MMA News

Adam Martin - February 4, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir trashed ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for the controversial comments he made about women competing in MMA. Mir was not happy with Smith’s recent anti-women’s MMA comments when the ESPN talking head controversially said that women had no business being in the Octagon. A number of fighters have since taken to social media to post their disagreements with Smith for his outlandish comments. One of those fighters is Mir, the former UFC heavyweight champion. Mir’s daughter Bella is one of the top women’s MMA prospects in the United States right now, so now wonder Mir wasn’t thrilled with what Smith had to say. Check out Mir trashing Smith today on his Twitter.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2021

The UFC is continuing to downsize its roster having recently cut three more fighters, including middleweight contender Antonio Carlos Junior. The 30-year-old Junior was handed his walking papers alongside welterweight fighters Carlton Minus and Rhys McKee, per MMA Junkie.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2021

Charles Oliveira has chimed in after Dustin Poirier opened the door to a tie-breaking trilogy fight with Conor McGregor. Poirier and McGregor have fought twice. The pair first met in the featherweight division in 2014, with McGregor winning by first-round knockout. They then met a second time at UFC 257 last month, when Poirier evened the score with a second-round stoppage.

Adam Martin - February 4, 2021

Check out the full betting odds for this weekend’s UFC Vegas 18 card headlined by heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov. The main event for this weekend’s offering sees Overeem continue his march towards the UFC heavyweight title as he puts his two-fight win streak on the line against Volkov, who has won two of his last three fights. Overeem is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, but Volkov will surely put up a stiff challenge. These are the No. 5 and No. 6 ranked heavyweights in the UFC so the winner of this fight will put themselves in a prime position to compete for the title by year’s end.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is once again calling for a fight with former two-division champ Conor McGregor. Dos Anjos and McGregor were briefly scheduled to fight in 2016. Dos Anjos, then the lightweight champion, was slated to defend his belt against McGregor, the featherweight champion, who sought to become the sport’s first concurrent two-division titleholder. Unfortunately, the fight fell through when dos Anjos sustained an injury. McGregor then accepted a short-notice fight with Nate Diaz, which he ended up losing via submission.

Tom Taylor - February 4, 2021

UFC lightweight star Tony Ferguson has issued a challenge to Nate Diaz, accusing the fan favorite of “b*tching out.” Diaz hasn’t fought since November, 2019, when he was stopped by Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight fight. Recently, however, UFC President Dana White divulged that he’s working on a lightweight fight for Diaz. While Diaz has since protested fighting at lightweight, expressing his preference for the 170-pound welterweight division, the good news is that he seems interested in fighting again.

Harry Kettle - February 4, 2021

PFL star Kayla Harrison has given her thoughts on a potential fight against Cris Cyborg after the latter’s latest callout. Harrison, who took her professional MMA record to 8-0 with a dominant win over Courtney King at Invicta FC 43 back in November, is waiting for the opportunity to get back inside the cage once again as the hype behind her continues to grow.

Drake Riggs - February 3, 2021

The 2020 Bellator MMA calendar concluded with a new champion on December 10. After a four-month hiatus, the promotion is expected to return. From July 24 onward, Bellator’s US events have taken place in Uncasville, Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena. Following an initial report from MMA DNA, MMA Fighting has confirmed the targeting of an April 9 event for the promotion — the Mohegan Sun again to play host.

Christopher Taylor - February 3, 2021

Former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz (26-9 MMA) is looking absolutely shredded for his potential UFC return. Diaz, who is one of the most popular fighters in MMA history, has not fought since a 2015 no contest with Anderson Silva, but began teasing a 2021 comeback earlier this year.

