MMA News

Chris Taylor - February 5, 2021

Former UFC standout Paige VanZant returns to action at tonight’s BKFC KnuckleMania pay-per-view 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.

Christopher Taylor - February 5, 2021

UFC veteran Chris Leben returned 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, entered tonight’s contest sporting a 2-1 professional bare knuckle record with his last bout taking place in June 2019. ‘The Crippler’ had previously 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.

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.

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.

Cole Shelton - February 5, 2021

Paige VanZant seems quite happy with her Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship contract. When VanZant became a free agent, many expected her to sign in Bellator where her husband competes. Although they did give her a very competitive offer, VanZant was glad to sign with BKFC.

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.

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.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2021

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley claims he knocked out flyweight contender Alexandre Pantoja in a sparring session “back in the day.” O’Malley made this comment during a recent episode of his podcast. See what he had to say below.

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.

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

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to pay-per-view next weekend as Kamaru Usman prepares to defend his Welterweight Championship against rising contender and former teammate Gilbert Burns. Event: UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns Date: Saturday, 13th February 2021 Location: UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada Broadcast: ESPN+ – 8pm/10pm EST

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

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

Two legends square off in a potential retirement bout as Octagon veterans Diego Sanchez and Donald Cerrone square off later this spring. MMAFighting.com reports that Sanchez vs. Cerrone will be added to a newly-unveiled UFC event on May 8. Details for this card are scarce, so no word yet on if this will be a five-round headliner or if it will be a three-round fight. Regardless, this is a big fight between two of the UFC’s all-time best. With both nearing 40, Sanchez and Cerrone are getting up there in age and both have openly spoken about retirement. There is a very real chance that this may be the final fighter of both fighters’ careers.