UFC News

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC women’s strawweight contender Carla Esparza told Claudia Gadelha to “leave the grease at home” for a potential rematch between the two rivals. Esparza and Gadelha previously fought at UFC 225 in June 2018, with Gadelha winning a tight split decision in a fight that many believe Esparza deserved to win. Following the fight, Esparza accused Gadelha of greasing, with the Brazilian firing back at the American, saying that she was just making excuses for why she lost the fight.

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC president Dana White said that as far as he’s aware Rose Namajunas is the lone UFC fighter to not want to fight during the coronavirus pandemic. Namajunas was set to fight Jessica Andrade at the original UFC 249 card but understandably withdrew from the event after several members of her family passed away from COVID-19. The promotion told fighters on the roster during a conference call that no one is forced to fight during the coronavirus pandemic and it wouldn’t be held against any fighter if they choose not to fight.

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC president Dana White said that he disagreed with the judges in the Dan Ige fight, saying that he scored the bout in favor of Edson Barboza. Ige won a highly controversial split decision, with the judges awarding him the bout 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28 over Barboza, who also dropped a highly-scrutinized decision to Paul Felder in his last fight at UFC 242. Many pros reacted to the decision on social media, with the majority of those commenting saying they believed Barboza had done enough to beat Ige. Count White among those who thought that Barboza won.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC bantamweight legend Urijah Faber believes the referee stopped the Dominick Cruz vs. Henry Cejudo fight at UFC 249 too soon. Cejudo dropped Cruz with a knee and then followed it up with a barrage of punches which led to referee Keith Peterson stepping in and waving off the contest. Immediately following the stoppage Cruz protested it, saying that he was fine and that Peterson stopped it too early. After the event, Cruz accused Peterson of using “alcohol and cigarettes” prior to reffing the fight.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

After finishing his opponent via second-round TKO, UFC heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem embraced his opponent Walt Harris at UFC Florida. Harris came into the fight under difficult circumstances. Last October, Harris’ daughter Aniah Blanchard was kidnapped and murdered in his native Alabama. Her death led to him understandably withdrawing from his previously-scheduled bout against Overeem at UFC Washington, D.C.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

The judges’ scorecards have been released for the hotly-debated featherweight fight at UFC Florida between Dan Ige and Edson Barboza. In his first fight since dropping down to featherweight, Barboza appeared to have done enough to win the first two rounds against Ige and take home a decision, but the judges gave the bout to Ige via split decision instead. It’s the second straight controversial split decision loss in a row for Barboza after dropping another hotly-debated decision to Paul Felder at UFC 242. For Ige, meanwhile, that makes it six straight wins, with Barboza representing the biggest name on his resume thus far.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera blasted the judges following a highly controversial unanimous decision loss to Song Yadong at UFC Florida. Vera and Yadong went back-and-forth for 15 minutes and each man won a share of the “Fight of the Night” bonus for their tremendous showings in the fight. Many felt that while it was a competitive fight, it should have been Vera getting his hand raised. But the judges decided to go in the opposite direction, with all three judges scoring the fight 29-28 in favor of Yadong, giving Yadong the first two round and Vera the last.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz reacted to the officiating in the UFC Florida main event of Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris. Harris hurt Overeem badly with punches in the first round, but referee Dan Miragliota let Overeem fight out of it. The veteran then came back to win via TKO in the second round. During the first round, some observers remarked that Miragliotta gave Overeem much more leeway than Cruz was given last weekend against Henry Cejudo at UFC 249.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC heavyweight contender Walt Harris has released a statement following his second-round TKO loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC Florida. Harris started off strong in the fight, knocking Overeem down and nearly finishing him off with strikes in the first, before tiring in the second and getting ground-and-pounded for a TKO loss. It was a disappointing loss for Harris considering how well he started off the fight, but considering everything he’s gone through in his personal life in the last year, just stepping into the cage was a victory in itself.

Chris Taylor - May 17, 2020

UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo decided to call it a career following his recent title defense against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. ‘Triple C’ squared off with ‘The Dominator’ in the co-headliner of last weekend’s pay-per-view event in Jacksonville. The result was a second round TKO victory for Cejudo, marking the first time he had defended his bantamweight throne.

Chris Taylor - May 17, 2020

UFC strawweights standouts Claudia Gadelha and Angela Hill collided in the co-headliner of tonight’s UFC on ESPN 8 event in Jacksonville. The former title challenger, Gadelha (18-4 MMA), was returning to action for the first time since July’s UFC 239 event in Las Vegas, where she scored a unanimous decision victory over Randa Markos.

Harry Kettle - May 16, 2020

Controversial UFC star Colby Covington took it upon himself to take a shot at Alistair Overeem prior to his main event fight this evening. “Chaos” has been looking to return to the cage ever since he was humbled in his UFC Welterweight Championship clash against Kamaru Usman, which was a fight that left him with a fractured jaw.