MMA News

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 president Dana White admitted that he was surprised Brandon Moreno beat Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263, further admitting “I was wrong.” Moreno submitted Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion. The two rivals previously met in the main event of UFC 256 last December, and they fought to a majority draw after the referee deducted a point from Figueiredo for a low blow. The rematch at UFC 263, however, proved to be decisive for the challenger as he dethroned the champion by taking him out in the third round by submission. It was an incredible performance by Moreno, and one White didn’t see coming.

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

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

Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has revealed that he is contemplating a move over to association football. After his win over Justin Gaethje last year, Khabib officially retired from mixed martial arts and left with a 29-0 unbeaten record. “The Eagle” is considered to be the greatest lightweight of all time and while some may dispute that, it’s hard to argue with what he’s accomplished.

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 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

Robert Whittaker is up next for UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in his next title defense, confirmed UFC president Dana White. Whittaker was expected to be next in line to fight Adesanya following three straight wins over Darren Till, Jared Cannonier, and Kelvin Gastelum, but he had to turn down the title shot against Adesanya at UFC 263 for several reasons. According to Whittaker, the turnaround following the Gastelum fight in April was too soon for him to fight again in June, especially since he needed to quarantine once he got home to Australia. With Whittaker not being able to take the fight for June 12, the UFC instead got Marvin Vettori to fight Adesanya, and the champ defended his title with a unanimous decision victory at UFC 263.

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.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

Welterweight veteran Demian Maia is likely done with the UFC following his latest loss to Belal Muhammad, says UFC president Dana White. Maia lost a unanimous decision to Muhammad in a main card fight at Saturday’s UFC 263 pay-per-view card. After winning the first round by pushing Muhammad against the fence and securing one takedown, Maia really faded as the fight went on. Muhammad was able to stuff nearly all of his takedowns from there on out and also outstruck him on the feet as “Remember the Name” won a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards. For Maia, this was his second straight loss in the UFC following a KO defeat to Gilbert Burns last March.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC featherweight Chase Hooper issued a statement following his loss at UFC 263: “I always give it my all and leave everything in the cage.” Just 21 years of age, Hooper is one of the youngest fighters on the UFC roster, but he entered his UFC 263 fight against Steven Peterson with a 2-1 record in the promotion. A talented Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, Hooper defeated Daniel Teymur in his UFC debut via TKO and also submitted Peter Barrett via heel hook in his last outing, which sandwiched a unanimous decision loss to Alex Caceres in between. With Hooper being super young and improving his game, he entered the fight with Peterson as a very slight favorite to win. However, the fight did not go his way, and Peterson ended up winning a clear decision.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White reacts to Nate Diaz’s performance at UFC 263, saying “he’s going to be asking us for a six-round fight next time.” Diaz went the full five rounds with Leon Edwards at UFC 263 and dropped a unanimous decision at the end of the 25 minutes. However, while he lost the first four rounds of the fight, Diaz came on strong in the fifth round and nearly knocked Edwards out in the final minute of the fight. Diaz has always been known for his legendary cardio, which is one of the reasons why he wanted this fight to be scheduled for five rounds, and the UFC obliged and booked this fight against Edwards for 25 minutes, which nearly changed the result.

Adam Martin - June 13, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he is open to booking a welterweight matchup between Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal following UFC 263. Edwards defeated Nate Diaz via unanimous decision at UFC 263 to extend his unbeaten streak to 10 fights in a row (9-0, 1 NC). However, White has remained adamant that the next title shot against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will go to Colby Covington next, not Edwards. With Edwards not being next in line for a title shot, that means that Edwards could potentially take another fight instead of waiting around. And if that’s the case, then one fighter that is available for a fight could be his rival Masvidal.

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

Jon Jones revealed his end goal with his UFC heavyweight run, saying “I’ve always had this thing where I wanted to win 20 championships.” Jones is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and universally regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. He has competed solely at 205lbs for his entire MMA career, but Jones is expected to move up to heavyweight for his next fight in order to challenge UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. However, Jones has been involved in a public pay dispute with UFC president Dana White over how much money he will make to fight Ngannou, and at this point, the fight hasn’t been booked yet. Instead, White has confirmed that Ngannou will fight Derrick Lewis in a rematch at UFC 265 this summer.

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul reacted to the fights at UFC 263, claiming that he will knock out Nate Diaz after he KOs Tyron Woodley. Paul has become one of the biggest names in combat sports these days after winning several boxing matches over the likes of Ben Askren and Nate Robinson, and this summer he takes on the former UFC welterweight champion Woodley. Paul has often been tweeting during the UFC cards as of late, and it was no different this weekend at UFC 263. Following the fight between Diaz and Leon Edwards, Paul took to his social media to claim that he will knock Diaz out, once he gets through with Woodley after their boxing match on August 28.