UFC News

Josh Evanoff - May 2, 2024

If Dustin Poirier defeats UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in June, that could be it for him. ‘The Diamond’ is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC 299 in March. Back for the first time since a knockout loss to Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier faced the rising Benoit Saint-Denis. Despite some early success from ‘The God of War’, the longtime lightweight wound up scoring a second-round knockout win.

Susan Cox - May 2, 2024

Chael Sonnen is going to bat for Ilia Topuria following recent criticism of his BMF title demands for the Max Holloway fight. The undefeated Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA) most recently defeated Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA) by KO this past February at UFC 298.  With the victory ‘El Matador’ became the UFC featherweight champion.

Curtis Calhoun - May 2, 2024

A high-octane UFC featherweight clash between contenders Arnold Allen and Giga Chikadze has been added to UFC 304 on July 27th. MMA Junkie confirmed the news of the Allen vs. Chikadze booking this week after an initial report by journalist Léo Guimaraes.

Curtis Calhoun - May 2, 2024

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has addressed a prominent MMA content creator’s claims that he’s a homosexual. Jones is working towards an Octagon return after winning the UFC heavyweight title last year at UFC 285. He was booked to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 before withdrawing due to injury.

Harry Kettle - May 2, 2024

UFC star Paul Craig believes that the promotion would prefer for him to lose to Caio Borralho at UFC 301. This weekend, Paul Craig will make his return to the Octagon when he battles Caio Borralho. The Scot is coming off the back of three losses in his last four, but the veteran is still hungry to make an impact in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Harry Kettle - May 2, 2024

Sean O’Malley’s coach Tim Welch has weighed in on the recent Alexandre Pantoja/O’Malley sparring controversy. This weekend, Alexandre Pantoja will defend his UFC flyweight championship against Steve Erceg. As you may have heard, though, Pantoja has been talking a great deal in the build-up to this contest.

Harry Kettle - May 2, 2024

Cage Warriors champion Paul Hughes has explained why he decided to sign for PFL ahead of UFC. For those of you who don’t know, Paul Hughes is a fascinating lightweight prospect. From his fight style to his impressive 11-1 pro record, there was always going to be a lot of intrigue when it comes to where he was going to sign next. In the end, though, instead of joining the likes of fellow countrymen Conor McGregor and Ian Machado Garry in the UFC, he opted for PFL.

Zain Bando - May 1, 2024

Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), the UFC’s newly minted featherweight champion, is unhappy after recent comments from UFC color commentator Joe Rogan regarding Topuria’s intention not to immediately rematch Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) at UFC 305 in Australia in August. On a recent episode of “JRE,” the most widely-consumed podcast in the world, Rogan, who has been with the UFC since 2002 after a brief stint in the mid-90s, suggested that Topuria would not fight the former champion in Volkanovski based on rumors he had heard around the community.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

Alexander Volkanovski hails Jose Aldo as the greatest featherweight of all time. Volkanovski defeated Aldo en route to winning the featherweight title, and both are in the conversation of being the greatest ever. However, Volkanovski says he still has to give it to Aldo due to the length of his title reign, and being so dominant in wins makes him the featherweight GOAT.

Zain Bando - May 1, 2024

Michael Bisping is all too familiar with playing the underdog role. Despite Steve Erceg’s (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) similar position Saturday at UFC 301, Bisping said he plans to go conservative and pick Alexandre Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) to defend his flyweight title in his home country of Brazil. “Alexandre Pantoja, this man’s phenomenal,” Michael Bisping said.  “He’s pretty much gone through the entire flyweight division.  Brandon Moreno, the Royvals, the Kapes.  You name it, he’s been there and done it. He’s got no weak areas.  He’s got a strong mind.  He’s resilient.  He’s got an amazing gas tank.  He can strike.  He can wrestle.  He’s got world-class jiu-jitsu, and he’s a nasty bastard on top of it.”

Curtis Calhoun - May 1, 2024

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith’s relationship with fans has become fractured in recent years. Smith will face Vitor Petrino at UFC 301 this Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. He returns looking to snap a recent skid of losses in three of his last four fights, including a knockout loss to Khalil Rountree in December.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

In the main event of UFC 301, the flyweight title is up for grabs as Alexandre Pantoja looks to defend his belt against Steve Erceg. Heading into the fight, Pantoja is a -200 favorite while the challenger is a +154 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the flyweight title fight. The pros are unanimous in thinking Pantoja will remain the flyweight champ as they believe this is too big of a step up in competition for Erceg.

Curtis Calhoun - May 1, 2024

Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski detailed how Steve Erceg can drop jaws and secure the flyweight belt at UFC 301. Erceg will face UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in the UFC 301 main event on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. The No. 10 flyweight got the title shot despite a small sample size inside the UFC Octagon, capped off by a recent knockout of Matt Schnell.

Josh Evanoff - May 1, 2024

It appears that UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has better wrestling than Daniel Cormier believed. ‘Poatan’ is fresh off his return to the cage in the main event of UFC 300 last month. In the headliner of the historic event, Alex Pereria faced former champion Jamahal Hill. Ultimately, it took the Brazilian less than a round to knock out ‘Sweet Dreams’. However, Hill later stated that Herb Dean’s refereeing played a role in the defeat.

Josh Evanoff - May 1, 2024

Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo felt that he had to return to the UFC. ‘Junior’ famously retired from MMA after a unanimous decision defeat against Merab Dvalishvili in August 2022. For the next two years or so, Jose Aldo competed in the boxing ring. He compiled a 2-0-1 record and was in discussions for exhibitions with the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr. Instead, the former champion will return to the UFC.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

Jose Aldo got into a heated faceoff with Jonathan Martinez ahead of his return to the Octagon at UFC 301 on Saturday. Aldo is set to face Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event of UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It marks his first MMA fight since August of 2022 when he lost a decision to Merab Dvalishvili. Since then, the UFC allowed Aldo to take boxing fights, as he had three of them, but he will fight out his contract on Saturday.

Susan Cox - May 1, 2024

UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape is sending a warning to former middleweight title holder Israel Adesanya. Manel Kape (19-6 MMA) is sporting 4 victories in a row, his latest unanimous decision win coming against Felipe dos Santos (8-1 MMA) last September at UFC 293.

Susan Cox - May 1, 2024

Alex Volkanovski is telling Ilia Topuria to step up and start acting like a champion. The undefeated Topuria is the current UFC featherweight champion.