MMA News

Adam Martin - May 11, 2020

The salaries have been released for UFC 249, and headliner Tony Ferguson topped the list with a $500,000 payday for this main event fight. According to the numbers obtained by MMA reporter Jed I. Goodman from the Florida State Boxing Commission, Ferguson was the highest-paid fighter at the event at $500,000, while his opponent Justin Gaethje earned $350,000. Co-headliner Henry Cejudo also earned $350,000 for his co-main event fight against Dominick Cruz, who earned $300,000 for his return bout at UFC 249.

Cole Shelton - May 11, 2020

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor’s rivalry is alive and well. Earlier on Monday, McGregor took to social media and in several tweets took shots at the champ, Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson, and Dustin Poirier. Immediately, it caught the attention of the MMA world and the fighters involved. But, Nurmagomedov and the Irishman have continued to trade shots at one another since the initial rant.

Cole Shelton - May 11, 2020

Dominick Cruz will fight again after his UFC 249 loss to Henry Cejudo for the bantamweight title. Cruz returned after a three and a half year layoff due to multiple injuries to get a chance to reclaim his title. Yet, he came up short as he suffered a controversial second-round TKO loss.

Adam Martin - May 11, 2020

Georges St-Pierre was announced this week to be the latest addition to the UFC Hall of Fame, and now GSP has shared his list of the best MMA fighters ever. GSP was revealed at UFC 249 to be the latest entry in the UFC Hall of Fame after an amazing career that saw him capture both the UFC welterweight and middleweight titles. St-Pierre had a 20-2 record fighting in the Octagon and went undefeated between 2007 and 2017 while fighting the best fighters in the world at 170lbs and 185lbs.

Adam Martin - May 11, 2020

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov responded to Conor McGregor, telling him not to “be fake” attached to a photo of him getting choked out. McGregor went on a rant Monday on social media, targeting numerous fighters including Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, Justin Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier. The Russian champion Nurmagomedov saw the posts from McGregor and wasn’t happy about them. Later on during the day, Nurmagomedov took to Twitter and fired back at the Irishman.

Cole Shelton - May 11, 2020

Ali Abdelaziz says Conor McGregor will not be fighting Justin Gaethje next. In the main event of UFC 249, Gaethje TKO’d Tony Ferguson in the fifth round to win the interim lightweight title. The win sets up a showdown with the undisputed champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year.

Natasha Hooper - May 11, 2020

Dustin Poirier has fired back at Conor McGregor for his post-UFC 249 Twitter rant. Justin Gaethje filled in as a short-notice replacement for lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 249 on May 9. Despite having a lack of time to prepare, “The Highlight” used his striking accuracy to seal the TKO victory against Ferguson in the fifth round.

Cole Shelton - May 11, 2020

Dana White had been adamant the UFC would be the first sports organization back from the COVID-19 pandemic and he was right. UFC 249 went down this weekend, where the main event saw Tony Ferguson battle Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. The co-main event saw Henry Cejudo look to defend his bantamweight belt against Dominick Cruz. In the end, it was Gaethje who pulled off the betting upset as he TKO’d Ferguson in the fifth round. The co-main also saw surprised many as Cejudo TKO’d Cruz in the second round and then proceeded to retire from the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

Adam Martin - May 11, 2020

The full betting odds have been released for all 11 bouts scheduled for this Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night card in Jacksonville, Florida. As was the case with UFC 249, UFC Fight Night Jacksonville will take place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. The UFC just pulled off an incredible event this past weekend and will hold two more cards this week at the same venue. The second event in the Jacksonville series takes place on Wednesday, and it’s a solid Fight Night card featuring a light heavyweight main event between Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

Tony Ferguson experienced a tough, TKO loss to Justin Gaethje in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 249 card. Despite the nature of this loss, Ferguson seems to be in good spirits. Just one day after his defeat, he was already dancing around in his hospital room. See it below:

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is in the process of slimming down for his widely anticipated return to the Octagon. Speaking on his official Instagram account over the weekend, Johnson announced that he’s gotten his weight down to 236lbs, and that he’s beginning a “mini camp” in preparation for his UFC comeback.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

Greg Hardy enjoyed the experience of fighting in an empty arena last weekend, because it meant he could hear everything the cage-side commentators were saying—and one of those commentators happened to be former two-division champ Daniel Cormier. Hardy took on Yorgan De Castro in the main card opener of last Saturday’s UFC 249 event in Jacksonville, Florida. Early in the fight, Hardy ate a procession of damaging leg kicks from his foe, but when he heard Cormier suggest he should start checking kicks, he adjusting accordingly, and ended up winning the fight by decision.

Adam Martin - May 11, 2020

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington denied that he’s in talks to be a coach on TUF, but guarantees he will fight Kamaru Usman again. UFC president Dana White recently announced the return of The Ultimate Fighter and he mentioned several coaching pairings the UFC is thinking about for the show. One of them is a pairing between Covington and Usman, bitter rivals who had one of the best fights of 2019 at UFC 245 when Usman beat Covington via fifth-round TKO to take the belt.

Adam Martin - May 11, 2020

The opening betting odds have been released for the upcoming bout between former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns. Combate last week reported that Woodly vs. Burns is set to headline the UFC Fight Night card on May 23, which is rumored to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The UFC has not officially announced the bout yet but UFC president Dana White told the media last week that this is the fight the promotion wants to book, so it’s just a matter of making things official now.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

Over the weekend, during the UFC 249 broadcast, it was announced that Georges St-Pierre will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Not long after this announcement was made, the UFC shared footage of GSP’s first reaction to the news of his Hall of Fame induction. It’s worth a watch.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

Francis Ngannou sent a classy message to Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who he knocked out in 20 seconds on the main card of UFC 249 last weekend. While Ngannou treated Rozenstruik like he was his arch nemesis, he quickly proved post-fight that he has nothing but respect for his vanquished foe.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

UFC President Dana White says there are no plans on the table for a trilogy fight between former two-division champ Conor McGregor and his long-time rival Nate Diaz. McGregor and Diaz are tied 1-1 across two fights, both of which occurred in 2016. Diaz won the first fight, springing the upset with a submission win. McGregor evened the score in the rematch, defeating Diaz by majority decision. Ever since, fans have been dying to see the pair meet in a tie-breaking trilogy fight.

Tom Taylor - May 11, 2020

The UFC initially wanted commentator Joe Rogan to conduct his UFC 249 post-fight interviews from a distance, but he wasn’t on board with that plan. Speaking at the conclusion of UFC 249, Daniel Cormier, who joined Rogan on commentary duty, claimed the long-time commentator “threw a fit” when he was asked to conduct his post-fight interviews from a distance of two yards.