MMA News

Drake Riggs - June 14, 2021

UFC President Dana White and RIZIN FF Founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara go way back. During the rise of the UFC in the early 2000s, PRIDE FC was doing its thing over in Japan. 15 years later and two most prolific MMA bosses reunited recently.

Cole Shelton - June 14, 2021

Paulo Costa seems open to fighting Marvin Vettori next time out. Costa was supposed to headline a Fight Night card on August 21 against Jared Cannonier. However, the Brazilain withdrew from the fight after he had concerns over his pay and claimed he never signed the contract. After that, many expected him to be away from the Octagon for quite some time but after UFC 263, Vettori called him out.

Cole Shelton - June 14, 2021

Eryk Anders wasn’t thrilled with his UFC 263 win over Darren Stewart. On Saturday night, Anders and Stewart were running back their fight in March that ended in a No Contest. In the first bout, Anders nearly finished the Brit before throwing an illegal knee and entering the rematch, “Ya Boi” said the gameplan was very similar.

Cole Shelton - June 14, 2021

Askar Askarov will face Alex Perez in a potential number one contender bout at UFC Vegas 33. Multiple sources have informed BJPENN.com that Askarov and Perez will fight one another on July 31 at the UFC Apex in Nevada. Contracts for the fight have already been signed, the sources revealed.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

UFC president Dana White commented on potential long-term health care for UFC fighters, saying “I don’t know about health care forever.” White recently suggested on Instagram that the UFC would “soon” be introducing long-term health benefits to its fighters in a reply to a fan who asked him about it. However, White admitted this past week that he accidentally replied to the wrong fan, and he confirmed that nothing is imminent. It was disappointing news for the fighters, who seemed like they were about to get improved health care, but as of right now there is nothing new to report. However, White said the UFC is still working on other things.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

Demian Maia called out Nate Diaz for the final fight of his UFC career, telling Diaz “you’re a great fighter who also represents jiu-jitsu.” Maia lost a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad on the UFC 263 main card, and Diaz lost a decision to Leon Edwards in the very next fight. Following the event, UFC president Dana White said that Maia’s UFC contract is up and he doesn’t see the legend fighting in the promotion anytime soon. But for the 43-year-old Maia, he says he still has one more fight left in him. And he says if he wants anyone for the final walk, he wants it to be Diaz.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards revealed the advice that Nate Diaz gave him following their five-round battle at UFC 263. Edwards defeated Diaz via unanimous decision in the first five-round non-title, non-main event fight in promotional history this past weekend at UFC 263. It was a fantastic performance by Edwards, who was dominating the fight up until the final minute of the bout when Diaz rocked him with a straight left and had Edwards badly wobbled. Edwards was able to hang on and survive and make it to the final bell and was rewarded the decision. Although Edwards and Diaz had some words to say in the leadup to the fight, they were extremely respectful after going to battle with each other for 25 minutes.

Cole Shelton - June 14, 2021

The UFC was back in front of a full capacity crowd in Glendale, Arizona for UFC 263. The card saw two titles on the line as Israel Adesanya fought Marvin Vettori, Deiveson Figueiredo rematched Brandon Moreno and Nate Diaz returned against Leon Edwards in a five-round non-title fight. The event ended up being a good one as Adesanya dominated the Italian in their rematch winning every round to defend his belt. Moreno, meanwhile, became the new flyweight champ as he submitted Figueiredo in a great performance. Finally, it was Edwards winning a clear-cut decision over Diaz but the final minute is what most will remember.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori called out Paulo Costa following his loss at UFC 263, saying “I’d like to really destroy this drunk guy.” Vettori lost a unanimous decision to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in their rematch that served as the main event of UFC 263. For Vettori, this was a tough loss because it’s his second defeat to the champ, which means that he won’t be fighting for the title anytime soon unless Adesanya loses it to someone else or moves up to 205lbs permanently. With the belt not in his grasp anytime soon, Vettori is already looking ahead at some of the other top contenders in the UFC middleweight division for his next fight, and the one name who is has zeroed in on is Paulo Costa, the No. 2 ranked middleweight.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight title challenger Bigfoot Silva suffered a TKO loss in his return to MMA this past weekend in Serbia. Silva traveled to Sabac, Serbia to take on Quentin Domingos at Megdan Fighting 9. For Silva, this was his first MMA fight since 2017 when he was knocked out by Vitaly Minakov in Russia. Since then, he has competed for GLORY kickboxing and BKFC, losing by knockout to Rico Verhoeven and Gabriel Gonzaga, respectively. But after taking the last two years off to rest up, Silva was feeling confident heading into this fight that he could get back into the win column. Unfortunately for Silva, the fight ended like many of his fights do, with him getting stopped with strikes by his opponent, though some have questioned this stoppage.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad praised the “legend” Demian Maia following his win at UFC 263, calling the Brazilian a “class act.” Muhammad won a unanimous decision over Maia on the main card of UFC 263 this past Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona. For Muhammad, this was arguably the biggest win of his career, and by taking out Maia, he will now be ranked in the top-10 of the UFC welterweight division. For Maia, however, this could have been the last time we saw him in the Octagon, as UFC president Dana White suggested later his time with the UFC is over.

