Tag: UFC News

Paulo Costa Out Of Robert Whittaker Fight Due To Illness

Paulo CostaUFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa has withdrawn from his forthcoming fight with the former champ, Robert Whittaker. An initial report from AG Fight revealed Costa vs. Whittaker was in jeopardy. MMA Fighting have since confirmed the one-time middleweight title challenger is out of the match-up. ‘Borrachinha’ was supposed to square off against Whittaker on April […]

Paulo Costa

UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa has withdrawn from his forthcoming fight with the former champ, Robert Whittaker.

An initial report from AG Fight revealed Costa vs. Whittaker was in jeopardy.

MMA Fighting have since confirmed the one-time middleweight title challenger is out of the match-up.

‘Borrachinha’ was supposed to square off against Whittaker on April 17 but has been forced out of the bout as he deals with a severe case of the flu.

As of right now, it is unclear if ‘The Reaper’ will remain on the card against an alternative opponent or if his fight with Costa will be re-scheduled.

Costa hasn’t fought since falling short in his middleweight title bid last year.

‘Borrachinha’ was dominated by Israel Adesanya who picked up an impressive, second round TKO win over Costa at UFC 253.

Prior to that fight, Costa had a perfect record in MMA.

The Brazilian knockout artist had won 13 straight fights since turning pro in 2012 and beat the likes of Yoel Romero, Uriah Hall and Johny Hendricks.

Whittaker is a former middleweight champion who appears to be on the cusp of re-gaining UFC gold.

The Australian fighter has looked impressive lately, picking up back-to-back wins over Darren Till and Jared Cannonier.

Do you think Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa should be re-scheduled?

BREAKING: Kamaru Usman vs. Jorge Masvidal Added To UFC 261, Fans Are Back

Masvidal Kamaru UsmanUFC 261 is shaping up to be a monumental card. Two title fights including a women’s flyweight bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade and a women’s strawweight encounter between Weili Zhang and Rose Namajunas were already confirmed for the event taking place April 24. Now the rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal is […]

Masvidal Kamaru Usman

UFC 261 is shaping up to be a monumental card.

Two title fights including a women’s flyweight bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Jessica Andrade and a women’s strawweight encounter between Weili Zhang and Rose Namajunas were already confirmed for the event taking place April 24.

Now the rematch between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal is also official with the welterweight title fight headlining the event. Their first fight, of course, was a short-notice bout that headlined the UFC 251 pay-per-view event in July last year. Usman won a drab unanimous decision on that occasion.

Somehow overshadowing that fight announcement, however, was the news that fans would be back in full capacity with the event taking place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

The news was announced in a video Monday night by a jubilant UFC president Dana White.

It will be the first UFC event with a full audience since UFC 248 took place in March last year. White has since claimed the UFC would be the first sports organization to get the fans back in full capacity and it looks like he has stuck to his word.

What do you make of this news? And what are your predictions?

Jan Blachowicz Doesn’t Care About Biased Commentary, Open To Israel Adesanya Rematch

Blachowicz Israel AdesanyaClaims of biased commentary? Jan Blachowicz doesn’t care. Blachowicz defended his light heavyweight title after a unanimous decision win over Israel Adesanya in the UFC 259 headliner earlier this month. By the end of the fifth round, it seemed clear to most who the winner would be. However, there were some doubts mainly because of […]

Blachowicz Israel Adesanya

Claims of biased commentary? Jan Blachowicz doesn’t care.

Blachowicz defended his light heavyweight title after a unanimous decision win over Israel Adesanya in the UFC 259 headliner earlier this month.

By the end of the fifth round, it seemed clear to most who the winner would be. However, there were some doubts mainly because of what many observers called a biased commentary team that featured Jon Anik, Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier.

Cormier has since defended those claims.

Bachowicz hasn’t seen the fight fully so he can’t give a proper assessment of the commentary. That said, he has heard enough about how it was allegedly biased.

“They don’t see me in this fight, they just see Israel,” Blachowicz told MMA Fighting. “But I don’t know, I don’t care. Maybe they are friends and that’s why. What can I do? Nothing. But anyway, that was not a problem. It is true, I haven’t watched the fight yet.

“… I don’t care. He [Cormier] do what he do, he has to live with that, not me. I am just happy. I defend my belt. I am and still the champion. So everything good can happen right now. Nothing can change my happiness inside me. I don’t care.”

Blachowicz upset the odds when he came out on top against Adesanya who will now return to the middleweight division.

But despite Adesanya falling short of his goal of becoming two-division champion, the Pole is not ruling out a rematch — provided the middleweight king gets a win in the division first.

“I think if he would come back to our division or stay in this division, of course the rematch may be in the future but first of all he needs to win against someone from top 10 and then maybe the rematch,” Blachowicz added. “Of course, he’s got everything to be in this division.”

What do you think of Blachowicz’s comments?

Colby Covington Wanted More Money For Leon Edwards Fight, Says He Was With Polyana Viana

Covington Polyana VianaThere were a few reasons why Colby Covington didn’t end up facing Leon Edwards this past weekend. Covington was viewed as the initial replacement opponent for Edwards once Khamzat Chimaev had to pull out of the fight due to COVID-19 related issues. However, that didn’t end up panning out with Belal Muhammad stepping in instead. […]

Covington Polyana Viana

There were a few reasons why Colby Covington didn’t end up facing Leon Edwards this past weekend.

