Author: mmafighting
Ian Machado Garry failed to make a scheduled appearance to speak to reporters at UFC 296 media day on Wednesday. The 26-year-old Irish prospect was originally expected to kick off the question-and-answer period. Instead, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson started the day, and as more and more fighters made appearances, Machado Garry was nowhere to be found. UFC officials later confirmed to MMA Fighting that Garry “will not be available today.” Multiple requests for comment to Garry’s rep, Lloyd Pierson, were not immediately returned. In the weeks leading up to his fight with Vicente Luque, Garry, 26, got caught up in a…
Colby Covington may be fighting for welterweight gold at UFC 296 but he definitely has designs on adding more titles to his resume including his desire to dethrone reigning middleweight king Sean Strickland. Ahead of his fight with Leon Edwards on Saturday, Covington said he would “love to slap” Strickland while calling him “so f****** stupid” but it turns out his beef with the always outspoken 185-pounder runs a little deeper. Addressing Strickland on Wednesday during UFC 296 media day, Covington took aim at Strickland once again while trashing the UFC champion for his stance towards women. “Can you not…
Jake Paul and Andre August faced off for cameras in advance of their boxing match on Saturday, and Paul’s promoting partner, Nakisa Bidarian, held a microphone to catch all the trash talk from “The Problem Child.” Paul taunted August and August’s coach after the press conference, calling August’s cardio into question and boasting that he knocked out August’s coach, who could be heard yelling in the background. August kept his composure during the faceoff as Paul promised a first-round finish in the fight, which takes place Friday at Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Fla., and airs on DAZN. Paul is…
Dana White is dead set on Jon Jones fighting Stipe Miocic, even with interim champion Tom Aspinall in waiting. Aspinall claimed a share of the heavyweight crown this past November with a spectacular 69-second knockout of Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295. That interim title bout was made due to undisputed heavyweight champion Jon Jones having to bow out of a highly anticipated fight on that card against Stipe Miocic after suffering an injury. Jones is expected to be out of action for at least the first quarter of 2024, which currently leaves Aspinall out of the undisputed title equation as…
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has remained a loyal supporter of MMA for many years and now he’ll finally get the chance to set foot inside the cage. Well sort of. The former WWE superstar turned actor has officially signed on to star as UFC and PRIDE legend Mark Kerr in the upcoming biopic based on his life called The Smashing Machine. Indie darling studio A24 will produce the film with Benny Safdie — best known for his Independent Spirit Award winning film Uncut Gems — will direct the feature. Safdie will also pen the script for the film, which has…
Brandon Royval isn’t getting ahead of himself, but he already has plans in mind for when he becomes flyweight champion at UFC 296. His fight to win the title comes against Alexandre Pantoja, who also happens the be the last person to hand him a defeat in his career. Since losing that fight in 2021, Royval rattled off three straight wins, including a submission over Matt Schnell and a jaw-dropping knockout against Matheus Nicolau. The win against Pantoja will give Royval a measure of revenge, but just evening the series won’t be enough, which is why Royval is already thinking…
Antonio Carlos Junior is ready to finally re-enter the PFL cage, and he returns a much bigger star in Brazil. “Shoeface” competed under the UFC banner for many years after winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, a reality show that aired on Brazil’s largest network TV Globo in 2014. Nine years later, Junior entered ‘Big Brother Brasil’ instead, an incredibly successful program that has reached billions of fan votes and 10-figure advertisement deals for Globo in just over two decades. “I’m glad to see people that weren’t following the sport but are now following it [after BBB],”…
Vicente Luque wants to beat Ian Machado Garry at UFC 296, but that doesn’t mean there’s any bad blood between them. In the days and weeks leading up to the final UFC pay-per-view in 2023, Machado Garry has been caught up in a number of headline-grabbing stories, including the way he’s bounced around several gyms while trying to find a home for his recent training camp. The Irish prospect was famously booted out of UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards’ gym after the coaches and fighters ultimately decided he just wasn’t a good fit for their culture. Part of the reason…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: I answer all your questions on the latest edition of On the Nose. 1:40 p.m.: Merab Dvalishvili previews his UFC 298 matchup against Henry Cejudo. 2 p.m.: Khalil Rountree Jr. looks back on his UFC Vegas 83 win over Anthony Smith and callout of UFC champ Alex Pereira. 2:30 p.m.: The Parlay Boys make their picks for the busy combat sports weekend. 3 p.m.: Brandon…
The next big UFC welterweight title tilt is nearly upon us. UFC 296 goes down this Saturday night inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be headlined by the first 170-pound UFC title fight to not feature Kamaru Usman since Tyron Woodley submitted Darren Till with a second-round D’arce choke in September 2018. Instead, the upcoming bout will see two of Usman’s biggest career rivals collide as the reigning champion Leon Edwards defends against Colby Covington. Usman’s biggest and best bouts during his reign came on two occasions against “Chaos,” where he won by fifth-round TKO and a…