Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - October 26, 2021

Jiri Prochazka is excited to possibly be fighting for UFC gold on Saturday in Abu Dhabi. In the main event of UFC 267, Jan Blachowicz is set to defend his light heavyweight title against Glover Teixeira. When the fight was announced, it was rumored Prochazka would serve as the backup fighter, which he says he confirmed right away.

Cole Shelton - October 26, 2021

Jan Blachowicz is confident he will score another KO win to defend his light heavyweight for the second time. After Blachowicz defeated Israel Adesanya back in March to defend his belt for the first time, he knew his next fight would be against Glover Teixeira. The two will meet in the main event of UFC 267, and the Pole knows this will be the best Teixeira ever, due to the fact this is his final title shot.

Andrew Whitelaw - October 25, 2021

When it comes to the various rulesets in MMA, Rich Franklin is a man whose opinion should carry plenty of weight. The former UFC middleweight champion and Hall-of-Famer has fought under the unified rules, competed in Japan, and since 2014 – he’s been the vice president at ONE Championship. Rulesets have been a hot topic in MMA recently, particularly after Petr Yan lost the UFC bantamweight title via DQ for kneeing Aljamain Sterling when he was grounded. In contrast, Adriano Moraes retained his ONE flyweight title in April by knocking out Demetrious Johnson with a knee when DJ was grounded.

Drake Riggs - October 25, 2021

FORT LAUDERDALE — Kayla Harrison will be a free agent after this Wednesday’s PFL 2021 Championship. Appearing during the fight week’s media day, Harrison answered the usual round of questions – lastly focusing on comments from Dana White earlier in the day.

Cole Shelton - October 22, 2021

Jeff Molina is eager to step back into the Octagon, despite not knowing much about his UFC Vegas 41 opponent, Daniel Da Silva. Molina is coming off his UFC debut where he beat Aoriqileng by decision. It was also the Fight of the Night at UFC 261. After the win, Molina wasn’t sure what would be next but he now gets to welcome Da Silva to the Octagon.

Cole Shelton - October 21, 2021

Brent Primus knows his next fight will be for the Bellator’s lightweight title. Primus picked up a massive win last Saturday at Bellator 267 as he beat Benson Henderson by decision. In the fight, Primus was close to finishing it a couple of times, and despite not finishing the fight, he’s pleased with his performance.

Cole Shelton - October 21, 2021

Ike Villanueva wanted to fight again this year and he gets his wish as he will face Nick Negumereanu at UFC Vegas 41 on Saturday. Villanueva is coming off a TKO loss to Marcin Prachnio back in June. He will now face Negumereanu who picked up his first UFC win last time out. For Villanueva, he’s eager to get back in there and show off his improvements.

Cole Shelton - October 20, 2021

Ricky Glenn wanted to be active this year after having hip surgery that kept him out of action from November 2018 until June of 2021 when he made his return. In his return fight, Glenn moved up to lightweight and scored a 37-second KO win over Joaquim Silva. After the fight, he thought he would get a quick turnaround, but nothing came up until he saw Diego Ferreira pulled out of his fight with Grant Dawson and Glenn jumped at the opportunity to face him at UFC Vegas 41.

Cole Shelton - October 19, 2021

Tim Johnson says it is still surreal to think he is fighting Fedor Emelianenko in Russia, in what could be the Russian’s final fight. When Bellator announced Emelianenko would be fighting back home in Russia, many thought he would be fighting a fellow legend. Yet, that wasn’t the case as instead, he will be fighting Johnson at Bellator 269, who has a theory as to why Emelianenko picked him.

Cole Shelton - October 19, 2021

Grant Dawson was supposed to get his shot to enter the lightweight rankings back on October 2 against Diego Ferreira, but Ferreira was forced out of the fight. After Dawson heard the news that Ferreira was out of the fight, he admits it was frustrating and disappointing. However, he made it clear to the UFC he still wanted to fight in October and he got his wish as he will face Ricky Glenn at UFC Vegas 41.

Drake Riggs - October 15, 2021

PHOENIX — Corey Anderson is rather familiar with each fighter competing for the UFC light heavyweight crown at UFC 267 on Fight Island. The current Bellator 205-pound contender saw his last defeat come against the current titlist in Jan Blachowicz when squaring off in February 2020 – his final bout with the UFC. Two wins prior, Anderson scored a unanimous decision nod against Blachowicz’s upcoming challenger in Glover Teixeira.

Cole Shelton - October 15, 2021

Casey O’Neill is currently the 14th-ranked flyweight, but she is in no rush to move up the ranks. O’Neill is 3-0 in the UFC and coming off a TKO win over Antonina Shevchenko, which was her third UFC win, with all of them coming by finish and happening this year. Although she has had a mediocre rise, she says it’s still surreal to think about.

Drake Riggs - October 15, 2021

PHOENIX — Ryan Bader is known as “Darth” when entering the cage. However, the current Bellator heavyweight champ has hoped to use another nickname. Bader is 13-2 (1 no contest) in his last 16 bouts overall putting him on the most dominant stretch of his career by capturing titles in two weight classes. Therefore utilizing the nickname of “The Master” seems fitting… until piecing it all together.

Drake Riggs - October 14, 2021

PHOENIX — Julia Budd is making the move to the PFL after a championship run with Bellator. The first and former women’s featherweight champion in Bellator history suffered a single defeat in her run with the promotion when facing Cris “Cyborg” Justino in January 2020. Budd (15-3) rebounded with two wins over Jessica Miele and Dayana Silva.

Cole Shelton - October 14, 2021

Damon Jackson is happy with his win over Charles Rosa but is a tad disappointed he didn’t get the finish. Jackson dominated the majority of the fight as he controlled Rosa on the ground and had a few submission attempts. However, Rosa fought out of it and went 15 minutes with Jackson.

Cole Shelton - October 14, 2021

Bibiano Fernandes is excited to finally make the walk to the cage once again. Fernandes hasn’t fought since October of 2019 where he submitted Kevin Belingon to defend his bantamweight title. It was his third straight fight against Belingon, where Fernandes won the final two fights. Since the win, however, COVID-19 and a contract dispute kept Fernandes out of the cage.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2021

Casey O’Neill knew she would be able to finish Antonina Shevchenko in their UFC Vegas 38 fight. O’Neill was 2-0 in the UFC with two finishes but early on, Shevchenko had success. She had O’Neill in a troubling spot but the 24-year-old was able to get out of it and then take over the round. In the second round, she dominated it and eventually got the stoppage win.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2021

Demetrious Johnson didn’t have any hesitation when he got the call to have a special rules fight against Rodtang. At ONE X in December, Johnson and Rodtang will fight in a special rules bout. The first and third rounds will be muay Thai will the second and fourth will be MMA. The rounds will also be three minutes and for Johnson, he’s super excited for the fight.