UFC welterweight contender Vicente Luque says he welcomed the ranking switch which saw him drop behind his upcoming opponent Michael Chiesa. Luque and Chiesa are set to go toe-to-toe this weekend at UFC 265. The Brazilian will be looking to end the 33-year-old’s winning streak at four and, in doing so, extend his own to
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The combat sports media continues to weep for struggling fighters like Cheyanne Buys, who broke down in tears after scoring a post-fight bonus at the UFC Vegas 33 event last weekend in “Sin City,” where she stopped Gloria de Paula in just 60 seconds. “The Warrior Princess” revealed a negative cash flow heading into her
UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is not buying Dana White’s explanation for the interim heavyweight title fight at UFC 265. On Thursday, the UFC president exclusively told MMA Junkie that he thinks the interim belt on the line between Derrick Lewis (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) and Ciryl Gane (9-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is the perfect
5:13 PM ET Fedor Emelianenko has an opponent for his homecoming fight. The all-time great MMA heavyweight will fight Tim Johnson on Oct. 23 in Moscow, Russia, Bellator announced Thursday. Emelianenko has not fought in his home country for five years and has not competed in Moscow in a decade. The bout is part of
Ciryl Gane has heard the criticism over his recent performances. Gane is set to compete in the biggest bout of his pro MMA career. He’ll collide with Derrick Lewis for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. The title clash will serve as the main event of UFC 265 inside the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Gane
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Fighter pay is perhaps the hot button topic in the UFC right now. For those interested in the numbers, there’s a major focus on the UFC revenue split (spoiler: UFC pays its athletes a considerably smaller percentage than most any other major sport) as well as multiple ongoing lawsuits, one of
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from July 2021: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s “Fight of the Month” award for July. At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by
12:48 PM ET The UFC’s first-ever women’s flyweight champion is no longer with the promotion. Nicco Montaño was released by the UFC this week, officials confirmed with ESPN on Wednesday. The decision comes on the heels of Montaño missing weight last Friday by 7 pounds, forcing the cancellation of her scheduled fight with Wu Yanan
UFC welterweight contender Vicente Luque is open to fighting Nate or Nick Diaz, and has pitched a “10-round UFC fight” against either man. Luque has long had interest in a clash with Nate, something which seems to have only increased since the 36-year-old’s last appearance. Despite being comfortably controlled for the best part of 24
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White is trying to get former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to make his heavyweight debut against former 265-pound titleholder Stipe Miocic, who is already on board for that contest. Don’t hold your breath. But if “Bones” opts to sit on the sidelines for another year, he can return
HOUSTON – Casey Kenney is expecting a thrilling back-and-forth contest with Song Yadong. Kenney (16-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) meets Yadong (16-5-1 MMA, 5-1-1 UFC) in the main card opener of UFC 265 on Saturday, where he’ll look to regain his momentum from his loss to former champion Dominick Cruz. The 30-year-old, who had a strong 2020, sees
1:44 PM ET Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will return to the Octagon in November. Rockhold (16-5) has agreed to face Sean Strickland (24-3) at UFC 268 on Nov. 6, multiple sources told ESPN. The UFC has not announced a location for the pay-per-view event, but the current target is New York City. The
Fedor Emelianenko finally has his opponent for Bellator Moscow. On October 23, Bellator MMA will host a grand MMA extravaganza when MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko competes in his home country of Russia. For weeks, there has been speculation of who will be his opponent, with people coming out of the woodwork to volunteer their services:
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Khabib Nurmagomedov is less than pleased with Conor McGregor. Following McGregor’s shin-snapping injury and subsequent loss to Dustin Poirier, Khabib congratulated “The Diamond” and remarked that “good always defeats evil.” A couple weeks afterward, McGregor returned fire with quickly deleted tweets, suggesting that by Khabib’s logic, his recently deceased father is
The Fedor Emelianenko sweepstakes is over. After weeks of speculation as to who will be one of the final career opponents for “The Last Emporer,” a frontrunner emerged. Bellator is finalizing a three-round main event for Emelianenko (39-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA), which will see him battle former UFC fighter Tim Johnson (15-7 MMA, 3-3 BMMA).
7:30 AM ET Mike Coppinger Marc Raimondi If Derrick Lewis beats Ciryl Gane in the UFC 265 main event Saturday night in Houston to capture the interim heavyweight title, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him scan the crowd for a familiar face. And he wouldn’t necessarily be searching for heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, who
Dana White has the door open for Bellator star AJ McKee to negotiate with the UFC. McKee made history Saturday night as he dethroned Bellator’s long-time featherweight champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire via first-round standing guillotine choke to claim the title at Bellator 263. The event took place at The Forum in Inglewood, California, which gave spectacle to
UFC lightweight contender Michael Chandler was recently booked to throw down against fellow Top 5 action fighter Justin Gaethje as part of the upcoming UFC 268 pay-per-view (PPV) event this November at Madison Square Garden in New York. There’s just one teeny, tiny little problem. Chandler, 35, has yet to receive a vaccination for COVID-19,