MMA News

Tom Taylor - May 21, 2018

Stephen Thompson, who battles surging British contender Darren Till in the main event of the UFC’s Saturday night debut in Liverpool, England, is not a fan of the UFC’s choice to crown an interim welterweight champion. It’s his belief that by crowning the winner of Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington’s UFC 225 battle the interim welterweight champ, the promotion diminishes the value of the actual welterweight belt, which is currently owned by Tyron Woodley. “I don’t think so at all,” Thompson told BloodyElbow last week, when asked if he believed an interim title needed to be created. “If [Woodley]’s out for another year or two, then probably yeah, I think you should. But if he’s saying he’s gonna be back in July or August, there’s no reason why you should be fighting for an interim title.”

Tom Taylor - May 21, 2018

Alexa Grasso’s battle with The Ultimate Fighter 23 winner Tatiana Suarez, which headlined the UFC’s Saturday night debut in Santiago, Chile, did not go the way she planned. Instead, the Mexican strawweight was taken down and submitted by her American adversary in the very first round. Shortly after this loss, Grasso took to Instagram to issue a statement. Here’s what she had to say.

Tom Taylor - May 21, 2018

Earlier this month, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell announced his intention to emerge from an eight-year-retirement to make a comeback. While nothing is set in stone just yet, it sounds as though Liddell’s comeback fight will pit him against his former arch rival Tito Ortiz, probably in Oscar De La Hoya’s new MMA promotion. Liddell and Ortiz have fought twice before, with Liddell winning both contests by stoppage. That being said, Ortiz feels he never got the opportunity to show the best version of himself against Liddell in the UFC.

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of the UFC’s debut in Santiago, Chile, strawweight wrestling specialist Tatiana Suarez picked up a dominant, first-round submission victory over the highly-regarded Alexa Grasso. Suarez’s grappling dominance was so impressive in this fight that she was quickly compared to undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, and absolute grappling juggernaut, post-fight.

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

UFC 226, which already stands out as the most stacked card of the year thus far, keeps getting better. The latest dynamite booking to be added to the lineup is a lightweight scrap pitting New Zealand’s Dan Hooker against Brazil’s Gilbert Burns. This bout was first reported by Stuff.

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a big Conor McGregor fan. That’s been clear for quite some time. Yet after watching the documentary Conor McGregor: Notorious, which celebrates McGregor’s many massive accomplishments, The Rock’s admiration for the Irish fighter seems to have ballooned even bigger. The wrestler-turned-actor heaped praise on McGregor on a Saturday night Instagram post.

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Last night, news surfaced that the UFC had made an adjustment to the UFC 225 main card, adding a featherweight contender bout between Holly Holm and Megan Anderson to the main card, at the expense of a heavyweight contender bout between Alistair Overeem and Curtis Blaydes. This Overeem vs. Blaydes fight, which was first reported by BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor, will now occur in the final bout of the UFC 225 undercard, per Damon Martin. UFC 225 moved Holly Holm vs Megan Anderson to the main card with Alistair Overeem vs Curtis Blaydes now on the FS1 prelims pic.twitter.com/LTJEg2xVBL

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Fresh off a dominant decision victory over former UFC middleweight and welterweight title challenger Demian Maia, surging welterweight Kamaru Usman wants a crack at divisional kingpin Tyron Woodley. He feels it’s a fight he’s earned, and interestingly, an easier fight than the one he just had with Maia. “I think I should fight for the belt next,” Usman said at the post-fight press conference for the UFC’s debut in Santiago, Chile, where he defeated Maia (via MMA Fighting). “I just dominated [Maia] better than [UFC champion] Tyron Woodley. Tyron ran from him the whole fight. Tyron threw, what, the fewest strikes in a championship fight ever? And I just went out and I dominated the guy from start to finish.”

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Last night, the UFC made its debut in the beautiful South American country of Chile with an exciting, 13-fight card out of the capital of Santiago. The card was topped by a clash of welterweight contenders as surging up-and-comer Kamaru Usman took on dangerous veteran Demian Maia, who replaced the injured Santiago Ponzinibbio on just three weeks notice. Though Maia was able to give Usman some interesting looks in the first round, Usman surged back in the second, denying all of his foe’s takedown attempts, and battering him on the feet — apparently with two broken hands. By the end of the fifth round, there could be no other option than a lopsided unanimous decision win for Usman. 

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated debut in the South American nation of Chile, surging UFC welterweight contender Kamaru Usman authored his best win yet, braving a tough first round to pick up a dominant, unanimous decision win over the veteran Demian Maia. Usman’s win became even more impressive post-fight, when he divulged that he believed he’d broken both of his hands early in the contest. With this win over Maia, Usman improved to a solid 13-1 overall, and a flawless 8-0 in the UFC’s Octagon. Needless to say, he’s now one of the welterweight division’s top contenders, and is in sprinting distance of a fight with reigning champion Tyron Woodley.

