UFC News

Cole Shelton - June 7, 2021

Colby Covington has blasted Dustin Poirier for allegedly dropping and taunting an amateur in training. Covington and Poirier used to train with each other at American Top Team. However, they had a big falling out after “Chaos” picked Khabib Nurmagomedov to beat him. After that, they then began taking shots at one another and now Covington claims Poirier taunted an amateur in training in the lead-up to the Nurmagomedov preparation.

Adam D Martin - June 7, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington says he’s “never even heard of” Khamzat Chimaev, asking “does this guy have a ranked win yet?” Covington is one of the top-ranked welterweights in the world and he is hoping to get a rematch with UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman for his next fight. However, one opponent Covington is not interested in is Chimaev, one of the welterweight division’s top prospects. Chimaev had an amazing UFC debut last summer when he finished three opponents in brutal fashion, but he has been dealing with health issues stemming from COVID-19 that have left him out of the Octagon since last September. Still, he says he is ready to get back into the cage this summer, and he wants to fight a top-15 opponent.

Harry Kettle - June 7, 2021

MMA reporter Ariel Helwani has confirmed that he will be leaving ESPN later this month after three successful years with the company. Helwani is one of the most famous mixed martial arts journalists of his generation and will continue to hold that title for as long as he decides to cover the sport. Prior to this he spent time with MMA Fighting, before making what he considered to be the dream move of his career by jumping ship to ESPN.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith announced himself that he will next fight in a UFC Fight Night main event against Ryan Spann. Smith mentioned the fight against Spann himself during the UFC Vegas 28 pre-show on Saturday, and ESPN later confirmed the booking. The two top-15 ranked light heavyweights will meet on September 18 in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card. There is no venue or location set for the event yet, but Las Vegas seems plausible.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight Augusto Sakai released a statement following his KO loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik at Saturday night’s UFC Vegas 28 event. Sakai and Rozenstruik was a Pick ’em fight at the sportsbooks, but it turned out to be a blowout win for Rozenstruik after he knocked Sakai out with one second left to go in the first of five scheduled rounds. For Sakai, this is his second straight loss in the Octagon after getting stopped by former UFC fighter Alistair Overeem in his last outing. This loss to Rozenstruik was Sakai’s opportunity to emerge as a legitimate title contender in the UFC heavyweight division, but following the KO loss, it’s back to the drawing board for him.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight Marcin Tybura says he is “motivated to take the next step” following his first-round TKO win over Walt Harris at UFC Vegas 28. Tybura survived an early onslaught of strikes from Harris in the first round of their co-main event fight at UFC Vegas 28 to storm back, take Harris to the ground, and pound him out with vicious punches on the mat. It was an incredible comeback by Tybura after being badly rocked early on in the fight, and it won him $50,000 for “Performance of the Night.” It also gave Tybura a five-fight win streak in the UFC heavyweight division, and he will be moving into the top-10 of the weight class after beating the No. 8 ranked Harris.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

Lightweight Alan Patrick called for a rematch with Mason Jones after an eye poke at UFC Vegas 28, saying “my vision was completely clouded.” Patrick and Jones met on the undercard of Saturday’s UFC Vegas 28 event. The first round of the fight saw Jones take it to Patrick, dropping the veteran and nearly finishing him with ground-and-pound before the horn at the end of the first round saved Patrick. The second round was beginning to look like more of the same, with Jones dominating the stanza, but an accidental eye poke by Jones caused a premature end to the fight when he caught Patrick in the eye with his fingers. Patrick told the referee and the cage-side physician that he couldn’t see, and the fight was waved off and ruled a No Contest for both fighters.

Adam Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio wants to fight Vicente Luque next after his “Fight of the Night” with Miguel Baeza at UFC Vegas 28. Ponzinibbio and Baeza met in a three-round welterweight bout that took place on Saturday’s main card, and it was an absolute war between two fighters who chose to stand and bang for the delight of the crowd. After Baeza won the first round with a series of brutal low kicks that left Ponzinibbio hobbling around the Octagon, the second round was a different story as Ponzinibbio was able to find his range with his punches and begin to put together combinations on Baeza’s head. The third round was more of the same and Ponzinibbio was named the winner via unanimous decision at the end of the 15 minutes. Both men were also awarded $50,000 for “Fight of the Night” for their incredible brawl.

