The fan votes are in, and LFA has announced the winners of its best-of-2020 awards.

The promotion solicited votes from the fans inn eight separate categories for its best moments of an unprecedented 2020 calendar year that featured delayed cards, then a resumption of events without fans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Check out the results for all eight categories below, and don’t miss Ron Kruck’s video highlighting all the winners above.

LFA returns in a week with LFA 97 at Harman Arena in Park City, Kan., near Wichita. In the main event on UFC Fight Pass, the lightweight title is on the line between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts Nick Browne and Arthur Estrazulas.

The LFA 2020 Fans Choice Awards included:

• Female Fighter of the Year: Lupita Godinez
• Male Fighter of the Year: Josh Fremd
• Knockout of the Year: Alex Pereira (LFA 95)
• Submission of the Year: Vanessa Demopoulos (LFA 85)
• Fight of the Year: Maycon Mendonça vs. Batsumberel Dagvadorj (LFA 96)
• Alum of the Year: Brandon Moreno
• Event of the Year: LFA 80 (Albuquerque, N.M.)
• Photo of the Year: Vince Cachero honoring Kobe Bryant, LFA 81 (Amy Kaplan)

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/video-lfa-winners-2020-awards-knockout-submission-highlights

Another fight has been added to UFC 259.

On March 6, strawweights Livinha Souza and Amanda Lemos will square off at a location and venue to be announced later.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently informed MMA Junkie of the booking but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Combate was the first to report the booking.

Souza (14-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) has won five of her past six fights. A former Invicta FC strawweight champion, Souza has defeated Alex Chambers, Sarah Frota and Ashley Yoder so far in the UFC. Her lone promotional loss was a unanimous decision defeat to Brianna van Buren.

Lemos (8-1-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) rides a two-fight winning streak. Following a TKO defeat to Leslie Smith in her July 2017 promotional debut, Lemos has defeated Miranda Granger and Mizuki Inoue so far in her UFC tenure.

The latest UFC 259 fight card now includes:

• Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya – for light heavyweight title
• Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – for women’s featherweight title
• Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling – for bantamweight title
• Aleksandar Rakic vs. Thiago Santos
• Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney
• Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev
• Askar Askarov vs. Joseph Benavidez
• Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews
• Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones
• Aalon Cruz vs. Uros Medic
• Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa
• Kyler Phillips vs. Song Yadong
• Amanda Lemos vs. Livinha Souza

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-259-news-livinha-souza-vs-amanda-lemos-fight-booking

By Nolan King |

January 8, 2021 7:45 pm

Questions on your mind about recent happenings in the UFC or sport of MMA in general? MMA Junkie’s Twitter Mailbag is here – and this week, @mma_kings answers:

• How would Conor McGregor fair in a Khabib Nurmagomedov rematch?
• Is Michael Chandler actually Conor McGregor’s “worst nightmare”?
• Could A.J. McKee leave Bellator for the UFC if he wins the final two fights on his contract?
• How would Nick Diaz do in today’s UFC welterweight division?

Watch the video above for answers to those questions.

To ask a question of your own, follow @MMAjunkie on Twitter and let us know.

A.J. McKee, Breaking, Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Michael Chandler, Nick Diaz, video, Bellator, Featured, News, UFC, Videos

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/conor-mcgregor-vs-khabib-nurmagomedov-ufc-rematch-michael-chandler-nick-diaz-twitter-mma

Logan Paul really wishes UFC president Dana White wouldn’t lump him together with his brother when it comes to fight talk.

In recent weeks, Jake Paul has amplified his trash talk aimed at White, former UFC dual champion Conor McGregor, and a host of other MMA standouts – both active and retired – hoping to land a fight with someone. That doesn’t exactly sit well with Logan because, according to him, he’s had a fine relationship with White in the past.

Thanks to Jake’s antics, though, that no longer appears to be the case.

“He pissed off Dana White. (He’s been going) so hard on Dana White, and now Dana has grouped us together – which sucks,” Logan said on his “Impaulsive” podcast. “I love Dana White. I love the UFC. And now Dana’s mad at me because he thinks we’re the same person.”

White has clowned both brothers for believing they’re actual fighters and said he has no desire in doing business with either of the YouTube stars who have transitioned to boxing.

“Neither one of those guys can fight. It’s all a big gimmick,” White said. “Like I said in a (recent) press conference, there’s a market for that. If people are dumb enough to spend their money watching that (expletive), I don’t know what to tell you. Good luck to them.”

Logan, who admits he’d been hoping to fight in the UFC down the line, is disappointed by the ramifications caused by his brother.

“We’re so different. We’re so different,” Logan said. “I love the UFC fights. I want to do a UFC fight one day. I’m not saying now; let me get my skills up. … Dana, take me back. I’m not Jake. Please.”

Logan, 0-1 as a professional boxer after losing to fellow YouTube personality KSI in 2019, is set to face none other than Floyd Mayweather on Feb. 20 in a pay-per-view exhibition. Jake, meanwhile, doesn’t have his next bout secured after pushing his pro record to 2-0 when he knocked out former NBA star Nate Robinson this past November.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/logan-paul-to-dana-white-i-love-ufc-im-not-jake

Conor McGregor’s career is set to kick back into gear in Abu Dhabi on Jan. 23 when he takes on Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 257.

It’s the latest chapter of a remarkable fighting timeline that saw him make his name with a remarkable four-fight run with U.K.-based promotion Cage Warriors to earn himself a shot in the big time with the UFC.

McGregor’s Cage Warriors stint saw him claim four finishes, with three of them coming in the first round. He kicked off his Cage Warriors stint with a first-round TKO of Aron Jahnsen in September 2011, then followed up with another first-round finish, as he stopped Steve O’Keefe with elbows at Cage Warriors 45 in February 2012.

Those wins put him in line for a shot at the vacant Cage Warriors featherweight title, and the Dubliner finished Dave Hill via second-round submission to pick up his first major title. He then moved up to lightweight and spectacularly knocked out Ivan Buchinger at Cage Warriors 51 in Dublin to become a two-division champion and put himself firmly on the radar of Dana White, who subsequently signed him to the UFC.

The rest, as they say, is history. McGregor claimed interim featherweight gold at UFC 189 with a TKO of Chad Mendes, then knocked out Jose Aldo to become the undisputed 145-pound champion at UFC 194. He then went on to become the UFC’s first simultaneous two-division champion at UFC 205 when he finished Eddie Alvarez to win the lightweight belt at Madison Square Garden.

However, McGregor (22-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) hasn’t won a title fight since that night, and the Irishman plans to push himself one step closer to another shot at the lightweight title when he takes on old rival Poirier (26-6 MMA, 18-5 UFC) on “UFC Fight Island” later this month.

Ahead of his return to the octagon on Jan. 23, relive McGregor’s four-fight run in Cage Warriors via the video above.

Article source: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/01/ufc-257-relive-conor-mcgregor-cage-warriors-success