MMA News

Chris Taylor - February 5, 2021

UFC veteran Chris Leben returns to action at tonight’s BKFC KnuckleMania pay-per-view event for a bout with Quentin Henry. Leben, who had previously announced his retirement in 2020, currently holds a 2-1 professional bare knuckle record with his last bout taking place in June 2019. He’s been able to defeat Phil Baroni and Justin Baesman with his one and only loss up to this point being a decision against Dakota Cochrane.

Cole Shelton - February 5, 2021

Former Major League Baseball star Jose Canseco made his Rough N’ Rowdy debut as he fought a Barstool Sports intern named Billy Football in West Virginia. Billy Football first had a feud with Canseco after the former MLB star trashed Alex Rodriguez on a Barstool podcast. The fight then got made on less than a month’s notice to headline Rough N’ Rowdy 13.

Chris Taylor - February 5, 2021

Former UFC standout Paige VanZant is set to make her Bare Knuckle debut at tonight’s BKFC KnuckleMania event against Britain Hart. VanZant (8-5 MMA) was most recently seen in action at July’s UFC 251 event on Yas Island, where she suffered a first round submission loss to Amanda Ribas. Prior to her setback to Ribas, ‘PVZ’ was coming off a submission victory over Rachael Ostovich in Janaury of 2019.

Cole Shelton - February 5, 2021

Ben Askren says he will be wrestling Floyd Mayweather after he beats Jake Paul. Askren is ending his retirement for a boxing match against YouTuber, Jake Paul on April 17. It is a fight that has captured the attention of the sporting world given Askren is a world-class wrestler while Paul is coming off his highlight-reel KO win over Nate Robinson.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2021

On Friday night, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will promote its first event of 2021 in BKFC: KnuckleMania, a card topped by the promotional debut of Paige VanZant. VanZant will make her BKFC debut opposite boxer turned bare-knuckle fighter Britain Hart, a woman widely viewed as a tough challenge for the former UFC star. Heading into the matchup, Hart is 1-2 under the BKFC banner. VanZant, on the other hand, will be looking to get back to winning ways after being submitted by Amanda Ribas in the final bout of her UFC contract last year.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2021

On Saturday night, the UFC will return to our screens after a brief hiatus with the solid UFC Vegas 18 event out of the APEX facility. UFC Vegas 18 will be headlined by a clash of ranked heavyweight contenders, as former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem collides with former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov in a bid to take a crucial step toward a UFC title shot.

Adam Martin - February 5, 2021

Jake Paul continued to ramp up the trash talk on rival Ben Askren, telling “Funky” that he “fights and looks like a middle-aged Dutch woman.” Paul and Askren meet on April 17 in the headliner of a professional boxing match on Triller PPV. Paul, a YouTube sensation who has picked up two dominant knockout wins as a boxer, has quickly bloomed into one of the biggest draws in combat sports. Askren, meanwhile, is one of the best trash talkers on social media and a former UFC star. Though this is his first pro boxing match, Askren has been doing a tremendous job of promoting the fight and making it interesting for fans. With over two months left before the fight takes place, both men are doing their part to up fan interest.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2021

Stamp Fairtex has issued a statement after her head-scratching submission loss to Alyona Rassohyna at ONE: Unbreakable III on Friday. Stamp, the former ONE atomweight kickboxing and Muay Thai champion, met Rassohyna, an amply more experienced fighter with an 83 percent submission rate, in the card’s main event.

Adam Martin - February 5, 2021

It was exactly 10 years ago today that Anderson Silva knocked out Vitor Belfort with a front kick in the main event of UFC 126. Silva and Belfort are two of the biggest stars in Brazilian MMA ever, and on February 5, 2011, they met in the main event of UFC 126. At the time, Silva was the UFC middleweight champion and was coming off of an incredible comeback win over Chael Sonnen. But before beating Sonnen he had a string of lackluster performances, and not everyone was sold on Silva. Belfort, who was coming off of a knockout win over Rich Franklin, was said to be the man that could finish Silva. But Silva wasn’t hearing it. Instead, he landed a front kick right to the jaw on Belfort, KOing him cold.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2021

UFC flyweight contender Joanne Calderwood called for a No. 1 contender fight with Lauren Murphy, and she received an immediate and affirmative response. Calderwood made her call for a fight with Murphy during an interview with SunSport, noting that it makes sense because flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is likely to defend her title against Jessica Andrade next.

Cole Shelton - February 5, 2021

Frankie Edgar and Conor McGregor were linked to one another a couple of times but for whatever reason, it never came to fruition. As McGregor was making his rise up the featherweight ranks, Edgar was a top contender and many figured they would fight. However, the Irishman faced Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo and then moved up in weight.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2021

On Friday, ONE Championship promoted its third exciting event in many weeks with ONE: Unbreakable 3 in Singapore. This ONE card was headlined by a mixed martial arts bout between former ONE atomweight Muay Thai and kickboxing champion Stamp Fairtex and debuting Ukrainian Alyona Rassohyna, an armbar specialist with an 83% submission rate.

Harry Kettle - February 5, 2021

Cris Cyborg has issued a response after potential opponent and PFL star Kayla Harrison claimed she didn’t “sign on the dotted line” when given the chance to fight her last year. In 2020 there was a great deal of speculation surrounding the future of Cyborg and where she’d end up going next, with PFL reportedly being in the running to secure her signature. In the end, though, Bellator was her chosen destination.

Christopher Taylor - February 4, 2021

Michael Chandler thinks it is “a little bit weird” that Dustin Poirier isn’t interested in fighting for the UFC lightweight championship next. Chandler and Poirier both earned sensational stoppage victories at last months UFC 257 pay-per-view event in Abu Dhabi.

Drake Riggs - February 4, 2021

It’s Super Bowl weekend which aside from another NFL champion being crowned means another year of high-profile commercials. This year, former UFC titleholders Dustin Poirier and Rose Namajunas get some spotlight. https://youtu.be/Nf0QvCq3quk

Drake Riggs - February 4, 2021

Rising lightweight contender Beneil Dariush provided MMA fans with one of the craziest moments of 2020 in his win over Drakkar Klose at UFC 248. The second-round knockout finish came in an exciting enough fashion to earn the Kings MMA product the UFC’s comeback of the year honors.

Adam Martin - February 4, 2021

UFC heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem believes his knockout win over Brock Lesnar at UFC 141 was the best Octagon debut ever. It was back in December 2011 when Overeem made his UFC debut against the former champion Lesnar in the main event of UFC 141. Overeem was the reigning Strikeforce heavyweight champion and he had a UFC debut for the ages when he finishes Lesnar with a vicious body kick. Remember that knockout in the video below.

Cole Shelton - February 4, 2021

Stipe Miocic is expecting to hear “And Still” when he rematches Francis Ngannou at UFC 260. Miocic is set to defend his heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 260 on March 27. Although Miocic dominated the first fight at UFC 220 winning all five rounds including one round being a 10-8, many pundits believe the rematch will be different. Ngannou has looked improved but Miocic doesn’t think the result will change.