MMA News

Drake Riggs - August 23, 2021

Alistair Overeem is not a fan of professional wrestling. On Monday, the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and UFC title challenger shared his thoughts on the pro wrestling returns of crossover stars Phil “CM Punk” Brooks and past opponent, Brock Lesnar.

Adam D Martin - August 23, 2021

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker explained why he isn’t fighting “dumbass” Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 266 despite rumblings of a fight. Hooker takes on Nasrat Haqparast at UFC 266, which is set for September 25 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. While he is a good fighter in his own right, Haqparast is an unranked fighter at 155lbs, while Tsarukyan is at least ranked No. 15. Hooker is ranked No. 8 in the UFC, so it is understandable why he wanted to fight someone who was ranked, but he ended up accepting the fight with Haqparast because he wants to scrap.

Adam D Martin - August 23, 2021

New UFC fighter Paddy Pimblett called for a future fight against promotional superstar Conor McGregor at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool. Pimblett, a native of Liverpool himself, makes his UFC debut on September 4 when he takes on Luigi Vendramini in a lightweight contest. Pimblett, a former Cage Warriors champion, signed with the UFC earlier this year and his debut is highly-anticipaed. While he still has to step into the Octagon and beat Vendramini before he makes any sort of callouts, it’s clear that Pimblett is already looking far ahead, and wants to fight Ireland’s McGregor.

Adam D Martin - August 23, 2021

Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo still wants Brandon Moreno next, telling Alexandre Pantoja to wait for his rematch. Pantoja submitted Brandon Royval at UFC Vegas 34 in a fight that UFC president Dana White himself called a title eliminator. Because Pantoja already has two previous wins over Moreno, on TUF and in the Octagon, he appears to be next in line for the champ Moreno, and the two flyweights actually verbally agreed to the fight following Pantoja’s win over Royval. However, Figueiredo is still hot on the trail and wants the Moreno fight first.

Cole Shelton - August 23, 2021

Giga Chikadze is excited to headline his first UFC show and knows his fight against Edson Barboza will be a fan-friendly one. Chikadze is coming off the biggest win of his career as he scored a first-round TKO over Cub Swanson. After that, he began calling for top-five opponents, but that didn’t happen, however, he did get a main event against Barboza which he is eager about.

Cole Shelton - August 23, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 34, a battle of top-10 middleweights took place as Jared Cannonier took on Kelvin Gastelum. Cannonier entered the fight coming off a decision loss to Robert Whittaker last October at UFC 254 in a fight he broke his arm. He then needed two surgeries to repair it and finally was able to return. Gastelum, meanwhile, was also coming off a decision loss to Whittaker and was just 1-4 in his last five.

Adam D Martin - August 23, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Kevin Lee says that he would beat Tony Ferguson “so bad” in a rematch, suggesting “he’s too far over the hill.” Ferguson and Lee first met at UFC 216 in October 2018 in an interim UFC lightweight title bout, which “El Cucuy” ended up winning via third-round submission (triangle choke). Since that fight, Ferguson has gone into a decline, having lost his last three fights in a row and not appearing competitive in any of them. Lee, too, has struggled as of late, but given Lee is just 28 and Ferguson is 37, it stands to reason that if one of these two fighters is going to bounce back in their career, it is more likely going to be “The Motown Phenom.”

Adam D Martin - August 23, 2021

UFC and PRIDE veteran Phil Baroni has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts while suggesting he should have retired a while ago. Now 45 years old, the man who is known as “The New York Bad Ass” took to his social media over the weekend to officially announce that he is hanging up his gloves after over 20 years competing in mixed martial arts. In his statement, Baroni thanked his fans while also admitting that he should have listened to the advice of his coach at American Kickboxing Academy, Javier Mendez, who allegedly told Baroni to retire a long time ago.

Harry Kettle - August 23, 2021

Nate Diaz has given his thoughts on how the second fight between him and Conor McGregor “started” the superfight era. Five years ago at UFC 202, Diaz and McGregor went to war in a fight many still consider to be one of the greatest of all-time. It came just a few months on from their dramatic meeting at UFC 196 that saw Diaz submit McGregor in a short notice bout.

Harry Kettle - August 23, 2021

Former UFC fighter Ramsey Nijem has reacted to the news that Jared Cannonier is “broke” despite being a top middleweight contender. Ten years ago, Ramsey Nijem fought his way to the final of The Ultimate Fighter where was he was ultimately knocked out by none other than UFC lightweight star Tony Ferguson. Following that defeat he went on a three-fight winning streak before slipping into inconsistency, eventually opting to retire from mixed martial arts earlier this month after a loss in PFL brought his record to 10-9.

