MMA News

Chris Taylor - April 2, 2021

Dustin Poirier is doing some training with 4x World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw ahead of his trilogy fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 264. Poirier and McGregor are set to have their rubber match at 155-pounds on July 10 in Las Vegas. The pair split their first two encounters, with Conor earning a first round knockout at UFC 178, and then Dustin most recently earning a second round KO victory at UFC 257.

Cole Shelton - April 2, 2021

Mike Goldberg will no longer be the play-by-play voice of Bellator. With Bellator set to move to Showtime, Scott Coker revealed they decided to undergo some changes and Goldberg will not be with the promotion anymore. The longtime UFC commentator joined Bellator in 2017 after parting ways with the UFC.

Cole Shelton - April 2, 2021

Jon Jones isn’t a fan of Jan Blachowicz continuing to call him out. After Blachowicz TKO’d Dominik Reyes to win the vacant light heavyweight title he mentioned how he wanted to fight Jones. The two were supposed to fight after Blachowicz knocked out Anderson but “Bones” vacated the belt for a move to heavyweight.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

MMA fighter Khetag Pliev has issued a statement after losing one of his fingers at a Cage Fury Fighting Championships fight on Thursday night. It almost seemed like it couldn’t be real when Pliev lost his finger during his fight against Devin Goodale at CFFC 94. But he in fact did lose his finger during the fight. The photos are not for a weak stomach. It was an absolutely bizarre injury and one that happened apparently as a result of his opponent grabbing into his gloves and causing the injury. Fortunately, the finger was located in a quick fashion and the fighter was able to have it reattached at a hospital. The fighter took to his social media afterward and told fans that he is feeling better, not to worry, and he specifically thanked the doctor for her good work.

Cole Shelton - April 2, 2021

Alonzo Menifield knew there was a lot of pressure on him entering his UFC 260 fight. Originally, Menifield was set to face William Knight but just three days before Knight was out of the fight due to testing positive for COVID-19. When Menifield found out the news, he was disappointed as he thought he wouldn’t get the chance to fight.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier confirmed that he turned down a potential 155lbs title shot against Charles Oliveira at UFC 262. After knocking out Conor McGregor at UFC 257 in January, it was widely expected that Poirier would be in the next lightweight title fight after former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov retired and vacated his title. However, the UFC instead booked Oliveira against Michael Chandler for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC 262. That news surprised a lot of fans, who thought Poirier deserved the title shot. However, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Poirier turned down the title shot to fight McGregor in a trilogy. Considering how much money that fight is destined to produce, it made sense for Poirier to decline the title show in order to take the money trilogy fight against McGregor instead.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Kevin Holland is promising to step it up against divisional rival Marvin Vettori next weekend at UFC on ABC 2. Holland is filling in on short notice for the injured Darren Till, who withdrew from the fight due to a broken collarbone. He’s a big underdog at the sportsbooks right now, and it makes sense given his poor showing against Derek Brunson last month. Though Holland was favored to defeat Brunson at the sportsbooks, he lost that fight via unanimous decision when he was unable to stop the takedowns and got planted on his back for five rounds. In addition to being outwrestled, Holland showed no sense of urgency at any time throughout that fight, and he seemed to be more focused on talking rather than actually fighting.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

UFC light heavyweight Aleksandar Rakic believes that former divisional rival Jon Jones should get paid more money to fight Francis Ngannou. Rakic, one of the best fighters in the UFC at 205lbs currently, is coming off of a decision win over Thiago Santos in his last fight, and he is widely expected to be just one or two fights away now from taking on UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. Jones, of course, was the kingpin of the UFC’s 205lbs division for the last decade, but he is planning on moving up to heavyweight this summer. The plan was for him to fight Ngannou in a mega-fight, but Jones is currently involved in a public financial despite with the UFC.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz says he is open to moving up to heavyweight and taking on champion Francis Ngannou. Blachowicz is coming off of his first successful title defense of the UFC’s 205lbs title when he defeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 259. For his next fight, Blachowicz is expected to take on No. 1 contender Glover Teixeira. Having said that, Blachowicz is open to taking on another challenge if the UFC wants him to. Should Jon Jones not take the fight with Ngannou, then Blachowicz is open to taking it.

