UFC News

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

In tonight’s UFC Raleigh co-headliner, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will square off with Michael Chiesa in a welterweight bout. Dos Anjos (29-12 MMA) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in his most recent Octagon appearance. Prior to the setback, ‘RDA’ had scored a submission victory Kevin Lee.

Natasha Hooper - January 25, 2020

ESPN’s sports commentator, Stephen A Smith has responded to criticism from UFC commentator Joe Rogan following last weekend’s Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone bout. During the UFC 246 main event on Saturday 18th December 2020, McGregor starched his opponent with some unorthodox shoulder strikes. He then followed up with a killer leg kick and strikes to seal the TKO victory over Cerrone in just 40 seconds of the first round. The rapid defeat didn’t go unnoticed by Smith who criticised ‘Cowboy’s’ performance:

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

The Octagon invades Raleigh this evening for UFC Fight Night 166, a twelve-bout fight card headlined by a heavyweight bout between Junior Dos Santos and Curtis Blaydes. The former UFC heavyweight champion, Dos Santos (21-6 MMA), will enter tonight’s main event looking to rebound, this after suffering a TKO loss to Francis Ngannou in June. Prior to the setback, ‘JDS’ had put together a three-fight win streak, which included victories over Blagoy Ivanov, Tai Tuivasa and Derrick Lewis.

Cole Shelton - January 24, 2020

Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira will headline the UFC’s upcoming trip to Lincoln, Nebraska in April. The promotion announced on Friday that the two will headline UFC Lincoln on April 25. The two have both been vocal about fighting one another, and sources told BJPENN.com the matchup was originally targeted for UFC Brasilia but Smith did not want to fight in Brazil. Instead, he will get his wish of fighting in the United States.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

In September of 2019, Dustin Poirier challenged the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight belt. Unfortunately for Poirier and his fans, the mission didn’t go as planned, as he was submitted by the champion in the third round. Despite this loss, Poirier is still determined to be become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion in the future. His brief reign as the interim lightweight champ, he says, just doesn’t cut it as far as his legacy is concerned.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Paige VanZant was out of action for almost all of 2019 due to a series of severe arm injuries. She was then booked for a return against Amanda Ribas at the upcoming UFC Brasilia card. Unfortunately, that planned comeback was fight was foiled by yet another arm injury. Speaking on Instagram, VanZant opened up on this new injury and promised that it will not keep her out of action for too long. She says she’ll fight again in May.

Adam Martin - January 24, 2020

UFC superstar Conor McGregor was handed his $50,000 bonus for Performance of the Night at UFC 246 in cash by UFC president Dana White. McGregor needed just 40 seconds to knock out Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246 to pick up his first win since a November 2016 TKO win over Eddie Alvarez. The UFC awarded McGregor a $50,000 bonus for the knockout win, joining Aleksei Oleinik, Carlos Diego Ferreira, Brian Kelleher, and Drew Dober as bonus winners.

Adam Martin - January 24, 2020

The UFC Raleigh weigh-ins took place Friday morning and all 24 fighters on the card made weight for this Saturday night’s event. In the main event, heavyweight Curtis Blaydes tipped the scales at 248lbs. His opponent, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, stepped onto the scales at 247lbs. Both men were well below the heavyweight non-title limit of 265lbs.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, both former UFC middleweight champions, went 2-0 across two entertaining grudge matches. In the first fight, Rockhold came out on top via submission. In the second, Bisping won via first-round knockout, winning the middleweight belt in the process. During an appearance on the UFC Unfiltered podcast to promote his new book Quitters Never Win: My Life in UFC, Bisping divulged that he was actually injured before his first fight with Rockhold.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Shortly after Conor McGregor stopped Donald Cerrone in the welterweight main event of UFC 246, he proudly proclaimed himself the first UFC fighter to pick up knockout wins at welterweight, lightweight and featherweight. McGregor’s arch rival Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to remind him of another multi-divisional feat. Using an image posted to Twitter, Nurmagomedov not-so-subtly reminded fight fans that McGregor has also been submitted in three weight classes. The Irishman tapped out to Nate Diaz at welterweight, to Nurmagomedov at lightweight, and to Joe Duffy at featherweight.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was expected to return to the cage against Jared Cannonier at UFC 248, but was later forced out of this matchup with personal issues. While it was and still is unclear what kind of personal issues caused Whittaker to withdraw from the fight, UFC President Dana White caused a tidal wave of speculation when he appeared to get emotional discussing Whittaker’s situation.

Cole Shelton - January 23, 2020

Junior dos Santos is not a fan of Curtis Blaydes’ wrestling centric style to say the least. In the main event of UFC Raleigh, the two will square off with JDS looking to get back into the win column. Blaydes, meanwhile, is looking to extend his winning streak.