Author: mmafighting
Matt Brown knows there are fights on his record he had no business taking, but that didn’t stop him from accepting the challenge when the UFC came calling. Now he places the blame squarely on his own shoulders for those decisions because ultimately the UFC just made him the offer and it was up to him whether or not to say yes. Even in defeat, there are still times when Brown recognizes that helping out when the UFC needed him paid off in the long run but he’s reconciled now after more than 40 fights in his career that you…
Back when the UFC was booming in Brazil in the early 2010s, with Anderson Silva reaching superstar status, Allan Nascimento was one of the hottest prospects in Brazilian MMA. But a lot has changed since. Nascimento stumbled along the way in regional shows before finally joining the UFC a decade later. Now he’s more mature than ever for the challenges he’s facing inside the octagon, and one of the secrets behind that growth, Nascimento said on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast, is helping Chute Boxe leader Diego Lima as cornerman. “It’s past time since I heard I was a MMA…
Themba Gorimbo needs a new opponent for his next UFC appearance, and made sure his originally scheduled foe knew what he was feeling before turning the page. Gorimbo confirmed an initial report from MMA Mania that Kiefer Crosbie was forced to withdraw from their Feb. 3 bout at the APEX with an injury. “The Answer” posted the news to Twitter, also sharing screenshots of social media posts and conversations between he and Crosbie. Check out Gorimbo’s post below. It’s never nice to hear opponent got injured.This guy had so much to say about me and now i guess he needs…
In many ways, UFC veteran Ben Rothwell could have easily slid into a title shot when he first arrived in BKFC. With over 50 fights on his resume and a career dated back more than 20 years, the 6-foot-4 knockout artist became a key free agent pickup after he asked for his release from the UFC to explore new options. Since making his debut, Rothwell has quickly dispatched two opponents in impressive fashion but rather than earn a title shot, he was instead scheduled to clash with Todd Duffee this past December. Unfortunately, illness wiped out that fight with Rothwell…
Mayra Bueno Silva will finally hear cheers — or boos — from a crowd again for the first time since 2018. “Sheetara” made her octagon debut in her native Sao Paulo, Brazil, scoring a first-round armbar victory over Gillian Robertson in November 2018. It took a while for her to recover from a bad knee injury suffered that night, and once she returned, Silva was part of the UFC Brasilia card in March 2020 that was almost shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving an empty arena for the first time due to the health crisis. Since then, Silva…
Francis Ngannou almost shocked the world against Tyson Fury, but he’s still an underdog heading into his second professional boxing match. Opening odds for Ngannou’s just-announced fight with ex-champ Anthony Joshua have been released, and the former UFC titleholder remains in the underdog category, albeit not as deeply as for his fight this past October with Fury. SportsBetting.ag has set the opening odds for Ngannou vs. Joshua, which reportedly takes place March 9 in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia. Anthony Joshua: -500 Francis Ngannou: +325 The odds imply Joshua has an 83 percent chance of winning the bout. A $100 bet on…
UFC CEO Dana White’s personal policy, at least in 2017, was not to reveal a fighter’s pay unless they had misrepresented it in public. When Randy Couture in 2007 revealed his earnings amid a dispute over his retirement, White claimed the UFC Hall of Famer “completely lied” and went to the UFC’s accounting department to get the real number so he could counter publicly. Behind the scenes was a different story. He didn’t want certain numbers to make the rounds, and while he couldn’t remember any specific instances, he said the promotion had “probably” worked to keep salary information under…
Dricus du Plessis is unmoved by Sean Strickland’s comments since their press conference showdown. The two middleweights have caused quite the commotion ahead of their Jan. 20 meeting at UFC 297 for Strickland’s UFC middleweight title. Du Plessis and Strickland nearly came to blows in their first face-to-face when the South African contender invoked Strickland’s childhood trauma and promised, “You think your dad beat the s*** out of you? Your dad doesn’t have s*** on me … every childhood memory you have is going to come back when I’m in there with you.” One day later, tensions rose even further…
The 2023 MMA All-Star Teams have finally been announced! As I said last year, the great Jordan Breen used to do an “All-Violence Team” for Sherdog, and I loved it so I’ve co-opted it. Every other sport has an All-Pro or All-Star team, so why not MMA? Especially when it’s so easily broken down by weight class. The concept is simple: The three fighters in each weight class who had the best year based on excitement, activity, and accomplishment. We’re not just talking about who are the best fighters, but which fighters delivered the most entertainment throughout the year, with…
Francis Ngannou’s meteoric boxing career continues with a showdown against former heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia, according to a new report. Veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani announced the fight Friday, citing Saudi royal advisor Turki AlAlShikh. A press conference is expected on January 15 to announce the fight’s date, but Helwani said AlAlShikh has confirmed both sides have signed a deal to make official a 10-round heavyweight fight for later this year in Riyadh. According to ESPN.com, the bout is expected to take place March 9, the date originally targeted to host Joshua vs. Deontay Wilder. The booking…