MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 25, 2018

As he prepares for his UFC 229 showdown with Conor McGregor, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been training with an old stablemate of the Irishman: former SBG fighter Myles Price. Price, who spent lots of time sparring and training with Conor McGregor in the early phases of career, now trains at American Kickboxing Academy. And he has no issues with helping Khabib Nurmagomedov prepare for this fight with his former teammate, as he never got along that well with Conor McGregor.

Tom Taylor - September 25, 2018

On December 29, in the main event of UFC 232, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will move up to the 145-pound featherweight division to battle UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. In the eyes of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, who lost to Nunes in a July, 2016 title fight, Cyborg should win this fight. That being said, Tate feels Nunes has the kind of power to make this fight interesting. In fact, she believes Nunes has enough firepower to put Cyborg down if she connects properly.

Tom Taylor - September 25, 2018

This summer, after a series of losses in the UFC middleweight division, former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks announced his retirement from MMA. Speaking on The MMA Hour on Monday, the former champion Hendricks explained that his retirement had a lot to do with the UFC’s association with the United States Anti-Doping Agency. 

Tom Taylor - September 25, 2018

For his July, 2017 failed drug test, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones received a 15-month suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency, retroactive to the time of his failed test. This means he’ll be allowed to fight again by the end of October. Given that this was Jones’ second USADA infraction, this 15 month term strikes as a fairly short period. The reason for this shortened suspension, however, is that Jon Jones provided significant and useful information to USADA.

Cole Shelton - September 24, 2018

Arguably the best MMA prospect in the entire world is California native Aaron Pico. Pico grew up around fighting, he was a wrestler growing up and became one of the best in America. He would go onto win the Cadet World Championship in 2013. He followed that by coming second and third in 2014 and 2015 at the Junior World Championship for wrestling.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

Paulo Costa, an undefeated contender in the stacked UFC middleweight division, has big plans for his combat sports career. The 27-year-old Brazilian hopes to win the UFC middleweight title, then capture the UFC welterweight and light heavyweight titles, retain all three for a period, then retire from MMA and move to boxing. That’s what he calls his Plan A. His Plan B? He says he doesn’t have one, because a Plan B implies a failed Plan A.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

When Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov step into the cage together at UFC 229, most fans expect one of two things to happen. The expectation is that McGregor will either knock Nurmagomedov out, our Nurmagomedov will drag McGregor into a grappling hell and possibly stop him on the mat. This feeling, of course, hinges on the perception that Nurmagomedov is not much of a striker, and McGregor is not much of a grappler. While Conor McGregor’s chief training partner Artem Lobov agrees that Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t present much danger in the striking department, he feels its erroneous to assume that McGregor can’t grapple with the lightweight champion.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

Last weekend, on the main card of UFC Sao Paulo, 42-year-old MMA legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira stepped into the Octagon for the first time in two years, having been sidelined by a lengthy United States Anti-Doping Agency suspension. His opponent in this return to action was brick-fisted 32-year-old Sam Alvey.  Given the circumstances of this matchup, many fans seemed to count Antonio Rogerio Nogueira out against Sam Alvey — and understandably so. The odds seemed to be stacked against him.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

Earlier this month, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley said that he would happily accept a fight with interim champion Colby Covington at UFC 230 this November 3 — so long as he was cleared by doctors. Unfortunately, we then learned that Tyron Woodley’s thumb is in pretty bad shape, and that he will need surgery as a result, which effectively rules out a fight with Colby Covington at UFC 230.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who has now defended the UFC welterweight title with consecutive defeats of Stephen Thompson (twice), Demian Maia, and Darren Till, is adamant that he is the greatest welterweight in the history of MMA. Many fans and pundits, however, beg to differ, maintaining that the former champion Georges St-Pierre is still the sport’s greatest welterweight. In the opinion of Tyron Woodley’s coach Din Thomas, Georges St-Pierre probably is still the greatest welterweight in the sport’s history, but Woodley could easily change that with a couple more wins — two wins over specific opponents, as a matter of fact.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

https://www.instagram.com/p/BoDVKcMno6X/ Last Saturday night, on the undercard of UFC Sao Paulo, all-action MMA veteran Ben Saunders came up short to BJJ whiz Sergio Moraes, tapping to a choke in the second round of their welterweight contest.

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2018

Reigning UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley considers himself the greatest welterweight in the history of MMA. While Woodley has developed an incredible resume, however, many fans and pundits still feel former welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre has claim to that title. In a recent interview with FanSided, Georges St-Pierre discussed Tyron Woodley’s claim to GOAT status.

Drake Riggs - September 23, 2018

The UFC women’s flyweight division is about to get violent. Reigning KSW 125-pound champion, “The Violence Queen” Ariane Lipski is on her way to the big show.

Tom Taylor - September 23, 2018

On Saturday night, on the main card of UFC Sao Paulo, Sam Alvey stepped into the Octagon with Brazilian MMA legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who was returning from a lengthy hiatus from competition. Unfortunately, Alvey’s opportunity to take out an MMA legend didn’t go quite the way he planned. Instead, the American was put down by a volley of punches in the bout’s second round. That being said, Sam Alvey is still all smiles post-fight — no surprise there.

Tom Taylor - September 23, 2018

For a fleeting moment, Brazilian middleweight contender Thiago Santos was scheduled to fight British knockout artist Jimi Manuwa in the main event of last night’s UFC Sao Paulo card. That was after Manuwa’s original opponent, Glover Teixeira, withdrew from the card, and before Manuwa was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by middleweight Eryk Anders. Having dispatched Anders in the wild, last-minute UFC Sao Paulo main event, Thiago Santos is now planning to stick around in the UFC light heavyweight division for the time being, where he hopes to be rebooked for a fight with Jimi Manuwa.

Tom Taylor - September 23, 2018

Last night, in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo, Thiago Santos stepped into the cage with short-notice replacement opponent Eryk Anders. Toward the end of the third round, Santos began unloading on Anders on the ground, punishing him with thudding punches and elbows to the head. Remarkably, however, Anders survived until round’s end. Unfortunately, Anders could not regain his footing once the round was over. Although it his cornermen attempted to peel him off the canvas, he collapsed not once, but twice, which prompted referee Marc Goddard to wave the fight off.

Tom Taylor - September 23, 2018

Shortly after his boxing match with fellow YouTube star KSI, Logan Paul began expressing interest in a potential fight inside the UFC’s Octagon.  https://twitter.com/LoganPaul/status/1034826250198503429

Tom Taylor - September 23, 2018

Originally, last night’s UFC Sao Paulo card was supposed to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between Jimi Manuwa and Glover Teixeira. Unfortunately, Teixeira was then forced out of the fight with an injury and replaced by beefed-up middleweight Thiago Santos. Then, in the midst of fight week, Manuwa was forced out of the fight with an injury of his own and replaced by rising middleweight contender Eryk Anders, who took the fight on a mere 5 days notice. Given that the middleweight Eryk Anders took this light heavyweight fight on just 5 days notice, there’s really no way to fault him for coming up short — especially since he put up one hell of a fight until the referee stopped the fight between the third and fourth rounds.