MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2018

Earlier this week, it was announced that UFC 230, which will go down on November 3 in New York City, will be headlined by a women’s flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks. To say the fan reaction to this news was negative would be an understatement. All over social media, fans shared their disappointment with this main event, many of whom suggested the card should have just been headlined by the Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz fight that is currently serving as the co-main event. Even UFC commentator Joe Rogan seemed to share this opinion, admitting that he doesn’t actually know how Sijara Eubanks is.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2018

Over the last few weeks, a seemingly endless list of fighters have called for the UFC to abolish the traditional 170-pound welterweight division and replace it with new 165-pound and 175-pound divisions. There was even buzz about the possibility of Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier battling for the inaugural 165-pound title in the UFC 230 main event this November 3. While this seems like a great idea in theory, however, UFC President Dana White isn’t interested. He explained why in a recent interview with ESPN.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2018

Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor, who will attempt to reclaim that latter title from Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229 this Saturday, is far and away the biggest star in UFC history. But why is that? According to UFC President Dana White, there is a multitude of reasons. The simplest, though, is that Conor McGregor is a real fighter.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2018

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is a scary opponent for a number of reasons. There’s his flawless, 26-0 record. There’s his stifling top game and the fact that he often talks to his opponents while he’s burying them under a meteor shower of ground and pound. And then there’s the fact that he wrestled a bear when he was a child. No, that’s not just some fabricated part of the Khabib Nurmagomedov legend, it’s a real thing that actually happened. There’s video to prove it.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2018

Conor McGregor is anticipating a violent and decisive triumph when he steps into the cage with Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229 this Saturday. Although the Irish soothsayer ‘Mystic Mac’ did not pick a specific round as he has in the past, he is confidently predicting the knockout, and from the sounds of it, he’s expecting it to happen early. “Devastating KO,” a fired up Conor McGregor told the crowd at Wednesday’s open workouts (transcript via MMA Fighting). “[He’s] too easy to hit, too flat-footed, too predictable. I’m gonna knock him clean out.”

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2018

Conor McGregor feels he owes Nate Diaz a rematch. No matter the outcome of his UFC 229 title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, the Irish superstar seems determined to give Diaz that rematch, the same way Diaz gave him the opportunity. In fact, McGregor feels that his rematch with Diaz could serve as the inaugural title fight for a yet-hypothetical 165-pound division — something Diaz has been very vocal about himself.

Drake Riggs - October 3, 2018

“I want to fight [Jon] Jones at 205 [pounds]. Because that’s where he beat me. He beat me at 205… I want to beat him where he beat me and I think Jon and I are on the same wavelength in that sense and we’re never on the same wavelength. We don’t agree on anything.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 3, 2018

ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES on October 6 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand will feature one of the organization’s biggest promotional debuts. WBC World Super Flyweight Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (46-4-1, 41 KO) will defend his title against Iran “MagnifiKO” Diaz (14-2-3, 6 KO). It will be Srisaket’s first bout under the ONE Championship banner. The bout also represents the first time a boxing match will headline a ONE Championship event. While Srisaket’s title defense is obviously a major introduction for the organization, it’s not the first huge debut in ONE Championship history. Here are five of the promotion’s biggest debuts:

Cole Shelton - October 3, 2018

At UFC 229, everyone is focusing on the main event. Current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will be taking on former two-division champion Conor McGregor. The fight is talked about as the biggest in UFC history, and rightfully so. However, the co-main event between Tony Ferguson and Anthony Pettis has a storyline of its own. Ferguson is the former interim lightweight champion who was supposed to take on Nurmagomedov at UFC 223, before withdrawing due to injury. While Pettis is the former UFC lightweight champion.

Drake Riggs - October 3, 2018

It’s been a wild ride, and now in the wake of UFC 230’s main event announcement, the MMA world has been very, very upset to say the least. That’s not to say that everyone is upset though, those being the members of the flyweight division in particular.

Drake Riggs - October 3, 2018

https://youtu.be/R_GLw6kJ1UI “I was on the plane the other day, man. And…have you seen Ray Borg’s son? His baby’s having these surgeries and I saw someone post a shirt that Ray Borg [made]. He posts a shirt [to his social media] and goes, ‘all proceeds from this shirt go to help me pay for my child’s medical bill’.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2018

In October of 2017, Tony Ferguson captured the interim lightweight title with a submission defeat of Kevin Lee. In April of 2018, he was scheduled to fight top contender Khabib Nurmagomedov in a bout that would crown the winner the undisputed lightweight champion. Unfortunately, Tony Ferguson was forced out of this fight with a freak injury. Khabib Nurmagomedov wound up defeating short-notice replacement opponent Al Iaquinta to win the undisputed title, while Ferguson was quietly stripped of his interim title.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2018

Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show this week, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor discussed what might be next if he gets by reigning lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event of UFC 229 this weekend. Among the possibilities Conor McGregor mentioned were Dustin Poirier, Nate Diaz, Tyron Woodley, and Georges St-Pierre. Easily the most surprising of the bunch, however, was former UFC middleweight champion and occasional light heavyweight Anderson Silva.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2018

Former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who battles Tony Ferguson in the UFC 229 main event, has high praise for the card’s main event fighters Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. While Anthony Pettis currently considers the reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov to be the best lightweight in the game, however, he considers the former champ Conor McGregor to be the true champion. He also expects McGregor to reclaim the title with a knockout of Nurmagomedov.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2018

After struggling with the cut down to the welterweight division’s 170-pound limit, and losing his long-awaited title fight with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, Darren Till says he is headed up to the middleweight division. “I’m a big dude for welterweight to be honest, so that’s probably going to be my last fight at that weight,” Darren Till said in an article he penned for PaddyPower. “Welterweight isn’t fully gone for me, but I’m going to be happy going up to middleweight now and I’ll be strong at that weight not having to cut as much weight.”

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 3, 2018

BANGKOK, Thailand – After making their grand arrivals in Bangkok, Thailand, The Ring Magazine and 2-time WBC Super Flyweight World Champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand faced off with opponent Iran “MagnifiKO” Diaz of Mexico for the very first time ahead of their main event clash this Saturday night. The two are scheduled to lock horns on the headline offer of ONE: KINGDOM OF HEROES, which is set for 6 October at Bangkok’s Impact Arena. The 12-round boxing match is ONE Championship’s first dip into world-class boxing, as it pairs the bout with a series of mixed martial arts, kickboxing, and Muay Thai contests.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, news surfaced that Valentina Shevchenko and Sijara Eubanks are likely to battle for the vacant UFC women’s flyweight title in the main event of UFC 230 on November 3. To say the fan reaction was mostly negative would be an understand. On social media, all but a few fans trashed this UFC 230 main event, many of whom felt that Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz should have been allowed to fight for the 165-pound title instead.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2018

UFC President Dana White previously stated that UFC 229, which goes down this Saturday in Las Vegas and will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor, was on track to sell a record-breaking 2 million pay-per-views. Now, White says the metrics he monitors ahead of big fights indicate the card could sell close to 3 million pay-per-views.