MMA News

Adam D Martin - March 26, 2021

UFC president Dana White shared his concerns for Miesha Tate’s nose ahead of her comeback fight in the UFC this summer against Marion Reneau. Tate announced this week that she is coming out of a five-year retirement to face Reneau this summer, in what will ironically be Reneau’s retirement fight. The last time we saw Tate in the cage was at UFC 205 in November 2016 when she lost a decision to Raquel Pennington, just a few months after losing the UFC women’s bantamweight title to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200. After losing to Pennington, Tate retired from MMA. She has since started a family, but the itch to compete has come back and she’s now back with the UFC.

Cole Shelton - March 26, 2021

Robert Whittaker is well aware Kelvin Gastelum is a very tough fight for him. In the main event of UFC Vegas 24 on April 17, Whittaker is finally set to fight Gastelum. The No. 8 ranked middleweight is taking the fight on short notice after Paulo Costa was forced out of the scrap due to illness. It’s a very intriguing matchup given Gastelum was supposed to challenge Whittaker for the middleweight title a couple years ago. However, on the day of the fight, the champ was forced out of the matchup.

Adam D Martin - March 26, 2021

BMW has cut ties with UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya after he recently made a rape joke about Kevin Holland on social media. “Bro, I will f*ckin rape you,” Adesanya said about Holland in the now-deleted Instagram story that has resulted in the UFC superstar coming under heavy criticism. New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson condemned Adesanya for his comments, and Adesanya later took to his social media to release an apology. While it was good for him to get on top of things and issue a public statement, it appears it wasn’t enough to save his new role as an ambassador with BMW. Instead, he has lost his job for his comments.

Adam D Martin - March 26, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has really been putting in the work as he posted new photos of himself as a heavyweight. Jones vacated the 205lbs belt that he held on-and-off for the past decade last summer when “Bones” announced he would finally be making the move up to the UFC heavyweight division. For years, fans and media wanted to see Jones fight up in weight and see if he could dominate a second weight class. We will finally get the chance to see that as Jones will be making the move up to the UFC heaviest’s weight division by the end of the year.

Drake Riggs - March 25, 2021

Triller isn’t messing around when it comes to the commentary team for Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren. Adding to the list of stars is Saturday Night Live’s Pete Davidson. Already set to have a plethora of entertainment acts taking place throughout the April 17 event, it was announced on Thursday (h/t MMA Junkie) that the commentary team was finalized. Joining the likes of Snoop Dogg, Al Bernstein, Mike Coppinger, and Ray Flores will be Pete Davidson, Taylor Hill, Mario Lopez, Dixie D’Amelio, and Charli D’Amelio.

Drake Riggs - March 25, 2021

Randy Couture knows a thing or two about fighting at light heavyweight and heavyweight at the highest level. Jon Jones looks to do the same. After relinquishing his 205-pound title in 2020, Jones declared that he’s finally going to make the jump up to heavyweight – something fans have been anticipating for nearly a decade.

Adam Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC president Dana White confirmed that he is thinking about booking UFC women’s bantamweight championship Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena. Nunes is coming off of a quick submission win over Megan Anderson at UFC 259 in a 145lbs title defense, and the promotion is looking to turn her back around quickly in a 135lbs title fight. The one fighter in the women’s bantamweight division who has been the most vocal about getting the fight with Nunes is Pena, the former “The Ultimate Fighter” winner. Pena is coming off of a submission win over Sara McMann and she believes that win should be enough to get her the title shot in what is a shallow division in terms of fresh contenders.

Adam Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang fired back at boxing legend Mike Tyson after he suggested Rose Namajunas “destroys” her. Zhang returns to the Octagon at UFC 261 on April 24 when she takes on Namajunas in a fight that’s been in the works for months now. Zhang hasn’t fought since last March at UFC 248 when she won a split decision in a classic war against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Namajunas, meanwhile, is coming off of a split decision win over Jessica Andrade. They are the two top-ranked women’s strawweights in the world right now and this fight should be fantastic.

Cole Shelton - March 25, 2021

Dana White is not surprised Dustin Poirier is taking the trilogy fight with Conor McGregor over the vacant lightweight title fight. After the UFC officially confirmed Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement, the promotion booked Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler for the vacant title. Many fans were confused as to why Poirier wasn’t involved in it, but White revealed “The Diamond” was offered a title fight but turned it down to get the McGregor trilogy which White likes.

