MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

UFC legends Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier have been friends for many years, and have been known to swap some light hearted trash talk on occasion. That’s exactly what happened when Cormier presented Nurmagomedov with the UFC’s Submission of the Year award for 2020.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

Javier Mendez, the head coach behind Khabib Nurmagomedov, says Conor McGregor would get smashed in a rematch with the lightweight champion. Like pretty much everybody, Mendez was watching last Saturday’s UFC 257 card very closely. After seeing McGregor get stopped by Dustin Poirier in the main event, he has some concerns about the Irishman’s preparation.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2021

Entering UFC Fight Island 8, Ike Villanueva was calling his fight against Vinicius Moreira his Game 7 and it was do-or-die for his UFC career. Both men were winless in the UFC. But, Villanueva knew if he touched the chin of Moreira he would go down. However, early on in the fight, the Brazilian had a high guard. That forced Villanueva to attack the body which would then set up the KO punch.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

UFC veteran Gray Maynard said seeing Spencer Fisher with dementia was the “turning point” for him to warn fighters of the dangers in MMA. Fisher recently shared his story about the true costs of competing in combat sports in an in-depth interview with MMAFighting.com. A long-time UFC veteran, the 44-year-old Fisher came out and shared with MMA fans that he has dementia. During part of the story, there was an anecdote with Fisher and Maynard, who had met him at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. According to Maynard, seeing Fisher in the poor condition he was in marked the turning point for “The Bully” to come out and warn other fighters about low pay the very real dangers of long-term brain trauma.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last Saturday’s UFC 257 card on Fight Island, and as expected there have been some big changes. Most notably, former two-division champion Conor McGregor has fallen in the pound-for-pound and lightweight rankings after being stopped by Dustin Poirier in the card’s main event.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

Surging UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier wasn’t a fan of competing on the promotion’s much-discussed Fight Island. Fight Island—a complex on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi—was the setting of last Saturday’s UFC 257 card, where Poirier defeated Conor McGregor by second-round TKO.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

Michael Chiesa has shared his ideal matchmaking strategy for Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, and several other lightweight stars. Poirier and McGregor took center stage last weekend, colliding in the main event of UFC 257. The bout was a rematch of a 2014 featherweight fight that McGregor won by knockout, but this time around, Poirier evened the score with a second-round TKO win.

Harry Kettle - January 27, 2021

UFC lightweight Charles Oliveira believes a win over Dustin Poirier could be enough to lure Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement. Oliveira, who is coming off the back of a resounding win over Tony Ferguson, has emerged as one of the primary contenders alongside Michael Chandler to possibly fight Dustin Poirier for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Christopher Taylor - January 26, 2021

Jake Paul has responded to Ben Askren’s prediction of a seventh round knockout. Askren vs. Paul was made official earlier today, as the two are set to collide in a boxing match on April 17 promoted by Triller.

Drake Riggs - January 26, 2021

Jake Paul vs. former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king Ben Askren is officially on. Despite that, the YouTube star is already thinking ahead. Having directed trash talk and video call outs at several of MMA’s most notable names, Paul hasn’t left out Stockton’s Nate Diaz. Unsurprisingly, The Ultimate Fighter season 5 winner has fired back at the younger Paul brother where he’s responded saying Jake “needs his ass beat for free”.

Drake Riggs - January 26, 2021

The next UFC welterweight title tilt will feature two men who are very familiar with each other. And according to the challenger in that bout, Gilbert Burns, it’s as if he and Kamaru Usman have already fought 40 times at the minimum. Originally set to square off at UFC 251 in July 2020, Gilbert Burns would be forced out of the matchup after testing positive for COVID-19. Thus leading to Jorge Masvidal jumping into his place.

Adam Martin - January 26, 2021

Patricio Pitbull says that the success of Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez in the UFC is showing the “power of Bellator.” Chandler had an amazing UFC debut last weekend at UFC 257 when he brutally knocked out the typically-durable Dan Hooker with punches in the first round. Heading into the UFC, there were many question marks about the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, but Chandler’s win over Hooker showed that he is an elite fighter. And if you think Chandler is good, just remember Pitbull knocked him out in June 2019. Both men are proof Bellator is home to some of the sport’s elite.

Andrew Whitelaw - January 26, 2021

Michael Bisping has never been one to hold back on his opinions. The outspoken Brit delivered plenty of classic lines during his time as a fighter and it’s no surprise that he’s now making a handsome living as a podcaster, commentator and analyst.

Adam Martin - January 26, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev looked sharp on the pads during a recent training session with Alexander Gustafsson in Sweden. Chimaev finally returns to the Octagon on March 13 when he takes on Leon Edwards. The fight between these two rivals has been booked twice previously but each time it fell apart after both men tested positive for COVID-19. Chimaev was said to have had a rough battle with the coronavirus and was slow to make his recovery, pushing this bout back from its intended January 20 date to March 13. He appears to finally be healthy and he’s back in the gym at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Georges St-Pierre thought Conor McGregor would beat Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. Entering the fight, McGregor was the betting favorite and many thought he would KO Poirier again. However, that is far from what happened as “The Diamond” used leg kicks to hurt the Irishman and then went up top to knock him out which shocked St-Pierre.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Firas Zahabi thinks when the going gets tough for Conor McGregor he gives up and believes that was the case against Dustin Poirier. In the main event of UFC 257, McGregor made his return to the Octagon to rematch Poirier. Early on in the fight, the Irishman had success and landed a solid shut that stunned Poirier. However, “The Diamond” started to leg kick McGregor and after the Irishman’s leg went “dead” Poirier went up top and knocked him out.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Despite not fighting in 2020, Ben Saunders knows his year wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. After Saunders was knocked out by Matt Brown at UFC 245, his contract with the UFC was over and they chose not to re-sign him. The hope for the veteran was to quickly sign with another promotion and get back to the UFC. However, like most people’s 2020, Saunders’ year did not go as planned as no opportunities came up. With his dad battling a rare form of blood cancer, it also put Saunders in a difficult spot.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Dillon Danis claims Jake Paul ran from him when it came time to negotiate a contract for a potential boxing match. On Tuesday, it was revealed Paul would box former UFC welterweight, Ben Askren on April 17. The news wasn’t a surprise as “Funky” told BJPENN.com he would box the YouTube star. However, for Danis, he was also rumored to be facing Paul but he claims the 23-year-old ran from him.