Tag: Global MMA

Anthony Pettis Signs With The PFL, To Compete At Lightweight

PettisIt didn’t take Anthony Pettis long to find a new home. The former lightweight champion made headlines when he announced Tuesday that he was parting ways with the UFC to explore free agency. Many expected Bellator MMA to swoop in for him especially seeing as his brother Sergio Pettis was recently signed by the promotion. […]

Pettis

It didn’t take Anthony Pettis long to find a new home.

The former lightweight champion made headlines when he announced Tuesday that he was parting ways with the UFC to explore free agency.

Many expected Bellator MMA to swoop in for him especially seeing as his brother Sergio Pettis was recently signed by the promotion.

However, Pettis has opted to sign a deal with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) who confirmed the news on social media on Wednesday.

Pettis will join the PFL for its 2021 season which kicks off April 23 and will be competing at 155 pounds again. No date or first opponent has been named for “Showtime” as of yet.

He is the latest big name to join the PFL’s ranks after the recent signings of Rory MacDonald, Fabricio Werdum and Claressa Shields. In Pettis, the PFL has a former UFC and WEC lightweight champion who is one of the household names in mixed martial arts.

Things have been a bit rocky for Pettis ever since losing his lightweight title to Rafael dos Anjos in 2015 as he never went on a winning streak until this past weekend when he outpointed Alex Morono.

However, he is still a top-level fighter who is capable of getting finishes as we saw against Michael Chiesa and Stephen Thompson.

With his addition to the ranks, the upcoming PFL season promises to be more exciting than ever.

What do you think of Pettis joining the PFL?

Tito Ortiz Explains His Anti-Mask, Anti-Vaccine Stance

OrtizTito Ortiz won’t be wearing a mask or taking a vaccine anytime soon. Ortiz is known for being a right-wing conservative as well as a believer in multiple conspiracy theories. Some of those include the COVID-19 virus as well as him being against masks. That doesn’t particularly help when he is now a Huntington Beach […]

Ortiz

Tito Ortiz won’t be wearing a mask or taking a vaccine anytime soon.

Ortiz is known for being a right-wing conservative as well as a believer in multiple conspiracy theories. Some of those include the COVID-19 virus as well as him being against masks.

That doesn’t particularly help when he is now a Huntington Beach City Council member as other members at City Hall have cited concerns over him not wearing a mask during meetings as per city protocol.

When contacted by the Orange County Register for comment, Ortiz responded by stating that masks were the real threat to public health.

“Wearing masks actually drops the oxygen levels required by the U.S. government, making (the) City of HB libel (sic) for dangerously low air intake levels!” Ortiz wrote in a text message.

As one would expect, Ortiz will also not be taking the newly-approved vaccines either.

“I ain’t taking that (coronavirus) vaccine – hell no!” Ortiz said during a rally last week. “Everybody talks about pro-choice and choice of our bodies. Those same people are saying you gotta take a vaccine. To hell with that! Ain’t happening!” 

All in all, this is exactly what one would expect from the former UFC light heavyweight champion.

What do you make of Ortiz’s stance on masks and the vaccine?

Khabib Nurmagomedov Voted BBC Sports Personality’s World Sport Star Of The Year

NurmagomedovEven in retirement, the victories keep rolling in for Khabib Nurmagomedov. Despite only competing once in the calendar year, the UFC lightweight champion was named the BBC Sports Personality’s Sport Star of the Year. The BBC made the announcement on Thursday after an online vote. Nurmagomedov beat out an impressive list of athletes, including NBA […]

Nurmagomedov

Even in retirement, the victories keep rolling in for Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Despite only competing once in the calendar year, the UFC lightweight champion was named the BBC Sports Personality’s Sport Star of the Year. The BBC made the announcement on Thursday after an online vote. Nurmagomedov beat out an impressive list of athletes, including NBA star Lebron James, Golfer Dustin Johnson and Irish boxing sensation Katie Taylor. The BBC had this to say of the UFC star:

The Russian, 32, extended his perfect professional record to 29 wins with an emotional victory of interim champion Justin Gaethje in October.

The UFC lightweight champion fought just months after the death of his father, coach and mentor Abdulmanap.

Considered by some to be the greatest mixed martial arts fighter of all time, he retired straight after his victory.

Nurmagomedov’s 29-0 record in MMA included 13 straight victories under the UFC banner.

He successfully defended his lightweight title on three occasions, and was seen as one of the most dominant athletes in MMA history.

Nurmagomedov took to Instagram to acknowledge the award and thank the BBC and his fans for the recognition.

“This award means a lot for me,” Nurmagomedov wrote in the caption of a photo highlighting his career accomplishments. “Recognition is one of the biggest motivation in the life, as in the sport.”

Though Nurmagomedov may be retired, his future in the sport is far from over. UFC president Dana White remains adamant in his belief that The Eagle will return to the octagon to run his record to 30-0. On top of that, he recently purchased an MMA organization of his own, which he hopes will serve as a launch pad for fighters careers.

Do you think Khabib Nurmagomedov deserved to win the award? Who would you have voted for?

