MMA News

James Lynch - November 19, 2018

You can scratch Israel Adesanya off the list of potential backup fighters for the Robert Whittaker vs. Kelvin Gastelum middleweight title fight at UFC 234. That’s according to Adesanya himself who told the New Zealand Herald that following a meeting with UFC President Dana White last week he’s not interested in taking that spot.

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2018

Speaking to the Russian newspaper Izvestia this week, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the father of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, gave his take on three of the most likely opponents for his son’s next fight: Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier and Kevin Lee. Interestingly, he seems to want both Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee to fight Islam Makhachev rather than Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2018

Conor McGregor’s desired rematch with reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov could occur in the boxing ring. At least, that’s what Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap says. Speaking to the Russian newspaper Izvestia this week, the Nurmagomedov patriarch shared his belief that his son is more than capable of hanging with Conor McGregor under the boxing ruleset, and that he’d like their potential rematch to occur between the ropes.

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2018

In the sport of MMA, there’s no victory celebration more tried and true than a fighter scaling the cage and throwing their arms up in triumph. We’ve seen countless fighters do so after big stoppage victories. Santiago Ponzinibbio did so just last weekend after knocking out Neil Magny in the UFC Argentina main event. Apparently, however, nailing this post-fight celebration is not as easy as it looks.

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2018

Daniel Cormier, who currently owns the UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, has been planning to retire in March of 2019 for some time. UFC President Dana White, however, isn’t sure that’s the way things will shake out.

Drake Riggs - November 18, 2018

Horrible news has come out of Hawaii that UFC flyweight and season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter contestant, Rachael Ostovich was attacked and hospitalized recently. TMZ was first to report the news out of Honolulu and does not say specifically when the attack was to have happened but does say that Ostovich is believed to have suffered a broken orbital bone. Even more unfortunate, the report states that the attacker is “someone close to her”.

Jason Kindschy - November 18, 2018

Following the announcement that former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king, Ben Askren had finally joined the UFC roster, speculation began as to who ‘Funky’ would debut against. After immediately taking to social media and calling out the elite of the division, the dust settled and Askren was booked against former UFC champ Robbie Lawler at UFC 233.

Mike Straus - November 18, 2018

UFC Fight Night Argentina is in the books. Last night the Luna Park arena in Buenos Aires was rocking for the entire night of fights. The Argentinian faithfull showed up in a big way and it was evident from the very first fight of the night that they were ready to back their countryman.

Drake Riggs - November 18, 2018

ONE Championship and the UFC made some MMA history recently with the first ever fighter ‘trade’. The trade saw an exchange between former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson and former ONE welterweight champion, ‘Funky’ Ben Askren. With the trade now in the rearview mirror and each fighter with their expected debuts mapped out, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong doesn’t think it will be the last MMA trade we’ll see.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

On Saturday night, in the UFC’s debut show in Argentina, perennial welterweight contender Neil Magny stepped into the Octagon with hometown hero Santiago Ponzinibbio. Early in the fight, Magny was able to bust up Ponzinibbio’s eye, which looked like a positive sign for him. Unfortunately, however, the American was then thumped decisively through the rest of the encounter, as Ponzinibbio battered his lead leg and ultimately removed his batteries with a right cross in the fourth round.

Jason Kindschy - November 18, 2018

The UFC’s 25 Anniversary event in Denver left fight fans with several amazing moments etched into their psyche. One of them of course being the devastating arm bar executed by Colorado native Donald Cerrone against former teammate Mike Perry. Following the submission loss against Cerrone, Perry has been nothing short of gracious. Speaking with BJPENN Radio earlier this week, “Platinum” gave an update on the condition of his arm, and what went wrong in regards to game plan execution.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

Isaac Vallie-Flagg, who is a veteran of the Strikeforce and UFC cages, has seen pretty much everything when it comes to mixed martial arts. Last weekend, however, the MMA veteran ventured into a new and unfamiliar realm of combat sports: bare knuckle fighting. Vallie-Flagg did so as part of the inaugural show from upstart bare knuckle promotion World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF), battling Cory Simpson on the undercard of the event.

Cole Shelton - November 18, 2018

Over the last few years, we’ve all been wondering when Nick and Nate Diaz will fight again. The brothers have been fan favorites for ages now, but both have taken years off when it seemed like their popularity and their skill was at an all-time high. While it now sounds as though Nick Diaz will return to action opposite Jorge Masvidal at UFC 235, has hasn’t fought since UFC 183 in 2015, when he took on Anderson Silva in a fight that was ruled a no contest when he tested positive for marijuana and Silva tested positive for drostanolone. Although his long absence is due in part to a suspension, his interest in competing has also been questioned.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC Argentina, long-time UFC welterweight contender Neil Magny stepped into the cage with local hero Santiago Ponzinibbio. Although Magny was able to bust up Ponzinibbio’s eye in the first round, he was thumped decisively through the rest of the fight, as Ponzinibbio battered his lead leg and ultimately removed his batteries with a right cross in the fourth round. It was a tough loss for Neil Magny, who travelled thousands of miles south to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio on his home turf. All the same, the ever-classy welterweight contender seems to be in good spirits.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of the UFC’s 25th anniversary show in Denver, Colorado, welterweight knockout artist “Platinum” Mike Perry stepped into the cage with long-time contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Unfortunately for Perry and his many fans, this fight didn’t go as planned. Instead, he was forced to tap to a Cowboy armbar in the first round. Heading into this fight, Mike Perry says he spent a lot of time sharpening his kickboxing arsenal with the elite coaches and training partners at JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque. Even though he didn’t get the result he wanted against Cowboy, he says he’s happy with the striking improvements he showed in the fight.

Tom Taylor - November 18, 2018

Earlier this week, UFC veteran Cody McKenzie was hit with a four-year suspension for providing a ‘urine substitute’ in a drug test administered ahead of his cancelled fight with JD Domengeaux at Tuff-N-Uff: Fight Night. Here’s how a NSAC official told the at the hearing (which Cody McKenzie was not present for):

Drake Riggs - November 17, 2018

It’s been a bit of a weird ride in the build-up to RIZIN 14 as it gets its main event sorted out. But that main event will indeed end up being a collision between all-time boxing great, Floyd Mayweather and superstar Japanese kickboxing prodigy, Tenshin Nasukawa. After Mayweather called the fight off due to being ‘completely blindsided‘, RIZIN apologized for the confusion and promised some clarity soon. Well, we now have that clarity.

Chris Taylor - November 17, 2018

Tonight’s UFC Argentina event was headlined by a welterweight bout featuring hometown favorite Santiago Ponzinnibio taking on Neil Magny. Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-3 MMA) entered tonight’s UFC Argentina main event on a six fight win streak, his latest being a unanimous decision win over Mike Perry this past December.