MMA News
John McCarthy rips Daniel Cormier for his comments on Fedor Emelianenko: 'You’re sounding like you're being a homer for the UFC'
Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021
John McCarthy has ripped Daniel Cormier over his comments about Fedor Emelianenko. The former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Cormier, recently said on his YouTube channel that he thought had Emelianenko signed with the UFC, he would’ve been average at best. Those comments took many by surprise, including John McCarthy, who proceeded to rip ‘DC’ for for his controversial take.
Israel Adesanya reacts after Marvin Vettori defeats Paulo Costa at UFC Vegas 41
Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2021
Israel Adesanya clearly tuned in to watch his former opponents Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori square off at last Saturday’s UFC Vegas 41 event. The former middleweight title challengers, Costa and Vettori, were originally supposed to collide at their natural fighting weight of 185lbs. However, earlier in the fight week ‘The Eraser’ revealed he would not be able to make weight for the contest and thus the bout was moved to light heavyweight.
Chase Sherman returns in January on Fight Night card opposite Jake Collier
Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021
Chase Sherman and Jake Collier will be looking to get back into the win column in January. Multiple sources informed BJPENN.com that Sherman and Collier have been agreed to for the first card of 2022 on January 15 at a location TBD. Contracts have also been issued for the fight, with one side having already signed, the sources said. The main event of the card will see Calvin Kattar take on Giga Chikadze at featherweight.
Bellator 268 salaries: Corey Anderson nets $200k but Vadim Nemkov leads payroll
Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021
Bellator 268 went down on October 16 in Arizona and the salaries for the fight card have now been released. In the main event of Bellator 268, Vadim Nemkov defended his light heavyweight title against Julius Anglickas with a submission win. The co-main event saw Corey Anderson TKO Ryan Bader in under a minute as Nemkov and Anderson will now fight one another in the grand prix finals. The date of the finals has not been announced by Bellator but will likely happen sometime early in 2022.
PFL Founder Donn Davis fires back at Dana White for comments about Kayla Harrison
Drake Riggs - October 25, 2021
FORT LAUDERDALE — Kayla Harrison will be a free agent after this Wednesday’s PFL 2021 Championship. Appearing during the fight week’s media day, Harrison answered the usual round of questions – lastly focusing on comments from Dana White earlier in the day.
Dana White attempts to lure Nate Diaz into signing a new UFC contract with cryptic message
Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2021
UFC President Dana White is doing his best to try and persuade superstar Nate Diaz into signing a new contract with the promotion. Diaz (20-13 MMA) was last seen in action at June’s UFC 263 event, where despite mounting a late comeback, he ultimately suffered a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards. The setback marked Nate’s second in a row and put him on the final fight of his current contract with the UFC.
Oron Kahlon calls Afghani fighter Javid Basharat a 'terrorist' during faceoff for Contender Series fight
Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021
Oron Kahlon is set to fight Javid Basharat for a UFC contract on Tuesday night in Week 9 of the Contender Series and the faceoff had an ugly scene. After Kahlon missed weight by three pounds for his bantamweight fight and was fined 20 percent of his purse. After the weigh-ins, the two had their faceoff where Basharat had some words for him and declined his handshake. After that, Kahlon turned to the Afghani fighter and called him a terrorist and a p***y in an ugly moment.
Dana White says UFC 271 pay-per-view targeted for Seattle or major Canadian city
Adam D Martin - October 25, 2021
UFC president Dana White says that the upcoming UFC 271 pay-per-view is being targeted for Seattle or a major Canadian city. TSN reporter Aaron Bronsteter spoke to White on Monday, and the UFC president confirmed that UFC 271 is being considered for either Seattle or somewhere in Canada. The event is scheduled to take place on February 12, 2022, and is set to be headlined by the rematch between UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.
Petr Yan plans to show he's 'the champion for a reason' against Cory Sandhagen: 'There's nothing interim about this belt'
Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021
Petr Yan believes his UFC 267 co-main event fight against Cory Sandhagen should be for the vacant bantamweight title. Yan was supposed to rematch Aljamain Sterling on the card, after their controversial fight at UFC 259 where Sterling became the new champ due to Yan being DQ’d. However, it was recently revealed the champ was out of the fight as he wasn’t medically cleared. Once that happened, Sandhagen agreed to step up on short notice. The two will now fight for the interim title, but for Yan, he wasn’t surprised to see Sterling pull out of the fight.
What's next for Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa after UFC Vegas 41?
Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021
In the main event of UFC Vegas 41, top-five middleweights collided at light heavyweight as Mavrin Vettori took on Paulo Costa. Vettori entered the fight coming off a decision loss to Israel Adesanya back in June for the middleweight title. Prior to that, he was on a five-fight winning streak with wins over Kevin Holland and Jack Hermansson among others. Costa, meanwhile, was making his return after he suffered a TKO loss to Adesanya for the belt in September of 2020.
