MMA News Feed

by Simon Head on March 5, 2021 at 4:45 am

MMA Junkie's Simon Head recaps the fights that helped define the career of UFC women's featherweight contender Megan Anderson.

by Simon Head on March 5, 2021 at 4:05 am

MMA Junkie's Simon Head recaps the fights that helped define the career of UFC women's bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes.

by Mike Bohn on March 5, 2021 at 3:00 am

"I think everyone has holes in their game. I think you just have to find them."

by Mike Bohn on March 5, 2021 at 2:30 am

Jordan Espinosa wants to give Tim Elliott his first knockout loss under the UFC banner.

by Newswire on March 5, 2021 at 4:50 am

Carl Fail has lifted the lid on his brotherly bond with his twin Ben. He makes his pro boxing debut at MTK Fight Night on Friday, March 12. Fail enters the paid ranks for the first time at the University of Bolton Stadium. Boxing fans can watch the event live stream on ESPN+ in the The post Carl Fail makes pro boxing debut on March 12 – ‘I’m happy to be back with my twin’ appeared first on FIGHTMAG.

by Newswire on March 5, 2021 at 4:40 am

The second edition of ONE Championship: Fists of Fury is scheduled for broadcast on Friday, March 5. The previously recorded show features a series of MMA and Muay Thai bouts. The main event is a mixed martial arts battle between heavyweights Amir Aliakbari and Kang Ji Won. The co-main event is another contest at heavyweight, The post ONE Championship: Fists of Fury 2 full event video and results – Amir Aliakbari vs Kang Ji Won appeared first on FIGHTMAG.

by Newswire on March 3, 2021 at 2:58 pm

Raymond Ford, Austin Williams and Otha Jones III all take a big step-up in their blossoming careers on the undercard of the blockbuster unification rematch between Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. The event takes place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Saturday March 13 (Sunday, March 14 in Australia). Boxing The post Raymond Ford, Austin Williams and Otha Jones III join Estrada vs Chocolatito 2 undercard appeared first on FIGHTMAG.

by Parviz Iskenderov on March 3, 2021 at 2:42 pm

Rory MacDonald is set to make his Professional Fighters League debut on April 29. Battling it out in the headliner of PFL 2, former Bellator MMA welterweight champion faces David Michaud. “The Red King” MacDonald (21-6-1) was last in action in October 2019, when he dropped a unanimous decision against Douglas Lima and lost Bellator The post Rory MacDonald vs David Michaud headlines PFL 2 on April 29, full fight card set appeared first on FIGHTMAG.

by Tim Burke on March 5, 2021 at 4:00 am

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLCCheck out the third episode of Embedded for UFC 259. UFC 259 is almost here, and as usual, Embedded is here as well. The show that gives you an inside look at the marquee contestants on PPVs has issued the third episode for this weekend’s huge show in Vegas, and it serves as a brief introduction to the fighters at the top of the card. We start off at Glory MMA in Missouri with Megan Anderson. Her coach just wants her to have fun. She’s ready to shock the world. We quickly head down to Florida and the residence of Amanda Nunes and Nina Ansaroff. They are preparing to go to Vegas, which is baby’s first trip. Nunes can’t find her mouthpiece. Over to Vegas now, and Jan Blachowicz’s room at the fighter hotel. He’s hitting mitts. They will ramp down his training closer to the fight as he has to cut weight. He immediately jumps into a portable sauna when he’s done, looking like Spongebob. At the Performance Institute, Petr Yan is getting a session in. They mix up what he’s doing. Back at the hotel, Kai Kara France is hitting pads in his room. Israel Adesanya makes his entrance, and it’s his turn to hit some pads. Izzy says he’s the underdog (even though he’s actually a betting favorite). He says this is old school stuff, like the Gracies. Nunes and Ansaroff plan a late flight so the kiddo will sleep through the whole thing. And luckily, that’s the case. And that’s it! UFC 259 goes down this Saturday in Vegas.

by Milan Ordoñez on March 5, 2021 at 3:00 am

Dana White is excited to move events to Texas, where businesses are now allowed to operate 100 percent. | Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesNow that Texas businesses are allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity, Dana White wants to capitalize on possible opportunities. Last month, Dana White announced his plans to put on sold-out events by the summer. At the time, the UFC president had Florida and Las Vegas as his venues of choice. But on Thursday's UFC 259 pre-fight press conference, White expressed eagerness in holding future events in the state of Texas. “I want to go to Texas ASAP. I’ll go in the next two, three weeks. I’m ready to roll,” White told the media in attendance. “We’ll be first, we’ll open this thing up, we’ll sell it out and be on our way.” UFC 260, the next PPV event lined up, is currently slated to take place at the company’s APEX facility. But according to White, the said card could also be relocated. “I’d move this one (UFC 259) if we could,” he said. “I told everybody when this opened up that I would be first and we would go first. And we will.” So why the excitement over Texas? On Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order that eases up the state’s COVID-19 restrictions in a major way. Mask mandates are now lifted. All businesses and facilities are now allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity. “With the medical advancements of vaccines and antibody therapeutic drugs, Texas now has the tools to protect Texans from the virus. We must now do more to restore livelihoods and normalcy for Texans by opening Texas 100 percent.” an excerpt from Gov. Abbott’s official statement reads. Upon hearing about these new developments, White immediately made some calls. “As soon as the governor of Texas said that, I called. Dallas said no and I’m working on Houston. So (we’ll) see if we can get Houston done,” he said. While COVID-19 cases have declined sharply throughout the United States over the past several weeks including in Texas, the Lone Star State still has the 8th highest rate of infection per capita in the country over the past seven days. It also ranks near the bottom of the nation in vaccination rate. The last UFC event held in front of a large crowd happened a year ago at UFC 248. It took place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a little over 15,000 people in attendance.

