MMA News

Cole Shelton - March 29, 2021

Sean O’Malley has an interesting reason as to why he didn’t finish Thomas Almeida in the first round. Early on in their UFC 260 fight, O’Malley was having a ton of success and landing heavy shots. Midway through the first round, he dropped the Brazilian with a left hand and walked away as he thought he had the walkoff KO. However, the ref didn’t stop the fight and it then took O’Malley until the third-round to get the TKO finish.

Cole Shelton - March 29, 2021

Chael Sonnen doesn’t think Jon Jones truly wants to fight Francis Ngannou. In the lead-up to UFC 260, it was well known that the winner of Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou 2 would welcome Jon Jones to the heavyweight division. It would be a massive fight, but after UFC 260 ended, it became uncertain if Jones would fight Ngannou.

Cole Shelton - March 29, 2021

Jake Paul believes he is Conor McGregor’s money fight. After Paul scored a highlight-reel KO over Nate Robinson, he began to call out McGregor. He claimed to have offered the Irishman $50 million for the fight, but it did not come to fruition and McGregor returned to the UFC where he suffered a second-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier.

Alfredo Zullino - March 29, 2021

A middleweight encounter between Alessio Di Chirico (13-5 MMA, 4-5 UFC) and Roman Dolidze (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is slated for later this summer, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told BJPENN.com. The sources asked for anonymity since the news hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. No word on the official location.

Adam Martin - March 29, 2021

Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier came to the defense of longtime rival Jon Jones, saying he is not scared of fighting Francis Ngannou. Ngannou knocked out Cormier’s other rival Stipe Miocic in the main event of UFC 260 this past weekend to capture the UFC heavyweight title. Following the fight, UFC president Dana White suggested that Jones should move down to 185lbs and that he’s scared of fighting Ngannou. Ever since then, Jones has taken to social media to vent his frustrations with the UFC and with White following his comments. Jones has gone on to say that he hopes that the UFC just releases him so that he can move on with his fighting career.

Cole Shelton - March 29, 2021

Joe Rogan thinks there is a chance UFC 260 was the final time Stipe Miocic competes. In the main event of the pay-per-view card, Miocic fought Francis Ngannou three years after he dominated the first fight to defend his heavyweight title. However, in the rematch, Ngannou showed off his improved takedown defense and sprawling abilities. On the feet, he was landing heavy shots and in the second round, after dropping Miocic, he landed a clean shot that put the heavyweight champ out cold.

Adam Martin - March 29, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley was praised by UFC president Dana White for his “masterpiece” of a performance at UFC 260. O’Malley put on another fantastic performance as he finished Thomas Almeida in the third round with punches to bounce back from a TKO loss to Chito Vera in his last fight. O’Malley hurt Almeida badly in the first round with strikes only for his opponent to somehow get up and stay in the fight. However, O’Malley continued to pepper Almeida with shots until eventually taking him out in the third round with an “unnecessary” knockout blow.

Adam Martin - March 29, 2021

Bellator released its inaugural rankings and Patricio Pitbull and Cris Cyborg have topped the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings lists. Bellator announced the first-ever edition of its promotional fighter rankings on Monday. 17 media members voted on the Bellator rankings, and you can see them all below.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has released a statement following his second-round knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. Miocic suffered a brutal second-round KO loss to Ngannou in the pair’s rematch, which headlined this past Saturday’s UFC 260 pay-per-view card. Following the loss, Miocic has now taken to social media to release a lengthy statement. In it, he congratulated Ngannou on the victory and said he will be taking some time off to recover. Read it below.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

Former Cage Warriors featherweight champion Paddy Pimblett has officially signed a new free-agent contract with the UFC. Pimblett first appeared on the UFC fan rankings last week, which hinted that he could be signing with the promotion soon. Sure enough, the UFC has inked the former Cage Warriors star to a new deal. On Monday, the UFC officially announced on its social media pages that Pimblett has signed a contract to fight in the Octagon. Check it out below.

