MMA News

Cole Shelton - July 5, 2021

Jorge Masvidal is looking to return in the fall and has two names in mind. After Masvidal suffered a KO loss to Kamaru Uamsn for the welterweight title he said he would be returning in the fall. He said he wanted a top-ranked opponent and he’s sticking to that as he wants the rivalry fight against Colby Covington. Or, according to his manager, “Gamebred” is also interested in fighting Nick Diaz.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo shared his prediction for this weekend’s Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 3 bout. McGregor and Poirier meet this Saturday night in the main event of UFC 264. It’s a huge fight between the bitter rivals, who are 1-1 all-time in their series. The winner of this third and final bout will hold all the cards, making this a very important fight for both men. With an impressive win this weekend, the winner of McGregor and Poirier seems destined to fight for the title their next time out against UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

UFC lightweight title contender Dustin Poirier showed off his chiseled physique days out from his trilogy with Conor McGregor at UFC 264. Poirier and McGregor meet in the main event of this Saturday’s big pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ahead of the fight, Poirier took to his social media to share a photo of himself showing off his chiseled physique. It’s clear that “The Diamond” has been taking his training camp at American Top Team extremely seriously and he looks to be in absolutely phenomenal shape once again, which is someone fans have come to expect from him.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans praised “phenomenal fighter” Jon Jones and said he believes “Bones” will dominate the UFC heavyweight division. Evans and Jones were former training partners at Team Jackson – Wink a decade ago, but they had a falling out and eventually fought, with Jones defeating Evans via unanimous decision at UFC 145 in April 2012. Although both men are no longer close friends, there is still that mutual respect there between each other as former friends and training partners. In many ways, Evans gave Jones the torch to carry at 205lbs and he ran away with it.

Cole Shelton - July 5, 2021

Joey Beltran is still the BKFC heavyweight champion. Beltran was looking for his second title defense when he faced Sam Shewmaker in the main event of the stacked BKFC 18 card. Entering the scrap, the UFC and Bellator veteran was confident he would get his hand raised and he ended up doing so by decision.

Alfredo Zullino - July 5, 2021

A bantamweight clash between Gaetano Pirrello (15-6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Douglas Silva de Andrade (26-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) is in the works, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation informed BJPENN.com. The sources asked for anonymity since the news hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. The contracts have not been signed, but it seems it’s in the promotion plans to book this fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 2.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor sent a message to his rival Dustin Poirier ahead of their upcoming trilogy, saying “he’s going to pay for that.” McGregor and Poirier are bitter rivals and they will settle their feud once and for all this Saturday night in the main event of UFC 264. With the all-time series tied at 1-1 between these two men, the winner of Saturday’s fights will have eternal bragging rights. Both men have promised to put on an incredible showing and each has said a lot to each other in the leadup to the fight. But McGregor is confident that he is going to be the one who gets his hand raised, and he believes that he is going to make Poirier pay for all of his words.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

Jake Paul is not worried about Tyron Woodley training with “old man” Floyd Mayweather ahead of their upcoming boxing match this summer. Paul and Woodley meet on August 28 in what is set to be one of the biggest combat sports events of the summer. Ahead of their upcoming boxing match, Woodley revealed that he has been training with Mayweather, who is universally regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. There is also another connection with Mayweather and the Paul brothers, as Mayweather just fought Logan Paul to an eight-round No Decision in an exhibition bout.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

UFC bantamweight veteran Louis Smolka explained why he was forced to withdraw from his scheduled fight against Sean O’Malley at UFC 264. Smolka and O’Malley were expected to kick off the pay-per-view portion of this weekend’s blockbuster UFC 264 card, but “Da Last Samurai” was forced to pull out of the fight last week. Instead of fighting Smolka, O’Malley now faces off against UFC newcomer Kris Moutinho. It’s a disappointing turn of events, and Smolka took to his Instagram to explain exactly why he is not able to fight.

Harry Kettle - July 5, 2021

UFC has released a video documenting all of Dustin Poirier‘s finishes with the promotion heading into UFC 264 this weekend. For over a decade now we’ve all seen “The Diamond” thrive at the highest level in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at both featherweight and lightweight. Of course, while he may be viewed as one of the very best in the game right now, he’s also had to endure some setbacks – but that’s not what the enclosed video is about.