Christopher Taylor - August 22, 2021

Conor McGregor unloaded on Dustin Poirier Sunday evening, this after ‘The Diamond’ shared an unflattering photo of the Irishman on social media. McGregor (22-6 MMA) and Poirier (28-6 MMA) have been at each others throats ever since their trilogy fight at UFC 264 ended due to doctors stoppage after ‘Notorious’ suffered a broken leg.

Christopher Taylor - August 22, 2021

Michael Bisping has responded after Conor McGregor accused him of sprinting out of his hometown after “they” came knocking on his mothers door. The former UFC champions, Bisping (30-9 MMA) and McGregor (22-6 MMA), have been verbally sparring on Twitter over the past week. The pairs beef started after ‘The Count’ shared his take regarding Conor’s online feud with Daniel Cormier. During his assessment, Michael Bisping suggested that ‘DC’ would rip Conor McGregor “limb from limb” in a real fight.

Cole Shelton - August 22, 2021

Jake Paul believes Tyron Woodley will come out slow to try and extend their boxing match to the later rounds. Paul and Woodley are set to headline a Showtime pay-per-view on Sunday, August 29 in a highly-anticipated bout. Paul has taken the combat sports world by storm since transitioning to boxing and is just 3-0 and coming off a KO win over Ben Askren in April.

Adam Martin - August 22, 2021

UFC champion Amanda Nunes and Bellator champ Cris Cyborg opened as the betting favorites for future fights against PFL star Kayla Harrison. BestFightOdds recently shared the opening odds for a potential Nunes vs. Harrison and Cyborg vs. Harrison fight. Check out the betting odds for both of these future fights below.

Adam Martin - August 22, 2021

Top contender Alexandre Pantoja called for a flyweight title shot against champion Brandon Moreno following his big win at UFC Vegas 34. Pantoja submitted Brandon Royval in the second round with a rear-naked choke in a fight that UFC president Dana White anointed a title eliminator the day before. It was a fantastic performance by the Brazilian, who improved to 8-3 all-time in the Octagon dating back to his promotional debut in 2017. Pantoja is coming off of back-to-back wins over Royval and Manel Kape as he edges closer to a title shot at 125lbs. Given the fact White said that the winner of his fight with Royval would get the title shot, it stands to reason Pantoja is next.

Adam Martin - August 22, 2021

UFC lightweight prospect Ignacio Bahamondes reacted following his insane spinning wheel kick KO against Roosevelt Roberts at UFC Vegas 34. The 23-year-old Chile native put on an incredible performance on the UFC Vegas 34 undercard as he completely dominated Roberts in the striking department and was well on his way to winning a decision before pulling off one of the best knockouts of the year. With less than 10 seconds left in the third round, Bahamondes landed an insane spinning wheel kick KO that brutally knocked out Roberts. It was an incredible win for Bahamondes, who lost a split decision to veteran John Makdessi in his UFC debut earlier this year. By taking out Roberts in KO fashion, Bahamondes picked up his first UFC victory in the Octagon.

Adam D Martin - August 22, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson has been forced out of his scheduled UFC fight with Paul Craig. Gustafsson was set to take on Craig in a high-profile 205lbs bout set for the September 4 card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, MMAjunkie.com reports that Gustafsson has been forced to withdraw from the event due to an undisclosed injury. With “The Mauler” now off of the card, Craig has been left without an opponent. There is no immediate word yet on if the UFC will keep Craig on the September 4 card, or if the promotion will look to remove him from the event and re-book the fight against Gustafsson fight for a later date. For Craig’s sake, he will likely hope he can stay on the card instead.

Adam D Martin - August 22, 2021

UFC bantamweight Cody Garbrandt unloaded on manager Wallid Ismail, telling him that “I’m going to YouTube my nuts on your big ass forehead.” Garbrandt is set to drop down to 125lbs later this year when he takes on Kai Kara-France at UFC 269 in December. With a win over a top contender in Kara-France, Garbrandt would likely be in line to fight for the flyweight belt, which is currently held by champion Brandon Moreno. The former champ is, of course, Deiveson Figueiredo, and he and Garbrandt were actually supposed to fight for the title last year before “No Love” was forced to withdraw due to health issues. There have been some suggestions that Garbrandt could fight Figueiredo at 125lbs in a potential title eliminator, but the UFC instead chose to match up Garbrandt with Kara-France, leaving Figueiredo without a dance partner at the moment.