UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria is confident he would knock out lightweight champion Islam Makhachev because he believes a higher power has already determined it. Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is coming off an incredible 2024 campaign. He knocked out two greats of his division, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, earning MMA Junkie’s 2024 Male
Din Thomas thinks Khamzat Chimaev would struggle against UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) retained his middleweight title by defeating Sean Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) a second time in this past Saturday’s UFC 312 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Du Plessis wants Chimaev next, and has
Put anyone in front of him, and Jailton Almeida is confident he’ll win. He also understands the reality of the situation. He’s unlikely to get the next crack at UFC gold, unless Jon Jones actually does decide to hang up the gloves, and leaves Tom Aspinall without an obvious next foe. “My feeling is that
Thursday’s episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here. On Episode 3,540, the guys welcomed in a pair of phenomenal guests: PFL lightweight Paul Hughes and MMA legend Burt Watson. The fellas also preview the UFC Fight Night 251 card taking place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Tune in!
Kamaru Usman gave an honest assessment of Tatiana Suarez’s loss at UFC 312. Suarez (11-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) was battered in a unanimous decision loss to strawweight champion Zhang Weili this past Saturday in the UFC 312 co-main event at Qudos Bank Center in Sydney. Outside of an early takedown in Round 1, Suarez repeatedly failed
LAS VEGAS – Jared Cannonier doesn’t understand the criticism towards the UFC 312 main event. Middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) retained his middleweight title by defeating Sean Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) a second time this past Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Strickland received plenty of criticism for not
It’s getting hard to keep track of the UFC Fight Night 252 lineup. In the midst of a slew of cancellations, the promotion added two new fights Thursday for the Feb. 22 event at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. As first reported by MMA Junkie and made official by the UFC shortly thereafter, Alonzo Menifield
LAS VEGAS – Gregory Rodrigues expects the new wave of talent to pose problems for UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis. Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) retained his middleweight title by defeating Sean Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC 312 main event at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. But with the
Jasmine Jasudavicius would love to think about a UFC title shot, but in lieu of that knows she has some wide-ranging options on the table. Jasudavicius has four straight wins, including three straight at flyweight since she returned there after a one-off bantamweight bonus-winning submission. And her most recent resume listing was a win over
LAS VEGAS – Jared Cannonier doesn’t feel like he’s the UFC’s middleweight gatekeeper but understands why it may appear as such. In 2022, Cannonier (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) came up short in a title shot against then-champion Israel Adesanya. He has since gone 2-2, with both losses coming back-to-back in 2024. In the UFC Fight
LAS VEGAS – Calvin Kattar may be in the midst of the worst stretch of his professional MMA career, but it makes no difference to him. Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) returns to action in the featherweight co-feature of UFC Fight Night 251 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, where he will look to
How’s this for an “overreaction”? Sean Strickland should’ve never gotten a title rematch at UFC 312 in the first place. Heading into UFC 312, Strickland was adamant about being robbed in his first title fight with Dricus Du Plessis and vowed to “fight to the death.” But when it came time to put his money
Curtis Blaydes will have to wait a few extra weeks for his attempt to rebound from an interim title fight loss to Tom Aspinall. The heavyweight matchup between Blaydes (18-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) and octagon newcomer Rizvan Kuniev, which was originally scheduled to take place at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22 in Seattle,
LAS VEGAS – Aside from a few exceptions (Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler comes to mind), it’s long been tradition that opposing coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter” fight each other at the end of their season. With retired UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen filling those roles on “TUF 33” this year,
LAS VEGAS – While many people in the MMA community trip over each other to get a negative word in about Sean Strickland following his title-fight loss to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 312, two prominent voices in the space are going the other way. During their media session ahead of filming “The Ultimate Fighter
LAS VEGAS – Youssef Zalal appreciates where he’s at. Just like many others, he’s baffled by what he’s been able to accomplish in the past 12 months. One year ago, Zalal (16-5-1 MMA, 6-3-1 UFC) wasn’t on the UFC roster. Saturday, he co-headlines UFC Fight Night 251 vs. perennial contender Calvin Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6
Sean Strickland was irked by coach Eric Nicksick’s public criticism of his performance in this past Saturday’s UFC 312 title-fight rematch with Dricus Du Plessis. Nicksick, the head coach at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, has been the chief cornerman to Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) during his rise up to the middleweight division and
Josh Emmett has emerged after more than a year hiatus and is expected to face unbeaten featherweight contender Lerone Murphy in a UFC main event in April. Emmett (19-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who hasn’t seen action since his all-time knockout of Bryce Mitchell in December 2023, is set to make his return to competition against