Martial Arts News

Colby Covington has brushed several people the wrong way over the years, including lightweight contender Dustin Poirier.

A perennial welterweight contender, Covington (17-3) has also assumed a heel persona by crossing boundaries with his trash talk on several occasions.

Advertisement

“Chaos” was allegedly sucker punched by former friend and teammate Jorge Masvidal outside a Miami restaurant hardly two weeks removed from his lopsided decision win over “Gamebred” at UFC 272.

However, Masvidal apparently isn’t the only fighter who had a problem with Covington at American Top Team in Florida. A part of ATT since 2011, Covington parted ways with the gym in 2020 over growing tensions with Masvidal, Dustin Poirier and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Covington even issued an uncharacteristic public apology to Poirier (29-8) prior to his exit from ATT after coach Dan Lambert imposed a no-trash talk rule. However, “Chaos” has since gone back and forth with Poirier on multiple occ…

Brandon Moreno is tired of waiting for his next Octagon assignment and wants to return to action as soon as possible.

Moreno injured his hand in his split-decision title loss to Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 290 in July. The defeat marked Moreno’s second career loss at the hands of “The Cannibal.”

Advertisement

However, while Moreno has fully recovered from the injury, there has been almost no talk of his next booking.

Moreno claims the Ultimate Fighting Championship had reached out to him about a fight against surging contender Amir Albazi (17-1) in December but nothing concrete was laid out.

“They told me, Amir. They told me about December, but nothing was real, nothing was official. So right now, I’m waiting for a specific name to make it official. I know Amir is there. I think it’s the most logical fight in line for me with Amir. The winner can fight for the title in the next one. I know Amir is there,” Moreno told MMA Junkie.

“The Assassin Baby” admits tha…

Dana White: “Every time he’s [Dillon Danis] around, sh*t’s going down.” 🗣️

🎥 @fullsendpodcast

Advertisement

White doesn’t sound too keen on bringing Danis to the UFC.

pic.twitter.com/n3bRkwgrft

— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) November 28, 2023 Dillon Danis’ antics outside of actual competition might be the biggest detriment to his aspirations of becoming an Ultimate Fighting Championship athlete.

Having initially gained attention as Conor McGregor's training partner, Danis has managed to stay relevant ever since by getting involved in several feuds with influencers and fighters. The biggest highlight of Danis’ career is arguably his involvement in the infamous UFC 229 brawl between the camps of McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Danis also recently threw a microphone at Logan Paul, cutting open “The Maverick” ahead of their boxing clash. While they went ahead with the fight, Danis lost via disqualification after starting a braw…

Lupita Godinez will square off against Virna Jandiroba in a matchup of strawweight contenders at UFC Fight Night on March 30.

Advertisement

Multiple outlets — along with Jandiroba herself — confirmed the pairing following an initial report from MMA Melotto. The UFC card doesn’t have an official location or headliner at this time.

Godinez enjoyed an active 2023 campaign, as she was victorious in all four of her Octagon appearances. Most recently, “Loopy” garnered a split-decision triumph against Tabatha Ricci at UFC 295 on Nov. 11. Her year also included wins over Elise Reed, Emily Ducote and Cynthia Calvillo.

Jandiroba, meanwhile, has won three of her last four within the Las Vegas-based promotion. In her last outing, the former Invicta FC champ outpointed Marina Rodriguez at UFC 288 on May 6.

Olivier Aubin-Mercier had previously hinted that he would be taking a hiatus from mixed martial arts following the conclusion of the 2023 Professional Fighters League season.

Advertisement

Now his absence will likely be much longer than that.

Aubin-Mercier officially announced his retirement on Wednesday in a post on his Instagram account.

“Feeling incredibly grateful today as I hang up my gloves, I must give a massive shout out to [the PFL],” he wrote. “PFL believed in me. They recognized a fighter in a kid from Quebec who just wouldn’t quit. It has been an honor to step into the cage under their banner.

“As I move on from competition, I hope that the path I've trodden serves as an invitation to other Quebecois fighters. May you find in the PFL the same support, the same faith, and the same opportunities to showcase our Québécois tenacity.

“To everyone behind the scenes who has been part of this journey—merci from the bottom of my heart. I had so mu…

A middleweight clash pitting Roman Dolidze against Nassourdine Imavov will serve as the headliner for an Ultimate Fighting Championship event on Feb. 3.

The booking was initially reported by MMA TIME. Dolidze also recently confirmed the bout on social media. The UFC Fight Night card does not yet have an official location or venue. According to MMAjunkie.com, Dolidze vs. Imavov was initially slated to take place at UFC Fight Night 233 on Dec. 9.

Dolidze had a four-bout winning streak snapped in his last outing, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to former title challenger Marvin Vettori at UFC 286 on March 18. “The Caucasian” is 6-2 in UFC competition, with four KO/TKO victories to his credit.

Imavov, meanwhile, is coming off a bout against Chris Curtis at UFC 289 that ended 3:04 into Round 2 due to an accidental clash of heads. Prior to that, the Frenchman dropped a five-round verdict against current middleweight king Sean Strickland in the UFC Fi…

Professional Fighters League founder Donn Davis recently said that Bellator featherweight champion Cristiane Justino will face 2023 PFL 145-pound champ Larissa Pacheco in her next bout.

