Aljamain Sterling believes UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili is being rushed to defend his title. Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) meets Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the UFC 311 co-main event (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. After claiming the bantamweight title this past September at UFC 306,
Day: December 18, 2024
Josh Thomson believes Colby Covington has never been the same fighter since parting ways with American Top Team. Covington split with his longtime gym in 2020 after multiple rifts with then-teammates Jorge Masvidal and Dustin Poirier. Covington (17-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) has since been training at MMA Masters, but his coaches, Daniel Valverde and Cesar
Ryan Spann is changing things up. At UFC Fight Night 254, Spann (22-10 MMA, 8-5 UFC) will make his promotional heavyweight debut against “Salsa Boy” Waldo Cortes-Acosta (12-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC). The bout takes place March 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie
Chael Sonnen learned the hard way not to mess with Gilbert Burns. After Sonnen suggested that Burns was retired on a recent episode of “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier, Burns retaliated by leaking his phone number on X in a later deleted post. However, Sonnen took being doxxed in stride as he decided to
Shara Magomedov will look to remain unbeaten when he welcomes Michael Page back to middleweight in the UFC Fight Night 250 co-main event. Shara Magomedov vs. Michael Page preview Magomedov (15-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) scored a Knockout of the Year contender when he landed a double backfist on Armen Petrosyan at UFC 308 this past October.
Open Extended Reactions We saw possibly the greatest knockout in MMA history — authored boldly by one fighter with the unspoken cooperation of the other — punctuate a fight for the ages. Then there was the iconic KO and celebration that helped establish a stoic UFC champion as perhaps the sport’s most revered star. And
Beneil Dariush thinks the result of his UFC 311 fight against Renato Moicano will have a heavy influence on his future in mixed martial arts. Winless since October 2022 and on a two-fight losing skid, Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) returns to competition in a lightweight bout against Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC) on Jan.
Things escalated between David Benavidez and David Morrell. On Tuesday, Benavidez and Morrell nearly brawled it out in the ring after a media workout in Miami. Benavidez faced off with Morrell. The boxers immediately trash talked each other. Benavidez eventually had enough, so he put down his belt, and decided to shove Morrell. That ignited
UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov would rather not see UFC champions Islam Makhachev and Belal Muhammad fight each other. UFC lightweight champ Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) is eager to move up to welterweight to chase dual-champ status, but with Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) as the current welterweight champ, his plans have been
LAS VEGAS – Brad Tate considers himself blessed. “I’ve always said, ‘If you find something you love, you’ll never work another day in your life, and that’s the truth,’” Tate recently told MMA Junkie on the 16th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards red carpet. “I don’t work. I’m having a blast. I get to
“The Gypsy King” is a different fighter. Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury run it back this weekend (Sat., Dec. 21, 2024) in an epic rematch for the WBA, WBC, and WBO Heavyweight titles inside Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (watch their “Grand Arrivals”). Fury will be looking to exact his revenge against Usyk this
UFC on ESPN 63 took place Saturday in Tampa, Fla. and resulted in all sorts of movement in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings. Most notably, main event victor Joaquin Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) traded places in the welterweight rankings with the man he stopped on a cut, multitime UFC title challenger Colby Covington
Israel Adesanya will look to rebound when he takes on rising middleweight contender Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Fight Night 250 main event. Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov preview Former champion Adesanya (24-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) is coming off a title loss to middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 in August, marking his