MMA News

Harry Kettle - June 8, 2021

Marvin Vettori has secured a sponsorship deal with Dolce & Gabbana heading into his UFC 263 main event this Saturday. The news comes courtesy of his manager Ali Abdelaziz as “The Italian Dream” gears up for the most important fight of his life. He’ll be taking on Israel Adesanya, the man who beat him via split decision in an intriguing bout back in 2018, with the UFC middleweight title being on the line.

Harry Kettle - June 8, 2021

Former UFC commentator Dan Hardy believes Logan Paul’s first opponent in a potential Bellator debut should be Michael “Venom” Page. Paul is coming off the back of an eight-round boxing exhibition against Floyd Mayweather this past weekend. While he didn’t quite blow the world away, he definitely proved that he has a whole lot of heart as he managed to avoid being stopped by the 50-0 veteran.

Christopher Taylor - June 7, 2021

Former TUF 12 contestant Dane Sayers has been confirmed dead after his body was pulled from the Red River in Fargo on Saturday. The cause of Sayer’s death remains unknown at this time, but local radio station WZFG released that Dane’s body had been pulled from the Red River in Fargo. Details from the autopsy have not been released to the public.

Christopher Taylor - June 7, 2021

UFC President Dana White slammed all of the “dummies” who paid money to watch Floyd Mayweather box Logan Paul. Last night in Miami, Mayweather (50-0) squared off with YouTube sensation Logan Paul (0-1) in an exhibition boxing match slated for eight rounds.

Cole Shelton - June 7, 2021

Colby Covington has blasted Dustin Poirier for allegedly dropping and taunting an amateur in training. Covington and Poirier used to train with each other at American Top Team. However, they had a big falling out after “Chaos” picked Khabib Nurmagomedov to beat him. After that, they then began taking shots at one another and now Covington claims Poirier taunted an amateur in training in the lead-up to the Nurmagomedov preparation.

Cole Shelton - June 7, 2021

Scott Coker is open to having Logan Paul take an MMA fight in Bellator. Paul, the YouTube star turned pro boxer has mentioned he believes he would be better at MMA due to his wrestling background. After he went the distance with Floyd Mayweather on Showtime pay-per-view, he mentioned he would take an MMA fight.

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington says he’s “never even heard of” Khamzat Chimaev, asking “does this guy have a ranked win yet?” Covington is one of the top-ranked welterweights in the world and he is hoping to get a rematch with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his next fight. However, one opponent Covington is not interested in is Chimaev, one of the welterweight division’s top prospects. Chimaev had an amazing UFC debut last summer when he finished three opponents in brutal fashion, but he has been dealing with health issues stemming from COVID-19 that have left him out of the Octagon since last September. Still, he says he is ready to get back into the cage this summer, and he wants to fight a top-15 opponent.

Cole Shelton - June 7, 2021

Kyle Crutchmer has all the confidence in the world to be a Bellator champion. Crutchmer is coming off his first career loss as he lost a hard-fought decision to Kemran Lachniov at Bellator 249 in October, who is on the newest season of TUF. Although it was Crutchmer’s first career loss, he says he took a lot from it as he learned how to mix in his striking and grappling.

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2021

Boxer-turned-MMA fighter Claressa Shields called teammate Holly Holm the “cheat code” ahead of her upcoming PFL and mixed martial arts debut. Shields makes her official professional MMA debut this Thursday at PFL 4 when she takes on Brittany Elkin in a non-tournament women’s lightweight bout. Shields is one of the best women’s boxers on the planet but she has said for a few years now that MMA was her goal, and she will finally make her debut in mixed martial arts later this week against Elkin.

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2021

Boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. believes that YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul “has a good chance” to beat Tyron Woodley in their boxing match. Paul meets Woodley on August 28 in the biggest boxing match of Paul’s career to date. After knocking out Woodley’s teammate Ben Askren in his last fight, the matchup with Woodley became hotly rumored and it will now happen later this summer. Paul is the slight favorite to get the win in the fight according to the sportsbooks, although there are still many fans who believe that Woodley is going to smoke him. Regardless of what happens in this fight, it has all the makings of one of the most highly-anticipated fights of the summer.

