MMA News

Adam D Martin - September 27, 2021

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul responded after former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley got a tattoo with his name on it. Woodley on Monday posted a photo of the words “I Love Jake Paul” tattoo on the inside of his middle finger. Not long after Woodley shared the photo of the tattoo, “The Problem Child” himself responded after “The Chosen One” shared his tattoo with the world.

Cole Shelton - September 27, 2021

Sean O’Malley has made it clear he wants to fight Dominick Cruz and he now is hinting at the matchup happening at UFC 269 in December. O’Malley has made it known he will be fighting at UFC 269 on December 11 in Las Vegas. However, he doesn’t have an opponent despite the likes of Ricky Simon and Brian Kelleher have called him out, yet on Monday, he hinted at a matchup with Cruz again.

Adam D Martin - September 27, 2021

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley showed off his brand new “I Love Jake Paul” tattoo in a new photo shared on his Instagram. Woodley and Paul met last month in a high-profile boxing match in Cleveland, Ohio, and the stakes were high. Not only was there a lot of money and pride on the line, but the loser of the fight was also supposed to get a tattoo of the winner’s name on their body. However, after Paul was announced as the winner by split decision, Woodley said that he would only get the tattoo if Paul agreed to an immediate rematch. It’s been a month since the fight and there have been no signs that Paul has agreed to fight Woodley right away again, but Woodley made a rematch more interesting by deciding to get the tattoo.

Adam D Martin - September 27, 2021

Top-ranked UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili reacted after his insane TKO comeback win over Marlon Moraes at UFC 266. Dvalishvili took on Moraes on the undercard of this past Saturday night’s UFC 266 pay-per-view card, and the two bantamweights put on quite the show for the fans. The first round saw Moraes nearly knock Dvalishvili out on several occasions, but somehow the Georgian was able to survive the onslaught and make it to the end of the first round. In the second round, Moraes was completely tired out by that point and Dvalishvili was able to pour on the offense using his trademark cardio as a weapon and earn the second-round TKO. It was the seventh win of Dvalishvili’s UFC career and it improved his Octagon record to 7-2.

Adam D Martin - September 27, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight contender Jessica Andrade called for a trilogy fight with Rose Namajunas or a rematch with Weili Zhang. Andrade knocked out Cynthia Calvillo in the first round of their fight at UFC 266. For Andrade, this was her third fight at 125lbs and her second win by knockout, with a previous TKO victory over top-ranked contender Katlyn Chookagian. However, that one loss that Andrade has in the weight class came against UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko earlier this year. Knowing that a rematch with Shevchenko is going to be hard to attain, it appears as though Andrade is now interested in returning down to 115lbs, where she was the UFC women’s strawweight champion two years ago.

Cole Shelton - September 27, 2021

The UFC was back in front of a full capacity crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada for a stacked UFC 266 card. The card saw Alexander Volkanovski defending his belt against Brian Ortega, Valentina Shevchenko defending her belt against Lauren Murphy, and Nick Diaz returning against Robbie Lawler. The event ended up delivering as Volkanovski edged out Ortega in one of the best fights of the year. Shevchenko, meanwhile, continued her dominance with a fourth-round TKO win over Lauren Murphy and Robbie Lawler exacted his revenge as he TKO’d Nick Diaz. Now, following the event, here’s what I think should be next for the stars of UFC 266.

Adam D Martin - September 27, 2021

Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan trashed the “sneaky coward” Aljamain Sterling for pulling out of their UFC 267 rematch. Yan was expected to meet Sterling in a rematch in the co-main event of UFC 267 next month, but the fight was scratched when Sterling was forced to pull out of the bout with an injury. With Sterling out, the UFC is hoping to book an interim title fight for Fight Island, with Yan in one corner of the fight and another top contender in the other corner. As far as Yan goes, while he wanted to fight Sterling badly and get his revenge, at this point he is telling the UFC matchmakers to get anyone in the top-10 who is available to fight him.

Adam D Martin - September 27, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping reacted to Jon Jones’ latest arrest, saying “he’s a good person, but he’s just making some bad choices.” Jones was in Las Vegas this past week for his own induction into the UFC Hall of Fame for his epic war against Alexander Gustafsson in 2013, but the week ended on a bad note for Jones as he was reportedly arrested on several charges Friday morning. Speaking on his podcast, Bisping shared his thoughts on Jones just days after he was arrested again.

Harry Kettle - September 27, 2021

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has explained why he called out Beneil Dariush after his win at UFC 266 on Saturday. Hooker managed to get back on the winning trail last weekend with a nice win over Nasrat Haqparast in Las Vegas. He had to rely on his wrestling to do it but after going through such a gruelling process just to get to fight night, it made sense that “Hangman” wanted to do everything in his power to ensure he walked away with the win.

