MMA News

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans praised “phenomenal fighter” Jon Jones and said he believes “Bones” will dominate the UFC heavyweight division. Evans and Jones were former training partners at Team Jackson – Wink a decade ago, but they had a falling out and eventually fought, with Jones defeating Evans via unanimous decision at UFC 145 in April 2012. Although both men are no longer close friends, there is still that mutual respect there between each other as former friends and training partners. In many ways, Evans gave Jones the torch to carry at 205lbs and he ran away with it.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

A longtime title contender at 170lbs, Stephen Thompson is convinced he’s the “worst matchup” for UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Thompson takes on Gilbert Burns this Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC 264, and with an impressive win, it’s possible that “Wonderboy” could be next in line to face Usman for the title. While UFC president Dana White has already said that Colby Covington is set to get his rematch with Usman next, Thompson believes that if he goes out there and puts on a dominant showing against Burns that he will be able to jump past him in the title line.

Cole Shelton - July 5, 2021

Joey Beltran is still the BKFC heavyweight champion. Beltran was looking for his second title defense when he faced Sam Shewmaker in the main event of the stacked BKFC 18 card. Entering the scrap, the UFC and Bellator veteran was confident he would get his hand raised and he ended up doing so by decision.

Alfredo Zullino - July 5, 2021

A bantamweight clash between Gaetano Pirrello (15-6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Douglas Silva de Andrade (26-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC) is in the works, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation informed BJPENN.com. The sources asked for anonymity since the news hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. The contracts have not been signed, but it seems it’s in the promotion plans to book this fight in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 2.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

Jake Paul is not worried about Tyron Woodley training with “old man” Floyd Mayweather ahead of their upcoming boxing match this summer. Paul and Woodley meet on August 28 in what is set to be one of the biggest combat sports events of the summer. Ahead of their upcoming boxing match, Woodley revealed that he has been training with Mayweather, who is universally regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. There is also another connection with Mayweather and the Paul brothers, as Mayweather just fought Logan Paul to an eight-round No Decision in an exhibition bout.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

Former WWE superstar Jake Hager wants to fight Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator, saying that “I really honestly believe that this is my fight.” The legend Emelianenko recently revealed that he is set to return to the Bellator cage this October in Moscow, Russia. Bellator did not announce his opponent yet, with company president Scott Coker admitting that there has been significant interest from other fighters to take on “The Last Emperor,” specifically mentioning Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and Josh Barnett as potential fights. But it appears there is another challenger in the arena.

Adam D Martin - July 5, 2021

UFC bantamweight veteran Louis Smolka explained why he was forced to withdraw from his scheduled fight against Sean O’Malley at UFC 264. Smolka and O’Malley were expected to kick off the pay-per-view portion of this weekend’s blockbuster UFC 264 card, but “Da Last Samurai” was forced to pull out of the fight last week. Instead of fighting Smolka, O’Malley now faces off against UFC newcomer Kris Moutinho. It’s a disappointing turn of events, and Smolka took to his Instagram to explain exactly why he is not able to fight.

Harry Kettle - July 5, 2021

UFC has released a video documenting all of Dustin Poirier‘s finishes with the promotion heading into UFC 264 this weekend. For over a decade now we’ve all seen “The Diamond” thrive at the highest level in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at both featherweight and lightweight. Of course, while he may be viewed as one of the very best in the game right now, he’s also had to endure some setbacks – but that’s not what the enclosed video is about.

Cole Shelton - July 4, 2021

Sean O’Malley has a unique reason as to why Louis Smolka pulled out of their fight at UFC 264. Less than two weeks before O’Malley and Smolka were set to fight, the Hawaiian was forced out of the bout due to a staph infection. However, according to “Suga”, he thinks there is more to it.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes recently underwent successful surgery on his left knee and is expected to make a full recovery. Reyes announced himself through his social media that he underwent successful knee surgery on Thursday to repair the meniscus, a surgery that typically has someone on the bench for four-to-eight weeks. That’s not a huge amount of time on the sidelines, so it’s possible that if Reyes has a speedy recovery, he could even fight before the year is up.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum called for the Fedor Emelianenko rematch, suggesting that “Fedor was never the GOAT.” It was just over 11 years ago in Strikeforce that Werdum and Emelianenko met inside the cage and the Brazilian pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time when he tapped the Russian out with a triangle-armbar. Fans have always wanted to see a rematch between these two rivals, but it has never happened. With Emelianenko set to return to the Bellator cage later this year in Russia, Bellator president Scott Coker has admitted that a number of big names have been in touch with his company to fight Emelianenko, naming fighters such as Josh Barnett, Junior dos Santos, and Alistair Overeem among the possibilities.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