Advertisement

Carlos Barreto has other ideas. The UFC Fight Pass Brazil commentator declared on his "Papo de Luta" podcast that he believes Kayla Harrison should be the next opponent for “Cyborg.”

"We know that the idea is to pit champion versus champion, but just like [Francis] Ngannou vs. [Bellator heavyweight champ] Ryan Bader should take place instead of Bader vs. Renan Ferreira, because that would be a more entertaining fight for the audience, I believe Mr. Davis should use the same thought process to put Kayla and Cyborg first,” he said.

According to Barreto, the reason is not just fan interest but the possibility of “Cyborg” losing to Pacheco.

"Brazilian fans would probably rather see Cris vs Larissa, but we are talking about world marketing,” he said. “Kayla…

Marlon Vera is confident that he’ll take the fight out of Sean O’Malley in their upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title clash.

Advertisement

Vera (23-8) will meet O’Malley (17-1) in a rematch in the main event at UFC 299 with O’Malley's bantamweight title on the line. “Chito” handed “Sugar” his lone pro defeat in 2020 by damaging his foe’s peroneal nerve with leg kicks before subsequently securing the finish with an onslaught of strikes at the 4:40 mark of the opening frame.

Vera believes he will put a lopsided beating on the champ in their rematch. While “Chito” acknowledges O’Malley’s athleticism and knockout power, he believes the fight will go out of “Sugar” when he gets into a “hard fight.”

“I beat the f-k out of him and walk away with a bag of cash and the belt. I really believe I’m going to make him quit. I really believe I’m going to make him just be a shell of himself and just kick his ass, almost like beg me to stop kind of th…

[embedded content]

Brendan Allen claims to have witnessed Ian Garry being knocked out cold during a sparring session at Kill Cliff FC.

Advertisement

As a result, Allen also believes Ian Garry knows exactly which names he shouldn’t mention to avoid having that footage become public. Garry has been in the headlines in recent times, although not necessarily for the right reasons. “The Future” recently claimed to have been barred from Leon Edwards’ Team Renegade over the champ’s "insecurities." However, Edwards’ teammate Veronica Hardy subsequently revealed that Garry has been banned from several gyms in the U.K. Additionally, Liverpudlian star Paddy Pimblett claimed to have heard reports of Edwards knocking Garry out in training.

According to Allen, Garry has also been knocked out during training at his other haunt, Kill Cliff FC in Florida. Referring to a video of Shavkat Rakhmonov wrestling Bellator champ Jason Jackson, Allen also hinted that he is not a big fan …

After 14 fights in the flyweight division, former champion Deiveson Figueiredo will make his bantamweight debut on Saturday against Rob Font at UFC on ESPN 52 in Austin, Texas.

Advertisement

In an exclusive interview with Sherdog.com, Figueiredo revealed that he held his entire training camp with Henry Cejudo in the United States.

"Actually I left Brazil and started my camp before the UFC decided my opponent,” the Brazilian said. “The UFC gave me three options, and among them I chose Font, who had already said that he wanted to welcome me to the 135-pound division. Because of that I chose him.”

According to Figueiredo, the fact that he didn’t need to spend his whole camp on a strict diet to reach 125 pounds made it one of the best camps of his life.

"It's much better to do a camp happy and healthy,” he said. “Besides that, the whole atmosphere here in Fight Ready is really good. Cejudo is surrounded by amazing people. To complete …

Beneil Dariush recently revealed that Dustin Poirier was a potential opponent for his upcoming main-event assignment.

Advertisement

Dariush (22-5) is slated to take on up-and-coming contender Arman Tsarukyan (20-3) in the main event at UFC on ESPN 52 on Saturday in Austin, Texas. “Benny” claims Poirier’s name was also mentioned as an alternative opponent, but the booking never came to fruition. Dariush recently told Submission Radio:

“They called me for that and they said, ‘Hey, would you be willing?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, of course. My weight’s good, I’m obviously in camp right now, I can do a fight with Dustin Poirier.’ And they said, ‘Okay, we’ll get back to you.’ It didn’t materialize and then they called me again and they said, ‘Okay, what about Dustin Poirier for December 2?’ I said, ‘Okay.’ Then I just waited and it didn’t materialize.”

“Afterward they said they were going to stick with Arman and it’s gonna be five rounds. I never hear the other side. I’…

While Dana White guarantees that Conor McGregor will return next year, he also claims to have a blockbuster matchup in the works that does not involve the Irish superstar.

Advertisement

McGregor (22-6) hasn’t fought since suffering a broken leg in a trilogy clash against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. While “Notorious” has since featured as Michael Chandler’s (23-8) rival coach on “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 31, their clash which was expected to follow hangs in the balance. Following his re-entry into the United States Anti-Doping Agency drug testing pool, McGregor was targeting a return in April 2024. However, according to his coach, John Kavanagh, McGregor is unlikely to make a return before the summer.

Nevertheless, UFC CEO White recently assured fans of McGregor’s 2024 return without finalizing the name of an opponent in an appearance on the Full Send Podcast. White also took the opportunity to point out Chandler's ability to sit out without competing for a …