MMA News

Cole Shelton - July 16, 2019

Back at UFC 235, Jon Jones defended his light heavyweight title against Anthony Smith. Although it was a dominant performance from “Bones” he nearly had another DQ loss on his record. During the fight, the champion threw a knee that connected with Smith’s head while he was down. It was an illegal knee and had “Lionheart” not been able to continue, he would have won the belt. But, he decided to stay in the fight and took Jones to the scorecards.

Adam Martin - July 16, 2019

Serious criminal charges have been laid against former UFC lightweight contender Abel Trujillo. According to a report from TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, Trujillo has been charged with felony sexual exploitation of a child and felony obscenity. The report says that Trujillo is currently being held on a $10,000 bond in Castle Rock, Colorado.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 16, 2019

The latest UFC rankings update for July 16, 2019 is in. In the wake of UFC Sacramento, Urijah Faber has returned to the bantamweight ladder. Faber hadn’t competed since Dec. 2016. Many expected “The California Kid” to ride off into the sunset and enjoy retirement as a UFC Hall of Famer. Instead, he returned and stopped Ricky Simon in 46 seconds. In the process, Faber has knocked Simon off the 135-pound rankings.

Adam Martin - July 16, 2019

Perhaps one of the most surprising upsets in UFC history took place back in 2011 at UFC 132. At the time, Ryan Bader was a young, hungry, up-and-coming light heavyweight who had recently won The Ultimate Fighter. Tito Ortiz, meanwhile, was a veteran on his last legs and seemed destined for retirement. Or so we thought. Defying the odds, Ortiz finished Bader by submission that night in what remains to this day arguably the most impressive victory of Ortiz’ career. While it was an embarrassing night for Bader, he has since transformed himself into an elite light heavyweight and heavyweight in MMA, currently holding both belts in Bellator. Ortiz, meanwhile, still remains relevant to this day despite being in his mid 40s.

Jordy McElroy - July 16, 2019

The shuttering quake from comatose welterweight star Ben Askren crashing to the canvas in record-breaking time at UFC 239 could be felt from Nevada to Singapore, where former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson was shipped off to in a historic trade less than a year ago. Not even the Richter scale is capable of measuring the size of those tremors, which opened up cracks in the reasoning Johnson was ever traded in the first place. That isn’t to suggest Ben Askren in the UFC hasn’t been entertaining. It has been a rollercoaster ride and cotton candy rolled into one. He talks the talk and walks the walk against the toughest guys in the UFC; guys that boast the kind of knockout power to alter careers with a single strike.

Christopher Taylor - July 16, 2019

UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones was not impressed by the recent comments made by perennial division contender Corey Anderson. ‘Beastin 25/8’ was a recent guest on the Slip n Dip Podcast where he seemingly attacked Jones’ past with the following statement.

Adam Martin - July 16, 2019

After Urijah Faber knocked out Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento, he called for a fight against UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo and that potential matchup is the talk of the MMA world right now. However, Cejudo is not just the UFC bantamweight champion. He is also the UFC flyweight champion, and UFC president Dana White hopes he defends his 125lbs title next.

Chris Taylor - July 16, 2019

Jorge Masvidal scored arguably this biggest win of his career earlier this month, defeating former Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren by way of knockout. ‘Gamebred’ set a record for the ‘fastest knockout in his history’ with the win, as he needed on 5-seconds to put an end to Askren’s undefeated streak.

Adam Martin - July 16, 2019

Many thought the great Fedor Emelianenko was considering retirement following a 35-second knockout loss to Ryan Bader back at Bellator 214 in January. Not so fast, says Bellator president Scott Coker, who confirmed Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight agreement with the promotion. Coker even has some opponents in mind for his retirement tour. According to Coker, who spoke to Ariel Helwani on Monday’s MMA Show, Bellator is planning on holding a cross-over event with RIZIN in December, and the Bellator bossman wants Emelianenko to fight on the card.

Christopher Taylor - July 15, 2019

Corey Anderson (12-4 MMA) is ready and willing to test his skills against reigning UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones. The surging 205-pound contender, Anderson, has won three straight bouts and feels like the time is perfect for a fight with ‘Bones’.

Christopher Taylor - July 15, 2019

Artem Lobov earned arguably the biggest win of his combat sports career last month, defeating Paulie Malignaggi via unanimous decision at Bare Knuckle FC 6. The fight, which took place on pay-per-view, sparked a lot of interest from both the boxing and mixed martial arts communities.

Cole Shelton - July 15, 2019

Former Dallas Cowboy Greg Hardy has some lofty goals for his combat sports career. Although he is only five fights into his MMA career, the former NFL pro bowler is already eyeing a transition into the boxing scene. But, it would not be full-time, rather he says he would transition between MMA and boxing fights.

Christopher Taylor - July 15, 2019

Michael Bisping did not take any pleasure from watching his former rival Luke Rockhold get knocked out by Jan Blachowicz earlier this month at UFC 239. Rockhold had his light heavyweight debut spoiled in brutal fashion by Blachowicz, who floored ‘Rocky’ with a punch in round two of their UFC 239 scrap.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2019

Urijah Faber was well compensated for his return to the cage, which co-headlined the UFC Sacramento card over the weekend. “The California Kid” pocketed $340,000 for first-round knockout of red hot prospect Ricky Simon. This was his first fight paycheck since late 2016, when he retired after a decision defeat of Brad Pickett.

Tom Taylor - July 15, 2019

The UFC is headed back to Mexico City on September 21, and the promotion will reportedly be bringing along some awesome featherweight action, as former title challengers Brian Ortega and “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung are being targeted to throw down on the card. This exciting plan was first reported by BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor.

Mike Pendleton - July 15, 2019

The Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix tournament is about to get underway this Fall, and President Scott Coker just announced the opening round matchups in the tournament. Speaking to Ariel Helwani of ESPN, Coker announced all eight fights with the 16 featherweight tournament participants which will be split up between two events in September. Breaking: @ScottCoker just announced the first-round matchups for @BellatorMMA's 16-man featherweight grand prix (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/lOXPbYnzzI

Cole Shelton - July 15, 2019

Alexey Oleynik is in for a tough fight. At UFC San Antonio, the Russian is set to take on Walt Harris in the co-main event. The 42-year-old is looking to get back into the win column after losing to Alistair Overeem back in April. Although he lost the fight, Oleynik says he was happy with his performance as he showed off his skills and at one point had his opponent hurt.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 15, 2019

Stephen Thompson certainly isn’t one to talk trash, but he isn’t down on Jorge Masvidal’s UFC 239 post-fight celebration. There was some bad blood going into the UFC 239 main card bout between Masvidal and Ben Askren. “Gamebred” made it clear that he wasn’t a fan of Askren, while “Funky” kept poking the bear. Askren even suggested that Masvidal wasn’t secure in his own masculinity.