MMA News

Author: Dylan Bowker

  • Beneil Dariush Warns Against Writing Off Charles Oliveira: ‘He’s Built to Give Boxers Trouble’

    Beneil Dariush Warns Against Writing Off Charles Oliveira: ‘He’s Built to Give Boxers Trouble’

    Beneil Dariush thinks it would be ill advised to write off Charles Oliveira at this point in his career. These two actually previously fought at UFC 289 with Oliveira finishing Dariush with strikes in the first round of their June 2023 contest. During a recent interview with Submission Radio, the number nine ranked lightweight offered up his thoughts on Oliveira’s next fight with Ilia Topuria as Dariush said,

    “I think it’s a lot closer than people think. I think Charles is really tough. He’s got a good chin, he’s got good jiu-jitsu, he’s got great striking. And what’s going to be difficult for Ilia is Charles’s striking is, I think, really dangerous against boxers—the way he throws his knees, the way he clinches, those are things you can do to slow down Ilia. Because, for example, a good boxer will dip low to fake or feint to get in on the inside, and that’s times where Charles will just raise his knee and mess with your timing or throw a kick, things like that. So, I think the fight’s a lot closer.”

    “I understand why people are favoring Ilia, and I think if you had to ask me, I probably would favor him as well, but I don’t think it’s going to be like, ‘Oh, he’s going to walk through Charles like everybody thinks.’ Charles is always dangerous. Here’s what I would say: I know Ilia’s jiu-jitsu is very good because when he fought Ryan Hall, he did really well. Even if the fight was on the ground or he was throwing ground and pound, he did fine.”

    Beneil Dariush continued, “The fact that he was able to stop Bryce [Mitchell]’s takedowns and eventually turn it around, and when he was on top, he was able to just get into positions really quickly—Bryce has good jiu-jitsu. Like, you cannot be a fan of his, but you can’t say he’s not a good grappler. So, I think Ilia’s grappling is very, very good, and if anything, it could be considered underrated.”

    Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira’s assignments for UFC 317

    Beneil Dariush has his next in-cage assignment locked in as he will do battle with Renato Moicano on the UFC 317 main card. Moicano enters the cage as the number ten ranked lightweight contender on a card that will feature a lot of major movement in the top ten of the 155 pound rankings. As mentioned earlier, Charles Oliveira will be fighting Ilia Topuria for the vacant lightweight title in what will serve as the main event attraction for this pay-per-view.

  • Robert Whittaker on Reinier de Ridder: “He’s Awkward, Walks You Down, Weaponizes Everything”

    Robert Whittaker on Reinier de Ridder: “He’s Awkward, Walks You Down, Weaponizes Everything”

    Robert Whittaker foresees his upcoming fight with Reinier de Ridder as one that can re-align his path to becoming UFC middleweight champion once again. Whittaker does battle with RDR at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26 in the headline attraction of that card. The contest between Whittaker and de Ridder pits the number five ranked contender against the number thirteen ranked contender at 185 pounds, respectively. While speaking on Submission Radio ahead of this fight, Robert Whittaker discussed the machinations of this match up with the former two division ONE Championship titleholder when Whittaker said.

    “He’s an awkward guy. He’s of the same mentality, the same school of thought where you just walk forward and punch people, right? I understand the headspace I’ve got to be in for this fight, and I think it is a great precursor to what I want to do moving forward. His grappling style is pretty cool as well. He’s kind of one of these guys who actually weaponizes a lot of the stuff that he does-comes forward and just brings it forward.”

    “I want to set a statement in this next fight. I want to really, you know, I want to really send a message and work my way up to the title, so like, that’s kind of my focus right now.”

    Robert Whittaker and his proximity to the middleweight belt

    Robert Whittaker is a former middleweight champion as mentioned earlier and while he is coming off of a loss technically, he is still not that far outside of the title challenger sphere. Whittaker’s last fight was a loss to Khamzat Chimaev in Oct. of last year with that UFC 308 win securing Chimaev a title shot against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319. The current number one ranked contender at middleweight is Nassourdine Imavov who is electing to serve as the back up fighter for that Aug. championship bout with DDP and Chimaev.

    Observing the remainder of the UFC’s middleweight top five, only number two ranked Sean Strickland and number four ranked contender Israel Adesanya don’t have their formally booked next assignments. There have been some rumblings that perhaps Strickland and Adesanya may run it back for a rematch but nothing has been formally booked as of this writing.

