MMA News
Dana White open to having Ben Askren in the UFC, 'We can absolutely talk about it'
Drake Riggs - August 7, 2018
There have been multiple amazing fighters in MMA that have never fought for the UFC. Atop the list of them for many is Ben Askren. There was once a time where the undefeated former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight king looked to have a solid shot at making his way to the grandest stage in MMA. However, after some back and forth with the boss Dana White himself, things never really came together and Askren took his talent over to Asia.
UFC Moncton gets several fight additions including Misha Cirkunov vs Patrick Cummins
Drake Riggs - August 7, 2018
The UFC will be returning to Canada on October 27th and for the first time ever they will be touching down in the city of Moncton. After the UFC recently announced the headliner between top light heavyweight contenders, Volkan Oezdemir and Anthony Smith, they have given us a couple more pairings at 205-pounds.
Dana White will understand if Eddie Alvarez wants to finish his career elsewhere
Drake Riggs - August 7, 2018
The wild and highly anticipated UFC on Fox 30 from Calgary, Alberta, Canada has come and gone. In a thrilling main event, wrongs were righted from UFC 211. In the said main event, Dustin Poirier and Eddie Alvarez ran things back as they went to war. Only lasting a round and a half just like in their first encounter, this time Poirier put an exclamation point on things as he finished Alvarez with strikes.
UFC rankings update: Henry Cejudo joins pound-for-pound rankings
Tom Taylor - August 7, 2018
The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of UFC 227, and as you probably expected in the fallout of a card that featured two title fights and one massive upset, there have been some big changes. Most notably, former Olympic wrestler Henry Cejudo now holds the top spot at flyweight, and a place on the vaunted pound-for-pound list. Cejudo’s opponent Demetrious Johnson, meanwhile, took a tumble down both lists.
Israel Adesanya on Derek Brunson: "The UFC made him call me out"
Tom Taylor - August 7, 2018
Red hot UFC middleweight contender Israel Adesanya will return to the Octagon at UFC 230, which goes down on November 3 in New York City. His opponent in this next fight will be established contender Derek Brunson, who called him out repeatedly before the fight was made official. While it was Brunson who called Adesanya out, Adesanya doesn’t believe Brunson actually wanted the fight. In fact, he claims the UFC made Brunson call him out.
Dustin Poirier will not be happy if GSP jumps lightweight contendership line: "It's not happening"
Tom Taylor - August 7, 2018
Last week, at a press conference in Australia, former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre divulged that he’d be interested in battling the winner of UFC 229’s Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor lightweight title fight. “I would be interested in that fight,” St-Pierre said. “That’s a win-win situation. It’s a legacy upgrade and it’s good money — it’s gonna be a big fight. Yeah. However, I fought at 170, I relinquished a title. I fought at 185, I relinquished a title. I don’t think UFC will let me fight for the title at 155. They will be afraid I relinquish and I left the division in ruins.
Joe Rogan argues extreme weight-cutting is a worse form of cheating than PEDs
Tom Taylor - August 7, 2018
UFC commentator Joe Rogan is not a fan of extreme weight-cutting — the practice of dehydrating oneself in order to make weight for a fight, then rapidly rehydrating to regain that weight, and carry a significant weight advantage into the cage. In his eyes, this practice is not only incredibly dangerous, it’s also a form of cheating more severe than performance enhancing drugs. “It is stupid,” Rogan said on his podcast the Joe Rogan Experience (transcript via MMAMania). “What it is is sanctioned cheating. It’s sanctioned cheating and it’s cheating at a much higher scale even than PEDs. If you get two people and they both weigh 135 [pounds] but they’re both totally hydrated and one of them has been doing steroids and one of them hasn’t been doing steroids, the difference will be far less than if one person weighs in at 135 [pounds] but then balloons up to 160 [pounds] and then gets into that octagon at 160 [pounds] but there’s no PEDs involved. That’s a much greater advantage than someone whose doing some sort of testosterone thing or something. They’re compromised but the benefit of being so much larger might outweigh being compromised.
Dillon Danis explains why Conor McGregor will defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov
Tom Taylor - August 7, 2018
At UFC 229, on October 6 in Las Vegas, Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon, where he’s set to battle undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. This bout with Nurmagomedov, who is one of the most ferocious grapplers in MMA history, represents perhaps the toughest stylistic challenge of McGregor’s career. That said, Dillon Danis, who is McGregor’s chief jiu jitsu training partner, isn’t worried.
