UFC News

Cole Shelton - August 12, 2021

Ciryl Gane is hoping his heavyweight title unification fight against Francis Ngannou happens in Paris, France. Gane claimed the interim heavyweight title at UFC 265 with a TKO victory over Derrick Lewis. It was the Frenchman’s fourth fight since December of 2020 and now with his wife set to give birth, he is looking to take some time off but is interested in the fight happening late this year or early next.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

Former UFC welterweight Dan Hardy was praised as a “true martial artist” by Kenny Florian ahead of his comeback against John Wayne Parr. Hardy has not fought since September 2012 when he defeated Amir Sadollah in the UFC. Since then, the Brit has dealt with a heart issue that has left him unable to compete for the UFC. However, he has always wanted to make a comeback to combat sports and was recently given his full release by the UFC. Now that he’s a free agent and free to fight anywhere around the world, “The Outlaw” has zeroed in on a potential Muay Thai bout against Parr in ONE Championship. That fight is not yet official, but there appears to be a good chance of it going down, and if that’s the case, Hardy’s friend Florian will be watching.

Adam D Martin - August 12, 2021

Former UFC featherweight title contender Chad Mendes revealed that his former organization gave him permission to make a comeback in BKFC. Mendes recently signed a contract with BKFC to make his return to combat sports in bare-knuckle boxing. Now 36 years old, Mendes hasn’t competed in MMA since December 2018 when he was knocked out by current UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Mendes struggled on his way out of the UFC, losing three of his last four bouts, but to be fair to him, those losses came against Volkanovski, Conor McGregor, and Frankie Edgar.

Christopher Taylor - August 11, 2021

Conor McGregor went scorched earth on Daniel Cormier tonight, this after ‘DC’ told the Irishman to “worry about the dudes” who keep beating his ass. The beef between McGregor and Cormier started after ‘Notorious’ appeared to mock the death of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father on Twitter.

Christopher Taylor - August 11, 2021

Nate Diaz has responded after receiving a callout from fellow UFC superstar Dustin Poirier on Wednesday afternoon. Poirier (28-6 MMA) was originally challenged to a middleweight fight by Diaz (20-13 MMA) immediately after winning his rubber match with Conor McGregor at UFC 264.

Cole Shelton - August 11, 2021

Justin Gaethje is hoping to earn a rematch with Dustin Poirier after he beats Michael Chandler at UFC 268. Gaethje is set to return to the Octagon in November in a highly-anticipated fight against Chandler. The winner of the fight will likely be in line for a title shot. For “The Highlight” he believes Poirier will KO Charles Oliveira to become the new champ and after he beats “Iron” it will set up their rematch.

Cole Shelton - August 11, 2021

Dustin Poirier seemingly has his eyes on Nate Diaz. Although Poirier is likely to get the next title shot against Charles Oliveira, he has made it clear he is after big paydays and that’s exactly what Diaz is. Poirier and Diaz also have had a rivalry as they were supposed to fight at UFC 230 and both men accuse one another of pulling out of the contest.

Cole Shelton - August 11, 2021

Ciryl Gane never expected he would be fighting for UFC gold in just his 10th professional MMA fight. Gane signed to the UFC at 3-0 and quickly rose up the heavyweight ranks. In his 10th professional fight, he headlined UFC 265 against Derrick Lewis for the interim heavyweight title. For the Frenchman, he says he always knew he would fight for UFC gold but didn’t think it would happen this quickly.

Adam D Martin - August 11, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture praised the “very impressive” Ciryl Gane following his third-round TKO win over Derrick Lewis at UFC 265. Couture is the former UFC heavyweight champion himself so he knows a thing or two about what it takes to be the best heavyweight in the world. Following Gane’s performance against Lewis at UFC 265, Couture spoke to MMA reporter James Lynch and heaped praise upon “Bon Gamin.” According to “The Natural,” what impressed him the most about Gane’s performance is that he stood toe-to-toe with Lewis and beat him at his own game. It’s why Couture is now so excited to see Gane fight UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.

