MMA News

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2021

Petr Yan seemingly received conflicting instructions from his coaches in the moments leading up to his disqualification loss to Aljamain Sterling. Yan took on Sterling in one of three title fights on the UFC 259 bill last Saturday in Las Vegas. The Russian entered the Octagon as the UFC bantamweight champion, but after blasting Sterling with an illegal knee, lost the fight via disqualification, and surrendered the title to his dazed opponent as a result.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2021

Former UFC star Paige VanZant says she knows the date and opponent for her next fight, but is unable to reveal the details just yet. VanZant parted ways with the UFC in summer of 2020, and promptly signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2021

The pay-per-view price and location for the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren boxing match have finally been revealed. Paul and Askren will meet in an eight-round boxing match on April 17. While the date of this controversial contest has been known for some time, its location and price tag were a mystery until Monday, when the fight’s promoter, Triller, revealed those details in a press release.

Cole Shelton - March 8, 2021

On the stacked UFC 259 card, three title fights headlined the event with one title changing hands although it being controversial. In the main event, Jan Blachowicz edged out a decision over middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya to defend his light heavyweight title. The co-main event saw Amanda Nunes submit Megan Anderson to defend her featherweight. In the first of three title fights, Aljamain Sterling became the new bantamweight champion after Petr Yan threw an illegal knee and was disqualified.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2021

Jan Blachowicz and Israel Adesanya had an entertaining miscommunication in moments immediately following their fight. Blachowicz and Adesanya met in the main event of Saturday’s stacked UFC 259 card. Blachowicz sought to defend the light heavyweight title, while Adesanya, the promotion’s middleweight champion, looked to become a two-division champion.

Alfredo Zullino - March 8, 2021

Every person has a story. Some stories, though, are deeper than others and need to be told, like that of mixed martial artist Valeriu Mircea. Mircea has born in 1993 in Satul Topala, a 2000-person rural village in Moldova, situated in the district of Cimișlia. His family was not wealthy, to put it mildly. His mother, though, did everything she could to give her sons what they needed.

Harry Kettle - March 8, 2021

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz has decided to shed some more light on Dominick Cruz’s recent callout of Monster Energy’s Hans Molenkamp. After Cruz’s win over Casey Kenney at UFC 259 this past weekend, he decided to call out Monster’s Molenkamp for a charity fight. Cruz listed a string of things he didn’t like about the executive in one of the most bizarre post-fight callouts in recent memory.

Harry Kettle - March 8, 2021

Jordan Espinosa’s team and Tim Elliott have both addressed the mid-fight argument they seemed to have during their UFC 259 bout. In their contest, which Elliott won via decision, there was an exchange on the ground that the microphones seemed to pick up, with the following being the apparent transcript.

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

Fortis MMA head coach Sayif Saud shared an inspirational story of Kennedy Nzechukwu following his incredible comeback win at UFC 259. Nzechukwu, a former Dana White’s Contender Series competitor, was a big underdog against Carlos Ulberg on the UFC 259 preliminary card. Ulberg, a teammate of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, entered the UFC with a ton of hype following a KO win on the Contender Series last summer. In the fight, Ulberg absolutely dominated Nzechukwu in the first round, battering his opponent with a variety of strikes. The second round, however, proved to be Ulberg’s downfall, as he would eventually tired out, leading to an upset KO win by Nzechukwu. Statistically speaking, it was an all-time best comeback.

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

New UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling and former champ Petr Yan renewed their UFC 259 battle on social media the day after their fight. Sterling and Yan had an incredible fight at UFC 259, one of three title fights on the card. Both men had their moments in the fight, but it appeared as though Yan was pulling away late when he made a huge error and illegally kneed Sterling in the head while he was a downed opponent. Referee Mark Smith deemed the foul intentional and was forced to wave off the fight on the advice of the cage-side doctor, who said Sterling couldn’t continue. Yan then became the first fighter in UFC history to lose his belt via DQ (disqualification).

