Anthony Johnson will not be competing in the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix semifinal against champion Vadim Nemkov due to illness. MMA Junkie was the first to reveal Johnson’s removal from the grand prix tournament on Saturday. The illness is not COVID-related, and there is no timetable for Johnson’s return to action at this time.
MMA news
What, you thought boxing’s freak show addiction would taper off after last week’s Evander Holyfield vs. Vitor Belfort debacle? Former World’s Strongest Man and “The Mountain” from Game of Thrones, Hafthor “Thor” Bjornsson, was originally slated to settle a long-standing feud with Eddie Hall today (Sept. 18, 2021), but with Hall out of commission due
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Grant Neal spoke with the media Thursday ahead of his light heavyweight fight with Alex Polizzi at Bellator 266. Neal (6-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA) discussed his bout with Polizzi (8-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), whom he called a “phenomenal opponent,” and how he expects “extreme violence.” But if it ends up being
4:54 PM ET Joseph Benavidez, one of the most influential lighter-weight fighters in MMA history, is hanging up the gloves. Benavidez told ESPN on Wednesday that he is retiring from the UFC after 10 years with the promotion and 15 years as a pro overall. News of Benavidez no longer being on the UFC roster
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Despite officially abandoning the division and remaining in an extended state of negotiation purgatory, Jon Jones’ name still hangs over the Light Heavyweight division. Champion Jan Blachowicz may be done chasing the fight, but there’s still a percentage of the fan base that only thinks about the 205-pound belt in the
If Vitor Belfort gets his way, then he’ll be sharing the ring with Canelo Alvarez and Tyson Fury. Belfort recently made his return to the boxing ring against 58-year-old legend Evander Holyfield. It wasn’t a pretty sight for fans of the “Real Deal.” Belfort knocked Holyfield down early and while the former heavyweight and cruiserweight
UFC president Dana White is not interested in Jake Paul’s recent proposal to fight Jorge Masvidal. With White continuously mocking Paul’s choice of opposition, the YouTube star offered to fight Masvidal, so he can exploit prime UFC fighters’ “lack of boxing ability.” But White thinks Paul should pivot to the likes of former UFC middleweight
8:07 AM ET Just one year ago, UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith‘s career was in jeopardy. At least that’s surely how it felt. At this time in 2020, Smith (35-16) was coming off back-to-back losses to Glover Teixeira and Aleksandar Rakic. The losses came just three months apart, which was remarkable considering the amount of
Dana White is telling self-proclaimed reformed bully Jake Paul something that bullies around the world have always heard: Pick on someone your own size. YouTuber turned professional boxer Jake Paul is off to a 4-0 start and has raked in piles of cash along the way. However, in spite of getting off to a strong
Find out why professionals are using BoxBandz Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just over 24 hours away from its upcoming UFC Vegas 37 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Anthony Smith and Ryan Spann this Sat. night (Sept. 18, 2021) on ESPN+ from inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las
By Matthew Wells | September 16, 2021 10:42 pm ET Follow @mrmwells The 100th Cage Fury Fighting Championships event delivered a number of highlight-reel moments, including a controversial moment in the main event title fight. A new lightweight champion was crowned as Blake Smith forced a tap from now-former champ Zulkarnaiyn Kamchybekov. Initially, the moment
6:35 PM ET Carlos Condit, one of the best MMA welterweights of the aughts and beyond, has retired from the UFC, his longtime manager, Malki Kawa of First Round Management, confirmed Thursday with ESPN. Nicknamed “The Natural Born Killer,” Condit was a former UFC interim welterweight champion and had been with the promotion for 12
Three-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion Bo Nickal is trading his singlet for mixed martial arts (MMA) gloves, Nickal, 25, will make his MMA debut against David Conley (1-0) at Island Fights 69 inside the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. on Fri., Sept. 24, according to MMA Junkie. The middleweight contest will be contested
In Las Vegas, Nevada, inside the APEX, UFC Vegas 37 will pit Ryan “Superman” Spann against the scrappy and charismatic Anthony Smith. Smith will fight down in the rankings once again to remind the light heavyweight division that sometimes the best talking you do is with your hands. It’s safe to say that Smith is
By MMA Junkie Staff | September 16, 2021 4:20 pm ET Follow @MMAjunkie Gripe all you want, but this whole thing with MMA fighters crossing over to boxing looks like it’s here to stay. Former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was back in the boxing ring this past week and knocked out fellow former
9:57 PM ET UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno‘s first title defense will come against a very familiar foe — former champion Deiveson Figueiredo. Moreno (19-5-2) agreed on Wednesday to defend his 125-pound championship against Figueiredo (20-2-1) at UFC 269 on Dec. 11 at a site to be determined. Contracts for the matchup should be finalized
Sean Strickland is at it again with another NSFW promo, with upcoming opponent Luke Rockhold as the recurrent target. At UFC 268, Sean Strickland and Luke Rockhold will settle their accumulating differences when they throw down inside Madison Square Garden. In the meantime, they are filling the gap between the present and their upcoming Octagon time
Triller Fight Club staged the “Legends II” pay-per-view (PPV) event back on Sept. 11 in Hollywood, Fla., headlined by the heavyweight boxing match between the reanimated corpse of Evander Holyfield and Brazilian TRT ambassador Vitor Belfort. Anderson Silva’s drubbing of Tito Ortiz served as co-headliner. Belfort was originally booked to throw down with Oscar De