UFC News

Christopher Taylor - November 29, 2021

UFC legend Diego Sanchez remains hospitalized while enduring what he calls the “biggest fight of a fighters life”. The former UFC lightweight title challenger, Sanchez (30-13 MMA), took to social media last week where he shared a photo from a hospital bed revealing he has both pneumonia and COVID-19.

Drake Riggs - November 29, 2021

Khabib Nurmagomedov won’t be changing his mind anytime soon when it comes to the UFC lightweight title picture. The former king of the division recently shared his thoughts on the matter when telling former challenger Justin Gaethje that he “fell asleep” in his lone undisputed opportunity. Despite a recent victory in an instant classic with Michael Chandler at UFC 268, Gaethje is behind Islam Makhachev in the pecking order according to “The Eagle.”

Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

Following her latest win, Taila Santos has jumped into the top-five in the women’s flyweight division in the latest set of the UFC rankings. Santos obliterated Joanne Wood at UFC Vegas 43 when she knocked her down twice and then choked her out for the biggest win of her MMA career to date. Santos, who is now 4-1 overall in the UFC, made a huge leap up the latest set of UFC rankings, jumping all the way to No. 5 in the promotion at her weight class. As for Wood, she dropped down to No. 6, and everyone else who was above Santos originally but below Wood also fell by one spot.

Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

An intriguing matchup between top-15 ranked lightweight Joel Alvarez and Arman Tsarukyan has been added to an upcoming UFC Fight Night card. TASS report Igor Lazorin was the first to report that Alvarez vs. Tsarukyan will take place on a UFC Fight Night card set for February 26th. The event is set to be headlined by a five-round lightweight bout featuring top contenders Islam Makhachev and Beneil Dariush, so this Fight Night card features four of the top-15 ranked lightweights in the world on it.

Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

Charles Oliveira was praised by former rival Jim Miller following career turnaround, with Miller saying “it’s absolutely awesome to see.” Oliveira and Miller have fought twice in the past. The first time they met was in December 2010 at UFC 124, with Miller submitting Oliveira with a nasty kneebar. They then fought again in 2018 at UFC on FOX: Lee vs. Iaquinta, and this time it was Oliveira who finished Miller with a first-round submission. Given that Miller is not a ranked lightweight anymore, a trilogy fight with Oliveira seems hard to see ever happening. But that’s okay with Miller. As far as the veteran goes, he is just very happy to see how well Oliveira has been doing.

Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza says that a Joanna Jedrzejczyk rematch “would be a much different fight.” Esparza defeated Yan Xiaonan earlier this year by TKO in one of the best performances of her UFC career to date. The former champ is now hoping the UFC gives her a title shot against UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas — who Esparza previously defeated to become the UFC’s first-ever 115lbs women’s champ — but that is no sure thing. UFC president Dana White has hinted that the promotion is instead looking at a potential matchup for the title between Namajunas and Marina Rodriguez instead, which would leave Esparza on the sidelines without a fight. However, she says she would fight Jedrzejczyk.

Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

New UFC middleweight fighter Alex Pereira is “three fights” away from fighting Israel Adesanya for the championship, says Glover Teixeira. Pereira is a former GLORY kickboxing star who made his UFC debut earlier this month at UFC 268 in spectacular fashion when he knocked out Andreas Michailidis with a flying knee. Considering Pereira holds a previous KO win over Adesanya in kickboxing, his teammate Teixeira believes that win will help him fast-track up the 185lbs ladder and get closer to a title shot against the champ. As far as Teixeira goes, it’s possible that we could see Pereira fight for the UFC middleweight title in just three fights if he continues to look in sharp form.

Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight champion legend Quinton Jackson says that the “UFC and Bellator should be worried” about Triller Triad Combat. Jackson was a guest at the Triller Triad Combat event that took place this past Saturday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Jackson did not fight at the event, but he was seen getting into it with boxer Shannon Briggs, and there is a good chance we see these two meet in the Triad ring sometime in 2022. It appears as though Jackson has taken a liking to what Triller is doing, and he believes the promotion has been things in store for its future. In fact, Jackson believes that Triller will soon be able to rival the UFC and Bellator.

Adam Martin - November 28, 2021

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley revealed his plans for 2022, saying that he will return to MMA next July. Woodley was released by the UFC earlier this year following a submission loss to Vicente Luque at UFC 260. He then made the move to the world of boxing and made his professional boxing debut when he took on Jake Paul in August. Although Woodley lost a split decision in that fight, he made a lot of money doing so, and it feels like he still has more fights left for him inside the boxing ring. Indeed, it looks like Woodley is interested in boxing again — in addition to competing in MMA and then two other combat sports events.

Adam Martin - November 28, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington explained why champion Kamaru Usman did not deserve 10-8 round in their rematch at UFC 268. Covington lost a unanimous decision to Usman earlier this month at UFC 268 in what was a very competitive fight between the two rivals. While most of the rounds were close, the second round is the one where Usman appeared to take the lead as he knocked Covington down twice. However, none of the three judges cageside gave Usman a 10-8 round, so when fans and the media on social media gave him a 10-8, Covington disagreed with them.

Adam Martin - November 28, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington says that he won’t consider dropping down to 155lbs, saying that “I’m not a bully.” Covington recently lost a close decision to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 268 earlier this month. Since this is the second time that Covington has lost to Usman, there are now hints that “Chaos” could consider a weight class change, with a move down to 155lbs a possibility since he isn’t a big welterweight. But as far as Covington goes, those rumors are not coming from him, because he has no desire to cut all the weight to make it to lightweight. Speaking to MMANews reporter James Lynch, Covington explained why he won’t cut down to 155 and be a “bully” as he suggests Dustin Poirier is.

Adam Martin - November 28, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Geoff Neal fired back at Derek Brunson after suggesting that welterweights are avoiding Khamzat Chimaev. Neal recently spoke to MMA journalist James Lynch and he was asked about Brunson’s recent comments about Chimaev, where he questioned why the other welterweights aren’t actively calling out the man who is one of the hottest names in the division. As far as Neal goes, Brunson is off base for several reasons. First of all, Neal believes there is more going on behind the scenes than the public knows about. Second, he pointed out that Neil Magny has called out Chimaev. And third, he just wants Brunson to focus on the 185lbs division.