Tag: UFC News

Paddy Pimblett, Ilia Topuria Involved In Altercation At Fighter Hotel Ahead Of UFC London

Paddy PimblettFootage has emerged of UFC lightweight pair, Paddy Pimblett and the undefeated, Ilia Topuria involved in a physical altercation ahead of UFC London on Saturday, with the duo launching objects and strikes toward each other at the fighter hotel. Paddy Pimblett, who makes his first outing on home soil since his UFC debut back in […]

Paddy Pimblett

Footage has emerged of UFC lightweight pair, Paddy Pimblett and the undefeated, Ilia Topuria involved in a physical altercation ahead of UFC London on Saturday, with the duo launching objects and strikes toward each other at the fighter hotel.

Paddy Pimblett, who makes his first outing on home soil since his UFC debut back in September of last year, draws Rodrigo Vargas at the lightweight limit – after debuting with a first round knockout win against Luigi Vendramini back at UFC Vegas 36. 

For Topuria, the undefeated featherweight contender makes his lightweight division bow as he clashes with Wolverhampton native, Jai Herbert after a recent failed showdown against Movsar Evloev at UFC 270 in January of this year. 

UFC London currently sports at heavyweight headliner between Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall

The pair have engaged in multiple back-and-forths across social media over the last numerous months, with Paddy Pimblett initially receiving flak for comments aimed toward lightweight, Guram Kutateladze, as well as the Georgian population – claiming that he was not surprised Russian forces “terrorized” the country in the past. 

In the time since, Pimblett has been the subject of multiple barbs from the likes of Kutataladze, and Topuria. And footage has now emerged of Pimblett and Topuria engaging in a physical altercation at the fighter hotel this Tuesday evening.

Pimblett, who is standing on one side of a counter, is confronted by Topuria and members of his team, before the former Cage Warriors featherweight champion appears to launch a bottle of hand sanitiser in the direction of Topuria – who responds by throwing multiple punches in Pimblett’s direction. 

With Topuria corralled by members of his team, the German-born contender repeatedly calls Pimblett a “b*tch”, while Paddy Pimblett says, “you think I’m scared of you?” before calling Topuria a “muppet” and a “maggot”. 

At the time of publication, the promotion has yet to officially address the physical altercation between Pimblett and Topuria. 

This evening’s developments between the rivals similarly echo another past altercation at UFC Fight Night London back in March 2019, where welterweight contenders, Leon Edwards, and Jorge Masvidal engaged in a physical altercation following the event’s headliner. 

Volkanovski On Dream McGregor Clash: “I’d Fight Him At Any Weight”

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is eying a matchup with Conor McGregor before he eventually calls it quits. Volkanovski is set to make his next featherweight title defense against Chan Sung Jung (otherwise known as ‘The Korean Zombie’) in the upcoming UFC 273 headliner. He’s coming off of a largely dominant win over Brian Ortega…

Continue Reading Volkanovski On Dream McGregor Clash: “I’d Fight Him At Any Weight” at MMA News.

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski is eying a matchup with Conor McGregor before he eventually calls it quits.

Volkanovski is set to make his next featherweight title defense against Chan Sung Jung (otherwise known as ‘The Korean Zombie’) in the upcoming UFC 273 headliner. He’s coming off of a largely dominant win over Brian Ortega at UFC 266.

Volkanovski was supposed to face Max Holloway next before Holloway pulled out with an injury. Jung is the next man up, but a fight with McGregor remains on the 145-pound champion’s mind.

In an exclusive interview with MMA News’ James Lynch, Volkanovski spoke about what the effect would be of a McGregor fight for his legacy.

“Obviously, Conor’s always gonna get his name out there,” Volkanovski said. “You’ve gotta remember, he was a featherweight, he was a champion of my division. So, I’ve taken out the featherweight champs, so to take out, the only one left, isn’t he? Yeah, it’s just Conor. There was me, Aldo, Max, and Conor. So it makes a lot of sense. Obviously, it would be a dream. And then I’ve taken out all the other champs in my division. So that would be incredible.

Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor (Photo: Sportsfile)

“You talk about the payday and the circus around it would be great, but at the same time, when you talk about legacy that’s definitely—and he’s undefeated at featherweight, too. So that’d mean something.”

