MMA News

Tom Taylor - June 27, 2018

If Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz is to be believed, Conor McGregor is running low on dough. Speaking to TMZ Sports this week, Abdelaziz claimed that the Irish star is running out of money, which is why he’s “agreed” to fight Nurmagomedov.

Tom Taylor - June 27, 2018

We already know that former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida’s Bellator career will unfurl in both the light heavyweight and middleweight divisions. Apparently, however, Machida’s multi-divisional ambition might carry him all the way to the Bellator heavyweight division, where he could even battle MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. According to Bellator boss Scott Coker, this is a fight Lyoto Machida has actually asked or. And depending on how Emelianenko’s involvement in the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix shakes out, it’s a fight that could actually happen. Machida might also find himself in the cage with the winner of Gegard Mousasi and Rory MacDonald’s September 29 middleweight title fight.

Tom Taylor - June 27, 2018

https://youtu.be/cnqoc1xlkDY UFC 226 is, without any exaggeration, the biggest card of the year so far.

Tom Taylor - June 27, 2018

Alexander Gustafsson’s claim to the next UFC light heavyweight title shot is pretty much undeniable. Unfortunately for the towering Swede, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is in the midst of a sojourn up to the heavyweight division, where he will challenge Stipe Miocic for gold at UFC 226. In other words, there’s currently no light heavyweight champion available for Gustafsson to fight. From the sounds of it, the UFC is now hoping Gustafsson will take another fight before he contends for the light heavyweight title. Though the Swedish contender has stated he plans to be ready to step in and replace Cormier or Miocic in the event of an injury, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto is reporting that the UFC hopes to have Gustafsson fight at UFC 227 on August 4 in Los Angeles.

Drake Riggs - June 26, 2018

Wanderlei on Chael’s chances in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix. pic.twitter.com/sodJqI4au0 — Bad Guy MMA (@BadGuyMMA) June 26, 2018

Drake Riggs - June 26, 2018

Now that the Rose Namajunas vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk saga is over, for now anyway, the division must move on! And it appears to be making its first steps. A fight between top strawweight contenders, Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz that was originally slated to be taking place at UFC on Fox 28 in February…clearly did not happen.

Drake Riggs - June 26, 2018

Another week of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series and yet another thrilling night of finishes. Of the 15 fights so far in season 3, 14 have ended by finish. I would say that the theme for this week was finishing…but that appears to be the theme of the whole season.

Drake Riggs - June 26, 2018

Today, a prayer to the MMA Gods is indeed in order. And compared to the previous two…this one feels like it has a good chance at being answered soon. Everybody loves the heavyweight division. Especially their legendary figures like Mirko Cro Cop, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Igor Vovchanchyn, Randy Couture…the list goes on.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

What happens when welterweight knockout artist “Platinum” Mike Perry and MMA legend Jon Jones cross paths in Albuquerque? Well, some training, to be sure…But also a few tequila shots. Or, “like 100.” Speaking on the JW Raw Podcast this week, Perry opened up on a particularly wild night that he shared with Jones.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

Lyoto Machida’s time as a Bellator fighter will not be confined to a single weight class. Speaking at a Tuesday press conference announcing Bellator’s new deal with DAZN, Bellator President Scott Coker confirmed that Machida will most likely compete both in the 185-pound middleweight division and the 205-pound light heavyweight division, where he once wore UFC gold. Scott Coker says Lyoto Machida will fight at both light heavyweight and middleweight. Glad to hear this.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

That massive September 29th Bellator card that you’ve been hearing about? That’s going to air exclusively on the streaming service DAZN (pronounced Da Zone, for those unfamiliar). This card, which will feature a middleweight title super fight between divisional kingpin Gegard Mousasi and beefed-up welterweight champ Rory MacDonald, as well as a fourth fight between MMA legends Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Wanderlei Silva, will kick-start a multi-year deal between Bellator, parent company Viacom, and DAZN.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

If Conor McGregor returns to the cage for a fight with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, it could easily be the toughest test of his career thus far. All the same, his team sounds prepared to meet that challenge with a carefully constructed game plan. McGregor’s striking coach Owen Roddy discussed potential strategies for Nurmagomedov in a recent interview with MMAjunkie.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has long been considered one of MMA’s true good guys, and he has once again proven why that’s the case. It was recently announced that Machida had signed with Bellator MMA. Apparently, the UFC actually matched the offer that Bellator made Machida, but he moved to Bellator anyway because he’d already told the promotion’s decision makers that he would, and he’s a man of his word.

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2018

Conor McGregor tried to apologize to UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas after he nearly injured her in his infamous April rampage. He made this effort on Instagram, in a direct message to her. Unfortunately, she isn’t buying the Irish star’s apology. She explained why on the inaugural episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show. “I did get an Instagram message from him, but I don’t really know if that was really him,” Namajunas told Helwani (transcribed by Chamatkar Sandhu for ESPN). “To me, that doesn’t seem like the type of, it just didn’t seem like a sincere apology from an actual person. To me, I didn’t really, I guess, consider it a real apology.”

Drake Riggs - June 25, 2018

The biggest MMA event of the year (so far) took place earlier this month in Chicago, Illinois. It was the most recent UFC pay-per-view, UFC 225.

Drake Riggs - June 25, 2018

The Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones rivalry may never truly die. These two men just do not like each other…and we get to witness it. After Cormier’s recent comments about Jones in regards to Jones’ lack of a platform, Jones got a little bit riled up as he took to Twitter with some threatening words to the current UFC light heavyweight champ.

Drake Riggs - June 25, 2018

Earlier this month, UFC President, Dana White announced that he will be having the UFC move the weigh-in format back to afternoons.

Drake Riggs - June 25, 2018

Despite all the great action we witnessed at UFC 225, in the post-fight press conference it seemed like an off night for the boss-man, Dana White. Not in terms of the event going badly, but when it came to the rather unusual responses he gave out when answering questions from the media.