UFC News

Harry Kettle - March 17, 2021

Paulo Costa‘s coach & brother has provided some more details on the current health of the UFC middleweight contender. It was recently reported that Costa has been forced out of his highly anticipated April 17 fight against Robert Whittaker, a fight many saw as a potential No. 1 contender bout at 185lbs. At the time, it was said Costa had been suffering from a severe case of the flu.

Adam D Martin - March 17, 2021

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had a meeting with Lorenzo Fertitta, later telling Dana White to “send me location.” Nurmagomedov is currently in a state of quasi-retirement. Following his submission over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last October, “The Eagle” said that he was going to hang up his gloves after promising his family that he wouldn’t fight anymore. However, UFC president Dana White has been trying for the last six months to get Nurmagomedov to fight again, but to no avail. However, Nurmagomedov hasn’t given up his lightweight belt yet and he continues to make hints that he could fight again, such as meeting up with White in Las Vegas, though most signs are still pointing to him soon hanging up his gloves for good.

Drake Riggs - March 16, 2021

As Jake Paul’s boxing match against Ben Askren draws near, he continues to get help from MMA fighters in preparation – add Mike Perry to the list. After catching wind of the million-dollar bet UFC President Dana White laid down in favor of Askren, Perry shared his thoughts on Tuesday.

Andrew Whitelaw - March 16, 2021

Rafael Fiziev is arguably one of the best strikers in the UFC and the in-form lightweight just raised his hand for a fight with The Korean Zombie. Currently riding an impressive three-fight winning streak, Fiziev is on the cusp of breaking into the top 15 at 155lb. The former policeman was last in action at UFC 256, where he knocked out Renato Moicano with a savage left hook back in December.

Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021

Francis Ngannou will have Kamaru Usman in his corner for his heavyweight title fight at UFC 260. In the main event of the pay-per-view card on March 27, Ngannou will rematch Stipe Miocic after being dominated by him the first time around. Miocic used his wrestling to take Ngannou down at will to secure the decision win.

Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021

Antonio Carlos Junior didn’t think he was fighting for his job at UFC 257. Carlos Junior was making his return to the Octagon after over a year away against Brad Tavares. In the fight, the Brazilian was looking to get the fight to the ground but Tavares managed to keep the contest on the feet and outstrike him to win a decision. After the fight, it was revealed Carlos Junior was released which caught him by surprise.

Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021

Jan Blachowicz knew the UFC had big plans for Israel Adesanya if he became a champ-champ at UFC 259. Entering the fight, Blachowicz said he would try to wrestle Adesanya early and stand with him late. However, the fight played out completely opposite as he stood and traded with Adesanya and in the championship rounds went to his wrestling to secure the win.

Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021

Robert Whittaker will still headline the April 17 card after all. Late Monday night, it was revealed Paulo Costa was out of his fight against Whittaker due to ongoing complications from COVID-19. The hope for the Brazilian was to push the fight back a couple of weeks. However, that will not be the case. According to Contreas Legaspi and later confirmed by ESPN, Gastelum has agreed to step up on short notice to fight Whittaker.

Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021

Aljamain Sterling and Matt Serra appear to be on good terms. In the lead-up to UFC 259, Sterling was training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas and added Eric Nicksick to his corner. With the addition of Nicksick, Serra was removed from the corner, and the former welterweight champion admitted he was very upset by the news. The former UFC welterweight champion also announced his retirement from cornering fighters which caused a ton of backlash on Sterling, who was already feeling the heat following the illegal knee DQ finish in the Petr Yan fight at UFC 259.

Adam D Martin - March 16, 2021

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo said that he wants to fight Max Holloway, saying he loves the “challenge.” Cejudo retired from the UFC following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020. However, despite being retired he has maintained an active social media profile and has called out a number of fighters over the past year or so, most notably Alexander Volkanovski. Considering Cejudo is just 34 years old, most fans and media believe he will fight again. If he does, then you can now add another potential opponent to the mix.

Adam D Martin - March 16, 2021

UFC executive Marc Ratner said that referee Herb Dean felt that middleweight Darren Stewart baited Eryk Anders into throwing an illegal knee. Anders was hurting Stewart up against the fence with punches and looked to be on his way to a win, but when Stewart went to the mat and took a knee, Anders nailed him in the head with an illegal knee and the fight was stopped. Dean declared the foul unintentional and thus the fight was ruled a No Contest. The fact Dean called it a No Contest instead of a DQ, which Petr Yan was hit with by referee Mark Smith when he nailed Aljamain Sterling in the head, left some fans who were watching take to social media to share their confusion on why one of these fights was a No Contest and why the other was a disqualification.

Harry Kettle - March 16, 2021

Marlon Vera has responded after Sean O’Malley claimed that he will be putting his “unbeaten” record on the line when he fights at UFC 260. O’Malley is set to fight Thomas Almeida at this month’s PPV event, but he’ll be doing so with a 12-1 professional MMA record after he was beaten by “Chito” at UFC 252 last summer.