Cole Shelton - April 2, 2021

Michael Chandler thinks there will be a ton of pressure on Dustin Poirier in his trilogy fight against Conor McGregor. After Poirier scored a second-round TKO over McGregor at UFC 257, many assumed he would be fighting for the lightweight title next. Yet, he passed over the title shot to fight McGregor again leaving Chandler to face Charles Oliveira in May.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones reaffirms his release request, saying he wants to be the face of another promotion. Jones is currently involved in a very public contractual battle with UFC president Dana White over how much he will get paid to fight Francis Ngannou. Jones this week said that he turned down the UFC’s initial offer of $8 to $10 million, saying that would be “way too low” for a fight of this magnitude. He then took to his social media to request he would be released from the UFC. Speaking on the “Steve-O’s Wild Ride!” podcast,” Jones once again reaffirmed his desire to be released and explained why he wants to find a new home.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

Women’s flyweight prospect Erin Blanchfield has issued a statement after signing with the UFC and having her fight booked on short notice. Blanchfield is just 21 years old and she has already racked up a 6-1 record in mixed martial arts since making her professional debut in 2018. After starting off her MMA career with a TKO win in CFFC, Blanchfield was quickly scooped up by the all-women MMA promotion Invicta FC and she picked up two wins, including a majority decision victory over current UFC fighter Kay Hansen. After dropping a controversial split decision loss to Tracy Cortez, another current UFC fighter, Blanchfield returned to CFFC and picked up another stoppage win, before re-joining Invicta FC and picking up two more victories in that organization.

Adam D Martin - April 2, 2021

Former UFC and Bellator champion Eddie Alvarez believes that winning the ONE championship belt would make him the greatest lightweight ever. Alvarez returns to the cage next week at ONE on TNT 1 when he takes on Iuri Lapicus, with the winner next in line to fight for the ONE lightweight title. Alvarez, of course, is also the former UFC lightweight champion and the former Bellator lightweight champion, so winning a third belt in a major organization would make give him the rare “triple crown” in MMA.

Drake Riggs - April 1, 2021

Former Invicta FC atomweight prospect turned UFC broadcaster, Laura Sanko is a woman of many talents. To celebrate April Fool’s Day, the Kansas resident pranked her son with a surprise tattoo reveal. https://twitter.com/laura_sanko/status/1377738515253977089?s=20

Drake Riggs - April 1, 2021

Colby Covington and Ben Askren have never been too fond of each other. But when it comes to Jake Paul and the current welterweight title picture, they can put their differences aside. Set to make his pro boxing debut against Paul in two weeks on April 17, Askren is continually gaining support and belief in his abilities from his MMA peers. Surely to the surprise of many, that includes the lone-wolf in Covington.

Drake Riggs - April 1, 2021

It may be April’s Fools Day… but this is no joke. At CFFC 94, Canadian prospect Khetag Pliev literally lost his finger. Taking on Devin Goodale in a 175-pound catchweight contest, Goodale would end up handing Pliev just the second loss of his seven-fight career. The method of victory came officially as a second-round TKO for Goodale as the action was stopped between rounds… because mid-fight Pliev would end up having his left ring finger detached from his body.

Cole Shelton - April 1, 2021

Scott Coker likes the idea of signing Alistair Overeem or Junior dos Santos to fight Fedor Emelianenko. After Emelinaneko beat Rampage Jackson in December of 2019, the plan was to have his farewell tour be in 2020. However, due to the pandemic, the Russian didn’t get a chance to fight, but according to Scott Coker, he says the MMA legend will fight sometime in the next couple of months,

Alfredo Zullino - April 1, 2021

It’s official. A middleweight clash between Marvin Vettori (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) and Kevin Holland (21-6 MMA, 8-3 UFC) is scheduled for April 10. There were rumors about this fight since Darren Till was forced out of his encounter against the Italian due to a broken collarbone. Right after that, Kevin Holland offered to face Marvin Vettori on short notice, receiving a positive message from “The Italian Dream”.