Plenty of things can happen in the world of MMA in seven days.
From event announcements and the fights on the weekend to the best tweets and latest trash talk between fighters, we’ll keep you in the know at the end of each week with the latest happenings in the sport.
But first off, make sure you read issue 139 of Fighters Only Magazine! It’s now available on all good newsstands and on the Fighters Only app, featuring the likes of Tony Ferguson, Corey Anderson, Douglas Lima, Josh Barnett and more.
OUT NOW Fighters Only Issue 139 has landed!
With massive features on our cover star Tony Ferguson and his plans for dominating MMA, this is an issue you do NOT want to miss so make sure to download on the Fighters Only App! pic.twitter.com/dd8BYnmJlE
— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) January 15, 2020
MMA News
UFC welterweight and “BMF” champions Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal get in verbal confrontation in Miami
UFC champ Kamaru Usman and BMF champ Jorge Masvidal almost just went at it on Radio Row in Miami. pic.twitter.com/shAgl2O3Et
— Andy Nesbitt (@anezbitt) January 29, 2020
It’s not unlike a week an MMA to see some kind of WWE-style shenanigans occur.
This time around, it was UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and “BMF” title winner Jorge Masvidal who went at each other.
It was much ado about nothing, but it will most likely be footage used in some pre-fight hype video packages going forward.
Read more about the nonsense here.
Which brings us to…
Dana White (kind of) announces UFC welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal
UFC President Dana White says he's looked to book a UFC welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal for International Fight Week in July.
Who do you think would win that fight? 👊🔥
Read more: https://t.co/ojN9Lxry5s pic.twitter.com/lG6pIzPq3E
— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) February 2, 2020
Making what happened midweek seem all the more cynical, UFC President Dana White announced he wants to book a fight between Usman and Masvidal for the former’s UFC welterweight title.
The fight, which White wants to happen in July, coincides with International Fight Week.
Read more about the booking here.
Colby Covington calls out Usman and 50 Cent of all people
“I want to do a celebrity boxing match. I’m going to tie one hand behind my back and I’m going to fight 50 Cent. I’m going to put up one million of my dollars.”@ColbyCovMMA says he'll let @50cent choose which hand too (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/oqkdUI6dZD
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 3, 2020
Yup. We haven’t heard much from former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington since his fifth-round TKO loss to Usman at UFC 245. However, we knew it would be “Chaos” when he returned back to the scene.
Not content on just calling out Usman for an immediate rematch, he also campaigned for a fight with rapper-turned actor 50 Cent.
It turns out 50 Cent wasn’t exactly sympathetic towards Covington following his loss and that didn’t escape the attention of the Oregon native.
Covington even offered to fight with one hand tied behind his back.
Read more about Covington’s interview with Ariel Helwani here.
The UFC 247 Countdown episode is here!
WATCH: UFC 247 Jon Jones vs. Dominick Reyes Countdown Full Episode
➡ https://t.co/UcCLvoYiyl#UFC247 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/cHHcTtlpCr
— Fighters Only (@FightersOnly) February 3, 2020
This weekend, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones returns to the cage to take on unbeaten star Dominick “The Devastator” Reyes at UFC 247.
There are few better previews to a big title fight like the UFC Countdown shows.
Consume it in all its glory here.
Best MMA Social Media of the Week
Khabib Nurmagomedov announces UFC signing his cousin through Instagram
Usually, fighters announce their signing to a big promotion with the obligatory, staged photo of them signing a contract.
Not UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The Dagestan mauler announced that his cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov, has signed with the UFC with this Instagram photo either side of a horse.
Jon Jones [via ESPN MMA]
“For a lot of these guys, just making it to fight for the title is [a] touchdown… To him, he’s already made it. Just to be here.”@JonnyBones says Dominick Reyes “doesn’t know what he’s getting into” (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/DCAB1FDBFJ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 3, 2020
Jon Jones gave ESPN’s Ariel Helwani a full-length interview ahead of his UFC 247 showdown with Dominick Reyes.
Junior Dos Santos [via ESPN MMA]
"It's crazy, but it's fun." 🎢 @junior_cigano describes the emotional rollercoaster of victory and defeat
📲 Stream UFC Destined now on ESPN+ ➡️ https://t.co/jDEQAD0bDJ pic.twitter.com/wmMvjAPt2a
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) February 1, 2020
JDS encapsulates the high highs and low lows of being a top-level MMA fighter in this short clip from ESPN MMA.
Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling
Dear Aljo, we both know you will be the one who bleeds if we fight. You ain’t hurting nobody with your point scoring style. And yes I’m available in April or May and I never turned down the scrap #readyforanyone
Regards,
Siberian gangster https://t.co/pq1n7ri7nn— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) January 31, 2020
There is no love lost between two of the UFC’s most feared bantamweights.
On the topic of Petr Yan…
Petr Yan [RT Sport]
🔥 Petr Yan's hand co-ordination!#GetMoneyChallenge pic.twitter.com/NrcXv9AI9P
— RT Sport (@RTSportNews) January 20, 2020
Late, but Russia’s surging bantamweight talent Petr Yan showed off his impressive hand-eye coordination with the Get Money Challenge.
