MMA News

Adam Martin - September 19, 2021

The ongoing Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix got a shakeup with Anthony Johnson out and Julius Anglickas stepping into his place. On Saturday, Johnson took to his social media to reveal that he has been forced to withdraw from the Bellator 205lbs tournament, though he did not disclose the reason for his withdrawal. Johnson was actually set to fight Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov next month as part of the tournament semifinals, but that won’t be happening anymore. Instead of Johnson fighting Nemkov, he is out of the tournament, and Bellator has called upon the tournament alternate Anglickas to fill Johnson’s spot in the tournament. In fact, Anglickas will now fight Nemkov for the Bellator belt next month. Bellator officially announced the change this weekend and Anglickas confirmed it, too.

Adam Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight Cheyanne Buys reacted after her husband JP Buys lost a lopsided fight to Montel Jackson at UFC Vegas 37. The Buys made their UFC debuts earlier this year on the same card, and it did not go well for either of them. To start off the night, JP was knocked out by Bruno Silva, and then Cheyanne was outgrappled by Montserrat Ruiz for 15 minutes. It was a disappointing debut for both of the Buys, but they were able to put it behind them and move on. Cheyanne was able to return to the Octagon in July and she knocked out Gloria de Paula with a brutal head kick to bounce back following the loss to Ruiz. As for JP, he decided to move up to bantamweight and fight Jackson at UFC Vegas 37, but he suffered another loss as he was dropped four times by his opponent en route to a unanimous decision defeat in the loss.

Adam Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC featherweight Ryan Hall returns to the Octagon at UFC 269 when he faces off against fellow grappling ace Darrick Minner. MMAJunkie.com was the first to report that Hall vs. Minner is on tap for UFC 269, which is set to take place on December 11. There is no location or venue set for this event yet, but there have been indications that it will take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of UFC 269 features UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira against Dustin Poirier, while the co-main event features Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena.

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler has no plans of retiring win-or-lose against Nick Diaz next Saturday night at UFC 266. Lawler takes on Diaz in a five-round, non-title fight at UFC 266 next weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. For Lawler, he is currently riding a four-fight losing skid and he has lost five of his last six fights overall. At age 39 and turning 40 years old in 2022, there have been some suggestions that this could be the final time we see Lawler step into the Octagon, particularly if he loses to Diaz. But as far as Lawler goes, he has no plans on retiring anytime soon, and in fact, he is incredibly excited about fighting Diaz once again. Speaking to TMZ Sports, Lawler said it’s “not possible” that he will retire after this fight.

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen reacted to the recent Conor McGregor vs. Machine Gun Kelly incident at the MTV VMAs last week in New York. McGregor and MGK got into a highly publicized altercation on the red carpet last week. Following that incident, UFC analyst Daniel Cormier suggested that McGregor’s gimmick has overtaken who is he as a person. It was an interesting comment from DC, but Sonnen isn’t totally sure he agrees with it. As far as Sonnen is concerned, you have to live the gimmick, which is what McGregor does. But where Sonnen agrees with DC is that there needs to be a clearer separation between who McGregor the fighter is and who McGregor the person is.

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC legend Jon Jones praised his longtime training partner Carlos Condit following his retirement from MMA earlier this week. Jones and Condit have trained alongside each other at Team Jackson – Wink for over a decade. Earlier this week, “The Natural Born Killer” announced that he is stepping away from mixed martial arts at age 37 following a decision loss to Max Griffin in his last fight. While Condit was coming off of back-to-back wins over Matt Brown and Court McGee before that defeat, he stills believes that it is the right time to walk away from the sport now.

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

Top-ranked title contender Anthony Smith explained why he is rooting for Glover Teixeira to win the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 267. At age 41, Teixeira will step into the Octagon next month in the main event of UFC 267 when he fights UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz for the belt. It should be an exceptional matchup between two elite 205lbers who have been around the game for a long time, and it’s also nice to see Teixeira get rewarded with a title shot after going on a long winning streak later in his career. If you ask Smith, seeing what Teixeira has been doing lately in the Octagon is truly special, and it’s part of the reason why he wants his former opponent to pull off the upset and pick up the win over Blachowicz in October.