  • ‘The Devil in ONE’ Ali Abdelaziz Blasts Matt Hume for Nearly ‘Ruining’ Reinier de Ridder’s Career

    ‘The Devil in ONE’ Ali Abdelaziz Blasts Matt Hume for Nearly ‘Ruining’ Reinier de Ridder’s Career

    Ali Abdelaziz is not exactly known as someone who minces words with the polarizing MMA manager putting a powerful higher up in the ONE Championship hierarchy on blast. The Dominance MMA figurehead put Matt Hume in his proverbial crosshairs recently and it all stemmed from sentiments tied to Reinier de Ridder.

    Speaking with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Ali Abdelaziz echoed some feelings that have been put out there by RDR himself who felt like his last couple of years as a contracted ONE combatant were far from ideal. The former two division ONE Championship titleholder even went as far as to caution prospective ONE combatants frm signing a contract with the promotion. Hume is a legendary former competitor within mixed martial arts and has served as the ONE Senior VP of Competition for years now. The reverance to Hume does not resonate with Ali Abdelaziz who got biblical with his characterization of the ONE VP when Abdelaziz said,

    “Matt Hume-biggest scumbag in the history of MMA. I can tell you this, 100%. And I’ll keep it at that. I have all the proof. He’s a very bad guy, and he almost ruined this guy’s life. But also, when you-when nobody has a plan, God always has a plan. And Matt Hume was the devil, you know? That’s all I’m going to tell you. I don’t know how this guy ever did martial arts. He’s one of the biggest scumbags I’ve ever seen on the planet.I think ONE FC will be a much better place without this guy. He ruined so many people’s careers. He blackballed people. He cheats. He does everything wrong. And, you know, he just-he almost ruined this guy’s career.”

    Ali Abdelaziz continues on the Matt Hume and Reinier de Ridder situation

    Ali Abdelaziz mentioned that one day he would be able to talk about Reinier de Ridder‘s struggles in ONE and that RDR’s career mishandling is a microscom in Abdelaziz’s eyes as to how the former MMA pioneer has handled the careers of many ONE Championship fighters over the years. While de Ridder is riding an impressive three fight win streak in the UFC with a statement win over the previously unbeaten Bo Nickal, it is clear that there is still no love lsot between Abdelaziz, Matt Hume, and ONE Championship by proxy.

  • Julianna Peña Respects Kayla Harrison’s Pedigree: ‘She’s No Joke – She’s Earned Every Bit of That Resume’

    Julianna Peña Respects Kayla Harrison’s Pedigree: ‘She’s No Joke – She’s Earned Every Bit of That Resume’

    Julianna Peña has not shied away from talking trash to Kayla Harrison in the lead-up to their championship clash, but that doesn’t mean she is oblivious to the deep résumé that her challenger possesses. Peña is set to defend her bantamweight title against Harrison in the co-main event of UFC 316, which is scheduled for June 7. The reigning titleholder at 135 pounds recently sat down with ESPN MMA to discuss several subjects ahead of this consequential contest on pay-per-view set to transpire in the coming weeks.

    While Peña has engaged in verbal volleys with Harrison at press conferences leading up to this fight—with barbs about the latter’s difficult weight cut to 135 pounds and accusations that Harrison left PFL to duck Cyborg—the bluster continues to build toward this bout. Beyond the trash talk, though, the two-time bantamweight champion knows exactly the caliber of competitor she’ll be locked in the cage with in Newark. As she expounded upon this, Peña said:

    “Of course, she’s won two gold medals in the Olympics. She is, you know, in the Judo Hall of Fame. She’s 18 and one as a professional. She’s a two-time champion in the PFL. So those are just, you know, the tip of the iceberg for some of the things that she’s accomplished.

    “She absolutely has technique—I mean, you don’t get to win two gold medals without having, you know, technique. She’s got technique, absolutely. And she’s very big, you know, she’s very powerful in her judo techniques. So that’s what I see.”

    Julianna Peña and the looming presence of Amanda Nunes

    Julianna Peña is squarely focused on Kayla Harrison at this juncture, but it is impossible not to have at least peripheral awareness of Amanda Nunes. The former UFC featherweight and multi-time UFC bantamweight champion has been teasing a return to competition, with Nunes indicating that she wants to come out of retirement to fight the victor of Peña vs. Harrison.

    ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ definitely desires this fight, as it would be a rubber match with Nunes and Peña each having a victory over the other. The 35-year-old was adamantly against Nunes initially retiring, as Peña intimated that Nunes was ducking out on a trilogy fight between the two. With a win here over Harrison, Julianna Peña might finally be able to secure this coveted third fight with the women’s MMA GOAT.

  • Why is Holly Holm Moving to Boxing? Former UFC Champ Explains

    Holly Holm prepares to make her highly anticipated return to the boxing ring but she’s not fully closing that proverbial cage door forever either. The former UFC bantamweight champion covered several subjects during her recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show with a focus on her signing with Jake Paul’s promotion, MVP. While she is a big name acquisition for Most Valuable Promotions and is excited to return to the sweet science, there is still the possibility of more MMA action someday for ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ as Holly Holm said,

    “I wanted to do both regardless. I did. I wanted to do both if I could… There was already some days I was just boxing anyway when it was kind of questionable on the fence. So I’ve actually just kind of been training boxing, focusing on boxing for, I guess, the last couple months.”

    “I’m excited for it. I’m excited—it’s, you know, when I first came to MMA, I was so excited about it that I didn’t really miss boxing. But then over time it started to kind of just—you know, if I had teammates that might have… even if we were just sparring boxing in practice… when I do it, I’m like, man, I kind of miss it. So I’m excited to be able to get back in there and just get back to just dialing in on just the boxing.”

    Holly Holm, GFL, and MVP

    Holm continued, “I still love MMA as well. I don’t know if I’ll—I mean, I would love to fight again in MMA, but that’s just—I like to let life kind of unfold. I have goals and things that I like and things I know I’m passionate about, but I also like to take a day at a time, a fight at a time, you know, and just ride the wave.”

    The continuation of Holm’s MMA career was initially slated to take place in a few days on the since-cancelled Global Fight League cards. Holm was booked to fight former Bellator MMA featherweight champion Julia Budd before the news of GFL 1 being scrapped came out. Holly Holm is now set to box unbeaten pro Yolanda Guadalupe Vega Ochoa on the June 28 undercard for Jake Paul vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

  • “I Got Goosebumps”: UFC Champ Says The Rock Nailed the Look and Voice of Mark Kerr for The Smashing Machine

    “I Got Goosebumps”: UFC Champ Says The Rock Nailed the Look and Voice of Mark Kerr for The Smashing Machine

    The Rock has impressed many in his portrayal of Mark Kerr for the Benny Safdie written and directed film The Smashing Machine including someone who was quite close with Kerr. Bas Rutten was the individual in question who discussed Dwayne Johnson’s depiction of the titular figure of this film and the former UFC heavyweight champion touched upon this during an interview with Submission Radio. The former king of Pancrase was prominently featured in the original Smashing Machine documentary which served as the source material for this biopic.

    Bas Rutten was involved in the training that was captured in the documentary as he aimed to guide the former UFC tournament champion as Kerr head into the 2000 Pride grand prix. When asked about what his thoughts were on The Rock’s depiction of Mark Kerr in this upcoming film, Bas Rutten said,

    “Very impressive. I don’t know how he does it—he’s very friendly to everybody, gives time to everybody, doesn’t matter if you’re an extra. He’s a workaholic. I think WWE really prepared him for that… When I saw him, he had cursed shoulders—not many people have cursed shoulders. He knew he had to work on it, he tried to be identical as possible. The work ethic is there, it’s so easy to work with him.”

    “When I saw him with the little tattoos, the pants, I was freaking out. I told her, ‘Look, I got goosebumps now, this is so real.’ There’s this scene we have in the gym where he’s talking to the press, and that was the very first time I heard him speak like Mark [Kerr] as well. I was very impressed—I was like, ‘Wow, this guy.’”

    The Rock and some of the featured actors in The Smashing Machine

    The Rock is obviously serving in the starring role here but the supporting cast for this looming film definitely speaks volumes to fans of both cinema and combat sports alike. Per the film’s official IMDb page, Emily Blunt will play the role of Dawn Staples who had a tumultuous romantic relationship with Kerr during the film of the referenced documentary. Bas Rutten will be playing himself in the film while the role of eventual 2000 Pride grand prix winner Mark Coleman will be handled by the former Bellator MMA heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader.

