MMA News

Mike Pendleton - June 11, 2019

Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas hopes to get a rematch with current champion Jessica Andrade, but she’s first looking to take some time off to recover from a neck injury. Following the news that Andrade will face Weili Zhang at UFC China in late August, Namajunas’ manager Brian Butler released a statement to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. Reached out to Rose Namajunas’ (@rosenamajunas) manager Brian Butler (@BrianButler_Au) for their reaction to the Andrade/Zhang title fight. Here’s what Brian told me. pic.twitter.com/cNFjNInAgd

Thomas Taylor - June 11, 2019

Over the weekend, in the middle bout of the UFC 238 main card, Donald Cerrone stepped into the Octagon with streaking lightweight contender Tony Ferguson. This bout was widely expected to capture the card’s Fight of the Night honors, and in the end it did just that. Unfortunately, it did end with a degree of controversy, as Cerrone was deemed unfit to continue fighting between the second and third rounds.

Jordy McElroy - June 11, 2019

Flyweight champion Henry Cejudo stood tall at UFC 238, relentlessly raining down punches and elbows on top of bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes—every concussive blow serving as a mortal wound to the 125 pound division. Help came for Moraes in the form of referee Marc Goddard at 4:51 of the third round, but none is coming for the flyweight division, which is now bereft of life and lying stone cold on the blood-spattered canvas. Demetrious Johnson has already moved on. The UFC already moved on. After winning his third major sports title, Cejudo finally moved on.

Mike Pendleton - June 11, 2019

After winning the UFC women’s strawweight title in her home country of Brazil, new champion Jessica Andrade is reportedly heading into enemy territory for her first title defense. According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, while contracts haven’t been signed, a strawweight title fight between Andrade and Weili Zhang is close to being finalized for UFC China which will take place on August 31, in Shenzhen, China and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

In the span of a few hours on Sunday, pop star Justin Bieber called for a UFC fight with actor Tom Cruise, and former two-division champion Conor McGregor offered to promote it. Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, like many members of the MMA community, finds all of this completely ridiculous. In fact, he wishes he could go back in time to an era where things like this were a little less common.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

UFC 238 was a big night for the bantamweight division. In the main event, flyweight champion Henry Cejudo captured the vacant bantamweight title with a TKO defeat of Marlon Moraes, while on the prelims, Aljamain Sterling established himself as the division’s top contender with a victory over Brazil’s Pedro Munhoz. While Henry Cejudo followed his bantamweight title win with callouts of Cody Garbrandt, Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, it seems likely that he’ll find himself defending the title against Aljamain Sterling in the near future.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

Over the weekend, former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor made yet another call for a fight with Hollywood actor and UFC shareholder Mark Wahlberg. I challenge Mark Walhberg on the very same card.Back when mark wahlberg was marky mark, I’d’ve still slapped the ears off him and took my ufc shares back.#Shares #Streams #Dazn #Espn McGregor Sports and Entertainment

Adam Martin - June 11, 2019

One of the most brutal knockouts on the UFC 238 prelims went flying under the radar due to the the main card featuring three finishes involving bigger-name fighters. On the preliminary card, rising featherweight contender Calvin Kattar brutally knocked out Ricardo Lamas late in the first round with punches. It was a nasty knockout loss for Lamas in front of his friends and family in Chicago, and one that has led some to push for Lamas to consider hanging up his gloves.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

Henry Cejudo is now the UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion. The former Olympic wrestler has held the flyweight belt since last summer and captured the bantamweight strap with a TKO defeat of Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 last weekend. Yet he’s not resting on his laurels.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

Mackenzie Dern is now a mother. The UFC strawweight announced the birth of her first child, a girl, on Instagram on Monday.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2019

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 238, former UFC strawweight title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz lost a decision to Mexico’s Alexa Grasso. With this loss, the Polish star fell on to a three-fight skid — which has led her to confront what she calls a “painful” reality. While Karolina Kowalkiewicz intends to continue fighting and putting on fun fights for her fans, she says she believes that her best days are behind her.

Adam Martin - June 10, 2019

Although Lorenzo Fertitta may be out of the MMA business, it appears he wants to get back into the sports ownership business. The former UFC owner sold his share of the world’s leading MMA promotion along with his brother Frank to WME-IMG for $4 billion back in 2016. He has been quiet for the last couple of years, but now he wants to reach his dream of buying an NFL team.

Adam Martin - June 10, 2019

One of the top female MMA fighters in the world, Cris Cyborg, will soon be testing the free agent market. The former UFC featherweight champion will test free agency following her bout against Felicia Spencer at UFC 240 this July in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2019

Hours after bookmakers released the odds for a potential MMA fight between pop star Justin Bieber and Hollywood actor Tom Cruise, we now have have the odds for a potential fight between former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor and actor Mark Wahlberg. And, well… they’re baffling. The online sportsbook BetOnline has seemingly pegged Conor McGregor, one of the most accomplished mixed martial artists of all time, as a mere -500 favorite against the untrained actor. Wahlberg, meanwhile, has been identified as a +300 underdog.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2019

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman recently announced his intention to move up to the promotion’s 205-pound light heavyweight division. While Weidman will likely have some work to do before earning himself a title shot against reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, that is of course his ultimate goal in this new weight class. And he believes he poses some real problems for the champion.

Adam Martin - June 10, 2019

On Sunday night, Justin Bieber called out Tom Cruise on Twitter for a high-profile celebrity superfight. It was a callout that got the whole entertainment world talking. It even trickled into the MMA sphere because Bieber said he wants to fight Cruise in the Octagon and tagged UFC president Dana White in his tweet. An hour later, UFC superstar Conor McGregor took to Twitter and responded to Bieber, saying that McGregor Sports and Entertainment would host the bout.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2019

Former UFC heavyweight Tim Hague, who tragically passed away after a boxing match in his native Edmonton, Alberta in 2017, has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more widely known as CTE, is a brain condition caused by repeated traumatic blows to the head. This condition, which is unsurprisingly a very real risk for professional boxers and mixed martial artists, can only be diagnosed post-mortem.

Tom Taylor - June 10, 2019

After Henry Cejudo captured the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 238, adding this new belt to a trophy case that already includes the UFC flyweight strap and an Olympic medal, he proudly proclaimed himself the greatest combat athlete of all time, and the UFC’s pound-for-pound king. ”I am the greatest combat athlete of all time,” Cejudo hollered into the microphone. “And I just stole the title of best pound-for-pound fighter too!”