MMA News

Cole Shelton - July 8, 2021

Jerome Rivera knows his UFC 264 fight against Zhalgas Zhumagulov is do-or-die for his UFC career. Rivera enters the fight being 0-3 in the UFC and not many fighters get the fourth fight if they are winless through three. Yet, Rivera did the UFC a favor in taking a fight against Ode Osbourne up two weight classes at featherweight on just three day’s notice. With that, the UFC promised him another fight regardless of the result and they stuck to their word.

Adam D Martin - July 8, 2021

UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad says rival Leon Edwards “played it a little bit safe” against Nate Diaz and once again asked for the rematch. Muhammad and Edwards fought back in March to a No Contest after Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye early in the second round, rendering him unable to continue. As the Muhammad vs. Edwards fight was a replacement bout in its own right, the UFC decided not to match these two up again despite the inconclusive way the fight ended. Instead, the UFC booked Muhammad against Demian Maia at UFC 263 and Edwards against Nate Diaz on the same card, and both men would go onto win their fights that night.

Adam D Martin - July 8, 2021

UFC welterweight fighter Niko Price says he quit smoking weed after being suspended following his fight against Donald Cerrone last year. Price tested positive for marijuana metabolites following his draw with Donald Cerrone last September. The result of the bout was overturned to a No Contest and Price was fined and suspended for six months after the commission found traces of THC in his drug test. This was the second time in Price’s career that he was sanctioned for his marijuana use. Back in 2017, Price knocked out Alex Morono in his UFC debut but the result of the fight was overturned to a No Contest after he tested positive for marijuana. After being hit hard in the pocketbook twice for smoking up, Price says that he’s done with smoking weed now.

Cole Shelton - July 8, 2021

In the main event of UFC 264, Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor have their highly-anticipated trilogy match. Heading into the fight, Poirier is the -130 favorite while the Irishman is the +110 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros are split on this one but the slight majority favor Poirier to get the win although all think the fight ends inside the distance.

Adam D Martin - July 8, 2021

UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy unloaded on “fatty” Derrick Lewis, saying that “The Black Beast” is “an ex-con that doesn’t know when to shut up.” Hardy takes on Tai Tuivasa on the UFC 264 main card this Saturday night in Las Vegas. Ahead of this weekend’s big PPV event, Hardy spoke to the media about the state of the UFC heavyweight division, and he was asked about the upcoming interim heavyweight title bout at UFC 265 between Lewis and Ciryl Gane. According to Hardy, he is rooting for Gane to beat Lewis because he doesn’t like him. If you ask Hardy, it was Lewis who brought his name up and talked trash about him first, and ever since then, he hasn’t been a fan of him.

Adam D Martin - July 8, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns said it would be “easy money” if he were to step into the Octagon and fight against Nate Diaz. Burns takes on Stephen Thompson in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC 264 pay-per-view card. Coming off of a TKO loss to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, Burns is eager to get back into the Octagon and get back into the win column, and inch closer back to getting a title shot. But while Burns is focused on getting back to the title, he can’t help but look at the other fighters at 170lbs and wonder how those fights would play out.

Adam D Martin - July 8, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor reacted after Rafael dos Anjos was tabbed as the backup for his UFC 264 main event fight against Dustin Poirier. On Wednesday, reports emerged that dos Anjos was spotted in Las Vegas and was cutting weight in preparation for Friday’s weigh-in ahead of UFC 264. Apparently dos Anjos was brought in by the UFC as the backup fighter for the UFC 264 main event just in case anything happens to either McGregor or Poirier. In the event that someone gets injured, sick, or doesn’t pass COVID-19 protocols, the UFC will have dos Anjos step in and fight on Saturday night. The hope is that it doesn’t come to that, but RDA is insurance either way.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

Conor McGregor has all the confidence in himself once again. After McGregor suffered a second-round TKO loss to Dustin Poirier he said he can’t be written off yet and he would be back. Now that the trilogy is booked for UFC 264 on Saturday, the Irishman has taken shots at “The Diamond” and he says he views Poirier as a corpse.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

