MMA News

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2021

Heavyweight sumo wrestler Tsuyoshi Sudario earned the fastest knockout in RIZIN history during past weekend’s RIZIN 27 event. Sudario is a 23-year-old native of Japan who comes from a sumo wrestling background who trains MMA under the legendary Enson Inoue. In September 2020, he made his pro debut in mixed martial arts and finished Dylan James via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) at RIZIN 24. He then returned to the cage at RIZIN 26 in December 2020 and finished Minowaman with strikes in the first round. Considering his young age, his grappling credentials, and his apparent knockout power on the feet, Sudario looks like a really good prospect. And if you thought he was already looking good, imagine what you might think now after the youngster just pulled off scoring the fastest in company history at RIZN 27.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2021

UFC middleweight Derek Brunson disagreed with Dana White’s suggestion that Kevin Holland had a “mental breakdown” at UFC Vegas 22. Brunson dominated Holland with his grappling in the main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 22 event. The 37-year-old Strikeforce veteran was able to take Holland down at will and control him on the mat en route to a unanimous decision victory. But while Brunson had a solid performance, Holland is the fighter everyone is talking about, and not for good reasons. The 28-year-old Texan is known for talking during his fights, but he took it to a whole new level against Brunson, as he wouldn’t stop talking for the full 25 minutes.

Adam Martin - March 21, 2021

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley looks to be in fantastic shape ahead of his fight against Vicente Luque at UFC 260. Woodley is looking to snap a three-fight losing skid when he meets Luque next Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC 260. The 38-year-old St. Louis native is the No. 7 ranked welterweight in the UFC, but with three straight losses to Colby Covington, Gilbert Burns, and Kamaru Usman, the former champion is being used as a gatekeeper to the top-10 now. The UFC is giving Luque the chance to go in there and take on a former champion and see what he’s made of, and the oddsmakers like his chances. Luque is currently a -275 betting favorite, while the former champion Woodley is a +200 underdog at the moment.

Adam Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC women’s strawweight Montserrat Conejo denied spitting on Cheyanne Buys following their main card fight at Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 22. Conejo was one of the biggest underdogs on the card, coming in on short notice for the injured Kay Hansen, but she pulled off a big upset by using her grappling to score a unanimous decision. Buys was not able to stop the fight from entering the clinch and every time it did, Conejo was able to get her to the ground with a head-and-arm throw and she kept Buys in a headlock position for essentially 15 minutes. It was a great win for Conejo in her UFC debut, but the victory was partly marred in controversy by what happened after.

Adam Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC lightweight Leonardo Santos has released a statement following his brutal ground-and-pound KO loss to Grant Dawson at UFC Vegas 22. Santos and Dawson were engaged in a razor-close fight that was seconds away from heading to the judges’ scorecards. Though the judges would have scored the fight for Dawson, no one could have known that at the time, as some believed Santos had done enough to win the first two rounds and Dawson needed a big comeback. He did just that and more when he landed a brutal hammer fist KO with ground and pound with just one second left in the third round, eliminating the need to bring the judges into the equation.

Adam Martin - March 21, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov confirmed that he retired from MMA because of his love and respect for his mother. Nurmagomedov officially announced this week that he was retiring from MMA at the height of his career. At 29-0 and at age 32, Nurmagomedov is very much in his prime and was the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world before he made the announcement official and he hung up his gloves. For many fans, the decision to walk away is a surprising one considering he’s still one of the best fighters in the sport and there is plenty of money to be made. But for Nurmagomedov, family trumps all, and that’s why he retired from MMA.

Adam Martin - March 21, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to be the MMA coach of the year, says his longtime teammate Luke Rockhold. Nurmagomedov announced his official retirement from the UFC this week, finishing his MMA career with a perfect 29-0 record. While a return down the road can’t be ruled out, at least for the time being we have seen the last of “The Eagle” inside the Octagon. But just because he doesn’t plan on competing anymore doesn’t mean he won’t stick around the game. Instead of fighting, Nurmagomedov plans on putting his focus on coaching instead.

Adam D Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson explained why he called out Paulo Costa following his win over Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 22. Brunson won a unanimous decision over Holland in Saturday’s headliner. The 37-year-old veteran was able to take Holland down at will and control him on the mat for a dominant victory. Following the win, which was Brunson’s fourth straight victory at 185lbs, he called out the top contender Costa for a future fight. Costa was recently removed from a matchup against Robert Whittaker on April 17 and replaced by Kelvin Gastelum after the Brazilian pulled out due to illness. Once he feels better, Brunson is hoping the UFC books the fight.