Adam Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has issued a public apology after making a rape joke about fellow UFC fighter Kevin Holland. Adesanya came under intense scrutiny this week after posting a video on his Instagram where he said he would rape Holland. Soon after, politicians in New Zealand criticized the UFC superstar for his comments, with Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson strongly condemning Adesanya for his comments. With Adesanya under the spotlight, “The Last Stylebender” took to his social media on Thursday to issue a public apology for the comments. In the statement, Adesanya promised this will be a lesson learned for him.

Cole Shelton - March 25, 2021

Dan Hardy doesn’t understand why Herb Dean is considered the gold standard of MMA referees. Dean is often the man in charge of UFC main events, however, Hardy believes he is constantly making mistakes. The two haven’t gotten along since their Fight Island incident last summer where Hardy was seen yelling to stop the fight when Francisco Trinaldo was landing heavy punches against Jai Herbert.

Adam D Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC women’s bantamweight contender Marion Reneau issued a statement following the announcement of her retirement fight with Miesha Tate. Reneau lost last weekend against Macy Chiasson when she dropped a unanimous decision. At age 43, Reneau is the oldest active fighter in the UFC and she has lost her last four fights, which left her as a potential cut casualty as the UFC continues to trim the roster. Instead of releasing Reneau, however, the UFC decided to give her one last fight, and they booked her against Tate, who is returning from a five-year retirement layoff of her own.

Adam D Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley says he is excited for the “sloppy” boxing match between Ben Askren and Jake Paul and shared his prediction. O’Malley returns to the Octagon this Saturday night when he faces Thomas Almeida at UFC 260. Speaking to the media ahead of this weekend’s pay-per-view card, O’Malley shared his thoughts on the upcoming Askren vs. Paul boxing match and predicted the winner.

Cole Shelton - March 25, 2021

Grant Dawson had no clue how the judges were scoring his fight against Leonardo Santos entering the third round. The fight was competitive through two rounds and after the second round, James Krause had a motivating speech to tell Dawson he needs to finish the fight in the third round. Although Dawson was controlling the fight, it appeared the fight was destined to go the distance. However, with 10 seconds left, Dawson started landing heavy ground and pound that knocked Santos out cold, which was a big relief for Dawson.

Adam D Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was condemned by New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson after making a rape joke. Adesanya had made a comment on an Instagram story, suggesting that he would rape fellow UFC fighter Kevin Holland, who had recently criticized him for losing to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259. “Bro, I’ll f*cking rape you,” the now-deleted story read. Although Adesanya did delete the story, it was already widely viewed by that point, and “The Last Stylebender” has been getting criticized online for the comments. Not only are fans not happy about his comments, but neither is Robertson, NZ’s Deputy Prime Minister.

Adam D Martin - March 25, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov “would be a huge star” for the WWE, says professional wrestler Drew McIntyre. Nurmagomedov officially announced last week that he is retiring from MMA and from the UFC. It was no surprise that “The Eagle” decided to walk away, considering he first mentioned the possibility of retirement following his win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last October. But after spending the last six months pondering his future in the sport, Nurmagomedov ultimately made the decision to hang up his gloves. He cited the fact he wanted to spend more time with his mother as one of the reasons why he walked away.

Harry Kettle - March 25, 2021

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman appears to be in the best shape of his career heading into his UFC 261 rematch against Jorge Masvidal. “The Nigerian Nightmare” was able to defeat “Gamebred” last summer on Fight Island to retain his belt in a short-notice fight, and now, they’ll be locking horns again in an absolutely vital fight for the welterweight division.

Adam D Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC welterweight James Krause invited women’s bantamweight fighter Julia Avila to train with him after she was kicked out of her gym. It’s been a tough week for Avila, to say the least. “Raging Panda” was supposed to fight at UFC Vegas 22 last Saturday, but the fight was scratched during the weigh-ins when her opponent, Julija Stoliarenko, fainted twice on the scale. Not only did Avila’s fight fall off, but she also took to social media the next day to announce that she had been booted out of her gym, the Oklahoma Martial Arts Academy, though she didn’t explain why she had been kicked out of the gym. Regardless, Avila is now looking for a new gym to call home.