Watch Showtime’s Footage Of Jake Paul’s Drive-by Attack On Dillon Danis (Video)

PaulWe all got to see Logan Paul’s angle of his attack on Dillon Danis. Now we can see things from Showtime’s angle. Paul made headlines recently when he attacked Danis with a water balloon in a drive-by while the latter was filming an episode of Food Truck Diaries with Brendan Schaub. It seemed to further […]

Paul

We all got to see Logan Paul’s angle of his attack on Dillon Danis. Now we can see things from Showtime’s angle.

Paul made headlines recently when he attacked Danis with a water balloon in a drive-by while the latter was filming an episode of Food Truck Diaries with Brendan Schaub.

It seemed to further escalate their feud as Paul had recently been calling for a boxing match with Conor McGregor in addition to Danis.

However, many observers also felt it was a staged moment and that seems to be even more so the case now that we can see things from the perspective of Danis.

You can watch it below courtesy of Showtime:

After the attack, Danis and Schaub discussed what had happened.

“I was going to try and jump on the truck but I couldn’t get it,” Danis said. “… I don’t think he would actually box me, either.”

“You don’t think Jake will?” Schaub responded. “But the thing is, that’s going to get them millions of views and when you guys fight, that translates to dollars for you.”

“I wish he would have gotten out,” Danis said before asking Schaub if he had a car to follow them.

What do you think? Was it staged?

Report: Previously Uninterested MMA Promotions Now Looking To Sign Yoel Romero

RomeroIt appears some MMA promotions have taken a u-turn when it comes to Yoel Romero. There were shockwaves in the world of combat sports when it was recently revealed that Romero had been released by the UFC. What made more headlines was the fact that the likes of Bellator MMA and the Professional Fighters League […]

Romero

It appears some MMA promotions have taken a u-turn when it comes to Yoel Romero.

There were shockwaves in the world of combat sports when it was recently revealed that Romero had been released by the UFC. What made more headlines was the fact that the likes of Bellator MMA and the Professional Fighters League were seemingly passing up on his services.

However, that may no longer be the case according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

“Things are heating up again in the Yoel Romero sweepstakes, I’m told. Of note, promotions that were initially not interested are now interested and preparing offers or have already made an offer. No final decision at the moment.”

Bellator president Coker previously claimed the promotion were focused on building talent for the moment.

“We got a call from (his) agent, and originally we just passed,” Coker said of Romero. “If you look at our roster and how many fighters we have on this roster and how many fights we’re going to do, there are only so many TV slots. We have kind of gotten away from signing the OGs we used to sign back in the day. That’s because guys like A.J. (McKee) are coming up. Ilima-Lei (Macfarlane) is developing into a main event fighter.

“We’ve basically built from the bottom up. We have a lot of great fighters that are on the roster that we’ve built over the last four to five years. We were kind of headed in a different direction. I was happy with the way the roster is right now not adding anybody.”

However, Coker didn’t rule out signing Romero in the future either. Perhaps he, along with the PFL, have had a quick change of heart.

Where do you want to see Romero compete next?

Artem Lobov ‘Gutted’ After MMA Return Is Delayed Due To Positive COVID-19 Tests

LobovThe mixed martial arts (MMA) return of Artem Lobov will have to wait for now. Lobov hasn’t competed in MMA since October 2018 when he was outpointed by Michael Johnson at a UFC Fight Night event. He has since competed exclusively in bare knuckle boxing but was primed for an MMA return against Ylies Djiroun […]

Lobov

The mixed martial arts (MMA) return of Artem Lobov will have to wait for now.

Lobov hasn’t competed in MMA since October 2018 when he was outpointed by Michael Johnson at a UFC Fight Night event. He has since competed exclusively in bare knuckle boxing but was primed for an MMA return against Ylies Djiroun in the main event of Arena Fight 2 in France on Saturday.

That was until a number of positive COVID-19 tests for the promotion’s staff members led to the card’s postponement.

“This postponement follows the detection last weekend of six COVID-19 cases within the teams of the group,” a press release stated Tuesday. “We have therefore put in place measures to ensure the continuity of our operations such as the isolation of positive people and contact cases, the implementation of teleworking for all team members and the obligation to carry out PCR tests on Monday, December 7th for all our employees.

“Following this wave of tests, we regret to say that we have almost 20 positive cases within our organization and are still waiting for some results. The rest of the employees are de facto contact cases, which prevents us for obvious health and ethical reasons from maintaining AFC2 at the risk of contaminating our fighters, our service providers, our partners and, by ricochet, their families and friends.”

Lobov was understandably disappointed but promises to be back stronger than ever.

“I got a phone call from the promoter saying that’s it, the show is canceled. I was gutted, of course,” Lobov told MMA Junkie. “The camp wasn’t easy as it is between injuries and this and the other and COVID, but I got it done, as I always do, and was looking forward to putting on a great show.

“And, of course, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to the payday, but what can you do? Life goes on. I will rebuild, I will recover, and I will be back stronger than ever. … I know I will recover and keep pushing forward. We will get that fight done in the new year, and I will get that belt – and that paycheck. Thank you very much to everyone for their support and understanding. I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.”

Lobov — a teammate and friend of former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor — had previously stated that he planned on competing across a number of combat sports before ultimately retiring in two years.

Where do you think Lobov will compete before he ultimately hangs up his gloves?