Author: mmafighting
Mark Hunt has seen a lot in his fighting career, but even he couldn’t believe the situation he found himself in recently. Ahead of a planned return to action following a short-lived retirement, Hunt appeared on The MMA Hour where he claimed that he was recently asked to throw a fight in exchange for a sizeable paycheck. According to Hunt, the offer was in the seven figures. Despite the massive number, Hunt didn’t even consider going along with the proposal. “I’ve always been one that says if things aren’t right, they aren’t right,” Hunt said. “I was offered three or…
Welcome to the latest edition of Missed Fists where we shine a light on fights from across the globe that may have been overlooked in these hectic times where it seems like there’s an MMA show every other day. Happy New Year! Yes, we’re all well into the 2024 groove at this point, but most of the MMA world is just starting to get back into full swing. The UFC machine gets rolling again on Saturday after a much-needed break and several other smaller promotions have already opened the cage doors. Let’s kick off our look at the regional and…
Charles Oliveira’s coach and manager, Diego Lima, is confident the winner of the ex-champ’s UFC 300 bout with Arman Tsarukyan will next face lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, even if he thinks the Russian sensation will do everything he can to avoid the match. When UFC CEO Dana White announced Oliveira vs. Tsarukyan for April 13 in Las Vegas, he said the winner will earn a shot at the belt later this year. Makhachev, however, went on social media Wednesday to reveal his own plans for 2024, which include a clash with Justin Gaethje on June 8 before he faces Oliveira…
Sean O’Malley has double-champ aspirations in mind. The lighter weight classes in the UFC are arguably more interesting than ever, particularly in the bantamweight division, which is now run by the “Sugar Show.” As the biggest star to ever come out of Dana White’s Contender Series, the season one alum O’Malley has lived up to his hype and won UFC gold this past August when he scored a second-round TKO over Aljamain Sterling. O’Malley, 29, officially has his first title defense lined up in the form of a rematch with the only man to defeat him in his 19-fight career…
Manel Kape couldn’t imagine a better way to kick off 2024 than by avenging one of his only two UFC losses. On Saturday at UFC Vegas 84, “Starboy” clashes with Matheus Nicolau for the second time after their initial encounter ended in a controversial split decision. Despite every single media member scoring the fight for Kape (via MMA Decisions), two of the three judges opted to pick Nicolau. Less than three years later, Kape can’t wait to settle the score with Nicolau once and for all. “It’s a fight that I’ve wanted for a long time to get my revenge…
Former UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno is set to rematch recent UFC title challenger Brandon Royval at UFC Mexico City. A UFC official confirmed Moreno vs. Royval 2 to MMA Fighting after an initial report from ESPN.com. Moreno was scheduled to face Amir Albazi, but Albazi was forced out of the event due to a neck injury, he wrote on X. “I’m out of the fight against Moreno 24th of February,” Albazi wrote. “I have been dealing with a serious neck injury the past weeks. After some scans the UFC doctors decided to pull me out of the fight immediately.…
A welterweight fight between Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov has been added to UFC Vegas 85, and the Feb. 3 fight card has lost three fighters due to injury, the promotion announced Thursday. Among the fighters scrapped from the winter event: Nate Maness, Kiefer Crosbie and William Gomis. Maness was scheduled to take on Azat Maksum, but Maksum will now take on Charles Johnson in a flyweight bout. Welterweight Crosbie has been replaced by Pete Rodriguez, who will now take on Themba Gorimbo. Additionally, a featherweight bout between William Gomis and Melsik Baghdasaryan has been cancelled due to Gomis’ withdrawal,…
Yoshihiro Akiyama looks to bring sexy back when he faces kickboxing legend Nieky Holzken in a special-rules fight at the upcoming ONE Championship card scheduled for Jan. 28 in Japan. ONE announced the new matchup on Thursday with Akiyama and Holzken competing in boxing in the first round, Muay Thai in the second round and finally MMA in the third round. The fight takes place at a special 187.25 pound catchweight. Based on those rules alone, Holzken seemingly holds a sizable advantage through the first two rounds. The Dutch fighter put together a massive career in kickboxing, competing in K-1,…
Fresh off his win on The Ultimate Fighter Season 31, Kurt Holobaugh returns to action against Trey Ogden in a new matchup expected to take place at the UFC Fight Night card on March 23. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday. Holobaugh earned his third stint on the UFC roster after joining the reality show coached by Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler this past year. After scoring wins over Lee Hammond and Jason Knight on the series, he secured his new contract with a second-round triangle choke submission over Austin…
Bo Nickal keeps a close eye on the entire middleweight division, but he’s always been drawn to a showdown against fellow undefeated wrecking machine Khamzat Chimaev. With similar backgrounds in wrestling and grappling, the three-time NCAA champion from Penn State feels it’s inevitable that he’ll cross paths with Chimaev eventually, especially now that the Chechnya native competes full-time at 185 pounds. Most recently, Chimaev seemingly secured a title shot after earning a hard-fought win over ex-UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman when they met at UFC 294. “I felt like it was an interesting matchup given that they’re both 170-pounders fighting…