MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2018

Having defended the UFC lightweight title with a fourth-round submission of Conor McGregor at UFC 229, the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov is now looking ahead to his next challenge. The primary options for that challenge would seem to be a rematch with McGregor, or fights with Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, Georges St-Pierre, or even new UFC signee Ben Askren.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2018

Earlier this week, recent UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till issued a few quick calls for a fight with former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor. It is his hope, he explained, that the fight will happen at Anfield, a massive football stadium in his native Liverpool. In a blog post penned for his sponsor PaddyPower, Darren Till elaborated on this callout of McGregor, listing a multitude of reasons why he and the Irish MMA superstar should fight at Anfield in then near future.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2018

Former ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren is now headed to the UFC — though the promotion has not officially announced his arrival just yet. Askren’s long-awaited migration to the Octagon was made possible by a history-making trade between ONE and the UFC that saw the UFC cough up its former flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson in exchange for the former ONE welterweight king.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2018

After a lengthy and history-making stint in the UFC, former UFC flyweight champion and pound-for-pound great Demetrious Johnson is headed to ONE Championship. Johnson is expected to debut with the Singapore-based martial arts powerhouse in early 2019. Despite his massive accomplishments in the UFC, however, he does not expect an immediate title shot against ONE flyweight champion Geje Eustaquio. Instead, he’s expecting to fight another top ONE flyweight such as Kairat Akhmetov or Danny Kingad.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2018

The history-making trade is a done deal. Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has been sent to ONE Championship in exchange for former ONE welterweight champ Ben Askren. Strangely, however, the UFC has still not officially announced the signing of Ben Askren. This has the former ONE welterweight champ wondering if the promotion is embarrassed.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2018

UFC 232, which goes down on December 29 in Las Vegas, is still two months away, but the promotion has already released the official fight poster for the mammoth, end-of-the-year card. This poster features the mugs of former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and top contender Alexander Gustafsson, who will rematch for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in the main event, and those of featherweight champion Cris Cyborg and bantamweight champion Amana Nunes, who will battle in a featherweight title super fight in the co-main event.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2018

On December 29, in the main event of UFC 232, former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and top contender Alexander Gustafsson are expected to rematch for the vacant light heavyweight title, which will simultaneously be stripped from current champ Daniel Cormier. Anthony Smith, who recently won big with a submission of former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir in the UFC Moncton main event, believes he’s the obvious next opponent for the winner of this UFC 232 title fight. “I just took out the No. 2 guy in the world. I’ve finished two former world champions back-to-back and then the No. 2 contender,” Anthony Smith told Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour this week (transcript via MMA Fighting). “The No. 1 contender’s fighting for the title and I think that Daniel Cormier has all but left the division. I don’t think that he’s coming back to 205. I don’t know who else would be in front of me. I don’t know who else is a legitimate threat to either one of those guys, no matter who wins the title. You might be able to throw (Ilir) Latifi in there, but if Gustafsson wins [against Jones], then that’s definitely out the window.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2018

Now that he’s dispatched of Conor McGregor, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov would seem to have a long list of options in terms of his next fight. He could rematch McGregor. He could fight Tony Ferguson or Dustin Poirier. He could welcome Ben Askren to the UFC… Yet in the opinion of UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, a long-time friend and training partner of Khabib Nurmagomedov, there’s currently only one fight to make for the undefeated Russian champion: a showdown with former welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

Drake Riggs - October 30, 2018

The biggest knock on Ben Askren throughout his dominant MMA career has been that we haven’t seen him face the very best and he realizes that. But now we’re going to get too as the former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king is finally on his way to the UFC.

Drake Riggs - October 29, 2018

Written by Drake Riggs and Cole Shelton “The trade” between former UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson from the UFC to ONE Championship for their welterweight champion and former Bellator champion Ben Askren set the MMA world ablaze this past week.

Drake Riggs - October 29, 2018

UFC Argentina has taken a hit as Maryna Moroz is going to have to pull out of her upcoming bout with ‘The Violence Queen’ Ariane Lipski at UFC Argentina. Initially, this bout was made thanks to an injury as Moroz was to face off with Veronica Macedo before Macedo suffered an injury of her own that led to the former KSW flyweight champion Lipski stepping in.

Drake Riggs - October 29, 2018

Believe it or not, it has happened. Former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king Ben Askren has finally made his way to the UFC. Now that he has made it, he’ll need someone to make his debut against. When asked about who Askren will fight first, UFC president Dana White responded to TMZ with the following.

Thomas Taylor - October 29, 2018

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, who shattered the record for most consecutive title defenses by a UFC champion with 11-straight victories, is headed to Singapore-based Asian MMA powerhouse ONE Championship. The widespread feeling is that the former champ will fit in well in his new home and be well-received by fight fans in Asia. This is good news, considering the fact that Johnson never quite caught on with UFC fans. Although he was one of the sport’s most dominant champions, and the dynamo behind some of the most incredible performances in recent memory, he was never quite what you’d call a needle-mover for the promotion.

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2018

According to a report from TMZ, UFC and Bellator veteran Stephan Bonnar has found himself in hot water. Bonnar, who was a finalist on the historic first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and holds a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame for his war with season one winner Forrest Griffin, reportedly crashed his car in Nevada, at which point he was detained by a group of citizens who were concerned he was driving while impaired. These citizens, including one who was apparently armed with a gun, were reportedly able to get Bonnar to the ground, where they kept him until police arrived.

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2018

By moving to the UFC, Ben Askren has opened the door to dozens of exciting new matchups, and he’s already started laying the foundation for some of those new fights. There is one matchup, however, that seems to be off the table: one with reigning UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, to remind, are frequent training partners at Roufusport in Milwaukee. The relationship they’ve developed inside the Milwaukee gym is strong enough that Askren assures he’ll simply never fight the reigning champion.

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2018

Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in the UFC 229 main event, he leapt over the side of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s training partner Dillon Danis. McGregor then attempted to chase Nurmagomedov, but was intercepted by a pair of the Russian champion’s training partners, including one who punched him in the back of the head from behind. In the wake of this event, McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh has stated that he doesn’t fault Khabib Nurmagomedov for losing his tempter and attacking Danis. That being said, Kavanagh recently divulged that he considers the actions of the fighters who attacked McGregor in the Octagon to be absolutely reprehensible.

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2018

UFC middleweight Marvin Vettori has announced that he’s currently facing a potential United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation. The Italian fighter, who trains at Kings MMA in California, made this announcement on his official Facebook page, explaining that the failed test in question was administered on August 6 (h/t Tudor Leonte of Sherdog).

Tom Taylor - October 29, 2018

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now a ONE Championship athlete. That means that he can look forward to MMA bouts with top ONE Championship flyweights such as Geje Eustaquio, Adriano Moraes, Kairat Akhmetov and Danny Kingad, and perhaps even scraps with top ONE bantamweights down the road. Of course, that is not where Demetrious Johnson’s options as a ONE Championship athlete end.