McGregor hasn’t competed at featherweight since he won the unified title over José Aldo at UFC 194. He went on to fight at welterweight and lightweight, eventually earning the 155-pound title over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.

Volkanovski fought at welterweight and lightweight to begin his professional career on the Australian regional scene, but a majority of his career has been at featherweight. Volkanovski went on to allude to the flexibility when it comes to the weight class that a McGregor fight would be competed at.

“I don’t think he’s making featherweight anytime soon [LAUGHS]. Obviously, with that fight, you’d do it at any weight. I’d do that at welterweight if I had to, whatever. We’ll see. I’ll just worry about Zombie, cause Zombie’s in front of me, and we’ll see. You might get some drunk tweets from Conor again and maybe we can ride off that, see what happens from there… 100% I would (fight McGregor at welterweight). I’d fight him at any weight.”

Volkanovski earned the featherweight title over Holloway at UFC 245, before winning a controversial split decision in an immediate rematch at UFC 251. He’s arguably one of the greatest featherweights in UFC history and continues to climb the ranks in the all-time great discussion.

McGregor is targeting a return to the Octagon later this year after a nasty leg break at UFC 264. It’s unclear what weight McGregor will fight at for his return, but a fight with Volkanovski may not be out of the cards as soon as this year.

You can view MMA News’ full interview with Alexander Volkanovski below!

Do you think we’ll ever see Alexander Volkanovski vs. Conor McGregor?

Continue Reading Volkanovski On Dream McGregor Clash: “I’d Fight Him At Any Weight” at MMA News.

Diego Sanchez Vows To Continue Fighting For Eagle FC, Calls For Kevin Lee Rematch

Diego SanchezWith nearly two years out of the sport, Eagle FC has provided a new lease of life for the UFC hall of famer, Diego Sanchez (30-14 MMA). The 40-year-old veteran headlined the promotion’s first-ever super lightweight bout against former UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee (19-7 MMA).  Despite falling short to Lee via a unanimous decision […]

Diego Sanchez

With nearly two years out of the sport, Eagle FC has provided a new lease of life for the UFC hall of famer, Diego Sanchez (30-14 MMA). The 40-year-old veteran headlined the promotion’s first-ever super lightweight bout against former UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee (19-7 MMA). 

Despite falling short to Lee via a unanimous decision loss, Sanchez left the cage with his head held high, considering he was hospitalized with a serious case of COVID-19 just a few months ago.

The Ultimate Fighter Season One Champion seems to be more motivated than ever, promising his fans the real ‘Sanchez’ will return as he aims for redemption bout against Kevin Lee.

“When I come back for my second Eagle FC fight because I have two more fights on my contract, you’re going to see the real Diego Sanchez,” Sanchez continued. 

“You’re going to see me in my top physical prime condition and I’m gonna do anything and everything to get there and I’m gonna come and I’m gonna be victorious.”

Although ‘The Nightmare’ looked to have the 29-year-old’s leg hurt in the opening round of the fight. Kevin Lee managed to bounce back and dominate with his wrestling ability to earn himself the debut victory. 

Diego Sanchez is confident a rematch against Kevin Lee would end very differently

After assessing the 15-minutes spent with ‘The Motown Phenom’, Sanchez is confident he has found some faults in Lee’s overall game and believes with a longer training camp he would be able to expose them.

“Some people told me that they thought I won the second round, that it should have been 29-28, but like I said, this isn’t the best Diego Sanchez ever,” Sanchez revealed.

“I sucked it up and got it done. I got in the best shape I could in five weeks and coming out of retirement, coming out of the hospital.

“I’m not done here,” he added. “I still see that golden Eagle FC championship belt. I know what I’m capable of and I want to get back in there with Kevin Lee. That’s a fight I want. I want that fight, I want to fight him in my top, prime condition.

“I feel like I’ve seen what he has to bring to the table.” Sanchez added. “He couldn’t get me out of there. He threw everything he had at me and I found some chinks in his armor. I want to get back in there with Kevin Lee.” .” (Transcribed by Middleasy.com)

Do you think Diego Sanchez can make a title push within Eagle FC?

