MMA News

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2021

Anderson Silva has issued a statement after Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. missed weight for their boxing match on Saturday night in Mexico. Silva, who is set for his first fight since his UFC release, was set to cut down to 182lbs to face Chavez Jr. who normally competes around the 160-175lbs mark. Silva made the weight while Chavez Jr. came in 2.4 pounds heavy. According to the Mexican, he thought the bout was taking place at 185lbs due to the fact that was the weight Silva fought at in the UFC. Despite his claim, Chavez Jr. still came in heavy and forfeited $100,000 to Silva for the weight miss.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2021

The pay-per-view buyrate for UFC 263 is in. According to John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal, UFC 263 which went down last Saturday in Arizona sold 500,000 PPVs on ESPN+ in the United States. It’s reported to have done over 600,000 globally.

Chris Taylor - June 18, 2021

Chris Weidman issued an apology to former UFC rival Anderson Silva during their powerful conversation on the American’s new show “Won’t Back Down”. Weidman (15-6 MMA) and Silva (34-11 MMA) collided on two occasions back in 2013. In the pairs first encounter at UFC 162, ‘The All American’ shocked the world when he knocked out ‘The Spider’ to claim the promotions middleweight world title.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Petr Yan blasted Sean O’Malley over one of his previous MMA fights, asking “did Suga poodle teach Alja his acting skills?” Yan was the UFC bantamweight champion but he lost it back at UFC 259 earlier this year when he struck Aljamain Sterling with an illegal knee that ended the fight. Ever since that night, Yan has taken to social media to troll Sterling over accepting the DQ victory in their match. There is no love lost between Yan and Sterling and the hope is that these two meet sometime later this year in a high-profile rematch with the UFC bantamweight on the line, the same division that O’Malley — one of the UFC’s biggest stars at 135 — competes at.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz says that Jiri Prochazka should fight Aleksandar Rakic in No. 1 contender fight at 205lbs. Blachowicz takes on Glover Teixeira this fall at UFC 266 in his second light heavyweight title defense after getting the best of Israel Adesanya earlier this year at UFC 259. While we know that Teixeira is the next man in line to fight for the belt, after that, it’s hard to say who is next in line for the title. The smart money is on Prochazka, who has knocked out Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes in his first two UFC fights, but Rakic is 6-1 overall in the UFC and isn’t far back from the belt. Then there’s also Magomed Ankalaev, who is 6-1 overall in the Octagon, as well. Any of these three men could be a future Blachowicz foe.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

The official weigh-ins for UFC Vegas 29 took place on Friday in Las Vegas and all 24 of the fighters scheduled to compete have made weight. In the headliner, The Korean Zombie squares off against Dan Ige in a battle of top-10 ranked featherweights looking to make a run for the title. The last time we saw The Korean Zombie fight was last fall on Fight Island when he dropped a unanimous decision to Brian Ortega, while the last time we saw Ige he was knocking out Gavin Tucker in just 22 seconds earlier this year. Both men officially made weight for this fight, with each fighter tipping the scales at 146lbs.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2021

