MMA

Despite coronavirus fears, Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza fights to feed his family at UFC 249In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Souza revealed he understands the risks involved but believes UFC will protect him Citing money as his main motivation in order to feed his family, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza will leave his home in Florida and travel to California for his middleweight bout against Uriah Hall at UFC 249 on April 18. That doesn't mean he's any less concerned about the potential health risks amid the current global pandemic. Despite facing heavy criticism for moving forward with plans, UFC president Dana White revealed the full card this week headlined by lightweights Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje for the interim 155-pound title. Originally scheduled for Brooklyn, New York, the pay-per-view will reportedly take place on Native American tribal land at Tachi Palace Casino Resort in Lemoore, California. Can't get enough UFC? Subscribe to our podcast State of ..

UFC 249 fight card: Rose Namajunas pulls out of scheduled rematch with Jessica Andrade, per reportsThe former women's strawweight champion has pulled out of the bout for undisclosed reasons The controversial UFC 249 event, set to take place amid growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, was officially revived on Monday. By Wednesday, it has already lost one of its marquee fights. ESPN is reporting that former women's strawweight champion Rose Namajunas made the decision to pull out of her highly-anticipated rematch with Jessica Andrade on the co-main event of the card. The reasoning for Namajunas' withdrawal was not revealed, and the UFC is reportedly in search of a replacement opponent for Andrade. News of Namajunas pulling out of the fight was first reported by Combate. Namajunas (8-4) was scheduled to end a nearly year-long layoff in an attempt to avenge her 115-pound title loss to Andrade in May 2019 at UFC 237. Following two impressive victories over former..

UFC 249 fight card, odds, location rumors, date: Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje to headline eventWith Khabib Nurmagomedov forced to pull out, Ferguson will now be taking on the surging Gaethje As fate would have it, the fifth time was not the charm. Once again, the UFC's attempt to book a fight featuring lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and top contender Tony Ferguson fell apart, this time as the result of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. Even still, UFC president Dana White insisted the event would proceed, however, and the full card was quickly revealed on Monday, April 6. In the main event, Ferguson will still get a shot at lightweight gold, taking on another highly-ranked contender in Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. While Ferguson was already in the process of training for his fight with Nurmagomedov, Gaethje is taking the short-notice fight after the champion Nurmagomedov returned to his home country of Russia as the UFC had not notified ..

UFC 249 odds, predictions: MMA insider releases picks for Gaethje vs. Ferguson, Andrade vs Namajunas 2 Much of the sports world has been halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, but UFC president Dana White is hoping to draw a mammoth television audience for UFC 249 on Saturday, April 18. The event's location is unknown, but the plan reportedly is to continue producing fights from the same spot for the next two months. Tony Ferguson was originally scheduled to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship atop the UFC 249 fight card, but Nurmagomedov was replaced by Justin Gaethje. Ferguson is a -175 favorite (risk $175 to win $100), while Gaethje is a +130 underdog (risk $100 to win $130) in the latest Ferguson vs. Gaethje odds. In the co-main event on the UFC 249 card, Rose Namanjunas is a -195 favorite over Jessica Andrade (+165). Before making your UFC 249 picks, make sure you see what SportsLine MMA expert Kyle Marley has to say. Marley won the first-eve..

UFC 249 odds, predictions: MMA insider reveals picks for Gaethje vs. Ferguson, Andrade vs Namajunas 2 Tony Ferguson has gone over six years since tasting defeat. The veteran ground expert hopes that trend continues as he seeks his 13th consecutive victory when he takes on Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title on April 18. The fight is the main event of UFC 249. The UFC 249 fight card from a location yet to be disclosed is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET. Ferguson (26-3), ranked No. 1 in the lightweight division, held the interim title less than three years ago and will be fighting for the first time since June. Ferguson originally was scheduled to challenge Khabib Nurmagomedov for the crown, but the current lightweight champion was replaced due to travel issues created by the coronavirus pandemic. Gaethje (21-2) will have less than two weeks to prepare for his seventh career title fight and first in the UFC. Ferguson is a -175 favorite (risk $175 to win $100), while Gaeth..

