MMA News

Cole Shelton - April 8, 2019

The UFC and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have been under criticism for how they handled Jon Jones’ case ahead of his return at UFC 232. USADA did not suspend Jones after the current light heavyweight champion was flagged in a pre-fight drug test. Rather, they said the positive test was due to a long-term metabolite that was still “pulsing” in his system from a few years back.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

For years now, there have been two consensus top 155-pound lightweight fighters on the planet. One of those men being none other than ‘El Cucuy,’ The Ultimate Fighter season 13 winner, Tony Ferguson. With only a single loss in his UFC career, Ferguson has gone on to win 11 consecutive fights since then and done so all in thrilling fashion.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

The nation of Kyrgyzstan officially has their first ever UFC champion and that’s the “Bullet,” Valentina Shevchenko. On December 8, 2018, at UFC 231 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Shevchenko won the vacant UFC flyweight championship by defeating former strawweight queen, Joanna Jedrzejczyk via dominant unanimous decision.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

In the world of MMA, ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson has essentially done it all. And as he now moves on to the next chapter of his illustrious career overseas, that’s where it looks like his story will end. Johnson made the transition from the UFC to ONE Championship in the groundbreaking first-ever MMA ‘trade’ that saw him get swapped for ONE’s former welterweight king, ‘Funky’ Ben Askren. Both have since made their respective and successful promotional debuts.

Nolan King - April 8, 2019

The UFC is working on an eye-catching bout for its debut in South Carolina. The promotion is angling for a bout between female flyweights Montana De La Rosa and Andrea Lee for UFC Greenville on June 22, per FloCombat. Initially, the UFC was targeting Montana De La Rosa for a bout at UFC 236 against Paige VanZant -— a fight De La Rosa was lobbying for. However, an arm injury prevented VanZant from being able to take the fight.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

The legal troubles appear to be continuing for former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor. According to The Mirror, the Irish MMA star is being accused of assaulting a fellow patron inside a bar called the Marble Arch in the Drimnagh suburb of his native Dublin, Ireland. The news was first reported by Dizz on Twitter.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Over the last few months, ONE Championship has signed some truly elite talent in Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Sage Northcutt and Vitor Belfort. Two of those fighters made their ONE Championship debuts at the recent ONE: A New Era card in Tokyo — and with very different results. Eddie Alvarez debuted first, and was knocked out by Russian juggernaut Timofey Nastyukhin in a jaw-dropping upset. Demetrious Johnson debuted next, submitting a game Yuya Wakamatsu in the second round.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Last night, in the first-ever all-female WrestleMania main event, Ireland’s Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey to become the Smackdown and Raw champion. In an unsurprising twist, Irish UFC star Conor McGregor quickly took to social media to congratulate Lynch on her massive, history-making victory. McGregor also took this opportunity to once again hint as his own potential move to the WWE ring.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett is now a Bellator MMA fighter. Although this news broke on April Fools day, it is indeed factual. Bellator President Scott Coker even has an opponent in mind for the heavyweight legend’s debut. Coker first announced that reigning Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight champ Ryan Bader will defend his heavyweight belt against Cheick Kongo before returning to the light heavyweight division. He then added that Josh Barnett is likely to get an immediate title shot against the winner of Bader and Kongo’s fight.

Cole Shelton - April 8, 2019

Max Griffin is looking to get back into the win column at UFC 236. Griffin is currently on a two-fight losing streak with losses to Curtis Millender and Thiago Alves, although many thought Griffin beat Alves back in February.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Brock Lesnar is no longer the WWE Universal Champion. He surrendered that title at WrestleMania 35 on Sunday night after getting pinned by Seth Rollins (see it below). https://twitter.com/DokkanBattleGL/status/1115036668984053760 This information is pertinent to MMA fans because it would seem to open the door to a long-discussed heavyweight title fight between Brock Lesnar and reigning champion Daniel Cormier.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Shortly after he knocked out Chuck Liddell in the debut Golden Boy MMA event in the fall, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz once again implied that he was likely retiring from MMA. “You get that feeling of, ‘Is this the last one?’ I want it to be,” Ortiz said. “It’s a lot of pressure; to impose your will on someone like that every single fight is really, really hard. There’s so much pressure to do that. And I’ve been doing it for 21 years. Now, if I just step out of that game and do it the right way of being a promoter and helping fighters, help them [grow]. And grow the next Tito Ortiz, grow the next Chuck Liddells, grow the next ‘Rampage’ Jacksons, Royce Gracies, Ken Shamrocks, Conor McGregors. And give them an opportunity to make the real money to make.”

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

On March 31, at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Bibiano Fernandes and Kevin Belingon met for what was expected to be a third and final time. Regrettably, this bout ended in controversy. Mid-way through the third round, Fernandes completed a takedown on Belingon. Belingon responded by unleashing a salvo of elbows, most of which seemed to land in the forbidden zone on the back and top of Fernandes’ head.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

The first time Al Iaquinta met Khabib Nurmagomedov, in the last-minute main event of UFC 223, he had about 24 hours to prepare for the undefeated Russian juggernaut. While Iaquinta ultimately lost this fight by decision, he actually performed better than the vast majority of Nurmagomedov’s other opponents. Speaking on the latest episode of BJPENN.com Radio, Al Iaquinta explained why he’s so confident he could defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov in a rematch — particularly if the fight was preceded by an actual training camp this time around.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

Back in December, RIZIN Fight Federation flew undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. out to Tokyo to battle one of its brightest young stars, Tenshin Nasukawa, in an exhibition match. Unfortunately for RIZIN, this plan seemed to backfire, as Mayweather walloped the much smaller Nasukawa to a first round knockout. Despite the seemingly disastrous end to this Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa fight, RIZIN does not appear to be done flirting with top-level boxers.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

Last night, on the main card of BKFC 5, UFC veterans Artem Lobov and Jason Knight engaged in one of the best fights of the year so far, hammering each other into bloody messes for five frenzied rounds, with Lobov ultimately earning a unanimous decision win. This brutal bare knuckle brawl unsurprisingly left both Lobov and Knight with significant cosmetic damage. Post-fight, photos of both men have been floating around social media.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

Artem Lobov wound up winning his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) debut on Saturday night, but his opponent Jason Knight did not make it easy for him. The two UFC veterans, who met in a featherweight showdown in the BKFC 5 main event, engaged in a bloody war for five frenzied rounds.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2019

On Saturday night, bare knuckle fighting powerhouse Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) returned to our screens with its fifth paper view, aptly titled BKFC 5. The card, which went down in Biloxi, Mississippi, was topped a 145-pound showdown between former UFC featherweights Artem Lobov and Jason Knight. Lobov, who is a long-time training partner of Conor McGregor, wound up defeating the Mississippi native Knight in an unforgettable five-round war. By the time the action had ended, both men had been pummelled into nearly unrecognizable masses of bruised flesh and coagulated blood.