MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2020

UFC President Dana White has commented on the recent spike of fight cancellations due to athletes and their cornermen testing positive for COVID-19. While the pandemic has gripped the world for close to a year now, there’s recently been an increased number of cancelled fights due to the virus. White commented on the issue at the post-fight press conference for last weekend’s UFC Vegas 16 card, which was particularly hard-hit by the COVID-related fight cancellations.

Harry Kettle - December 7, 2020

Former UFC cornerman Rafael Freitas has been jailed following accusations of drugging and raping a client. Freitas, 37, was charged with criminal sexual penetration relating to an incident on November 7. The female client was able to capture the assault on a security camera placed in her living room, Albuquerque Journal reports.

Harry Kettle - December 7, 2020

Angela Hill has announced that she will not be fighting Tecia Torres at UFC 256 after testing positive for COVID-19. Hill is often viewed as a big fan favorite in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and rightly so, whether it be due to her fighting style or her overall personality. She was hoping to get another crack at Torres five years on from their battle at UFC 188, but now, she’ll have to wait and see whether or not the fight gets rebooked.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC flyweight prospect Cody Durden says that he was pulled from Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 16 card due to a case of pink eye. Durden was set for his second fight in the UFC against fellow prospect Jimmy Flick in what was shaping up to be a really fun fight between two exciting flyweights. Unfortunately, Durden vs. Flick was one of three bouts scheduled for UFC Vegas 16 scratched from the card on fight day, along with a women’s flyweight bout between Montana de la Rosa and Taila Santos, and a featherweight bout between Movsar Evloev and Nate Landwehr. Those were canceled due to positive COVID-19 tests.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori revealed the facial injuries from the Jack Hermansson fight feel “like he had a knife in his glove.” Vettori and Hermansson set a UFC record for the most combined significant strikes landed in a middleweight fight ever. Both men went to the well, taking the fight into deep waters and trying to get the knockout with every last swing. Ultimately at the end of 25 minutes, Vettori was given the nod by the judges on the scorecards. It was a close and competitive fight and both men landed some good shots, but Vettori landed the more significant strikes, including a big knockdown in the first round.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC president Dana White revealed what he thinks are the most competitive weight classes in the world’s leading MMA promotion. The UFC has never had the sheer amount of talent as it does right now. The promotion currently boasts eight men’s weight classes and four women’s weight classes, and there are incredible fighters in all of those divisions. Fans and media often discuss what they think the top weight classes in the sport are, and it’s a fun discussion that could lead to a variety of good answers. That’s why it was so interesting to hear what White had to say, considering he’s the UFC president.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC light heavyweight Jamahal Hill released a statement following his breakthrough TKO win over Ovince Saint Preux. Hill is one of the top 205lbs prospects in MMA. The 29-year-old American improved to 8-0, 1 NC in his professional MMA career with the TKO win over OSP, one that UFC president Dana White says will earn him a bonus. Hill previously picked up UFC wins over Darko Stostic and Kildson Abreu, who he finished by TKO back in May. However, Hill was fined and suspended and the result of that bout was changed to a No Contest after Hill tested positive for marijuana in a post-fight drug test.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC president Dana White said that he would “love” to watch a potential middleweight bout between Marvin Vettori and Paulo Costa. Vettori picked up the biggest win of his UFC career to date on Saturday night when he won a unanimous decision over Jack Hermansson in a “Fight of the Night” war between two of the best middleweights in the world. With the win, Vettori figures to take Hermansson’s spot at No. 4 in the UFC rankings. As for Costa, despite a TKO loss to Israel Adesanya in their title fight at UFC 254, he is ranked No. 2 right now.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC bantamweight Louis Smolka issued a statement following his second-round TKO win over Jose Quinonez at UFC Vegas 16 on Saturday night. Smolka and Quinonez were actually supposed to fight two weeks ago, but Smolka had to withdraw on fight day due to weight-cutting complications. The UFC was able to get the fight re-booked two weeks later and thankfully there were no issues this time around. The first round was closely fought between the two bantamweights, but in the second round, Smolka showed he was the better fighter as he finished the fight via TKO.