Andrew Whitelaw - February 3, 2021

A super-fight between Bellator champion, Juan Archuleta and Rizin champion, Kyoji Horiguchi has been discussed for more than two years. To all the Japanese mma fans be ready! We are going to sell out the TokyoDome when @kyoji1012 and I fight! It’s going to be a battle you don’t want to miss! @TheDiceTeam @rizin_PR @BellatorMMA

Adam Martin - February 3, 2021

UFC middleweight Markus Perez took the unusual approach of asking the UFC to cut him, telling the promotion to “send him away.” Perez, whose nickname “Maluko” (Crazy), is a former LFA middleweight champion and a seven-fight veteran of the UFC. After going 2-2 in his first four UFC fights, he has since lost three in a row including suffering the first KO loss of his career when Dricus du Plessis flattened him cold. With the UFC matchmakers in the midst of cutting 60 fighters, anyone on a three-fight losing skid such as Perez is at risk of being released. In Perez’s case, he’s making it easy and asking the UFC to cut him.

Adam Martin - February 3, 2021

YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul is the betting favorite to defeat former UFC welterweight Ben Askren in their upcoming boxing superfight. Paul and Askren meet in a highly-anticipated boxing match on April 17 that airs on Triller. Paul has had two pro boxing fights and won both of them by knockout, while Askren is making his professional boxing debut. Of course, Askren is a highly-skilled MMA fighter and has been in the Octagon with some of the top welterweight fighters in the world. Nevertheless, the bookies don’t like his chances to win this fight.

Cole Shelton - February 3, 2021

Cody Stamann isn’t sure he fights Merab Dvalishvili next. Stamann and Dvalishvili were supposed to fight on December 5 and February 6. Yet, Stamann hurt his back the first time it was booked and Dvalishvili got COVID-19 the second. For the 13th-ranked bantamweight in Stamann, he says having the fight postponed again wasn’t an option.

Cole Shelton - February 3, 2021

Dustin Poirier remains confident he will have his trilogy with Conor McGregor. At UFC 257, Poirier and McGregor had a rematch over six years in the making. The first time they met, they fought at featherweight and it was McGregor winning by first-round knockout. However, in the rematch, it was Poirier who got the job done with a second-round knockout.

Adam Martin - February 3, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor admitted he overlooked Dustin Poirier because he was already thinking about a boxing match with Manny Pacquiao. McGregor entered the rematch with Poirier as a big favorite, but he suffered a second-round knockout loss when Poirier was able to finish him with strikes. “The Diamond” came into the bout with a great gameplan of using low kicks to slow McGregor’s mobility, only to wear him out and then eventually go for the finish with punches. It was an amazing performance by Poirier, no doubt about it. But it was also a big disappointment seeing McGregor receive his first knockout loss in MMA.

Adam Martin - February 3, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum says he would submit Jon Jones on the ground in a potential cross-promotional superfight. Werdum, who will take part in PFL’s upcoming third season, was the former UFC heavyweight champion, a title that Jones is hoping to soon win. In Werdum’s final fight in the UFC, he picked up a big upset win when he tapped out Jones’ former rival Alexander Gustafsson. Werdum then signed with PFL, where he hopes to win the $1-mllion dollar grand prize. While winning the PFL title is his current goal, he still has Jones on his mind for a future fight someday between the PFL and UFC champions.

Tom Taylor - February 3, 2021

Stephen A. Smith is in hot water after expressing his disinterest in seeing women compete in mixed martial arts and boxing. Smith recently appeared on the “Black on the Air” podcast, where he expressed his objection to women fighting men in combat sports, and later, his disinterest in seeing women fight at all.

Adam Martin - February 3, 2021

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says he plans to KO Uriah Hall at UFC 261 and make another run at the belt he once held. Weidman was supposed to fight Hall this weekend in the co-main event of UFC 258, but the fight was postponed until UFC 261 in April after Weidman caught COVID-19. Weidman was once the UFC middleweight champion and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but it’s been a struggle for him the last few years. Though he got back into the win column against Omari Akhmedov in his last fight, Weidman had lost five of six fights by knockout before that much-needed win. Despite the losing skid, however, Weidman has remained confident the whole time.