MMA News

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.

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.

Drake Riggs - March 24, 2021

Ahead of Casey Kenney’s last fight with Dominick Cruz, he made some controversial remarks about Megan Anderson on Sean O’Malley’s podcast. Getting ready to get back in action himself this weekend at UFC 260, O’Malley briefly reflected on the incident that happened on his show.

Drake Riggs - March 24, 2021

Gabi Garcia has been looking for a challenge lately. Well, her call has been answered in the form of Craig Jones who puts his career on the line. When it comes to the world’s absolute best jiu-jitsu practitioners, regardless of gender, Garcia and Jones are at the top of the mountain.