MMA News

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

This July, amid the buzz of the UFC’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Rich Franklin will be inducted into the Pioneer Era wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. The former UFC middleweight champion, who now serves as the Vice President of ONE Championship and CEO of ONE Warrior Series in Singapore, learned of this incredible honor on a phone call with UFC President Dana White.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

UFC heavyweight Walt Harris has accepted a four-month sanction from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for the anabolic agent LGD-4033. In addition, Harris’ UFC 232 split decision victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski has been overturned to a no-contest. USADA announced this news in a release, explaining that Harris’ violation was the result of his use of a tainted supplement:

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2019

Jon Fitch is fighting for the Bellator welterweight title on Saturday night, in the last first-round bout of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. The 41-year-old, who is 1-0 inside the Bellator cage, will be taking on the champion Rory MacDonald in the main event of Bellator 220. Although Fitch is the underdog heading into this fight, the veteran is more than ready to do what he has to do to win.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

Santiago Ponzinibbio is looking for a fight, and from the sounds of it, he’s got an opponent in mind. Speaking on Instagram on Monday, the Argentine welterweight contender called for a fight with former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. He asserted that Pettis got lucky in his last outing, in which he knocked out former welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, and promised that the American will have no such luck in this prospective matchup.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

Last week, Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi went off on Rory MacDonald’s UFC 220 opponent Jon Fitch, accusing the former World Series of Fighting welterweight champion of PED use. Speaking on The MMA Hour on Monday, Jon Fitch responded to these comments from Zahabi.

Cole Shelton - April 23, 2019

There is no question the emotions were running high for Ilima-Lei MacFarlane’s last fight. MacFarlane got to defend her Bellator flyweight title at home in Hawaii where she defeated Valerie Letourneau in the third-round by submission. The win capped off an emotional fight week for MacFarlane. Now, she is set for yet another title defense this Saturday when she takes on Veta Arteaga at Bellator 220 in San Jose, California. Although Hawaii was MacFarlane’s real homecoming, she lives and trains in California which makes this yet another fight ‘at home’.

Cole Shelton - April 22, 2019

Max Holloway was looking to become a two division champion at UFC 236. The featherweight king was moving up in weight to take on 155-pound contender Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight championship. Ultimately, Poirier beat Holloway by unanimous decision to snap the Hawaiian’s 13-fight winning streak. Although Holloway lost, he had some good moments in the fight, but many thought the size discrepancy between he and Poirier played a huge factor. However, MMA coach, Firas Zahabi believes Dustin Poirier simply fought a smarter fight, which resulted in him getting the win.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

When Thiago Santos knocked out Jan Blachowicz at UFC Prague, he earned a light heavyweight title fight with seemingly unbeatable champion Jon Jones. Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who is now scheduled to battle Blachowicz at UFC 239, is hoping that a similar performance will earn him his own fight with Jones. “Thiago Santos just got a world title fight after beating Jan Blachowicz, so I figure if I go out there and put a performance on him, what’s to deny me?” Rockhold said on a recent episode of Submission Radio (transcript via MMA Weekly). “I mean, what else is there? These guys are scouring around, not taking fights. So I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna perform and do my job, and then I’m gonna let the chips fall where they may.”

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

According to a report from Brazilian news outlet Globo, former UFC fighter Rodrigo de Lima was killed by an Uber driver in Belem, Brazil on Sunday night. This news was subsequently confirmed to MMA Fighting by UFC fighter Michel “Trator” Prazeres.

James Lynch - April 22, 2019

Maycee Barber has her next opponent in mind but isn’t confident it will happen The undefeated 20-year-old is currently recovering from a broken thumb, but spoke to Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour and explained why Paige VanZant would be an ideal next opponent.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

TJ Dillashaw is no longer the UFC bantamweight champion. He surrendered that title when he tested positive for EPO, an injectable-only performance-enhancing drug, and was suspended for two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Many members of the MMA community were shocked to learn of Dillashaw’s PED use. But not everybody.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

Shortly after Roxanne Modafferi defeated Antonina Shevchenko at UFC St. Petersburg on Saturday, she made a callout of former UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg — though she quickly added that she was only joking. On Sunday, Cyborg responded to this callout from Roxanne Modafferi — first assuring the flyweight contender wanted no part of the matchup, then congratulating her on her big win.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

At 27-0, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is looking more and more like an unbeatable fighter. Yet former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion Justin Gaethje believes he’s got the skillset to dethrone the UFC lightweight king. “I think my wrestling credentials alone would benefit me so much in that fight, my ability to stop the takedown,” Gaethje said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour, rating his chances against Nurmagomedov (transcript via MMA Fighting). “And I’m very confident in my standup, I’m confident in my coach and the gameplan that we would come together with and go out there and execute. I think with my athletic ability I’m a tough out for anybody.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2019

Over the weekend, in the main event of UFC St. Petersburg, Russian heavyweight contender Alexey Oleynik stepped into the Octagon with former Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. Oleynik had some moments of success in this brief but thrilling encounter. Yet in the end, he came up short, succumbing to a storm of Overeem strikes late in the first round.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was not happy with the lack of promotion for Saturday’s UFC event in St. Petersburg, Russia. The undefeated Russian, Khabib, said he would like to see the promotion adapt a new policy, one which would pay attention to his countries fighters.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

UFC President Dana White took to Instagram earlier today where he wished fight fans a Happy Easter while posting a hilarious photo of Brian Ortega. As seen below, the UFC boss pictated the recent featherweight title challenger, Ortega, as Jesus Christ.

Cole Shelton - April 21, 2019

The Octagon headed to St. Petersburg, Russia for UFC Fight Night 149 on Saturday. In the main event, Alistair Overeem took on Alexey Oleynik. Alexey found some success early in the fight, but Overeem was able to turn the tide thanks to a barrage of knees and finished the fight via ground and pound.

Chris Taylor - April 21, 2019

It is becoming very clear that current interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and surging contender Paulo Costa do not like each other. Following his thrilling five round decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236, Adesanya was targeted by Costa in a social media post.