MMA Fighting

Dana White and Henry Cejudo are on two totally different pages. Over the last week, the UFC had to shift gears in regards to their featherweight title picture after Max Holloway was forced to withdraw from a targeted fight against champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 272 in March. The injury to Holloway saw a slew

UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is willing to sit out the rest of 2022 if he beats Ciryl Gane and can’t come to terms with his promoter on a new contract that will bump his pay and allow him to box. Ngannou on Thursday told ESPN.com he believes he has fulfilled his current contract with

Why is Kevin Holland making the drop down to welterweight? Apparently he was running out of verbal sparring partners at 185 pounds. “[Marvin] Vettori blocked me. He couldn’t take the banter,” Holland said with a laugh on Wednesday’s episode of The MMA Hour. “Paulo Costa blocked me too. So that’s probably why I went to

Middleweights Kelvin Gastelum and Nassourdine Imavov have agreed to meet on April 9 at UFC 273, which is set to take place at a location still to be determined. Multiple sources confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday, with verbal agreements in place from the fighters. ESPN initially reported the matchup. A mainstay in

Bibiano Fernandes and John Lineker have a new date for their title fight. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced Wednesday on The MMA Hour that the Fernandes vs. Lineker bantamweight championship bout — originally scheduled for Dec. 5, 2021 — will now serve as the main event of ONE Championship: Bad Blood, on Feb. 11.

Ilia Topuria is seeking a new opponent after a positive COVID-19 test scratched Movsar Evloev from UFC 270. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed Movsar’s status to MMA Fighting and the search for a new opponent. Topuria on Twitter called out featherweight veteran Dan Ige to replace Evloev on the Jan. 22

Michael Chandler has no problem fighting Tony Ferguson but he’s not going to cater to anybody’s demands when it comes to his return to action. Barely two months removed from a Fight of the Year performance in a war with Justin Gaethje at UFC 268, the former Bellator lightweight champion is taking the necessary time

RIZIN veteran Tofiq Musayev will look to shake up the lightweight division after inking a deal to join the roster at Bellator MMA. Promotion officials confirmed the signing to MMA Fighting on Monday following an initial report from Ariel Helwani. With an 18-4 record, Musayev brings an impressive resume with him to Bellator where he

Could 2022 see both Jon Jones and Conor McGregor fight for UFC titles? Will Khamzat Chimaev get himself into a title fight as well? This week on On To the Next One, those questions are presented during the 2022 predictions extravaganza. Hosts Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee will go through a slew of buy/sell

From the moment he signed with the UFC, Brock Lesnar had a target on his back. It wasn’t Lesnar’s collegiate wrestling credentials or NFL aspirations, but his larger-than-life WWE career that cast him as an unwanted invader and public enemy No. 1 in the eyes of many hardcore MMA fans. Lesnar earned his keep in

Holly Holm has competed at featherweight three times in her UFC career, including a pair of title fights, but that doesn’t make her any more excited about the prospects of returning to 145 pounds. Prior to a knee injury that prevented her from fighting, Holm was originally scheduled for a featherweight bout against Norma Dumont

Rafael Carvalho is hungry to resume his MMA career. A former Bellator middleweight champion with wins over the likes of Melvin Manhoef, Joe Schilling and Alessio Sakara, Carvalho was let go by Bellator after going 0-2 as a light heavyweight. He was called back months later for a short-notice clash with Lorenz Larkin at 185

Artem Lobov believes that the UFC is still the best spot for fighters to make a name for themselves. The recently retired Lobov responded to a clip from The Ringer MMA Show in which the topic of MMA fighters pursuing lucrative opportunities outside of MMA was discussed. Regarding the notion that free agents are more

Sean O’Malley wonders if prospective opponent Cody Garbrandt needs to get his head checked. On his TimboSugarShow podcast, O’Malley — who recently entered MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings tied for the No. 14 spot at bantamweight — shot down a recent callout made by Garbrandt in which the former UFC champion said, “I really want to

Derrick Lewis will kick off 2022 with a hometown bout, despite recently saying that wouldn’t be his first choice. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that the UFC is targeting a heavyweight clash between Lewis and the surging Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271. The event takes place Feb. 12

Ariane Lipski and JJ Aldrich will collide in a flyweight contest at the UFC Fight Night card planned for March 12 in Las Vegas, multiple people with knowledge of the booking told MMA Fighting. The event is headlined by light heavyweights Thiago Santos and Magomed Ankalaev at the UFC APEX. Lipski (14-7) is a former

UFC veteran Artem Lobov may have never been the best in the world, but he always showed up to put on a fight, whether he was winning or losing. Despite setbacks over the years, Lobov still saw massive potential in himself, especially when it came to chasing the kinds of dreams that he felt would

Anthony “Showtime” Pettis isn’t done chasing the $1 million prize in the PFL. The former UFC champion will return to the promotion for the upcoming 2022 season, which will kick off later this year. Pettis teased his return on Twitter with additional sources confirming to MMA Fighting that he will be part of the lightweight