UFC News

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2021

Justin Gaethje was very happy to see Conor McGregor get knocked out by Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. Throughout McGregor’s career, he has been full of trash talk, but in his last two fights that have changed. However, the Irishman and Gaethje have still taken shots at one another, and many thought they would fight last year, but it never came to fruition. After all the talk, “The Highlight” says he loved seeing a loudmouth like McGregor get knocked out.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

Controversial mixed martial arts referee Mario Yamasaki has outlined his plans to return to officiating the sport in 2021. Yamasaki has not worked as a referee since February of 2018, when he was on duty for a Fight Night in Belem, Brazil. He was the subject of much controversy that night, after he allowed Priscila Cachoeira to sustain far more punishment that most viewers deemed necessary in a fight with future UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

UFC featherweight Max Holloway was chosen as the top performer for the month of January by several fighters, including Michael Chandler. Holloway had what some say is the single-greatest performance in UFC history earlier this month on Fight Island, when he beat down the durable Calvin Kattar for five rounds, landing a world-record 445 significant strikes along the way. It was an absolutely phenomenal victory by Holloway that will almost assuredly guarantee he fights for the featherweight belt later this year. It’s also the type of big win that had him a near-unanimous winner of the UFC performer of the month crown for January.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

UFC legends Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier have been friends for many years, and have been known to swap some light hearted trash talk on occasion. That’s exactly what happened when Cormier presented Nurmagomedov with the UFC’s Submission of the Year award for 2020.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2021

Entering UFC Fight Island 8, Ike Villanueva was calling his fight against Vinicius Moreira his Game 7 and it was do-or-die for his UFC career. Both men were winless in the UFC. But, Villanueva knew if he touched the chin of Moreira he would go down. However, early on in the fight, the Brazilian had a high guard. That forced Villanueva to attack the body which would then set up the KO punch.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

UFC veteran Gray Maynard said seeing Spencer Fisher with dementia was the “turning point” for him to warn fighters of the dangers in MMA. Fisher recently shared his story about the true costs of competing in combat sports in an in-depth interview with MMAFighting.com. A long-time UFC veteran, the 44-year-old Fisher came out and shared with MMA fans that he has dementia. During part of the story, there was an anecdote with Fisher and Maynard, who had met him at the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. According to Maynard, seeing Fisher in the poor condition he was in marked the turning point for “The Bully” to come out and warn other fighters about low pay the very real dangers of long-term brain trauma.

Adam Martin - January 27, 2021

The poster for the upcoming UFC 258: Usman vs. Burns pay-per-view has been officially unveiled ahead of next month’s highly-anticipated card. UFC 258 is set to take place on February 13 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be headlined by UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman against top contender Gilbert Burns. This is actually the third time the promotion has attempted to book this matchup, following two previous botched attempts at UFC 251 and UFC 256. Fingers crossed that both Usman and Burns will remain fully healthy and they are able to meet inside the Octagon in just over two weeks.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last Saturday’s UFC 257 card on Fight Island, and as expected there have been some big changes. Most notably, former two-division champion Conor McGregor has fallen in the pound-for-pound and lightweight rankings after being stopped by Dustin Poirier in the card’s main event.

Tom Taylor - January 27, 2021

Michael Chiesa has shared his ideal matchmaking strategy for Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, and several other lightweight stars. Poirier and McGregor took center stage last weekend, colliding in the main event of UFC 257. The bout was a rematch of a 2014 featherweight fight that McGregor won by knockout, but this time around, Poirier evened the score with a second-round TKO win.

Harry Kettle - January 27, 2021

UFC lightweight Charles Oliveira believes a win over Dustin Poirier could be enough to lure Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement. Oliveira, who is coming off the back of a resounding win over Tony Ferguson, has emerged as one of the primary contenders alongside Michael Chandler to possibly fight Dustin Poirier for the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Harry Kettle - January 27, 2021

Alistair Overeem and Alexander Volkov are set to kick off the UFC’s February schedule at UFC Vegas 18. Event: UFC Vegas 18: Overeem vs. Volkov Date: Saturday, 6th February 2021 Location: UFC APEX, Las Vegas, Nevada Broadcast: ESPN+ – 8pm EST (Main card)

Drake Riggs - January 26, 2021

Jake Paul vs. former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king Ben Askren is officially on. Despite that, the YouTube star is already thinking ahead. Having directed trash talk and video call outs at several of MMA’s most notable names, Paul hasn’t left out Stockton’s Nate Diaz. Unsurprisingly, The Ultimate Fighter season 5 winner has fired back at the younger Paul brother where he’s responded saying Jake “needs his ass beat for free”.

Adam Martin - January 26, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Khamzat Chimaev looked sharp on the pads during a recent training session with Alexander Gustafsson in Sweden. Chimaev finally returns to the Octagon on March 13 when he takes on Leon Edwards. The fight between these two rivals has been booked twice previously but each time it fell apart after both men tested positive for COVID-19. Chimaev was said to have had a rough battle with the coronavirus and was slow to make his recovery, pushing this bout back from its intended January 20 date to March 13. He appears to finally be healthy and he’s back in the gym at Allstars Training Center in Stockholm.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Georges St-Pierre thought Conor McGregor would beat Dustin Poirier at UFC 257. Entering the fight, McGregor was the betting favorite and many thought he would KO Poirier again. However, that is far from what happened as “The Diamond” used leg kicks to hurt the Irishman and then went up top to knock him out which shocked St-Pierre.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Firas Zahabi thinks when the going gets tough for Conor McGregor he gives up and believes that was the case against Dustin Poirier. In the main event of UFC 257, McGregor made his return to the Octagon to rematch Poirier. Early on in the fight, the Irishman had success and landed a solid shut that stunned Poirier. However, “The Diamond” started to leg kick McGregor and after the Irishman’s leg went “dead” Poirier went up top and knocked him out.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2021

Despite not fighting in 2020, Ben Saunders knows his year wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. After Saunders was knocked out by Matt Brown at UFC 245, his contract with the UFC was over and they chose not to re-sign him. The hope for the veteran was to quickly sign with another promotion and get back to the UFC. However, like most people’s 2020, Saunders’ year did not go as planned as no opportunities came up. With his dad battling a rare form of blood cancer, it also put Saunders in a difficult spot.

Adam Martin - January 26, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor says he could hear Thiago Alves in the corner of Dustin Poirier encouraging him to kick his legs. McGregor was knocked out by Poirier in the second round of their fight with punches, but all those nasty low kicks Poirier landed before the finishing blows contributed to the knockout. The Irishman’s mobility became severely limited from the low kicks and they directly contributed to the win. Poirier, of course, comes from American Top Team, where many fighters utilize leg kicks to great success. One of ATT’s most notorious low kickers was Alves, the former UFC welterweight who is now a coach.

Tom Taylor - January 26, 2021

The UFC championship belt that Colby Covington gave former United States President Donald Trump is reportedly worth just $650. Covington is one of several dedicated Trump supporters on the UFC roster, but certainly the most vocal. In fact, the welterweight star’s unwavering support of the former President actually earned him a trip to the White House in 2018, not long after he defeated Rafael dos Anjos by decision to capture the UFC’s interim welterweight title.