Tom Taylor - May 20, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Santiago, Chile, surging UFC welterweight contender Kamaru Usman picked up his biggest win yet, authoring a dominant unanimous decision victory over Brazilian jiu jitsu ace Demian Maia. Usman, who was originally expected to battle Argentine striker Santiago Ponzinibbio in the UFC Chile main event, faced a spot of adversity in the first round, succumbing to Maia’s first takedown attempt, and nearly giving up his back to the vaunted grappler. From there, however, Usman thwarted every one of Maia’s takedowns. This allowed him to bludgeon the Brazilian on the feet for the remainder of the fight.

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

A key welterweight fight between former title challenger Demian Maia and surging division contender Kamaru Usman served as the headliner of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 129 event in Chile. Round one begins and Kamaru Usman starts off quickly. He throws a jab and then another. Maia is circling looking for a way inside. Demian shoots in and secures a takedown. Usman immediately scrambles and is lucky to get back to his feet. Maia stays on him and ends up securing Usman in what looks like a standing twister position. Maia begins to throw some punches and suddenly the referee steps in and breaks up the fighters. That was an odd break up. Regardless we continue and Usman takes the center of the octagon. Kamaru with a jab. Maia answers with a left hand over the top. Maia circles along the cage. He fires off a left that misses. Usman lands a right and the horn sounds to end round one.

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

A light heavyweight fight between Jared Cannonier and Dominick Reyes took place on tonight’s UFC Fight Night 129 main card from Santiago, Chile. Round one begins and Cannonier comes forward with a punch. Reyes catches him with a kick to the body. More forward pressure from Jared. He misses with a left. Reyes connects with a pair of front kicks to the body. Dominick circles and throws another kick. He slips but gets back up to his feet. Reyes with a nice low kick. He shoots in on Cannonier but Jared stuffs the attempt. Reyes with a nice jab from the pocket. He circles along the fence. Cannonier presses forward and looks to clinch. Reyes avoids the position and fires off another kick to the body. Dominick is utilizing his jab now. Jared ducks under and leaps in with a combination. Reyes with a an uppercut that appears to rock Cannonier. Reyes with pressure now. He lands a head kick and Jared is on stilts. Reyes comes in with another uppercut and Jared is out cold. WOW! Dominick Reyes is for real!

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

A highly anticipated heavyweight fight between perennial contenders Alistair Overeem and Curtis Blaydes will take place at UFC 225 on June 9 in Chicago. BJPENN.com’s Tom Taylor first reported the clash of heavyweights back in February.

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

A welterweight bout between Chad Laprise and Vicente Luque kicked off tonight’s UFC Fight Night 129 main card in Chile. Round one begins and Luque quickly takes the center of the octagon. Laprise connects with a low kick. Chad is circling along the outside and then proceeds to land a jab. Luque with a leg kick and then another. Laprise fires back with one of his own. Vincente remains in the center of the octagon. He fires off a right hand. Laprise avoids the strike and circles left. Chad is utilizing a lot of movement early. He leaps in with a knee and then tries to force a takedown. The fight briefly hits the canvas but both fighters quickly scramble back to their feet. Chad Laprise presses Luque against the cage and begins working on a single leg takedown. Vicente stuffs the attempt and breaks free from the position. Luque retakes the center of the octagon. He fires off a jab followed by a front kick to the body of the Canadian. Laprise circles and then leaps in with a combination. Vicente avoids any real damage and then attempts a high kick which is blocked. One minute remains in the opening round. Laprise rushes in with a combination but Luque counters beautifully with a punch. Laprise drops to the canvas and Vicente jumps on him with ground and pound. This one is all over folks. Wow! What a finish.

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

The octagon made it’s debut in Chile tonight for UFC Fight Night 129. The first fight of the evening featured a lightweight battle between Claudio Puelles and Felipe Silva.

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

Former UFC fighters Nikita Krylov and Fabio Maldonado squared off for the Fight Nights Global light heavyweight title earlier today in Russia. Maldonado entered the bout as champion, this following his submission victory over Kurban Omarov this past September.

Chris Taylor - May 19, 2018

Mackenzie Dern improved her mixed martial arts record to a perfect 7-0 at last weekend’s UFC 224 event in Brazil, scoring a first-round submission victory (rear-naked choke) over Amanda Cooper. However, Dern’s victory over Cooper at UFC 224 was marred in controversy, this after Mackenzie had missed weight by a whopping seven pounds. Despite the jiu-jitsu ace having a significant size advantage, “ACB” decided to take the fight and by doing so also received 30 percent of Dern’s fight purse.