MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 22, 2019

Henry Cejudo defended his UFC flyweight title for the first time last weekend in Brooklyn, scoring a 32-second TKO victory over TJ Dillashaw. The result came as a shock to most fans and analysts. That is not to say that people were counting out the former Olympic Gold Medalist against “Killashaw”, but very few expected the title fight to go down in the manner it did.

Chris Taylor - January 22, 2019

TJ Dillashaw was looking to become the fourth fighters in UFC history to earn “champ champ” status this past weekend in Brooklyn. Unfortunatley for fans of “Killashaw“, things did not go as planned in his flyweight title fight with Henry Cejudo.

Cole Shelton - January 22, 2019

Daniel Cormier had originally planned to retire by his 40th birthday. Well, things may have changed. “DC’s” birthday falls on March 20, and the only pay-per-view between now and then is UFC 235 – as UFC 234 is already finalized – which already has two title fights. Now, the question remains on whether or not Cormier will retire before then or stick around longer.

James Lynch - January 22, 2019

Despite rumblings of a potential matchup, Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Rafael Dos Anjos has yet to be officially signed. The #7 ranked welterweight, “Ponz” spoke to MMAFighting and explained why he thinks the fight hasn’t been signed yet.

Drake Riggs - January 22, 2019

At UFC Brooklyn, the flyweights put on the exact type of performances that they needed to in the hopes of saving their division from being removed from the UFC. Obviously, in the event’s headliner, we saw the champion Henry Cejudo fend off the bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw by earning a TKO win in just 32 seconds.

Drake Riggs - January 21, 2019

On today’s show, top bantamweight contender @MMARLONMORAES said he felt “a little bit embarrassed” to see the bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw lose the way he did on Saturday night. Full: https://t.co/mf8unBk7ts pic.twitter.com/YsvVKRsaOs

Drake Riggs - January 21, 2019

When it comes to elite level strikers in MMA, a discussion can’t be had without mentioning the likes of welterweight’s ‘Wonderboy’ Stephen Thompson. A two-time title challenger, unfortunately for Thompson, he has yet to come out as a victor in his title opportunities.

Drake Riggs - January 21, 2019

Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown has been one of MMA’s all-time most exciting fighters to watch. Thus making the day that he finally decided to hang up the gloves all the more sad for MMA fans. However, Brown’s retirement wouldn’t last forever as just a matter of months after his last bout with Diego Sanchez, Brown would be paired up with fellow fan favorite Carlos Condit in a dream bout that many had been wanting to see for several years.

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2019

Riding high on an impressive defeat of Chas Skelly in his UFC debut, red-hot featherweight prospect Bobby Moffett is eager to get back into the cage. And as it turns out, he knows exactly who he’d like to fight and where he’d like to do it. He’s eyeing a fight with fellow prospect Bryce Mitchell, ideally on the UFC’s March 23 return to Nashville, Tennessee.

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2019

After being deprived of his promised shot at the UFC welterweight title, top contender Colby Covington has had plenty to say about UFC President Dana White of late. Of course, Covington isn’t the only person to make negative comments about the polarizing UFC boss recently. Retired boxer turned promoter Oscar De La Hoya has also gone back and forth with Dana White over the last few weeks, even challenging the UFC President to a fight on the undercard of the next Canelo Alvarez pay-per-view.

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2019

Last Saturday night, in the main of the UFC’s first ever card on ESPN+, UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw dropped down to the flyweight division to challenge local champ Henry Cejudo in a bid to become a two-division champ. Unfortunately for Dillashaw and his fans, this mission didn’t go as planned, as he was stopped by Cejudo in 32 seconds. In the wake of this tough loss, TJ Dillashaw has been adamant that the referee intervened too early. Speaking in a post-fight statement on Instagram, Dillashaw reiterated this feeling.

Cole Shelton - January 21, 2019

Anthony Pettis used to be the UFC lightweight champion, and also fought at featherweight in 2016. However, his first fight in 2019 will be at welterweight, where he will take on former title challenger, Stephen Thompson. For Pettis, moving up to 170 to fight ‘Wonderboy’ was an easy decision.

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2019

Over the last few weeks, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and fan favorite contender Nate Diaz have engaged in a number of skirmishes on social media. If you thought this might eventually lead to a fight between them, however, think again. Speaking on Submission Radio this week, Khabib Nurmagomedov gave his assessment of Nate Diaz and his 19-11 pro record. Safe to say he’s not impressed.

James Lynch - January 21, 2019

Lando Vannata never had any doubts that he wouldn’t be back with the UFC. The 26-year-old came to terms with the UFC on a new four-fight deal and is set to face Marcos Rosa Mariano at UFC 234 on Feb. 9 “I figured [the UFC] would want to re-sign me. I’m a pretty exciting fighter, I put on a show every time I step into the cage,” Vannata told MMA News. “I wasn’t too surprised they came back looking to re-sign me to a new deal. I was keeping my options open but I figured they would want to [re-sign me] and if the figures were right then yeah I would go back. The UFC had exclusive rights [to negotiating].”

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2019

According to a release from the ESPN Public Relations team, the first UFC on ESPN card was a massive success, driving hundreds of thousands of new ESPN+ subscriptions, and drawing massive viewership to the ESPN channel. Here’s what the release had to say:

Cole Shelton - January 21, 2019

Elias Theodorou’s toughest fight is not against any UFC fighter. Rather, it is taking on the United States Anti-Doping Agency to get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for medical cannabis which has been prescribed by his doctor. Although cannabis is legalized in Canada where Theodorou lives, it doesn’t matter to USADA.

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2019

On Saturday night, after spoiling the UFC debut of former KSW star Ariane Lipski, Scottish flyweight contender Joanne Calderwood made a callout of fellow contender Jessica Eye. According to UFC President Dana White, however, Eye will likely be given the next shot at new UFC women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko — meaning Calderwood is out of luck for the moment. “I think Eye is next,” White said after Saturday night’s UFC Brooklyn card (via MMAjunkie)

Drake Riggs - January 21, 2019

Russia’s first and only UFC champion is none other than ‘The Eagle’, the 27-0 Sambo machine, Khabib Nurmagomedov. In Nurmagomedov’s last time out, he participated in the biggest fight in UFC history when he made a successful title defense of his lightweight crown.