MMA News
EXCLUSIVE | Demetrious Johnson opens up on the potential closure of UFC flyweight division
Tom Taylor - November 30, 2018
It’s a strange and worrying time for the UFC flyweight division. The former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has been traded to ONE Championship in exchange for welterweight talent Ben Askren. A procession of long-time UFC flyweights have been released from their contracts, including Justin Scoggins, Jared Brooks, Roberto Sanchez, and most recently, Ulka Sasaki. Rumors that the promotion plans to close the division have been rampant, and when pressed about these rumors, UFC President Dana White hasn’t exactly provided cause for optimism… “The flyweight division just never took off, it never caught on,” White said on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast. “Even with a dominant champion like Demetrious, it just never caught on. People didn’t care. I battled for a long time, I tried to keep it alive and obviously, it’s still going on now. We still have fights going on in that division, but we’ll see what the future holds for it.”
Israel Adesanya responds to Anderson Silva critics: 'He's not Chuck Liddell'
Tom Taylor - November 30, 2018
It was recently announced that UFC 234 will feature a middleweight showdown between streaking contender Israel Adesanya and former middleweight champ Anderson Silva. While some fans are thrilled about this clash of legendary strikers, others feel it’s irresponsible matchmaking; a chance to feed the aging legend Anderson Silva to a hyped-up young fighter. Israel Adesanya has heard these criticisms. While he agrees that Anderson Silva is perhaps not the fighter he once was, he assures he’s not Chuck Liddell, who was knocked out by Tito Ortiz last weekend.
UFC Adelaide weigh-in results: Headliners on point, Mark Hunt and Justin Willis involved in backstage confrontation
Tom Taylor - November 30, 2018
Early on Friday morning, the 24 fighters on the UFC Adelaide bill stepped onto the scales to weigh in for their respective battles.
Report | Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3 was a PPV disaster
Christopher Taylor - November 29, 2018
Last weekend’s controversial Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3 event failed to produce in the pay-per-view department. This according to the LA Times Lance Pugmire who recently reported that Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz 3 buys could be as low as 30,000.
VIDEO | Conor McGregor pokes fun at recent driving ban, finds 'new driver'
Thomas Taylor - November 29, 2018
Earlier this week, news surfaced that former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor had been handed a six-month driving ban. This ban is due to the former champ’s excessive speeding near his home city of Dublin. He was also fined 1,000 euro ($1136.62) for the incident. According to a report from the BBC, Conor McGregor “admitted to driving his Range Rover at 154kph (96mph) in a 100kph (62mph) zone near Kill, County Kildare, in October 2017.” This latest infraction follows a significant 12 other traffic violations that reportedly date back to his teenage years.
BREAKING: Demian Maia will return to action on February 2 to take on former Bellator champ Lyman Good
Cole Shelton - November 29, 2018
A welterweight fight is going down in Brazil on February 2. Following an initial report from Combate, BJPENN.com has confirmed that Brazilian Demian Maia will be taking on former Bellator champion Lyman Good.
Bryan Caraway opens up on 'gnarly' Miesha Tate break up and 'miscommunication' with temporary UFC release
Drake Riggs - November 29, 2018
Once a burgeoning contender at 135-pounds, after a myriad of injuries and personal struggles, ‘Kid Lightning’ Bryan Caraway has been out of action more often than he would prefer. After scoring a big win by handing Aljamain Sterling the first loss of his career in May 2016, Caraway has only fought once since and it was in a close split decision loss to Cody Stamann in March.
EXCLUSIVE | PFL fighter Ray Cooper III believes MMA tournaments are the future of the sport
Cole Shelton - November 29, 2018
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) is about to finish their first season on New Year’s Eve. PFL decided to take MMA back to where it started by doing a tournament format. The tournament was structured like most other professional sports leagues, with a regular season, playoffs and then the finals. Ray Cooper III took part in the PFL’s first season and will be taking on Magomed Magomedkerimov in the welterweight final for the $1 million prize money. Ultimately, the first season of PFL can be chalked up as a success. It brought a fresh new feel to MMA. As well, fighters didn’t have to call for their title shots, rather simply earn them. That is something that intrigued Cooper III to take part in the PFL.
