7:47 AM ET Jeff Wagenheim Seven championship bouts, with three of those fights for a belt occurring on the same night. Seven former champions trying to climb back toward the top. Old legends hanging on. New faces emerging. Between now and the end of June, there are a lot of must-see moments on the MMA
MMA news
Ben Askren knows he doesn’t have to be an elite boxer to beat Jake Paul. On April 17, Paul and Askren are set for a highly-anticipated boxing fight. Although Askren is far from a striker, he knows he is an elite-level athlete and to beat up Paul, he doesn’t have to become an elite boxer.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will return to the Octagon to defend his 205-pound title against longtime division contender Glover Teixeira, according to ESPN, at the UFC 266 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sept. 4. A city and venue have yet to be determined. Blachowicz (28-8) captured the vacant crown by smashing
By Farah Hannoun | April 14, 2021 11:42 am Jan Blachowicz’s next title defense is set for this fall. The UFC light heavyweight champion, Blachowicz (28-8 MMA, 11-5 UFC) will meet Glover Teixeira (32-7 MMA, 15-5 UFC) at UFC 266 on Sept. 4, Dana White revealed Wednesday to the promotion’s broadcast partner, ESPN. No venue
9:34 PM ET Australian Robert Whittaker admits Paulo Costa’s withdrawal from their UFC middleweight showdown “played with his OCD” but says that he has since reconciled himself to the change and is primed for a physical encounter with replacement Kelvin Gastelum. Whittaker (22-5) also says he has a couple of things “up his sleeve” should
After a slick performance against Nina Nunes at UFC on ABC 2, grappling phenom Mackenzie Dern is seeking a top-five ranking following the win. In a crossroads fight with a lot of pressure, Mackenzie Dern understood she was right on the outside of the top of the division (ranked #11). While Nunes was ranked at
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Jake Paul has made plenty of headlines talking trash to MMA fighters. Aside from his upcoming boxing match vs. Ben Askren, Paul has his eyes set on a showdown with Conor McGregor … even if the Irishman’s loss to Dustin Poirier downgraded the value of the bout. Though he labeled Poirier
By Farah Hannoun | April 13, 2021 11:05 pm Before he was booked for the UFC on ESPN 22 headliner, Robert Whittaker took out another contender in his quest to regain the middleweight title. A former UFC middleweight champion, Whittaker faced Jared Cannonier in the co-main event of UFC 254, which took place Oct. 24
8:12 AM ET UFC 261 on April 24 will be the first time Zhang Weili enters the Octagon since a capacity crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas roared in appreciation of her first title defense on March 7, 2020. It will also mark the first time a packed house will be on hand
Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier have engaged in a full-on war of words that has reached a level that may have canceled their UFC 264 fight. Yesterday, Dustin Poirier issued a response to Conor McGregor’s fourth-round KO prediction by mostly just outing him for reneging on his agreement to donate to The Good Fight Foundation.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will make his Octagon return against No. 2-ranked contender Cory Sandhagen in the upcoming UFC Vegas 26 main event on May 8 inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas. And he’ll do it as the +145 underdog. That’s according to BetOnline.ag, who pegged Sandhagen as
By MMA Junkie Staff | April 13, 2021 12:10 pm Follow @MMAjunkie ONE on TNT I last week saw the returns of Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez in their first fights since well before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was a tough night to say the least. In the main event, Johnson was finished for
12:06 PM ET Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier built up a lot of good will prior to their non-title fight at UFC 257 in January, but that good will appears to be gone. The two lightweights lashed out at each other on social media on Sunday, less than three months ahead of their scheduled trilogy
Scheduled to fight the legend Shinya Aoki at ONE Championship on April 28, Sage Northcutt will be unable to compete because he is still suffering from lasting COVID-19 effects. The news is unfortunate because ONE just started its journey with North American broadcasting after the promotion televised its first show on TNT last week. While
Welcome to Midnight Mania! Over the weekend, news broke that UFC Flyweight Jimmy Flick announced his retirement at a regional promotion. It came as a definite surprise; Flick had a majorly successful 2020, winning four fights that included an LFA title, “Contender Series” victory, and incredible flying triangle in his UFC debut that earned him
By Matt Erickson and Ken Hathaway | April 12, 2021 10:00 pm LAS VEGAS – Mateusz Gamrot beat Scott Holtzman with a second-round knockout Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ABC 2 in Las Vegas. Take a look inside the fight with Gamrot, who got his first UFC win after a loss to
7:32 AM ET Jorge Masvidal doesn’t view his UFC 261 main event as his last shot at UFC gold, but only because he won’t allow himself to accept the possibility he’ll lose to champion Kamaru Usman. “I feel like every fight, I have to win,” Masvidal told ESPN. “But, no, I don’t feel like [this
Mike Perry is uncertain about his future after a second straight loss, but he does know that he will be giving his next fight all he has. Mike Perry is in low spirits after losing to Daniel Rodriguez at UFC on ABC 2. Once viewed as one of the most promising prospects in the UFC’s