Author: mmafighting

Impa Kasanganay is a world champion and $1 million richer. Now, he’s setting his sights even higher. At this past Friday’s PFL World Championship 2023 event, Kasanganay earned a convincing unanimous decision win over Josh Silveira to complete a stunning eight-month campaign that saw him earn a spot in the league with a win on its Challenger Series, and then go 4-0 inside the SmartCage to claim a light heavyweight tournament title (and the aforementioned seven-figure prize). Kasanganay has no shortage of options going forward. The PFL recently acquired Bellator MMA, and that promotion’s light heavyweight titleholder, Vadim Nemkov, could…

Conor McGregor made around a $2 million investment when he purchased the Dublin bar he named The Black Forge Inn. But the pub is still experiencing growing pains based on recent latest financial disclosures, per a new report. According to records filed by Jemi Ventures, the company that oversees the pub owned by McGregor, the restaurant and bar recorded losses of 432,000 Euros last year, which translates to just over $600,000 U.S. dollars. In 2021, The Black Forge Inn posted losses totaling 1.13 million Euros— or approximately $1.8 million — after the pub struggled during its opening year due to…

In early 2021, after bouncing around a variety of different networks and platforms, Bellator finally found a long-term broadcast home on Showtime. While the move appeared to be promising at the time, that relationship ultimately lasted less than three years before the promotion’s parent company Paramount Global offloaded Bellator to the PFL in an industry-shaking deal this past week. In retrospect, longtime Bellator executive Mike Kogan believes the promotion’s fate was sealed once it landed within Showtime’s purview, though through no fault of the premium network’s doing. “I don’t want to point the finger at Showtime and say specifically, ‘Everybody…

Paddy Pimblett doesn’t understand why Tony Ferguson is working with David Goggins ahead of their pay-per-view matchup. Pimblett will face the former interim champion at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas. “El Cucuy” has made headlines for going through “hell week” with the retired U.S. Navy SEAL, but Pimblett feels that what Goggins would typically help people with from a physical standpoint, Ferguson already has that. “I think it’s bizarre,” Pimblett said on The Energized Show. “I think it’s f****** stupid. “If there’s two things Tony’s never needed help with is his mental state — because look at…

UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland on Monday posted videos of a confrontation outside his Las Vegas home with a man he said committed domestic abuse. Strickland can be seen in the videos pointing what appears to be a gun at the man, whose face is blurred out. Another video shows he and another unidentified man pursuing what appears to be the same man, whom he shoves to the ground and appears to hold him at gunpoint as lights flash in the background. According to Strickland, the man was “drunk stomping out a girl, a security guard seen it, he jumped…

Urijah Faber believes Sean O’Malley becoming the UFC bantamweight champion is a good thing for the division. O’Malley captured the title with a second-round TKO win over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292 in Boston. While a lot of people counted O’Malley out of the fight due to the stylistic discrepancies between Sterling and O’Malley, Faber always knew “Sugar” had it in him to wear UFC gold. “It’s a great lift to the division,” Faber told MMA Fighting. “We need stars in there and he’s the star right now. People always try to discredit, it happened to me too, ‘Oh, you’re…

Michael “Venom” Page is yet to put pen to paper since entering free agency, but the UFC is definitely on his radar. The longtime Bellator star announced his free agency this past summer, immediately generating buzz as to where he might land next. Page, 36, compiled an impressive highlight reel competing inside the Bellator cage while also putting together a 17-2 record for the promotion. Page told The MMA Fan Show that he can’t quite confirm that he’s making the jump to the UFC octagon after lightheartedly being pressed on the situation. “I wish I could say for certain that…

Jorge Masvidal thinks he would destroy Jake Paul or Nate Diaz if they ever met in a ring. In April, Jorge Masvidal retired from MMA following his unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287. Since then, Masvidal has spent his time growing his fight promotion, Gamebred Fighting, but the two-time UFC title challenger admits that the allure of combat still calls to him. “I do miss it but at the same time like, man, I don’t know,” Masvidal said on The MMA Hour. “MMA stuff, because I did that for 20 years. You know what I would like…

The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: We recap another busy weekend in combat sports and more. 1:30 p.m.: Longtime Bellator executive Mike Kogan discusses the sale and more. 2 p.m.: PFL light heavyweight champion Impa Kasanganay looks back on his remarkable run from the PFL Challenger Series to Friday’s $1 million finale. 2:25 p.m.: Joe Pyfer previews his upcoming UFC bout against Jack Hermansson. 2:50 p.m.: Skye Nicolson reflects on Saturday’s…

Tom Aspinall knows who he wants his first interim UFC heavyweight title defense to come against. UFC 295 took a shocking late hit in its build-up earlier this month. The all-time great Jon Jones was set to make his first title defense as the undisputed UFC heavyweight title holder. Previously matched with arguably the greatest heavyweight of all-time Stipe Miocic, “Bones,” unfortunately, was forced out of the bout after he suffered a torn pectoral muscle. The legend is now expected to be sidelined for roughly eight months. The co-main event was shifted to Aspinall vs. his fellow top contender Sergei…