MMA News

Harry Kettle - April 12, 2021

Daniel Rodriguez has explained cornerman Joe Schilling’s request to throw a kick that the pair had done when they were “on mushrooms”. Rodriguez returned to action this past weekend and put down a dominant performance against Mike Perry, easily winning via unanimous decision on the scorecards. Many felt as if Perry had a decent chance of coming away with a win on Saturday night, but Rodriguez soon should that theory down.

Christopher Taylor - April 11, 2021

Conor McGregor has reacted after Dustin Poirier accused him of not following through on a promised charitable donation following their rematch at UFC 257. McGregor and Poirier collided for a second time on January 24 in Abu Dhabi. The pair had originally met in a featherweight contest at UFC 178, with the Irishman emerging victorious by way of first round knockout.

Adam Martin - April 11, 2021

UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier suggested Team Conor McGregor didn’t follow through with their promise of a charitable donation after UFC 257. Before agreeing to a rematch at UFC 257, both McGregor and Poirier had temporarily discussed a charity MMA fight outside of it, where McGregor was to donate money to Poirier’s “The Good Fight Foundation.” In January, McGregor Sports & Entertainment CEO Alan Geraghty confirmed that Team McGregor made a $500,000 donation. At the time, Team McGregor told MMAjunkie.com they reach out to Poirier’s wife Jolie to transfer the money. However, it appears as though Team Poirier may not have seen the check.

Adam Martin - April 11, 2021

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has revealed his timetable for his return to the Octagon after opting for neck surgery. Sterling became the new UFC 135lbs champion last month at UFC 259 when he defeated Petr Yan via first-round DQ after the Russian finished the fight with an illegal knee. The two rivals were fully expected to rematch in the coming months once both men recovered from the fight, but it appears as though the rematch is going to have to wait. That’s because Sterling is opting to get neck surgery. Speaking on his “Weekly Scraps” podcast, Sterling explained why he is getting the surgery now and said when he will be able to fight again.

Adam Martin - April 11, 2021

Bellator light heavyweight contender Ryan Bader issued a statement after smashing Lyoto Machida in the main event of Bellator 256. Bader is part of the eight-man Bellator World Light Heavyweight Grand Prix bracket. In the first fight in the tournament quarterfinals, Bader took on Machida in the Bellator 256 headliner. It was a rematch of the pair’s first fight back at UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs. Vera in August 2012, a fight that Machida won via KO. This time around, however, the fight was completely dominant for his opponent as Bader won a clear unanimous decision. Though Machida did well in the first round with his striking and won that round on the judges’ scorecards, he was outwrestled the rest of the way as he lost four rounds to one.

Adam Martin - April 11, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Kevin Holland says that he will work on his wrestling with Daniel Cormier at American Kickboxing Academy. For the second straight fight, Holland was taken down and wrestled as the blueprint to defeat “Trailblazer” is obvious at this point. After losing a unanimous decision to Derek Brunson last month, Holland tried to capitalize on a short-notice opportunity by fighting Mervin Vettori on short notice at UFC Vegas 23. But just like the Brunson fight, the Vettori matchup once again displayed Holland’s weakness in his takedown defense. As gifted as he is with his hands and his submissions, his wrestling is the biggest hole in his game.

Adam Martin - April 11, 2021

UFC welterweight Daniel Rodriguez issued a statement following his lopsided win over the durable Mike Perry at UFC Vegas 23. In what was arguably the best performance of his UFC career to date, Rodriguez was able to outstrike Perry for 15 minutes and bloody and batter his face as he took home a clear-cut unanimous decision. Though Perry landed some good shots of his own and even had a couple of takedowns mixed in, it was essentially all one-way traffic for Rodriguez in this fight. He controlled the striking range with his jab as his southpaw stance proved far too difficult to overcome. The end was result was a win for D-Rod and another loss for Perry.

Adam Martin - April 11, 2021

The first event under the new UFC and Venum partnership took place on Saturday night, and here are the disclosed payouts for the fighters. The UFC and Reebok’s seven-year deal recently ended, and the world’s leading MMA promotion has officially begun its relationship with Venum. As part of the deal, the fighters are required to wear the Venum clothing all week long and during the fight. The athletes are then given a piece of the pie from the UFC Venum deal. The companies have promised to slightly increase the pay for the athletes, and MMAjunkie.com has the full list of payouts for UFC Vegas 23.