Adam D Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya responded after Jon Jones recently accused him of “acting like a girl” and “playing the victim.” There is no love lost between Adesanya and Jones, two of MMA’s biggest stars. After Adesanya failed in his bid to capture the UFC light heavyweight championship against Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259, Jones has been extremely critical towards the middleweight champion, criticizing him for his inability to stuff the takedown and do damage off his back. Adesanya, in turn, has continued to take shots at Jones. Although a fight between these two seems to be a longshot now that Adesanya has lost to Blachowicz, that isn’t stopping both fighters from taking to their social media and continuing to chirp at each other.

Adam D Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC middleweight Kevin Holland says he is considering a move down to 170lbs following his loss to Derek Brunson at UFC Vegas 22. Holland was taken down at will for nearly the entire 25 minutes by Brunson on his way to a unanimous decision loss. Though it seemed that Holland didn’t take the fight seriously, you also have to give a ton of credit to Brunson for sticking to his gameplan. He was able to expose Holland’s poor takedown defense as he continually took him down at will and beat him with his grinding wrestling style. It was the kind of lopsided win for Brunson that now has Holland contemplating a chance of weight classes considering how he was held down.

Adam D Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor continued to take jabs at recently-retired rival Khabib Nurmagomedov with some more trash-talk on social media. McGregor and Nurmagomedov were bitter rivals for years, and the hope was the two would one day have their big-money rematch inside the Octagon. However, after McGregor got knocked out by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, it essentially eliminated any thoughts of the rematch. Nurmagomedov officially retired from MMA this week, and of course, McGregor was there to take a shot at him, telling the Russian he’s the one who made him in MMA. On Sunday, McGregor continued to take shots at Nurmagoedov, this time for his lack of power.

Adam D Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC analyst Michael Bisping responded after Uriah Hall called him a “dick” for suggesting that he was knocked out by Derek Brunson. Bisping was in the commentary booth during the UFC Vegas 22 main event fight between Brunson and Kevin Holland. At one point during the fight, Bisping mentioned the fact that Brunson has a knockout win over Uriah Hall on his resume, from UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Johnson in September 2016. However, Hall wasn’t too happy that Bisping pointed it out, and instead, he called Bisping a “dick” for suggesting that Burnson had finished him.

Adam D Martin - March 21, 2021

UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov discussed what’s next for him after officially confirming his retirement from fighting this week. After submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last October, Nurmagomedov said that he planned on hanging up his gloves and step away from MMA. For the past six months, UFC president Dana White has tried to convince “The Eagle” to fly again, but Nurmagomedov ultimately decided that he doesn’t want to continue fighting, and he decided to walk away. The Russian officially retired and vacated the UFC lightweight belt this week, which resulted in Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler being booked for the vacant belt at UFC 262.

Christopher Taylor - March 21, 2021

Tony Ferguson is clearly not ready to let go of his long standing rivalry with recently retired UFC lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov. ‘The Eagle’ recently made his retirement from fighting official, this after Dana White and the UFC finally threw in the towel following multiple failed attempts to persuade Khabib into making a comeback.

Christopher Taylor - March 21, 2021

Dana White and company were promoting the in-fight trash talking of Kevin Holland prior to tonight’s UFC Vegas 22 main event. Holland (21-6 MMA) had entered tonight’s UFC headliner with veteran Derek Brunson on a five-fight win streak, his latest being a spectacular knockout victory over former Strikeforce champion Jacare Souza.

Chris Taylor - March 20, 2021

Kevin Holland has reacted following his unanimous decision loss to Derek Brunson in tonight’s UFC Vegas 22 event headliner. Holland (21-6 MMA) had entered tonight’s main event looking to extend his win streak to six in a row. ‘Trail Blazer’ had gone 5-0 under the UFC banner during the 2020 calendar year, with his most recent victory coming by of knockout over former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo Souza.

Christopher Taylor - March 20, 2021

Brian Ortega has issued a statement after losing out on his proposed UFC 260 featherweight title fight with Alex Volkanovski. Earlier tonight news broke that next weekend’s slated co-headliner between Ortega and Volkanovski had been cancelled, this due to safety protocols against the global pandemic.

Christopher Taylor - March 20, 2021

Israel Adesanya was clearly watching tonight’s UFC Vegas 22 main event between perennial middleweight contenders Kevin Holland and Derek Brunson. Brunson (22-7 MMA) had entered tonight’s event headliner on a three-fight win streak, his latest being a TKO victory over Edmen Shahbazyan in August. Prior to that finish, the middleweight veteran was coming off back-to-back decision victories over Ian Heinisch and Elias Theodorou.