MMA News

Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019

As the former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king, and one of the top contenders in the UFC welterweight division, Ben Askren has already accomplished some incredible things as a fighter. But what could he accomplish if he worked on the other side of the hurt business, as a promoter? He gave us a sense of how he’d handle that role on a recent episode of MMA Junkie Radio. Unsurprisingly, he says he’d work hard to treat the fighters better.

Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019

Bellator 220 was a great card, highlighted by some fun back-and-forth fights, and handful of grisly finishes. While these factors made for an entertaining card, they unfortunately also meant that several fighters on the bill were handed lengthy medical suspensions by the California State Athletic Commission. Main event fighter Rory MacDonald, for example, could be out 180 days after his back-and-forth fight with Jon Fitch, while Veta Arteaga is facing a lengthy sit due a cut sustained in her loss to Ilima-Lei MacFarlane, and Liam McGeary has been sidelined due to a broken jaw.

Tom Taylor - April 30, 2019

Over the weekend, disgraced former NFL player Greg Hardy picked up his first UFC victory, thumping the completely passive Dmitrii Smoliakov to a first-round TKO. With this first UFC win in the books, Hardy is already setting his sights on some of the UFC heavyweight division’s premier players, such as former champ Stipe Miocic and former title challenger Derrick Lewis.

Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019

In MMA’s lightest division, the spotlight isn’t too bright in North America, but the fighters are still lighting things up. Leading the way for them in the West is the Invicta FC atomweight champion, Jinh Yu Frey (8-3). After six fights in the promotion, the seventh was her crowning moment when she defeated Minna Grusander via unanimous decision. Since then, Frey has successfully defended the title once by defeating Grusander in their instant rematch.

Cole Shelton - April 29, 2019

After Rory MacDonald fought to a majority draw against Jon Fitch in the first round of the welterweight grand prix, his post-fight comments caused quite a stir. “I don’t know what to say,” MacDonald said post-fight. “I landed some good stuff in there, I don’t know. It’s hard to sometimes pull the trigger now. I don’t have that killer inside. It’s really hard to explain. But I hesitate a little bit now. It wasn’t my best performance.”

Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019

Bellator 220 went down on Saturday night as it was headlined by two big title fights in the respective welterweight and flyweight divisions. In the co-main event, we saw “The Ilimanator” Ilima-Lei Macfarlane extend her perfect record to 10-0 as she picked up her third title defense by finishing Veta Arteaga in the third-round by TKO (doctor’s stoppage). Macfarlane landed a vicious elbow to the forehead of her opponent that opened a cut that was too severe for the fight to continue.

Drake Riggs - April 29, 2019

Generally, when an interim champion is crowned, we know exactly what fight will be next for them. That, of course, is none other than the undisputed champion. When “The Last Stylebender” Israel Adesanya (17-0) defeated Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 236 in a fight of the year candidate, he became the new UFC interim middleweight champion. Thus making an encounter with the undisputed champ, Robert Whittaker (20-4), inevitable.

Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019

Colby Covington recently claimed Mike Perry would be sent back to the regional circuit if he couldn’t get by Alex Oliveira at UFC Fort Lauderdale. In the end, Perry did get past Oliveira, defeating the Brazilian by decision in a Fight of the Night winning scrap. And speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, he took the opportunity to reply to Covington.

Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019

Over the weekend, on the main card of Bellator 220, former Bellator light heavyweight champs Phil Davis and Liam McGeary collided in an anticipated rematch. In the end, Davis won this fight when McGeary sustained an apparent jaw injury in the third round.

Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019

Earlier this month, UFC veteran Rodrigo de Lima was reportedly hit and killed by an Uber driver in Belem, Brazil. The driver, Jefferson Roger Maciel Barata, has now confessed to this crime. He has been arrested and will reportedly be charged with murder (via MMA Fighting).

Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019

Jack Hermansson picked up the biggest victory of his career over the weekend, walloping former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to a unanimous decision victory in the short-notice UFC Fort Lauderdale main event. While this victory surprised a great many onlookers, Hermansson himself sees it as the result of more than a decade of hard work.

Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019

Shortly after battling Jon Fitch to a draw in the main event of Bellator 220, Bellator welterweight champ Rory MacDonald made some comments that cast doubt on his future as a fighter. Most notably, he suggested that he no longer has the desire to hurt people — certainly an issue for those who make their living fighting in a cage.

Tom Taylor - April 29, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC Fort Lauderdale, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza risked his promised middleweight title shot in a fight with short-notice replacement opponent Jack Hermansson. Unfortunately for the Brazilian contender and his dedicated fan base, this gamble did not pay off. Instead, the 39-year-old was thumped to a decision loss by his unheralded opponent and his title dreams were once again dashed — perhaps for a final time. Speaking at the UFC Fort Lauderdale post-fight press conference, Jacare issued a few quick comments on this loss. Understandably, he says he’s sad.

Chris Taylor - April 28, 2019

The octagon will return to Abu Dhabi on September 7 for the promotions UFC 242 event and it is expected that Khabib Nurmagomedov will headline the card. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto broke the news moments ago on Twitter.

Drake Riggs - April 28, 2019

The first RIZIN Fighting Federation event of 2019 went down on April 21 with RIZIN 15. It was a great night of fights as per usual from the Japanese based MMA leader. In action, that night was none other than the RIZIN bantamweight king, Kyoji Horiguchi (27-2) who defeated Ben Nguyen via first-round TKO. The dominant 28-year old entered the ring for the first time since he won the title on New Year’s Eve 2018 at RIZIN 14 when he defeated the Bellator champion, Darrion “The Wolf” Caldwell (13-2) in a crazy comeback effort.

Thomas Taylor - April 28, 2019

Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor remain two of the best lightweight fighters in the world, but at the moment, it’s extremely unclear what the future holds for either man. Conor McGregor, making millions through his numerous ventures outside the cage, would seem to have no financial impetus to fight again. Tony Ferguson, on the other hand, is dealing with some personal struggles that have rendered his status uncertain. Yet every fight fan with a pulse is hoping both men fight again soon.

Thomas Taylor - April 28, 2019

In the span of a few weeks, Sweden’s Jack Hermansson has submitted former World Series of Fighting champion David Branch, and dominated former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza to a decision. In doing so, the surging middleweight contender has impressed pretty much every member of the MMA community — and that includes UFC commentator Joe Rogan. Rogan, who was not on duty for Saturday night’s UFC Fort Lauderdale card, where Hermansson defeated Jacare, heaped praise on the Swede on Instagram on Sunday afternoon.

Tom Taylor - April 28, 2019

On Sunday, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor once again hopped onto Twitter and interacted with his fans. As is so often the case, this latest Twitter session provided some interesting insights into the sport’s biggest star. Responding to one fan, McGregor explained that even though he certainly could retire from fighting right now, his love for the sport makes it difficult for him to walk away.