Adam D Martin - April 11, 2021

Kansas City Chiefs superstars Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Tyreek Hill responded to the challenge received from UFC’s Julian Marquez. Marquez defeated Sam Alvey in a violent fashion when he choked his opponent out cold in the second round of their UFC Vegas 23 middleweight bout. The last time we saw Marquez win a fight, he asked Miley Cyrus out on a date after he submitted Maki Pitolo at UFC 258. This time around, Marquez used his post-fight speech as an opportunity to call out the KC Chiefs star trio of Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill, to a game of badminton or pickleball. Marquez, born and raised in Kansas City, is training at Glory MMA in KC under James Krause, and the players all responded to him.

Adam D Martin - April 11, 2021

Rose Namajunas took a political jab at UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang ahead of UFC 261, saying “Better dead than red.” Namajunas steps back into the Octagon on April 24 when she takes on Zhang with the 115lbs belt on the line. Ahead of the fight, “Thug” spoke to the Lithuanian National Radio and Television about the fight with Zhang. Namajunas suggested that because of her background as an American – Lithuanian and Zhang’s background as a Chinese fighter, there is extra motivation going into this matchup at UFC 261.

Adam D Martin - April 11, 2021

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz broke down the upcoming fight pitting TJ Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen. Cruz recently returned to the Octagon with a split decision win over Casey Kenney at UFC 259 last month. He’s one of the top contenders in the 135lbs division, and one fight that he has his eyes closely fixed on is the upcoming 135lbs bout between his rival Dillashaw and the top contender Sandhagen, which goes down on May 8. Speaking to James Lynch ahead of this big bantamweight fight, Cruz broke down the matchup between Dillashaw and Sandhagen, explaining how he thinks Dillashaw has to game plan for him to get the win.

Adam D Martin - April 11, 2021

UFC middleweight Sam Alvey released an emotional video just minutes after being choked out cold by Julian Marquez at UFC Vegas 23. Alvey suffered another tough loss in the Octagon when Marquez choked him out in the second round of their UFC Vegas 23 middleweight fight. After a strong first round that saw both men land some big shots on the feet, Marquez was able to rock Alvey badly in the second and then find the submission. Referee Mark Smith was late to save Alvey and “Smilen Sam” was choked out cold. He is now 0-5-1 over his last six UFC fights.

Adam D Martin - April 11, 2021

UFC bantamweight Petr Yan shared the Marlon Moraes knockout in his latest jab at Aljamain Sterling: “Actor fought 4 months after that KO.” Yan illegally kneed Sterling in the head while he was a downed opponent in a fight he was dominating at UFC 259. With the knee hurting Sterling badly enough to the point he could not continue, the fight was stopped and declared a DQ win for Sterling by referee Mark Smith. The call was controversial, as it was the first time in UFC history that a title has changed hands via disqualification. Based on the rules, it was a fair call made by the referee. However, Sterling winning the belt instead of Yan has affected the 135lbs title picture.

Adam D Martin - April 11, 2021

Henry Cejudo introduced a new nickname to his former UFC flyweight rival Demetrious Johnson following his knockout loss at ONE on TNT. Cejudo and Johnson had two memorable fights in the UFC. The pair first met back at UFC 197 in April 2016, with Johnson knocking out Cejudo with knees to the body to defend the UFC flyweight title. They then rematched at UFC 227 in August 2018, this time with Cejudo besting Johnson via split decision. There have always been talks of a potential rematch between these two rivals, but with Johnson now in ONE Championship and with Cejudo retired, we haven’t heard much back-and-forth between these two in a few years now.

Christopher Taylor - April 10, 2021

Darren Till has extended an offer to Mike Perry, this after ‘Platinum’ suffered his fourth loss in his past five fights at UFC Vegas 23. Perry (14-8 MMA) squared off with Daniel Rodriguez in the opening bout of today’s main card from Las Vegas. While the Florida native once again showcased his toughness, he proved no match for the striking of ‘D-Rod’.

Christopher Taylor - April 10, 2021

Professional wrestling icon The Undertaker believes the recent comparisons between Brock Lesnar and Francis Ngannou are justified. ‘The Beast’ and ‘The Dead Man’ are very familiar with one another given their time spent working together under the World Wrestling Entertainment banner.

Christopher Taylor - April 10, 2021

Sean O’Malley called out former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz while taking shots a number of the divisions top fighters. O’Malley (13-1 MMA) returned to the Octagon at last months UFC 260 event where he successfully rebounded from the first loss of his career by knocking out Thomas Almeida in the third round.

Christopher Taylor - April 10, 2021

Middleweight standout Kevin Holland has issued a statement following his lopsided unanimous decision loss to Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 23. Holland (21-7 MMA) had stepped up on short notice for today’s event headliner, this after Vettori’s originally scheduled opponent Darren Till was forced out with an injury.