Former UFC title contender Nate Marquardt announced his return to MMA, and “The Great” is set to compete for Titan FC later this summer. Marquardt announced this weekend at Titan FC 70 that he is set to return to mixed martial arts on August 6 when he fights at middleweight for the Titan promotion. “The Great” is now 42 years old and he hasn’t fought since a close split decision loss to Cezar Ferreira in November 2017. Marquardt mentioned back in November 2019 that he was considering a comeback and confirmed he was talking to Bellator. Nearly two years later and it appears as though Marquardt is finally able to get back into the cage, only this time for Titan FC.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili confirmed that he is considering a move to the UFC flyweight division in the near future. Dvalishvili is currently the No. 10 ranked bantamweight in the UFC. The 30-year-old Georgia native is 13-4 in his MMA career, including a 6-2 record in the Octagon. “The Machine” has won his last six fights in a row and is quickly emerging as a title contender at 135lbs, where the belt is currently held by Dvalishvili’s teammate Aljamain Sterling. Following a win over Cody Stamann in his last fight, Dvalishvili next faces off against the No. 6 ranked contender Marlon Moraes at UFC 266, and a win would be huge for him.

Adam Martin - July 4, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson showed off his incredible physical transformation during his UFC 264 training camp. Thompson steps back into the Octagon next Saturday when he faces off against Gilbert Burns in the co-main event of the UFC 264 pay-per-view. “Wonderboy” has made it clear that he wants to fight UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman next, and a big win over Burns would certainly put him in the title conversation at 170lbs. Based on the photos we are seeing from his training camp, it appears that Thompson has left no stone unturned.

Adam D Martin - July 4, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington shared his prediction for the upcoming Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier trilogy fight at UFC 264. Covington is a former teammate with Poirier at American Top Team and there is no love lost between them, but even if he doesn’t like “The Diamond,” he recognizes the fact that Poirier has some advantages in this upcoming trilogy fight with McGregor. As far as Covington goes, the third fight between Poirier and McGregor will look more like the second encounter between these two rivals rather than the first, meaning Poirier will win the fight.

Adam D Martin - July 4, 2021

Ciryl Gane says that he doesn’t feel bad for Francis Ngannou that an interim UFC heavyweight title was created for him and Derrick Lewis. Ngannou was fully expected to fight Lewis in the main event of UFC 265 in August, but the UFC did an about-face this week and created an interim title fight between Lewis and Gane for the event instead. According to the UFC, Ngannou wasn’t able to fight in August and the promotion already had an event booked in Houston, Texas, and needed Lewis to fight on the card. With Gane coming off of a great win over Alexander Volkov in a fight where he didn’t absorb much damage, the UFC matchmakers called up Gane to quickly turn around and fight Lewis for the interim belt. Of course, Gane said yes right away to the fight.

Adam D Martin - July 4, 2021

Hector Lombard on fighting Jake Paul in bare-knuckle boxing: “I don’t think he’s ever going to have the balls to fight bare-knuckle.” Lombard, who is the BKFC middleweight champion, recently took to his social media to offer a challenge to Paul, the YouTuber-turned boxer, to fight him in bare-knuckle boxing. We haven’t heard back from Paul yet on the offer and it seems doubtful that we will hear from him about this, considering that he is already busy preparing for his boxing match this summer with Tyron Woodley. And as much as Lombard is a recognizable name in the world of combat sports, he likely doesn’t have the name value that Paul wants in an opponent.

Adam D Martin - July 4, 2021

Dustin Poirier explained his rationale behind choosing the Conor McGregor trilogy over competing in the UFC lightweight title fight instead. Poirier knocked out McGregor at UFC 257 earlier this year to become the de facto No. 1 contender at 155lbs. When UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov decided to vacate his belt and retire, the original plan was to have Poirier fight Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title. Instead, Poirier chose to fight McGregor for the third time, which led to Oliveira fighting Michael Chandler in the main event of UFC 262 and winning the belt.