MMA News

Joe McDonagh - August 13, 2021

Bellator Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi met the “Salty Dog” in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 264 event. Mousasi (47-7-2) is one of the most dominant fighters on the Bellator roster to date. The Middleweight champion is 5-1 with the promotion and coming off a massive win over former welterweight champion Douglas Lima back in 2020.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos explained what makes Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev different fighters. Dos Anjos steps back into the Octagon on October 30 in Abu Dhabi when he faces off against Makhachev at UFC 267. This is a fight that the UFC tried to book twice in 2020 but was unable to do so due to COVID-19 and other injuries. Now that both fighters are fully healthy, dos Anjos and Makhachev will meet this fall in what is a potential No. 1 contender bout for the belt that Makhachev’s teammate Nurmagomedov held at this point a year ago.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

One of the top contenders at 170lbs, Vicente Luque explained why he will be the one who will dethrone UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Luque submitted Michael Chiesa with a D’Arce choke to move into the top-five rankings at 170lbs. “The Silent Assassin” has now won his last four fights in a row — all by stoppage — and he is closing in on a title shot against Usman. The odds are that Leon Edwards will get the title shot before Luque since he has a head-to-head win over him, but Luque believes that his ability to put on exciting fights and be a fresh new contender for Usman puts him ahead of Edwards. In fact, he also believes that he has more weapons to challenge the champion. Speaking to Combate, Luque explained why he is the man to beat Usman.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo says he is focused on becoming a UFC champion again, not in fighting YouTubers in boxing. Aldo — one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time — has always openly embraced the idea of taking his skills to the boxing ring, but that hasn’t happened at this point. After a three-fight losing skid in 2019 to 2020 that left some feeling like Aldo was on the downside of his career, “Junior” has rebounded since then with back-to-back wins over Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz. After winning his last two fights over top contenders at 135lbs, Aldo believes that he still has what it takes to make a run for the UFC bantamweight title.

Cole Shelton - August 13, 2021

Former UFC lightweight, Stevie Ray will be ending his retirement. Ray retired from MMA in September of 2020 which he said at the time was due to knee injuries. However, he told BJPENN.com this week that there was much more to it, and it was due to the UFC forcing him out of the organization and making him retire.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

Former UFC champion Chris Weidman shared his latest health update after undergoing a second surgery on the broken leg he suffered at UFC 261. Weidman suffered one of the most horrific injuries we have ever seen inside the Octagon back in April when his leg snapped on a checked kick against Uriah Hall. Weidman immediately went down in pain and was rushed to the hospital to undergo emergency surgery on the broken limb. The initial thought was that the surgery was successful, and Weidman even started getting back into the gym, but he suffered a setback in his recovery, and “The All-American” was forced to undergo a second surgery on the shattered limb.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

Former UFC title challenge Yoel Romero is set to make Bellator MMA debut against former Bellator light heavyweight champ fighter Phil Davis. Ariel Helwani of Substack was the first to report the Romero vs. Davis fight. According to Helwani, the bout is expected to serve as the headliner of the Bellator MMA card set for September 18, which is tentatively slated to be called Bellator 266. The card is expected to take place in San Jose, California, and Romero vs. Davis will be the evening’s main event.

Adam D Martin - August 13, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor encouraged Nate Diaz to continue his trolling of rival Dustin Poirier, telling him that “I am entertained.” McGregor has, of course, fought both Diaz and Poirier multiple times each. The Irishman had a pair of memorable fights with Diaz in 2016, where he went 1-1 in the pair of bouts, while “Notorious” ended up losing 2-1 overall to Poirier during their own trilogy. In the last fight against Poirier at UFCC 264, McGregor broke his leg, and he’s expected to be out for the next year while he heals up his wounds. During his time off, McGregor has spent much of it on social media trolling several other fighters including Poirier, Diaz, and Daniel Cormier. But according to McGregor, he’s having more fun watching Diaz troll Poirier.

Drake Riggs - August 12, 2021

Tim Johnson is the last person the MMA community expected as the next opponent of Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator’s debut in Russia. On Oct. 23 in Moscow, Emelianenko and Johnson will lock horns. The announcement revealed a few weeks back gave fans and the fighters alike time to fantasize about possible matchups with Josh Barnett, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and even Anderson Silva. So what happened?

