Author: mmafighting
Sean Strickland is preparing for a war at UFC 297 in Toronto on Jan. 20, 2024. The Anaheim, Calif.-born Strickland shocked the world at UFC 293 this past September with his unanimous decision upset win over two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. Putting on a defensive masterclass, Strickland proved to the world he was an elite-level 185-pound fighter and now prepares for his first title defense. Standing in Strickland’s way will be the proud South African and No. 2 ranked contender in the UFC’s official rankings, Dricus Du Plessis. “Stillknocks” was originally expected to get Strickland’s opportunity against Adesanya after a…
The No Bets Barred boys are back this week with a full breakdown of UFC Vegas 82 and plenty of Bellator discussion as on Friday, Bellator 301 takes place in what may end up being the final event in promotional history. Co-hosts Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a small recap of UFC 295 before diving into the double header this weekend. Topics discussed include Paul Craig’s chances at pulling off the upset over Brendan Allen, Chase Hooper being such a big betting favorite, the shocking lack of quality betting opportunities on the UFC card, and the…
Jake Paul doesn’t think his brother Logan is actually done with fighting. Earlier this week, Logan Paul announced that he was likely done with his short-lived boxing career, saying that he intends to focus his time on professional wrestling moving forward. But despite what his brother said, Jake Paul remains skeptical this will be the last fans see of him inside the squared circle. “I don’t believe that,” Paul said Wednesday on The MMA Hour. “I don’t know when he’ll fight, but he’s just got so much fight in him. He’s going into his athletic prime. I think he’s going…
Mayra Bueno Silva’s next fight is for UFC gold, but that doesn’t mean she’s letting one of her most hated rivals off the hook. When fans next see Bueno Silva compete, she’ll be taking on Raquel Pennington in the co-main event of UFC 297 on Jan. 20 with a vacant bantamweight title on the line. Bueno Silva, No. 1 at 135 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, looked like she might miss out on the opportunity after recently testing positive for a banned substance and seeing a recent submission win over Holly Holm overturned, but in the end her…
The UFC’s planned return to China will have to wait until 2024. The upcoming card on Dec. 9 originally scheduled in Shanghai, China is now expected to shift back to Las Vegas with the event taking place at the UFC APEX. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday. MMA manager Shu Hirata first announced the news on Twitter. あらUFC上海大会キャンセルで、ベガスになるですね — Shu Hirata | シュウヒラタ (@ShuHirata) November 15, 2023 The UFC has made no official announcement about the switch or why the event will no longer take place in China. The card…
Patricky Pitbull doesn’t look kindly on Usman Nurmagomedov’s recent drug failure. The former Bellator lightweight champion said Nurmagomedov should be stripped of the belt and bounced from the lightweight grand prix for his infraction, which overturned his Bellator 300 win over Brent Primus and resulted in a six-month suspension. “For me, this is fight is going to be for the title,” said Pitbull, who on Friday faces Alexander Shabliy in the grand prix semifinals at Bellator 301. “I believe he doesn’t still have the belt. The rules is the rules. If he tests positive for drugs, he needs to vacate…
Court is officially in session! Mike Heck and Jed Meshew (plus a special guest) join co-hosts Shaun Al-Shatti and Alexander K. Lee this week for the most important trial in MMA history. With UFC 295 in the rear-view mirror, the gang hits the witness stand to settle once and for all whether Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall is the No. 1 heavyweight in the world. Then, the boys discuss how Alex Pereira has broken MMA (and Jed’s brain), play another rollicking round of “What The F*** Are We Supposed To Do Next?” with the two heaviest and most confusing divisions…
Conor McGregor still expects to make an impact in 2024. A return date for the former two-division champion remains up in the air, with McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh saying on The MMA Hour that it is doubtful McGregor will be back in action before summer. There was much speculation that with McGregor recently resuming drug testing he might make it back in time for UFC 300, which is expected to take place sometime in April. McGregor has not fought since breaking his leg in a loss to rival Dustin Poirier at UFC 264 in July 2021, and based on the…
Just one fight into his professional boxing career, and Francis Ngannou has already cracked the top 10 rankings. On the heels of razor-close split decision loss to Tyson Fury in October, the former UFC heavyweight champion has officially been ranked at No. 10 by the WBC in their updated rankings released on Wednesday. “Francis Ngannou did an outstanding job dropping the WBC Heavyweight Champion and the WBC Board of Governors has agreed to rank him as No. 10 in the Heavyweight division,” WBC officials said with the announcement. During their 10-round fight, Ngannou scored the only knockdown after he blasted…
Conor McGregor’s longtime coach John Kavanagh remains perplexed about how the former two-division champ ended up a focal point of the UFC’s messy divorce with USADA. “I didn’t understand that at all,” Kavanagh said this week on The MMA Hour. “That was a very strange one. I would’ve understood if, let’s say UFC was dropping USADA at the end of the year, and then there was a rumor, or not even a rumor, like an announcement — Conor’s fighting January 15th, something like that. You could understand USADA being upset then and saying, ‘Oh, so that’s why he left us.’…