MMA News
Ken Hasegawa suffers nasty injury in loss to Aung La N Sang at ONE: A New Era
Drake Riggs - April 1, 2019
ONE Championship held their biggest event to date this past weekend with ONE: A New Era which took place live from Tokyo, Japan. The card featured several fantastic match-ups. Two of which included the promotional debuts of former UFC champions Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez. As well as four big title fights.
Dana White planning to figure things out with Conor McGregor in coming weeks
Drake Riggs - April 1, 2019
Last Monday, former featherweight and lightweight UFC champion Conor McGregor tweeted out that he was calling it a career. However, not everyone is sold on that notion. That includes UFC President Dana White. McGregor has recently mentioned wanting his share in the UFC to compete in anything less than main event bouts. Obviously, this is a bit of an extreme idea.
Ruslan Magomedov handed lifetime suspension from USADA
Drake Riggs - April 1, 2019
Russia’s ‘Leopard,’ Ruslan Magomedov was once considered by many to be the heavyweight division’s best prospect. His incredible speed for one of the big men of the sport was truly a sight to behold as evidenced by his nickname. Unfortunately, he was nothing more than a product of banned substances. On Monday, USADA announced that the 14-1 Magomedov has now been suspended permanently after three violations. Their statement on the sanction can be read in its entirety below.
Josh Barnett signs with Bellator
Drake Riggs - April 1, 2019
“The Warmaster” Josh Barnett holds the record for the youngest heavyweight champion in UFC history. A label he achieved at just 24-years old. Now 41, the Seattle, Washington native isn’t done yet. Barnett revealed today on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that he had signed with Bellator MMA… As he did so live on the show. Because today is April 1, also known as April Fool’s Day, there was still speculation despite Helwani’s examining of Barnett’s freshly signed contract. Thus prompting a quick follow up tweet from Bellator President Scott Coker that confirmed the signings legitimacy.
PFL Announces Final Additions to 2019 Roster
Nolan King - April 1, 2019
Monday morning, the PFL announced the final roster additions to their sophomore season via ESPN. Making the final cut were twenty lucky combatants from all over the globe. Notable names include returning PFL veterans Ronny Markes and Francimar Barroso, UFC veterans Jeremy Kennedy, Glaico Franca, Ronys Torres, and Damon Jackson, as well as fan-favorite Contender Series veteran Chris Curtis.
Michael Johnson issues statement after KO loss to Josh Emmett
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
On Saturday night, on the main card of UFC Philadelphia, former lightweight contender Michael Johnson partook in his latest featherweight bout, taking on the dangerous Josh Emmett. Unfortunately for Johnson and his fans, this fight did not go as planned, as he found himself on the receiving end of a 2019 Knockout of the Year contender late in the third round.
UFC Contender Weili Zhang inks new deal
Nolan King - March 31, 2019
One of the UFC’s fastest rising strawweight isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Currently ranked #7, China’s Weili Zhang (19-1) has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC, per her manager Brian Butler-Au. BJPenn.com’s Drake Riggs has since learned the deal is for six-fights.
Angela Lee issues statement on first pro loss against Xiong Jing Nan
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
On Sunday night, in one of four title fights on the ONE: A New Era bill, ONE atomweight champ Angela Lee experienced her first pro loss, coming up short in a wild fight with strawweight champ Xiong Jing Nan. Speaking on Instagram on Monday, Angela Lee reacted to her first taste of defeat.
Conor McGregor rips 'little rat' Khabib Nurmagomedov, lightweight champ fires back
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ Conor McGregor share one of the most heated rivalries in MMA. Not even their record-breaking UFC 229 showdown was enough to end their beef. There’s still some serious animosity festering between the two lightweight stars to this day. Their beef continued on social media over the weekend.
The biggest winners from UFC Philadelphia
Mike Straus - March 31, 2019
From the opening bell on the early prelims to the climactic knock out in the main event, UFC Philadelphia was a vastly entertaining card. Philadelphia is notoriously tough as a sports town. It is also one of the most endearing fan bases in all of sports. That being said, there were moments when the fans showed their frustrations during the 13 fight event, however, those moments were few and far between.