CM Punk is no longer 0-2 as an MMA fighter, instead, he’s 0-1 and one No Contest. Punk, a WWE star, crossed over into MMA and made his pro debut at UFC 203 against Mickey Gall where he suffered a first-round submission loss. He didn’t fight again until June 9, 2018, at UFC 225 where he fought Mike Jackson. Unfortunately for Punk, the fight did not go his way and he dropped a clear-cut decision to fall to 0-2 and White made it clear that would be the end of Punk in the UFC.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

Dana White knows Conor McGregor isn’t overlooking Dustin Poirier at UFC 264. Back on Fight Island in January, Poirier scored a second-round TKO over McGregor to even their series 1-1. Artem Lobov, McGregor’s teammate, told BJPENN.com that the Irishman overlooked Poirier as he was focusing on a boxing match against Manny Pacquiao.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

Sean O’Malley believes his UFC 264 opponent, Kris Moutinho is dangerous despite not many people knowing who he is. O’Malley was supposed to fight Louis Smolka but the Hawaiian was forced out of the bout due to a staph infection with just over a week to go. Several UFC fighters offered their services but Moutinho ended up getting the fight.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

Conor McGregor expects to KO Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 264. McGregor and Poirier are set for their highly-anticipated trilogy bout on Saturday night in Las Vegas. It’s an intriguing matchup due to the fact they fought in January where Poirier scored a second-round TKO. Yet, ahead of the trilogy, the Irishman is oozing with confidence as he expects to KO Poirier once again.

Adam D Martin - July 7, 2021

The Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that starting Wednesday, it will no longer discipline UFC fighters for using marijuana. While USADA took marijuana off of its list of banned substances a while ago, and while states like Florida also previously made the decision to unban pot, Nevada has still been one of the states that have been holding out. Because Nevada has been holding out on changing its marijuana rules, the state still tests athletes for it, and we have seen UFC fighters such as Misha Cirkunov and Gillian Robertson recently test positive for marijuana.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

DPhil Daru, Dustin Poirier’s strength and conditioning coach, says “The Diamond” is the calmest he’s ever been before a fight. In the main event of UFC 264, Poirier is set for his trilogy match against McGregor in a highly-anticipated fight. For Daru, he says ever since the first fight he has been game planning on how to train Poirier for the trilogy. However, he says they have been cautious to not overtrain The Diamond and they believe he’s in perfect condition for the fight on Saturday.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

Max Griffin had no hesitation to accept his UFC 264 fight against Carlos Condit. After Griffin scored a one-punch KO over Song Kenan he knew he would be getting a big fight. He had back-to-back vicious KO’s as prior to that he TKO’d Ramiz Brahimaj where he nearly tore his ear off with an elbow. When he got a call to face Condit, he said it was an immediate yes but there was some hesitation on the former interim champs side.

Cole Shelton - July 7, 2021

Check out the complete betting odds for this Saturday’s UFC 264 card featuring the trilogy match between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. In the main event of UFC 264, Poirier and McGregor have their highly-anticipated trilogy match. They first met in 2014 where McGregor won by first-round TKO. They then had their rematch in January at UFC 257 with Poirier exacting his revenge with a second-round TKO. Poirier enters the fight on a two-fight winning streak and is the former interim lightweight champ. McGregor meanwhile is just 1-3 in his last four including the loss to Floyd Mayweather but he’s the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champ.

Adam D Martin - July 7, 2021

Welterweight fighter Emil Meek is among the seven fighters who are no longer on the UFC roster as the promotion makes changes to its roster. MMAjunkie.com confirmed that the following seven fighters are no longer on the UFC roster: Meek, Roque Martinez, Alexander Yakovlev, Lara Procopio, Christian Aguilera, Stefan Sekulic, and Joe Ellenberger.

Adam D Martin - July 7, 2021

A member of the UFC organization for over 25 years, Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer shared his list of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. Buffer has been the man with the mic dating all the way back to 1996, so he’s seen many fighters come and go over the years, and some of them have been great. Speaking to Tom Taylor of Maxim, Buffer shared his list of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. Check it out.