MMA News

Adam D Martin - July 15, 2021

Cynthia Calvillo is confident she has what it takes to beat the champ Valentina Shevchenko, but she can’t say the same about Lauren Murphy. Calvillo returns to the Octagon at UFC 266 when she takes on former title challenger Jessica Andrade, and on the same card, Shevchenko puts the UFC women’s flyweight title on the line against Murphy. It stands to reason that Calvillo could potentially earn the next title shot against the winner of Shevchenko vs. Murphy if she defeats Andrade. If you ask Calvillo, that is going to be Shevchenko, because she doesn’t see Murphy winning the fight.

Adam D Martin - July 15, 2021

Islam Makhachev would “maul” Charles Oliveira and “finish” Dustin Poirier, says former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev returns to the Octagon this Saturday night in the main event of UFC Vegas 31 against fellow top-15 ranked lightweight Thiago Moises. For Makhachev, he is now 8-1 in the UFC and currently riding a seven-fight win streak, so a win over Moises will likely earn him an elite opponent his next time out. With Nurmagomedov now retired, Makhachev has a clear path to get to the top of the division without fighting his friend and training partner.

Adam D Martin - July 15, 2021

Former women’s 135lbs champ Miesha Tate is confident she can make another run for the UFC women’s bantamweight title despite her long layoff. Tate returns after a nearly five-year layoff this Saturday night when she takes on Marion Reneau in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 31. Despite Tate taking so much time off, she returns to the UFC at age 34 and to a division that is in fresh need of fresh challengers for UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. Even though Tate hasn’t fought in forever and technically hasn’t won a fight since her upset win over Holly Holm at UFC 196 in March 2016, she is still confident that she has what it takes to wear UFC gold again.

Adam D Martin - July 15, 2021

UFC heavyweight title contender Derrick Lewis called his upcoming opponent Ciryl Gane a “boring” fighter ahead of their UFC 265 title fight. Lewis and Gane meet in the main event of UFC 265, which is scheduled to take place on August 7 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and the interim heavyweight strap will be on the line when “The Black Beast” and “Bon Gamin” throw down. While Lewis was originally set to take on UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou for the undisputed belt, things changed and he is now set to take on Gane for the interim belt instead.

Harry Kettle - July 15, 2021

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has come out firing with an ultimatum for the promotion. Throughout the course of his tenure in the UFC, and mixed martial arts in general, Rockhold has been able to establish himself as one of the most exciting middleweights on the planet. He’s been to a decision just twice throughout his 21 professional fights and while his last two bouts have been knockout defeats, he’s still a dangerous man whether it be at 185 or 205.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2021

Jake Paul has his eyes set on Canelo Alvarez. Paul, the former brash YouTuber turned boxer, has taken over the combat sports world by storm. He’s set to fight former UFC welterweight champ, Tyron Woodley in just his fourth pro fight. Although he is facing real fighters many are still critical of him, but he says he has his eyes on Canelo Alvarez and believes he will fight him in three years’ time.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2021

Jeremy Stephens seems to have a light-hearted approach to his canceled fight against Drakkar Klose back in April. At the faceoffs following weigh-ins, Stephens shoved Klose and it ended up injuring Klose and the fight was canceled. Since then, the UFC has made a rule that if you touch someone during their faceoff you are pulled from the fight so Stephens had to make a little joke about the situation.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2021

Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Dustin Poirier mauled Conor McGregor at UFC 264 and says “The Diamond” would win 100 times out of 100. Poirier and McGregor had their highly-anticipated trilogy match on Saturday in the main event of UFC 264. It was a pivotal fight for both of their legacies and the division. Early on, the Irishman had success but after Poirier got him to the mat, he landed some heavy ground and pound and clearly won the round.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor went too far by making death threats against Dustin Poirier and his family following UFC 264, says Paul Felder. McGregor made the threats against Poirier following his TKO loss at UFC 264 last Saturday night. The comments have been criticized by many fans and media, who believe that the Irishman went too far by bringing up Poirier’s family, and now Felder is speaking out against the comments that McGregor made in the wake of his technical knockout loss.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

