A pair of high-stakes title fights will headline UFC 292 in Boston. The TD Garden will be headlined by the bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and #1 contender Sean O’Malley. Sterling recently turned away the challenge of Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, and O’Malley immediately confronted him in the octagon to formally challenge him. Though Sterling clearly isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, there’s no doubt that he’s a modern-day great. O’Malley is one of the promotion’s biggest stars, and he can go supernova with a title win. “Suga” was last in the octagon defeating Petr Yan by a split…
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.
After signing a lucrative deal with PFL, Francis Ngannou detailed the negotiations he had with Bellator, ONE Championship, and BKFC over the last few months. During his time on The MMA Hour, Ngannou detailed the efforts to sign him. The former UFC heavyweight champion was seen as the biggest free agent in the sport after his formal release from the promotion last January. The likeliest contender to sign Ngannou was Bellator, who is seen as the UFC’s biggest competitor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f65b0kdp_Og Last March, Bellator president Scott Coker was optimistic about bringing Ngannou on board. Coker’s deal would have permitted Ngannou to…
Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje are set to resume hostilities at UFC 291–and the “BMF” title is on the line. More importantly than bragging rights or a fictitious title, the winner is likely to face Islam Makhachev by year’s end. The “BMF” belt was originally won by Jorge Masvidal after defeating Nate Diaz at UFC 244. Though it is a title, it is more of a trinket and not officially recognized by the UFC as a legitimate title. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d4f-t_IaAA Aside from that, Poirier vs. Gaethje is set to headline UFC 291. The card is incredibly strong on paper. The two…
Francis Ngannou is PFL bound, and the former UFC heavyweight signed a deal for the ages. After failed attempts by practically every MMA body in the world, Ngannou has settled on PFL. As part of the new deal, Ngannou will be securing seven-figure paydays competing in PFL’s new “Super Fight” division, ownership of PFL’s expansion into Africa, and autonomy to pursue a boxing career. https://twitter.com/PFLMMA/status/1658400808906498048?cxt=HHwWgIC94fiv6YMuAAAA Ngannou said the following after the announcement:“I am very excited for this game-changing partnership with the Professional Fighters League to continue my MMA fighting career in the PFL’s PPV Super Fight Division.” I believe in…
Kron Gracie came out with a doozy of an excuse for his loss to Charles Jourdain at UFC 288. Gracie blamed the jiu-jitsu community for failing him. The decorated submission artist and grandson of the legendary Helio Gracie showed no signs of life in his miserable performance. This was Gracie’s first fight in a long time, and he seemed absolutely unprepared when Jourdian didn’t just fall on his back to take his submission attempts. Gracie placed the blame on “bad advice” given to him ahead of training before blaming the BJJ community. “In a lifetime of fighting, it’s always been…
Though he failed to wrest the bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 and contemplated retirement, Henry Cejudo has turned his attention to Merab Dvlishvili. Following his split-decision loss to Sterling, Dvalishvili was involved in the post-fight scrum between Sterling and #1 contender Sean O’Malley. Dvalishvili, Sterling’s chief sparring partner and friend, commanded a surge of attention when he stole O’Malley’s jacket and wore it inside the octagon. Dvalishvili would call out Cejudo on Twitter, asking for an opportunity to beat another of Sterling’s “leftovers.” In his last fight, Dvalishvili effortlessly defeated Petr Yan, who Sterling defeated twice over.…
Aljamain Sterling successfully defended his title against Henry Cejudo in the main event of UFC 288. Cejudo, who ended a three-year retirement to face Sterling, fought gallantly, but Sterling was too much for him to handle after the extended layoff. Cejudo started off strong in the first round. Though neither man made much headway, Sterling was able to get in a rhythm and scored a takedown late in the round, commanding control until the end of the first. https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1655078851871997952 In the second, Sterling had trouble fighting Cejudo off him. The two traded shots, but Cejudo kept Sterling on the defensive.…
UFC 289 is taking place in Canada on June 10, but the card is still undergoing construction after losing its headlining bout and its standout undercard fight. Originally, the main event was to be the trilogy fight between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena for Nunes’ bantamweight title. The two were tied at one win apiece, with Pena submitting Nunes for one of the biggest upsets of 2021 followed by Nunes recapturing the title by decision just seven months later. Pena is pulling out of the fight due to a rib injury sustained in training. https://twitter.com/espnmma/status/1653583928005996544 Luckily, Irene Aldana has accepted…
Francis Ngannou remains a free agent after talks with ONE Championship over the weekend failed to produce a partnership. Previously, Ngannou was set to entertain a final offer from ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong, who was optimistic they could sign the exiled former champion. Despite an exhaustive meeting that lasted three hours, neither Sityodtong nor Ngannou could agree to terms. “ONE has decided to withdraw from the process of bidding for Francis Ngannou’s services. After careful reflection, we decided not to submit our final offer. Francis is a good guy and a good champion. I wish him continued success and…
Song Yadong and Ricky Simon headed into the main event of UFC Fight Night 223 that was a dead heat on paper. What resulted was a lopsided beating, establishing Yadong’s credentials as a legitimate contender in the division. Yadong dominated every moment of the bout, eventually stopping an exhausted Simon in the fifth round. There was no moment in the fight where Yadong wasn’t in control. Yadong stopped Simon’s takedown game early on, and then applied a strenuous amount of pressure ahead of the stoppage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=HPJug9Hsvho&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fusatoday.com%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo As the rounds went on, Yadong’s effective striking and bodywork slowed Simon down. Late…