Christopher Taylor - September 26, 2021

Ben Askren has responded to the suggestion that he serve as the next opponent for UFC star Nick Diaz. Diaz (26-10 MMA) returned to action from a six year hiatus Saturday night at UFC 266 in hopes of defeating Robbie Lawler for a second time. The pair had originally collided seventeen years ago in a welterweight bout at UFC 47, with the Stockton native emerging victorious by way of second round knockout.

Christopher Taylor - September 26, 2021

Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo was clearly not impressed by Alex Volkanovski’s win over Brian Ortega at UFC 266. Volkanovski (23-1 MMA) squared off with Ortega (15-2 MMA) in the headliner of last night’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas. The fight proved to be a thrilling five-round affair. Alex Volkanovski was able to get the better of Brian Ortega in rounds one and two. Then, in round three, ‘T-City’ stormed back and nearly finished the fight with a pair of submission attempts. However, ‘Alexander The Great’ would ultimately escape both of Ortega’s chokehold threats and went on to score a dominant decision victory.

Christopher Taylor - September 26, 2021

Nate Diaz has responded after Conor McGregor suggested that his “boxing is piss” when compared to that of his brother Nick. Nick Diaz (26-10 MMA) returned to the Octagon yesterday evening following a six year hiatus from the sport. Standing in the way of the former Strikeforce champion was former opponent Robbie Lawler.

Adam Martin - September 26, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor took a shot at Nate Diaz’s “piss” boxing skills, saying that his brother Nick Diaz is on “another level.” McGregor evidently watched UFC 266 as Nick Diaz took on Robbie Lawler in a grudge match rematch 17 years in the making. Although Diaz ended up losing via third-round TKO, he did display his trademark boxing skills during the contest, as he landed 150 significant strikes on Lawler during the two-plus that the fight went. It seems as though McGregor noticed the work that Diaz did with his hands in the loss. Taking to his social media the day after UFC 266, McGregor praised Nick Diaz for his boxing skills while criticizing Nate Diaz for his. As far as McGregor goes, the older Diaz brother has far better boxing skills. The Irishman also used his tweet as an opportunity to tell the younger Diaz he “made” him.

Adam Martin - September 26, 2021

Lauren Murphy issued a statement following her fourth-round TKO loss to UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 266. Murphy earned her first UFC title shot off of a five-fight win streak, but as Shevchenko showed on Saturday night, there are levels to this game. The champion was able to have her way with Murphy on the feet and on the ground all night long as she dominated her foe until getting the fourth-round finish. Now that the fight is over, Murphy can reflect on the experience, and she took to social media to open up on her “rough night at the office.”

Adam Martin - September 26, 2021

UFC lightweight prospect Nasrat Haqparast released a statement following his unanimous decision loss to Dan Hooker at UFC 266. Haqparast took the fight with Hooker on short notice after the New Zealander was having problems finding an opponent for the UFC 266 card. Haqparast stepped up on short notice and took the fight, but the week before the event was set to take place, his mother passed away. Haqparast flew back home to Germany for the funeral and then he ran into visa issues on his way back home, an issue that Hooker also ran into. Fortunately, Haqparast was able to get his visa and so was Hooker, and the two put on a great fight for the fans. However, Haqparast came out on the wrong end of the decision as he lost on the cards.

Adam D Martin - September 26, 2021

Brian Ortega reacted following his UFC 266 loss to UFC featherweight champ Alex Volkanovksi, saying “that little bastard is tough as hell.” Ortega and Volkanovski went five hard rounds in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 266 pay-per-view card, but at the end of 25 minutes, it was Volkanovski getting his hand raised by unanimous decision. Although Ortega had several extremely tight submission attempts during the fight, Volkanovski was impossible to put away as he showed off incredible durability in his victory. Overall, it was just another phenomenal performance by Volkanovski, who is certainly one of the very best pound-for-pound MMA fighters right now.

Adam Martin - September 26, 2021

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker dedicated his victory over Narsat Haqparast at UFC 266 to his fallen teammate, Fau Vake. Hooker defeated Haqparast via unanimous decision at UFC 266 in a lightweight battle between two fighters who barely even made it to their fight. For Hooker, he had visa issues he was facing in New Zealand, not to mention the lack of opponents available to him. Then for Haqparast, his mother passed away last week and he almost had visa issues, as well. Thankfully, the fight went on as planned, with Hooker showing off a dominant, complete MMA game for the win. “The Hangman” not only outstruck his opponent Haqparast, but he also out-grappled him as well in what was one of his most complete performances ever.

Adam Martin - September 26, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight contender Cynthia Calvillo issued a statement following her first-round TKO loss to Jessica Andrade at UFC 266. Calvillo was stopped with strikes in the first round by Andrade, who swarmed her opponent and finished her with punches up against the fence to force the TKO victory. Following the fight, Calvillo took to her social media to issue a statement following her knockout defeat.