Sean O’Malley Picks Conor McGregor To Beat Kamaru Usman, Khamzat Chimaev, Colby Covington

Sean O'MalleyUFC bantamweight contender, Sean O’Malley has picked former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor to beat the trio of welterweight standouts, division champion, Kamaru Usman, former interim champion, Colby Covington, and the undefeated, Khamzat Chimaev – quite surprisingly.  O’Malley, who currently sits at #12 in the official bantamweight pile, is currently riding a three-fight winning run after […]

Sean O'Malley

UFC bantamweight contender, Sean O’Malley has picked former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor to beat the trio of welterweight standouts, division champion, Kamaru Usman, former interim champion, Colby Covington, and the undefeated, Khamzat Chimaev – quite surprisingly. 

O’Malley, who currently sits at #12 in the official bantamweight pile, is currently riding a three-fight winning run after suffering his first professional loss – most recently turning in a dominant first round knockout win over Raulian Paiva.

Sean O’Malley suffered his sole professional loss in a first round knockout defeat to Marlon Vera

The Montana native added Paiva to a run of prior knockout successes against recent UFC Vegas 50 feature, Kris Moutinho, and the promotional alum, Thomas Almeida. 

Yet to book his return to the Octagon, O’Malley aggravated a hand injury in his one-sided knockout win over Paiva last December, but is targeting a summer return – should recuperation and recovery allow. 

Speaking on his podcast recently, O’Malley broke down the aforenoted, Chimaev’s UFC 273 outing against Gilbert Burns – picking Chimaev to handily overcome Burns, but insisted that if McGregor was to feature against any combination of Chimaev, Covington, or Usman – at any weight, he would beat them all.

“I think (Khamzat Chimaev) vs. (Kamaru Usman), if he’s as good as, like, boom, he does beat (Gilbert Burns), that’s a very interesting fight,” Sean O’Malley said. “There’s one man, though, that can take all those motherf*ckers out. Conor McGregor. Any weight, any time, any place. I think he beats Kamaru, ‘C*mshot” (Khamzat Chimaev), and (Colby Covington).” 

Expected to make his Octagon return in the fall, former undisputed featherweight and lightweight champion, McGregor has been sidelined since July of last year where he fractured his left tibia – resulting in a first round doctor’s stoppage TKO loss against former interim titleholder, Dustin Poirier. 

McGregor has thrice competed at the welterweight limit during his UFC tenure – landing a pair of victories against Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz, as well as dropping his first Octagon defeat against the latter back in 2016. 

Kevin Holland Stops Gunman in Houston Restaurant Shooting

Kevin HollandKevin Holland reportedly subdued an active shooter with two other men. The UFC welterweight was enjoying his meal at RA Sushi restaurant in the Highland Park neighborhood of Houston when the incident occurred around 11.30 p.m. on Monday night. According to Houston Police Department Sgt. Ricardo Salas, about 40 to 50 people were inside the […]

Kevin Holland

Kevin Holland reportedly subdued an active shooter with two other men. The UFC welterweight was enjoying his meal at RA Sushi restaurant in the Highland Park neighborhood of Houston when the incident occurred around 11.30 p.m. on Monday night.

According to Houston Police Department Sgt. Ricardo Salas, about 40 to 50 people were inside the restaurant when the suspect walked in and fired one shot in the bar area. Local reports suggest that two martial arts fighters sprung into action to take down the gunman with another customer helping in holding the suspect down. Patrick Robinson is one of the two MMA fighters alongside UFC standout Holland.

“Next thing you know, you just hear a ‘pop’ and then everybody started getting down,” Robinson told Houston’s NBC-2 TV station. “Everybody started getting down. Next thing you know, me and my buddy, we ran to the shooter, got him down, strangled him, took the gun from him, and then called the police. Police came and got him.”

Robinson’s buddy is, of course, Kevin Holland, who refused to be interviewed by local media following the incident.

‘Trailblazer’ took to Instagram to post a story shortly after the incident where he appeared to be in good spirits.

“We got him down, apprehended him, got the gun away from him and the bag that he had,” Robinson told Ehling, before adding, “You see it on the news, or you see it on TV or the movies and stuff, but you never see it actually in life, and it is crazy that nobody got hurt.”

According to Houston’s NBC-2 TV station, police identified the suspect as a 24-year-old man, who was wanted for failing to appear in court on a criminal mischief charge. He also had narcotics on him at the time of his arrest.

Is Kevin Holland turning into real-life Batman?

It’s the second time in five months that Holland has helped police in a heroic act of vigilantism. In October, the California native apprehended a car thief in his coach’s neighborhood in Saginaw, TX after a person flagged him down to say their car was hijacked. The UFC star chased down the vehicle and held the suspect until police could arrive.