Covington was viewed as the initial replacement opponent for Edwards once Khamzat Chimaev had to pull out of the fight due to COVID-19 related issues.

However, that didn’t end up panning out with Belal Muhammad stepping in instead. So what was the reason Covington didn’t fight Edwards?

For one, he wanted a lot more money than was offered to him. Then, of course, he was also allegedly getting close to UFC flyweight Polyana Viana with Covington posting a photo of themselves in recent weeks.

“There wasn’t much talks, you know?” Covington told Submission Radio (via RT). “I was balls deep in Polyana Viana, so get me off the couch in three weeks notice to fight some Leon Scott [Edwards] guy. You know, it was going to be a price tag. I wanted a little bit more than was in my contract, I just wasn’t gonna show up for a normal paycheck to fight that guy. The way I fight guys, I redline it every time I fight.

“So when I fight you know you’re getting a Ferrari that’s coming forward, high octane, high energy, and he’s coming to fight and bring the fight. … So if I want to fight at my best, I need a full training camp. That fight was never gonna happen unless the UFC was gonna pay for it to happen because like I said before, I was with Polyana Viana. I got better things to do than show up on some irrelevant card against some irrelevant guy named Leon [Edwards].”

Of course, Viana had previously come out and stated that she and Covington are just friends. So it should be interesting to see what she has to say about these comments from Covington.

What do you think of Covington’s reasons for not fighting Edwards?

Report: Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler In The Works

Gaethje ChandlerIt looks like we’ll finally be seeing Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler. A fight between the pair has been slated ever since Chandler’s dream UFC debut in January when he TKO’d Dan Hooker in the first round of their contest. However, nearly two months on since and there have been no concrete updates on a […]

Gaethje Chandler

It looks like we’ll finally be seeing Justin Gaethje vs. Michael Chandler.

A fight between the pair has been slated ever since Chandler’s dream UFC debut in January when he TKO’d Dan Hooker in the first round of their contest.

However, nearly two months on since and there have been no concrete updates on a next fight for Chandler or Gaethje for that matter. Until now.

ESPN’s Ariel Helwani confirmed that a fight between Gaethje and Chandler was in the works during Monday’s episode of DC & Helwani. There were no further details beyond that as far as a date and location were concerned.

Regardless, this is great news for the lightweight division which has pretty much been stagnant since Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s quasi-retirement and UFC 257 in January.

We may also see a new contender for the unofficial accolade of the most violent fighter in the UFC.

“You had a guy who I tangled with a couple times named Eddie Alvarez, who beat Justin Gaethje whenever they fought for the unofficial title of Most Violent Guy in mixed martial arts…,” Chandler said in February.

“I think I’m the new most violent guy in the UFC. If Justin Gaethje wants to prove that, he’s gonna need to step in the Octagon against me.”

Who do you have winning this contest?

Sean O’ Malley Claims He’s Putting His ‘Undefeated Record’ On The Line Against Thomas Almeida

Sean O'MalleyWell, despite dropping a UFC 252 opening round knockout loss to Marlon Vera last August, polarizing contender, Sean O’Malley has claimed that when he draws the faltering, Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 on March 27 — he’ll be putting his “undefeated record” on the line. O’Malley, a product of Dana White‘s Contender Series made his second third […]

Sean O'Malley

Well, despite dropping a UFC 252 opening round knockout loss to Marlon Vera last August, polarizing contender, Sean O’Malley has claimed that when he draws the faltering, Thomas Almeida at UFC 260 on March 27 — he’ll be putting his “undefeated record” on the line.

O’Malley, a product of Dana White‘s Contender Series made his second third Octagon appearance of 2020 against Ecuadorian finisher, Vera, in a matchup that had its fair share of tension prior to the opening klaxon.

Sticking on the outside and firing off some decent shots, particularly front kicks to the body and leg kicks O’Malley was caught with a left leg kick from Vera himself midway through the first round, immediately backing away before his right leg gave way beneath him, after an immediate stance switch to orthodox. Struggling to find his rhythm and utilise his in-and-out movement as a result, O’Malley fell to the canvas after an exchange at the fence, with Vera assuming full-guard, before landing a series of elbows — forcing the stoppage. 

Ranked #14 in the official bantamweight pile at the time of his clash with Vera, the Montana native subsequently dropped his first professional loss, bringing an end to a twelve-fight undefeated streak, which included Octagon wins over former WEC bantamweight best, Eddie Wineland, Jose Alberto Quinonez, Andre Soukhamthath, and Terrion Ware.

Taking to his official Twitter account during UFC Vegas 21 on Saturday night, O’Malley looked ahead of his matchup with Brazilian striker, Almeida, detailing how in two week’s time, he’ll put his undefeated record up for grabs.

“2 f*ckin weeks till I put my undefeated record on the line,” O’Malley wrote.

O’Malley had also claimed after his matchup with Vera, how the Team Oyama mainstay had gotten “lucky” during their August co-main event clash, maintaining that he was still undefeated as a professional mixed martial artist.

Drawing one-time streaking contender, Almeida on the main card of UFC 260 — which features a doubleheader of title fights between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega, as well as Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou — Almeida has dropped three consecutive losses, the most recent to Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Island 6 last October.