MMA News

Drake Riggs - September 20, 2018

The long-awaited announcement for what kind of suspension Jon Jones would be given was finally announced yesterday. And it was to the displeasure of many. Jones received a 15-month suspension from the date of his test failure which equals out to him being eligible to return on October 28. This all despite the failure being his second offense. Jones was able to reduce what was to be a 30-month suspension due to his willingness to cooperate with USADA and tell them who some other offenders are.

Drake Riggs - September 20, 2018

In 2013, we witnessed one of if not the greatest UFC title fight in the company’s history and it went down in the prestigious light heavyweight division. That fight, of course, was none other than the clash between the then champion Jon “Bones” Jones and the challenger, Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson. Since then, the two have gone in fairly separate directions.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

Back in July, on the main card of UFC 226, kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki stepped into the UFC’s Octagon to do battle with rising light heavyweight contender Khalil Rountree. Heading into this fight, the widespread expectation was that Saki would have a significant edge in the striking department. Unfortunately for Saki and his legions of fans, however, this fight did not go the way he planned. Instead, he was put down by a thunderous Rountree punch in the bout’s first round. While this outcome was undeniably disappointing for Gokhan Saki, he showed incredible sportsmanship after the fact, congratulating his opponent on the upset victory. That being said, Saki feels the outcome of this fight can be attributed more to his own errors than Rountree’s technique.

Thomas Taylor - September 20, 2018

On Thursday afternoon, inside Radio City Music Hall in New York City, undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor will face off for the first time since their UFC 229 was made official. This press conference, which will unfortunately not be open to fans, begins at 5:00pm ET / 2:00pm PT. 

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

It’s no secret that UFC 229, which will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former two-division champion Conor McGregor, is going to be big. According to UFC President Dana White, however, it’s trending to be the biggest UFC pay-per-view ever by a huge margin. “It’s massive,” White told ESPN this week (transcript via MMA Fighting). “There has been a lot of talk about this thing doing 2 million buys. We’re trending right now at 2.5 million buys so that’s how big this fight is. The biggest fight we’d ever done was Diaz vs. McGregor at almost 1.6 million pay-per-view buys. Then we did the Floyd Mayweather fight. And now this by far is the biggest fight and one of the biggest fights ever in combat sports to be honest with you.”

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

In 2017, Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio burst into welterweight title contention with a decision defeat of Nordine Taleb, an 82-second knockout of Gunnar Nelson, and a thrilling decision triumph over “Platinum” Mike Perry. Unfortunately, he’s yet to fight in 2018 thanks to a serious hand injury that ultimately required surgery. While 2018 has not been particularly kind to Santiago Ponzinibbio thus far, things are definitely looking up. With his surgery in the rear-view and his health back to 100%, he’s been booked for a high-stakes showdown with long-time contender Neil Magny. And that’s not where the good news ends. The fight will go down in the main event of the UFC’s first-ever trip to Ponzinibbio’s homeland of Argentina.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

The official UFC rankings have been update in the wake of last Saturday’s UFC Moscow card. As expected, these latest UFC rankings feature some interesting changes. At heavyweight, Russia’s Alexey Oleynik has taken a nice trip up the list for his first-round submission defeat of Mark Hunt. He’s now number nine.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

At 26-0, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has never lost a fight. On October 6, in the main event of UFC 229, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor will attempt to change that. In the opinion of Conor McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh, defeating Khabib Nurmagomedov could begin with winning a single round. Nurmagomedov faces adversity so infrequently that the Irish MMA coach isn’t sure the Russian knows how to cope with it.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2018

Tonight at 5:00, inside Radio City Music Hall in New York City, undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former lightweight and featherweight champ Conor McGregor will come face to face at a press conference to promote their massive UFC 229 title fight. Ahead of this press conference, most members of the MMA community are expecting all hell to break loose — so much so that online sports books have released an extensive list of ridiculous prop bets for the conference. 

Drake Riggs - September 20, 2018

One of the more surprising acquisitions made in 2017 was the UFC’s signing of kickboxing legend, Gokhan “The Rebel” Saki. And when you bring in a fantasy fighter like Saki, then why not make some fantasy matchups? The Netherlands native knows this too and that’s what he has now begun to campaign for.

Cole Shelton - September 19, 2018

Gegard Mousasi is arguably the biggest name to make the jump from the UFC to Bellator in free agency. After deciding to make the switch in July of 2017, signing a six-fight contract with the Viacom-owned company. While Mousasi was one of the better middleweights in the UFC, going to Bellator, it felt like the 33-year-old was certainly destined to become champion. That ultimately proved to be the case, as Mousasi had one fight in Bellator before getting a title shot against Rafael Carvalho, in which Mousasi won the fight and was thus crowned Bellator middleweight champion.

Cole Shelton - September 19, 2018

On Sept. 29, Rory MacDonald will have the chance to become a two-weight champion in Bellator. The current welterweight title holder will be taking on the reigning Bellator middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi for his 185-pound strap. Interestingly, win or lose against Mousasi, MacDonald will be participating in Bellator’s welterweight Grand Prix. With the Grand Prix, the Canadian will be putting his belt on the line in every fight that he participates in, thus adding an interesting wrinkle to the tournament.

Chris Taylor - September 19, 2018

Earlier this evening news broke that former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones had received a 15-month suspension from USADA, making him eligible to return on October 28. The arbitrator in the case ruled that there was “no intention” by Jones to cheat, this despite the fact a source for the substance was never confirmed.

Drake Riggs - September 19, 2018

Following USADA's official ruling on Jon Jones, @dc_mma speaks on the possibility of DC vs Jones 3. pic.twitter.com/MVQSOY83dg — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) September 20, 2018

Drake Riggs - September 19, 2018

The long-awaited USADA decision has finally been announced. The former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been handed his suspension. A bit surprisingly, it’s not as long as it was expected to be.

Drake Riggs - September 19, 2018

The women’s bantamweight division has thinned out over the years after starting out as the thriving inaugural female UFC division. Things are starting to get interesting again though and that can be contributed to prospects making waves and some old staples making returns. One of the missing faces from the usual mix of top contenders has been the first female fighter to ever win a season of The Ultimate Fighter, the season 18 winner Julianna Pena.

Thomas Taylor - September 19, 2018

Tomorrow afternoon, at a media-only press conference inside Radio City Music Hall in New York, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor will come face-to-face for the first time since their UFC 229 title fight has been official. And when they do, all hell is expected to break loose. Online sportsbook BetDSI has taken notice of the array of insane events that could potentially occur at tomorrow’s press event, and they’re offering a bevy of ridiculous betting options to reflect that.

Cole Shelton - September 19, 2018

Controversial heavyweight Greg Hardy has his next fight booked. However, it will not be on a UFC card even though Hardy is signed to a UFC contract after two wins on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series.