Cole Shelton - March 29, 2021

In the main event of UFC 260, Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic had their rematch three years in the making for the heavyweight title. Miocic entered the fight coming off of his trilogy fight against Daniel Cormier to reclaim and defend his heavyweight title. He also dominated Ngannou for five rounds using his wrestling to win the fight. Ngannou, meanwhile, was on a four-fight winning streak with all four wins coming by first-round KO and the longest fight going 71 seconds.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

The Bellator debuts of Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero have been delayed until May as the promotion shuffled up its upcoming schedule. Bellator’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix begins in April with eight of the world’s best 205lbers going at it for the chance to win $1 million and the belt. On April 9 at Bellator 256, the tournament begins when Ryan Bader and Lyoto Machida have a rematch. The two previously met in the UFC back in 2012 with Machida winning the fight by knockout. Nine years later and they meet again under the Bellator banner. The co-main event for that card was supposed to feature Corey Anderson vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradv, but that fight has now been pushed back to Bellator 257 on April 16. That means that the fight between Johnson and Romero, which was originally targeted for that date, has been rescheduled.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

A new camera angle shows just how brutal Sean O’Malley’s “unnecessary” final punch on Thomas Almeida was during their UFC 260 fight. O’Malley took on Almeida in a highly-anticipated bantamweight bout between two strikers on the UFC 260 pay-per-view card. In the first round, O’Malley knocked Almeida down along the fence with strikes but he walked away and somehow the Brazilian was able to recover and survive. In the third round, however, O’Malley was able to knock Almeida down again and this time, he didn’t let him off the hook. After dropping his opponent to the canvas, O’Malley landed an absolutely brutal hammer fist that put his lights out completely.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

Bellator heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione has been forced out of his upcoming fight against Tyrell Fortune this Friday at Bellator 255. Mitrione vs. Fortune was set to be the main card opener of Friday’s Bellator 255 show, which takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Unfortunately, Mitrione is now off the card as he pulled out from the Bellator 255 event for undisclosed reasons. MMAjunkie.com’s Nolan King was the first to report that Mitrione fell off the card. With Mitrione now off the card, Bellator is targeting a rematch between Fortune and Jack May on short notice. They fought to a No Contest last year after low blows ended the fight.

Adam D Martin - March 29, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson suggested that former UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic make the move down to light heavyweight. Miocic was knocked out in brutal fashion by Francis Ngannou in a failed bid to capture the title in the main event of UFC 260. After surviving a tough first round, Ngannou finished the job in the second with heavy strikes. What was interesting about this fight was the weight difference. Ngannou tipped the scales at 263lbs, while Miocic weighed in at just 234lbs, which was far lighter than the 246lbs that he came in during the first fight at UFC 220. The low weight of 234lbs has led some to wonder if he could potentially even cut down to 205.

Harry Kettle - March 29, 2021

Chael Sonnen listed the reasons why Derrick Lewis deserves the next shot at the UFC heavyweight title – while taking a shot at Jon Jones. We now all know that at UFC 260, Francis Ngannou finally ascended to the top of the mountain and beat Stipe Miocic to claim the heavyweight crown. In doing so, he also avenged his defeat to Miocic from UFC 220 back in 2018.

Christopher Taylor - March 28, 2021

Ben Askren has finally had enough of the trash talk from his former opponent Jorge Masvidal. At UFC 239 Masvidal and Askren squared off in a highly anticipated welterweight bout. It was thought that if ‘Funky’ defeated ‘Gamebred’ at the event, he would go on to earn a title shot.

Adam Martin - March 28, 2021

UFC welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev revealed he thought he had cancer when he coughed up blood after a training session in Las Vegas. Chimaev was supposed to fight Leon Edwards in March but he was forced out of the fight due to a severe battle with COVID-19, a battle that left him coughing up blood and thinking his career was over. Speaking to RT Sport in a recent interview, Chimaev revealed that his initial instinct was to think he had cancer after seeing himself cough up blood into the sink.