Former Bellator MMA fighter and GLORY kickboxing star Joe Schilling provided the latest update following his recent bar-punching incident. Schilling was recently involved in an incident at a bar where he was caught on video knocking a man out cold with punches. Schilling later claimed it was self-defense and said that there is more to the story than meets the eye, though the victim, Justin Balboa, said that he plans on taking legal action against “Stitch ‘Em Up.” However, we haven’t had much provided in the way of an update as far as potential charges against Schilling.

Cole Shelton - July 14, 2021

Billy Quarantillo expects to be a much better fighter on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 31 when he faces Gabriel Benitez. Quarantillo is coming off his first career UFC loss back at UFC 256 against Gavin Tucker. Following the loss, the rising featherweight contender got married and got eye surgery which he says was much-needed.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

According to a new report from the Sports Business Journal, last Saturday’s UFC 264 is officially the second biggest PPV in UFC history. John Ourand of the SBJ shared the numbers on his social media page, noting that UFC 264 sold 1.8 million pay-per-views around the world, including 1.3 million in the United States.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov says that he shares the GOAT status in MMA with six other legendary fighters. Nurmagomedov retired from mixed martial arts earlier this year, leaving behind an incredible legacy as one of the sport’s all-time greatest fighters. With a perfect 29-0 record and having beaten some of the greatest fighters in UFC history, there is no doubt that “The Eagle” is among the best to ever compete in MMA. But is he the undisputed No. 1 GOAT? There are some fans who think so. But if you ask Nurmagomedov, there are seven GOATs.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

UFC lightweight star Dustin Poirier proved that he is the “superior fighter” over rival Conor McGregor at UFC 264, says his coach Mike Brown. Poirier defeated McGregor via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) after the Irishman’s leg shattered and he was unable to continue. Even before the injury led to the finish, however, Poirier was exerting his dominance in the fight as he was beating McGregor both on the feet and on the ground. In fact, two of the three judges scoring the fight cage-side had it 10-8 for Poirier in the first round. Either way, Poirier got his hand raised and now he is up 2-1 over McGregor all-time in the trilogy fight between two of the UFC’s biggest stars.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling suggested that his rival Petr Yan has benefited from the so-called “Dana White privilege.” Sterling and Yan fought earlier this year at UFC 259 and the fight ended in a very controversial fashion after Yan kneed Sterling in the head while he was a downed opponent, leading to the champion losing his belt via DQ. Since the first encounter between these two, both men have spent the better part of the last few months talking plenty of smack to each other on social media ahead of a potential rematch. Sterling is currently on the shelf with injuries but the hope is that these two can rematch sometime this fall.

Adam D Martin - July 14, 2021

UFC women’s flyweight contender Lauren Murphy reacted after finally getting her first title shot against Valentina Shevchenko. Murphy takes on Shevchenko, the 125lbs queen of the UFC, at UFC 266, which is set to take place on September 25 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The world’s leading MMA promotion announced the star-studded card on Tuesday, with Murphy vs. Shevchenko one of three big fights set for the card, along with the main event between UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and challenger Brian Ortega, and a five-round welterweight bout between two legends of the sport in Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz.

Harry Kettle - July 14, 2021

UFC 266 is set to feature two championship showdowns in addition to a highly anticipated five-round non-title rematch. The September 25 pay-per-view card was always set to be something of a barnburner given the many rumors that have been flooding out in recent weeks, and now, it appears as if we could be in for one of the best events of the year.

Christopher Taylor - July 13, 2021

Former lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov has a theory as to what Dana White and company are going to do with Conor McGregor following UFC 264. McGregor suffered his second consecutive defeat to Dustin Poirier last weekend, a loss which served as the third in his past four fights. Adding salt to the wound was the fact that the defeat came in part due to a broken tibia.