MMA News

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley believes he’s a nightmare matchup for new interim welterweight champion Colby Covington. The champ explained why he feels this way on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast, using some of his previous victories as examples. “If [a fighter’s] number one attribute is cardio, they’re up shit creek because cardio is a controllable variable,” Woodley said of Covington’s impeccable cardio (transcribed by Jeff Cain for MMAWeekly.com). “You can’t control that I’m a better wrestler; I’m stronger than you. You can’t control that I punch a shit-load harder than you. You can’t vouch for those things in a six-week training camp. In one year, you can’t change your punching power to be measurable to mine,”

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2018

At several times over the course of his illustrious MMA career, we’ve seen Conor McGregor get tired in fights. It seemed to happen in both of his unforgettable scraps with Nate Diaz, and also in his blockbuster 2017 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Highly respected Tristar MMA head coach Firas Zahabi feels he knows why this happens. He broke it down during his recent appearance on the JRE MMA Show.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2018

Throughout his MMA career, light heavyweight fan favorite Sean O’Connell has delighted us with his tradition of hilarious interactions with his opponents at the weigh-ins for each of his fights.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2018

Over the last few weeks, there’s been a scourge of fighters missing weight for high-profile UFC bouts, from Mackenzie Dern, to Darren Till, to Yoel Romero. According to UFC color commentator Jimmy Smith, the solution to this recurring problem is probably tougher punishments for those who miss their marks. Smith offered up his proposed solution to MMA’s weight-cutting problem during an appearance on UFC Tonight.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2018

On Saturday morning, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Singapore, longtime welterweight and lightweight contender Donald Cerrone will battle rising British welterweight contender Leon Edwards. While Edwards represents a dangerous challenger for Cerrone, Cerrone doesn’t seem to be too stressed about the fight. He doesn’t believe the young contender will bring anything to the cage that he hasn’t seen before.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2018

Currently riding high on decisive defeats of legendary heavyweights Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem, Curtis Blaydes feels he’s earned a shot at the winner of UFC 226’s Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier winner. Blaydes issued his latest call for a fight with the Miocic vs. Cormier winner — the next legend on his hit list — in Wednesday Tweet. See it below.

Drake Riggs - June 21, 2018

Earlier this month, we were treated to an instant classic in the middleweight division as Robert Whittaker made his first title defense in a rematch against Yoel Romero. The fight was a war throughout the whole five rounds, but apparently it could have came to a stop earlier than that had Romero not made some adjustments. Whittaker would win the very close battle via split decision. The fight didn’t officially count as a title defense either as Romero missed weight heading into the clash.

Drake Riggs - June 20, 2018

After recently having his USADA suspension reprimanded, former UFC heavyweight champ, Josh Barnett is now moving on from the organization. MMAJunkie’s Steven Marrocco is reporting that Barnett has been released from the UFC making him free to explore other options.

Thomas Taylor - June 20, 2018

Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi is hoping that his star pupil, Georges St-Pierre, will follow in the footsteps of Conor McGregor and battle undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring. In the opinion of veteran combat sports oddsmaker Joey Oddessa, however, there’s almost no point in making this fight — at least, not from a competitive vantage point. He believes St-Pierre would have no chance in a boxing bout with Mayweather, and the betting line for the potential fight would reflect this reality. “There are three certainties in life: Death, taxes, and Floyd Mayweather will not lose to any MMA fighter or boxer in a boxing ring over the duration of his lifetime,” Oddessa told MMAjunkie of this potential boxing match, which will almost certainly never happen.

Jordy McElroy - June 20, 2018

Daniel Cormier spent the last half of his MMA career tethered to an unremitting rivalry with Jon Jones, but at UFC 226, the reigning light heavyweight champion can cut the cord and step out of the darkness of the former pound-for-pound king’s polarizing shadow. There will be no more questions of whether he has earned the right to call himself a real UFC champion. No more waiting around for a trilogy of a rivalry gone stale. No more being upstaged by a man he isn’t even fighting.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2018

PRIDE legend Wanderlei Silva says he’s fighting Quinton “Rampage” Jackson under the Bellator banner on September 29. Silva shared this exciting news in a video on his official Facebook page. ”Like people say, it’s very hard for a good professional to retire,” Silva said (via MMA Fighting). “I just got a call from Bellator inviting to be part of the Sept. 29 [card] against Quinton Jackson in the main event in California. It’s our fourth bout, I won two of the first three, so it’s 2-1 for me.”

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2018

Chael Sonnen has a piece of advice for Henry Cejudo, who rematches dominating flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson at UFC 227 on August 4. Sonnen feels that, if Cejudo hopes to build interest in this flyweight title rematch, he needs to cast himself as the villain in the story. “He just wouldn’t come out of his shell,” Sonnen said of Cejudo’s typical attitude. “He just simply wouldn’t do it. He just wanted to be the good and likeable guy, no matter how many times we try to grab him by the collar and say ‘Henry, that spot’s taken — the good guy is taken by Demetrious — but there’s another seat in the car.'”

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2018

Former two-division World Series of Fighting champion and current UFC middleweight contender David Branch was offered a fight with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, but Jacare apparently turned the fight down.  I just want to be clear to everyone I’ve been offered to fight JACARE main event August 22nd in Brazil and he’s not feeling confident enough to take the fight. @arielhelwani @DamonMartin @bokamotoESPN @sherdogdotcom @NewYorkRic @lthomasnews

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2018

If Firas Zahabi gets his way, former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre will follow up in the footsteps of Conor McGregor and step into the boxing ring with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. Zahabi shared his hopes for a St-Pierre vs. Mayweather boxing match on a recent episode of the JRE MMA Show.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2018

CM Punk’s second MMA fight, which pitted him against Mike Jackson at UFC 225, didn’t go a whole lot better than his first. Though the former pro wrestler managed to survived until the final bell, he was soundly beaten for the bout’s duration — on the feet and on the mat — erasing any lingering hope that he might have what it takes to cut it in the perilous world of cage fighting. Yet just as he did in his first fight, a first-round submission loss to Mickey Gall, Punk showed that he’s got a toaster-sized heart thumping away inside his tattoo-covered chest. Though he is clearly short on the ability required to thrive as a mixed martial artist, he is long on guts, and that fact impressed many of the UFC’s top fighters.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s next fight is likely to pit him against interim champion Colby Covington — a man known for his willingness to talk trash about pretty much anybody with a pulse. Over the last few months, Covington has fired his patented verbal missiles at Woodley, Rafael dos Anjos, Darren Till, UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, Octagon commentator Joe Rogan, even his former roommate, light heavyweight legend Jon Jones.

Drake Riggs - June 19, 2018

When it comes to fight nights, you couldn’t have asked for much more in week 2 of the second season of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. We were treated to five fights and five finishes, three knockouts and two submissions. On top of that, we got a record four UFC contracts handed out to the winners.

Drake Riggs - June 19, 2018

After an ultra-impressive first round knockout victory over Thiago Santos in April, former WSOF double champ, David Branch has his sights set on another big fight. Specifically in the crosshairs of Branch is the perennial top 5 middleweight contender, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza.