UFC News
Weili Zhang calls out Henry Cejudo, says she will take his 'gold back to Beijing'
Cole Shelton - September 4, 2019
Weili Zhang is ready for a fight with current UFC men’s flyweight and bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo. Zhang is the UFC’s new women’s strawweight champion after knocking out Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen in 42-seconds. For Cejudo, he has been calling out a couple of different female fighters and the new Chinese champion just so happened to be one of them.
Brendan Schaub: 'I don’t give a f**k about women’s strawweight'
Thomas Taylor - September 4, 2019
Former UFC heavyweight turned podcaster Brendan Schaub was not overly sold on last weekend’s UFC Shenzhen card, which was headlined by a women’s strawweight title fight between champ Jessica Andrade and challenger Weili Zhang, but was otherwise pretty lacking in main value. Schaub did not hide his disinterest in this card ahead of time. In the end, UFC Shenzhen turned out to be pretty enjoyable in the eyes of most fans, as Weili Zhang made history by stopping Jessica Andrade in less than a minute to become the first Chinese champion in UFC history. Schaub, however, did not watch the event, and claims to have no regrets about missing Zhang historic victory in China.
VIDEO | Dustin Poirier shows off deadly striking ahead of UFC 242
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
Dustin Poirier is just days away from his UFC 242 headlining battle with undefeated UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is arguably the best grappler in MMA today. While Nurmagomedov will surely be looking to get his grappling going in this fight, Poirier will be keen to keep the action in the standing position, where he’d seem to have a clear advantage. On Wednesday afternoon, at the UFC 242 open workouts, Poirier took to the stage, where he flaunted his deadly striking arsenal with one of his coaches.
Kenny Florian likes how Namajunas, Jedrzejczyk match up against Weili Zhang
Fernando Quiles - September 4, 2019
Kenny Florian thinks Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk have a good chance at giving Weili Zhang problems. Zhang made history at UFC Shenzhen. She defeated Jessica Andrade via TKO in 42 seconds to capture the UFC strawweight title. This makes Zhang the first UFC champion born in China.
UFC 242 | Diego Ferreira expecting war against Mairbek Taisumov
Cole Shelton - September 4, 2019
Diego Ferreira is set to open the UFC 242 pay-per-view card against Mairbek Taisumov. He was set to do the same thing at UFC 237 in his native Brazil, but a bout of kidney stones forced him to pull out of the bout. Now, just four months later he will return and is excited for this rescheduled matchup against Taisumov. He knows their styles will make for an entertaining fight.
Dustin Poirier doubts ring rust will be a problem for Khabib Nurmagomedov
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has not fought since October of 2018, when he defeated Conor McGregor by decision. For some fighters, a break of this length might cause problems. Nurmagomedov’s next opponent Dustin Poirier, however, expects the champion to be sharp and ready when they step into the cage together. “I think that’s more of an individual thing,” Poirier said on the UFC 242 conference call last week (via MMA News). “Everybody is different.
Joe Rogan: UFC is 'finally recognizing' value of Nate Diaz
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
Joe Rogan believes the UFC is finally realizing how big of a draw Nate Diaz is. The UFC commentator discussed Diaz, who recently returned from a three-year break with a unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis, with his latest podcast guest, retired boxer Andre Ward. Ward has trained previously with both Nate and his older brother Nick.
VIDEO | Ben Askren stares down Demian Maia in Singapore
Tom Taylor - September 4, 2019
On October 26, the UFC will return to Singapore. The promotion’s latest stop in “The Lion City” will be topped by a dynamite welterweight matchup between former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren and two-time UFC title challenger Demian Maia. This bout has fans of the grappling arts very excited, as Askren is one of the best wrestlers in MMA, while Maia is arguably the best jiu jitsu specialist in the game. This week, the two welterweight stars touched down in Singapore, where they squared off for the press.
Tony Ferguson shuts down potential Conor McGregor bout
Natasha Hooper - September 4, 2019
Tony Ferguson believes Conor McGregor should be fighting celebrities, and leaving the real action to the top dogs in the lightweight division. During the latest episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Ferguson discussed a potential fight with McGregor. He doubts anybody would be interested.
Greg Hardy returns at UFC Singapore, takes on long-absent "Man Mountain"
Adam Martin - September 4, 2019
Controversial UFC heavyweight Greg Hardy is set to make his return to the Octagon at UFC Singapore in October, and his opponent may surprise you. The UFC announced Wednesday that Hardy will take on fellow heavyweight Jarjis Danho at UFC Singapore, taking place October 26 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
Report | UFC 242 trending for massive PPV success
Natasha Hooper - September 4, 2019
According to a report from Kevin Iole from Yahoo! Sports, early figures suggest UFC 242 could be one of the biggest pay-per-view events in UFC history. The card will be topped by a lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. Nurmagomedov’s last fight against Conor McGregor in 2018 was one of the most anticipated match-ups in UFC history. The UFC 229 event sold over 2 million pay-per-views and shattered all previous PPV records for the promotion. The UFC would of course be happy to recreate this success when Nurmagomedov returns to the Octagon against Poirier this Saturday.
Tony Ferguson explains why he refused to be back-up for UFC 242 main event
Natasha Hooper - September 4, 2019
During a recent episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Tony Ferguson revealed why he turned down the offer to be a replacement fighter for the main event of UFC 242. UFC 242 will be topped by a lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. If a fighter is injured or can no longer participate, a replacement opponent is often needed. However, Ferguson is not interested in filling that role.