Marvin Vettori does not believe Paulo Costa missed weight due to a bicep injury
Adam D Martin - October 25, 2021
UFC middleweight contender Marvin Vettori does not believe that his rival Paulo Costa missed weight at UFC Vegas 41 due to a bicep injury. Vettori defeated Costa via unanimous decision in the main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 41 card. For Vettori, he was forced to fight up a weight class at 205lbs after Costa showed up to fight week heavy. Although Costa did not reveal the reasons for his weight troubles during the week, following the fight on Saturday night, the Brazilian admitted that he had a bicep injury during his training camp that caused him to have trouble making weight. But if you ask Vettori, he doesn’t believe Costa’s excuses.
Johnny Walker fires back at critics of Thiago Santos fight: "People that called it boring are the ones that sit on the couch to drink beer"
Adam D Martin - October 25, 2021
Johnny Walker fired back at critics of the Thiago Santos fight, saying his critics are the “ones that sit on the couch to drink beer.” Walker and Santos met earlier this month in the main event of UFC Vegas 38. In a light heavyweight battle between two knockout artists, fans were expecting both men to go for broke and for someone to get brutally knocked out. But the fight was anything but, as both men showed an incredible amount of respect for each other. The two Brazilians went the full 25 minutes, with Santos edging out a close decision on the judges’ scorecards.
Paulo Costa issues statement following decision loss to Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41
Adam D Martin - October 25, 2021
UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa issued a statement following his unanimous decision loss to Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41. Costa and Vettori went to war for 25 minutes in the main event of UFC Vegas 41. In what was originally scheduled to be a middleweight main event, the fight was shifted up to the light heavyweight division after Costa showed up heavy on fight week. Despite the weight issues, though, Costa put up one hell of a fight against Vettori. The two blown-up middleweights stood in the pocket and slugged it out for five rounds, with Vettori eventually winning the fight by unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. It was a fantastic fight and one that Costa feels like he did enough in order to get his hand raised.
Jorge Masvidal believes Jake Paul was trolling with big-money fight offers
Adam D Martin - October 25, 2021
UFC welterweight superstar Jorge Masvidal believes that YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul was trolling with his big-money fight offers. Masvidal is set to step back into the Octagon at UFC 269 on December 11 when he takes on rival Leon Edwards. It’s the first fight for Masvidal since April when he lost via KO to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Even though he lost that fight, Masvidal remains one of the biggest stars in the sport of MMA today and so he became a natural target for Paul when he was busy calling out MMA fighters. According to Paul, he was willing to pay Masvidal upwards of $50 million to fight him, but Masvidal doesn’t buy it.
Daniel Cormier believes Paulo Costa may have been judged unfairly at UFC Vegas 41: “I’ve poked guys more and didn’t get a point taken away”
Harry Kettle - October 25, 2021
Daniel Cormier has questioned Jason Herzog’s decision to take a point from Paulo Costa on Saturday night. This past weekend saw Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori settle their rivalry in a dramatic UFC light heavyweight main event. The pair went to war in Las Vegas and while Vettori landed the decision win, Costa did a good job of hanging in there and making it competitive.
Khamzat Chimaev explains why it is “impossible to respect” UFC star Conor McGregor
Harry Kettle - October 25, 2021
UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has explained why he finds it difficult to respect Conor McGregor outside of his fighting ability. Over the years we’ve seen Conor McGregor achieve some truly great things inside the Octagon and, to an extent, within his business ventures away from fighting. Alas, he hasn’t always been the shining example of how a UFC champion should behave after a series of run-ins with the law.
Conor McGregor vs. Tony Ferguson, Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson betting odds released
Adam Martin - October 24, 2021
The opening betting odds have been released for potential fights between Conor McGregor vs. Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz vs. Tony Ferguson. Over the past week, we have seen Ferguson call out McGregor and then Diaz call out Ferguson. They are three of the biggest names in the sport and there has been plenty of fan interest regarding these potential matchups ever since they were discussed. Although there is no evidence to suggest that the UFC will be booking either fight next, that hasn’t stopped the sportsbooks from opening up the betting odds for these two future fights. Take a look at the opening odds for McGregor vs. Ferguson and Diaz vs. Ferguson below.
Dana White reveals the fight night weights of Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 41
Adam Martin - October 24, 2021
UFC president Dana White revealed the fight night weights of Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori at Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 41 event. Costa and Vettori were originally scheduled to fight in a 185lbs middleweight bout in the main event of UFC Vegas 41, but Costa showed up to fight week heavy. Because he was unable to make the 185lbs limit, the UFC then talked about booking the fight at a catchweight of 195lbs, instead. But Costa could not make that weight, either, and the UFC was finally forced to move the fight all the way up to 205lbs in the light heavyweight division. Because Costa was so heavy, he was forced to give Vettori 30% of his purse.