UFC News
Henry Cejudo and Valentina Shevchenko squash their beef
Natasha Hooper - September 5, 2019
One of the most bizarre MMA stories to come out of 2019 so far was Henry Cejudo’s call-out of Valentina Shevchenko. Cejudo called out the women’s flyweight champion, challenging her to an ‘inter-gender’ bout. The pair went at it for weeks on social media but couldn’t hide behind the Twitter veil when they came face to face in Abu Dhabi. The pair came face-to-face ahead of the UFC 242 card this weekend. They put their supposed beef to rest when they met backstage.
Dana White on Nate Diaz: 'We might not hear from that kid for another three years'
Tom Taylor - September 5, 2019
Nate Diaz made a successful return to action after three years away at UFC 241, defeating Anthony Pettis by decision. After this comeback, he called for a fan friendly showdown with streaking welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal. While pretty much everybody wants to see Diaz and Masvidal fight, UFC President Dana White seems to have no update on this booking. In fact, he doesn’t seem to have any idea when we’ll see Diaz back in action again.
Dana White says Tony Ferguson will get next UFC lightweight title shot
Adam Martin - September 5, 2019
UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Tony Ferguson will get the next lightweight title shot. The UFC bossman the plan is for “El Cucuy” to fight the winner of the UFC 242 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. As long as he’s healthy, that is.
Khabib Nurmagomedov to make biggest payday yet for UFC 242
Tom Taylor - September 5, 2019
UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov pocketed a flat purse of $2M for his late 2018 defeat of Conor McGregor. According to Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap, there’s an even bigger fight purse coming. Speaking to the Russian outlet TASS, the elder Nurmagomedov claimed his son will make at least three times what he made against McGregor when he fights Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 242 this weekend in Abu Dhabi. If math isn’t your strong suit, that’s $6M — potentially even more.
Weili Zhang calls out Henry Cejudo, says she will take his 'gold back to Beijing'
Cole Shelton - September 4, 2019
Weili Zhang is ready for a fight with current UFC men’s flyweight and bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo. Zhang is the UFC’s new women’s strawweight champion after knocking out Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen in 42-seconds. For Cejudo, he has been calling out a couple of different female fighters and the new Chinese champion just so happened to be one of them.
Brendan Schaub: 'I don’t give a f**k about women’s strawweight'
Thomas Taylor - September 4, 2019
Former UFC heavyweight turned podcaster Brendan Schaub was not overly sold on last weekend’s UFC Shenzhen card, which was headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight between champ Jessica Andrade and challenger Weili Zhang, but was otherwise pretty lacking in main value. Schaub did not hide his disinterest in this card ahead of time. In the end, UFC Shenzhen turned out to be pretty enjoyable in the eyes of most fans, as Weili Zhang made history by stopping Jessica Andrade in less than a minute to become the first Chinese champion in UFC history. Schaub, however, did not watch the event, and claims to have no regrets about missing Zhang historic victory in China.
VIDEO | Dustin Poirier shows off deadly striking ahead of UFC 242
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
Dustin Poirier is just days away from his UFC 242 headlining battle with undefeated UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is arguably the best grappler in MMA today. While Nurmagomedov will surely be looking to get his grappling going in this fight, Poirier will be keen to keep the action in the standing position, where he’d seem to have a clear advantage. On Wednesday afternoon, at the UFC 242 open workouts, Poirier took to the stage, where he flaunted his deadly striking arsenal with one of his coaches.
Kenny Florian likes how Namajunas, Jedrzejczyk match up against Weili Zhang
Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 4, 2019
Kenny Florian thinks Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk have a good chance at giving Weili Zhang problems. Zhang made history at UFC Shenzhen. She defeated Jessica Andrade via TKO in 42 seconds to capture the UFC strawweight title. This makes Zhang the first UFC champion born in China.
UFC 242 | Diego Ferreira expecting war against Mairbek Taisumov
Cole Shelton - September 4, 2019
Diego Ferreira is set to open the UFC 242 pay-per-view card against Mairbek Taisumov. He was set to do the same thing at UFC 237 in his native Brazil, but a bout of kidney stones forced him to pull out of the bout. Now, just four months later he will return and is excited for this rescheduled matchup against Taisumov. He knows their styles will make for an entertaining fight.
Dustin Poirier doubts ring rust will be a problem for Khabib Nurmagomedov
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has not fought since October of 2018, when he defeated Conor McGregor by decision. For some fighters, a break of this length might cause problems. Nurmagomedov’s next opponent Dustin Poirier, however, expects the champion to be sharp and ready when they step into the cage together. “I think that’s more of an individual thing,” Poirier said on the UFC 242 conference call last week (via MMA News). “Everybody is different.
Joe Rogan: UFC is 'finally recognizing' value of Nate Diaz
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
Joe Rogan believes the UFC is finally realizing how big of a draw Nate Diaz is. The UFC commentator discussed Diaz, who recently returned from a three-year break with a unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis, with his latest podcast guest, retired boxer Andre Ward. Ward has trained previously with both Nate and his older brother Nick.
VIDEO | Ben Askren stares down Demian Maia in Singapore
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
On October 26, the UFC will return to Singapore. The promotion’s latest stop in “The Lion City” will be topped by a dynamite welterweight matchup between former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren and two-time UFC title challenger Demian Maia. This bout has fans of the grappling arts very excited, as Askren is one of the best wrestlers in MMA, while Maia is arguably the best jiu jitsu specialist in the game. This week, the two welterweight stars touched down in Singapore, where they squared off for the press.