Harry Kettle - July 5, 2021

Chan Sung Jung aka The Korean Zombie isn’t interested in trying to change the opinion of his haters anymore. Zombie has had one of the featherweight division’s most interesting careers from his time as a title challenger to his mandatory military service to his consistently exciting fight style inside the Octagon.

Cole Shelton - July 4, 2021

Sean O’Malley has a unique reason as to why Louis Smolka pulled out of their fight at UFC 264. Less than two weeks before O’Malley and Smolka were set to fight, the Hawaiian was forced out of the bout due to a staph infection. However, according to “Suga”, he thinks there is more to it.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum called for the Fedor Emelianenko rematch, suggesting that “Fedor was never the GOAT.” It was just over 11 years ago in Strikeforce that Werdum and Emelianenko met inside the cage and the Brazilian pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time when he tapped the Russian out with a triangle-armbar. Fans have always wanted to see a rematch between these two rivals, but it has never happened. With Emelianenko set to return to the Bellator cage later this year in Russia, Bellator president Scott Coker has admitted that a number of big names have been in touch with his company to fight Emelianenko, naming fighters such as Josh Barnett, Junior dos Santos, and Alistair Overeem among the possibilities.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

Former UFC title contender Nate Marquardt announced his return to MMA, and “The Great” is set to compete for Titan FC later this summer. Marquardt announced this weekend at Titan FC 70 that he is set to return to mixed martial arts on August 6 when he fights at middleweight for the Titan promotion. “The Great” is now 42 years old and he hasn’t fought since a close split decision loss to Cezar Ferreira in November 2017. Marquardt mentioned back in November 2019 that he was considering a comeback and confirmed he was talking to Bellator. Nearly two years later and it appears as though Marquardt is finally able to get back into the cage, only this time for Titan FC.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

Lauren Murphy explained how she can dethrone UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko if she gets the next title shot at 125lbs. Murphy is currently the No. 3 ranked contender in the women’s flyweight division and she seems poised to be the next title challenger for the champion Shevchenko. With Murphy coming off of five straight wins, including a decision over Joanne Calderwood at UFC 263 that seemingly earned her the right to fight Shevchenko next, “Lucky” is hoping that the UFC matchmakers do the right thing and reward her long win streak with a title shot.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili confirmed that he is considering a move to the UFC flyweight division in the near future. Dvalishvili is currently the No. 10 ranked bantamweight in the UFC. The 30-year-old Georgia native is 13-4 in his MMA career, including a 6-2 record in the Octagon. “The Machine” has won his last six fights in a row and is quickly emerging as a title contender at 135lbs, where the belt is currently held by Dvalishvili’s teammate Aljamain Sterling. Following a win over Cody Stamann in his last fight, Dvalishvili next faces off against the No. 6 ranked contender Marlon Moraes at UFC 266, and a win would be huge for him.

Adam D Martin - July 4, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington shared his prediction for the upcoming Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier trilogy fight at UFC 264. Covington is a former teammate with Poirier at American Top Team and there is no love lost between them, but even if he doesn’t like “The Diamond,” he recognizes the fact that Poirier has some advantages in this upcoming trilogy fight with McGregor. As far as Covington goes, the third fight between Poirier and McGregor will look more like the second encounter between these two rivals rather than the first, meaning Poirier will win the fight.

Adam D Martin - July 4, 2021

Ciryl Gane says that he doesn’t feel bad for Francis Ngannou that an interim UFC heavyweight title was created for him and Derrick Lewis. Ngannou was fully expected to fight Lewis in the main event of UFC 265 in August, but the UFC did an about-face this week and created an interim title fight between Lewis and Gane for the event instead. According to the UFC, Ngannou wasn’t able to fight in August and the promotion already had an event booked in Houston, Texas, and needed Lewis to fight on the card. With Gane coming off of a great win over Alexander Volkov in a fight where he didn’t absorb much damage, the UFC matchmakers called up Gane to quickly turn around and fight Lewis for the interim belt. Of course, Gane said yes right away to the fight.