by Lewis Mckeever on March 5, 2021 at 2:00 am

Cody Garbrandt speaks with media at UFC 250. | Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLCCody Garbrandt shares a video in which he got into an altercation with Southwest Airlines staff over a mask dispute involving his two-year-old son. Cody Garbrandt was recently removed from a Southwest Airlines flight over a mask dispute involving his two-year-old son. Garbrandt shared footage of the incident in which he appears to get into a verbal confrontation with cabin crew while also filming two staff members not wearing masks. “Kicking a two year old off a plane ride but your captains aren’t wearing their masks, while we all are full capacity sharing the same air! What a joke. Fuck @southwestair got kicked off because my 2 year old son wouldn’t put his mask over his face. This coward flight attendant hid his bitch ass in the bathroom”. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cody Garbrandt (@cody_nolove) View this post on Instagram A post shared by Cody Garbrandt (@cody_nolove) Southwest Airlines responded with the following statement (h/t MMA Junkie), claiming that every person aged two and above is required to wear a mask at all times. “We regret this family experienced any inconvenience during their travel. However, federal law requires Southwest to ensure every person age 2 and over to wear a mask at all times throughout a flight, including during boarding and deplaning. In this situation, the customers opted not to fly on Southwest, and they were offered a full refund of their tickets.” The airline states on its website that “a properly worn mask completely covers the nose and mouth, is secured to the head with ties, ear loops, or elastic bands that go behind the head, and fits snugly against the side of the face”. Garbrandt tested positive for COVID-19 in October and has been sidelined since after suffering with long-term complications. The former UFC bantamweight champion is now thought to be fully recovered, however, and is expected to return to the octagon sometime later this year. ‘No Love’ last fought at UFC 250 in June 2020 when he scored a highlight reel knockout of top-ten bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao.

by Lewis Mckeever on March 5, 2021 at 1:00 am

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images“I don’t think it’s going to be good for MMA and he’s going to get chinned. But, it’s going to be funny to see.” Leon Edwards is the second fighter to pick Jake Paul to KO Ben Askren in their upcoming boxing match on April 17, and ‘Rocky’ thinks the result will be disastrous for MMA. Edwards has no confidence in Askren’s boxing ability and believes the former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion will be completely out of his element in the boxing ring — even against a vastly more inexperienced fighter. “He’s going to get knocked out, I’m serious,” Edwards predicted in a recent interview with TalkSport’s Alex McCarthy. “It’s going to be bad for MMA, man! I don’t know who agreed to this [laughs]. I don’t think it’s going to be good for MMA and he’s going to get chinned. But, it’s going to be funny to see.” Askren isn’t exactly known for his boxing chops, but the 36-year-old possesses a wealth of experience against elite-level competition in MMA and certainly knows how to perform under pressure. Paul, meanwhile, is 2-0 against unranked competition but has a ton of hype behind him following his viral KO of Nate Robinson last December. Askren vs. Paul will headline Triller’s Fight Club pay-per-view on April 17 at a TBD venue in Atlanta, Georgia. As for Edwards, the top-three welterweight is scheduled to meet Belal Muhammad in the UFC Fight Night 187 main event on March 13 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.

by By Zac Pacleb, on Twitter @ZacPacleb on March 4, 2021 at 11:49 pm

The Australian Featherweight Waited Patiently For Her Chance At Gold And Gets It At UFC 259 Read the Full Article Here

by By Zac Pacleb, on Twitter @ZacPacleb on March 4, 2021 at 11:28 pm

An Up-And-Down Road Built Aljamain Sterling Into The Fierce Title Challenger He Is Heading Into UFC 259. Read the Full Article Here

by By McKenzie Pavacich, on Twitter @mpavacich_ on March 4, 2021 at 9:48 pm

A Healthy Dominick Cruz Is Finding His Way Back To The Octagon In His First Non-Title Bout In Over Five Years at UFC 259: Blachowicz vs Adesanya Read the Full Article Here

on March 4, 2021 at 7:22 pm

Listen To The Latest UFC Unfiltered Podcast Featuring Amanda Nunes, Dominick Cruz & UFC 259 Preview Read the Full Article Here