    Unified heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk will play 2000 Pride grand prix finalist Igor Vovchanchyn while judo and MMA vet Satoshi Ishii will play Enson Inoue who fights Kerr in the referenced GP.

  • Sean Strickland Wants Belal Muhammad Next – ‘After All The Trash Talk, Let’s Go.’

    Sean Strickland Wants Belal Muhammad Next – ‘After All The Trash Talk, Let’s Go.’

    Sean Strickland is a former UFC champion who has another former titleholder, albeit in a different weight division now in his crosshairs. Belal Muhammad and Strickland have exchanged words with one another over the years as the politically divergent pugilists seemingly had no path toward fighting each other being that they’re in different weight divisions. The former kingpin of 185 pounds put ‘Remember The Name’ on blast recently as Sean Strickland said.

    Eric Nicksick & Sean Strickland
    Image: UFC.com

    Sean Strickland said:

    “Belal, you [expletive] sunny, sack up, dog. This is it. You can finally sack the [expletive] up, dude. All that [expletive] you talk, man, we can finally make it happen. Lost your belt. You know, you kind of got [expletive] up, I got [expletive] up. We should make that fight happen. That’d be a good one. I would love to fight Belal Muhammad. I mean, he said he wanted it. All that [expletive] he talks. I think if that’s what he still wants, and that’s what you want, I’m in. There’s nobody there for me.”

    Sean Strickland got arrested during his time in South Africa
    Image: @stricklandmma/Instagram

    Sean Strickland and Belal Muhammad’s recent runs in the octagon

    With Strickland falling short in his bid to regain his middleweight belt at UFC 312 and Muhammad dropping his welterweight belt at UFC 315, it would seem like some possibilities have opened up for both to faciliate making this fight now. While Strickland is 2-2 across his last four, he has been collidding with the elites of his weight division. After claiming the belt against Israel Adesanya, Strickland dropped the strap to Dricus du Plessis at UFC 297. After besting former title challenger Paulo Costa last June before losing for a second time against DDP in Feb. as he attempted to become a two time middleweight champion.

    Conversely, Muhammad had an eleven fight unbeaten streak snapped by Jack Della Maddalena earlier this month in Montreal. Muhammad lost the gold in his attempted first defense ala Strickland and lost to JDM on points in what played out as a barnburner bout.

  • Joaquin Buckley: “I’ll Prove I Deserve the Next Title Shot at UFC Atlanta” Against Kamaru Usman

    Joaquin Buckley: “I’ll Prove I Deserve the Next Title Shot at UFC Atlanta” Against Kamaru Usman

    Joaquin Buckley foresees his road to UFC gold becoming clear with a win over a former champion in his next outing. In a recent interview that was posted to the Parry Punch YouTube channel, Buckley gave his own overview of the current state of the welterweight division ahead of his looming fight with Kamaru Usman. Buckley vs. Usman transpires at UFC Atlanta on June 14.

    While a victory over one of the most accomplished titleholders in the rich history of the UFC welterweight title would pay dividends in getting his own title shot, ‘New Mansa’ does acknowledge there are some big players at 170 pounds nowadays. While getting into the specific of that landscape, Buckley said,

    “Right now, we’re all in a race, right? Sean Brady already competed and put on a great performance against Leon, got the finish, got the choke. Ian Garry did his thing too, fighting Carlos Prates, even though the man was on all fours, crawling away, which is wild! But now, it’s my turn. It’s me, Sean Brady, and Ian Garry, we’re all racing to that welterweight title. The only thing that’s going to convince the UFC who gets the next title shot is the performance you put on. That’s it!”

    Joaquin Buckley as well as the cases for Sean Brady and Ian Garry

    Joaquin Buckley is riding a six fight win streak heading into this Summer time clash with Usman in a matchup that pits the number seven contender against the number five welterweight contender, respectively. Joaquin Buckley has statement wins through that stretch agaisnt names like divisional stalwart Vicente Luque, former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson, and former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington in his most recent outing.

    Joaquin Buckley
    Image: @UFCEurope/X

    Observing other standout names that Buckley mentioned, Sean Brady and Ian Garry stand out as the number two contender and the number six contende at 170 pounds, respectively. Brady is coming off of a finish of former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards while Garry is on the heels of derailing the momentum of a hot, surging contender in Carlos Prates.