MMA News

Adam Martin - October 16, 2020

UFC women’s flyweight contender Cynthia Calvillo released a statement announcing she is out of UFC 254 after testing positive for COVID-19. Calvillo was set to take on Lauren Muphy in a potential No. 1 contender fight at 125lbs at next weekend’s UFC 254 pay-per-view card. However, she was forced to withdraw from the contest after testing positive for COVID-19. The former strawweight prospect made the announcement that she is out of the flyweight fight against Murphy on her Instagram.

Tom Taylor - October 16, 2020

UFC President Dana White says he’s considering booking a fight between Khamzat Chimaev and former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. White updated on the next move for Chimaev ahead of Saturday’s UFC Fight Island 6 card.

Tom Taylor - October 16, 2020

On Thursday night, Cris Cyborg defended the Bellator MMA women’s featherweight title with a submission win over Arlene Blencowe. It was the first submission victory on her resume. As ever, the MMA was very quick to react to this feat. See some of the best reactions below:

Harry Kettle - October 16, 2020

Cris Cyborg has called for a rematch with former foe Amanda Nunes in the wake of her win at Bellator 249 last night. Cyborg once again proved why she’s still one of the most dangerous women on the planet as she submitted Arlene Blencowe in the second round to retain her Bellator Featherweight Championship.

Tom Taylor - October 16, 2020

On Saturday night, the UFC will return to our screens with the compelling UFC Fight Island 6 from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. The card will be headlined by a clash of top-5 featherweight contenders, as former title challengers Brian Ortega and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung collide in hopes of earning a crack at the division’s current champ, Alexander Volkanovski.

Tom Taylor - October 16, 2020

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says Khamzat Chimaev needs a humbling, and he’s willing to provide that humbling in January. Chimaev was the breakout UFC star of summer, 2020. The Chechen-Swede first picked up two wins in the span of 10 days on Fight Island in July, defeating John Phillips by first-round submission and Rhys McKee by first-round TKO, then picked up his third win of the season when he knocked out Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Vegas 11, also in the first round.

Christopher Taylor - October 15, 2020

Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg was looking to earn her first title defense at tonight’s Bellator 249 event when she squared off with Arlene Blencowe. Cyborg (23-2 MMA) had made her Bellator debut back in January, where she captured the promotions featherweight title by scoring a TKO victory over Julia Budd.

Adam Martin - October 15, 2020

UFC superstar Conor McGregor has released an image of the poster for his upcoming, highly-anticipated rematch against Dustin Poirier. McGregor and Poirier have been connected to a second fight for a few months now, and it seems like we are getting closer to having the fight officially announced by the UFC. This week, UFC president Dana White confirmed he had offered McGregor the fight against Poirier, and “Notorious” later confirmed he had accepted the UFC’s offer of a fight against “The Diamond” in January. It looks like it’s just a matter of time until the fight is official.

Adam Martin - October 15, 2020

UFC heavyweight legend Mark Coleman praised top prospect Khamzat Chimaev, saying that he believes Chimaev has a long career in MMA. Coleman is one of the greatest heavyweight MMA fighters of all time and he knows a thing-or-two about the art of ground-and-pound. Coleman, after all, is considered along with Tito Ortiz as the pioneers of GNP, with “The Hammer” also going by the nickname “The Godfather of Ground and Pound.” One of Chimaev’s top moves is to take his opponents down and beat them up, and it looks like the legend Coleman has taken notice.

Cole Shelton - October 15, 2020

Georges St-Pierre vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov has a 50 percent chance of happening according to St-Pierre’s coach, Firas Zahabi. For quite some time, St-Pierre and Nurmagomedov have been linked to fighting one another. However, the UFC didn’t want to book it in case “GSP” won and walked away with the belt. Yet, with Nurmagomedov saying he will retire at 30-0, Zahabi says if the undefeated Russian beats Justin Gaethje he thinks the fight could happen.

Cole Shelton - October 15, 2020

James Vick’s time as a UFC fighter is now over. TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter was first to report the news that Vick has been released from the promotion.

Cole Shelton - October 15, 2020

Modestas Bukauskas knows people were surprised when it was revealed he would be fighting Jimmy Crute. Bukauskas and Crute are two of the best up and coming prospects at light heavyweight and given the need for new blood, many figured they would both fight veterans. However, at UFC Fight Island 6, they will be fighting one another. According to the Lithuanian, it is due to the fact several fighters had turned down Crute so he stepped up to the plate.

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2020

Khamzat Chimaev has shared his thoughts on a potential showdown with ranked middleweight contender Darren Till. Till is currently ranked far above Chimaev. The British striking specialist has a spot in the middleweight division’s top-5, while the Chechen prospect is not yet ranked at middleweight or welterweight—the two divisions he competes in.

Adam Martin - October 15, 2020

UFC middleweight Joaquin Buckley shared a funny encounter with a St. Louis police officer after going viral on the internet in the last week. Buckley became an overnight celebrity with his incredible spinning back kick KO over Impa Kasanganay at last weekend’s UFC Fight Island 5 card. The KO went viral and was even picked up by rapper Kanye West. Buckley was not well known coming into the fight, with his other lone appearance in the UFC being a KO loss to Kevin Holland. But with the win over Kasanganay, Buckley is now one of the most talked-about fighters in the sport today.

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2020

ONE Championship featherweight titleholder Martin Nguyen says he’ll be better than ever when he steps into the cage with streaking challenger Thanh Le on October 30. The bout will be Nguyen’s first since August, 2019, and the champion is unsurprisingly very excited to get back into the cage—particularly when so many athletes are unable to compete during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tom Taylor - October 15, 2020

Top-5 UFC middleweight contender Darren Till has taken to Instagram to troll surging prospect Khamzat Chimaev. Till is currently scheduled to take on Jack Hermansson on December 5. While that fight is at the forefront of his focus, he recently admitted that he’d be willing to fight Chimaev after the fact.

Adam Martin - October 15, 2020

Bellator president Scott Coker says that heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko is “50/50” on whether he wants a rematch with Fabricio Werdum. It’s been over 10 years since Werdum pulled off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when he finished Emelianenko by submission in a Strikeforce fight in June 2010. Werdum would parlay that win over Emelianenko into a UFC contract, where he eventually became the promotion’s champion. As for Emelianenko, he was very up-and-down during the 2010s after being the fighter of the decade in the 2000s. In recent years, Emelianenko has found a home in Bellator, whose promoter Scott Coker is also close friends with Werdum.

Adam Martin - October 15, 2020

The opening odds have been released for the upcoming UFC bantamweight title fight between champion Petr Yan and challenger Aljamain Sterling. The UFC officially announced this week that Yan will make his first title defense against Sterling in the co-main event of UFC 256, which takes place on December 12. Sterling has been waiting for his title shot even since submitting Cory Sandhagen back at UFC 250 in June, while Yan is fresh off of a vicious fifth-round TKO win over Jose Aldo to win the belt.