MMA News

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2019

Julianna Pena has not fought since January of 2017, when she was submitted by Valentina Shevchenko in a bantamweight number-one contender fight. In the time since then, the talented bantamweight contender has become a mother and put in work as a commentator for Combate Americas. That being said, it sounds like Pena is getting the itch to fight again. Speaking on her official Instagram account recently, “The Venezuelan Vixen” updated on her busy life, and discussed her eventual return to the cage.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2019

Last year, Daniel Cormier planted a bomb on the chin of Stipe Miocic, ending the Croatian-American’s historic reign as the heavyweight champion with a first-round KO. On August 17, in the main event of UFC 241, Miocic will have the opportunity to reclaim the title from Cormier, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan expects him to perform much better this time around. Miocic has not fought since his first meeting with Cormier. While some fans expect ring rust to be a factor for the long absent former champion, Rogan believes he’ll benefit from the time off.

Natasha Hooper - May 29, 2019

Light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith believes there is hope for Thiago Santos, who looks to defeat the current champion, Jon Jones, in July. “Marreta” Santos will be headlining the UFC 239 event against Jones at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be the Brazilian fighter’s first shot at the light heavyweight title.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2019

Singapore-based martial arts organization ONE Championship has recently signed a host of high profile free agents, most notably Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, and Sage Northcutt. Among Western fans, many of whom grew familiar with these fighters during their time in the UFC, the widespread expectation was that all three would all be extremely successful in ONE. This has not been the case.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2019

Colby Covington recently paid a visit to the men and women in uniform aboard the USS New York. He believes that other UFC stars like Jon Jones and Conor McGregor should take note, and make more of an effort to give back to their communities.

Jordy McElroy - May 29, 2019

As the broken pieces of the UFC’s bantamweight ocean liner slowly descended into the Pacific, a rising tide came washing in on Tuesday, carrying Urijah Faber in a red cape on a surfboard with sounds of “California Love” blaring in the background. “The California Kid” is returning to combat sports as a middle-aged man and adding a new page to the fighting chapter of one of the most storied careers in MMA history.

Drake Riggs - May 29, 2019

The United States Anti Doping Agency’s (USADA) partnership with the UFC to test their athletes went into effect on July 1, 2015. Ever since then, the sport has been considered much cleaner within the UFC but there have still been some controversies that have unfolded here and there over the four years. Top UFC strawweight contender, Michelle Waterson raised an interesting question on Tuesday that could potentially create some more. As the third most tested fighter all-time in her division when going by ranked fighters, Waterson, who lives in America, is curious as to whether or not other country’s fighters get tested as frequently as she does.

Drake Riggs - May 28, 2019

This Saturday night (morning for the viewers stateside), the UFC returns to Sweden for UFC Stockholm and in the main event, ‘Lionheart’ Anthony Smith travels into enemy territory. Hitting a new stride with his move to the light heavyweight division from middleweight in June 2018, Smith would pick up two big knockout wins over the likes of former UFC champions, Rashad Evans and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua before submitting recent title challenger, Volkan Oezdemir in the third round of their five-round affair to earn the first title shot of his 45-fight career.

Cole Shelton - May 28, 2019

In the main event of UFC Ottawa, Al Iaquinta was looking to secure his second career title opportunity by defeating Donald Cerrone. The 32-year-old Long Island native was riding high after beating Kevin Lee in December. However, the fight didn’t go Iaquinta’s way and he ended up losing by unanimous decision. Not only did he lose, but “Raging Al” was badly cut open and his leg was badly bruised as well. Now, a few weeks later, he spoke about the injuries he suffered in his scrap with ‘Cowboy’.

Drake Riggs - May 28, 2019

UFC 242 on September 7 will mark the UFC’s first trip back to Abu Dhabi since April 2014. As that event was headlined by heavyweights, this next card will feature them as well. The most notable fight swirling around the card is, of course, the big expected undisputed UFC lightweight title clash between the undefeated champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion, Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier.

Matheus Costa - May 28, 2019

Eduardo Dantas is done with the bantamweight division. The former Bellator champion will be moving up to the featherweight ranks and will make his debut against Juan Archulaerta at Bellator 222. The promotion made the announcement earlier today. Dantas’ decision is an interesting one as the upcoming featherweight grand prix needs some good names to be as stacked as possible. The Brazilian fighter won his first fight in almost two years, defeating Toby Misech in February via unanimous decision. If he beats Archulaeta, he will probably lock up a spot in the tournament.

Drake Riggs - May 28, 2019

Top-ranked UFC middleweight contender, Yoel Romero seems to have gone and turned the ultimate negative into the ultimate positive. The Cuban Olympic silver medalist in wrestling found himself under investigation by USADA in January 2016 which led to a six-month suspension from what was the result of tainted supplement usage. Following the incident, Romero went ahead a filed a lawsuit against the company that provided him with the supplement.

Tom Taylor - May 28, 2019

UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou and and WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder compete in different sports, but UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes they’re bound by one key similarity: They both hit absurdly hard.

Tom Taylor - May 28, 2019

When Alex Volkanovski defeated featherweight legend Jose Aldo by decision at UFC 237 in Brazil, many fans expected him to be rewarded with a title shot against reigning champ Max Holloway. This was not the case.

Tom Taylor - May 28, 2019

Former UFC welterweight champ Johny Hendricks was one of many fighters not to get paid by the now defunct bare knuckle fighting promotion WBKFF in late 2018. He’s understandably not happy that he ever got paid for his efforts in the ring. Furthermore, Hendricks has some questions for former WBKFF president Bas Rutten. Rutten claimed to have no previous knowledge of WBKFF’s sketchy finances, and also claimed that he believed WBKFF founder Tom Stankiewicz would eventually pay the fighters he owed money too.

Tom Taylor - May 28, 2019

Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 229, he leapt over the side of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis. Danis and Nurmagomedov engaged in a momentary skirmish before being separated by security.

Natasha Hooper - May 28, 2019

Current UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has overcome all the adversity he’s faced in the lightweight division, however, there is one challenger he’s yet to defeat: his father. Nurmagomedov recently grappled with his “greatest challenge”, his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. The clip was posted on Instagram by his coach, American Kickboxing Academy’s (AKA) Javier Mendez, who paid his respects to the Nurmagomedov duo.

Tom Taylor - May 28, 2019

Urijah Faber has long been teasing a return to the Octagon, and now it’s official. The former WEC featherweight champion and long-time UFC bantamweight contender will battle Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento on July 13. Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer was the first to report this new matchup.