MMA News

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2019

We haven’t see the former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum in action since March 2018 when he lost to Russia’s Alexander Volkov in the UFC London main event. Werdum was hoping to return at UFC Moscow in September, but unfortunately, he failed a USADA test just days prior to his fight’s announcement. Thus leading to a two-year suspension.

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2019

At UFC 232 this past Saturday night, we witnessed the first ever female super fight take place when the UFC featherweight and bantamweight champions met inside the Octagon. Those two, of course, being none other than the legendary 13-year unbeaten Cris Cyborg and legacy paving ‘Lioness’ Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2019

Speaking on a recent episode of his Below the Belt podcast, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub shared his belief that the Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa exhibition bout that topped the RIZIN 14 card on New Years eve was fixed. “I’ve seen better acting in pornos,” Schaub said bluntly on his show (transcript via BoxingScene.com). “Floyd’s just doing his thing, he’s the aggressor, so it’s not as hard to fake it. But Tenshin needs acting skills. They should have got someone to work with him on falling down, getting hit in the face, and all that.

Mike Straus - January 3, 2019

Cortney Casey was originally supposed to be fighting Cynthia Calvillo at the now-canceled UFC 233 card in Anaheim, California on January 26. Instead, Casey will throw down with Calvillo when the UFC makes its debut on ESPN on February 17. “Even though we had that little change with the venues I was already on schedule for the California card,” Casey told BJPenn.com in a recent interview. “Having the fight pushed back actually gave me more time to relax and enjoy the Holidays.”

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2019

After her blistering knockout defeat at Cris Cyborg at UFC 232, Amanda Nunes is now the UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion. Dan Lambert, the founder of American Top Team where Nunes trains, believes the new champ-champ will actively defend both titles. “I know in some of the deeper divisions they have, it’s impossible to be a champ-champ,” Lambert told MMAjunkie Radio. “How’s [Daniel Cormier] going to defend it against the best in the world at heavyweight and the best in the world at light heavyweight at the same time? It’s kind of impossible. But there’s not quite as many – I mean, obviously, the featherweight division, they don’t even have rankings out there. How many people do they even have there? So it may be possible for her to keep both.”

Cole Shelton - January 3, 2019

2019 is officially here, and it’s looking like it could be a huge year for a number of rising UFC stars, such as surging striking sensation Israel Adesanya. Without further ado, here are three UFC fighters we expect to do big things in this new year.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2019

Earlier this week, the UFC updated its official rankings. In this latest edition of the rankings, new UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is still ranked behind his rival Daniel — a man he’s beaten before — on the pound-for-pound list. Jon Jones is not pleased about this. The new light heavyweight champ shared his ranking gripe on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2019

Long-time boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who recently dipped his toes into the MMA industry, has caught wind of what the UFC paid Jon Jones for his UFC 232 main event with Alexander Gustafsson, and he’s not impressed. De La Hoya did not hesitate to share his thoughts with UFC President Dana White on Twitter, reminding the UFC boss of his opinion that “pay-per-view is dead.”

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2019

Shortly after Jon Jones defeated Alexander Gustafsson to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 232, he did an interview with the crew of UFC Tonight — including Michael Bisping. Apparently, during an off-air segment, Bisping asked Jones a question that did go over well. As you might have guessed, it pertained to the trace amounts of turinabol detected in several of Jones’s recent drug tests.

Drake Riggs - January 2, 2019

It seems like every now and then we will inch closer and closer to clarity in regards to the top of the UFC’s always stacked, 170-pound welterweight division. However, after looking like we may know the next title fight, the champion shut that down and fast. Top contender, “The Nigerian Nightmare” Kamaru Usman recently dominated former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos on route to a unanimous decision win. Thus setting himself up for a title shot or at the very least, one fight from it.

Drake Riggs - January 2, 2019

“I think a lot of people want to see that fight,” UFC President Dana White said of a rematch between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. “We gotta see how this thing… Obviously, again, we still haven’t gone before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That’s gotta happen, and when that does we can figure out how this whole thing plays out. Is Max [Holloway] moving to [1]55 [pounds]? Tony Ferguson… Obviously in the mix. So we gotta see how this thing plays out.

Thomas Taylor - January 2, 2019

From the sounds of it, Kamaru Usman will get the next crack at UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Speaking on Twitter on Thursday evening, the surging UFC welterweight contender announced that his next fight is “a done deal” — and it sure seems like he’s talking about a title fight.

Drake Riggs - January 2, 2019

In recent years, title challengers in the 205-pound light heavyweight division have come few and far between. As of right now, Anthony Smith feels he’s the very clear next challenge to the once again champion, Jon Jones. At UFC 232 this past Saturday night, Jones regained the division’s title by defeating his old foe, Alexander Gustafsson via third-round TKO.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2019

The UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last Saturday’s UFC 232 card, and as expected, there have been some major changes. After defeating Alexander Gustafsson in the UFC 232 main event, Jon Jones is once again perched atop the light heavyweight rankings, though he still sits behind Daniel Cormier — a man he’s beaten previously — on the pound-for-pound list.

Cole Shelton - January 2, 2019

Lyman Good will face his toughest test in the UFC when he takes on Demian Maia in Brazil on February 2. Good used to be the Bellator welterweight champion and CFFC’s interim welterweight champion before signing with the UFC. Since then, Good has has gone 2-1 in the UFC, most recently knocking out Ben Saunders at UFC 230. That win earned him the biggest fight of his career against Maia.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2019

Alexander Gustafsson hoped to cap of 2018 by toppling the seemingly unbeatable Jon Jones and capturing the UFC light heavyweight title. Regrettably, things did not go as planned for the fearsome Swede, as he wilted amid a storm of third-round ground-strikes from his foe. In the wake of this tough loss to Jon Jones, Alexander Gustafsson is now considering a move to the perilous UFC heavyweight division for a fresh start.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2019

On New Years Eve, Sean O’Connell won a million dollars.  The 35-year-old UFC veteran earned this massive payday by bludgeoning an exhausted Vinny Magalhaes to a stoppage in the finals of the 2018 PFL light heavyweight season.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2019

The UFC is going to be busy in the second quarter of 2019. After a rousing first quarter that will include some big pay-per-views and some stacked cards on ESPN, the promotion will keep things rolling in April, May and June with a whopping 10 cards. The UFC schedule for this second quarter of 2019 was announced during the UFC 232 broadcast last weekend. Here’s when we can expect to be watching UFC cards this spring and early summer (h/t MMA Fighting).