UFC News

Adam Martin - December 7, 2020

Following his release from the UFC, middleweight Yoel Romero is reportedly drawing no interest from Bellator or PFL on the free-agent market. Romero was surprisingly released by the world’s leading MMA promotion last week as part of UFC president Dana White’s plan to cut 60 fighters from the roster. At 43 years of age, having lost three straight fights, and having a sizeable purse, the UFC decided it was in everyone’s best interest to release Romero. The former No. 1 contender in the UFC middleweight division was deemed expandable by White, but based on his resume, most expected the other top promotions to be interested.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2020

UFC President Dana White has shared his initial thoughts on the upcoming boxing exhibition match between Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul. The Mayweather vs. Paul fight, scheduled for February 20, was announced over the weekend. In an unsurprising twist, this clash between one of the greatest boxers of all time and a YouTube star with a 0-1 pro boxing record generated some interesting reactions from the stars of the combat sports world.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2020

Former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor has some words of advice for boxing star Claressa Shields, who will transition to MMA under the PFL banner in 2021. Shields, a three-division boxing champ at just 25 years old, will make her MMA debut in the PFL cage in 2021. Ahead of that debut, Shields has been training at JacksonWink MMA alongside former UFC champs Jon Jones and Holly Holm. She’s also received some advice from another former UFC champ in McGregor.

Cole Shelton - December 7, 2020

In the main event of UFC Vegas 16, Marvin Vettori stepped up on short notice to take on top-five contender, Jack Hermansson. Vettori was looking for the biggest win of his career while Hermansson was trying to prove he should get a number one contender bout next time out. However, it was the Italian who won the fight by decision and nearly finished Hermansson in the first.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2020

UFC President Dana White recently divulged that he plans on culling 60 fighters from the promotion’s ever-expanding roster. White dropped this information not long after it was revealed the former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero had been released from his contract with the promotion.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2020

Top UFC heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou is getting frustrated with the inactivity of the division’s reigning champion Stipe Miocic. After rattling off consecutive knockout victories over Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Ngannou has irrefutably earned a second crack at Miocic, who he lost a decision to in 2018.

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

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.

Christopher Taylor - December 6, 2020

Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo has issued a challenge to YouTuber Jake Paul. Paul improved his professional boxing record to a perfect 2-0 at last weekends ‘Tyson vs Jones Jr.’ event, scoring a nasty second round knockout victory over former NBA player Nate Robinson.

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 confirmed that he will cut extra bonus checks to Jahamal Hill and Ilia Topuria after their wins on Saturday night. When the promotion announced the post-fight bonuses following Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 event, both Hill and Topuria were not among the fighters who were given the $50,000 bonuses. Instead, the UFC rewarded middleweights Jack Hermansson and Marvin Vettori 50k each for “Fight of the Night,” while featherweight Gabriel Benitez and lightweight Jordan Leavitt each won 50k for “Performance of the Night.”

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

Check out how the pros reacted to the brutal slam KO suffered by Matt Wiman against Jordan Leavitt during Saturday’s UFC Vegas 16 event. The long-time UFC veteran Wiman and Contender Series product Leavitt opened up the main card during this weekend’s event and they put on a show for as long as the fight lasted. Just 22 seconds into the fight, Leavitt was able to slam Wiman down against the canvas and knock him out cold with an absolutely devastating knockout, one that UFC president Dana White said had a “weird sound” to it. It’s the kind of win that could make Leavitt a new star in the sport, and the kind of knockout that could push Wiman to retire.

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.