Seth Rollins Says Pro Wrestling vs MMA Isn’t Close—Here’s Why He’s Right
Seth Rollins compared pro wrestling to Broadway and stand-up comedy, calling it a complete performance art requiring more diverse skills than pure combat sports. Before the keyboard warriors start typing about “fake fighting,” his argument deserves more than reflexive dismissal.
Pizzonia’s Viral Kick Raises the Question Every Trained Martial Artist Dreads
Former F1 driver Antonio Pizzonia ended up in a Texas jail after delivering a flying kick during a dispute at his son’s karting event. Whether he’s trained is unknown—but for actual documented martial artists, the legal stakes are far higher. Courts treat fighters differently, and not in their favor.
Can Taekwondo MMA Actually Work? One Fighter’s 7-Year Gamble
Hong Yeong-gi hasn’t fought professionally in seven years—and he’s coming back to face a teenage phenom. Everyone expects disaster. But traditional taekwondo MMA specialists have this weird habit of occasionally proving the doubters wrong. Here’s my breakdown of why I’m picking Hong by head kick KO in round two.
Ben Askren Transplant: The Fight Beyond the Octagon
In early June 2025, Ben Askren was coaching and training like any retired athlete. Within weeks, severe pneumonia and a staph infection put him on full ventilator support. On June 30, he underwent a double lung transplant.
When Askren woke up, he had no memory of six weeks of his life. He’d lost 50 pounds. In typically blunt fashion, he joked he “only died four times.” His wife Amy kept a journal so he could reconstruct the battle he was unconscious for.
The fighter mentality that made Askren elite has to be recalibrated for a fight that operates on biological rules. Recovery is measured in months, not rounds. The toughest opponent he’s ever faced wasn’t across from him—it was inside his own chest.
Vafaei-Sani Faces Execution—Boxing’s Selective Activism Exposed
While boxing argues about pound-for-pound lists and Saudi mega-cards, Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani—a 30-year-old Iranian champion—waits in a Mashhad cell to be hanged.
Arrested in 2020 for joining anti-regime protests, Vafaei-Sani has spent five years in legal hell. His death sentence has been issued, overturned twice, and now reinstated. The Iranian Supreme Court just rejected his final appeal. His mother was granted an unexpected visit this week—in Iran’s grim judicial playbook, that’s usually the final goodbye.
The WBC has pleaded for his life. But the mega-promoters? The fighters with millions of followers? Silence. The Vafaei-Sani case exposes where athlete activism ends and business calculations begin.
UFC 2026 Predictions: O’Malley, Usman, and Unwanted Matchups
Dave Simon delivered his most controversial UFC 2026 predictions on Ringside Report MMA: the Paramount era will bring fights nobody wants. Sean O’Malley gets another undeserved title shot after one win over Song Yadong. Islam Makachev’s welterweight debut will be against Kamaru Usman instead of legitimate contenders like Shavkat Rakhmonov. Paddy Pimblett and Justin Gaethje fight for an interim lightweight title that means nothing. Dave, AJ D’Alesio, and Fred Garcia explained why the UFC’s subscription model will prioritize star power over merit, making 2026 “the year the UFC gives us a bunch of fights no one asked for.” Plus Merab Dvalishvili’s fighter-of-the-year debate after his UFC 323 loss, Brandon Royval vs Manel Kape predictions, and the six-week UFC drought before the Paramount deal begins.
Combat Sports Fashion: Kendall Jenner’s Taekwondo Shoes Expose the Real Issue
When Kendall Jenner posted herself wearing Adidas Taekwondo sneakers, traditional martial artists erupted: cultural appropriation, disrespect, Instagram posing. But here’s the complicated truth about combat sports fashion crossing into mainstream: taekwondo has a visibility problem, and someone with 290 million followers wearing your gear is a bridge whether purists like it or not. The economics matter – more sales mean better gear for practitioners. Yet there’s legitimate concern about combat sports becoming pure aesthetics, reducing fighting tradition to costume jewelry. Within five years, we’ll see massive combat sports fashion collaborations with traditional martial arts. The question: will brands connect fashion to function, or just extract aesthetics while ignoring substance?
MMA Tournaments: Why Fighters Secretly Crave the Format They Publicly Hate (UFC, PFL)
Look, let’s get something straight right off the bat — MMA tournaments are the combat sports equivalent of reality TV. Everyone claims they hate them, everyone says they’re beneath “real” competition, and yet somehow every fighter worth their salt ends up begging for an invitation when the checks start getting written.
But here’s the reality that those same purists conveniently ignore: tournaments solve problems that traditional MMA booking can’t touch. They force action, build resumes in compressed time, and create legendary moments that single fights never could have delivered. Fighters hate uncertainty, but they love opportunity, and tournaments provide both in equal measure.
War-Torn Region’s Karate Kids Lose Everything But Fighting Spirit
Amidst the complex history and geopolitical landscape of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a unique story unfolds: the presence and practice of karate. This article explores how martial arts, specifically karate, have found a place within this contested territory, examining its role in local communities, the challenges faced by practitioners, and its significance beyond mere sport in a region marked by conflict and resilience.
MMA Fighter Isaac Johnson Dies After Eagle FC Bout as Three UFC Fighters Hospitalized
The weekend of November 22-23, 2025 became one of combat sports’ darkest chapters when 30-year-old Isaac Johnson died following complications from his Eagle FC bout, while three UFC fighters were simultaneously hospitalized after their respective fights. The unprecedented concentration of medical emergencies has forced the MMA community to confront uncomfortable truths about safety protocols, regulatory oversight, and the razor-thin line between athletic competition and life-threatening danger.