Martial Arts News

With less than a week to go before their headlining clash at UFC 296, Leon Edwards still can’t make sense of how Colby Covington got a title shot.

Advertisement

Edwards successfully defended his belt in a rematch against Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in March. While Belal Muhammad was widely considered to be next in line for the title shot, Dana White dropped Covington’s name in the post-fight media scrum. Despite protests from Muhammad, widespread media criticism and Covington having not fought since March 2022, White adamantly insisted on “Chaos” getting the shot.

Edwards recently reiterated his disapproval of Covington’s gold bid, noting most of his recent wins came against fighters who are no longer in the UFC. With no other possible reasoning for the move, Edwards has only one explanation: Covington enjoys “Dana White privilege.”

“I couldn’t tell you. That’s what the UFC, that’s what everyone [wants]. I don’t know, I don’t know what the excuse is,” Edwards s…

Paddy Pimblett would like to see upcoming opponent Tony Ferguson return to the win column — just not at his expense.

Advertisement

Pimblett is scheduled to return to action at UFC 296 on Saturday after being shelved for a year due to an injury that that was aggravated in his last fight against Jared Gooden and needed surgery. “The Baddy” is unbeaten in his last six outings, including four in the UFC. Ferguson, by contrast, has lost six straight.

While Ferguson was once touted to be the only threat to former lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, “El Cucuy” hasn’t appeared to be the same fighter since a lopsided beating against Justin Gaethje in 2020.

Pimblett is also a fan of Ferguson and wants the former interim champ to register one more win before hanging up his gloves. However, the 28-year-old Liverpudlian can’t let it happen in their upcoming clash on Dec. 16.

“I really respect Tony Ferguson. He’s one of the Top 5 lightweights of all time. Who w…

[embedded content]

Shavkat Rakhmonov has had a tough time getting fights against Top 10 fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and he plans to make the most of his showcase this Saturday.

Advertisement

Rakhmonov (17-0) is slated to meet two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 on Dec. 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The event will be headlined by the division’s current titleholder, Leon Edwards, defending his welterweight strap against Colby Covington. While Rakhmonov sits at No. 5 in the UFC’s official rankings, a win over Thompson could catapult him into title contention considering the Kazakh has finished all 17 of his professional MMA fights.

Rakhmonov believes he is ready to fight for the title and is expecting to do so soon, though he is yet to have a conversation with the UFC in that regard.“Nomad” said on The MMA Hour:

“No, I didn’t have this conversation or any promises, but all I want to say is that I’m …

[embedded content]

While some are wondering whether this Saturday represents Colby Covington’s last, best chance at an undisputed title, he already has his sights set on two-division glory.

Advertisement

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship interim welterweight titleholder Covington (17-3), who challenges Leon Edwards (21-3, 1 NC) in the main event of UFC 296 on Saturday in Las Vegas, has been vocal about his plans for the near future. Despite not having fought since last March and despite two of his last four outings being title losses, “Chaos” earned himself another shot against Edwards, thanks in part to his penchant for incendiary statements.

While Covington is a slight underdog going into this week’s matchup, he has already disclosed his next target: UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland. While Strickland is notorious for expressing his unhinged opinions on a variety of controversial topics, Covington claims to see through Strickland’s public persona, an…

[embedded content]

As he is known to do, Dana White is hinting at big things in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s future.

In this particular case, the UFC CEO recently indicated on the Full Send podcast that a superfight is in the works for the Las Vegas-based promotion. Other than confirming that said bout didn’t involve Conor McGregor, White wouldn’t reveal any further details.

“We’re talking about one right now, actually, that just popped up a few days ago,” White said. “I can’t talk about it until we get everybody... well, every fight that you would consider a ‘superfight’ would involve McGregor but this one isn’t, no.”

That led to speculation that UFC Hall of Famer Georges St. Pierre might be part of White’s plans. The former two-division champion hasn’t competed since 2017, when he submitted Michael Bisping at UFC 217 to claim middleweight gold. St. Pierre officially announced his retirement from MMA in 2019.

St. Pierre quickly shut down ru…

Kevin Holland would prefer Michael Page on the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster but admits that he can’t really blame “Venom” if he signs with the Professional Fighters League.

Advertisement

The Bellator veteran has generated his fair share of attention since announcing his free agency in July. Page was subsequently spotted at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi in October, with Dana White confirming mutual interest between the fighter and promotion. However, Page didn't close the door on potentially signing with the PFL, either.

Most recenlty, “MVP” was seen in attendance at PFL Europe 4 at the 3Arena in Dublin on Friday. The 36-year-old squared off with French star Cedric Doumbe, leading to speculation of a potential deal in the works.

According to Holland, Page would be choosing money over legacy if he signs with the PFL instead of the UFC. However, “Trailblazer” admits that he can’t exactly blame Page for prioritizing money considering the name of the game is …

Beneil Dariush is wondering if he can still compete at the sport’s highest level after a knockout loss to Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at UFC on ESPN 52 on Dec. 2.

