MMA News

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

Leon Edwards says he will wait for the title shot against the winner of Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington: “I’m not fighting no one else.” Edwards is coming off of a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 263 and overall he is unbeaten over his last 10 fights, with nine wins and one No Contest during that stretch. Edwards believes that he has done enough to fight Usman for the UFC welterweight title, but UFC president Dana White has already confirmed that Covington will be getting the next crack at the belt. That means that Edwards either will have to wait for the winner of the Usman vs. Covington fight or take another fight in the meantime.

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

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.

Drake Riggs - June 17, 2021

Claressa Shields is officially an MMA fighter following a successful PFL 4 debut against Brittney Elkin this past Thursday. Inevitably, fans are expecting a clash of Olympic gold medals pitting Shields against the 9-0 Kayla Harrison. Currently looking to claim yet another PFL crown through the lightweight tournament, Harrison recently shared her thoughts on the boxing legend’s victory.

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.

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

Boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya will return to the ring when he takes on former UFC champion Vitor Belfort in an exhibition boxing match. Mike Coppinger of The Athletic was the first to report that De La Hoya vs. Belfort is on tap for the Triller Fight Club event scheduled for September 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It will be an exhibition match and the fighters will wear 12-ounce gloves. As the scribe notes, the 48-year-old De La Hoya hasn’t fought since losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2008. The 44-year-old Belfort, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since losing to Lyoto Machida in the UFC in 2018, and his only pro boxing match came back in 2006, which he won by first-round KO.

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

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

PFL star Claressa Shields says she wants to be the Bo Jackson of MMA and boxing, saying that “I believe I am the greatest woman of all time.” Jackson was an incredible two-sport athlete who is still the only person to ever be named to a Pro Bowl team in the NFL and an All-Star team in MLB. Many consider Jackson to be one of the greatest athletes who ever lived, and many athletes have come up behind him who have wanted to accomplish what he did, which is being great at two professional sports. Of course, it’s hard enough to be an elite athlete in one sport, but Jackson proved you can be elite in two, and that’s exactly what Shields is hoping to do herself.

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.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC welterweight Michel Pereira called out Nate Diaz for a future matchup, suggesting that it would be a “very good fight” for the fans. Diaz is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263, but he said that he hopes to get back into the Octagon in the next three or four months. If that’s the case, then Pereira would love to stare across the cage from him. Speaking to AG Fight in the days following the Diaz vs. Edwards fight, Pereira issued a public challenge to Diaz.

Harry Kettle - June 17, 2021

Former UFC fighter Erik Koch has been handed an 18-month suspension as a result of a doping violation. Koch, 32, has fought across a stretch of different weight classes over the years with his final bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship coming in July 2019. On that night he beat Kyle Stewart via unanimous decision but as revealed a few months back, he is now no longer under contract with the UFC.