MMA News

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.

Adam D Martin - March 26, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Tyron Woodley explained why his loss to Colby Covington hurt more than his other setbacks inside the Octagon. Woodley and Covington were once training partners, but the men turned into bitter rivals over the last few years. Their rivalry culminated in their fight last September, where Colby Covington beat Woodley down until finishing him via TKO (injury) late in the fifth round. It was the third loss in a row for Woodley, and it hurt even more because he lost to Covington, someone who he used to train with and who he saw coming up the ladder.

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.

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

Stipe Miocic is confident he will defend his heavyweight title again on Saturday night. In the main event of UFC 260, Miocic and Ngannou are set to rematch three years after Miocic dominated the first fight. In January of 2018, Ngannou was young and inexperienced and after the first round, he gassed himself out and Miocic used his wrestling to win the fight. Now, ahead of the rematch, Miocic expects to extinguish Ngannou again.

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.

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 lightweight contender Dustin Poirier turned down the opportunity to fight for the belt, choosing instead to fight Conor McGregor again. Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vacated the belt last week and retired from MMA, which left the division without a champion. Nurmagomedov’s decision to officially retired led to the promotion booking Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt at UFC 262. Some fans and media were shocked that Poirier wasn’t part of the title fight considering he just knocked out McGregor in his last fight and beat Dan Hooker before that, but now we know that the UFC offered Poirier the title shot first.

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.

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.

Cole Shelton - March 25, 2021

Modestas Bukauskas was eagerly anticipating his next fight after coming up short last time out. Back on Fight Island in October, Bukauskas suffered a first-round TKO loss to Jimmy Crute. In just his second UFC fight, he fought a very tough and dangerous Crute who is now in the rankings and could be in the top-10 after his next fight. Although the loss was disappointing for Bukauskas, he says it helped him grow as he hired a sports psychologist and started to focus more on the strategy for his fights.

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

Miesha Tate is coming out of retirement and her goal is to land a rematch with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. Tate announced on Wednesday that she is ending her nearly-five year retirement from MMA and is returning to the Octagon this summer when she takes on Marion Reneau. Following a 2016 loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205, Tate decided to hang up her gloves and start a family. She also worked for ONE Championship during that time. However, once COVID-19 hit, Tate moved her family back to Las Vegas. It appears as though being around the fight game in Vegas got her fighting spirit back and now she’s coming back.

Adam D Martin - March 25, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Neil Magny shut down Khamzat Chimaev’s request to fight in July, saying that Chimaev should get healthy first. Chimaev announced this week that he will be returning to the Octagon this summer, and he’s already been busy calling out Magny again. Chimaev is hoping to get a fight with someone ranked near the top-10 and Magny is available. Hopefully, Chimaev has been ill with COVID-19 for the last few months and he hasn’t been able to fight. Now that there is light at the end of the tunnel and he plans on making his return this summer, he’s looking to make a splash in his comeback, and beating a veteran like Magny qualifies as doing that.