Anderson Silva has accomplished a ton in his MMA career, but there is one moment that sticks out the most for him. Throughout Silva’s legendary MMA career, he won titles in Shooto, Cage Rage, and the UFC, including defending his middleweight title 10 times and holding the belt for 2457 days. He’s considered one of the best ever but his favorite memory from his career is when he earned a decision win over Hayato Sakurai at Shooto 7 on August 26, 2001, to win the Shooto middleweight title, which was the first title the Brazilian won in MMA.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Petr Yan fires back at Aljamain Sterling over his Unified Rules comment, suggesting he “try to win the fight without crawling on your knees.” Yan and Sterling fought back at UFC 259 in March for the UFC bantamweight title that Yan held at that time. Yan was in total control of the fight and seemed to be cruising towards a decision win when he made the mistake of landing an illegal knee to a downed opponent in the fourth round of the fight. Sterling was unable to continue due to the illegal shot and referee Mark Smith ruled the fight in favor of Sterling via DQ, handing him the belt. It was about as controversial of a moment as one can remember in a UFC title fight, as it was the first time in promotional history that a belt has changed hands as a result of a DQ.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort called his upcoming exhibition boxing match with Oscar De La Hoya “the biggest fight ever.” It was announced on Thursday that Belfort will return to the boxing ring for the first time in 15 years when he takes on the legend De La Hoya, who himself will be making his boxing comeback after 13 years away from the sport. The fight will take place on September 11 and it is expected to be another big money-making fight for Triller Fight Club as it features one of the most famous boxers of all time in De La Hoya against an MMA legend in Belfort.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Leon Edwards says he will wait for the title shot against the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington: “I’m not fighting no one else.” Edwards is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 263 and overall he is unbeaten over his last 10 fights, with nine wins and one No Contest during that stretch. Edwards believes that he has done enough to fight Usman for the UFC welterweight title, but UFC president Dana White has already confirmed that Covington will be getting the next crack at the belt. That means that Edwards either will have to wait for the winner of the Usman vs. Covington fight or take another fight in the meantime.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman sympathized with Conor McGregor, saying that “I can’t imagine what Conor’s going through.” Usman is the UFC welterweight champion and one of the best fighters on the planet, and since he has become more famous with his wins in the Octagon, he has become a bigger star outside of it. Now that Usman knows what it’s like to be a big star he sympathizes with what McGregor is going through as the most popular fighter in the sport. As nice as it is to have all the fame and the money that McGregor does, Usman wants to remind everyone that you also have to deal with all the haters and the trolls who want you to fail miserably.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Rory MacDonald reacted following the “clear robbery” in his PFL 5 fight with Gleison Tibau, saying “I think that this should be looked into.” MacDonald was competing in PFL for the second time following a submission win over Curtis Millender in his promotional debut in April. Against Tibau, MacDonald used a game plan of sticking and moving on the outside to outpoint Tibau and take home a decision. He also used his grappling in the first round effectively. However, when the judges’ scorecards were read after the three rounds, it was Tibau winning the split decision, not MacDonald.

Harry Kettle - June 18, 2021

Multiple MMA fighters reacted on social media after Gleison Tibau pulled off an upset win over Rory MacDonald at PFL 5 last night. The two men battled it out as part of the final push towards the welterweight playoffs in the PFL. The overwhelming expectation heading into the bout was that MacDonald would blow the doors off of Tibau and while it wasn’t quite so convincing, many did believe he was the one who should have his hand raised.

Drake Riggs - June 17, 2021

Claressa Shields is officially an MMA fighter following a successful PFL 4 debut against Brittney Elkin this past Thursday. Inevitably, fans are expecting a clash of Olympic gold medals pitting Shields against the 9-0 Kayla Harrison. Currently looking to claim yet another PFL crown through the lightweight tournament, Harrison recently shared her thoughts on the boxing legend’s victory.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Logan Paul has a ton of confidence after going all eight rounds with Floyd Mayweather. On June 6 in Miami, Florida, Paul and Mayweather had a highly-anticipated exhibition bout. Although Paul is 0-1 as a pro boxer he was younger and had a massive height and reach advantage which made the fight interesting. Early on, he used his size and pressured Mayweather but as the bout dragged on the undefeated pro boxer took over but couldn’t finish Paul and they went the distance.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Jake Paul believes he will make Tyron Woodley quit in their boxing match on August 28. Paul, the brash YouTuber turned boxer, is 3-0 as a pro and coming off a first-round KO win over Ben Askren. After the fight, Tyron Woodley, who was in Askren’s corner began to call him out. The fight ended up getting made and for Paul, he believes he will make quick work of the former UFC welterweight champion.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC 205lbs champion Jan Blachowicz credited Israel Adesanya for improved grappling against Marvin Vettori, saying “he did his homework.” Blachowicz handed Adesanya his first loss in MMA back in March when he won a unanimous decision in a fight where Blachowicz took Adesanya down and controlled him on the mat. There were some who thought Blachowicz laid out the blueprint for how to beat Adesanya, but he showed improvements in his grappling game against Vettori at last Saturday’s UFC 263 in a unanimous decision win. Notably, there was one point in the fight where Vettori got Adesanya’s back, but he was able to explode out of the position and avoid danger.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

Boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya will return to the ring when he takes on former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in an exhibition boxing match. Mike Coppinger of The Athletic was the first to report that De La Hoya vs. Belfort is on tap for the Triller Fight Club event scheduled for September 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be an exhibition match and the fighters will wear 12-ounce gloves. As the scribe notes, the 48-year-old De La Hoya hasn’t fought since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2008. The 44-year-old Belfort, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since losing to Lyoto Machida in the UFC in 2018, and his only pro boxing match came back in 2006, which he won by first-round KO.