MMA News

Drake Riggs - May 10, 2021

Alan Jouban announced Monday that his time as a fighter has come to an end. The UFC welterweight took to Twitter to share that he will be sticking to the analyst desk as he heads into retirement.

Christopher Taylor - May 10, 2021

UFC President Dana White confirmed on Monday that a rematch with Derrick Lewis will be next for Francis Ngannnou, this while providing an update on Jon Jones. Prior to March’s UFC 260 event, it was thought that the winner of Miocic vs. Ngannou 2 would be fighting ‘Bones’ in their next outing. However, shortly after ‘The Predator’ dethroned Stipe with a second round knockout, negotiations between Jones and the UFC quickly went south.

Cole Shelton - May 10, 2021

Kevin Lee is changing weight classes and has an opponent in mind for his return to the Octagon. After Lee suffered a submission loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC Brasilia in March of 2020, he said he would be away from MMA for a couple of years. He ended up tearing both of his knees which required by surgery, but “The Motown Phenom” is looking to return this summer at welterweight.

Drake Riggs - May 10, 2021

The build-up to the big strawweight title clash between Zhang Weili and Rose Namajunas culminated with some political integration. However, it was just a struggle to make the fight happen in the first place. Now the former champion, China’s Zhang (21-2) hadn’t fought in over a year before the Namajunas encounter in Jacksonville, Florida at UFC 261. “Magnum” ultimately found herself in enemy territory when once again making the walk.

Cole Shelton - May 10, 2021

Donald Cerrone will get another shot to end his winless streak. On Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 26, Cerrone suffered a first-round TKO loss to Alex Morono. “Cowboy” was supposed to face Diego Sanchez, but after the TUF 1 winner was released, Morono stepped up on short notice and got the win.

Cole Shelton - May 10, 2021

The New Jersey Athletic Control Board has overturned Renan Ferreira’s controversial win over Fabricio Werdum at PFL 3. Werdum headlined the card and just seconds into the fight, he got the fight to the ground. He then threatened a triangle choke and it looked like it was tight, but Ferreira landed ground and pound and got the first-round KO win over Werdum.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

Brazilian heavyweight Renan Ferreira fired back at his countryman Fabricio Werdum following his recent controversial win in PFL. Ferreira scored the biggest win of his MMA career to date when he knocked out Werdum in the first round of their PFL regular season fight, but the finish was controversial as it appeared as though Ferreira had tapped to a triangle choke seconds beforehand. Werdum was upset about the finish and his team has already appealed the result of the contest. Fans online for the most part seem to agree there was a tapout, but the referee missed it and Ferreira didn’t acknowledge it, thus leading to Werdum not getting his hand raised.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

UFC lightweight Michael Chandler shared his prediction for the Charles Oliveira fight at UFC 262: “He’s going to get his clock cleaned.” Chandler steps into the Octagon for the second time this Saturday night when he fights Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title. For Chandler, he earned this title shot after being a champion in Bellator for the better part of 10 years and after scoring a knockout over Dan Hooker in his promotional debut at UFC 257. Although Oliveira is a tough matchup as the Brazilian is well-rounded and elite on the ground, Chandler is still confident that he will win this fight, and he’s excited to score another highlight-reel knockout.

Andrew Whitelaw - May 10, 2021

Gordon Ryan has an opponent for his ONE Championship debut. According to a Facebook post from ONE CEO, Chatri Sityodtong, the BJJ star will take on JMMA lcon Shinya Aoki in “an openweight grappling super match on August 27!”

