Author: Dan Hiergesell

Colby Covington shed his bad guy persona just in time for the holiday season and ended up handing out food, water, and clothes to the homeless.

As arguably the most out-spoken and unapologetic fighter in combat sports today, Covington is not the biggest fan favorite. He’s a bit controversial to say the least. Someone who would stop at almost nothing to get under the skin of fighters and fans, including taking shots at Leon Edwards’ deceased father.

At the end of the day, Covington swears he’s just in character. But after all of the idiotic and slimy things “Chaos” has spewed out of his mouth is there any room for forgiveness?

While fight fans may not be lining up to pay their respects to Covington the former UFC welterweight title contender deserves at least a little bit.

After all, Covington isn’t that bad of a guy outside of the Octagon when he isn’t promoting a fight or trying to destroy his opponent mentally. In fact, the brash UFC fighter took time out of his busy schedule to ring in the New Years by handing out essential items to the homeless. This includes burgers, water, and some sweatshirts for those wintery Florida nights.

It may not be enough to wipe the slate clean and give Covington a free pass heading into 2025, but it was still a generous act of kindness by the UFC veteran. Check it out below:

Darren Till took to social media on Friday to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov’s recent claims that Dagestan has much better fighters than Ireland.

Earlier this week, Khabib was interviewed in effort to promote the upcoming PFL “Road to Dubai” card at the end of January. The former UFC lightweight champion will help corner his cousin, Usman Nurmagomedov, who will defend his Bellator MMA lightweight title against Irish sensation Paul Hughes. It’s an incredible matchup for PFL/Bellator as Nurmagomedov and Hughes are two of the best fighters currently competing outside of UFC.

As you may have imagined, Khabib has been asked about the rivalry between Dagestani and Irish fighting in the lead up to this title fight. Remember, Nurmagomedov had arguably the most intense rivalry in MMA history when he went toe-to-toe with Ireland’s Conor McGregor back in 2018. While this month’s matchup between Usman and Hughes isn’t quite on that level it’s still bringing both countries back into the fire.

However, Khabib doesn’t believe that there is a real rivalry between Dagestan and Ireland. The former UFC champion claims that Ireland doesn’t have any real fighters outside of a handful of names, which may or may not be true. This sparked a response from Till on Friday.

Check it out below and let us know what your thoughts are on this Dagestan vs. Ireland squabble:

“I’ve always respected Khabib and his team a lot they are fantastic fighters

But for him to sit there and say fighters from Ireland are low level in comparison of sizes of countries and production Ireland is actually way ahead

Ireland is so fucking small and Russia is so fucking big

Ireland has produced amazing fighters over the years

I would said just over size and production of the country Ireland wins every time and this is not me being biased because I am neither friends with khabibs side or irelands side I’m just stating my opinion.”

It appears Gilbert Burns could use one of his remaining UFC fights to welcome undefeated welterweight contender Michael Morales to the next level of competition at 170 pounds.

Burns, who turned 38 this past July, has fallen on some tough times inside of the Octagon. The former UFC welterweight title challenger has lost his last three trips to the cage. His opponents do include Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena, and Sean Brady, but Burns’ last UFC win came over a washed-up Jorge Masvidal back in April 2023. In total, “Durinho” is just 3-5 in his last eight UFC fights.

Needless to say, Burns needs a big-time performance in his next outing to stay afloat in a deep and rapidly-evolving welterweight division. Burns already stated he doesn’t have much tread left on his tires so 2025 will be a big year to prove he’s still a top threat. The Brazilian veteran may be biting off more than he can chew, but Burns is expecting to fight undefeated welterweight Michael Morales next.

This is according to a recent report by AG.Fight, which spoke to Burns about his next fight inside of the Octagon. Nothing is concrete at this time, but it’s a plausible matchup to make given Burns’ recent struggles and Morales’ continued ascension at 170 pounds.

Morales, 25, is part of the next wave of contenders in the UFC’s jam-packed welterweight division. He’s currently 5-0 inside of the Octagon and coming off a first-round TKO win over battle-tested veteran, Neil Magny, this past August. Morales needs a big name to launch him to the top of the division while testing his evolved skill set and Burns checks off both boxes.

Thoughts of this potential Burns vs. Morales matchup?

Renato Moicano is looking to make big strides in the UFC’s talent-rich lightweight division in 2025 and that includes a potential clash with “BMF” titleholder and former UFC featherweight king Max Holloway.

As of now, the red-hot Moicano is set to put his four-fight win streak on the line in a critical lightweight scrap with Beneil Dariush at UFC 311 this January in Inglewood, California. It will be an opportunity for Moicano to prove he’s ready to fight the best lightweights in the world and another potential victory that would land him close to title contention.

However, Moicano has his sights set on more than just lightweight gold in 2025. If it was up to him, “Money” would find himself in a “BMF” title fight with Holloway after a win over Dariush at UFC 311.

