Author: mmafighting
Reinier de Ridder launched his career with a perfect 16-0 record and started to think that he would always dominate his competition. It was hard to argue with his logic considering de Ridder ran roughshod over two divisions in ONE Championship, amassing seven straight wins, five finishes, and a pair of titles along the way. Ahead of his last fight, de Ridder once again believed he was destined to dispatch another opponent when Anatoly Malykhin dropped down from heavyweight to take a shot at the light heavyweight title. It took less than five minutes for de Ridder to pay for…
Former WWE star Matt Riddle wouldn’t mind stepping back into the cage. Riddle, 38, is one of the few combat sports athletes to find mainstream success in both MMA and professional wrestling. An alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter 7, Riddle competed 12 times in the UFC from 2008-13 and has the rare distinction of being cut from the promotion on a four-fight unbeaten streak due to a pair of failed drug tests for cannabis. Riddle then pivoted to professional wrestling, working his way from the indies up to WWE stardom before getting released this past September following a five-year run…
Alexandre Pantoja wants to defend his UFC flyweight belt in Rio de Janeiro on May 4, and he doesn’t really care who’s standing across the octagon at UFC 301. The Rio de Janeiro native flew to Mexico to watch Brandon Royval defeat Brandon Moreno in the main event of UFC Mexico City this past weekend and wonders if Royval, victorious via split decision, will be healthy enough to compete in early May after a 25-minute battle. Pantoja, who defeated Royval twice already, looks at the division — and even outside the organization — to seek for challengers for his belt.…
Robert Whittaker has his path to the title all mapped out. At UFC 298, Whittaker got back in the win column with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Paulo Costa. The win is Whittaker’s first since getting stopped by Dricus du Plessis at UFC 290, and the man affectionately dubbed “Bobby Knuckles” by fans was pleased with his ability to rebound from one of the more deflating performances of his career. “I’m very happy obviously to get the W, to get the result you’ve been working towards,” Whittaker told Submission Radio. “It kind of validates all the changes and all…
When Max Holloway suggested a BMF title fight with Justin Gaethje months before UFC 300 was scheduled, he was playing the odds that it might actually happen. At the time, Ilia Topuria had already been declared the No. 1 contender in the featherweight division, and lightweight king Islam Makhachev was expected to face Charles Oliveira next. That left Holloway and Gaethje as the odd men out in their respective divisions, so that’s where an idea was born about possibly putting something together between them. “If that’s not the definition of a BMF, then I don’t know what is,” Holloway told…
Umar Nurmagomedov plans on becoming UFC champion one day, but for now he’s just anxious to get back into the cage and resume his climb up the ranks. The undefeated bantamweight and cousin to UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought in more than a year due to an injury that kept him out of his most recent scheduled appearance against Cory Sandhagen this past August. As he prepared to return, Nurmagomedov hoped to compete before the end of 2023 but ultimately had to wait until the upcoming UFC Vegas 87 card on Saturday to find a willing opponent. Despite his…
There’s an age-old cliche in the combat sports world: “You live to fight another day.” But in the case of Las Vegas mixed martial artist Ashlee Gambino, she needs to fight to live another day — and she’ll do that until the inevitable moment when it is no longer an option. In 2022, Gambino, 32, saw her life change forever — then it happened again, and again, with a series of life-altering tragedies. In late November of that year, Gambino and her husband Travis Long lost their 3-year-old daughter Katana to acute leukemia cancer. It happened in the blink of…
Patricio Pitbull is wasting no time on the sidelines. After having two bouts cancelled on the PFL vs. Bellator card this past weekend, the Bellator featherweight champion has agreed to defend his belt against Jeremy Kennedy at the upcoming show in Belfast, Ireland, on March 22, the company announced Thursday. Bellator Belfast is headlined by Corey Anderson vs. Karl Moore for the vacant light heavyweight title at the SSE Arena. Pitbull (35-7) was scheduled to face 2023 PFL champion Jesus Pinedo in Saudi Arabia, before agreeing to meeting PFL runner-up Gabriel Braga on a week’s notice following Pinedo withdrew. Braga,…
Alexander Volkanovski won’t rush into his next fight. Brain health has been the biggest area of concern for the now-former UFC featherweight champion since his tough first-round knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Mahachev on short notice. The head kick heard at UFC 294 in October was the first finish defeat of “The Great” in the promotion and only his second (third overall, 26-4), which came after his initial unanimous decision shortcoming in the pair’s first encounter in February 2023. Unfortunately for Australia’s all-time great, another — and arguably more — devastating knockout came in his rebound attempt when he…
UFC Mexico City is in the books and that means it’s back to the APEX as UFC Vegas 87 goes down this Saturday, headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Gaziev. Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a recap of UFC Mexico City and PFL vs. Bellator before turning their attention back to the APEX. Can all five undefeated prospects on the card stay that way? Is Eryk Anders being a massive betting favorite a huge trap? Will Alex Perez and/or Matt Schnell pull out before Saturday? Plus, some fun facts about Suriname! All…