MMA News

Harry Kettle - December 30, 2020

Top light heavyweight contenders will meet in late February as Magomed Ankalaev prepares to lock horns with Nikita Krylov. These two titans at 205 pounds will be hoping to make a statement to kickstart 2021 with both coming off the back of 2020 wins over legitimate names – Ion Cutelaba and Johnny Walker respectively.

Drake Riggs - December 29, 2020

Early into 2020, Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk put on an instant classic in what many are touting as the fight of the year. The co-main event of March’s UFC 248 pay-per-view saw the new strawweight champion from China defending opposite Poland’s former queen. For a full 25 minutes, they went to war.

Cole Shelton - December 29, 2020

Dillon Danis expects Conor McGregor to beat Dustin Poirier pretty quickly at UFC 257. On January 23, McGregor and Poirier will have their rematch six-and-a-half years in the making. The two first fought in September of 2014 with the Irishman winning by first-round knockout. For Danis, he believes the result at UFC 257 will be very similar as he expects his teammate to KO “The Diamond” inside two rounds.

Cole Shelton - December 29, 2020

Tyson Chartier believes Calvin Kattar will be fighting for a UFC title sometime in the middle of 2021. Entering 2020, Chartier and Kattar set out a goal of going 3-0 after a disappointing loss to Zabit Magomedsharipov in November. The hope was the New England Cartel member would get the hype behind his name back and everyone would forget about the loss. So far, that is exactly what has happened.

Tom Taylor - December 29, 2020

The bookmakers at BetOnline.ag are expecting fighters like Francis Ngannou, Israel Adesanya, and Petr Yan to conclude 2021 as UFC champions. This week, the sportsbook released betting lines for the champions of a number of UFC weight classes by the end of 2021.

Tom Taylor - December 29, 2020

Leon Edwards has issued a scathing callout of his fellow UFC welterweight contender and arch nemesis Jorge Masvidal. Edwards was previously slated to take on Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card on January 20. Unfortunately, news broke this morning that Chimaev has been forced out of the fight.

Adam Martin - December 29, 2020

UFC middleweight contenders Kevin Holland and Derek Brunson will meet in the headliner of a UFC Fight Night card that is set for March 2021. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report that Holland vs. Brunson will headline a UFC Fight Night event that takes place on March 20 at a location that has yet to be determined. The report says that both Holland and Brunson have verbally agreed to the bout with the only thing left being for both men to put fresh ink on the contract.

Tom Taylor - December 29, 2020

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards has made his intentions very clear: he wants to compete on UFC Fight Island on January 20. Edwards was previously expected to fight rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of a Fight Night card scheduled for January 20 on the island. Regrettably, Chimaev has been forced out of the fight for undisclosed reasons, leaving Edwards without a dance partner for the card.

Tom Taylor - December 29, 2020

Gilbert Burns says it’s a “blessing” he didn’t end up fighting Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight championship in July. Burns was originally slated to challenge Usman, the UFC welterweight champion, for the division’s strap in the main event of UFC 251 in July. Regrettably, he ended up coming down with COVID-19, and was forced out of the fight as a result.

Tom Taylor - December 29, 2020

Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre says he’ll have an announcement for his fans on Wednesday. St-Pierre is currently retired, but has frequently been linked to a potential fight with unbeaten UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. While it certainly seems like a long shot that he’ll be announcing that fight tomorrow, it’s clear he has something in the pipeline.

Tom Taylor - December 29, 2020

Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk has reacted to receiving Fight of the Year honors at the 2020 World MMA Awards. Jedrzejczyk received this honor for her part in a fight with UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang. The pair met in the co-main event of UFC 248 in March, with Zhang’s title on the line. While Jedrzejczyk ultimately came up short in the matchup, there were no real losers in the fight, as the two women left everything they had in the Octagon.

Harry Kettle - December 29, 2020

Rising UFC star Jordan Leavitt has explained why he was embarrassed to be a professional fighter prior to his UFC Vegas 16 victory. Leavitt, who pulled off an impressive submission win over Luke Flores on Dana White’s Contender Series earlier this year, sent a real message to the rest of his division after knocking Matt Wiman out with a devastating slam just 20 seconds into their clash at the start of December.

Harry Kettle - December 29, 2020

Earlier this year, Disney’s Bob Iger claimed that Conor McGregor helped drive ESPN+ subscriptions rise from 6.6 million to 7.6 million. While there is so confirmation as to whether or not these numbers came directly from his win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at the start of the year, there’s no way of denying the overwhelming impact that can be felt throughout the sport of mixed martial arts whenever McGregor is in town.

Drake Riggs - December 28, 2020

If anyone knows who the best fighters at 155-pounds are, it’s probably the guy who is the best of the bunch, and that’s Russia’s Khabib Nurmagomedov. The undefeated 29-0 king of the UFC’s lightweight division has since called an end to his career after a dominant win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. And with that being the case, it’s left everyone wondering how things will unfold atop the division.

Drake Riggs - December 28, 2020

Jon Jones and Corey Anderson never got to square off during their time together in the UFC light heavyweight division. However, The Ultimate Fighter season 19 winner believes there are certain reasons that success has started being found against one of the all-time greats. In Jones’ last two title defenses, he went the distance with the likes of Thiago Santos and Dominick Reyes. With the first resulting in a split decision and the second a unanimous, both for Jones, many in the MMA community disagreed with the results.

Adam Martin - December 28, 2020

UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang reacted after her classic with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 was named 2020 Fight of the Year. It’s amazing that Zhang and Jedrzejczyk actually took place during this year considering how 2020 ended up turning out. Remember, UFC 248 in March was the last event to feature fans before the COVID-19 pandemic changed the world. But it’s true that this fight took place this year, and it was an absolute war between two of the best women’s MMA fighters of all time. It absolutely deserved to win Fight of the Year not only at the World MMA Awards but from essentially every MMA media outlet.

Cole Shelton - December 28, 2020

Ali Abdelaziz has responded after John Kavanagh suggested Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2 should be for the vacant belt. After Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Justin Gaethje and retired, many wondered why the belt never became vacant. With McGregor returning on January 23, many believed by the time the fight rolled around, the fight would be for the belt. Kavanagh, however, doesn’t understand why it isn’t.

Cole Shelton - December 28, 2020

Dillon Danis is hoping Conor McGregor can get a rematch with Khabib Nurmagomedov to prove he is the better fighter. At UFC 229, McGregor returned to the Octagon after two years away and suffered a fourth-round submission loss. However, after the fight, the Irishman claimed he wasn’t focused on the fight and fought with a broken foot.