Author: mmafighting
On Saturday, the UFC returns to action with UFC Austin headlined by a lightweight matchup between Beneil Dariush and Arman Tsarukyan, with another ranked lightweight fight between Jalin Turner and Bobby Green serving as the co-main event, and the No Bets Barred boys are here to break down their favorite bets of the weekend. Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a brief discussion of college football and their beloved Georgia Bulldogs (who play Alabama in the SEC championship game on Saturday) before diving into this stacked event. Topics discussed include Dariush’s chances as an underdog, Jalin Turner…
Olivier Aubin-Mercier has decided to call it a career. Fresh off his second straight PFL title win, the 34-year-old French Canadian fighter announced his retirement after first contemplating an extended break from action. Aubin-Mercier capped off his career with a win over Clay Collard in the 2023 PFL Championship main event but now he’s walking away from the sport for good. “Feeling incredibly grateful today as I hang up my gloves, I must give a massive shout-out to PFL,” Aubin-Mercier wrote on Instagram. “PFL believed in me. They recognized a fighter in a kid from Quebec who just wouldn’t quit.…
UFC bantamweight Ailin Perez is following through on her threat of legal action against Joselyne Edwards after their brawl at the UFC Performance Institute earlier this month. Perez’s rep Lucas Lutkis on Tuesday told MMA Fighting Perez will file a lawsuit against Edwards by the end of this week, escalating what she said started as an online grudge and turned into a physical confrontation that left her with a cut under her left eye. Perez first indicated she would take legal action during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “Legally, this isn’t over, and you’re a criminal,” she said…
Ian Machado Garry fights former teammate Vicente Luque at UFC 296, and if he’s not careful, he could have another of his old Kill Cliff FC pals coming after him. Brendan Allen and Machado Garry were previously sparring partners at the Florida gym, but the Irishman’s recent departure from the team was apparently an acrimonious one. Two weeks after his main event win over Paul Craig at UFC Vegas 82, Allen spoke to ESPN and shared his thoughts on how Machado Garry has conducted himself since leaving Kill Cliff FC. “I think it’s a really [expletive] move to leave the…
Dillon Danis loves being the center of attention, but his constant battles outside the cage could be his biggest obstacle to finally competing in the UFC. Danis, a multi-time grappling champion, recently boxed Logan Paul and was recently released from Bellator, for whom he fought in MMA twice. He recently said he’s only interested in returning to MMA if it’s in the UFC. Danis has made a very public push to get the UFC’s attention, but UFC CEO Dana White said his antics and online trolling – which often end in physical altercations and near-brawls in public – go against…
Interesting times await PFL superstar Kayla Harrison in 2024. After re-signing with the promotion ahead of the 2022 season, Harrison’s contract included that she’d move past the tournament format in 2023 to become a PPV-exclusive fighter. Unfortunately for the former two-time lightweight champion, that led to her watching from the sidelines for the entirety of the year until last weekend’s championship event PPV main card. It was announced that same week that the PFL had acquired longstanding major MMA organization Bellator. Therefore, Harrison and her dream opponent Cris “Cyborg” Justino have been brought together in one overall promotion after previous…
Joe Rogan believes David Goggins is a “national treasure,” but he’s not sure whether Tony Ferguson is benefitting from a camp with the endurance athlete and motivational speaker before UFC 296. “I’m very interested to see Tony after he’s been training with David Goggins,” Rogan said on “The Joe Rogan Experience.” “There’s a lot of, like, very mixed reviews about whether or not that would be a good thing or a bad thing for him. It’s interesting.” Several fighters have expressed concern over Goggins’ workouts with Ferguson, who’s been filmed looking severely exhausted and even vomiting afterward. Ferguson’s UFC 296…
Skye Nicolson wants Amanda Serrano next. On Saturday night, Nicolson retained her WBC interim featherweight title with a ninth-round TKO over Lucy Wildheart on the undercard of the Katie Taylor vs. Chantelle Cameron 2 event. The win was Nicolson’s ninth since turning pro less than two years ago and her first stoppage. The win also should set her up to face Serrano next, and that’s exactly what Nicolson is hoping for. “We’ll see,” Nicolson said Monday on The MMA Hour. “Obviously I want the Serrano fight. She’s the champion in my division. I want to be world champion. I want…
UFC vet and BKFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell would like a seat at the table if fighters ever organize. But he believes the best person to lead any sort of collective bargaining effort is clear: Francis Ngannou. “Francis, he was up there against the giant … and he stood looking right in their face and I was like, ‘No, I’m not your prisoner,’ and he risked,” Rothwell, who on Saturday faces Todd Duffee at BKFC 56, told MMA Fighting. “He had a lot of people telling him you’re risking losing everything, and he said, ‘No, I’m betting on myself.’ “It takes…
Dan Hooker is no stranger to the operating table, and he underwent another surgery on Monday. “Hangman” was recently forced to withdraw from a bout against Bobby Green that was to serve as the co-main event of this Saturday’s UFC Austin card. In Hooker’s place, Jalin Turner is stepping in to fight Green. It has been a roller-coaster 2023 campaign for Hooker, who injured his hand ahead of a meeting with Turner at UFC 285, which forced that bout to be rescheduled for UFC 290. Hooker went on to defeat Turner, but he broke his arm in that fight, which…