EXCLUSIVE | Former UFC flyweights give their thoughts on the state of the division
Cole Shelton - March 31, 2019
The future of the UFC’s flyweight division is murky. It was previously reported that the division was going to close down at the end of 2018. However, that was not the case. Rather, the division stayed on, and headlining the first card of 2019 was a flyweight title fight. Although the fight was considered a ‘superfight’ given TJ Dillashaw was moving down in weight to take on Henry Cejudo.
Bellator 219: The biggest winners
Mike Straus - March 31, 2019
Bellator 219 from the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California sure delivered. The televised portion on of Bellator 219 Paramount network concluded with a wild lightweight scrap between Brandon Girtz and Saad Awad. However, the Viacom owned promotion still had seven fights for their usual post-lim showcase. Many of those fights were entertaining as well.
Ray Borg issues emotional statement on controversial loss to Casey Kenny
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
What's next for UFC Philadelphia main event fighters?
Cole Shelton - March 31, 2019
The Octagon returned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Saturday night for UFC on ESPN 2. In the main event, Justin Gaethje was taking on Edson Barboza in a fight that promised to bring fireworks. Ultimately, the fight delivered as Gaethje ended up knocking out Barboza in the first round. Now, Gaethje could very well be one win away from a title shot. Meanwhile, Barboza will have to take a step back in his next fight.
ONE: A New Era Results | Shinya Aoki sleeps Eduard Folayang in round one
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
Nobody expected Eduard Folayang to beat Shinya Aoki on the night of their first meeting in 2016, but the Filipino ONE Championship veteran did just that, clocking the Japanese veteran in the third round, and winning the lightweight title. In the years since that first fight, both fighters have enjoyed some huge wins and endured some tough losses. Their respective paths led them to a 2019 rematch, at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, Japan. This time around, it was Shinya Aoki attempting to take the lightweight belt from Eduard Folayang.
ONE: A New Era Results | Xiong Jing Nan survives near finish, smashes Angela Lee in the fifth
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
At ONE: A New Era in Tokyo, which marked the first ONE Championship in Japan, ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee moved up a weight class to battle ONE Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan in a bid to become the first female two-division champion in the promotion’s history. This bout was originally expected to occur at ONE: Heart of the Lion in Singapore in November of 2018, but was unfortunately postponed when Angela Lee was forced out of the bout with a back injury. After this delay, anticipation for this bout was extra high.
ONE: A New Era Results | Aung La N Sang KOs Hasegawa, sets up fight with Brandon Vera
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
When ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion Aung La N Sang first met DEEP Openweight Champion Ken Hasegawa, the result was a 2018 Fight of the Year contender. The two fighters, contesting for the ONE middleweight strap, battled for four and half frenetic rounds until finally, Aung La put a decisive end to things with a ridiculous one-punch knockout in the fifth. From the moment this unforgettable war ended, it was quite clear that we would eventually see a rematch. It was simply too good a fight not to run back.
ONE: A New Era Results | Demetrious Johnson survives early adversity to submit Yuya Wakamatsu (video)
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
On Sunday night in Tokyo, Japan (early Sunday morning in North America), former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson made his anticipated debut in the ONE Championship cage at ONE: A New Era. The flyweight legend’s welcoming committee was Japanese knockout artist Yuya Wakamatsu. Both fighters entered the ONE Championship cage with losses in the rear-view mirror. Demetrious Johnson last competed in August, when he surrendered the UFC flyweight title to Henry Cejudo in a bout that would go down as his last in the Octagon. Yuya Wakamatsu, meanwhile, recently came up short in his ONE Championship debut, giving up a decision to the streaking Danny Kingad.
ONE: A New Era Results | Timofey Nastyukhin stops Eddie Alvarez in round one (video)
Tom Taylor - March 31, 2019
On Sunday night in Tokyo, Japan, former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez made his ONE Championship debut. Alvarez’s debut fell on the stacked ONE: A New Era card, where he battled Russian juggernaut Timofey Nastyukhin in the final, first-round bout of the ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix. Both fighters entered the ONE Championship cage looking to bounce back from recent losses. Eddie Alvarez last fought in July in the UFC’s Octagon, where he came up short against Dustin Poirier. Timofey Nastyukhin, meanwhile, last fought in September, when he was stopped by the surging Saygid “Dagi” Guseyn Arslanaliev.