9:00 AM ET The rise of Islam Makhachev in the UFC’s lightweight division culminated on Saturday, when he captured the championship at UFC 280 in a virtuoso performance against Charles Oliveira. But that rise took a while. Makhachev has been in the UFC since 2015, and this past weekend’s bout in Abu Dhabi was his
Though he’s no longer a prospect, Rountree Jr. is a clear dark horse in the light heavyweight division heading into this weekend’s clash with Jacoby, a fight that could vault him into the Top 15 should he emerge victorious. The 34-year-old Jacoby has been one of the cooler stories in recent years, returning to the
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reports that the UFC hopes to book Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo for UFC 284 in Perth, Australia. Helwani reported the news of the targeted Sterling/Cejudo matchup during a recent episode of The MMA Hour. Sterling defended his UFC bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw just days ago at UFC 280. He
Former UFC welterweight star Nate Diaz has taken aim at some big names. The Stockton slugger returned to action at UFC 279 last month in Las Vegas. For that outing, Diaz was originally slated to face Khamzat Chimaev. However, after ‘Borz’ badly missed weight, the card received a massive shift, including Tony Ferguson being bumped
UFC 280’s Bantamweight title fight co-main event didn’t go entirely as many within the mixed martial arts (MMA) community expected it to. While the champion, Aljamain Sterling, retaining with a victory over T.J. Dillashaw wasn’t a big surprise, the challenger’s apparent shoulder dislocation was. As soon as Sterling hit his first takedown under a minute
Aljamain Sterling believes Petr Yan ‘got robbed’ Former bantamweight champion Petr Yan lost by split decision to Sean O’Malley at UFC 280, but champion Aljamain Sterling believes Yan was ‘robbed.’ “I felt bad for Yan,” Sterling told The MMA Hour. “I felt like, I did think that he got robbed. I think O’Malley was a
Former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira and challenger Islam Makhachev were the first fighters to hit the scale Thursday night in Abu Dhabi at the official UFC 280 weigh-ins. Subscribe to get all the latest UFC content: https://ufc.ac/3u8FIJp Experience UFC live with UFC FIGHT PASS, the digital subscription service of the UFC. Visit https://ufcfightpass.com/ To
Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev refused to break their gaze when facing off after the #UFC280 press conference. #UFC Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4f1JueVgo5t9HSmobCRPug/join Subscribe to MMA Fighting on YouTube: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: http://Apple.co/themmahour Subscribe to The MMA Hour on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0NUQhyUeYQcbtHOV10qmbb Subscribe to MMA Fighting
Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev had their final faceoff at UFC 280 ceremonial weigh-ins ahead of Saturday’s vacant lightweight title fight in Abu Dhabi. Full event coverage: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/ufc-280 Visit us on the web: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com Part of the USA TODAY network: http://www.usatoday.com Be sure to subscribe to our channel to get the latest MMA news and
Dan Hardy on Sunday rebutted UFC President Dana White, again denying he mistreated a female employee. The former UFC commentator also took aim at the exec’s slap fighting promotion. Hardy again accused White of spreading misinformation about the circumstances surrounding his termination and borrowed the UFC president’s words about him at the UFC 280 press
9:35 PM ET Two of the best young featherweight fighters in the world will clash before the end of the year. Undefeated rising stars Bryce Mitchell and Ilia Topuria have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 282 on Dec. 10 in Las Vegas, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday. The website Fight Bananas was the
So far, that has only rung true. Whether he is arm-in-arm with teammate and UFC flyweight knockout artist Molly McCann celebrating their victories or dancing through the crowd on his way to the Octagon, Pimblett is a consistently vibrant and magnetic presence. That ascension to fame also comes with its hang-ups. Pimblett’s head coach at
Longtime UFC fixture Sam Alvey says Jake Paul refused to box him after seeing him go a couple of rounds with Logan Paul. The recently cut Alvey is currently without a promotion. On a losing streak of eight before finally receiving his marching orders, Sam Alvey was one of the promotion’s longest-tenured fighters. To have
Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling believes the UFC is bringing back Henry Cejudo for a reason. ‘Funk Master’ is fresh off his title defense against T.J. Dillashaw last weekend at UFC 280. In that outing, Sterling scored a second-round stoppage after the challenger suffered a shoulder injury. Following that win, the champion called out many names
Welcome to Midnight Mania! MMA fighters and betting is a hot topic at the moment. Until quite recently, fighters could — and often did — openly bet on themselves or their team mates, occasionally with disastrous results. Retired UFC fighter and current Glory MMA head coach James Krause even started selling his betting selections due
Sean O’Malley wants to renegotiate contract after UFC 280 win Sean O’Malley jumped from being ranked No. 11 to the top contender in the bantamweight division after his win over former champion Petr Yan at UFC 280. Already a star with a healthy social media following before Saturday, O’Malley’s stock rose considerably with the win.
With the dust settled on his dominant win over Malcolm Gordon at UFC 280, Muhammad Mokaev opened up about getting sick a little over a week before he made the walk. Mokaev stopped Gordon via submission in the third round of their flyweight preliminarily card bout at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, but revealed he
9:17 AM ET After the wild ride that was UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi last weekend, there are still plenty of unanswered questions. What fight should the UFC look to make for new lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, and if the matchup is Alexander Volkanovski, how would that affect the pound-for-pound rankings? Will Sean O’Malley challenge