Adam Martin - December 6, 2020

Middleweights Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori were named bonus winners following UFC Vegas 16, winning $50,000 for “Fight of the Night.” Hermansson and Vettori went to war for 25 minutes. Both men threw the kitchen sink at each other, setting a record for most combined significant strikes landed in a UFC middleweight bout. At the end of the five rounds, the judges sided with Vettori, scoring the bout 49-46, 49-46, and 49-45 in favor of the Italian middleweight contender. Vettori now figures to earn himself a top-five spot in the UFC middleweight ranks with the win.

Adam D Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC middleweight contender Marvin Vettori issued a statement following his unanimous decision victory over Jack Hermansson at UFC Vegas 16. After Kevin Holland fell off the card due to a positive COVID-19 test, Vettori stepped up on short notice to take on Hermansson in the main event of UFC Vegas 16. Many fans and observers of the sport were surprised to see Vettori enter the bout as the betting underdog over the higher-ranked Hermansson, but Vettori showed that he’s an elite middleweight by going 25 minutes with Hermansson and winning a clear decision.

Adam D Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori backtracked on his callout of Paulo Costa, shifting his target to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Vettori picked up a unanimous decision win over Jack Hermansson in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 event. It was the biggest win of Vettori’s UFC career over the No. 4 ranked fighter in the promotion in Hermansson. It’s the kind of win that will land Vettori a big fish in the pond his next time out, and the Italian wasted no time calling out two of the top fighters in the division: top contender Costa and UFC champion Adesanya.

Adam D Martin - December 6, 2020

Former UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo sent UFC president Dana White a message saying he will embarrass the promotion’s champions. Cejudo was at the top of his game when he abruptly retired from the sport and vacated the UFC bantamweight title following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May. Since then, Cejudo has taken his trolling game on social media to a whole other level. “The Messenger” is on Twitter and Instagram seemingly every day taking champs at several of the UFC’s champions including Petr Yan and Alexander Volkanovski. Of all of his rivals, it seems like Cejudo would like to get his hands on Volkanovski the most.

Adam D Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC president Dana White ripped MMA judge Chris Lee for his highly-scrutinized scorecards during his recent judging assignments. Lee had been involved in two highly-controversial split decision dissents in the last few weeks. At UFC Vegas 16 this past Saturday, Lee was the lone judge to score a light heavyweight bout between Roman Dolidze and John Allan in favor of Allan, for who he scored the fight 29-28. The other two judges scored it 30-27 and 29-28 in favor of Dolidze. According to MMADecisions.com, all 19 media paneled on the fight scored it for Dolidze. BJPenn.com scored the bout 30-27 for Dolidze. White also thought he won.

Adam D Martin - December 6, 2020

Marvin Vettori responded to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya’s bold claim that they will never fight again inside the Octagon. Vettori defeated Jack Hermansson via unanimous decision in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 for the biggest win of his career to date. Vettori should take over Hermansson’s old spot at No. 4 in the rankings following the victory, which is the Italian’s fourth straight win in a row. It puts Vettori just a few spots behind Adesanya in the UFC middleweight title ranks. Another win or two and Vettori could get a title shot.

Adam D Martin - December 6, 2020

UFC president Dana White provided an update on veteran lightweight Matt Wiman after he suffered a brutal slam KO loss to Jordan Leavitt. In the opening main card fight at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 event, Leavitt picked Wiman up, carried him across the Octagon, and knocked him out with a devastating slam just 23 seconds into their fight. It was an absolutely brutal KO, as Wiman was knocked out cold the second his head came down against the canvas. For Leavitt, it was an incredible victory in his UFC debut, as he became only the 12th fighter in the promotion’s history to win a fight with a slam KO. It’s the kind of knockout that earned him a $50,000 bonus.

Christopher Taylor - December 5, 2020

Marvin Vettori called out Paulo Costa immediatley following his sensational win over Jack Hermansson in the main event of UFC Vegas 16. Vettori (16-4-1 MMA) extended his current win streak four in a row on Saturday night, defeating Hermansson by way of judges decision in a thrilling five round affair.

Chris Taylor - December 5, 2020

Dana White spoke to reporters following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC Vegas 16 event where he discussed the release of Yoel Romero. On Friday evening ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported on Twitter that the former UFC middleweight title challenger, Romero (13-5 MMA), was now a free agent.