Advertisement

It was the second consecutive knockout loss for the Kings MMA product, who fell to former champ Charles Oliveira in the opening round of their clash at UFC 289 in June. However, Dariush revealed that there is a significant difference in his mindset in aftermath of the two losses.

“Remember how I told you guys I just didn’t feel like I showed up that fight [against Oliveira]?” Dariush told Submission Radio. “No matter how I looked at it, I was like, ‘Man maybe I did something wrong in camp, I’m gonna go back and fix it.’ So that was my focus, I’m gonna go back and fix my camp and everything will be better.

“So I went in back into camp and just tried to do everything the best that I can and I had a really good camp for this fight. Great weight cut, great conditioning, everything…

Jan Blachowicz will admittedly need some time to regain his famed “Polish Power” as he awaits a shoulder surgery that has him sidelined.

Advertisement

The former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ was scheduled to fight Aleksandar Rakic in a rematch at UFC 297 in January but was forced out of the matchup due the injury. While it was initially assumed that the injury happened in camp, Blachowicz revealed that it had been building up for a while.

“I feel it for like three years, something like this,” Blachowicz told BJPenn.com. “I feel pain in my shoulders, but I accept the pain. Last three months, two months, I started losing my power, my strength. Forty percent goes, I tried and do something with physiotherapy and doctors, and they tried to fix it but every training was worse.

“When I did wrestling, I’d hold someone and they’d just grab my hand and open it like this, too easy. We did an MRI on both shoulders because I feel pain in both …

Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC Credit: Getty/UFC

Kevin Jousset wants to blitz his way into the welterweight rankings after his win over Kenan Song at UFC Fight Night 233 on Saturday.

Advertisement

The Kiwi earned an emphatic decision win over Song in his sophomore outing after a first-round submission victory over Keifer Crosbie in his debut at UFC 293 in September. Jousset subsequently aimed high by calling out welterweight veteran Daniel Rodriguez, who will complete a USADA suspension early next year.

“I saw ‘D-Rod’ got cleared from USADA. I like his style. I feel he’s a very good fighter. He seems to be a good guy, as well,” Joussett said in a post-fight media scrum. “I don’t know the guy personally, but I would love to test my skills against this guy potentially. I know he’s much higher than me in the rankings, but who knows. If the UFC is interested in this fight, let’s do it.”

Jousset also acknowledged the need of certain im…

Belal Muhammad will be ready to step in should anything go awry with the UFC 296 main event.

Muhammad confirmed to MMAjunkie.com on Sunday that he will serve as the backup fighter for the welterweight championship clash between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

“They just hit me up Friday, asked me if I’m willing to weigh in for next week,” Muhammad said. “I think obviously they know Colby and Leon are the two most inactive welterweights in the division. Neither of these guys likes to fight. They’re both good at running. So just to be on the safe side, they called the dude that always steps up whenever needed.”

Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 Octagon appearances, including a five-round verdict over Gilbert Burns in his lone bout of 2023 at UFC 288. “Remember the Name” faced Edwards at UFC Fight Night 187 in March 2021, but the contest ended 18 seconds into Round 2 due to an accidental eye poke.

A potential bantamweight title eliminator between Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili has been booked for UFC 298.

Advertisement

Multiple outlets confirmed the pairing after Cejudo initially announced the bout on his YouTube channel Sunday. UFC 298 takes place on Feb. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and is headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Cejudo returned from a three-year retirement at UFC 288 this past May, where he dropped a split decision to Aljamain Sterling in a bantamweight championship clash. The Olympic gold medalist had been unbeaten in six previous Octagon appearances from 2017 to 2020. “The Messenger” owns notable wins over the likes of Dominick Cruz, Marlon Moraes, T.J. Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson, Sergio Pettis and Jussier Formiga, to name a few.

Dvalishvili will take a nine-fight promotional winning streak into the matchup with Cejudo. In his last outing, “The Machine” ou…

Irish prospect Ian Garry is worried about the safety of his family in the United States after having received a lot of flak from American fighters in recent times.

Advertisement

Garry came under scrutiny after fans dug up a book written by his wife, Layla Anna-Lee, in 2010. Anna-Lee, who is 14 years Garry’s senior, is the author of an 11-page booklet, “How to be a WAG,” which advises women on the best way to seek out relationships with rich and famous athletes.

Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ Sean Strickland, who is known for his unabashed opinions, subsequently advised Garry to immediately separate from his wife on social media. The Irishman did not take to Strickland’s comments kindly, leading to a drawn-out online feud. Garry also allegedly stared at Strickland during a run-in at the UFC Performance Institute, which prompted the middleweight champ to ask him to slide into his DMs if he wanted things “handled.”

Personal life aside, Ga…