Drake Riggs - August 12, 2021

Gable Steveson hasn’t even committed to an MMA career yet and he’s already having fight odds made in his favor. Bovada released odds for hypothetical UFC bouts featuring the recent Team USA Olympic gold medalist wrestler against some of the heavyweight division’s best. One of which sees him as the very slight favorite against “The Black Beast” Derrick Lewis.

Joe McDonagh - August 12, 2021

Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier continued to trade barbs on social media this evening, with ‘The Stockton Slugger’ accusing ‘The Diamond’ of ducking a potential fight. The two stars have exchanged some heated words as of late but both appear interested in a future matchup.

Cole Shelton - August 12, 2021

Yoel Romero can resume his fighting career. Romero was supposed to fight Anthony Johnson in the light heavyweight grand prix but he was removed after failing his physical. The hope for Bellator was he would get cleared in a few months and that ended up being the case.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

UFC welterweight Jordan Williams shared a video of him stopping a car thief from stealing his vehicle while he was wearing a fanny pack. Williams most recently competed last month when he was submitted by Mickey Gall in his UFC welterweight debut. Prior to that, “Bomaye” lost a decision to Nassourdine Imavov in his UFC debut at middleweight. He previously competed three times on Dana White’s Contender Series, losing a split decision to Ramazan Kuramagomedov before returning to the show and picking up a big first-round knockout win over current UFC fighter Gregory Rodrigues. He also had a No Contest against Tim Caron on the second season of DWCS.

Cole Shelton - August 12, 2021

Stevie Ray announced his retirement from MMA in September 2020, which many thought was due to his knee injuries. However, there is much more to the story, which Ray has never spoken publicly about. Ray competed in the UFC from 2015 and had a 7-4 record where in his last fight, he picked up what he calls the biggest win of his career as he defeated Michael Johnson. He also fought the likes of Paul Felder, and Leonardo Santos as well as defeating Joe Lauzon and Ross Pearson among others. Yet, for quite some time, Ray had heard rumblings the UFC wanted him out of the organization, and that finally happened when they released him, but he covered it up with him announcing his retirement.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski was pranked with a giant snake by Brian Ortega on TUF 29, and you can watch the video of it. Volkanovski and Ortega are the two head coaches on the latest installment on TUF, and they will meet inside the Octagon for Volkanovski’s 145lbs title in September at UFC 266. The current season of the show still has one more episode to still air, but in the penultimate episode of the show, Ortega decided to prank his rival in a hilarious fashion.

Cole Shelton - August 12, 2021

Ciryl Gane is hoping his heavyweight title unification fight against Francis Ngannou happens in Paris, France. Gane claimed the interim heavyweight title at UFC 265 with a TKO victory over Derrick Lewis. It was the Frenchman’s fourth fight since December of 2020 and now with his wife set to give birth, he is looking to take some time off but is interested in the fight happening late this year or early next.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

UFC welterweight Kevin Lee got a short-notice replacement opponent for UFC Vegas 35, as he now takes on rising contender Daniel Rodriguez. Lee was expected to fight top prospect Sean Brady at UFC Vegas 35, which is set to take place on August 28 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unfortunately for fight fans who were very much looking forward to that fight, Brady pulled out with an injury, which temporarily left Lee without an opponent. “The Motown Phenom” then took to his social media, where he called out several other fighters including Mike Perry, but in the end, he will end up facing the man who last defeated Perry in Rodriguez. ESPN broke the news.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

Tito Ortiz reacted to his boxing match with Anderson Silva, saying that “I’ve been working extensively on my boxing over the past 10 years.” Coming out of left field, the Ortiz vs. Silva boxing match was officially announced on Wednesday by Triller. It will take place on September 11 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and will be a 195lbs professional boxing match set for eight rounds or less. The main event of the card features former UFC champion Vitor Belfort against Oscar de la Hoya. With the addition of Ortiz vs. Silva, this is expected to be one of Triller’s biggest boxing events to date, one that features a number of combat sports legends.