Two of Brazil's top strawweights will square off this April. At UFC Fight Night event April 26 rumored for Kansas City, Mo., Jaqueline Amorim and Polyana Viana will meet in a three-round bout. Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of…
UFC champ Ilia Topuria details why Movsar Evloev isn’t a worthy title challenger
UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria insists Movsar Evloev is not a worthy title challenger. Evloev (19-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) remained unbeaten when he outgrappled former champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 310. While Evloev has certainly amassed a resume that warrants a t
Alexander Volkanovski not surprised with UFC champ Ilia Topuria’s ‘cocky’ rematch prediction
Alexander Volkanovski wants nothing more than to run things back with Ilia Topuria. After five title defenses, Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-3 UFC) lost his featherweight title to Topuria by knockout at UFC 298 last February. Topuria has since knocked out Max Holloway
Dricus Du Plessis: Israel Adesanya done as UFC title contender, but ‘legacy is cemented’
Dricus Du Plessis thinks Israel Adesanya's best days are behind him. After Adesanya (24-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) suffered a third consecutive loss for the first time in his combat sports career and fell to 1-4 in his past five fights with a second-round knockout defeat to
UFC Fight Night 253 main event canceled: Brandon Royval withdraws from Manel Kape fight
UFC Fight Night 253 needs a new main event. The highly anticipated flyweight battle between Brandon Royval and Manel Kape will no longer take place March 1 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) announced Wednesday his withdrawal from the…
Tatiana Suarez confident she can break Zhang Weili at UFC 312: ‘I can do that to anybody’
Tatiana Suarez is confident she can put a stop to any woman in the world, and that includes UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili Only one person has been able to finish Weili in 28 fights, and only two have been able to beat her, yet Suarez believes she can join…
Kevin Lee wants answers after leaked sparring footage shows rough knockdown
Kevin Lee doesn't know who released the footage, but he's determined to find out. On Tuesday, a clip went viral on social media that shows Lee (20-8) at Kill Cliff FC getting dropped after attempting a flying knee in sparring. Lee staggers to his feet, clearly dazed from…
UFC 312: According to Sean Strickland, Alex Pereira ‘hates’ Dricus Du Plessis
It appears Alex Pereira could have added motivation to corner Sean Strickland at UFC 312. Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) challenges middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in a title-fight rematch, which headlines Saturday's event at Qudos Bank
UFC 312 commentary team set: Former champ Michael Bisping on call for middleweight title rematch
The second numbered UFC event of 2025 is just days away, with UFC 312 set for Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney.
Islam Makhachev or Alexander Volkanovski? UFC champ Ilia Topuria details next fight options
UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria sees two viable options for his next fight. Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is coming off a stunning knockout of Max Holloway to retain his belt at UFC 308 in October. After becoming the first to finish Holloway with strikes, Top
Capoeira DNA: Top prospect Radley da Silva eager to turn heads in UFC
Radley da Silva almost stepped away before he even really got going. The son of Andre da Silva, a well-known capoeira practitioner and pro MMA fighter, da Silva (7-1) has always had combat sports in his blood. But he never really viewed it as a viable career path. So when…
‘Boxers need protection’: new union to offer fighters PFA-like support
- Global Fighters Association looks to football as model
- Former middleweight Paul Smith says aftercare is needed
Paul Smith says the lack of care and protection for boxers “is not surprising anymore” and that the Global Fighters Association (GFA) will bring support to fighters.
Much like the Professional Footballers’ Association, the GFA aims to introduce a framework where financial support and adequate aftercare is offered to athletes. Retired middleweight Smith – brother to active British fighters Liam and Callum Smith – is one of the group’s founding members alongside the likes of Amir Khan.
Continue reading...Fighting families: 36 sets of siblings to fight under the UFC banner
(Editor's note: This list originally published Aug. 4, 2022.) For some, fighting is the family business. We've seen siblings break into the UFC together or years apart, and there's been success ranging from championship caliber to irrelevant fizzles. There's…
Dricus Du Plessis vows to prove he ‘wasn’t gifted a belt’ in UFC 312 rematch vs. Sean Strickland
Dricus Du Plessis is determined to clear up any questions about his first fight with Sean Strickland in Saturday's UFC 312 title rematch. After Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) took the middleweight title from Strickland (29-6 MMA, 16-6 UFC) in a debated s
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Feb. 4: Nasourdine Imavov joins middleweight elite
UFC Fight Night 250 took place this past Saturday at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, and it produced a few updates across multiple divisions. In the main event, Nassourdine Imavov took out former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya by landing a heavy…