MMA News

Adam Martin - December 16, 2020

UFC president Dana White confirmed that Israel Adesanya will get the next light heavyweight title shot before Glover Teixeira does. Adesanya knocked out Paulo Costa in the main event of UFC 253 in September to defend the UFC middleweight title, and in the co-main event of that card, Jan Blachowicz knocked out Dominick Reyes to win the vacant UFC light heavyweight title. Following UFC 253, White surprised a lot of fans and media when he said the promotion liked the idea of seeing Adesanya move up to 205lbs to take on Blachowicz in a bid to become a double champion.

Adam Martin - December 16, 2020

The upcoming match between UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega is being targeted for February, says Dana White. Volkanovski is coming off of a controversial split decision win over Max Holloway back at UFC 251 in July on Fight Island, which was his 19th straight win overall. The UFC thought about booking a trilogy fight with Holloway after two close decisions, but after Ortega shut out The Korean Zombie on the scorecards in October, “T-City” stole the title shot back. White previously confirmed that Ortega was the new No. 1 contender for the belt but until now we didn’t have a date for the bout. We now have a better idea of when it will happen.

Adam Martin - December 16, 2020

Team Rose Namajunas has refuted UFC president Dana White’s claims that she does not want a title shot against strawweight champ Weili Zhang. After beating Jessica Andrade by split decision at UFC 251 in a “Fight of the Night” performance on Fight Island this past summer, White said that Namajunas was next in line to fight Zhang. Very recently we heard that the UFC was close to figuring out a date for this bout, but it appears that it might not happen now. On Wednesday, White made comments to BT suggesting that Namajunas isn’t interested in a title shot against Zhang and that the promotion is considering giving the next title shot to former champ Carla Esparza instead.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2020

UFC legend Diego Sanchez is planning on retiring after his next fight, and he has a few opponents in mind for that final walk to the Octagon. After taking on rising prospects like Michel Pereira and Jake Matthews, Sanchez, who won the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter, is hoping to close out his career by battling somebody of his vintage, like one of the Diaz brothers or Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.

Adam Martin - December 16, 2020

UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes has revealed the targeted date for the rebooked UFC heavyweight fight against rival Derrick Lewis. Blaydes and Lewis were set to headline the UFC Vegas 15 card on November 28, but the fight fell apart at the last minute after Blaydes tested positive for COVID-19. The original plan from the UFC was to rebook the match after Blaydes did his two-week quarantine and recovered, but the UFC was not able to make it happen before the end of 2020. Instead, the promotion is now targeting the fight to take place in early 2021. The problem is, the UFC still wants it as a main event fight and there are not many dates available right now.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2020

Jake Paul is not giving up on his desired fight with former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor, and has now boldly slid into the Irishman’s DMs. After scoring a brutal knockout win over former NBA star Nate Robinson at the recent Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. even, Paul has been ceaselessly campaigning for a fight with McGregor.

Adam Martin - December 16, 2020

Today, December 16, 2020, marks the 10-year anniversary of the final WEC event, WEC 53, the night of the “Showtime Kick” from Anthony Pettis. The main event of WEC 53 saw lightweight champion Benson Henderson put his title on the line against Pettis in a matchup between two young, up-and-coming fighters. The WEC was being folded into the UFC after this event, so the winner of this fight would be the final WEC champion and enter the UFC with the belt. With so much on the line, the two fighters put on an absolutely incredible war that went the distance. It was a fitting end to the WEC, as one of the greatest MMA promotions to ever be created concluded with a classic fight.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2020

Heavyweight combat sports legend Mark Hunt returned to the ring this week, but the fight didn’t go the way he planned. Hunt, who spent the most recent chapter of his career competing in the UFC heavyweight division, parted ways with the promotion in 2018 amid a heated legal dispute. After a period of inactivity, the 46-year-old legend signed on for a professional boxing match with rugby star Paul Gallen at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, Australia.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2020

