MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2020

A welterweight fight between “Platinum” Mike Perry and “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler is no longer listed as part of the UFC 255 main card. UFC 255 is scheduled to go down on November 21 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card will be headlined by a men’s flyweight title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Alex Perez, and co-headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Jennifer Maia. Until recently, it was also expected to feature a welterweight scrap between Perry and Lawler, who is the division’s former champion.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2020

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz lived out a personal dream this week when his star client Khabib Nurmagomedov met Sheik Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan in the United Arab Emirates. Nurmagomedov returned to the cage in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 254 card in Abu Dhabi, where he defended the UFC lightweight title with a second-round submission defeat of Justin Gaethje—a man many considered his toughest test to date.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2020

Chael Sonnen has some choice words for Jon Jones after the former UFC light heavyweight champ got busy on Twitter over the weekend. Jones was extremely active on the social media platform after Saturday’s UFC 254 card, explaining in a multi-Tweet tirade why he—not UFC 254 main event winner Khabib Nurmagomedov—is MMA’s pound-for-pound king. See some of the highlights of his arguments below:

Harry Kettle - October 26, 2020

UFC featherweight Jeremy Stephens has been forced out of his November 7 fight against Arnold Allen, MMA Junkie reports. Stephens has been pulled from the fight due to an injury but the problem isn’t expected to take long for him to recover from, and the veteran is expected to return in late 2020 or early 2021. The fight would’ve given “Lil Heathen” the opportunity to bounce back from a run of five fights without a win dating all the way back to February 2018.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2020

Nate Diaz was not among the many fighters who congratulated Khabib Nurmagomedov following his victory and subsequent retirement at UFC 254. In the headliner of Saturday’s pay-per-view event on Yas Island, ‘The Eagle’ put his undefeated record and lightweight world title on the line against reigning interim champion Justin Gaethje.

Chris Taylor - October 25, 2020

Perennial UFC lightweight contender Dan Hooker took exception to some of the comments made by Michael Chandler during yesterday’s UFC 254 broadcast. After Phil Hawes scored a sensational knockout win over Jacob Malkoun on yesterday’s pay-per-view main card, the UFC released a promo for recent free agent signing Michael Chandler.

Chris Taylor - October 25, 2020

A key middleweight bout between former division champion Robert Whittaker and surging contender Jared Cannonier co-headlined yesterday’s UFC 254 event. The bout had massive stakes for ‘The Killa Gorilla’, as UFC President Dana White had already confirmed that if Cannonier could defeat Whittaker he would then earn the next title shot against Israel Adesanya.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa called out Robert Whittaker following his unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 254. Costa is coming off of a TKO loss to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in a failed bid to capture the belt at UFC 253. With Whittaker coming off the win over Cannonier, who was arguably next in line to fight Adesanya next, UFC president Dana White said that Whittaker vs. Adesanya is interesting. But Costa is now throwing a wrench in those potential plans by calling out for the Whittaker fight himself.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

Two of the three Octagon-side judges had Khabib Nurmagomedov losing the first round of his fight to Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Nurmagomedov ended up submitting Gaethje with a second-round triangle choke anyways, but it’s still interesting nonetheless to see how the judges scored the first round. According to the official scorecards, judges Sal D’Amato and Ben Cartlidge both saw the first round 10-9 in favor of the challenger Gaethje. Only judge Derek Cleary had the first round 10-9 in favor of the champion Nurmagomedov. See the scorecards below.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC legend Georges St-Pierre congratulated pound-for-pound great Khabib Nurmagomedov on an amazing career, one that GSP calls “perfect.” Nurmagomedov retired following his second-round submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, leading to UFC president Dana White hailing him as the greatest fighter of all time. Another fighter in the mix for the title of GOAT is GSP, the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion. At this point, it may very well be between those two and perhaps a few others like Jon Jones and Anderson Silva in the elite GOAT club of MMA.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

Newly-signed free agent lightweight Michael Chandler is calling for a four-man tournament to crown the new UFC lightweight champion. Chandler finds himself in a tremendous position in the UFC lightweight division despite having not fought yet for the promotion. The UFC tabbed him as the backup fighter for the UFC 254 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, but he wasn’t needed for the event. With Nurmagomedov retiring from MMA and giving up his title, the lightweight division is now more wide open than it ever has been.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

MMA great Henry Cejudo praises retired UFC champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier, proclaiming that “Wrestling is life.” Cejudo retired from mixed martial arts in May following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz, giving up his UFC bantamweight title in the process. As for Cormier, he retired following a decision loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 252. And of course, Nurmagomdov retired following his submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 this weekend of Fight Island.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby anointed Khabib Nurmagomedov as the greatest fighter in MMA history, saying he is “obviously (the) GOAT.” Shelby has been the UFC matchmaker for the better part of the last decade and before that, he was the matchmaker of the WEC. He has been in the game for over 20 years working as a matchmaker at the highest levels of the sport so his eye for talent is up there with anyone else on the planet. Shelby doesn’t speak much in the media, preferring to keep a low profile, but he had to speak up after Nurmagomedov retired from MMA.

Adam D Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler reacted after Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 and then retired. Chandler, the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, signed a lucrative free-agent contract with the UFC after his contract with Bellator expired. As part of his deal with the UFC, Chandler was paid to be the backup fighter for the Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje fight. Thankfully, both men make it to the fight unscathed and make weight and the fight stayed intact, so Chandler just got back to sit back and watch the show.

Adam D Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC president Dana White shared his take on Robert Whittaker’s big win at UFC 254 and what could be next for the former champ. Whittaker defeated Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision in a back-and-forth fight that served as the co-main event at UFC 254. Whittaker looked sharp in the bout as he was able to utilize his boxing to set up a late head kick in the third round that nearly finished his opponent. Cannonier was able to survive, making it one of the best fights of the night and a huge win for Whittaker’s resume as he looks to move back up the 185lbs ladder.

Adam D Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC president Dana White weighed in on the recent domestic violence allegations made against Mike Perry by his ex-wife Danielle Nickerson. Nickerson recently spoke in a lengthy interview with MMAjunkie.com about her allegedly violent relationship with Perry, who she said struck her on numerous occasions. The UFC welterweight star got ahead of things by releasing a statement denying any of the allegations. But apparently, Nickerson has photos of the bruises that she says Perry gave her, which has led to some fans believing Perry should be pulled from his upcoming fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 255 while this all plays out in the courts.

Adam D Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC heavyweight Tai Tuivasa apologized to Stefan Struve after kicking him in the head during his post-fight celebration at UFC 254. Tuivasa, who had previously said he had been cut by the UFC in a joke, was no doubt in a must-win situation against Struve as he had lost three straight fights heading into the bout. With Struve also struggling as of late, the oddsmakers capped this fight as around a Pick ’em at the sportsbooks. But Tuivasa showed he was the better fighter as he was able to get Struve up against the fence in the clinch and then finished him with strikes.

Adam D Martin - October 25, 2020

Justin Gaethje believes that former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was “in a bad spot” prior to the fight-ending submission. Nurmagomedov tapped out Gaethje with a second-round triangle choke in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 254. The win improved Nurmagomedov’s MMA record to 29-0 including a perfect 13-0 mark in the UFC. Of course, what he did after the fight is what everyone is talking about this morning, as “The Eagle” announced his retirement from the sport immediately after in an announcement that came as a surprise to many fans and media.