MMA News
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Dana White explains Ilia Topuria vacating UFC featherweight title
Harry Kettle - February 21, 2025
UFC president Dana White has explained why Ilia Topuria decided to vacate the featherweight championship. As announced by Dana White, Ilia Topuria is leaving the featherweight division. In the wake of his incredible wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, he’s decided to make the jump up to lightweight. He’s already going to go down as one of the best ever at 145 pounds, and now, he has his sights firmly on acquiring a second world title at a brand new weight class.
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Michael Chandler teases Paddy Pimblett in amusing new video
Harry Kettle - February 21, 2025
UFC star Michael Chandler has mocked Paddy Pimblett in a recent video after their first was confirmed. As we know, Michael Chandler will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 314 when he goes head to head with Paddy Pimblett. The pair will meet in a blockbuster co-main event at the show, and if ‘Iron Mike’ can get back in the win column, he’ll inject some real life back into his mixed martial arts career.
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Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cory Sandhagen targeted for UFC Des Moines event in May
Josh Evanoff - February 20, 2025
Bantamweight contenders Deiveson Figueiredo and Cory Sandhagen will reportedly meet in May. ‘Deus da Guerra’ is fresh off his return to the octagon in the main event of UFC Macau in November. He entered the event riding a two-fight winning streak and met former bantamweight champion Petr Yan. Despite Deiveson Figueiredo’s newfound success at 135 pounds, he was outpointed by ‘No Mercy’ en route to a unanimous decision loss.
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Islam Makhachev's manager sounds off on possible Ilia Topuria bout: "We already gave chances to featherweight champ"
Josh Evanoff - February 20, 2025
Islam Makhachev’s manager doesn’t seem to be a fan of a potential bout with former UFC champion Ilia Topuria. The UFC lightweight champion is fresh off his return to the cage last month in Los Angeles. There, Islam Makhachev met a short-notice replacement, Renato Moicano. While he was initially set to face Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC 311, an injury forced him out. As a result, Makhachev handed the short-notice ‘Money Moicano’ a first-round submission loss.
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Song Yadong vows to end Henry Cejudo's career at UFC Seattle: "Time is over, it’s time to retire"
Cole Shelton - February 20, 2025
Song Yadong is looking to end Henry Cejudo’s career on Saturday at UFC Seattle. Yadong is set to headline UFC Seattle on Saturday in a pivotal bantamweight bout. Heading into the bout, Yadong is the favorite. He’s confident he will get his hand raised, and once Cejudo loses, which would be his third straight, he will retire from the sport.
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WATCH | Robert Soldic scores early KO of the Year contender in ONE Championship
BJ Penn Staff - February 20, 2025
Roberto Soldic delivered an early frontrunner for 2025’s Knockout of the Year honours at Thursday’s ONE Champions 171 in Doha Qatar. Soldic, from Croatia, is a former two-division KSW champion. He has long been considered one of the top MMA fighters outside the UFC. He signed with ONE in 2022, and was widely expected to make a run at the promotion’s welterweight title, but quickly ran into trouble. First, he suffered a brutal groin shot in his debut fight with future PFL contender Murad Ramazanov. That one ended in a no contest. Then, in his second fight, he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Swedish finisher Zebaztian Kadestam — in a fight he seemed to be winning up until the finishing blow.
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Ex-UFC fighter believes Jon Jones will retire instead of fighting Tom Aspinall
Fernando Quiles - February 20, 2025
One retired UFC fighter is of the belief that it’s more likely that Jon Jones retires. Jones is a surefire Hall of Famer down the road, but many are wondering if he will return to the Octagon for a UFC heavyweight title unification bout against Tom Aspinall. “Bones” hasn’t committed to his next move and has publicly shown more interest in a fight with 205-pound champion Alex Pereira instead of the interim heavyweight titleholder Aspinall.
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Michael Chandler reacts to Dana White announcing Paddy Pimblett fight for UFC 314
Fernando Quiles - February 20, 2025
Michael Chandler is fired up to share the Octagon with Paddy Pimblett. This past Wednesday night, UFC CEO Dana White announced a slew of marquee fights scheduled for the coming months. One of the bouts made official is a lightweight tilt between Chandler and Pimblett. That fight will take place on the UFC 314 card on April 12th. Headlining the card will be a UFC Featherweight Championship bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.
