MMA News

Adam Martin - September 11, 2019

Welterweight contender Neil Magny has been cleared by USADA after being provisionally suspended before his scheduled fight with Vicente Luque back in May. Magny shared the news on his social media Wednesday. He said his fourth-month provisional suspension is over, and he plans on returning to the Octagon shortly. He will face no further suspension, fine, or sanction.

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

This weekend, in the main event of UFC Vancouver, Justin Gaethje will step into the Octagon with a fellow fan-favorite in Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. If Gaethje is able to defeat Cerrone, who he considers a friend, he believes he’ll be right near the summit of the lightweight mountain, and will only accept a few fights thereafter. One, he says, is a fight against the winner of an expected but yet unscheduled title fight between divisional champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and top contender Tony Ferguson. The other is a fight with a man he’s become increasingly hostile toward; former two-division champion Conor McGregor.

Natasha Hooper - September 11, 2019

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father is hinting that, after 30 fights, his son will retire from mixed martial arts competition. Nurmagomedov maintained his incredible undefeated record at UFC 242 against Dustin Poirier. He beat “The Diamond” in the third round via submission and brought his record up to 28-0.

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker is freakishly athletic. He’s already proven that in his fights, and now, he’s reaffirming it in training. In a video that’s been circulating on Twitter, Walker can be seen landing a flying knee on a focus mitt held higher than the top of his own head. It really has to be seen to be believed. Check it out below (via @DovySimuMMA on Twitter):

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Now that UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov has vanquished Dustin Poirier, the expectation is that he will fight Tony Ferguson next, or perhaps Conor Mcgregor if Ferguson is unavailable. According to Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, however, neither Ferguson nor McGregor is likely to be next for the lightweight king. Instead, the manager says Nurmagomedov is more likely to battle retired former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

Adam Martin - September 11, 2019

A Reddit user has dug deep into the UFC rankings, and has exposed a flawed system that features a number of panelists who do not actually even cover MMA. Reddit user u/kneeco28 posted an in-depth rundown of all 14 panelists on the UFC rankings panel. What he found was that a third of the panelists are not even active MMA media members. Remember, these are the same people who contribute to the rankings, which have an inexorable impact on fighter promotion, matchmaking, salaries and Reebok pay.

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 242, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov authored another dominant title defense, this time at the expense of the dangerous Dustin Poirier. This victory impressed the vast majority of the MMA community — but not UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington. Covington gave his assessment of Nurmagomedov’s UFC 242 victory on a recent episode of Chael Sonnen’s podcast.

Mike Heck - September 11, 2019

Leon Edwards, for a moment, had a world title opportunity presented to him during the craziness of booking the main event for UFC 244. First, it was Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington that was discussed, then Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal, and ultimately onto Masvidal vs. Edwards for the vacant title before landing on the signed headliner, Masvidal taking on Nate Diaz. “Rocky” has won eight fights in a row including his most recent victory over former world champion Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC San Antonio. With Edwards’ recent surge, and Covington’s internal battle with the UFC going on, the 28-year-old is staking his claim at the title shot over the brash Covington.

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Colby Covington is a proud member of American Top Team. Unfortunately, Covington has become increasingly at odds with many of his American Top Team stablemates — particularly his long-time friend and fellow welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal, and recent lightweight title challenger Dustin Poirier. Over the last few weeks, Covington has taken very public shots at both Masvidal and Poirier, and the pair have not hesitated to fire back. In fact, both Masvidal and Poirier have hinted things could get tense if they encounter Covington at American Top Team.

Natasha Hooper - September 11, 2019

Donald Cerrone has some history with his UFC Vancouver foe Justin Gaethje. Cerrone will be facing Gaethje in the main event of UFC Vancouver on Saturday, September 14. Neither fighter will hold back when the cage door closes, yet Cerrone spoke fondly of his opponent in an interview with James Lynch.

Natasha Hooper - September 11, 2019

Jorge Masvidal is scheduled to get a serious payday for his upcoming fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 244. The welterweight stars will collide on Saturday, November 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The highly anticipated matchup has been in the works since Nate Diaz called out ‘Gamebred’ following his unanimous win against Anthony Pettis at UFC 241. They will be fighting for the self-devised ‘Baddest Motherf**ker Title,’ which will get chins wagging and paychecks flying.

Natasha Hooper - September 11, 2019

According to Ariel Helwani, Jon Jones will not be fighting this year. The light heavyweight champion teased a big fight announcement for this year, but Ariel Helwani squashed any speculation on Twitter.

Cole Shelton - September 10, 2019

Ben Askren doesn’t believe that Conor McGregor will ever be a UFC champion again. McGregor, who is the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was also the first-ever simultaneous two-division champion in the UFC. Yet, according to Ben Askren, he believes the Irishman made too much money to have the desire to train at a world champ level.

Christopher Taylor - September 10, 2019

Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor has responded to Dustin Poirier’s request for a rematch. After falling short in his quest to dethrone undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, Dustin Poirier appeared to be contemplating retirement.

Cole Shelton - September 10, 2019

Jan Blachowicz will not receive the light heavyweight title shot against Jon Jones he so desires. The Polish standout has been campaigning for a shot at ‘Bones’ ever since he knocked out Luke Rockhold back at UFC 239. According to ESPN, Jan Blachowicz will welcome Jacare Souza to the light heavyweight division. The fight will headline a UFC Fight Night on Nov. 16 in São Paulo, Brazil, according to Brett Okamoto, per UFC president Dana White.

Cole Shelton - September 10, 2019

Dustin Poirier called for a rematch with Conor McGregor earlier today and now claims he is open for the fight to take place in Zuffa boxing. Poirier had a chance to become the UFC’s undisputed lightweight champion at last weekend’s UFC 243 event but came up short. There, he was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the third round.

Chris Taylor - September 10, 2019

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson will return to the Octagon at November’s highly anticipated UFC 244 event in New York. “Wonderboy” will square off with Vicente Luque under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden on November 2.

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2019

On Saturday night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 226. This stacked card was topped by a heavyweight title fight between reigning champ Ryan Bader and Bellator staple Cheick Kongo. Elsewhere on the card, we witnessed four of the quarterfinal bout for Bellator’s 16-man Featherweight World Grand Prix, in addition to a number of other exciting matchups.