MMA News
Josh Emmett announces plans to move to lightweight for retirement fight
Josh Evanoff - July 21, 2023
Former interim UFC featherweight title challenger Josh Emmett plans to make his next fight his last. ‘The Fighting Falmer’ has been out of the cage since a clash with Ilia Topuria last month at UFC Jacksonville. ‘El Matador’ entered the matchup calling for a title shot against Alexander Volkanovski, and he fought like it. In the end, Ilia Topuria turned in a historic win last month against the longtime contender.
Paddy Pimblett says he would love to do a season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ with Ilia Topuria
Susan Cox - July 21, 2023
Paddy Pimblett is sharing that he would love to do a season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ with Ilia Topuria. Pimblett (20-3 MMA) last fought in the Octagon in December of 2022 at UFC 282 where he defeated Jared Gordon (19-6 MMA) by unanimous decision.
Nate Diaz explains how Jake Paul trash talking Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin helped influence him into accepting the fight
Susan Cox - July 21, 2023
Nate Diaz is explaining how Jake Paul trash talking Conor McGregor and Dee Devlin helped influence him into accepting the fight. The Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul boxing match is taking place at the American Airlines Center on Saturday, August 5th in Dallas, Texas.
Colby Covington casts doubt on Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa actually happening at UFC 294: “Those guys are some of the biggest jokers in the sport”
Susan Cox - July 21, 2023
Colby Covington is casting doubt on Khamzat Chimaev vs. Paulo Costa actually happening at UFC 294. It was earlier this week that Costa took to ‘Twitter’ relaying the news that his fight with Chimaev was on – this before anything was announced by the UFC.
Colby Covington warns Islam Makhachev against moving up to welterweight: “Keep acting like you wanna come up to Daddy's division”
Harry Kettle - July 21, 2023
Colby Covington has warned Islam Makhachev against making a potential move up to welterweight in the future. Everyone knows that Colby Covington likes to run his mouth. In addition to that, he also enjoys teasing other fighters, with the two usually going hand in hand.
Dricus Du Plessis explains why he walked away from Israel Adesanya during confrontation at UFC 290: “I don’t want to be a part of this”
Harry Kettle - July 21, 2023
Dricus du Plessis has explained why he opted to walk away from Israel Adesanya during their intense showdown at UFC 290. Following his win over Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, Dricus du Plessis was confronted by Israel Adesanya in the Octagon. The encounter featured plenty of slurs coming from Adesanya, some of them being of a racial nature. It seemed as if du Plessis wasn’t too interested in engaging with the champion, preferring to wait until he gets in the cage with him again before letting his fists do the talking.
Francis Ngannou rep claims Jon Jones got “nervous” during faceoff with Francis Ngannou: “This is a different beast that I’m touching”
Harry Kettle - July 21, 2023
Francis Ngannou’s representative Marquel Martin has given his thoughts on the heavyweight’s recent interaction with Jon Jones. Right now, Francis Ngannou must be feeling pretty good about the future. He has signed a lucrative deal with PFL and, in addition to that, he’s also set to enter the boxing ring to take on Tyson Fury. From a financial standpoint, it doesn’t get much more lucrative than that.
Colby Covington unloads on “unreliable” Jon Jones ahead of UFC 295: “He could beat his wife again, end up in jail”
Harry Kettle - July 21, 2023
Colby Covington has taken a shot at Jon Jones ahead of his return to the Octagon at UFC 295 in November. It’s safe to say that Colby Covington is a controversial character. The man known as ‘Chaos’ hasn’t been seen inside the Octagon for over a year, dating back to his win over Jorge Masvidal. Despite that, the expectation is that he will challenge Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight championship later this year.
Report | Leon Edwards targeted to defend his welterweight title at UFC 295 against Colby Covington
Cole Shelton - July 20, 2023
Leon Edwards will be returning to the Octagon in November. UFC president Dana White told TNT Sports Adam Catterall that the promotion is working on Edwards vs. Colby Covington to serve as the co-headliner of UFC 295. The event is set to take place on November 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York with Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic heavyweight title fight serving as the main event.
