Author: mmafighting
Jessica Andrade enters UFC 295 looking to snap the longest losing skid of her 36-fight MMA career, and said that personal issues could have affected her recent performances. “Bate Estaca” dominated Cynthia Calvillo, Amanda Lemos and Lauren Murphy to put herself close to another title shot in the UFC before getting finished by Erin Blanchfield, Yan Xiaonan and Tatiana Suarez in 2023. The Mackenzie Dern bout this Saturday in New York will be her fifth this year, and Andrade explains why she’s staying so active as of late despite the negative results. “This year I had my divorce that has…
One-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith hoped to face ex-champ Jan Blachowicz for his next bout. But with Blachowicz recently booked and the rest of the top-ranked fighters tied up, he’s at a loss to his next step. So why not aim for the top? Smith is one of the few fighters not on Alex Pereira’s Christmas list after his criticism kicked off a minor internet spat. If Pereira captures the vacant light heavyweight title by beating Jiri Prochazka, Smith could in theory follow Chito Vera, whose grudge with Sean O’Malley helped him leapfrog more deserving contenders. “I…
The UFC middleweight title will take the spotlight atop the promotion’s first PPV of 2024. Recently minted champion Sean Strickland shocked the world with a defensive masterclass against all-time great striker and former two-time champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 293 in September. The unanimous decision win let the world know “Tarzan” truly is as legit as they come, shaking up the division in the process. Strickland proves the doubters wrong in his opportunity, but he wasn’t the original choice to be Adesanya’s challenger. That was supposed to be South Africa’s Dricus Du Plessis, who scored his own massive upset in…
The No Bets Barred boys are back this week with a full breakdown of UFC 295 and the promotion’s return to Madison Square Garden with two vacant title fights. In the co-main event, Sergei Pavlovich takes on Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title and then in the main event, former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka looks to reclaim the belt he never lost when he faces former middleweight champion Alex Pereira. Co-hosts Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a small celebration for a major milestone before jumping into UFC 295 and all 13 fights set to…
Two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison has a new opponent with UFC veteran Aspen Ladd accepting the challenge to face her after Julia Budd was pulled from upcoming PFL Finals card on Nov. 24. PFL officials announced the change on Wednesday. The fight will take place at a 150-pound catchweight. Budd was removed from the fight with PFL officials stating that she “refused to fulfill her contractual obligation.” The fight will serve as Harrison’s first appearance in 2023 after she suffered the only loss of her career in a decision to 2022 PFL champion Larissa Pacheco. Following that fight, Harrison contemplated…
Tom Aspinall didn’t blink when the offer came to fight for an interim title on short notice after Jon Jones suffered an injury that prevented him from competing at UFC 295. Jones, who claimed the vacant heavyweight title in March with a first-round submission win over Ciryl Gane, was forced to undergo surgery after tearing a pectoral muscle during his training camp. He’s not expected back until sometime deep into 2024 but he’ll still defend his title when he returns because the UFC didn’t force him to relinquish the belt in his absence. While plenty of past champions held onto…
Daniel Cormier can now personally attest to the kind of power Alex Pereira generates. Just days ahead of UFC 295 where Pereira will attempt to claim the vacant light heavyweight title, the Brazilian played a prank on Cormier before displaying the kind of devastation he can wreak with his leg kicks. First things first, Pereira wanted to show Cormier how he could handle a golf club, which made the former two-division UFC champion rather nervous as he stood behind him. “It was fun,” Pereira said about the video he posted on Instagram. “Because at first, he didn’t want to do…
Mackenzie Dern would love to settle into a routine whenever she has a fight coming up but that’s just not realistic because somehow life always gets in the way. Ahead of her last outing against Angela Hill in May, the 30-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion revealed that she was going through a tumultuous divorce with her ex-husband that also included a custody battle for their daughter. While her divorce was finalized, Dern admits that a difficult situation like that in her personal life never just goes away so she’s learned to thrive through the chaos. “I realized we always have problems,”…
Jake Paul has named his next opponent. On Dec. 15 at Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Fla., Paul (7-1, 4 KOs) fights Andre August (10-1-1, 5 KOs) in a pro boxing bout scheduled for eight rounds. The bout will be contested at cruiserweight. Most Valuable Promotions announced the bout via press release Wednesday. See the social media post for the matchup below. Paul is coming off of a unanimous decision win over former UFC star Nate Diaz this past August. That victory helped Paul bounce back from a dull split decision loss to longtime rival Tommy Fury. For Paul, a…
Jamahal Hill will be front and center for the light heavyweight title fight between Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira at UFC 295. He plans on challenging the winner in 2024. The vacant title is for grabs after Hill suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a pickup basketball game in July, which forced him to undergo surgery. Hill ultimately relinquished the title while recovering — the same move Prochazka made after he won the belt and then needed shoulder surgery. While it was tough to give up a title he’d just won six months earlier, Hill knew it was the right…