MMA News
Ousmane "Bombardier" Dia forced out of tonight's KSW 59 headliner with Mariusz Pudzianowski
Chris Taylor - March 20, 2021
Senegalese wrestling star Ousmane “Bombardier” Dia has been forced out of tonight’s highly anticipated KSW 59 main event with Mariusz Pudzianowski. Bombardier (2-0 MMA) was set to make his third mixed martial appearance in tonight’s headliner opposite the former World’s Strongest Man. Despite both men’s hulking figures, Dia had actually weighed in 68lbs heavier than Pudzianowski (13-7 MMA).
UFC Vegas 22 loses co-main event on just hours notice
Chris Taylor - March 20, 2021
Tonight’s UFC Vegas 22 fight card just took a major hit as the scheduled co-main event between Gregor Gillespie and Brad Riddell has been cancelled. Gillespie and Riddell were set to collide in a key lightweight bout, with the winner likely earning a top ranked opponent their next time out.
Kamaru Usman performs ultimate troll job on rival Colby Covington
Christopher Taylor - March 19, 2021
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman performed what can only be described as the ultimate troll job on his bitter rival Colby Covington. Usman and Covington have a longstanding rivalry that eventually culminated in a welterweight title fight at UFC 245. That evening in Las Vegas, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and ‘Chaos’ went toe to toe for four straight rounds, this before Usman was able to put Covington away in the final five minutes via TKO.
Cris Cyborg reacts after fighter collapses at UFC Vegas 22 weigh-ins: “This is a scary video to watch”
Adam Martin - March 19, 2021
Bellator women’s champ Cris Cyborg reacted after a fighter collapsed at the UFC Vegas 22 weigh-ins, saying “This is a scary video to watch.” On Friday afternoon, UFC women’s bantamweight Julija Stoliarenko collapsed not once, but twice at the weigh-ins in Las Vegas. Stoliarenko stepped onto the scale and then fell down on her first weigh-in attempt, but after sitting down for a few minutes, she was then given a second attempt at weighing in, which she did successfully when she came in at 135.5lbs. However, as soon as her weight was read by the commission, she collapsed a second time and had to be taken away to the hospital on a stretcher. It was an extremely scary scene and another reminder of the harsh realities of weight cutting in the sport of MMA.
Justin Gaethje reacts after losing out on Michael Chandler fight
Christopher Taylor - March 19, 2021
Kevin Holland excited to "beat the crap out of somebody you don’t like" in UFC Vegas 22 main event with Derek Brunson
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
Kevin Holland has made it known he doesn’t like Derek Brunson. In the main event of UFC Vegas 22, Holland is set to face Brunson in a very intriguing middleweight bout. The winner of the fight would likely fight a top-five middleweight next, but Holland doesn’t care about any of that. Instead, he is just looking to beat up and knock out Brunson.
Julija Stoliarenko says she "made weight too early" which caused her to collapse on the scale, still ready to fight
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
Julija Stoliarenko has revealed what caused her to collapse on the scale at the UFC Vegas 22 weigh-ins. Stoliarenko was set to open the card against Julia Avila at women’s bantamweight. Unfortunately, the fight was canceled due to Stoliarenko fainting twice at weigh-ins, but the 27-year-old says she still wants to fight.
Robert Whittaker says he has "a couple of things up my sleeve" for Israel Adesanya in potential rematch
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
Robert Whittaker knows he has to fight differently if he rematches Israel Adesanya. At UFC 243, Whittaker suffered a second-round knockout loss to Adesanya to lose his middleweight title. Since the loss, he rebounded nicely with a five-round decision win over Darren Till on Fight Island and followed that up with a decision over Jared Cannonier.
Edmen Shahbazyan returns at UFC 262 against top-10 middleweight Jack Hermansson
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
Edmen Shahbazyan is back. According to Manouk Akopyan of the LA Times, and confirmed by BJPENN.com, Shahbazyan will fight sixth-ranked middleweight, Jack Hermansson at UFC 262 on May 15. The event will also take place in Houston, Texas with a full crowd.
Adrian Yanez eyes first-round KO over Gustavo Lopez to put the bantamweight division on notice
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
Adrian Yanez knows his entrance to UFC fans couldn’t have gone any better. Yanez earned his UFC contract with a 39-second KO over Brady Huang on the Contender Series. He followed that up with a first-round KO over Victor Rodriguez in October. Although he has two excellent finishes, he knows he still has work to do and that begins at UFC Vegas 22 against Gustavo Lopez who is an opponent Yanez has wanted for quite some time.
JP Buys eager to corner and share card with wife Cheyanne, expects to finish Bruno Silva to earn a "statement" win
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
JP Buys will get to make his UFC debut alongside his wife, Cheyanne. On the prelims of UFC Vegas 22, JP Buys will face Bruno Silva while on the main card Cheyanne will face Montserrat Ruiz. They will also be looking to make history as the first married couple to both win UFC fights on the same card. Not only are they competing on the same card, but they will also corner one another.
