MMA News

Tom Taylor - April 9, 2019

The UFC is set to host another one of its star-studded seasonal press conferences at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia this Friday at 12 p.m. ET. This press conferences, which precedes the exciting UFC 236 card in the same venue, will be emceed by UFC President Dana White, and feature the stars of several upcoming cards including Jon Jones, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo. In the past, these press conferences have produced some massive headlines, and this event, which is free and open to the public, figures to be no different.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

Bellator 221 is set to be a big one as the promotion heads to Chicago, Illinois on May 11 and is headlined by their second ever champion vs champion bout. Going at it will be the featherweight and lightweight champions, Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire and Michael Chandler. Both of which are two of the most accomplished fighters in Bellator history. Factually, they are the most accomplished in their respective divisions.

Drake Riggs - April 8, 2019

10 years ago, Ross ‘The Real Deal’ Pearson made his UFC debut by becoming the lightweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 9 when he defeated Andre Winner via unanimous decision. 25-fights later and the British slugger is now calling it a career.

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

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.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2019

Last month, Irish MMA star Conor McGregor found himself in hot water after getting into an ugly altercation with a fan, and smashing that fan’s cell phone. After this incident, Ahmed Abdirzak, the owner of the phone, sought more than $15,000 in damages, accusing McGregor of battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The incident was captured on video. In this video, McGregor could be seen stomping Abdirzak’s phone.

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

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.

Mike Straus - April 8, 2019

“The Immortal” Matt Brown has been in the MMA game for nearly 15 years, and the 38-year-old welterweight is showing few signs of slowing down. Although Brown hasn’t had a fight since smashing Diego Sanchez back at Fight Night 120 in November of 2017, the veteran of 24 Octagon appearances has been staying busy.

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.

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.”

Thomas Taylor - April 7, 2019

It was only a matter before Conor McGregor reacted to Artem Lobov’s thrilling, Saturday-night victory over Jason Knight at BKFC 5. On Sunday evening, the Irish MMA superstar took to Twitter to congratulate his long-time training partner — and his foe — on this unforgettable fight. He also claimed that Lobov now deserves a new BKFC contract, and took a shot at their shared rival Paulie Malignaggi.

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

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.