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz opened up as a rare betting favorite for his upcoming title defense against Glover Teixeira. Blachowicz defended the 205lbs strap for the first time with a unanimous decision victory over Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 259. Blachowicz was the underdog for the Adesanya fight, the 13th time in the UFC that he has been an underdog, and the ninth time he has won a fight as an underdog. It’s been an incredible run for Blachowicz in recent years, having won nine of his last 10 fights overall, and after beating Adesanya, it sets the Pole up with an upcoming title defense against Teixeira sometime later this year.

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

Petr Yan opened up as the clear betting favorite for a potential rematch later this year against UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Sterling and Yan put on a great fight for as long as it lasted, with both men having success throughout the first three rounds, and the fight was a tossup on the judges’ scorecards at that point. However, the fourth round saw Yan really start to take over and begin to hurt Sterling. He then made one of the worst decisions in a UFC fight ever when he kneed Sterling in the head while he was a downed opponent. Sterling defeated Yan via DQ after the Russian kneed him in the head illegally and the fight was called off by the referee.

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

UFC president Dana White responded to Dominick Cruz’s UFC 259 unusual post-fight comments about Monster Energy’s Hans Molenkamp. Cruz defeated Casey Kenney via a split decision on the UFC 259 preliminary card, then called out Molenkamp, a Monster Energy drink executive, for a charity MMA fight.  Speaking to reporters following UFC 259, White spoke about the UFC’s relationship with Monster and praised the brand for giving the fighters financially-lucrative sponsorships.

Christopher Taylor - March 7, 2021

Former ‘champ champ’ Henry Cejudo has shared his breakdown of last night’s UFC 259 bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. Sterling and Yan squared off on last night’s pay-per-view main card and the fight delivered as many expected. After a strong opening round for Sterling, the Russian champion seemingly began to change the tide in round two. By round four it appeared Yan was on route to a possible finish, however an illegal knee spelt an end to the fight and Petr’s title reign.

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he is interested in having Amanda Nunes fight Julianna Pena next for the UFC women’s bantamweight title. Nunes got through Megan Anderson with relative ease at UFC 259, as she tapped her opponent out for her second defense of the UFC women’s featherweight title. At this point, there aren’t any new challenges for Nunes at 145lbs and she is likely going to return down to 135lbs for her next fight. Although “The Lioness” has beaten many of the top contenders at bantamweight already, there are still a couple of fresh fights out there or the champ at 135lbs. One of those potential opponents is Pena, who previously called Nunes out. Both women have expressed interest in a potential fight, and it seems like White likes it, too.

Adam D Martin - March 7, 2021

UFC president Dana White shared his thoughts on a Cris Cyborg van being parked outside of UFC 259 venue in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Cyborg was knocked out by Amanda Nunes back in 2018, and the two have been connected to a rematch ever since. With Nunes being in the co-main event of UFC 259 against Megan Anderson, Cyborg was of course watching the fight. Just as the massive betting line expected her to do, Nunes went in there and dominated the fight right from the bell, taking Anderson to the ground and defeating her on the floor via submission. It was another fantastic performance by Nunes, and of course, Team Cyborg was lurking nearby watching closely. There was a van parked near T-Mobile Arena with Cyborg’s logo on it.

Adam Martin - March 7, 2021

UFC analyst Dan Hardy was reportedly relieved of his commentating duties by the UFC and BT following an alleged incident on Fight Island. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of his newsletter that Hardy was allegedly involved in an incident with a female employee on Fight Island. According to Meltzer, the respected longtime wrestling and mixed martial arts journalist, Hardy has been fired by both the UFC and BT Sport (h/t The MMA Opinion).

Adam D Martin - March 7, 2021

UFC president Dana White reacted to UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz defeating Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision at UFC 259. Blachowicz won a unanimous decision by being the more well-rounded mixed martial artist over Adesanya, who moved up to 205lbs for the first time in his UFC career. Although Adesanya had some success early on with his striking, Blachowicz was the bigger, stronger man, and he had the better cardio, too. The Pole used his striking and grappling in totality to take home the decision and prove to everyone that he’s the best 205lber in the world.