MMA News

Adam Martin - January 10, 2021

UFC legend Diego Sanchez announced on social media that his next fight inside the Octagon will be the final fight of his career. Sanchez has been criticized in recent years by fans and media for fighting too long considering the amount of head trauma he’s endured over his 15 years in the Octagon. A member of the UFC roster since 2005, Sanchez is by far the longest-tenured fighter the promotion has under contract. But at age 39 and coming off of several lackluster performances, including a lopsided decision defeat to Jake Matthews at UFC 253, it appears as though Sanchez is finally ready to hang ’em up.

Adam Martin - January 10, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes is set to undergo shoulder surgery, vowing to “start over” after losing back-to-back fights. It wasn’t long ago that Moraes was the No. 1 contender in the UFC bantamweight division. But after losing back-to-back fights by knockout to Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font to end 2020, he’s now fallen all the way down to No. 7 in the UFC. Remember, Moraes was set to fight UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan at one point in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. So the fact that Moraes has now dropped all the way out of the title conversation at 135lbs is downright shocking.

Adam Martin - January 10, 2021

Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo says he would KO current flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo if they meet inside the Octagon. Cejudo was, of course, both the UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion before deciding to give up both titles and walking away from the sport. Cejudo retired last May following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, though he has teased a return to the Octagon in the months since. Not long after Cejudo retired, Figueiredo won the vacant flyweight title over Joseph Benavidez. Since then, Figueiredo has become a bigger name in the sport and he’s tried to coax Cejudo out of retirement.

Adam Martin - January 10, 2021

UFC president Dana White hinted that Robert Whittaker will have to fight again, saying “I don’t think he’s going to get a title shot next.” After beating Jared Cannonier at UFC 254, most figured that the UFC matchmakers would look to book a rematch between Whittaker and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, the man who took his title back at UFC 243. Instead, Adesanya is moving up to fight UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz in March. That leaves Whittaker in a tough position because he’s done enough to earn a rematch against Adesanya, but at the same time, the champ may not return to 185lbs.

Adam Martin - January 10, 2021

An intriguing bantamweight bout between Merab Dvalishvili and Cody Stamann has been added to a UFC Fight Night card on February 6. Dvalishvili and Stamann were originally scheduled to lock horns back on the December 5 card in Las Vegas, but Stamann was forced out of the fight and he was replaced by Raoni Barcelos, who also had to withdraw from the card. However, now that Stamann is able to compete again, the UFC matchmakers decided to go ahead and re-book Dvalishvili vs. Stamann. The two bantamweights will now collide on February 6 on the undercard of the Alistair Overeem vs. Alexander Volkov event.

Adam Martin - January 10, 2021

Next Saturday’s UFC on ABC 1 card has lost a fight as Mike Grundy is out and Nik Lentz has been re-booked for UFC 257 instead. According to Marcel Dorff of MMA DNA, Lentz’s original opponent Grundy had to withdraw from his bout against Lentz that was set for January 16 on Fight Island. That fight was supposed to take place on the undercard of the Max Holloway vs. Calvin Kattar event, but now that Grundy is out of the fight, the UFC matchmakers had to work fast and re-book Lentz for another fight. Fortunately for Lentz, the matchmakers were able to get Movsar Evolev to fight Lentz on short notice.

Adam D Martin - January 10, 2021

Francis Ngannou sized up probable GOAT Jon Jones, saying: “He has some good skills that he can match my power. It’s going to be different.” Jones, the longtime UFC light heavyweight champion, announced last summer that he will be moving up to the heavyweight division in 2021. When Jones made the original announcement that he was moving down, Ngannou expressed interest in fighting him. However, he has since then focused on getting a trilogy fight with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. That fight hasn’t been officially booked yet, but UFC president Dana White recently suggested that April could be a potential date.

Adam D Martin - January 10, 2021

UFC president Dana White says he will “press” Khabib Nurmagomedov to fight again, and he likes the Conor McGregor rematch. Nurmagomedov is still the UFC lightweight champion but his status as an active fighter is up in the air following his quasi-retirement. After submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from the sport. However, White has said that he will talk to Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi in an effort to convince him to return for one more fight and try and reach the perfect 30-0 mark.

