Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

Isaac Vallie-Flagg, who is a veteran of the Strikeforce and UFC cages, has seen pretty much everything when it comes to mixed martial arts. Last weekend, however, the MMA veteran ventured into a new and unfamiliar realm of combat sports: bare knuckle fighting. Vallie-Flagg did so as part of the inaugural show from upstart bare knuckle promotion World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF), battling Cory Simpson on the undercard of the event.

Cole Shelton - November 18, 2018

Over the last few years, we’ve all been wondering when Nick and Nate Diaz will fight again. The brothers have been fan favorites for ages now, but both have taken years off when it seemed like their popularity and their skill was at an all-time high. While it now sounds as though Nick Diaz will return to action opposite Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235, has hasn’t fought since UFC 183 in 2015, when he took on Anderson Silva in a fight that was ruled a no contest when he tested positive for marijuana and Silva tested positive for drostanolone. Although his long absence is due in part to a suspension, his interest in competing has also been questioned.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of the UFC’s 25th anniversary show in Denver, Colorado, welterweight knockout artist “Platinum” Mike Perry stepped into the cage with long-time contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Unfortunately for Perry and his many fans, this fight didn’t go as planned. Instead, he was forced to tap to a Cowboy armbar in the first round. Heading into this fight, Mike Perry says he spent a lot of time sharpening his kickboxing arsenal with the elite coaches and training partners at JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque. Even though he didn’t get the result he wanted against Cowboy, he says he’s happy with the striking improvements he showed in the fight.

Cole Shelton - November 17, 2018

Jake Shields doesn’t know what his future holds. Shields most recently fought for PFL this year in which he lost to Ray Cooper III back in late October. Since the loss, Jake has been contemplating his future.

Cole Shelton - November 16, 2018

Ilima-Lei MacFarlane is quickly emerging as one of Bellator’s biggest stars. The current women’s flyweight champion is set to defend her title for the second time against Valerie Letourneau on December 15.

Mike Straus - November 16, 2018

Mike Trizano answered all the doubters last weekend when he defeated Luis Pena at the UFC’s 25th-anniversary show in Denver, Colorado. Trizano won season 27 of The Ultimate Fighter. Almost immediately after he was faced with some what-ifs. Mainly if “Violent Bob Ross” didn’t get injured, would Trizano still have won the show? Al the doubters got their answer last Saturday night.

Cole Shelton - November 15, 2018

When fighters get the call to say they are competing on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) it is a dream come true. The news means they are just three victories away from earning a UFC contract, while even the fighters that don’t win sometimes end up in the UFC. However, when fighters compete on The Ultimate Fighter, they are locked away in a house together with the other competitors. It can cause some awkward moments and has even resulted in scraps breaking out inside the house. TUF 28 fighters, Leah Letson and Maurice Greene now know all to well what the infamous TUF house is like.

Cole Shelton - November 14, 2018

Justin Frazier is ready to prove all the doubters wrong. On The Ultimate Fighter 28 (TUF), Justin Frazier left tryouts not knowing if he would be on the show. Ultimately, the UFC saw enough potential in him and decided to put him on the show. However, before competing on TUF, Frazier didn’t take his fighting career seriously. The heavyweight was overweight, and his cardio was not very good. Then, to top it off, Frazier was the last heavyweight taken when coaches Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum picked their teams.

Mike Straus - November 12, 2018

One of several Roufusport fighters poised to make a run is the ‘Native Psycho’ Jordan Griffin who is ready to take the UFC’s featherweight division by storm. Before Griffin can unleash his brand of violence upon the UFC’s 145-pound division he must first make his debut. He will do so on December 15 as he takes on Dan Ige in his official first UFC bout which takes place in his own backyard of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Cole Shelton - November 12, 2018

On The Ultimate Fighter 28 (TUF) the biggest rivalry on the show is not between coaches as past seasons have shown. Rather, it is between Maurice Greene and Juan Espino. The two went back-and-forth with verbal attacks all season long. Every episode Greene and Espino seemed to be close to fighting each other, whether it be at the gym or at the house. However, it wasn’t always like that according to Greene. As he mentioned during an episode, Espino and him were cool at tryouts. But once they got into the house and were on opposite teams, that is when everything changed.

Cole Shelton - November 11, 2018

Currently, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) is in season 28, where heavyweights and women featherweights are competing. The coaches for the season are Kelvin Gastelum and Robert Whittaker. However, one of the more popular people on the show isn’t a coach, rather a competitor, in Maurice Greene. Greene had an unconventional path to MMA. He used to be over 300 pounds and never trained a day of MMA in his life until he decided he wanted to. Since then, Greene lost a lot of weight, and quit his full-time job in hopes of fighting for the UFC. Well, he appears to be close after getting a call to go on TUF.

Tom Taylor - November 10, 2018

On Friday night in Singapore, (Friday morning in North America), in the main event of ONE: HEART OF THE LION, Filipino spitfire Kevin Belingon ended the reign of longstanding ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes with a thrilling split decision victory. For Belingon, who lost his first encounter with the champion Fernandes by first-round submission, this title victory was a huge moment.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

23-year-old Malaysian bantamweight Muhammad Aiman is known for his unpredictable style inside the cage. One moment, he might be biding his time, and the next, you might catch him throwing back-to-back cartwheel kicks or leaping onto his foe’s back chasing a rear-naked choke. Outside the cage, however, “Jungle Cat” is not nearly as wild.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

At UFC 230 Jared Cannonier stepped in on short notice to face top 10 middleweight David Branch. It would be Cannonier’s toughest fight to date. Making it even harder was the fact that it was Cannonier’s middleweight debut and he was riding a two-fight losing streak. To beat Branch by knockout in the second round and look as good as Cannonier did was impressive, to say the least. Although the win was impressive, it was an important win for Cannonier who did not want to go on a three-fight losing streak.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

In the span of just a few weeks, Singapore-based martial arts promotion ONE Championship has added former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson and former UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez to its roster, and brought on former UFC bantamweight champ Miesha Tate as one of its Vice Presidents. Needless to say, these are tremendously exciting times for the promotion. ONE Championship’s top fighters, as you can probably expect, are feeling that excitement, and are thrilled about the promotion’s deepening talent pool.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

On Friday night (Friday morning in North America), in the main event of ONE: HEART OF THE LION in Singapore, ONE Bantamweight World Champion Bibiano Fernandes will attempt to unify his undisputed title with the interim title currently owned by Kevin Belingon. As this challenge bears down, the dominant ONE Championship bantamweight king is dialed in on the task at hand.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Earlier this week, ONE Championship featherweight contender Christian Lee hopped on a plane to Singapore to support his sister Angela in her ONE: HEART OF THE LION main event showdown with Xiong Jing Nan. Unfortunately, the ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion was forced out of this main event battle with an injury while her brother was making his transpacific journey. Christian Lee was understandably quite disappointed to hear that his sister would not be able to compete in the ONE: HEART OF THE LION main event as planned. In a strange twist of fate, however, his sister’s bad break ultimately resulted in an interesting opportunity for him.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2018

ONE Champion is welcoming Eddie Alvarez to its roster in style, having recently announced that the former UFC and Bellator lightweight titleholder will make his promotional debut as part of a wild, eight-man Lightweight Grand Prix. Like most combat sports fans, Eddie Alvarez was thrilled to learn about this upcoming tournament.