to compete.

Adam Martin - February 18, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Aleksandar Rakic announced on his social media that he has re-signed with the UFC on a new six-fight contract. Rakic took to his Instagram to announce the new contract with the world’s leading MMA promotion. Here’s what the 28-year-old Austria native wrote.

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2020

The last time the UFC was in Auckland, New Zealand was in 2017. There, Kai Kara-France was sitting front row cheering on his teammate Dan Hooker. During that event, Kara-France told himself he would be the one fighting next time the promotion came to his home city. And on the prelims of UFC Auckland this Saturday, Kara-France will complete his goal when he battles Tyson Nam. Yet, for a bit, many didn’t think it would happen after he fought just two months ago at UFC 245. There, he lost to Brandon Moreno. Since then, he quickly reflected on the fight and knows he made some mistakes.

Adam Martin - February 18, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Thiago Santos says he is planning a comeback to the Octagon in July and he has already been offered an opponent by the UFC. Santos last competed at UFC 239 in July 2019 when he lost a split decision to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. It was the most competitive fight of Jones’ MMA career since the Alexander Gustafsson fight at UFC 165 in September 2013, though Dominick Reyes recently had a great showing against Jones at UFC 247.

Adam Martin - February 18, 2020

UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta accused Dustin Poirier of quitting against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 in a heated social media exchange. Iaquinta and Poirier are both currently without opponents and considering both men are ranked in the top-10 at 155lbs, it’s quite possible they will fight each other next.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2020

Diego Sanchez has been criticized by many members of the MMA community after accepting a disqualification victory against Michel Pereira in the co-main event. UFC President Dana White and former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping are not among those critics. Sanchez fought Pereira in the main event of UFC Rio Rancho last Saturday. After losing the first two rounds, he was blasted by an illegal knee in the third. When he was unable to continue, he was awarded a win via disqualification.

Natasha Hooper - February 18, 2020

According to Diego Sanchez, he can sleep easy at night knowing he bagged a disqualification win against Michel Pereira at UFC on ESPN+ 25. The welterweight fighters collided in the co-main event on Saturday in Rio Rancho. The bout finished early in the third round after Pereira delivered an illegal knee while Sanchez was on the mat. The referee immediately intervened and acknowledged the foul.

Natasha Hooper - February 18, 2020

Henry Cejudo’s trash-talking antics have landed him in hot water. MMA reporter Karyn Bryant has called out the bantamweight champion for his use of racially loaded trash talk against Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. “Triple C” has received scrutiny recently for calling out Jose Aldo to fight in his next title defence. Despite Aldo’s long list of MMA accomplishments, the UFC legend is coming off two back-to-back losses and is ranked number 6 in the division. No. 2 ranked bantamweight Aljamain Sterling joined Ariel Helwani’s podcast yesterday and accused Cejudo of picking an easier fight to boost ticket sales.