Adam D Martin - January 10, 2021

Newly-signed PFL lightweight Anthony Pettis explained how the UFC’s “rat race” resulted in him leaving the UFC and signing with PFL instead. Pettis shocked the MMA world when he announced he was taking his talents away from the world’s top mixed martial arts organization in the UFC and signing with PFL, which most consider as the No. 3 promotion in North America. However, the lure of winning one million dollars for running the table in the PFL lightweight tournament was too much for Pettis to turn down, and he decided to sign with the PFL. There were also some other reasons behind Pettis making that decision.

Adam D Martin - January 10, 2021

Former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen hinted at a move to politics and smeared Oregon representative Kurt Schrader in the process. Sonnen is one of the most outspoken mixed martial arts fighters the sport has ever seen as he was born with the gift of gab. Sonnen was one of the best trash talkers in MMA when he was an active fighter for the UFC and Bellator, and now he’s looking to talk his trash-talking skills to politics. On Saturday, Sonnen warned Schrader that he’s coming for him while taking some humorous shots at Schrader at the same time. Check out the Tweets that Sonnen sent to his political rival Schrader.

Adam D Martin - January 10, 2021

MMA manager Malki Kawa revealed on his social media that he has COVID-19 and he suggested a home remedy to help beat it quicker. Kawa has been one of the top managers in mixed martial arts for a decade, serving as the agent for superstars like Jon Jones, Yoel Romero, and Anthony Pettis, and he’s been representing more NFL athletes over the last few years, as well. Like many MMA fighters and football players, Kawa, unfortunately, came down with COVID-19 as well. However, he appears to be beating it, especially with a home-made remedy. Check out what he wrote on his Twitter.

Adam D Martin - January 10, 2021

UFC welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev unloaded bullets in a new video showing him shooting guns alongside veteran Alexander Gustafsson. FrontKickOnline recently released a video of Chimaev and Gustafsson shooting huge guns for two minutes straight. The two Swedish mixed martial artists are teammates at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm and took some time out of their schedules to head to the gun range and unload some bullets. Check out the video of Chimaev and Gustafsson shooting some massive guns below.

Chris Taylor - January 9, 2021

Former UFC standout Stephan Bonnar was not happy to read the news that Google had removed Parler from its app store. Parler is advertised to be a non-biased, free speech social media platform focused on protecting user’s rights. The app has been described as an alternative to Twitter, but currently pales in comparison due to its moderate number of active users.

Chris Taylor - January 9, 2021

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has come to the defense of Khabib Nurmagomedov following recent scrutiny from Tony Ferguson. The UFC’s former interim lightweight title holder, Ferguson (25-5 MMA), had suggested on social media that Khabib Nurmagomedov boasts a padded mixed martial arts record.

Chris Taylor - January 9, 2021

Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov is boasting a padded record in MMA. ‘El Cucuy’ has been slated to square off with the undefeated Russian on five different occasions throughout the course of his career. However, none of those five fights have ever come to fruition.

Chris Taylor - January 9, 2021

UFC welterweights James Krause and Diego Sanchez seemingly agreed to fight after the Glory MMA head coach took a shot at Josh Fabia. Fabia is Sanchez’s new coach and mentor, and has drawn scrutiny from several UFC fighters including the likes of Matt Serra a most recently James Krause.

Chris Taylor - January 9, 2021

Former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will return to the Octagon on January 16 opposite surging division contender Calvin Kattar. The Hawaiian will enter the bout in hopes of avoiding the first three-fight losing skid of his career. In his most recent effort at UFC 251, Holloway (21-6 MMA) suffered his second consecutive unanimous decision loss to reigning featherweight champ Alex Volkanovski.

Chris Taylor - January 9, 2021

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor is supremely confident that he will once again put on a “masterpiece” against Dustin Poirier. McGregor and Poirier are set to collide for a second time in the main event of UFC 257, which takes place January 24 on Fight Island.