Author: mmafighting
Cain Velasquez still faces attempted murder charges following his 2022 arrest, but there’s still no clear timeline for when — or if — he’ll go to trial. On Wednesday, the former UFC heavyweight champion appeared in two different Santa Clara County, Calif., courtrooms regarding his case. Velasquez was arrested after allegedly going on a high-speed chase pursuing a car containing Harry Goularte, a man accused of sexually abusing his son at a daycare owned by Goularte’s mother. Velasquez allegedly fired several rounds from a handgun into the vehicle, with Goularte’s stepfather, Paul Bender, being hit by a bullet but sustaining…
After a lackluster UFC Vegas 86 card, MMA’s leading promotion returns with arguably the first good fight card of the year. UFC 298 is headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria and a host of other marquee matchups, and the No Bets Barred boys are back with a full breakdown of all the fights. Conner Burks and Jed Meshew kick things off with a brief recap of last weekend’s card and lamentations about the tough start to 2024 both men had had. Then it’s on to UFC 298, with a deep dive into all the…
Like Uma Thurman’s Bride in Quentin Tarantino’s revenge epic Kill Bill, Ian Machado Garry is keeping a list of all those who wronged him, and he absolutely plans on checking off every one. His main focus at UFC 298 centers around beating Geoff Neal and advancing his ranking in the welterweight division. But the 26-year-old prospect hasn’t forgotten the abhorrent comments aimed at his family in recent months. Garry’s disdain mostly lies with former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and welterweight contender Colby Covington, both of whom have targeted his wife – and by extension, his son – in social…
Henry Cejudo really is approaching his fight against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 as a do-or-die situation. After hinting retirement could loom on the horizon with a loss on Saturday, Cejudo confirmed he’s putting everything on the line with this upcoming fight. He believes a win should put him in position to battle either Sean O’Malley or Marlon “Chito” Vera for the UFC bantamweight title, but a loss will mean the end of his career. “This is all or nothing,” Cejudo said during UFC 298 media day. “I sat with the team, and I was like, ‘It’s either gold or…
Jack Hermansson is tired of fighting at the UFC APEX. This past Saturday, Hermansson got back on the winning track, scoring a unanimous decision win over Joe Pyfer in the main event of UFC Vegas 86. Many fans viewed the matchup as a setup for Pyfer, one of the division’s most highly touted prospects, but heading into the fight, Hermansson saw it as a chance to earn a better spot. “I knew that he had a lot of hype,” Hermansson told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “Everybody was kind of talking about him. So when I got the fight…
Henry Cejudo and coach Eric Albarracin pulled off a prank that had everyone talking, but it wasn’t all fun and games. On Wednesday, the longtime friends provided further details about the controversial scene from a recent “UFC Countdown” episode in which Cejudo appeared to fire Albarracin ahead of his upcoming fight with Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298. Not long after that episode was released, Cejudo and Albarracin appeared together during UFC Fight Week in Anaheim, Calif., calling the whole incident a prank. The truth is, there was plenty of reality behind the supposedly staged split. “That was real,” Albarracin said…
Paige VanZant is back. The UFC and BKFC veteran announced on her podcast that she’s accepted a fight – but she won’t be competing in bare-knuckle or MMA this time around. Instead, VanZant said she’s crossing over to boxing after receiving an intriguing offer. “I got called by my manager day before yesterday, and I got offered a fight,” VanZant said. “A boxing match, and I took it. I don’t know if I can give all the details, I haven’t signed a contract yet. I accepted the fight.” She stopped short of announcing her potential opponent, or the promotion she’s…
Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull will face 2023 PFL featherweight season winner Jesus Pinedo at the upcoming pay-per-view show in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 24, but it remains to be seen if Pitbull will be part of the PFL regular season going forward. Pitbull told MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast he prefers to defend his 145-pound Bellator championship, since it was announced that Bellator will continue to run as an international brand with title bouts on all cards. Plus, he doesn’t like two things about the PFL. “I know what’s happening now is something huge, Bellator and PFL have merged,…
Invicta FC and LFA strawweight vet Ashley Nichols died Monday night. She was 37. Nichols’ former coach, Jeff Harrison, wrote a tribute to Nichols on Instagram confirming her death. Nick Castiglia, her former LFA matchmaker, confirmed Nichols’ death to MMA Fighting; the cause of death could not be determined at the time of this writing. “She wanted to be the best,” Harrison wrote. “Demons haunted her, but she wanted to be the best. My condolences to my friends that were her family, and to all the people out there that loved her.” Nichols earned a record of 7-4 as an…
Cédric Doumbé may only have five MMA fights in his career thus far, but he believes there’s no other French fighter competing in the sport who can draw a bigger crowd at home. Doumbe, a 31-year-old kickboxer turned PFL prospect, said his previous fight at Accor Arena in Paris sold out in just 20 minutes. That led to a disagreement with UFC welterweight Benoit Saint Denis, who said Doumbe wasn’t the face of French MMA because he hadn’t accomplished enough. Instead, Saint Denis called former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane the current face of MMA in France. He added…