Author: mmafighting
Paulo Costa is done chasing Khamzat Chimaev. A middleweight grudge match between Costa and Chimaev was scheduled to take place this past October at UFC 294, but Costa was forced to withdraw due to an elbow infection. Chimaev blasted Costa for the withdrawal and now Costa is firing back, accusing Chimaev of being the one who has frequently missed out on fights. “He needs to stop running,” Costa said in an interview with Submission Radio. “He needs to have balls to face me. For a long time, long time, this guy just avoids these fights. He has no balls. If…
Nate Diaz is currently not a member of the UFC’s fighting roster, but he is certainly teasing a return for a historic event for the promotion — and it’s not UFC 300. Diaz fought out his contract when he submitted Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 279 in September 2022, and his since turned his attention to the boxing world. While the popular mixed martial artist continuously gave fans hope he might fight at UFC 300 on April 13, he has shifted his focus to the UFC’s upcoming Noche UFC card — which will serve as UFC 306…
UFC’s return to Mexico proved to be an unpredictable one and it was certainly a memorable Saturday as Brandon Royval and Brian Ortega both scored impressive upset wins in rematches to reinsert themselves into the flyweight and featherweight title pictures, respectively. What does this mean for the careers of Brandon Moreno and Yair Rodriguez, who fell short against their rivals and now find themselves in the unfamiliar position of having lost consecutive fights in high stakes situations? With Mike Heck on vacation this week, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew steps in to join host Alexander K. Lee as they determine what…
Many have hailed Marlon “Chito” Vera’s growth on the road to his first title shot at UFC 299. UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is not one of those people. “Not really, to be honest,” O’Malley said on The MMA Hour when asked if Vera has improved since their 2020 matchup. “A little bit. He’s kind of peaked.” O’Malley and Vera collide on March 9 at the Kaseya Center in Miami as the main event of UFC 299. The two rivals previously met at UFC 252, with Vera winning by first-round TKO. Four years later, the result remains the only loss…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: We recap the busy combat sports weekend. 1:30 p.m.: Devin Haney joins us in-studio to preview his April 20 bout against Ryan Garcia. 2:30 p.m.: The other side of the fight, Ryan Garcia, joins us in-studio to do the same. 3 p.m.: Garcia’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, then joins us in-studio. 3:30 p.m.: Haney’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, also joins us in-studio. 4:15 p.m.: The…
Mike Perry would like to see more respectful business practices within the UFC. UFC 298 was a big night for several winners throughout the evening of action in Anaheim, Calif. two weekends ago. Amongst them was the clear-cut top-bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili, who maintained his place in the rankings as he extended his winning streak to a divisional record of 10. After the unanimous decision nod over the former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, Dvalishvili was the center of some newfound praise from UFC CEO Dana White. The promotional leader was previously somewhat sour on Dvalishvili after “The Machine”…
Featherweight champion Ilia Topuria was celebrated at the Real Madrid soccer match on Sunday after he became the first fighter from Spain to capture a UFC title. Just over a week after he knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the 145-pound title, Topuria was honored at the game inside the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid with a packed house in attendance for the match between Real Madrid and Sevilla. Topuria walked out with the UFC title on his shoulder as he met with the players on the pitch before conducting the honorary kickoff to start the game. It’s the latest…
The UFC’s International Fight Week has its marquee event. On Saturday, the promotion officially announced via press release that UFC 303 is scheduled to take place on June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas as part of its 12th Annual International Fight Week. The festivities also include this year’s UFC Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the two-day UFC X fan event, which takes place on June 28 and June 29. No fights have been made official for UFC 303, though one major name was tentatively tied to the pay-per-view event. Former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor recently…
Sean Strickland would love the opportunity to face Jake Paul in the boxing ring, but it seems highly unlikely that will ever happen — at least not while he’s under UFC contract. The former middleweight champion got into a war of words with Paul recently following a sparring match where he battered a social influencer named Sneako, which caught the attention of the 8-1 boxer. Paul made a $1 million offer to fly Strickland down to his training camp in Puerto Rico for a fight, but that idea was shot down rather quickly. Strickland claimed he asked the UFC for…
The UFC will head back to the road again for more shows in 2024, with the upcoming UFC Fight Night card on May 11 targeted for a return to St. Louis. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed St. Louis as the destination for the May event, although the UFC hasn’t made anything official just yet. Marcell Dorff first reported the location for the card on Twitter. If the card is finalized for St. Louis, it would be the first time that the UFC has taken a card to the Missouri city since 2018, when Jeremy Stephens knocked…