Sean Strickland tells the UFC he has "a price" in order to fight Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in Australia: "Pay me"
Cole Shelton - July 20, 2023
Sean Strickland has responded to Israel Adesanya saying they will be fighting in Australia at UFC 293. Adesanya took to social media to announce that Dricus Du Plessis won’t be able to fight him at UFC 293 in Australia on September 9. He also claimed Strickland would be stepping in, but the American says in order for him to face Adesanya in September he needs to be paid accordingly.
Tom Aspinall admits Jon Jones "probably doesn't know" who he is but he's hopeful they can fight in the future
Cole Shelton - July 20, 2023
Tom Aspinall hopes he and Jon Jones can share the Octagon with one another in the future. Aspinall is set to headline UFC London on Saturday against Marcin Tybura in his first fight since he suffered a knee injury last July against Curtis Blaydes. The loss and injury were heartbreaking for Aspinall as he knew a win over Blaydes could have gotten him a title shot against the returning Jon Jones.
ONE Championship to hold four U.S. events in 2024 after successful Colorado debut
Josh Evanoff - July 20, 2023
ONE Championship is headed back to America for a packed 2024 schedule. The Asia-based company has made massive strides over the last year. In May, the promotion headed to Colorado for its first event inside the United States. The card featured many names familiar to UFC fans, including former flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, among others.
Tom Aspinall reveals Tyson Fury's request to train ahead of Francis Ngannou bout
Josh Evanoff - July 20, 2023
UFC heavyweight contender Tom Aspinall has chimed in on Tyson Fury vs. Francis Ngannou. In October, ‘The Gypsy King’ and ‘The Predator’ will face off in Saudi Arabia. The two will headline an ESPN pay-per-view offering, as the two heavyweight champions clash. It’ll be the first time in combat sports history that the UFC’s lineal heavyweight titleholder will face boxing’s lineal heavyweight champion.
Davey Grant expects to "meet in the middle" and throw with Daniel Marcos at UFC London: "We are going to have a really exciting fight"
Cole Shelton - July 20, 2023
Davey Grant is ecstatic to be fighting back home in England. Although the UFC has gone to England three times since last March, Grant hasn’t been on any of the cards. After missing three straight cards, he campaigned to get on this UFC London event on Saturday and he got his wish as he will face Daniel Marcos.
Georges St-Pierre vs. Demian Maia announced for UFC Fight Pass Invitational 6 in December
Josh Evanoff - July 20, 2023
Former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre will grapple Demian Maia in December. ‘Rush’ announced his return to competition earlier this month at International Fight Week. Last facing Michael Bisping at UFC 217 in 2017, Georges St-Pierre scored a submission win over ‘The Count’. That gave him gold in a second weight class but would wind up being his final contest.
The UFC removes three fighters from their active roster, including Blagoy Ivanov
Susan Cox - July 20, 2023
The UFC have removed three fighters from their active roster, including heavyweight fighter Blagoy Ivanov. All of these removals come following UFC Vegas 76 which took place on Saturday, July 1st at the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada and UFC 290 which took place on Saturday, July 8th at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
UFC Nashville gets a new main event as Cory Sandhagen now takes on Rob Font
Cole Shelton - July 20, 2023
Cory Sandhagen will remain on UFC Nashville and will still headline the card. Sandhagen was originally supposed to face Umar Nurmagomedov but on Wednesday, it was revealed that Nurmagomedov was out of the scrap due to an injury. Now, according to ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Cory Sandhagen will now face Rob Font in a five-round main event to headline UFC Nashville on August 5.
Conor McGregor reacts after Umar Nurmagomedov is forced to withdraw from UFC Nashville main event
Harry Kettle - July 20, 2023
Conor McGregor has given his thoughts on Umar Nurmagomedov pulling out of his scheduled bout against Cory Sandhagen. If there’s one thing we know about Conor McGregor, it’s that he’s not a fan of pulling out of fights. He’s suffered a string of injuries in the lead-up to bouts before, and yet he’s still soldiered on and competed. Chad Mendes, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier are three examples that immediately come to mind.