UFC News

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2020

Chael Sonnen has some choice words for Jon Jones after the former UFC light heavyweight champ got busy on Twitter over the weekend. Jones was extremely active on the social media platform after Saturday’s UFC 254 card, explaining in a multi-Tweet tirade why he—not UFC 254 main event winner Khabib Nurmagomedov—is MMA’s pound-for-pound king. See some of the highlights of his arguments below:

Harry Kettle - October 26, 2020

UFC featherweight Jeremy Stephens has been forced out of his November 7 fight against Arnold Allen, MMA Junkie reports. Stephens has been pulled from the fight due to an injury but the problem isn’t expected to take long for him to recover from, and the veteran is expected to return in late 2020 or early 2021. The fight would’ve given “Lil Heathen” the opportunity to bounce back from a run of five fights without a win dating all the way back to February 2018.

Harry Kettle - October 26, 2020

Josh Thomson has taken a shot at Nate Diaz after he seemed to poke fun at Khabib Nurmagomedov after UFC 254. The mixed martial arts world was quick to praise Khabib after his phenomenal win over Justin Gaethje on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi. Alas, while many were happy for the Russian, Nate Diaz wasn’t quite as friendly by putting up a tweet that simply said “29 and 1”.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2020

Nate Diaz was not among the many fighters who congratulated Khabib Nurmagomedov following his victory and subsequent retirement at UFC 254. In the headliner of Saturday’s pay-per-view event on Yas Island, ‘The Eagle’ put his undefeated record and lightweight world title on the line against reigning interim champion Justin Gaethje.

Chris Taylor - October 25, 2020

A key middleweight bout between former division champion Robert Whittaker and surging contender Jared Cannonier co-headlined yesterday’s UFC 254 event. The bout had massive stakes for ‘The Killa Gorilla’, as UFC President Dana White had already confirmed that if Cannonier could defeat Whittaker he would then earn the next title shot against Israel Adesanya.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa called out Robert Whittaker following his unanimous decision win over Jared Cannonier at UFC 254. Costa is coming off of a TKO loss to UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in a failed bid to capture the belt at UFC 253. With Whittaker coming off the win over Cannonier, who was arguably next in line to fight Adesanya next, UFC president Dana White said that Whittaker vs. Adesanya is interesting. But Costa is now throwing a wrench in those potential plans by calling out for the Whittaker fight himself.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz claims that Khabib Nurmagomedov has not vacated the UFC lightweight title despite announcing his retirement. After dominating Justin Gaethje and finishing him with a second-round triangle choke in the main event of UFC 254, Nurmagomedov shocked the world when he announced his retirement from MMA. The long-time UFC lightweight champion cited numerous reasons as to why he is hanging up his gloves but pointed specifically to the loss of his father Abdulmanap due to COVID-19 in July. He said that he didn’t want to continue without his father and promised his mother that the fight with Gaethje would be his last in the UFC.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

Two of the three Octagon-side judges had Khabib Nurmagomedov losing the first round of his fight to Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Nurmagomedov ended up submitting Gaethje with a second-round triangle choke anyways, but it’s still interesting nonetheless to see how the judges scored the first round. According to the official scorecards, judges Sal D’Amato and Ben Cartlidge both saw the first round 10-9 in favor of the challenger Gaethje. Only judge Derek Cleary had the first round 10-9 in favor of the champion Nurmagomedov. See the scorecards below.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

Newly-signed free agent lightweight Michael Chandler is calling for a four-man tournament to crown the new UFC lightweight champion. Chandler finds himself in a tremendous position in the UFC lightweight division despite having not fought yet for the promotion. The UFC tabbed him as the backup fighter for the UFC 254 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, but he wasn’t needed for the event. With Nurmagomedov retiring from MMA and giving up his title, the lightweight division is now more wide open than it ever has been.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

MMA great Henry Cejudo praises retired UFC champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier, proclaiming that “Wrestling is life.” Cejudo retired from mixed martial arts in May following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz, giving up his UFC bantamweight title in the process. As for Cormier, he retired following a decision loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 252. And of course, Nurmagomdov retired following his submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 this weekend of Fight Island.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

The opening betting odds have been released for the upcoming welterweight main event between Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards. Chimaev is one of the hottest fighters in the sport right now. Since making his UFC debut on Fight Island in July, Chimaev has defeated John Phillips, Rhys McKee, and Gerald Meerschaert, all by stoppage. He has been asking the UFC for a big fight since the Meerschaert KO in September, and the promotion was finally able to land an opponent.

Adam Martin - October 25, 2020

UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby anointed Khabib Nurmagomedov as the greatest fighter in MMA history, saying he is “obviously (the) GOAT.” Shelby has been the UFC matchmaker for the better part of the last decade and before that, he was the matchmaker of the WEC. He has been in the game for over 20 years working as a matchmaker at the highest levels of the sport so his eye for talent is up there with anyone else on the planet. Shelby doesn’t speak much in the media, preferring to keep a low profile, but he had to speak up after Nurmagomedov retired from MMA.