MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

On New Years, the Professional Fighters League (PFL) crowned the winners of its first-ever season. The winners in each division were handed world title belts and million-dollar checks. Yet in the opinion of Jon Fitch, who held the welterweight title when the PFL was still called World Series of Fighting, those checks might never clear. “I think those guys who won the tournament are going to be thinking about, ‘What happened to my million?” Fitch said backstage at Bellator 214 (via MMAjunkie). “I don’t have any faith that those guys are going to get paid their full amount.”

James Lynch - January 28, 2019

Despite testing positive in his UFC 232 VADA test, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was not suspended by the California State Athletic Commission The man who made that call, CSAC Director Andy Foster went into detail about that decision in a recent interview with Fightful MMA.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

Add fan favorite UFC welterweight Matt Brown onto the long list of fighters disappointed with the way the UFC handled the repeated anomalies found on the recent drug tests of Jon Jones. Speaking to the media backstage at Bellator 214 over the weekend, Brown gave his take on the situation, and he did not mince words.

Mike Straus - January 28, 2019

Bellator 214 is in the books and the first event of the year for the Viacom owned promotion definitely had some memorable moments. Whether you were tuning in to watch the conclusion of the World Heavyweight Grand Prix or if you were tuning in to watch one of the sport’s most promising prospects in Aaron Pico, Bellator 214 delivered.

Cole Shelton - January 28, 2019

Arguably the best division in the UFC is the lightweight division. The current champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov is undefeated, and there are a bevy of contenders who deserve a shot at his belt. As well, the division is also seeing new blood jump into the rankings with the likes of Gregor Gillespie, Alexander Hernandez, and Dan Hooker among rising contenders.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

Over the last few months, there’s been recurring discussion about a potential boxing match between undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. and reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov — primarily from Nurmagomedov’s camp, who have been feverishly campaigning for the matchup. In the opinion of UFC commentator Joe Rogan, the undefeated lightweight champ Nurmagomedov, who has never boxed before, would be wise to steer clear of Mayweather.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2019

Fedor Emelianenko had the chance to make history on Saturday night, as he battled Ryan Bader in a bid to become the Bellator heavyweight champion in the Bellator 214 main event. Unfortunately for the 42-year-old Russian MMA legend, however, things did not go as planned in this fight. Instead, he was knocked out in less than a minute. Speaking on Instagram late on Sunday, Fedor Emelianenko updated on his health in the wake of this loss.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Donald Cerrone is less than two weeks removed from an impressive knockout defeat of Alexander Hernandez, and already, he says his next fight is in the works. The notoriously busy fighter dropped this interesting tidbit on his official Instagram page.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

ONE Championship has added a whopping fourth title fight to its March 31 debut in Tokyo, Japan, and it’s a big one. In addition to the three title fights already on the ONE: A New Era bill, the card will now also feature the first title defense of new bantamweight champion Kevin Belingon. Belingon will defend the title against the man he won it from at ONE: Heart of the Lion in November, bantamweight legend Bibiano Fernandes.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2019

Renato Moicano is a rising star in the UFC’s featherweight division. He’s been with the UFC since 2014 and has gone 5-1 during that time with his only loss coming against Brian Ortega. Since the loss to Ortega, Moicano defeated Calvin Kattar and Cub Swanson to then become the backup fighter for the UFC 231 main event. Moicano ended up not having to fight as Max Holloway and Ortega both made weight. However, being the backup fighter showed he was the number one contender at featherweight, and he has to prove that when he takes on Jose Aldo at UFC Fortaleza.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Ryan Bader now owns the Bellator light heavyweight heavyweight titles. He earned the former with a defeat of Phil Davis last year, and the latter with a Saturday night, Bellator 214 knockout of Fedor Emelianenko. With two belts now wrapped round his waist, Ryan Bader has the option of ruling over two divisions if he so chooses. Drifting back and forth between two weight classes, of course, will not be easy.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, in the main event of Bellator 214, Ryan Bader became Bellator’s first two-division champion by knocking out Fedor Emelianenko to capture the heavyweight strap. At present, it’s not known whether Bader will defend his heavyweight or light heavyweight belt first. Whatever the case, Chael Sonnen seems interested in being his first challenger. On Saturday night, shortly after Ryan Bader won the strap, Chael Sonnen called him out on Twitter — though he promptly deleted the Tweet.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Last night, UFC welterweight contender Darren Till let his fingers fly on Twitter, taking aim at a number of his rivals in the division. One of his targets was former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king Ben Askren who, unsurprisingly, was prompt to fire back. See the pair’s wild exchange below.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2019

Aaron Pico had Henry Corrales hurt bad in the early phases of their anticipated Bellator 214 scrap. In fact, it looked as though the highly-regarded prospect was probably just a second or two away from another first-round knockout victory. Unfortunately for Pico, Corrales clung to his consciousness, and bringing to life every wounded animal metaphor we’ve ever heard in the fight game, fired back with a blistering punch of his own. Suddenly it was Pico on spaghetti legs, and moments later, he was unconscious.

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

Perennial featherweight contenders Henry Corrales and Aaron Pico squared off in the co-headliner of tonight’s Bellator 214 event in Los Angeles. Aaron Pico (4-2 MMA) entered tonight’s contest with Corrales on a four-fight win streak, with all four of those victories coming via first-round stoppages.

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

The Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Final went down this evening in Los Angeles, as Fedor Emelianenko squared off with Ryan Bader at Bellator 214. The former PRIDE FC champion, Fedor, was last seen in action this past October, where he scored a first-round TKO victory over Chael Sonnen.

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

A featherweight bout between Aaron Pico and Henry Corrales served as the co-headliner of tonight’s Bellator 214 event in Los Angeles. After losing his professional debut to Zach Freeman via submission, Aaron Pico has since rebounded with four-straight first-round knockouts.

Chris Taylor - January 26, 2019

Former WWE star Jake Hager (aka Jack Swagger) made his professional mixed martial arts debut against J.W. Kiser at tonight’s Bellator 214 event. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Hager, announced that he had signed a fight contract with Bellator MMA back in November of 2017.