Author: mmafighting
Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings, where every month our esteemed panel sort through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best overall male and female MMA fighters in the world? Heading into UFC 295, all we knew is that the stage was set at Madison Square Garden for two new champions to emerge. Those champions turned out to be Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall, who rode their knockout power to wins over Jiri Prochazka and Sergei Pavlovich, respectively. Saturday’s results guaranteed that MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound rankings would be shaken up yet again,…
Dustin Poirier hasn’t officially mapped out a timeline for when he’d like to return to the UFC’s octagon, but the former interim lightweight champion admits that if he could compete on the promotion’s next historic card, that would be of great interest to him. When he does return, Poirier will look to bounce back from a second-round knockout loss to Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 291 in July for the “BMF” title. With 2024 fast approaching, and with that, UFC 300 — which would be targeted for April currently — being around the corner, “The Diamond” would…
Paddy Pimblett doesn’t see a Tony Ferguson win at UFC 296 doing as much for him as one might think. It will have been over one full year since Pimblett last fought come UFC 296 on December 16 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The quick-rising UFC lightweight superstar out of Liverpool, England made his most recent octagon appearance at UFC 282 in his first PPV co-main event slot opposite Jared Gordon. Ultimately, Pimblett walked away with a unanimous decision win to extend his six-fight winning streak (four in UFC, 20-3 record) but it came at the cost of…
Christian Leroy Duncan needs a new opponent for UFC Vegas 82 following Cesar Almeida’s withdrawal from the card due to medical reasons, multiple people with knowledge of the situation told MMA Fighting. UFC Vegas 82 takes place Saturday at the UFC APEX and will be headlined by a middleweight showdown between Brendan Allen and Paul Craig. Almeida (4-0) will have to undergo a minor surgery on Monday after battling an infection for more than a week, MMA Fighting has learned. It’s still unclear how long the Brazilian kickboxer will be sidelined. Almeida signed with the UFC after defeating Lucas Fernando…
Random back pain almost robbed Tom Aspinall of the chance to win the UFC interim heavyweight title before he won it at UFC 295. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Aspinall revealed what happened to his back and just how close he was to pulling out of his fight with Sergei Pavlovich at this past Saturday’s pay-per-view event. A video he posted to social media showed him doubling over after throwing a punch in the gym. “I just wanted to get one good spar under my belt before we basically leave and travel to the U.S.,” Aspinall said. “This…
Conor McGregor’s long-awaited UFC return has been delayed once again, according to McGregor’s longtime coach John Kavanagh of SBG Ireland. “We were hoping for April. That was the hope. That was what we were told. And now it seems to be the summertime,” Kavanagh said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I don’t know [why]. That’s literally what we were having a bit of a back and forward [about] today.” McGregor told reporters in late October that the UFC was targeting April for his comeback fight. In that interview, McGregor voiced frustration at his long layoff since July 2021 and expressed…
UFC 295 is in the books and a whole mess of wild stuff happened. Alex Pereira is now the ninth person to become a two-division champion in UFC history (and the fastest to have done so), Tom Aspinall might just be the best heavyweight in the world, Jessica Andrade reminded everyone who she is, and a new contender emerged at lightweight. Let’s chat about all of it and more. Alex Pereira, Perpetual Anomaly how crazy is it that Poatan could be on the receiving end of KO of the year but also might be the Fighter of the Year? 2023…
Leon Edwards wants to become the UFC’s latest two-division champion, targeting a move to middleweight after getting through Colby Covington in December. At UFC 296, Edwards defends his title for the second time after besting Kamaru Usman in back-to-back fights. But the welterweight champ doesn’t have much interest in staying at 170 pounds. Instead, the 32-year-old British fighter likes the idea of tackling another division, and the Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis middleweight title fight at UFC 297 is an appealing option. “100 percent, definitely,” Edwards told Sky Sports when asked about moving up to middleweight. “I feel especially…
Jon Jones might not fight Tom Aspinall, but that hasn’t stopped oddsmakers from favoring him to beat the new interim champion should they ever compete against one another. A potential clash between the heavyweight titleholders has quickly become one of the most talked-about matchups overnight following Aspinall’s first-round knockout of Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 295 on Saturday. That bout was a late addition to the lineup after undisputed champ Jones was forced to withdraw due to an injury from a defense against ex-champ Stipe Miocic. Depending on when Jones is able to compete again, it would…
Although he didn’t smile much on the outside, Alex Pereira couldn’t be prouder after his title win at UFC 295. By stopping ex-champ Jiri Prochazka this past Saturday, Pereira picked up his second UFC belt in just his seventh octagon appearance, an unheard-of championship pace. “It means a lot to me to conquer this after so many years of training and dedication, and it’s also very important for me to be able to show to everybody where I came from, my humble beginnings,” Pereira said via translator at the post-event press conference. “So to get here and achieve this is…