Georges St-Pierre on possible fight with Anderson Silva: "not right now"
Tom Taylor - August 7, 2018
MMA fans have wanted to see Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva fight for years. Even now, when St-Pierre has long since abandoned the UFC welterweight title he once guarded so fiercely, and Anderson Silva’s reign as UFC middleweight champion is a distant memory, a collision between the two greats remains one of the most mouth-watering options on the MMA menu. Speaking at a press conference during his visit to Australia, the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre discussed this long-desired super fight. While the fans’ appetite for this fight has not dissipated, St-Pierre says it’s one that doesn’t make sense for him at present.
Georges St-Pierre makes prediction for Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor title fight
Thomas Taylor - August 6, 2018
Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre is currently on tour in Australia. During his visit to the Land Down Under, St-Pierre partook in a press conference, where he shared his interest in fighting the winner of Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s headline dominating UFC 229 title fight. “I would be interested in that fight,” he said. “That’s a win-win situation. It’s a legacy upgrade and it’s good money. It’s gonna be a big fight. Yeah, however, I fought at 170, I relinquished the title and I fought at 185, I relinquished the title. I don’t think the UFC will let me fight for the title at 155. They will be afraid I’ll relinquish and I’ll leave the division in ruins again.”
VIDEO | BJ Penn takes on The Crust in Guam
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn has been all over the world over the last few months. One of his recent trips took him to Guam, where he chowed down at Crust, a gourmet Pizzeria in the capital city of Hagåtña.
Even in defeat, Demetrious Johnson is forgotten
Jordy McElroy - August 6, 2018
For the first time in UFC history, a name other than Demetrious Johnson will be attached to the flyweight title. Henry Cejudo, the former Olympic gold medalist wrestler, did something historic at UFC 227 in dethroning the pound-for-pound king. Yet when the smoke cleared, all anyone could talk about was what’s next for Cejudo rather than what’s to become of Johnson. An iconic feat came crashing back down to Earth in the form of Johnson’s 11 consecutive title defenses, and it was about as emotional as someone losing a balloon in the air.
Bellator MMA announces first-round bouts for Welterweight Grand Prix
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
Bellator MMA has announced the matchups for the first round of its anticipated welterweight Grand Prix, and they’re fantastic. The tournament will begin with a trilogy bout between former champions Andrey Koreshkov and Douglas Lima, who are 1-1 across their two previous bouts. The pair will collide at Bellator 206 on September 29 — an event that marks the promotion’s debut on the streaming service DAZN.
Al Iaquinta issues fiery response to Kevin Lee's callout
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
Kevin Lee is one of the top contenders in the UFC lightweight division. Unfortunately, “The Motown Phenom” remains largely overshadowed by his peers Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson and Dustin Poirier. Perhaps sensing that a title shot is not quite within his reach, Kevin Lee recently made a clever callout of fan favorite lightweight contender Al Iaquinta.
Marlon Vera recounts being kicked out of locker room by "little b***h" Cody Garbrandt
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
Cody Garbrandt, who came up short to TJ Dillashaw in the UFC 227 main event, was assigned to the same locker room as UFC 227 undercard fighter Marlon Vera, who has recently done a bit of training with Dillashaw. When the both wound up in that locker room at the same time, Garbrandt and his team essentially kicked Vera out, worrying perhaps that he might be spying for Dillashaw. As you can probably imagine, this did not go over well with Vera, who was just hoping to do some training of his own.
Miesha Tate sympathizes with Nate Diaz after UFC 25th anniversary press conference
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
Late last week, it was announced that fan favorite lightweight contender Nate Diaz will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon opposite top contender Dustin Poirier. The pair are expected to collide in the co-main event of UFC 230 on November 3 in New York City. On Friday, the UFC held a massive press conference featuring all the stars of their upcoming shows — including Diaz and Poirier. The promotion also took this opportunity to announce a highly anticipated lightweight title fight between champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and challenger Conor McGregor. This news cast a massive shadow over everybody else at the press conference — including Diaz.
Henry Cejudo opens up on dreams of becoming a "triple champ"
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 227, Henry Cejudo accomplished something that was looking increasingly undoable: he dethroned dominating UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Amazingly, however, this might not even be the biggest accomplishment of Cejudo’s career, as he previously won a gold medal in the Olympics as a freestyle wrestler. And if he gets his way, it won’t be the last massive accomplishment of his career, as he hopes to move up to bantamweight to battle divisional champ TJ Dillashaw for his title.
TJ Dillashaw discusses possible rematch with Dominick Cruz
Tom Taylor - August 6, 2018
On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 227, UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw stepped into the cage for a rematch with his arch rival, former champ Cody Garbrandt. In this rematch, Dillashaw once again knocked Garbrandt out, moving to 2-0 over the champ, and effectively killing their rivalry in the process. Now that the Garbrandt saga of his career has concluded, Dillashaw can look to forward to his next challenge. One of the most exciting options available in this regard is a rematch with former champion Dominick Cruz, who he lost a close decision to in 2016.