MMA News

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2021

Anderson Silva has accomplished a ton in his MMA career, but there is one moment that sticks out the most for him. Throughout Silva’s legendary MMA career, he won titles in Shooto, Cage Rage, and the UFC, including defending his middleweight title 10 times and holding the belt for 2457 days. He’s considered one of the best ever but his favorite memory from his career is when he earned a decision win over Hayato Sakurai at Shooto 7 on August 26, 2001, to win the Shooto middleweight title, which was the first title the Brazilian won in MMA.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Petr Yan fires back at Aljamain Sterling over his Unified Rules comment, suggesting he “try to win the fight without crawling on your knees.” Yan and Sterling fought back at UFC 259 in March for the UFC bantamweight title that Yan held at that time. Yan was in total control of the fight and seemed to be cruising towards a decision win when he made the mistake of landing an illegal knee to a downed opponent in the fourth round of the fight. Sterling was unable to continue due to the illegal shot and referee Mark Smith ruled the fight in favor of Sterling via DQ, handing him the belt. It was about as controversial of a moment as one can remember in a UFC title fight, as it was the first time in promotional history that a belt has changed hands as a result of a DQ.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker is hoping to fight again this fall and he wants to scrap either Nate Diaz or Tony Ferguson at UFC 266. UFC 266 is set to take place on September 25 and features a main event between UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira. In addition, a TUF coaches battle between UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega is also expected to take place on the card. Hooker, a longtime teammate of Volkanovski at City Kickboxing, is hoping to fight at UFC 266 and he recently said that he wants to fight Diaz. Now he is also adding Ferguson to his list of potential opponents.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort called his upcoming exhibition boxing match with Oscar De La Hoya “the biggest fight ever.” It was announced on Thursday that Belfort will return to the boxing ring for the first time in 15 years when he takes on the legend De La Hoya, who himself will be making his boxing comeback after 13 years away from the sport. The fight will take place on September 11 and it is expected to be another big money-making fight for Triller Fight Club as it features one of the most famous boxers of all time in De La Hoya against an MMA legend in Belfort.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman sympathized with Conor McGregor, saying that “I can’t imagine what Conor’s going through.” Usman is the UFC welterweight champion and one of the best fighters on the planet, and since he has become more famous with his wins in the Octagon, he has become a bigger star outside of it. Now that Usman knows what it’s like to be a big star he sympathizes with what McGregor is going through as the most popular fighter in the sport. As nice as it is to have all the fame and the money that McGregor does, Usman wants to remind everyone that you also have to deal with all the haters and the trolls who want you to fail miserably.

Adam D Martin - June 18, 2021

Rory MacDonald reacted following the “clear robbery” in his PFL 5 fight with Gleison Tibau, saying “I think that this should be looked into.” MacDonald was competing in PFL for the second time following a submission win over Curtis Millender in his promotional debut in April. Against Tibau, MacDonald used a game plan of sticking and moving on the outside to outpoint Tibau and take home a decision. He also used his grappling in the first round effectively. However, when the judges’ scorecards were read after the three rounds, it was Tibau winning the split decision, not MacDonald.

Harry Kettle - June 18, 2021

The scorecards from the three judges scoring Rory MacDonald vs Gleison Tibau last night have been released to the public. PFL 5 is officially in the books and while we may know the four welterweight contenders who will progress through to the playoffs, the process of learning who would go through certainly didn’t come easily.

Harry Kettle - June 18, 2021

Multiple MMA fighters reacted on social media after Gleison Tibau pulled off an upset win over Rory MacDonald at PFL 5 last night. The two men battled it out as part of the final push towards the welterweight playoffs in the PFL. The overwhelming expectation heading into the bout was that MacDonald would blow the doors off of Tibau and while it wasn’t quite so convincing, many did believe he was the one who should have his hand raised.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Logan Paul has a ton of confidence after going all eight rounds with Floyd Mayweather. On June 6 in Miami, Florida, Paul and Mayweather had a highly-anticipated exhibition bout. Although Paul is 0-1 as a pro boxer he was younger and had a massive height and reach advantage which made the fight interesting. Early on, he used his size and pressured Mayweather but as the bout dragged on the undefeated pro boxer took over but couldn’t finish Paul and they went the distance.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Jake Paul believes he will make Tyron Woodley quit in their boxing match on August 28. Paul, the brash YouTuber turned boxer, is 3-0 as a pro and coming off a first-round KO win over Ben Askren. After the fight, Tyron Woodley, who was in Askren’s corner began to call him out. The fight ended up getting made and for Paul, he believes he will make quick work of the former UFC welterweight champion.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Jorge Masvidal is looking to return sometime in October or November against a top-five opponent. Masvidal is coming off back-to-back losses to Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title including losing by a vicious KO back at UFC 261. Although the losses are disappointing, “Gamebred” says he’s eager to return at the end of this year.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC 205lbs champion Jan Blachowicz credited Israel Adesanya for improved grappling against Marvin Vettori, saying “he did his homework.” Blachowicz handed Adesanya his first loss in MMA back in March when he won a unanimous decision in a fight where Blachowicz took Adesanya down and controlled him on the mat. There were some who thought Blachowicz laid out the blueprint for how to beat Adesanya, but he showed improvements in his grappling game against Vettori at last Saturday’s UFC 263 in a unanimous decision win. Notably, there was one point in the fight where Vettori got Adesanya’s back, but he was able to explode out of the position and avoid danger.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes is among the MMA fighters up for nomination at the 2021 ESPY Awards. Nunes is up for nomination in two categories this year. The first category that she is nominated for is Best Athlete in Women’s Sports, and “The Lioness” is up against Naomi Osaka in tennis, Simone Biles in gymnastics, and Breanna Stewart of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm for the award. The 2021 ESPY Awards show takes place on July 10.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Aleksei Oleinik is set for his 76th professional MMA fight as he takes on Serghei Spivac in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 29. Oleinik is coming off of back-to-back knockout losses to Chris Daukaus and Derrick Lewis. He last fought back in February and after that fight, he went back to the gym and was looking to fight again in the summer. He ended up getting his wish and is eager for the opportunity to show his skills once again.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

Anderson Silva immediately knew what Chris Weidman was going through. On the main card of the stacked UFC 261 card, Weidman and Uriah Hall were having a rematch years in the making. It was an important fight for the middleweight division but on the first kick Weidman threw, his leg snapped just like Silva’s did against Weidman. Once the dust settled of the injury, the Brazilian reached out to Weidman and gave him some advice and support.

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 29, Korean Zombie takes on Dan Ige in a pivotal featherweight clash. It’s an evenly matched fight as the oddsmakers have it as a pure pick’em at -110 apiece. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority of pros believe it will be Korean Zombie getting his hand raised on Saturday night.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno listed potential opponents for his first flyweight title defense and Cody Garbrandt on the list. Moreno submitted Deiveson Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion this past weekend at UFC 263. Given that he and Figueiredo have now fought twice, with the first fight being a draw, there is the chance that the UFC could run the trilogy fight back immediately given how exciting the first two fights have been. But with Moreno making the rematch look easy, there is also the chance that someone else gets their chance to fight for the belt, and Moreno has a few names in mind.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum says Robert Whittaker has a “real chance at regaining that middleweight title” from champ Israel Adesanya. Gastelum has fought both Whittaker and Adesanya so he knows exactly what both men bring to the table. In the wake of Adesanya’s win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, which improved his record as a UFC middleweight to a perfect 10-0, the next fight to make for the 185lbs title seems to be Adesanya against Whittaker. And if you ask Gastelum what he thinks about that potential title fight, he thinks there’s a good chance the champ loses.