UFC Vegas 22 weigh-in results: One fight canceled, one fighter misses weight
Adam D Martin - March 19, 2021
The official weigh-in results for Saturday’s UFC Vegas 22 card are in place, and one fighter missed weight and one fight was canceled. Headliners Derek Brunson and Kevin Holland both successfully weighed in at or under the non-title middleweight limit of 186lbs. Brunson came right in at 186, while Holland actually came a bit underweight at 183lbs. In the co-headliner, both Gregor Gillespie and Brad Riddell successfully weighed in at 155.5lbs under the non-title limit of 156lbs. Both the UFC Vegas 22 main event and the co-main event are now official and we are good to go there.
Tony Ferguson explains decision to change up his camp and add Freddie Roach: “When a corner of mine wouldn’t work on simple slip drills I knew I had to make changes”
Adam D Martin - March 19, 2021
UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson explained his decision to change up his camp and add Freddie Roach to his training staff. Ferguson is coming off of back-to-back losses to Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira in his last two fights and knew he had to make serious changes going forward. It wasn’t that long ago that Ferguson was one of the top lightweight fighters in the world. But after suffering two lopsided losses to Gaethje and Oliveira, he’s quickly fallen out of the elite at 155lbs. With Ferguson looking to bounce back in his career, he’s now enlisted the help of one of the best boxing coaches in the world to help him out, bringing Roach into his camp.
UFC 261: ‘Usman vs Masvidal 2’ Ticket Information
Harry Kettle - March 19, 2021
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released ticket details for the upcoming UFC 261: Usman vs Masvidal PPV event next month. The highly anticipated rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal will serve as the main event of a stacked fight card, one that features three title fights in total. Valentina Shevchenko vs Jessica Andrade and Weili Zhang vs Rose Namajunas will also feature on what is surely going to be a very important night for the promotion.
Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira opening betting odds released
Adam D Martin - March 19, 2021
The opening betting odds have been released for the upcoming vacant UFC lightweight title bout between Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira. The UFC officially announced this week that Chandler and Oliveira will meet in the main event of UFC 262 on May 15, with the vacant UFC lightweight belt up for grabs. That became possible once former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmaomedov officially retired. With Chandler vs. Oliveira now official, the sportsbooks have released the opening odds for the fight. Check out the opening odds for the UFC 262 headliner (via BetOnline).
Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier trilogy reportedly won't take place until summer 2021
Adam D Martin - March 19, 2021
The trilogy fight between lightweight rivals Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier reportedly won’t take place until summer 2021 at the earliest. Late Thursday night, the UFC announced that former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmaomedov was officially hanging up his gloves, and now Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira will headline UFC 262 on May 15 for the vacant lightweight belt. Some fans were surprised that the UFC announced that Chandler vs. Oliveira is the title fight and not the trilogy bout between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor. Considering Poirier KOed McGregor at UFC 257 in January, most expected him to be fighting for the 155lbs belt next.
Conor McGregor issues statement following the retirement of Khabib Nurmagomedov: "Never forget who came in the game and made ye"
Adam D Martin - March 19, 2021
UFC superstar Conor McGregor has issued a statement following the retirement of former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov officially announced on Thursday night that he is retiring from mixed martial arts, nearly six months after he first made the proclamation following his submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. UFC president Dana White said that he would do his best to convince “The Eagle” to fly again, but it didn’t work. Instead, Nurmagomedov has officially stepped away from the sport at the height of his career.
Frank Mir issues bold win-or-lose prediction for boxing match with Antonio Tarver: “He’s leaving on a stretcher”
Adam D Martin - March 19, 2021
Frank Mir issued a bold win-or-lose prediction for his upcoming boxing match with Antonio Tarver, saying that “he’s leaving on a stretcher.” Mir makes his professional boxing debut on April 17 on the undercard of the Triller boxing PPV featuring Jake Paul and Ben Askren in the main event. The former UFC heavyweight champion will take on Tarver, the former boxing great who will be returning from a six-year layoff to take on Mir. It’s a big fight between the former UFC champion and the former boxing world champion, and now Mir is issuing a bold prediction about what will happen.
Max Holloway tells Khabib Nurmagomedov he wants to "visit Dagestan"
Harry Kettle - March 19, 2021
UFC featherweight contender Max Holloway has told Khabib Nurmagomedov he wants to visit Dagestan one day soon after the latter confirmed his retirement. The MMA world has known it to be true for quite some time, but now it seems to be official that Khabib Nurmagomedov is staying retired. That’ll come as quite the blow for both his fans and for fans of the sport in, general, not to mention some fighters on the UFC roster.