EXCLUSIVE | BJ PENN: "I was honored to spend a week with Kid Yamamoto before he passed"
Christopher Taylor - November 29, 2018
The mixed martial arts community is still grieving after losing legendary Japanese fighter Kid Yamamoto to cancer this past September. Norifumi had announced that he was battling the disease back on August 26 via his official Instagram.
Anderson Silva says a title shot follows a win in 'best fight in the sport' vs Israel Adesanya at UFC 234
Drake Riggs - November 29, 2018
The middleweight division is getting the return of its old king as Anderson Silva takes on Israel Adesanya at UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia on February 10. When just glancing at this bout, the initial reaction may be, ‘Why would Anderson Silva take this fight?’
Junior Dos Santos wants to avenge all losses, 'They are not better than me'
Drake Riggs - November 29, 2018
Former UFC heavyweight champion and legend of the division, Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos has a big main event fight coming up this Saturday night. But that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have some time to reflect on his career as well. Since 2012, Junior Dos Santos has alternated wins and losses in his last eight fights. Meaning he is 4-4 in those eight.
Raphael Assuncao and Marlon Moraes to rematch in main event of UFC Fortaleza
Drake Riggs - November 29, 2018
With the UFC’s bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw chasing other division’s titles, his own division has to move on and it now begins to start doing so. After winning the title for the second time by defeating arch-rival, Cody Garbrandt, Dillashaw would defend it successfully against his foe in their immediate rematch at UFC 227.
VIDEO | Conor McGregor trains alongside his father and his son
Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018
When Conor McGregor is gearing up for a fight, he sharpens his tools alongside dangerous fighters like Artem Lobov, Dillon Danis, and Gunnar Nelson. In a recent video clip uploaded to his official Instagram account, however, he can be seen training alongside some new faces: his father Tony and his young son Conor Jr. See it below:
EXCLUSIVE | Jim Crute hopes to be in light heavyweight top-10 with three wins — starting with Paul Craig at UFC Adelaide
Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018
Back in July, undefeated Australian light heavyweight prospect Jim Crute earned himself a UFC contract with a first-round destruction of Chris Birchler on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. This Sunday in Adelaide, Australia (Saturday in North America), he’ll make his long-awaited UFC debut against Scotland’s Paul Craig. The last time Paul Craig was in action, he dazzled the MMA community with an epic comeback win, dodging near-certain defeat by submitting Magomed Ankalaev with a single second remaining in their fight. Jim Crute saw this fight, and he was as impressed as the rest of us. That being said, he assures Paul Craig will have no such victory at UFC Adelaide.
EXCLUSIVE | Juan Archuleta plans to take out Jeremy Spoon, earn title shots in three Bellator divisions
Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018
Juan Archuleta has long stood out as one of the most exciting prospects in the Bellator featherweight division. In his Friday night Bellator 210 fight with Jeremy Spoon, he’ll look to take another big step toward divisional champion Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. To say Archuleta is excited for this looming test would be an understatement.
UFC Adelaide: Five reasons you should tune in
Mike Straus - November 29, 2018
The UFC returns to The Land Down Under this weekend with the exciting looking UFC Adelaide card. There are 12 scheduled fights in total for UFC Adelaide, many of them with future title implications. In the evening’s main event former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will take on the undefeated Aussie slugger Tai Tuivasa. Dos Santos is riding high off of a big win over Blagoy Ivanov this last July, while the heavy-handed Tuivasa is coming off a decision over Andrei Arlovski.
Max Holloway willing to fight Renato Moicano on an hour's notice if Brian Ortega doesn't show up
Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018
Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that Brazil’s Renato Moicano will be the standby fighter for the UFC 231 main event. He will be called to arms in the event that UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway or undefeated challenger Brian Ortega isn’t able to show up. Apparently, Moicano is very ready for the opportunity. In fact, he advised Max Holloway to just stay home.
Jon Jones calls Alexander Gustafsson a 'knockoff version' of himself
Tom Taylor - November 29, 2018
In September of 2013, in the main event of UFC 165, Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson gave Jon Jones the toughest fight of his career, battling the long-time light heavyweight champion to a razor close decision. While Gustafsson did not leave Toronto with Jones’ belt, many fans felt he should have. Speaking on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast, Jon Jones once again claimed that he was not in the right headspace heading into this first fight with Alexander Gustafsson. In fact, he says he felt like he was about to fight an off-brand version of himself.