Connect with us

MMA

Dana White: Heavyweight division on the rise after becoming ‘a little stale’

Published

8 hours ago

on

Dana White: Heavyweight division on the rise after becoming ‘a little stale’

Dana White thinks heavyweight could be in a good place sooner rather than later.

Long one of the marquee divisions in combat sports, the UFC's heavyweight roster has fallen on hard times in recent years due to a dearth of promising talent, veterans aging out of contention, and even the very top of the division stuck in limbo due to undisputed champion Tom Aspinall being sidelined since this past October due to eye injuries suffered in his fight with Ciryl Gane that ended in a no-contest.

A handful of intriguing big men have stepped forward to make a name for themselves, including Josh Hokit, Valter Walker, Rizvan Kuniev, and NCAA wrestling star Gable Steveson, and according to White, it's not a coincidence that the fans have been noticing an influx of talent.

“We agree,†White said at the UFC Sacramento post-fight press conference when asked if he felt the heavyweight roster was improving. “We've got a lot of divisions that are shaking up right now and getting fun.

“The boys have been working hard on a few of the different divisions that we thought were a little stale, I'll say.â€

There were three heavyweight bouts on Saturday's UFC Sacramento lineup, and each showed promise in one way or another. Vitor Petrino's win over Serghei Spivac didn't electrify the crowd, but it did establish a new top 10 contender with Petrino improving to 4-0 after moving up from light heavyweight. Shamil Gaziev had one of the best knockouts of the night, needing one punch to drop a defensively suspect Kennedy Nzechuwku.

And then there was the debuting Anthony Wint, a former pro football player just beginning his MMA journey. The hulking Wint scored a first-round submission of Terrance Chatman to improve to 8-0 as a pro. Even more impressive, he did this less than two weeks after earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series.

“Eleven days,†White said. “Yeah, I love guys that—You know, if you look at what the Contender Series has done for the UFC, and for the business, and when you have these guys who come in and make a big impact and then want to turn right around and fight. I mean, look at Khamzat Chimaev on Fight Island, he's like, ‘I want to fight again next weekend.' Tell me you want to fight again next weekend, you're fighting next weekend. I love it and it's the right thing to do.

“First of all, if you're a fighter, more people know who you are, your name gets out there faster, more people are talking about you on Sunday and Monday and you make more money. I mean, it's a no-brainer. I'd love to see more guys do it.â€

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MMA

ESPN raising subscription prices again just as PFL deal comes to a close at the end of 2026

Published

5 hours ago

on

August 24, 2026

By

ESPN raising subscription prices again just as PFL deal comes to a close at the end of 2026

ESPN is once again raising prices on its subscription services, including both the unlimited and select plans for customers.

The price increase goes into effect on Sept. 17 with ESPN Unlimited —the service that includes all of ESPN's programming from linear networks like ESPN and ESPN2 plus WWE premium live events and the PFL lineup of events — going from $29.99 to $31.99 per month.

The annual cost of the plan is increasing from $299.99 to $319.99 per year.

ESPN Select — the scaled down version with less options — is going from $12.99 to $13.99 per month with the annual plan increasing from $129.99 to 139.99 per year.

ESPN has not stated how many subscribers are currently signed up for the new Unlimited service.

Of course the timing of the price increase isn't all that surprising with the NFL season about to kick off in two weeks' time with ESPN also recently integrating all the programming from the NFL Network onto the subscription service as well.

For combat sports fans, the PFL is the only major MMA promotion still airing fights on ESPN after the UFC's seven year deal with the Disney owned network came to an end and all programming moved to Paramount. PFL recently merged with Jake Paul's MVP with plans to launch a rebranded MVP MMA in 2027 but the promotion is still searching for a new broadcast deal.

PFL's current contract with ESPN runs through the end of 2026 but there's no word if the promotion is still discussing a possible extension or potentially focused on moving onto a new network starting in 2027.

Continue Reading

MMA

UFC fighter gained over 25 pounds after UFC Sacramento weigh-ins

Published

5 hours ago

on

August 24, 2026

By

UFC fighter gained over 25 pounds after UFC Sacramento weigh-ins

Gregory Rodrigues is one of the biggest middleweights on the entire UFC roster, but he barely outweighed Anthony “Fluffy†Hernandez for their five-round main event at UFC Sacramento this past Saturday night.

On Monday, the California State Athletic Commission shared the fight night weights for all of the athletes on the card with MMA Fighting. The commission started tracking fight night weights in an effort to curb extreme weight cutting in combat sports.

At the top of the card, Rodrigues hit the scale at 185 pounds on Friday before packing on an additional 19.4 pounds to weight 204.4 pounds on fight night. As for Hernandez, he was 186 pounds on Friday before adding 16.2 pounds to weight 202.2 pounds for his fight.

Further down the card, Reinier de Ridder made his light heavyweight debut in the UFC after previously competing at 185 pounds in the promotion. On Friday, de Ridder hit the scale at 205 pounds exactly before adding 16.8 pounds to weigh 221.8 pounds for fight night.

His opponent Roman Dolidze was 206 pounds on Friday before adding 20.2 pounds to weigh 226.2 pounds for the fight on Saturday.

The biggest weight gain on the card came from Brazilian Marcio Barbosa, who weighed 145.5 pounds for his featherweight fight and he added a whopping 25.5 pounds to weigh 171 pounds for fight night. His opponent Ryan Kuse weighed 153.2 pounds on fight night, which means Barbosa outweighed him by nearly 20 pounds.

Here are the full fight night weights for UFC Sacramento including the percentage of weight gained:

Gregory Rodrigues: 185 to 204.4 (19.4 pounds), 10%

Anthony Hernandez: 186 to 202.2 (16.2 pounds), 9%

Vitor Petrino: 246 to 252.2 (6.2 pounds), 3%

Serghei Spivak: 257 to 254.6 (-2.4 pounds), -1%

Roman Dolidze: 206 to 226.2 (20.2 pounds) 10%

Reinier de Ridder: 205 to 221.8 (16.8 pounds), 8%

Mason Jones: 156 to 177.2 (21.2 pounds), 14%

Marquel Mederos: 156 to 177.4 (21.4 pounds), 14%

Jeisla Chaves: 124.5 to 137.4 (12.9 pounds)

Carli Judice: 125.5 to 136.6 (11.1 pounds), 9%

Terrance Chatman: 266 to 269.2 (3.2 pounds), 1%

Anthony Wint: 231 to 232.8 (1.8 pounds), 1%

Lerryan Douglas: 145.5 to 162.8 (17.3 pounds), 12%

Jamall Emmers: 143.5 to 156.8 (13.3 pounds), 9%

Shamil Gaziev: 261 to 267.4 (6.4 pounds), 2%

Kennedy Nzechukwu: 244 to 241.6 (-2.4 pounds), -1%

Nasrat Haqparast: 155.5 to 173.4 (17.9 pounds), 12%

Chris Padilla: 156 to 170.2 (14.2 pounds), 9%

Ryan Kuse: 144.5 to 153.2 (8.7 pounds), 6%

Marcio Barbosa: 145.5 to 171 (25.5 pounds), 18%

Stan Dorsainvil: 155.5 to 179 (23.5 pounds), 15%

Gauge Young: 155.5 to 180.2 (24.7 pounds), 16%

Jackson McVey: 185 to 207.8 (22.8 pounds), 12%

Wes Schultz: 186 to 209 (23 pounds), 12%

Elise Reed: 115 to 125 (10 pounds), 9%

Shanelle Dyer: 116 to 125 (9 pounds), 8%

Continue Reading

MMA

Anthony Hernandez accuses Gregory Rodrigues of ‘cheating’ at UFC Sacramento

Published

6 hours ago

on

August 24, 2026

By

Anthony Hernandez accuses Gregory Rodrigues of ‘cheating’ at UFC Sacramento
Anthony
Hernandez is now on a two-fight skid in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship and he's accused his latest
opponent, Gregory
Rodrigues, of “cheating.â€

Rodrigues beat Hernandez by unanimous decision in a grueling
five-round bout at
UFC Sacramento. Both middleweights earned Fight of the Night
honors, but “Fluffy†has since accused Rodrigues of grabbing his
gloves during their grappling exchanges.

Hernandez claims Rodrigues repeatedly grabbed inside his gloves
during their Fight of the Night

While Hernandez praised “Robocop†for his toughness, he also
accused Rodrigues of grabbing his gloves as many as four times
during their fight to gain an advantage.

“I hit him a few times, I rocked his sh*t, he's a tough son of a
b*tch,†Hernandez said at the post-fight press conference. “I hit
him with everything and the kitchen sink, hit him with some hard
elbows, f*cker was cheating and grabbing the inside of my gloves
and I told [referee] Herb [Dean] that.â€

Hernandez even claims Rodrigues was warned after the alleged
infractions.

“I told f*cking Herb, ‘This motherf*cker grabbed my glove, like,
four times. Hey, he's grabbing my gloves,' and he told him, ‘Hey,
stop,'†Hernandez said. “But I mean, whatever. Don't take a point,
whatever. I guess people like to cheat, so it is what it is.â€

Rodrigues extended his win streak to four and called out Dricus Du
Plessis in his post-fight interview, while Hernandez will have
to regroup after picking up his second defeat.


Continue Reading
Advertisement

OUR NEWSLETTER

Subscribe Us To Receive Our Latest News Directly In Your Inbox!

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Trending