MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2019

Heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury recently signed with pro wrestling organization WWE, where he’s currently feuding with Braun Strowman. So too did former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez. While newer fight fans might not remember it, Fury and Velasquez actually have a bit of history. At the height of Velasquez’s title reign, Fury claimed that he could defeat the UFC star.

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2019

Kron Gracie had quite a bit to say about Cub Swanson ahead of their UFC Tampa fight. One of his critiques related to Swanson’s willingness to move from gym to gym in search of new training opportunities. Gracie viewed this as disloyalty. After he defeated Gracie by unanimous decision at UFC Tampa, Swanson responded to this comment. He explained why he moves around so much, and actually offered some advice to his vanquished foe.

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2019

Much has recently been made of a potential fight between UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya. If Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman has his way, however, Adesanya will skip right over Jones and the light heavyweight division and battle UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic.

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2019

Cain Velasquez is now a part of the WWE universe, and Brendan Schaub believes the former UFC heavyweight champion will rely on performance enhancing drugs to maximize his ability in the ring. Schaub made this comment about Velasquez, who recently existed the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool, on a recent episode of his Below the Belt podcast.

Adam Martin - October 14, 2019

UFC women’s strawweight contender Michelle Waterson has issued a statement following her unanimous decision loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC Tampa. Waterson released a social media post on Monday expressing her sadness for losing the fight. Here’s what “The Karate Hottie” wrote on Instagram.

Cole Shelton - October 14, 2019

Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Colby Covington are teammates at American Top Team but that doesn’t mean she will be rooting for him in his next fight. At UFC 245, Covington will be taking on Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title, yet Joanna Jedrzejczyk hopes the champion beats up ‘Choas’. The reason why the former strawweight champion wants that to happen is because of how Colby Covington has treated his teammates in Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier.

Christopher Taylor - October 14, 2019

According to Las Vegas Police, Dominance MMA owner Ali Abdelaziz struck Abe Kawa in the face at this past weekend’s PFL event. In a police report obtained by John Morgan of MMAJunkie, it was confirmed that Abdelaziz struck Kawa “with a closed fist” at Friday’s event in Las Vegas.

Adam Martin - October 14, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez released a statement on Monday regarding his official retirement from mixed martial arts. Below is what Velasquez wrote on his Instagram.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 14, 2019

Brendan Schaub isn’t sold on Paulo Costa being able to dethrone Israel Adesanya. The stage appears to be set for a middleweight title showdown between undisputed UFC 185-pound champion Adesanya and Costa. Sources told BJPENN.com that the matchup is being targeted for a March pay-per-view event. UFC president Dana White later confirmed that the promotion is looking at booking Adesanya vs. Costa next.

Adam Martin - October 14, 2019

UFC president Dana White says he wants to bring a UFC event to Hawaii and if he does so he wants UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway to fight on the card. White was in Honolulu, Hawaii this weekend for Trinity Sport Combat’s “Trinity Kings 8” event. In the main event of the card, former Contender Series fighter Alex Munoz defeated Troy Lamson. Munoz is a lightweight prospect from Team Alpha Male who most notably defeated Nick Newell on the Contender Series.

Adam Martin - October 14, 2019

UFC featherweight Doo Ho Choi has accepted Cub Swanson’s offer of a rematch between the two, who previously fought at UFC 206 in the 2016 “Fight of the Year.” Following his victory over Kron Gracie at UFC Tampa, Swanson expressed interest in a rematch against Choi, who he defeated via unanimous decision back in December 2016. Swanson said he wants to give the fans a fight they want to see, and there’s no doubt that fans would love to see a rematch with Choi as the fight is considered by many to be a modern classic.

Tom Taylor - October 13, 2019

Mackenzie Dern made her return to the Octagon at UFC Tampa over the weekend, just months after giving birth to her first child. Regrettably for Dern and her team, this comeback didn’t go as planned, as she lost a unanimous decision to her opponent Amanda Ribas. This loss to Ribas marked Dern’s first loss as a professional mixed martial artist.

Tom Taylor - October 13, 2019

Robbie Lawler was expected to battle Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 245, but unfortunately, Ponzinibbio has been forced out of the matchup with a health issue. “Platinum” Mike Perry is hoping to step in and replace the injured Argentinian against Lawler. “Absolutely, I wanted that three years ago, two and a half something like that. If Robbie Lawler would grace me with his name on his contract, let’s go bro,” Mike Perry said backstage at Saturday’s UFC Tampa card. “Let’s put on a show, we are going to throw hands. It ain’t going to be any of that wrestling shit. I might mix it up on you, I might try to change levels, shoot a single leg. Take you down, punch you a little bit make you disorientated, or I might just hold tight and box.”

Tom Taylor - October 13, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has decided to hang up the gloves and pursue a pro wrestling career with WWE. Daniel Cormier, his long-time training partner and another former UFC champ, is sad to see Velasquez go, but is simultaneously very happy for him. “It’s a sad day when Cain Velasquez retires. But I know that he is doing something that he loves,” Cormier told MMA Fighting recently. “I remember watching him at [WWE] Elimination Chamber and you can see that this was something that he could love, I am not sure he ever fell for something faster, well except for when he met [his wife] Michelle.”

Tom Taylor - October 13, 2019

Cub Swanson got the victory he sought at UFC Tampa, defeating BJJ specialist Kron Gracie by unanimous decision. Yet the long-time featherweight contender decided to take one post-fight shot at his rival — and it was a funny one. Gracie, for those who don’t know, is a known Flat-Earther — part of a group of conspiracists who believe the earth is flat, not a sphere.

Tom Taylor - October 13, 2019

Over the weekend, on the main card of UFC Tampa, Cub Swanson defeated Kron Gracie by decision. Gracie, however, did not agree with this result. He thinks he should have been named the winner. “I won that fight,” Gracie said on Instagram shortly after his loss (via MMA Fighting).

Adam Martin - October 13, 2019

A Reddit user got a tattoo with the initials of light heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux “OSP” on it after his latest Von Flue choke victory at UFC Copenhagen. Reddit user Ombliguitoo said he lost a bet that Saint Preux wouldn’t finish Michal Oleksiejczuk with a Von Flue choke. If he lost the bet, he would have to tattoo the initials OSP on his buttocks. Much like Jon Anik when he lost a bet that Nate Diaz wouldn’t beat Conor McGregor, the Reddit user followed through and actually got the tattoo.

Adam Martin - October 13, 2019

What’s next for the winners of Saturday night’s UFC Tampa card? We take a look in the latest edition of Playing Matchmaker. Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Weili Zhang