MMA News

Harry Kettle - February 25, 2021

The viral MMA practitioner who got into a bathroom brawl with an Oklahoma wide receiver has started a GoFundMe for himself. Over the course of the last few days we’ve all seen the clip of Spencer Jones, from the University of Oklahoma, being beaten up by Walker Brown who is said to be “MMA trained”. While Jones seems to be the one who initiates the fight, Brown is certainly the one who finishes it.

Christopher Taylor - February 24, 2021

Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is working with renowned boxing coach Freddie Roach for his next Octagon appearance. Ferguson (25-5 MMA) is currently in the midst of the first two-fight losing skid of his illustrious career. In his most recent effort at December’s UFC 256 event, ‘El Cucuy’ suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss to surging lightweight contender Charles Oliveira.

Christopher Taylor - February 24, 2021

Henry Cejudo was clearly not happy about former opponent Dominick Cruz suggesting the UFC is “just kind of laughing at him” over his comeback talk. Cejudo, the UFC’s former flyweight and bantamweight champion, announced his retirement from mixed martial arts immediately following his TKO victory over Cruz at UFC 249.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2021

Dominick Cruz is still unhappy with Keith Peterson. At UFC 249, Cruz made his return to the Octagon to battle Henry Cejudo for the bantamweight title. It was his first fight since December of 2016 when he lost to Cody Garbrandt. Although he was coming off a long layoff, Cruz has done that before but this time around, the fight didn’t go his way as he suffered a second-round TKO loss.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2021

Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren has its fight location. On April 17, Paul will have his third professional boxing match as he takes on former ONE Championship and Bellator champion, Ben Askren. It’s a very intriguing matchup and one that has caught the attention of the combat sports world. Although the fight has been announced for a few weeks now, the location was still uncertain, but it has now been reported it will take place in Atlanta.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2021

Dominick Cruz has no problem fighting on the UFC 259 prelims. Cruz is set to return to the Octagon on March 6 against Casey Kenney in a crucial fight for his career. Although Cruz is the former bantamweight champion and used to being on pay-per-views or headlining shows that will not be the case in this fight. Instead, he will be the prelim headliner, which is a spot Cruz actually liked.

Cole Shelton - February 24, 2021

Alexander Hernandez is extremely confident he will extend his winning streak to two on Saturday night. On the prelims of UFC Vegas 20, Hernandez is set to return to the Octagon against Thiago Moises. It’s an intriguing matchup but it did come as a surprise that “The Great” didn’t get a ranked opponent. However, Hernandez says he didn’t want a ranked foe.

Adam Martin - February 24, 2021

Check out the complete betting odds for this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 20 card featuring Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Ciryl Gane in the main event. The headliner sees two of the UFC’s top-10 heavyweights go at it for five rounds or less as Rozenstruik takes on Gane. Rozenstruik is 5-1 overall in the UFC and he is coming off of a big KO win over Junior dos Santos in his last outing. Gane, meanwhile, is also coming off of a TKO win over dos Santos and overall he has a 4-0 record in the UFC. Both men are dangerous with their striking but what really sets Gane apart in this matchup is his grappling. He has the rare ability for a heavyweight to take the fight to the ground and lock up a variety of submissions there. But, of course, he will have to watch the power of Rozenstruik in the meantime.

Tom Taylor - February 24, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last weekend’s UFC Vegas 19 card, and as expected, there have been some big changes. Most notably, Derrick Lewis has surged into the No. 2 spot at heavyweight after he knocked out Curtis Blaydes in the card’s main event.

Adam Martin - February 24, 2021

The betting odds have been released for the upcoming UFC 261 women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade. This long-rumored battle between elite women’s flyweight fighters will finally take place on April 24 at UFC 261, though the location and venue are yet-to-be-determined. What we do know is that Shevchenko and Andrade, the champion and the No. 1 contender in the UFC women’s flyweight division, will square off with UFC gold on the line. With the fight booked, the sportsbooks have released the betting odds for this matchup (h/t BetOnline).

Adam Martin - February 24, 2021

James Krause says the UFC matchmakers twice declined his offer to fight Joaquin Buckley, and he thinks the matchup’s “dead in the water” now. Krause and Buckley have had tension for quite a while now due to previous issues at gyms in the Kansas City area, and both men have expressed interest in potentially fighting each other for several months. Calls for the fight became especially loud after Buckley knocked out Impa Kasanganay last fall with an insane head kick. However, the UFC did not book the fight between Buckley and Krause, instead choosing to match up Buckley with other opponents such as Jordan Wright and Alessio Di Chirico in an effort to build him into a contender at middleweight. Those efforts shot up into flames when Buckley himself was the victim of a brutal KO by di Chirico.

Tom Taylor - February 24, 2021

UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is set to defend her title against No. 1 contender Jessica Andrade at UFC 261 on April 24. UFC President Dana White announced this matchup through ESPN, the promotion’s official broadcast partner.

Adam Martin - February 24, 2021

UFC heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik commented on his upcoming UFC Vegas 20 opponent Ciryl Gane, saying that “this guy has a lot of hype.” There are many MMA analysts who believe Gane could be a future UFC heavyweight champion. Not only does he have the Muay Thai striking background, but he also has an absolutely phenomenal ground game to go along with it, which is a rarity for a big man of his size. There is so much hype behind Gane that, despite being ranked No. 7 in the UFC, he’s a huge betting favorite heading into this fight against Rozenstruik despite the fact “Bigi Boi” is ranked above Gane at No. 3. That right there shows how much hype there is right now behind Gane, hype that Rozenstruik hopes to steal.

Tom Taylor - February 24, 2021

Dominick Cruz doesn’t believe UFC President Dana White cares about Henry Cejudo’s comeback talk. Cejudo, the former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion, announced his retirement after defending the bantamweight belt with a TKO win over Cruz in 2020. Despite his retirement announcement, he continues to tease a comeback, most commonly campaigning for a fight with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Tom Taylor - February 24, 2021

Anthony Johnson has a message for anybody who believes Bellator is inferior to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Johnson, who fought for the UFC from 2007 to 2017 and competed for the light heavyweight title two times in the stretch, migrated to Bellator to much fanfare earlier this year.

Tom Taylor - February 24, 2021

ONE Championship’s Sage Northcutt is finally slated to return to action. The former UFC star will take on Japanese MMA legend Shinya Aoki at ONE on TNT 4 on April 28. News of this matchup, which will occur in ONE’s 170-pound lightweight division, was given to ESPN by ONE officials. The promotion has since confirmed the fight on social media.

Tom Taylor - February 24, 2021

After fighting just once in 2020, former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway is hoping for a much busier 2021. Holloway is already off to a good start in that regard, having kicked off the year with a dazzling decision victory over Calvin Kattar. With that win behind him, he’s hoping to stay busy and fight two more times by the end of the year.

Harry Kettle - February 24, 2021

Former UFC star Ben Askren has responded to Jake Paul’s latest MMA Chronicles skit in the build-up to their boxing fight on April 17. The two unlikely foes are set to meet inside the squared circle with Paul attempting to use this fight as a springboard towards an even bigger contest – potentially against Nate Diaz or Conor McGregor.