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Jiri Prochazka says that he believes Jon Jones is still the “king of the light heavyweight division.” Prochazka is one of the hottest names at 205lbs these days after knocking out Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir in his first two Octagon appearances. UFC president Dana White has already said Prochazka is next in line to fight the winner of UFC 266’s main event between UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz and No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira, and that’s ideal because “Denisa” is hoping to win the belt. But if you ask Prochazka, the top opponent for him that he could choose would still be Jones.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

UFC welterweight Neil Magny says he open to the Khamzat Chimaev fight, but explained why he has his concerns about waiting for him. Magny had one of his best performances ever as he won a unanimous decision over Geoff Neal at UFC Vegas 26. For Magny, beating someone as talented as Neal proves that he still has what it takes to be a top-10 fighter. It’s not a surprise, then, that so many other top contenders in the welterweight division are gunning for Magny, including Chimaev. The Swede has missed all of 2021 so far due to health issues but he is hoping to make his return to the Octagon this summer, and Chimaev has made Magny one of his targets.

Cole Shelton - May 10, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 26, Marian Rodriguez and Michelle Waterson stepped up on short notice to headline the card up a weight class at flyweight. Rodriguez entered the fight coming off the biggest win of her career as she TKO’d Amanda Ribas at UFC 257 in January. The Brazilian was 3-1-2 in the UFC and her lone loss was a controversial split decision to Carla Esparza. Waterson, meanwhile, returned to the win column last September with a split decision win over Angela Hill.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

UFC featherweight contender Giga Chikadze wants to fight divisional rival Max Holloway in order to prove who the top striker in the UFC is. Chikadze is one of the hottest fighters in the UFC featherweight division right now after winning his first six fights at 145lbs in the world’s leading MMA promotion. His last performance, a first-round body kick TKO win over Cub Swanson at UFC Vegas 25, was his best showing yet, and following the fight, Chikadze called out a number of the division’s top fighters including Yair Rodriguez, Calvin Kattar, and the man he wants the most, Holloway.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones trolled UFC president Dana White during his recent Instagram live session. Jones and the UFC are currently involved in public contract negotiations for a future fight with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Jones has said on social media that the UFC’s initial offer of $8 to $10 million was “way too low” for a fight of this magnitude, and so the UFC and Jones are having a hard time coming to a deal as the promotion does not want to meet Jones’ request of $30 million for the fight. We have seen the contract negotiations play out in public over the last few months and will continue to do so going forward as Jones is one of the UFC’s biggest stars and this is a huge story in MMA.

Harry Kettle - May 10, 2021

Conor McGregor has confirmed that he would be interested in the possibility of buying a football club – with Celtic and Manchester United being at the top of the list. Over the course of the last few weeks, in the midst of the European Super League chaos that engulfed European football, Manchester United fans have made it clear that they want the Glazer family to sell the club and leave Old Trafford for good.

Adam D Martin - May 10, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell said that he’s ready to fight YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, saying “I’m ready anytime for that clown.” Liddell was responding to a fan who had suggested that either Liddell, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya or former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov should fight Paul, who has quickly turned himself into one of combat sports’ biggest names. Taking to his social media to respond, “The Iceman” said that he’d be happy to fight Paul.

Adam Martin - May 9, 2021

UFC women’s strawweight contender Michelle Waterson reacted after she had “one hell of a fight” with Marina Rodriguez at UFC Vegas 26. Waterson and Rodriguez both stepped up on short notice for this new main event fight at flyweight after the original headliners, TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen, fell off the card. Despite both women taking the fight on short notice, they were able to go five hard rounds without slowing down in their cardio. It was a great fight and both women showed their striking, grappling, and durability skills in this one, but ultimately Rodriguez landed far more strikes and landed the harder shots, so she won a clear unanimous decision.

Adam Martin - May 9, 2021

UFC women’s fighter Angela Hill put out an open call to other women’s strawweights, and Tecia Torres has volunteered her services. Hill was set to fight Amanda Ribas in a high-profile women’s strawweight bout on the UFC Vegas 26 undercard, but the fight fell apart at the last minute when Ribas tested positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, the late scratch meant that it was impossible for the UFC to get someone to fight Hill and she was pulled from the card without getting a fight. It’s possible that the UFC will try and re-book this fight but it’s also possible the promotion could have Hill return in a quick turnaround fight since she is not fully healthy and ready.