MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2021

Former UFC bantamweight contender Bryan Caraway has been charged with insurance fraud and accused of stealing an ATV from his ex-partner, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, per a report from the Tri-City Herald. According to the report, Caraway allegedly forged the title for a 2015 Polaris RZR ATV that belonged to Tate. Insurance investigators say Caraway bought an insurance policy for the vehicle, then reported it stolen just days later, claiming that the vehicle and its contents were worth $18,500. He’s also under investigation for grand larceny for allegedly stealing the ATV from Tate’s property on two occasions. These incidents occurred in 2018, after he and Tate split up in 2017.

Adam Martin - February 17, 2021

UFC heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes says he won’t abandon his wrestling when he meets Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Vegas 19. Blaydes is a powerhouse wrestler which has earned him some critics, including UFC president Dana White, who was not a fan of his last fight with Alexander Volkov. Despite winning a unanimous decision, Blaydes was not able to get the finish in that fight. Even though Blaydes has numerous TKO stoppages during his UFC run, he can’t seem to shake the label of a top-heavy wrestler. But he quite frankly doesn’t care what anyone thinks about his style. As long as he is winning fights, he won’t be changing the way he fights.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2021

The UFC has parted ways with an additional eight fighters, including Aleksandra Albu, Chris De La Rocha, Syuri Kondo and Alex Chambers. This latest round of releases was first reported by Nolan King and Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. According to their report, some of these fighters parted ways with the promotion recently, others did so over a year ago with no coverage.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last Saturday’s UFC 258 card in Las Vegas, and as expected, there have been some big changes. Most notably, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman moved up the men’s pound-for-pound list after beating Gilbert Burns in the card’s main event. He’s now sitting at No. 4.

Adam Martin - February 17, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns spoke about his loss to Kamaru Usman, saying, “this is what happens when you are chasing greatness.” Burns was knocked out by Usman in the third round of the welterweight title main event at UFC 258. Although Burns rocked Usman in the first 30 seconds of the fight and appeared to have the upper hand early on, he seemed to get overexcited and the gameplan fell apart. From then on out, Usman controlled the bout with his jab and eventually knocked Burns down to the ground in the third round with it, forcing the referee to stop the fight. It was a tough, emotional loss for Burns, who put so much into this training camp just to see himself get finished in a brutal fashion. However, he remains optimistic about his future.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2021

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is in phenomenal shape ahead of his upcoming showdown with Paulo Costa. Whittaker lost the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in 2019, but has since rebounded with a pair of impressive decision victories over top contenders in Darren Till and Jared Cannonier. He’ll look to make it three in a row—and make his claim to another title shot truly undeniable—when he takes on the recent title challenger Costa on April 17.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2021

The medical suspensions for Saturday’s UFC 258 card are in, and several fighters are facing lengthy suspensions—including Kamaru Usman and Alexa Grasso. Usman returned to the cage in the UFC 258 main event, defending the UFC welterweight title with a third-round TKO over Gilbert Burns. Grasso was in action in the card’s co-main event, where she defeated Maycee Barber by unanimous decision.

Tom Taylor - February 17, 2021

Beneil Dariush has revealed what he sees as his path to victory in a potential fight with fellow lightweight contender Charles Oliveira. Dariush, the UFC’s No. 9-ranked lightweight contender, is riding a big victory over Diego Ferreira, and is looking for another big step up in competition. He views Oliveira, the division’s No. 3 contender, as just that.

Harry Kettle - February 17, 2021

UFC bantamweight Cody Garbrandt has reiterated his desire to fight Jose Aldo after a recent back and forth over social media. Garbrandt hasn’t been seen inside the Octagon since his remarkable knockout win over Raphael Assuncao at UFC 250 last June. Garbrandt was initially expected to move down in weight to battle Deiveson Figueiredo for the Flyweight Championship in November, but “No Love” tore his bicep and also contracted COVID-19 – with the lingering effects of the latter delaying his return.

Drake Riggs - February 16, 2021

Featherweight fan favorite and WEC alum Leonard Garcia retired from MMA in 2014. In 2019, however, he returned to action for some bare-knuckle boxing. 1-1 in his first two Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) appearances, Garcia is now set to headline the promotion’s next event. On March 19, “Bad Boy” will be taking on Joe Elmore (2-0 in BKB, 13-12 in MMA) in the Biloxi Civic Center in Mississippi. The co-main event will feature a bantamweight showdown pitting 46-year-old former WBO junior welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley (55-33-1 in boxing) against BKFC stalwart Reggie Barnett Jr. (5-2 in BKB, 3-4 in MMA).

Drake Riggs - February 16, 2021

The PFL 2021 season is shaping up to be a good one. Among the most notable new roster additions is Rory MacDonald — and last year’s champion, Ray Cooper III, is not impressed. After dropping his Bellator welterweight title in a rematch against Douglas Lima on October 26, 2019, MacDonald parted ways with the promotion. Now he finds himself once again on the hunt for a million dollars at the end of the PFL tournament.

Drake Riggs - February 16, 2021

Christian Lee has a tall order ahead of him at ONE on TNT 2. But he’s as confident as ever as he looks to defend his title for a second time. Just 22-years old, Lee (14-3) captured the ONE Championship 170-pound crown in May 2019 against the legendary Shinya Aoki and has performed brilliantly since.

Adam Martin - February 16, 2021

UFC veteran Brian Kelleher showed off the brutal cut he sustained on his forehead in his unanimous decision loss to Ricky Simon at UFC 258. Kelleher moved up to 145lbs for the short-notice fight with Simon for this past weekend’s UFC 258 card. He lost a decision at the end of 15 minutes on the judges’ scorecards, with Simon controlling the majority of the bout with his wrestling. At one point during the match, Kelleher received a nasty cut to the middle of his forehead. It wasn’t bad enough to stop the fight, but it looks like Kelleher needed to get some stitches to fix the cut. Check out the cut photo that Kelleher shared with his followers on his social media.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2021

Julian Marquez was making his long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 258 on Saturday night. Marquez was set for his first fight in 953 days after dealing with an injury. In the lead-up to the fight, “The Cuban Missile Crisis” said ring rust wouldn’t be a factor but admits his timing was a bit off early in the fight.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2021

Alexey Oleynik will make the walk for his 75th professional MMA fight on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 19. On the main card, the Russian is set to face unranked, Chris Daukaus in a very intriguing fight. Oleynik is coming off a second-round TKO loss to Derrick Lewis in August in the main event of the card. Although the Russian is not fighting a ranked opponent or another legend, Oleynik is still looking forward to the fight.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2021

Leon Edwards doesn’t like Jorge Masvidal’s chances to become UFC champion. Masvidal got his first UFC title shot on short notice at UFC 251 against Kamaru Usman and lost a decision. Since then, both men have hinted at a potential rematch. However, according to Leon Edwards, he believes Usman wins with ease every time.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2021

Mike Perry is set to return to the Octagon on April 10 against Daniel Rodriguez. FighterPath was the first to report the news of the booking and sources have confirmed to BJPENN.com that Perry vs. Rodriguez is set for April 10.

Adam Martin - February 16, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards wants Colby Covington to step up and fight him in March, telling his rival to “stop being a b*tch.” Edwards was set to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on March 13. Unfortunately, Chimaev was forced to withdraw from the fight due to complications from COVID-19. That means that Edwards is currently without an opponent, with UFC president Dana White suggesting most recently that he fight Covington. When White said that it was a bit of a surprise because many assumed Covington and Jorge Masvidal would be coaching TUF 29. However, it appears that the promotion has other plans, and that means Edwards vs. Covington is the desired booking.