Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - November 29, 2018

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is about to finish their first season on New Year’s Eve. PFL decided to take MMA back to where it started by doing a tournament format. The tournament was structured like most other professional sports leagues, with a regular season, playoffs and then the finals. Ray Cooper III took part in the PFL’s first season and will be taking on Magomed Magomedkerimov in the welterweight final for the $1 million prize money. Ultimately, the first season of PFL can be chalked up as a success. It brought a fresh new feel to MMA. As well, fighters didn’t have to call for their title shots, rather simply earn them. That is something that intrigued Cooper III to take part in the PFL.

Christopher Taylor - November 29, 2018

The mixed martial arts community is still grieving after losing legendary Japanese fighter Kid Yamamoto to cancer this past September. Norifumi had announced that he was battling the disease back on August 26 via his official Instagram.

Cole Shelton - November 29, 2018

Luis Pena was an undefeated lightweight up until his last fight, when he came up short against TUF 27 winner Mike Trizano. Then, after the fight, the man they call ‘Violent Bob Ross’ announced that he would be moving down to the featherweight division. This news came as a bit of a shock to some, given that Pena is 6’3″. Pena himself, however, feels it’s the right move.

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018

Back in July, undefeated Australian light heavyweight prospect Jim Crute earned himself a UFC contract with a first-round destruction of Chris Birchler on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. This Sunday in Adelaide, Australia (Saturday in North America), he’ll make his long-awaited UFC debut against Scotland’s Paul Craig. The last time Paul Craig was in action, he dazzled the MMA community with an epic comeback win, dodging near-certain defeat by submitting Magomed Ankalaev with a single second remaining in their fight. Jim Crute saw this fight, and he was as impressed as the rest of us. That being said, he assures Paul Craig will have no such victory at UFC Adelaide.

Chris Taylor - November 28, 2018

Former two-division UFC champion BJ Penn will return to the octagon on December 29 to battle Ryan Hall in a lightweight contest at UFC 232. “The Prodigy” has returned to his roots for this fight, training under his original jiu-jitsu coach Andre Pederneiras at Brazil’s famous Nova Uniao gym.

Cole Shelton - November 28, 2018

Aaron Pico (4-1 MMA) is a future superstar. The 22-year-old is currently riding a four-fight win streak, with all four of those victories coming by way of first-round knockout. However, for Pico, arguably the best attribute of his game is his wrestling and so far he hasn’t had to use it.

Cole Shelton - November 28, 2018

At UFC 229, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited return to the Octagon. He took on Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title. Ahead of the fight, not many people knew how it would turn out. Some people believed McGregor would be able to catch Nurmagomedov and knock him out. Others thought Nurmagomedov would just take McGregor down and ground and pound him or submit him, which ultimately is what happened.

Cole Shelton - November 27, 2018

Fernie Garcia recently was apart of history. The 26-year-old fought on the first ever Golden Boy MMA fight card in which he fought on the undercard. Ultimately, Garcia impressed enough that when Golden Boy does their next MMA event, Garcia will be fighting on it. However, before his fight with Golden Boy MMA, Garcia was 4-0 as a professional and was looking to fight in a bigger promotion. That is when Golden Boy reached out and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. As a prospect, fighting in front of thousands of fans, and fighting on a big card like this was important to Garcia.

Tom Taylor - November 27, 2018

When BJJ whiz Garry Tonon submitted South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee at ONE: Heart of the Lion earlier this month, he improved to an impressive 3-0 as a mixed martial artist. Thus far, the the five-time EBI Grappling Champion has drifted between the 155-pound ONE featherweight division, and the 170-pound ONE lightweight division. And from the sounds of it, he could continue floating between both divisions.

Cole Shelton - November 26, 2018

Alex Volkanovski is a streaking featherweight who is currently riding a lofty 15-fight winning streak. Even with that, the Australian is only ranked 10th in the featherweight division. However, that can all change on Dec. 29 at UFC 232, where Volkanovski will have his toughest test to date when he takes on Chad Mendes. Mendes is a two-time title challenger and is currently ranked fifth in the division. Put all of that together and it is a huge fight for Volkanovski.

Drake Riggs - November 26, 2018

There are many variables that can and will affect the way that one’s life plays out. And the same goes for when referencing a career in sports, especially one that happens to be in combat sports.

Tom Taylor - November 26, 2018

The year 2018 has not been particularly kind to Hawaii’s Yancy Medeiros. After coming up short to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in February, the fan favorite sought to get back on track opposite “Platinum” Mike Perry at UFC 226 in July. Regrettably, this plan was derailed when he sustained a rib injury, and he has not fought since.

Mike Straus - November 23, 2018

Jordan Young is an undefeated Bellator light heavyweight fighter that with a win next weekend will start his career 10-0. Unlike boxing, few fighters start their professional careers 10-0 in MMA. Even fewer fighters do so at just 24 years old. Such is the case for American Top Team’s Young who finds himself in that exact position next weekend in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

Mike Straus - November 23, 2018

Chris Honeycutt has quietly positioned himself as one of Bellator MMA’s top middleweight contenders. He fights at next weekend’s Bellator 210 event but has his thoughts set on a rematch. Honeycutt has long been one of the promotions most talented middleweights. But a recent change in training camps could see Honeycutt’s game go to the next in his upcoming fight.

Cole Shelton - November 23, 2018

Colby Covington is the UFC’s interim welterweight champion. At present he’s hoping to fight current undisputed champion Tyron Woodley in early 2019 to unify the belts. Once he’s done that, we could see him in a different line of work, as he’s hoping to transition to the WWE ring in the future.

Drake Riggs - November 22, 2018

When people see or hear the term ‘mental warfare’, especially in combat sports, they’re generally going to assume that trash talking is being referenced. But in reality, there is a very different form of mental warfare that every athlete faces day in and day out that is discussed far less than the former.

Cole Shelton - November 19, 2018

Colby Covington vs. Tyron Woodley is a fight MMA fans are looking forward to. Ever since Covington defeated Rafael Dos Anjos in June to win the promotions interim belt, fans and analysts have been debating if “Chaos” is the man to dethrone “The Chosen One”. Fans initially expected to get that answer in the fall of 2018. However, after an injury to Covington, Woodley ended up fighting Darren Till in September. “T-Wood” would cruise to a second-round submission win over Till at UFC 228, once again proving himself as the best welterweight fighter in the world.

Mike Straus - November 19, 2018

Everyone loves a good comeback story and perhaps no MMA fighter has a more inspirational one than “The Crippler” Cris Leben. An original cast member on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, Leben recently came out of retirement to knock out Phil Baroni in the World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation’s (WBKFF) inaugural event.