Morning Report: Sean O’Malley: ‘Modern day gangster’ Dana White equates starting UFC to Power Slap League

Stipe Miocic respects the point Francis Ngannou was trying to prove with his years-long battle with the UFC. He just isn’t surprised things played out the way they did. “I get it,” Miocic said recently on The MMA Hour. “I mean, it’s going to be a long time before any of that happens — [Ngannou was] trying to move [the sport] in the right direction, which is great, but it’s going to be a long time before any of that happens.”

Mike Perry is the backup plan for Jake Paul’s next fight. Speaking to the media this past Saturday, Paul announced that Perry will step in as a replacement opponent should Tommy Fury withdraw from his upcoming boxing bout against Paul on Feb. 25 in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia. “We have...

Longtime UFC broadcaster Laura Sanko is official as the second female color commentator in UFC history. The promotion on Monday announced Sanko makes her debut cageside at UFC Vegas 68, which takes place Saturday at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The assignment marks a new professional benchmark for Sanko, a regular presence behind the UFC desk for pre- and post-fight shows and a color commentator on Dana White’s Contender Series.

If a fight between former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and boxing’s heavyweight king Tyson Fury materializes, you can bet Oscar De La Hoya will tune in. During an appearance on The MMA Hour, De La Hoya was asked for his thoughts on Ngannou potentially booking a fight against “The Gypsy King,” a possibility that has been in play since the two met face-to-face in the ring in London following Fury’s win over Dillian Whyte. It’s a possibility that has become more distinct with Ngannou now an unrestricted free agent after recently parting ways with the UFC.

Mohammed Usman made quite an impact with his stunning knockout over Zac Pauga to become The Ultimate Fighter season 30 champion but that win came at a cost. It turns out Usman suffered a broken thumb during the fight but he still managed to use that same hand to land the punch that put Pauga away just 36 seconds into the second round. It wasn’t until later that he realized his hand was actually injured, which then required him to undergo surgery to repair the damage done.

Former UFC interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane has a mission – to hand Jon Jones his first legitimate loss. Gane released his own promo for his UFC 285 headliner against former light heavyweight kingpin Jones and borrowed the soundtrack for the latest installment of Mission Impossible. Gane welcomes back...

Ryan Bader is quietly building his own legacy at heavyweight, but he’s not quite put together the résumé where he could be considered among the best ever. As it stands, Bader’s upcoming opponent Fedor Emelianenko is most commonly called the the greatest of all-time at heavyweight after putting together a ridiculous 28-fight, eight year unbeaten streak, which included his stint as a PRIDE champion.

The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: We recap the latest MMA news and the weekend in combat sports. 1:45 p.m.:...

This week I became aware that Bellator middleweight title challenger Anatoly Tokov fought successfully in Rizin! I must have missed or forgotten that. And how about the man, that myth the legend that is Song Yadong fighting in Gan Ryu Jima at age 17!. https://youtu.be/SI1sunxnJuI I was reminded of this...

Max Holloway is rejoining the fray. A massive featherweight fight pitting Holloway against top contender Arnold Allen is being targeted to headline a UFC Fight Night event on April 15. MMA Fighting confirmed the news Monday following an initial report by UFC broadcast partner ESPN. Contracts have yet to be finalized however verbal agreements are in place.

Jake Paul appears to be all in on his combat sports involvement. Earlier this month, the PFL announced they’d come to terms with the outspoken YouTuber-turned-boxer to compete in MMA. Additionally, Paul and his business partner Nakisa Bidarian now own equity shares in the company. Paul will compete as part of the promotion’s “Super Fight division” which will be its PPV event series.

Anybody find it odd, they recently had a livethread for Invicta, which, awesome! But...nobody watched it or commented in it. Why not make livethreads for LFA & Cage Warriors, at the bare minimum to start with. I wouldn't add any other promotions to the list just yet (ARES, CFFC, Fury...

If Jorge Masvidal can win at UFC 287, Leon Edwards is prepared to finally settle their score. In the co-main event of UFC 287, Masvidal faces Gilbert Burns in a pivotal welterweight bout. The bout is critical for Masvidal, who has lost three in a row and finds himself on the precipice of being dropped from the title conversation for good. However, if he wins, those losses won’t matter as much, because the welterweight champion says he’ll give “Gamebred” a title shot.

With the UFC, Bellator, and major MMA promotions off this past weekend, MMA Fighting’s matchmaking show decided to give back to fans of the program with a special “Ask Us Anything” show. On an all-new edition of On To the Next One, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and...

BKFC was actually fun last night, PFL sucked ass. honestly, they didn't reward the one guy who came to scrap? Feels like they just wanted Jean in the season, and as long as he won he was getting in. Doesn't make me look forward to the rest of the season.

Marlon Vera will have a new look heading into his next fight. When Vera steps into the octagon with Cory Sandhagen on Feb. 18 to compete in the bantamweight main event of UFC Vegas 69, he’ll sport a back tattoo from famed Los Angeles-based artist Mister Cartoon. Given Mister...

Security quickly intervened as Jake Paul and Tommy Fury faced off in the ring for their Feb. 26 boxing match in Saudi Arabia. Paul and Fury went nose-to-nose in the ring during the Artur Beterbiev vs Anthony Yarde fight on Saturday in London. They quickly had to be separated after Paul put a finger on the shirtless Fury’s cheek. Red-shirted officials quickly got in the way before things got serious.

Damir Ismagulov still plans to retire, but wants to finish what he started in the UFC. Following his UFC Vegas 66 loss to Arman Tsarukyan in December, Ismagulov announced his retirement on social media — which left the MMA community quite surprised. On Sunday, Ismagulov revealed that he has one more fight left on his current UFC contract and has made the decision to fight it out.

Brandon Moreno is once again the undisputed UFC flyweight champion of the world, and he couldn’t be happier. At UFC 283, Moreno scored his second win over Deiveson Figueiredo, earning a TKO by doctor stoppage after the third round to claim the undisputed flyweight title. Heading into the bout, Moreno spoke openly about the fatigue that came with facing the same opponent repeatedly over the past two years, saying that his goal was to put an end to their rivalry this time around, and with Figueiredo announcing after the fight that he intends to move up to bantamweight, Moreno managed to do just that, something he’s very happy about.

It took Islam Makhachev 10 wins to get a shot at the UFC lightweight title, but when he did, he almost made it look easy taking home gold. The Khabib Nurmagomedov-trained fighter faced Charles Oliveira for the vacant title at UFC 280, which took place on Oct. 22 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. It took Makhachev just two rounds to claim the throne with a powerful punch and arm-triangle submission for his 11th straight win.