UFC 249 fight card, location rumors, date: Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje set for interim lightweight titleWith Khabib Nurmagomedov forced to pull out, Ferguson will now be taking on the surging Gaethje As fate would have it, the fifth time was not the charm. Once again, the UFC's attempt to book a fight featuring lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and top contender Tony Ferguson fell apart, this time as the result of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. Even still, UFC president Dana White insisted the event would proceed, however, and the full card was quickly revealed on Monday, April 6 In the main event, Ferguson will still get a shot at lightweight gold, taking on another highly-ranked contender in Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. While Ferguson was already in the process of training for his fight with Nurmagomedov, Gaethje is taking the short-notice fight after the champion Nurmagomedov returned to his home country of Russia as the UFC had not ..

UFC fighter Anthony Smith details wild fight with home intruder: 'No normal human is able to fight like that'The home intruder fought with Smith for over five minutes until police arrived On Sunday, a man was charged after entering UFC fighter Anthony Smith's Nebraska home. According to Sgt. Wayne Hudson of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, Luke Haberman was arrested and charged with first-degree criminal trespass. In an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Smith said that he was forced to fight off the stranger for more than five minutes until police arrived on the scene. The UFC light heavyweight fighter woke up around 4 a.m. to find the assailant in his Omaha-area home that he shares with his wife, mother-in-law, and three daughters. No one was injured in the struggle. Smith revealed that Haberman didn't steal anything, but it was unknown why the intruder was in Smith's home. Regardless, Smith called it a "terrifying" situation and "one of the..

UFC 249 fight card, date, rumors: Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje for interim lightweight title headlinesWith Khabib Nurmagomedov forced to pull out, Ferguson will now be taking on the surging Gaethje The fifth time was not the charm, after all. Once again, the UFC's attempt to book a fight between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and top contender Tony Ferguson fell apart, this time as the result of the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic. UFC president Dana White insisted the event would proceed, however, and the full card was quickly revealed on Monday, April 6 In the main event, Ferguson will still get a shot at lightweight gold, taking on another highly-ranked contender in Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. While Ferguson was already in the process of training for his fight with Nurmagomedov, Gaethje is taking the short-notice fight after the champion Nurmagomedov returned to his home country of Russia as the UFC had not notified him of specifics of ..

Dana White claims UFC is closing in on securing a private island for ongoing weeks of fightsThe UFC president has a crazy plan to move ahead with fights during the coronavirus pandemic While the UFC has established a secret plan to hold UFC 249 at a undisclosed location as a closed-door event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, company president Dana White claims the promotion has a wild plan to keep fights going weekly after the April 18 event. White says the UFC is in the process of securing a private island at which they will host events, flying fighters in and out weekly to participate. "I am a day or two away from securing a private island," White told TMZ. "I have a private island that I've secured; we're getting the infrastructure put in now, so I'm gonna start doing the international fights, too. With international fighters, because I won't be able to get international fighters into the U.S., I have a private island that I'm gonna start flying th..

Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje to headline UFC 249 fight card from undisclosed locationThe headlining fight will be contested for the interim lightweight championship Dana White has been promising that the UFC 249 fight card would still be coming to us live on Saturday, April 18, despite the growing threat of the coronavirus pandemic that has shut down much of the sports and entertainment world. White has delivered on that promise as the UFC president announced on Twitter on Monday that the not only will the card still run as planned, but it will be headlined by an interim lightweight championship fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. UFC 249 was originally slated to feature Ferguson challenging undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in a matchup five years in the making at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Those plans were halted, however, as Nurmagomedov flew back home to Russia to be with his family amid pandemic, leaving his training camp in San Jose, Califor..