MMA news

8:05 PM ET UFC light heavyweight Glover Teixeira confirmed to ESPN the UFC offered him a title fight against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 282 on Dec. 10, and that he did in fact turn it down. Teixeira (33-8) was scheduled to challenge Jiri Prochazka (33-7) for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 282, but Prochazka

Anthony Smith’s take on Jon Jones likely will raise eyebrows – but he has an explanation. Smith (36-17 MMA, 11-7 UFC), who lost a unanimous decision to Jones in a title fight at UFC 235 in 2019, didn’t think he was competing against the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Considering Jones (26-1 MMA,

It seems like Conor McGregor is ready to fight again and is prepared to take the necessary steps to do so. There was some interest in the fact that McGregor was the only active fighter on the UFC roster to not have been drug tested by USADA in 2022. This then led to the revelation

Anthony Smith is ready to halt another rising contender. MMA Fighting confirmed an initial report from MMA Island today (Weds., Nov. 23, 2022) that top Ultimate Fighting Championship Light Heavyweight contenders, Smith (36-17) and Jamahal Hill (11-1, 1 no contest), will collide on March 11, 2023. The bout will headline the Fight Night event, but

4:53 PM ET UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka has vacated his 205-pound championship after suffering a severe shoulder injury, UFC president Dana White told ESPN on Wednesday. Prochazka (29-3-1), 30, was scheduled to defend his title against Glover Teixeira in the main event of UFC 282 on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas. He confirmed

Dustin Poirier recently won a war with Michael Chandler, defeating the former Bellator lightweight champion by third-round submission after a grueling 12 minutes at UFC 281. The victory keeps Poirier, a former interim champion, squarely in the 155-pound title picture despite the fact that he’s come up short twice before – against Khabib Nurmagomedov in

Former champion Jéssica Andrade is looking to regain her strawweight belt after her next win. Whenever there is a new champion crowned in the UFC, the possibilities for title shots become more open in that division. Now that Zhang Weili has defeated Carla Esparza at UFC 281, the top fighters in the strawweight division are

A long, long time ago (back in 2018/2019), Dillion Danis was an active Bellator fighter. Not too active — the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist stepped into the cage twice, winning both of his fights via first round submission. But, he was competing … and looking good. Then a severe knee injury completely derailed his career, and

7:07 PM ET Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was cleared Tuesday by a California court to perform on a professional wrestling show for the Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA, according to court records. Velasquez, 40, is still facing charges in an attempted murder case in Santa Clara County, and Tuesday’s decision comes less than

Undefeated UFC bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov has his first fight of 2023 booked. The younger cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov will step into the UFC’s octagon for the fourth time when he faces off against Raoni Barcelos on Jan. 14. A source with knowledge of the booking confirmed the matchup with MMA Junkie following the first report

Former UFC fighter Paige VanZant is taking her talents up to a gentlemen’s club in the Big Apple. From the moment she signed with the UFC, VanZant has always looked to find ways to market herself outside of the cage, arguably ultimately ending up more popular for those extracurricular efforts than the ones she was

Anthony Smith doesn’t feel Jon Jones is all he’s cracked up to be when further dissected. UFC 235 in March 2019 saw “Lionheart” challenge for his first world title, taking on the consensus best Light Heavyweight to ever compete, Jones. Since the unanimous decision loss, Smith has been vocal about his dismal performance and inability

9:24 AM ET The PFL has a lot going on in its fourth year of operations, including Challenger Series and PFL Europe, but make no mistake: Its biggest night is still its season finals. The 2022 World Championship will take place on Friday inside Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Two-time lightweight

A key UFC top 15 welterweight matchup is heading to Brazil. Gilbert Burns will get his wish of fighting in Rio de Janeiro at UFC 283 on Jan. 21, as a matchup against Neil Magny is in the works. Sources with knowledge of the pairing confirmed to MMA Junkie that verbal agreements are in place.

UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling is making a change in his MMA career. Long Island native Aljamain Sterling is looking to make the most out of his UFC career. Sterling became the UFC bantamweight champion and has now defended his title twice. He is at the very top of the sport and has mentioned on

Omari Akhmedov plans to win the PFL 2022 light heavyweight championship by defeating Rob Wilkinson on the pay-per-view (PPV) main card this Fri. night (Nov. 25, 2022) at Hulu Theater from Madison Square Garden in New York City. Each PFL champion will leave “The Empire State” with a $1 million purse, which should be enough

8:28 PM ET Sean O’Malley isn’t sure who the next challenger is for the UFC bantamweight title. But he firmly believes that the next time he steps in the Octagon, it will be for the belt. The rising UFC star told ESPN on Monday that he sat down with UFC president Dana White and matchmaker

LAS VEGAS – Charles Johnson thinks the judges got it right at UFC Fight Night 215. Johnson (12-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) edged out Zhalgas Zhumagulov (14-8 MMA, 1-5 UFC) by split decision this past Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was a decision that reportedly caused Zhumagulov to retire out of frustration. All