Adam D Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC middleweight Antonio Arroyo issued a statement after Tom Breese withdrew from the pair’s fight at UFC Vegas 28 at the last minute. Arroyo and Breese were set to kick off the UFC Vegas 28 main card in an intriguing middleweight matchup, but the fight was canceled at the last minute after Breese was not able to make it to the Octagon due to medical issues. This is not the first time that Breese has had to withdraw from a fight the day of. In 2017, he was forced out of a middleweight bout against Oluwale Bamgbose. Then, in 2019, Breese was forced to pull out of a fight against Ian Heinisch after experiencing a panic attack. It’s unknown if his issues with anxiety were why the fight with Arroyo was scrapped, but it’s certainly plausible.

Adam D Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight Jairzinho Rozenstruik reacted after his KO win over Augusto Sakai at UFC Vegas 28, saying “Today, nothing could hold me back.” Rozenstruik knocked out Sakai in the first round of the UFC Vegas 28 main event to get back into the win column following a lackluster decision loss to Ciryl Gane his last time out. The fight between Rozenstruik and Sakai was low output through the early goings of the first round, but Rozenstruik exploded near the end of the first stanza and was able to clip Sakai and finish him with punches with just one second left in the round. Overall, it was an impressive victory for Rozenstruik and it earned him a $50,000 post-fight bonus award.

Adam D Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and his rival Marvin Vettori got in a heated war of words ahead of their rematch at UFC 263. Adesanya and Vettori meet for the second time inside the Octagon next Saturday night at UFC 263 with Adesanya’s 185lbs gold up for grabs. These two previously met in April 2018, with Adesanya edging out a split decision. They meet again three years later, only this time with Adesanya entering the fight as the champion. The rematch between these two rivals is one of the most highly-anticipated fights on next weekend’s stacked pay-per-view card, and both fighters made sure to talk some smack and help get more fans interested in it.

Adam D Martin - June 6, 2021

UFC heavyweight Tanner Boser sent a message to UFC president Dana White and the matchmakers following his split decision loss to Ilir Latifi. Boser dropped a narrow split decision to Latifi on the UFC Vegas 28 prelims. It was a competitive fight, and Boser did more damage with his strikes, but ultimately Latifi landed some key takedowns that swayed the judges to his favor. For the second straight fight, Boser has now lost a very close decision after losing on points to Andrei Arlovski in his last outing. After starting his UFC career 3-1 and looking like a potential future contender in the UFC heavyweight division, Boser is now just 3-3 in the UFC and could potentially be cut.

Chris Taylor - June 5, 2021

Walt Harris was looking to snap a two-fight losing skid when he squared off with Marcin Tybura at tonight’s UFC Vegas 28 event. Harris (13-10 MMA) had suffered back-to-back TKO losses to Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov in his most previous Octagon appearances.

Chris Taylor - June 5, 2021

The Octagon remained in Nevada for tonight’s UFC Vegas 28 event, a thirteen-bout fight card headlined by Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Augusto Sakai. The highly anticipated heavyweight main event resulted in another first round finish for ‘Bigi Boy’. After a lengthy feeling out process to begin the fight, Jairzinho Rozenstruik began to apply the pressure in the final two minutes. Eventually he was able to catch Augusto Sakai with a crisp combination that sent the Brazilian crashing down to the canvas. From there, Rozenstruik would finish the job with ground and pound.

Chris Taylor - June 5, 2021

Tonight’s UFC Vegas 28 event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between perennial division contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Augusto Sakai. Rozenstruik (12-2 MMA) had entered tonight’s headliner looking to rebound from his recent unanimous decision loss to Ciryl Gane. Prior to that setback, ‘Bigi Boy’ had earned a second round TKO victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos.

Chris Taylor - June 5, 2021

Tonight’s UFC Vegas 28 event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between perennial division contenders Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Augusto Sakai. Rozenstruik (11-2 MMA) will enter tonight’s headliner looking to rebound from his recent unanimous decision loss to Ciryl Gane. Prior to that setback, ‘Bigi Boy’ was coming off a second round TKO victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos.

Chris Taylor - June 5, 2021

Tonight’s UFC Vegas 28 event is co-headlined by an exciting heavyweight tilt as Walt Harris will be squaring off with Marcin Tybura. Harris (13-9 MMA) will be looking to snap a two-fight losing skid when he takes to the Octagon this evening. ‘The Big Ticket’ is coming off back-to-back TKO losses to Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov in his most recent efforts.

Chris Taylor - June 5, 2021

A welterweight bout featuring former contender Santiago Ponzinibbio squaring off with Miguel Baeza takes place on tonight’s UFC Vegas 28 main card. Ponzinibbio (27-4 MMA) will enter tonight’s contest looking to rebound from his first round knockout loss to Li Jingliang that occurred back in January. That bout marked Santiago’s first in over three years, and snapped his impressive seven-fight winning streak.