Ilia Topuria battered Josh Emmett and established himself as a main event competitor in the main event of UFC on ABC 5. For the entirety of their featherweight bout, Topuria picked Emmett apart. There was no point in the fight where Topuria was in danger, and he pummelled Emmett to the point where it was getting ugly later in the fight. When the fight hit the later rounds, things only started to go further south for Emmett. Topuria hurt him several times in the fourth, and in addition to several knockdowns, he was left bloodied and bruised. The doctor stepped…
Author: Danny Howard
Danny Howard
Danny Howard has been covering combat sports for 13 years and likes to think he knows what he’s talking about. He has been a featured contributor at FightHype, The Boxing Tribune, The Fight City, and Covers.
Henry Cejudo and Marlon Vera will face off at UFC 292 in a bout between top-ranked bantamweights. UFC President Dana White confirmed that Cejudo would be facing Vera on the card, nixing talks of retirement following Cejudo’s narrow points loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288. Cejudo wants another shot at the title and was even willing to face the streaking Merab Dvalishvili to get it. Dvalishvili, Sterling’s teammate and training partner, is out with a hand injury after his demoralizing win over Petr Yan. Instead, the #6 ranked Vera gets the assignment and a chance to change his fortunes…
The troubled Conor McGregor continues to take his lumps as news breaks that the two-division champion missed his final deadline to enter the USADA testing pool. As a result, McGregor cannot be eligible for any MMA contests in 2023. This means the heavily-hyped showdown between him and Michael Chandler, the backbone of this season of The Ultimate Fighter, is off the books. According to MMA Uncensored, McGregor was given a final date of June 16 to submit to USADA testing. Had he complied, then McGregor could have fought Chandler at UFC 296. The event was the last pay-per-view card for…
Jared Cannonier formally ended Marvin Vettori’s run as the best-uncrowned middleweight in the main event of UFC Vegas 75. Not only did Cannonier score an authoritative win over one of the division’s craftiest fighters, but he did so landing 241 significant strikes in the process. There was no point where the resourceful Vettori was ever in control. If anything, Vettori showed his toughness and never stopped trying to win. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMkAjaKwipc Though Vettori landed the first big shot of the fight in the first round, Cannonier responded in kind, and had Vettori hurt in the second after knocking him down with…
The UFC is in a precarious position, now having to determine if superstar Conor McGregor is still worth the trouble he’s causing. McGregor, a two-division champion, continued his tour of self-destruction and terror with a pair of horrifying incidents over the last month. On June 10, McGregor lost control during a halftime skit at the NBA Finals, hospitalizing the Miami Heat’s mascot after forgetting to pull his punches. Ironically, McGregor used the bit to promote his cryotherapy pain relief spray, which he suddenly remembered to spray on the mascot AFTER he incapacitated him. Bad went to worse less than a…
Welterweight Ian Garry will face off against Geoff Neal as a supporting bout on the UFC 292 undercard. The undefeated Garry is not taking a break, hoping to establish himself as a serious player at welterweight. Neal presents a significant step up in class from Daniel Rodriguez, who Garry defeated by first-round TKO last May. #8-ranked Neal is coming off a competitive loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 285. In that fight, Neal missed weight but pushed the surging Rakhmonov to the limit before succumbing to a rear-naked choke in the third round. Garry will be making his third appearance…
Amanda Nunes walks off into the sunset as a reigning and defending champion, and the division created primarily for her is likely to go, as well. After Nunes announced her retirement following her dominant win over Irene Aldana at UFC 289, Dana White said that business might be closed for the women’s featherweight division. Nunes last defended the division’s title against Megan Anderson in 2021, and nary a defense since then. The division came about in 2016 as a way to lure Cris Cyborg into the UFC, ideally to face Nunes. Germaine de Randamie defeated Holly Holm at UFC 208,…
Amanda Nunes beat up an overmatched Irene Aldana in the main event of UFC 289, then decided to call it a career. Never at any point during the fight was Nunes troubled by Aldana. She landed and scored takedowns at will. The final tally saw Nunes outland Aldana in strikes with a tally of 142-41, and scored six takedowns en route to a dominant decision win. The victory on the scorecards was nothing if not inevitable. It was in the ring where Nunes laid down her bantamweight and featherweight titles, prompting her to announce her retirement from the UFC. With…
Jim Miller continues to impress as the grizzled veteran is coming off a highlight-reel win, but former two-division Daniel Cormier doesn’t feel Miller is worthy of the Hall of Fame. Miller’s candidacy was a talking point on this week’s edition of “DC & RC,” where Cormier and co-host Ryan Clark took opposing stances on the matter. Cormier believes Miller’s longevity isn’t enough to secure a spot, though conceding that winning a title would do it. “I don’t feel like time served immediately puts you in the Hall of Fame. Look, he’s got more wins than anyone else. But, I love…
Amanda Nunes doesn’t feel the need to reopen the Valentina Shevchenko chapter of her career should she defeat Irene Aldana at UFC 289. Nunes spoke to the media at the UFC 289 pre-fight presser, postulating that in addition to her disinterest, the UFC won’t pursue it any further. The two-division champion points to Shevchenko’s shocking loss to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285 being the nail in the coffin. “I think I have a lot of noise at 135, and I don’t think the UFC is going to stop and then go back with the Valentina thing. That don’t sell nothing.”…