Adam D Martin - June 14, 2021

Former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo reacted after losing his belt to Brandon Moreno by third-round submission at UFC 263. Figueiredo entered the rematch with Moreno as the champion after they fought to a draw in a 2020 “Fight of the Year” candidate at UFC 256 last December. But after struggling on the scale to make weight on Friday, Figueiredo looked slow in the fight and wasn’t able to get anything going. On the other hand, Moreno looked fast and sharp and he put together the most complete performance of his MMA career to date when he finished Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke. It was an absolutely phenomenal performance by Moreno to steal Figueiredo’s title away from him, and now he’s the new champion.

Harry Kettle - June 14, 2021

Tyron Woodley has issued his response after Dana White’s recent remarks regarding his shift from mixed martial arts to boxing. It was announced recently that Woodley will be taking on Jake Paul in an exhibition boxing match on August 28, with many hoping Tyron can be the one to put an end to Jake’s rise to prominence in combat sports.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

Henry Cejudo praised his former training partner Brandon Moreno after winning the UFC flyweight title from Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263. Moreno finished Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion. Following the event, Moreno ran into Cejudo backstage and the former UFC flyweight champ congratulated Moreno on his victory. The two were former training partners and Moreno even helped Cejudo prepare for his fights with Demetrious Johnson and Jussier Formiga. Cejudo was nothing but happy for his longtime friend.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Paul Craig received his BJJ black belt following his spectacular finish over Jamahal Hill at UFC 263. Craig pulled guard in the first round of his main card fight against Hill on Saturday night and quickly proceeded to pull off one of the most stunning finishes we have seen on the ground in quite some time. Craig was able to grab a hold of Hill’s arm and he dislocated it with an armbar, but the referee didn’t see the injury, nor did he see Hill’s attempt at a tap, and the fight continued on, with Craig raining down hammer fists while having Hill tied up with a triangle. The referee, Al Guinee, then stopped the fight due to TKO (punches).

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori issued a statement following his unanimous decision loss to champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 263. Vettori was confident he had the skillset to beat Adesanya in a rematch after they fought to a split decision three years ago, but the champion proved why he’s the best middleweight in the world with a clear unanimous decision victory.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC lightweight contender Drew Dober reacted after his “Fight of the Night” defeat to Brad Riddell on the preliminary card at UFC 263. Dober and Riddell went to war in the most exciting fight of the night at UFC 263, a match that saw both men stand and bang for 15 minutes with each other and win $50,000 each for “Fight of the Night” for putting on a show for the fans. For Dober, it was a disappointing loss against a talented, albeit unranked opponent in Riddell. Following the fight, Dober took to his social media to react to the loss to Riddell and thank the fans for all of their support.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC fan favorite Nate Diaz wants to fight again in three or four months following his unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263. Diaz dropped a hard-fought decision to Edwards in a five-round fight at UFC 263. After clearly losing the first four rounds of the fight, Diaz nearly made a comeback late in the fifth round when he rocked Edwards in the final minute of the bout, but ultimately, he came up short and lost 49-46 unanimously on all three judges’ scorecards. But while he didn’t get his hand raised against Edwards, Diaz is hoping to get back into the Octagon soon.