UFC News

Cole Shelton - April 7, 2020

Tony Ferguson plans on making a statement in his UFC 249 fight against Justin Gaethje. On Monday it was announced Ferguson would battle Gaethje for the interim lightweight title after Khabib Nurmagomedov was stuck in Russia. It is no doubt frustrating for “El Cucuy” who was set to fight for the undisputed belt for the first time in his career.

Christopher Taylor - April 7, 2020

Justin Gaethje came to the rescue of fight fans around the world by accepting a short-notice contest with Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18. Ferguson was originally slated to challenge undefeated lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov at the event. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘The Eagle’ was left grounded in Russia.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

The sportsbooks have released the full card betting odds for UFC 249 after Dana White announced the new card that will take place at a location TBD. Despite the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world, White has been adamant this whole time that the show will go on for the UFC. Indeed, the promotion announced a full slate of 12 fights on Monday, including a terrific main event for the interim UFC lightweight title between top contenders Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. No location has been released yet, but White says he has a spot set up that will house the event, albeit with no fans.

Cole Shelton - April 7, 2020

One of the biggest questions in all of MMA is who is the GOAT? Is it someone who had the biggest impact on the sport or the person who won the most? It’s an interesting debate for fighters and fans alike to have at any time. So, with far less MMA on the calendar than normal, BJPENN.com reached out to several current and former heavyweights to ask who their divisional GOAT is. The pros were split between Stipe Miocic and Fedor Emelianenko.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2020

Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has been vocal about his admiration for UFC President Dana White in the past, but he can’t get behind White’s determination to promote the UFC 249 card amid the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s unbelievable, I’d like to think that in boxing, there’s no-one more roll your sleeves up and get on with it than me,” Hearn told Express Sport. “But even I wouldn’t consider staging an event right now. I’m not even thinking about options, not even on the radar.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White claims that the fighters competing at UFC 249 will be safer than fans sitting at home or going to the grocery store. White made UFC 249 official on Monday, booking 12 fights for the card including an interim lightweight title bout between Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson for the main event. The event will go on as planned despite the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world, though White has not yet released a location for the card, instead deciding to keep it a secret.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White explained why he’s keeping the location of UFC 249 a secret despite the event being less than two weeks away from happening. White announced the full card for UFC 249 on Monday, which includes a tremendous interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje at the top of the card. However, while the UFC announced 12 fights that will take place at the event, one thing the promotion did not reveal was the location of the event.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2020

Justin Gaethje has accepted a short-notice, interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, arguably the scariest man in the division. The pair will collide in the main event of UFC 249 on April 18. Speaking to TMZ Sports, Gaethje explained his decision to accept this fight with Ferguson — despite being admittedly “terrified” by the situation.

Harry Kettle - April 7, 2020

Gilbert Burns has taken a shot at Tyron Woodley on social media for allegedly ducking a fight against him at UFC 249 later this month. Burns, 33, is riding an impressive five-fight win streak with his last three coming at welterweight. Woodley, on the other hand, hasn’t fought since losing the UFC Welterweight Championship to Kamaru Usman last year.

Natasha Hooper - April 7, 2020

Fans weren’t the only ones duped by a fake Ariel Helwani account this week, as former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier was also tricked into believing a false announcement about Khabib Nurmagomedov. Over the weekend, a fraudulent account impersonating Ariel Helwani (spelled Helvani) reported some breaking news. The account announced that UFC president Dana White and Vladimir Putin had arranged for UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov to travel the US to fight Tony Ferguson in their scheduled UFC 249 bout. The Twitter account used the same profile picture as Helwani’s official account, so it certainly looked the part.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2020

Jon Jones had an interesting reaction to Anthony Smith’s story about fighting off a home invader over the weekend.  Smith, who fought Jones last year, shared this harrowing account during an interview with ESPN, going into detail about his tooth-and-nail brawl with the intruder, who reportedly entered his home around 4:00am on Sunday

Natasha Hooper - April 7, 2020

Dana White has confirmed that Joe Rogan will in fact be a part of UFC 249. In a previous episode of the Joe Rogan podcast, the MMA commentator declared he would not work on the upcoming event. Due to fears of coronavirus contagion, he suggested they should host it from a closed and remote location, even somewhere such as an airplane hangar or film studio.