MMA News

Susan Cox - March 1, 2022

Renato Moicano (16-4 MMA) has verbally agreed to step in on four days’ notice to fight Rafael dos Anjoys (30-13 MMA) at UFC 272 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada this coming weekend, Saturday March 5, 2022. It was to be Rafael dos Anjoys vs Rafael Fiziev (11-1 MMA) at UFC 272 Co-main event, but Fizievs’ manager texted Ariel Helwani who confirmed the 11th-ranked lightweight was out of the bout due to testing positive for COVID-19. Rafael Fiziev then took to social media to confirm the news.

Harry Kettle - March 1, 2022

UFC fan favourite Jan Blachowicz has questioned the logic of Sean Strickland following the latter’s comments about the Ukraine/Russia crisis. Over the course of the last few weeks the tension between Russia and Ukraine has grown substantially, to the point where Vladimir Putin recently opted to authorize a full-scale invasion of their neighbours. The move has been widely condemned by nations from across the globe and yet despite many believing a quick Russian victory was imminent, the Ukrainians have offered up some incredible resistance.

Susan Cox - March 1, 2022

According to reports, Cain Velasquez spent Monday night, February 28th in jail. Velasquez, 39, has been arrested and booked on an attempted murder charge. Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez (14-3 MMA) is said to have been involved in a shooting which took place on Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue, near Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill, California, at approximately 3pm which left one man injured.

Harry Kettle - March 1, 2022

MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has applauded Colby Covington for his recent callout of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. It’s become pretty common for high-level UFC fighters to either tease moving weight classes or outright do it. Sometimes it goes well and sometimes it doesn’t, but it always creates some real intrigue – mainly because it has the potential to completely change what we knew about their fight style and career path.

Cole Shelton - March 1, 2022

The 69th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC 272. We’re first joined by the 13th-ranked flyweight, Tim Elliott (2:47). Next, UFC bantamweight, Brian Kelleher (18:48) comes on. UFC light heavyweight, Dustin Jacoby (35:07) joins the show. UFC lightweight, Jalin Turner (55:23) closes out the program.

Harry Kettle - March 1, 2022

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has said that once Khamzat Chimaev has earned the opportunity, he’d definitely be willing to fight him. While he may be 4-0 in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Khamzat Chimaev has split those wins between welterweight and middleweight. It’s not exactly a secret that he wants to become a champion in multiple divisions but given that he’s preparing to square off against Gilbert Burns at 170, it may not make sense for him to be in the 185 discussion for a while yet.

Christopher Taylor - February 28, 2022

Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was involved in a shooting in San Jose that left one man injured. According to a report from NBC Bay Area, Velasquez (14-3 MMA) was involved in a shooting that took place on Monterey Highway and Bailey Avenue, near Sobrato High School.

Cole Shelton - February 28, 2022

Terrance McKinney hopes he can get a ranked opponent next. McKinney made good of his second UFC fight as he submitted Fares Ziam in the first round at UFC Vegas 49. In his debut, he knocked out Matt Frevola in seven seconds and he says this fight was all about proving it wasn’t a fluke.

Josh Evanoff - February 28, 2022

Gina Carano has shared her take on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The former MMA fighter believes that the war is due to countries losing control of the COVID-19 narrative. The combat sports world has seen many reactions in regard to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Former boxing champions Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko have been forced to take up arms due to the conflict. Meanwhile, active competitors such as unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and Vasily Lomachenko have been forced into combat as well.

Josh Evanoff - February 28, 2022

Henry Cejudo has revealed that he offered to coach Jorge Masvidal ahead of his fight against Colby Covington. This weekend at UFC 272, the friend-turned-rivals are set to square off. Despite one-time being roommates, they’ve since become bitter opponents. Due to their hatred toward one another, Covington has had to depart American Top Team to train elsewhere. Meanwhile, Masvidal has remained training at ATT.

Josh Evanoff - February 28, 2022

Sean Strickland has praised Paige VanZant following her husband’s defeat to Gegard Mousasi. Last Saturday at Bellator 275, Austin Vanderford got mauled in his bid for promotional gold. Gegard Mousasi knocked his American foe out in less than two minutes, and once again showed why he’s one of the greatest fighters on the planet. Now, following that loss, Paige VanZant has shown support to her husband.

Cole Shelton - February 28, 2022

Sam Alvey is getting one more fight. Alvey, who is 0-7-1 in his last eight UFC fights, announced on his YouTube channel that the UFC is giving him one more fight. He has one fight left on his deal and the promotion said they enjoy working with him so they are letting him fight out that agreement.

Susan Cox - February 28, 2022

Maryna Moroz, is a Ukrainian professional mixed martial artist who signed with the UFC, and competes in the women’s flyweight division. Moroz, 30, also is a boxing coach for the Ukrainian Olympic women’s boxing team. ‘TMZ Sports‘ spoke with Maryna Moroz about what is happening in her homeland and she had a direct message for the Russian President, Vladimir Putin:

Cole Shelton - February 28, 2022

Rafael Fiziev has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 272 co-main event fight against Rafael dos Anjos. On Monday, dos Anjos appeared on The MMA Hour and hinted he heard Fiziev may be out of the fight. He did not know the exact reason but shortly thereafter, Fiziev’s manager texted Ariel Helwani who confirmed the 11th-ranked lightweight was out of the bout due to testing positive for COVID-19. Rafael Fiziev later confirmed the news on social media.

Susan Cox - February 28, 2022

Khamzat Chimaev has taken to Twitter to show support for former UFC champion Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. Chimaev (10-0 MMA) competes in the welterweight division of the UFC and recently defeated Li Jingliang (18-7 MMA) at UFC 267 in October 2021 by submission in the first round.

Cole Shelton - February 28, 2022

In the main event of UFC Vegas 49, a pivotal lightweight bout headlined the card as Islam Makhachev took on Bobby Green. Makhachev entered the fight coming off a first-round submission win over Dan Hooker at UFC 267 in October. He went 3-0 in 2021 with submission wins over Thiago Moises and Drew Dober as well. Green, meanwhile, stepped up on 10 days’ notice after Beneil Dariush was forced out of the bout, marking his second fight in just 14 days.

Harry Kettle - February 28, 2022

PFL Challengers fighter Mark Martin has provided an update on his recovery following a gruesome eye injury during his last fight. While he may have enjoyed some success against Dilano Taylor, the night didn’t end well for Mark Martin on Friday as he lost due to a doctor stoppage between the first and second round. The reason for the stoppage was because the eye of Martin was bulging out of the socket, which his manager believes happened because he blew his nose which led to the pressure causing an escalation of the initial injury.

Harry Kettle - February 28, 2022

Jorge Masvidal has claimed that rival Colby Covington was once confronted by a group of Russian fighters due to comments he made about Khabib Nurmagomedov. This Saturday night at UFC 272, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington will finally settle their differences in a mouth-watering welterweight main event. Both men are coming off the back of championship defeats to Kamaru Usman which, in itself, should serve as all the motivation they need to bounce back and make a statement in Las Vegas.