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko says she is open to a trilogy fight with her rival, UFC double champion Amanda Nunes. Shevchenko is currently getting ready to defend the women’s 125lbs belt against top contender Lauren Murphy at UFC 266 next Saturday night. Should Shevchenko win that fight, it would be her eighth win in a row in the flyweight division, and the calls for her to move back up to bantamweight and fight Nunes again will be high. After all, Shevchenko was one of the only UFC fighters who has ever given problems to Nunes. Although Nunes holds two wins over Shevchenko, the second fight was a split decision that some people that Shevchenko won, and so a trilogy fight seems like something that could happen.

Adam D Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith calls for the Aleksandar Rakic rematch following the Ryan Spann finish at UFC Vegas 37. Smith won his third straight fight in the Octagon when he submitted Spann in the first round of their UFC Vegas 37 main event. For Smith, he has now won three straight fights by stoppage over Spann, Jimmy Crute, and Devin Clark. With a three-fight win streak now in his back pocket, “Lionheart” believes he has the ammunition he needs in order to call out the top dogs at 205lbs, and right now, Rakic is one of the best fighters in the weight class.

Christopher Taylor - September 18, 2021

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier explained why he was happy that Jon Jones didn’t hug him after their first fight. Cormier (22-3 MMA) and Jones (26-1 MMA) originally collided at UFC 182 in January of 2015. That evening in Las Vegas, ‘Bones’ outpointed ‘DC’ on route to a unanimous decision victory.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

Tonight’s Bellator 266 event was headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring Yoel Romero taking on Phil Davis. Romero (13-6 MMA) was returning to action for the first time since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Israel Adesanya for the UFC’s middleweight championship in March of 2020. That setback had marked Yoel’s third in a row, as ‘The Soldier of God’ had previously been outpointed by Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

Tonight’s Bellator 266 event is headlined by a light heavyweight bout featuring Yoel Romero taking on Phil Davis. Romero (13-5 MMA) has not competed since suffering a unanimous decision loss to Israel Adesanya for the UFC’s middleweight championship in March of 2020. That setback marked his third in a row, as ‘The Soldier of God’ had previously been outpointed by Paulo Costa and Robert Whittaker.

Christopher Taylor - September 18, 2021

Devin Clark squared off with Ion Cutelaba in the co-headliner of tonight’s UFC Vegas 37 event in Nevada. Clark (12-6 MMA) had entered the contest looking to rebound, this after suffering a submission loss to Anthony Smith in his most previous effort. Prior to being stopped by ‘Lionheart’, Devin Clark was coming off back-to-back wins over Dequan Townsend and Alonzo Menifield.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

A key light heavyweight bout featuring Anthony Smith taking on Ryan Spann headlined tonight’s UFC Vegas 37 event. Smith (36-16 MMA) was looking to extend his current win streak to three in a row when he took to the Octagon this evening. ‘Lionheart’ had earned back-to-back stoppage wins over Jimmy Crute and Devin Clark in his most previous efforts.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

A key light heavyweight bout featuring Anthony Smith taking on Ryan Spann headlines tonight’s UFC Vegas 37 event. Smith (35-16 MMA) will be looking to extend his current win streak to three in a row when he makes the walk this evening. ‘Lionheart’ is coming off back-to-back stoppage wins over Jimmy Crute and Devin Clark in his most recent efforts.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

Tonight’s UFC Vegas 37 event was co-headlined by another fun light heavyweight scrap as Ion Cutelaba takes on Devin Clark. Cutelaba (16-6-1 MMA) was to pick up his first win since 2019 when he took to the Octagon this evening. ‘The Hulk‘ had gone 0-2-1 over his last three fights prior to tonight’s affair.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

The UFC has continued its roster purge releasing four more fighters including lightweight Roosevelt Roberts (10-3 MMA). The news was first reported by MMAFighting, who revealed that Anderson dos Santos, Drako Rodriguez and Jamey Simmons were also cut in addition to Roberts.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2021

Paddy Pimblett made waves two weeks ago when he scored a first round TKO victory over Luigi Vendramini in his UFC debut. The former Cage Warriors champion, Pimblett (17-3 MMA), not only garnered a barrage of new fans at UFC Vegas 36, but also walked away with a $50k bonus.