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2021

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo slammed boxing legend Floyd Mayweather for his performance against Logan Paul. Mayweather went the full eight-round distance with Paul on Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, during their special exhibition boxing match. It wasn’t the most exciting fight as there was a lot of hugging and Mayweather seemed to be almost playing with his food and carrying Paul instead of finishing him with punches. Indeed, Paul even admitted in his post-fight interview that he wondered if Mayweather carried him to the distance. Either way, it was far from the best performance we’ve seen from Mayweather, although it’s worth noting again that it was an exhibition fight that doesn’t really matter.

Harry Kettle - June 7, 2021

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani has confirmed that he will be leaving ESPN later this month after three successful years with the company. Helwani is one of the most famous mixed martial arts journalists of his generation and will continue to hold that title for as long as he decides to cover the sport. Prior to this he spent time with MMA Fighting, before making what he considered to be the dream move of his career by jumping ship to ESPN.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith announced himself that he will next fight in a UFC Fight Night main event against Ryan Spann. Smith mentioned the fight against Spann himself during the UFC Vegas 28 pre-show on Saturday, and ESPN later confirmed the booking. The two top-15 ranked light heavyweights will meet on September 18 in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card. There is no venue or location set for the event yet, but Las Vegas seems plausible.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC lightweight Francisco Trinaldo issued a statement following his loss at UFC Vegas 28, saying that “I’m not ashamed of my performance.” Trinaldo moved up to the welterweight division for the first time in his UFC career following a three-fight losing streak at lightweight with wins over Jai Herbert, John Makdessi, and Bobby Green. At age 42, Trinaldo is one of the oldest fighters in the UFC but he has continued to have plenty of success in the Octagon even given his elder status. On Saturday night, Trinaldo made his 170lbs debut when he took on Muslim Salikhov. Although Trinaldo fought hard for the full 15 minutes, Salikhov had the upper hand in the striking and grappling and was given the unanimous decision by the judges after the fight.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight Augusto Sakai released a statement following his KO loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik at Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 28 event. Sakai and Rozenstruik was a Pick ’em fight at the sportsbooks, but it turned out to be a blowout win for Rozenstruik after he knocked Sakai out with one second left to go in the first of five scheduled rounds. For Sakai, this is his second straight loss in the Octagon after getting stopped by former UFC fighter Alistair Overeem in his last outing. This loss to Rozenstruik was Sakai’s opportunity to emerge as a legitimate title contender in the UFC heavyweight division, but following the KO loss, it’s back to the drawing board for him.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight Marcin Tybura says he is “motivated to take the next step” following his first-round TKO win over Walt Harris at UFC Vegas 28. Tybura survived an early onslaught of strikes from Harris in the first round of their co-main event fight at UFC Vegas 28 to storm back, take Harris to the ground, and pound him out with vicious punches on the mat. It was an incredible comeback by Tybura after being badly rocked early on in the fight, and it won him $50,000 for “Performance of the Night.” It also gave Tybura a five-fight win streak in the UFC heavyweight division, and he will be moving into the top-10 of the weight class after beating the No. 8 ranked Harris.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio wants to fight Vicente Luque next after his “Fight of the Night” with Miguel Baeza at UFC Vegas 28. Ponzinibbio and Baeza met in a three-round welterweight bout that took place on Saturday’s main card, and it was an absolute war between two fighters who chose to stand and bang for the delight of the crowd. After Baeza won the first round with a series of brutal low kicks that left Ponzinibbio hobbling around the Octagon, the second round was a different story as Ponzinibbio was able to find his range with his punches and begin to put together combinations on Baeza’s head. The third round was more of the same and Ponzinibbio was named the winner via unanimous decision at the end of the 15 minutes. Both men were also awarded $50,000 for “Fight of the Night” for their incredible brawl.

Adam D Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight contender Jairzinho Rozenstruik is interested in facing Curtis Blaydes next, saying “if he wants it and he’s ready, let’s go.” Rozenstruik knocked out Augusto Sakai at the last second of the first round in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 28 card. Rozenstruik entered the fight coming off of a lopsided loss to Ciryl Gane earlier this year, so a lot of fans were down on him heading into this matchup, but he proved the doubters wrong with another thunderous knockout win. By beating Sakai, Rozenstruik reaffirmed his spot in the UFC heavyweight top-10, but his goal is to fight for the belt, and that’s why he has his eyes on someone in the top-five next.