Adam D Martin - August 11, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated following UFC 265, and new interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane is now a top-15 P4P fighter. Gane knocked out Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 265 to become the promotion’s new interim heavyweight champion. With the win, “Bon Gamin” improved to a perfect 10-0 in his MMA career, including an incredible 7-0 mark in the Octagon alone. Now that he’s a champ, the rankings panelists have decided to reward him as he entered the P4P top-15 rankings in the No. 14 spot. With Gane coming in at No. 14 P4P, Justin Gaethje moved down to No. 15, and UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling fell out of the rankings. At heavyweight, Gane moved into the No. 1 contender spot, which forced former champ Stipe Miocic into the No. 2 spot and Lewis into the No. 3 ranking at heavyweight.

Adam D Martin - August 11, 2021

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou didn’t give enough credit to MMA Factory for his career success, says former coach Fernand Lopez. Lopez is the head trainer and founder of MMA Factory in Paris, France. The gym is home to new UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane, not to mention several other UFC fighters including middleweight Nassourdine Imavov and lightweight Fares Ziam. Of course, Ngannou used to train there before he made the decision to come to the United States and train in Las Vegas. Although Ngannou first came to the UFC as a member of Lopez’s stable, according to his former coach, he has rarely given MMA Factory any credit in interviews, even though Lopez says that he is the one who got him in the UFC in the first place.

Adam D Martin - August 11, 2021

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is more interested in fighting Vicente Luque than Leon Edwards, according to manager Ali Abdelaziz. Luque submitted Michael Chiesa with a first-round D’Arce choke to improve his win streak to five straight fights and make it into the top-five rankings at 170lbs. Unlike many of the other top contenders in the weight class, Luque has not yet fought Usman, which automatically makes him an intriguing option for the champ for an upcoming title defense. Usman has his hands full at the moment with Colby Covington, who he fights in a rematch at UFC 268, but according to Abdelaziz, the champ is already looking at Luque as a rival.

Adam D Martin - August 11, 2021

Women’s MMA great Amanda Nunes is hoping for her next UFC women’s bantamweight title defense to come against Julianna Pena before December. Nunes was supposed to fight Pena in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 265 pay-per-view card in Houston, Texas, but the champ was forced to withdraw the week before the fight after testing positive for COVID-19. Nunes’ wife Nina recently took to social media to confirm that their family is negative of the coronavirus, and that led to Pena publicly asking Dana White why the fight with Nunes can’t be rescheduled for an upcoming card.

Harry Kettle - August 11, 2021

UFC lightweight Dan Hooker has hit out at the sentence handed down to one of Fau Vake’s attackers Ofa He Mooni Folau. Vake, who was a rising MMA prospect and a member of the City Kickboxing gym, passed away earlier this year after he and his brother were attacked in Auckland. Vake spent a week in hospital before his death with an outpouring of support coming from the mixed martial arts community – especially within the CKB family from the likes of Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker.

Christopher Taylor - August 10, 2021

Conor McGregor continued to target fellow former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier on social media today. Two weeks ago McGregor made headlines when he appeared to mock the death of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father with the tweet “Covid is good and father is evil?”. The Irishman later deleted the post, but not before it was seen by a ton of his followers.

Cole Shelton - August 10, 2021

Diego Sanchez is close to signing with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, David Feldman, the president of BKFC revealed. Sanchez was recently released from his UFC contract, in part due to his relationship with Joshua Fabia which he since ended. Since the release, however, he has been open to the fact he wanted to return and even hinted at a move to BKFC, which appears to be nearly official.

Adam D Martin - August 10, 2021

Ciryl Gane praised his coach Fernand Lopez after winning his UFC title, saying that “he knew that I could do something in the sport.” Gane knocked out Derrick Lewis in the third round of their main event battle at UFC 265 to become the new interim UFC heavyweight champion. It was another phenomenal performance by Gane, who improved to a perfect 10-0 in MMA, including an incredible 7-0 record in the UFC heavyweight division. Given that Gane only turned pro three years ago, what he has accomplished in such a short amount of time has been absolutely nothing short of remarkable, and the Frenchman knows Lopez has been a big part of his success.

Adam D Martin - August 10, 2021

Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre says he is done with the UFC, but he would be open to fighting for charity. St-Pierre has been retired for several years now ever since he beat Michael Bisping to win the UFC middleweight strap at UFC 217. There have always been whispers that GSP could potentially return and he has spoken about a potential superfight with former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the past. However, at this point, it appears that the 40-year-old GSP is content with staying retired and not competing in MMA.