In an interview with The MMA Hour after that incident, Holland said, “I pull up, I got my coffee mug, so I’m like this time I’m gonna be prepared,” Holland said. “I got my coffee cup. I’m chasing down after him and he reaches down to kind of go like this, I don’t know if he’s saying stop or what? I go like this with the coffee mug, and then I hit him with a little sweep. Get on top, knee on belly, hit him with the little Khabib scarf hold. He was like, ‘I can’t breathe,’ so that’s when I picked him up, put him on the curb. I didn’t want to be like the cop with the Can’t Breathe guy, so I was like f*** it let’s just put him over here.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)

Holland ended his three-fight winless streak at UFC 272 with a second-round KO/TKO win against ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira at UFC 272 in his return to welterweight. He also called out another ‘Cowboy’ in Donald Cerrone who seemed interested in the fight but remains focused on his next bout against Joe Lauzon at UFC 274 on May 7.

Is Kevin Holland the closest thing we have to Batman in the UFC?

Tai Tuivasa Sends “Idiot” Greg Hardy Some Employment Advice

UFC heavyweight Tai Tuivasa recently offered his thoughts on the future of Greg Hardy following the former NFL defensive end’s third straight loss. After joining the UFC three fights into his MMA career, which came after a departure from the NFL, Hardy’s future in the cage looked promising. But since a victory over Juan Adams…

Continue Reading Tai Tuivasa Sends “Idiot” Greg Hardy Some Employment Advice at MMA News.

UFC heavyweight Tai Tuivasa recently offered his thoughts on the future of Greg Hardy following the former NFL defensive end’s third straight loss.

After joining the UFC three fights into his MMA career, which came after a departure from the NFL, Hardy’s future in the cage looked promising. But since a victory over Juan Adams in 2019 extended his Octagon start to 2-0, it’s been largely downhill.

2-4-1 in his last six, Hardy has tasted defeat to names like Marcin Tybura and Alexander Volkov. His two victories in that period have come against Maurice Greene and Yorgan de Castro, both of whom have since been let go after losing streaks.

It appears “Prince of War” has now met the same fate. At UFC 272 earlier this month, Hardy hoped to rebound against Sergey Spivak. Instead, the pay-per-view main card opened with another first-round stoppage loss for the 33-year-old.

This past weekend, Hardy appeared to announce his release from MMA’s premier promotion, confirming a departure many had expected following UFC 272.

But Hardy doesn’t need to fear because one man is already looking out for his future endeavors, although it’s probably not someone prepared to offer him a glittering reference…

Tuivasa Plays Headhunter For Fast Food Chain

Tai Tuivasa and Greg Hardy met inside the Octagon last July at UFC 264. In a crazy fight for as long as it lasted, the Tennessee native rocked the Australian, before being knocked out himself after rushing in to find the finish.

“Bam Bam” drew headlines for not only the KO, but his walkout music and post-fight shoeys. His popularity has since increased, as has the speed with which he’s rising the heavyweight ladder.

But despite being knocked out, Hardy continued his war of words with Tuivasa, claiming the now-#3-ranked heavyweight “cowarded” out of a brawl at UFC 264. Even as recently as UFC 272 fight week, “Prince of War” had Tuivasa’s name on his lips, this time to slam the Aussie for not wanting a rematch.

While Hardy hasn’t shied away from insulting him, Tuivasa has still been generous enough to offer his foe some employment advice, which may come in handy given the latest developments.

Prior to Hardy’s apparent release, Tuivasa encouraged his former opponent to swap the MMA gloves for a spatula, and the punching for some flipping…

“How can he talk smack when he just got smacked again?” Tuivasa said of Hardy’s pre-UFC 272 trash talk during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “He’s an idiot. He should go bloody work at a McDonalds or something.”

There we have it. Recently made redundant? Let go by your employers? In search of a new career path? Give Tuivasa a call.

Perhaps if you’re not on the wrong side of “Bam Bam,” you may do better than McDonalds. If you buy one of his Shoeyvasas, maybe he’ll even line you up for a CEO position.

What’s next for Greg Hardy following his UFC release?

Continue Reading Tai Tuivasa Sends “Idiot” Greg Hardy Some Employment Advice at MMA News.