Author: mmafighting
Mayra Bueno Silva came up short in her attempt to claim the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 297, and according to her, an ear injury sustained during the fight affected her performance. Silva had a good first round, and even threatened Pennington with a rear-naked choke, but told MMA Fighting that she couldn’t keep up that pace after suffering the injury early in the second round. “I had a minor ear injury, but aside from that, I feel great and ready to come back,” Silva said. “Raquel hit me hard in the ear and partially tore my eardrum and I…
Diego Lopes is getting another shot to crack into the featherweight top 15. On Wednesday, UFC announced that Lopes will fight Sodiq Yusuff on the prelims of UFC 300, which is set to go down on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Lopes earned MMA Fighting’s 2023 Rookie of the Year honors, after a sensational year in UFC. Kicking things off with a short-notice debut against Movsar Evloev where Lopes lost a competitive decision that won Fight of the Night, the 29-year-old featherweight followed that up with back-to-back Performance bonuses for first-round wins over Gavin Tucker and…
UFC 300 is expected to deliver a loaded lineup for the promotion’s historic April event. Following one of the most chaotic years in recent memory, the UFC will bring UFC 300 to its home base of Las Vegas on April 13. UFC CEO Dana White has promised one of the most stacked, and perhaps, unpredictable lineups in company history. With four title fights already on the books for the first quarter of the year, including Sean Strickland vs. Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title, and Mayra Bueno Silva vs. Raquel Pennington for the vacant women’s bantamweight title at UFC…
UFC CEO Dana White made a big announcement on Tuesday night as it relates to UFC 300, but it likely was not what most fans were expecting. White revealed that the promotion has signed former PFL champion Kayla Harrison, and she will meet former UFC champion Holly Holm at the historic pay-per-view event — not at featherweight, but at bantamweight. MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Shaun Al-Shatti, and Jed Meshew react to the big news of Harrison’s signing, and the matchup with Holm. Additionally, they discuss the many questions surrounding this news, including major concerns about Harrison’s ability to make the…
It’s time to ask the question: Is women’s bantamweight in 2024 the worst division in UFC history? Podcast pals Mike Heck and Jed Meshew join co-hosts Shaun Al-Shatti and Alexander K. Lee this week to decipher that mystery and unpack everything UFC 297. The gang hits DDP’s title win and whether his reign will finally bring stability to an unstable division (around 10:05), then whip out their tier lists (around 22:45) to debate where middleweight sits among the most fun divisions in MMA. Then, the crew puts on their investigative hats (around 48:10) to determine whether it’s an exaggeration to…
Laura Sanko agrees with the two judges who scored UFC 297’s main event for Dricus du Plessis over Sean Strickland following a razor close five-round battle in Toronto. “I did have Dricus, both when I watched it live and when I went back and re-watched it,” the UFC analyst and color commentator told MMA Fighting. “I had Dricus winning by the narrowest of margins, the smallest of margins.” Du Plessis captured the UFC middleweight title with the win, ending Strickland’s title reign after just 132 days. While Strickland did out-land du Plessis in total and significant strikes, Sanko said those…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Wednesday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: All of your questions are answered on the latest edition of On The Nose. 2 p.m.: Top women’s featherweight Leah McCourt discusses her status in PFL, the latest on Ryan Curtis, and more. 2:30 p.m.: PFL star Cédric Doumbé previews his March 3 fight against Baissangour Chamsoudinov. 3 p.m.: Kayla Harrison drops by to discuss joining the UFC and facing Holly Holm at UFC 300.…
Max Holloway is ready to add another title to his legendary resume. If fans were worried about the state of UFC 300, it looks like there’s no more need to fear if Wednesday night’s announcement of Holly Holm vs. Kayla Harrison is anything to go by. Oh, but before that, the next BMF title tilt between the champion Justin Gaethje and Holloway had also been added to the lineup. MMA fighters don’t get much more exciting than Gaethje and Holloway. Having them paired to fight each other is just an exceptionally uncalled-for delight in what will be Holloway’s first fight…
Kayla Harrison is finally a UFC fighter. On Tuesday, UFC CEO Dana White announced that the two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka and two-time PFL champion has signed an exclusive deal to join the UFC roster, where she will compete as a bantamweight. Her first assignment will come against former bantamweight champion Holly Holm at UFC 300, which takes place on April 13 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It’s a stunning turn of events for Harrison, who spent her entire MMA career with the PFL but recently hit free agency at the end of her contract. PFL made attempts…
The upcoming UFC Fight Night card on March 16, which is headlined by a heavyweight showdown pitting Tai Tuivasa against Marcin Tybura, has added several new fights including a former interim title challenger. The card takes place at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas. Ovince Saint Preux, who previously battled Jon Jones for an interim title at 205 pounds, makes his return to action for the first time since this past February when he faces Kennedy Nzechukwu on the card. Saint Preux currently sits at 1-3 in his past four fights, which means he might find himself in a must-win…