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Song Yadong explains where he could have success against Merab Dvalishvili
Harry Kettle - February 20, 2025
UFC star Song Yadong has given his thoughts on where he could find success against bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili. As we know, Song Yadong is a top contender in the bantamweight division. While he’s suffered his fair share of setbacks over the years, he’s clearly an incredibly talented fighter who is more than capable of mixing it up with the very best that is available at 135 pounds.
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Henry Cejudo teases possible return to UFC's flyweight division
Harry Kettle - February 20, 2025
Henry Cejudo has teased the idea of a return to where it all began for him – the UFC’s flyweight division. As we know, Henry Cejudo has achieved a great deal in mixed martial arts. He’s also done a lot in combat sports as a whole, dating back to his gold medal days at the Olympics. Now, however, the veteran fighter is attempting to vault his way back into another title opportunity, which will be easier said than done.
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Henry Cejudo is embracing underdog role against Song Yadong at UFC Seattle
Harry Kettle - February 20, 2025
UFC legend Henry Cejudo has said that he’s embracing his underdog role against Song Yadong this weekend at UFC Seattle. As we know, Henry Cejudo is one of the most successful fighters in UFC history. He is one of the few competitors who has held two belts in two different weight classes, and while that was many years ago, the veteran is still competing at an elite level – despite losses to Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili.
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Jonathan Haggerty insists Superlek would be in for "long night"
BJPENN.COM Staff - February 19, 2025
ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Haggerty believes there’s still more to come of his rivalry with two-division king Superlek Kiatmoo9 in the future. “The General” returns to action this Thursday, February 20, in the co-main event of ONE 171: Qatar inside Doha’s Lusail Sports Arena. There, he defends his kickboxing gold against #1-ranked contender Wei Rui.
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Dana White announces key welterweight fights including Belal Muhammad title defense
Cole Shelton - February 19, 2025
UFC CEO Dana White has made two key welterweight fights official, including Belal Muhammad’s first title defense. On Instagram Live on Wednesday, White announced that Jack Della Maddalena has been pulled from his UFC London main event fight against Leon Edwards. Della Maddalena will now headline UFC 315 in Montreal against Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title. White revealed that Shavkat Rakhmonov is dealing with an injury and will likely face the winner of Muhammad-Della Maddalena.
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Dana White announces stacked UFC 314 card including featherweight title fight
Cole Shelton - February 19, 2025
UFC CEO Dana White has announced some key fights for UFC 314 on April 12 in Miami, Florida. White went on Instagram Live and announced the card would be headlined by a featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes as Ilia Topuria has vacated the belt.
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Pro fighters make their picks for Henry Cejudo vs Song Yadong
Cole Shelton - February 19, 2025
In the main event of UFC Seattle, former UFC champ-champ Henry Cejudo takes on Song Yadong. Heading into the fight, Cejudo is a +220 underdog while the eighth-ranked bantamweight is a -295 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro-fighters to get their predictions for the bantamweight main event. The pros are nearly unanimous in thinking Song Yadong will get his hand raised and beat Henry Cejudo, likely by decision.
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Rob Font reveals Raul Rosas Jr. was originally targeted to replace Dominick Cruz at UFC Seattle
Cole Shelton - February 19, 2025
Rob Font went through a couple of opponents after Dominick Cruz withdrew from their UFC Seattle fight. Font was supposed to take on the former bantamweight champ, but a shoulder injury knocked Cruz out. After Cruz pulled out of the fight, he said the original opponent offered was Raul Rosas Jr., but that didn’t come to fruition.
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Anthony Smith opens up on retirement fight against Zhang Mingyang: "I was very shocked with the matchup"
Josh Evanoff - February 19, 2025
Anthony Smith was just as shocked as everyone else to learn his final UFC opponent. ‘Lionheart’ has been out of the cage since a clash with Dominick Reyes in December. Anthony Smith entered UFC 310 with a heavy heart, fighting just weeks after the passing of his coach, Scott Morton. Sadly for the former title challenger, he was dominated and handed a second-round stoppage loss by ‘The Devastator’.
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Caio Borralho calls for title eliminator against Nassourdine Imavov next: "Running to the title"
Josh Evanoff - February 19, 2025
UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho wants a fight with Nassourdine Imavov next. ‘The Natural’ is quickly rising up the UFC’s 185-pound rankings. Last August, the hard-hitting Brazilian received the biggest test of his career, in the form of a Fight Night main event against Jared Cannonier. There, Caio Borralho passed the test with flying colors, hurting ‘Killa Gorilla’ several times en route to a unanimous decision win.