Former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero says there’s “a huge possibility” he’ll fight Anthony Johnson in his Bellator debut. Romero and Johnson both called the UFC home for many years, however, both fighters recently landed on the Bellator roster.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2020

Ali Abdelaziz says he’s willing to battle UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson in a grappling match under the Submission Underground banner. Ferguson returned to the cage in the co-main event of UFC 256 last weekend, where he was out-grappled to a decision loss against Charles Oliveira. After the fight, Ali Abdelaziz, the CEO of Dominance MMA and the manager of MMA stars like Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kamaru Usman, sparked a Twitter skirmish with Ferguson.

Harry Kettle - December 16, 2020

UFC featherweight contender Max Holloway has explained why he won’t be sparring ahead of his upcoming bout against Calvin Kattar. Holloway is set to return to action next month when he faces off against Kattar in what will be his first non-title fight since UFC 199 in 2016. “Blessed” will be hoping to build his way back up to another Featherweight Championship shot and a trilogy showdown against rival Alexander Volkanovski.

Harry Kettle - December 16, 2020

Bellator stars Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader are set to meet in a short notice grappling match at Submission Underground 19. Bader will be stepping in on short notice to take on Johnson as a replacement for Fabricio Werdum. The two men have actually met before in a professional MMA bout, and on that occasion back in January 2016, Johnson scored a knockout win inside the first two minutes of the fight.

Drake Riggs - December 15, 2020

Among the biggest winners from UFC 256, there arguably weren’t any bigger than Charles Oliveira and Kevin Holland. In the event’s co-main event, Brazil’s Oliveira impressed beyond comprehension with the biggest win of his career. Taking on former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, Oliveira would completely shut down his adversary en route to a unanimous decision win.

Drake Riggs - December 15, 2020

Amanda Ribas has become a breakout star in the UFC’s 115-pound strawweight division since handing Mackenzie Dern her first career loss in October 2019. Currently a flawless 4-0 in the promotion (10-1 overall), the Brazilian has shown a wide range of dangerous skills. Having scored two of those four wins via submission while the other two came via dominant decisions that displayed her sharp striking as well as dominant ground control.

Drake Riggs - December 15, 2020

The UFC has battled valiantly through the 2020 pandemic to continue putting on events. And their efforts haven’t come without casualties as many a fight has been canceled due to the COVID-19 virus. Now the promotion is adding some additional efforts to tackle the Coronavirus with more stringent safety protocols. More specifically, those regarding travel.

Adam Martin - December 15, 2020

UFC flyweight contender Brandon Moreno was surprised by judges’ scorecards at UFC 256, admitting, “I think I lost the fifth round.” Moreno and Figueiredo met in the main event of this past weekend’s UFC 256 pay-per-view card and put on an absolute classic for the fans. The two best flyweights in the world went the full 25 minutes and looked for the finish the whole way through in an absolute war that many are calling the best flyweight fight of all time. At the end of the five rounds, the judges couldn’t declare a winner, scoring the fight a majority draw. A point deduction to Figueiredo for a low blow in the third round proved to cost him the unanimous decision win.

Adam Martin - December 15, 2020

UFC women’s double champion Amanda Nunes responded after UFC president Dana White suggested he might have her knock out Jake Paul. A YouTuber-turned-boxer, Paul has become one of the most talked-about athletes in combat sports over the last few weeks ever since his highlight-reel KO over Nate Robinson in a boxing match. Athletes from all different sports have called Paul out, but he’s kept his focus on the big guns, releasing a video this week where he called out UFC superstar Conor McGregor and made fun of his partner. White was also asked by the media this week about Paul’s comments towards McGregor, and he confirmed that the fight will never happen.

Cole Shelton - December 15, 2020

Dana White has some interest in letting Jake Paul fight a UFC fighter but it is not who he wants. On Monday, Paul sent out a vulgar video where he claimed Conor McGregor was scared to fight him and roasted Dana White.