“I would love to do that, especially Max Holloway now says he’s done at 145,” Moicano told MMA Fighting. “If he really wants to be a 155’er, I think that would be an awesome fight, especially because that’s going to put me on [track for a title shot].

“100 percent if you beat Max Holloway, you’re fighting for the title. It’s a fight that I would be willing to take 100 percent.”

Moicano, 35. has become a bit of a fan favorite over the past two years. With stoppages over the likes of Benoit Saint-Denis, Jalin Turner, and Brad Riddell, Moicano understands how to finish fights and give fans exactly what they want. Hosting a popular — and somewhat controversial — podcast doesn’t hurt the Brazilian’s popularity either.

At the end of the day, Moicano is a company man and will fight anyone UFC puts in his way. This includes Holloway or mouthy lightweight contender Paddy Pimblett, who has called out Moicano in the past.

“I will do what the UFC wants,” Moicano said. “If the UFC wants me to break his face, it’s going to be easy money. If not, I’ll move on and fight somebody else in the top five or for the title.

“Like I said, the title is good, but I want to build a brand. I want to build something bigger. A name, a persona, call it whatever you call it so after I’m done, I can capitalize on that. Like it or not, Paddy has a huge audience, he has a big name. That would be very good for my career so I would never say no.”

Conor McGregor may be lining himself up for a lucrative boxing match against one of the Paul Bros. in 2025, but that doesn’t mean the former UFC double champion isn’t still sharpening his grappling skills.

As you may know, McGregor made headlines for the wrong reasons last month when he lost his civil sexual assault lawsuit. “Notorious” was not only asked to pay monetary damages to his accuser, but he also received a hefty amount of backlash for his alleged actions. Most of the combat community publicly criticized McGregor on social media and made it known that they don’t want to see him fight again.

Nevertheless, McGregor made more headlines earlier this month when news leaked of a potential boxing match with Logan Paul in India in 2025. McGregor hasn’t competed since breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier back at UFC 264 in July 2021, but he’s still a massive star in combat sports and would bring a lot of attention in a potential fight with Paul. Recent reports suggest it may be Jake Paul instead of Logan Paul to welcome “Notorious” back to the boxing ring, but that will just lead to an even bigger payday for McGregor.

If the rumors are true then McGregor should be honing his boxing skills as best he can. The former UFC champion is certainly more skilled than both Paul brothers combined, but he hasn’t fought in well over three years and hasn’t competed in boxing since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. all the way back in 2017. Both Paul brothers are larger than McGregor and have been more active in the sport of boxing over the past few years.

Regardless of his rumored return to the squared circle, McGregor is still taking time out of his busy life to work on his grappling. He posted the below video to social media earlier this week and ended up submitting his partner twice.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts!

Khalil Rountree Jr. may have lost his title shot against Alex Pereira at UFC 307 this past October, but “War Horse” gained more in defeat than most fighters do in victory.

Many fight fans scoffed at the idea of Rountree competing against Pereira for the UFC light heavyweight title, but the former Ultimate Fighter standout did more than enough to prove his doubters wrong. In fact, Rountree had “Poatan” hurt early into their fight, but wasn’t able to put the champion away.

Pereira ended up smashing Rountree in the later rounds and stopped him with a vicious TKO in the fourth (highlights HERE). It was a pretty gnarly stoppage, but a moment that Rountree ultimately took in stride. To much surprise, Rountree admits to having fun during his loss to “Poatan,” which is not something losing fighters typically say.

“It was a bit surreal to be standing in front of him in moments, in the face-off and stuff,” Rountree recently told Fight Energy Films. “But I asked for that fight from the beginning. I always knew that I wanted to fight him, so when I was there, it was just more of a thing … this is what I’ve wanted, this is what I’ve always imagined.

“The only thing I can really remember is just being happy. Even the moment when I got finished in the fourth round, I just felt so happy throughout that whole fight. It felt like I was where I belonged. I felt like I belonged there. So it was really like living in a dream and there was nothing but happiness and excitement in those moments.”

Rountree, 34, snapped a five-fight win streak with his loss to Pereira earlier this year. It was his first knockout loss since getting stopped by Ion Cu?elaba back in 2019. The defeat wasn’t the best way to close out 2024, but Rountree has had time to reflect on his first UFC title shot and the recognition he’s received since then.

“Very big contrast,” Rountree said. “The time between now and that fight, there’s been a huge contrast of emotions. But it’s been more good than bad. I think the reflection point, I’m focused on getting better now, because I want to continue to win. I want to continue to put on exciting fights, but I want to continue on the path of becoming a champion. That’s still something I want to be and I’m going to work towards being.

“But it’s also nice that although I’m not a champion, I’ve got this level of respect and recognition that a champion would have. So it’s a weird position to be in, but it’s nice. I’ve still got some work to do.”