MMA News

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

Bad news, fight fans. Just a little over 24 hours removed from the news that Tony Ferguson has been forced out of his scheduled UFC 223 showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov and replaced by Max Holloway, we’ve lost another high profile bout, as Matt Brown has been forced out of his ultra-violent UFC Glendale showdown with Carlos Condit. News of Brown’s withdrawal from this April 14 bloodletting, which is due to an ACL tear, was first reported by MMAFighting‘s Ariel Helwani.

Drake Riggs - April 2, 2018

You’re lying if you don’t think that the last forty-eight hours have been ridiculous in the MMA world. The joke of all MMA jokes was delivered on the day of jokes but…it wasn’t a joke… The highly anticipated lightweight title battle between interim champion, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov was called off for the fourth time after Ferguson sustained a freak injury. This puts the two at 2-2 when pulling out of booked fights between them. This one might just not be meant to happen.

Chris Taylor - April 2, 2018

Conor McGregor releases savage response to UFC 223 main event drama! Yesterday the mixed martial arts world was left in shock after Brett Okamoto and Ariel Helwani reported that current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson had suffered a knee injury and would no longer be able to compete against Khabib Nurmagomedov at this Saturday’s UFC 223 event in Brooklyn.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

With Tony Ferguson out with a leg injury, Khabib Nurmagomedov will now fight UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway in the UFC 223 main event. While he’s happy to have received a replacement opponent at all, he said his first choice in this regard was Conor McGregor. “I told them first, ‘hey, where is this Burger King, [bring] this Burger King here,'” Nurmagomedov told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “I need this guy, because he put a Tweet a couple weeks ago saying ‘stay ready.’ Now where is this guy? Six days to make weight? It’s a [good amount of days] to make weight. It’s not like two, three. It’s six he can weight. Bring this guy.”

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

From the sounds of it, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway wasn’t the only featherweight to accept a last-minute fight with undefeated lightweight dynamo Khabib Nurmagomedov. While it was ultimately Holloway who got the fight, surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega also accepted a matchup with Nurmagomedov. Ortega dropped this interesting tidbit on Twitter on Monday afternoon. He also assured that while the Nurmagomedov matchup landed in Holloway’s lap, he’ll fight both men in the future.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, we learned that Tony Ferguson had been forced out of his UFC 223 lightweight title showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov with a leg injury. Somewhere amid the fallout of this unfortunate twist of fate, the UFC contacted its reigning featherweight champion Max Holloway, and offered him a last-minute fight with Nurmagomedov. Flaunting some seriously hefty cojones, Holloway accepted this offer, and will now battle the undefeated Nurmagomedov for lightweight gold in the new UFC 223 main event. Speaking on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Holloway’s manager Brain Butler-Au shared Holloway’s reaction to this insane turn of events.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

Yesterday evening, we learned that Tony Ferguson had been forced out of his UFC 223 showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov with a freak leg injury, and that UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway would be moving up a weight class to replace him on just six days notice. Less than 24 hours after this news broke, we’re all still trying to wrap our heads around it. UFC color commentator Joe Rogan is no exception to that. On Monday morning—once he was sure this whole ordeal wasn’t some elaborate April Fools prank—Rogan posted to Twitter to give his thoughts on the matter. He, like most of us, is heartbroken. That said, he expects his heartbreak to give way to excitement, as he gradually stops mourning the loss of Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov, and anticipating a truly insane matchup in Nurmagomedov vs. Holloway.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

Last week, Ronda Rousey partook in a frenzied string of interviews to promote her upcoming match at WrestleMania 34. These interviews produced some pretty tense moments, particularly when she was asked about her former career as a mixed martial artist. That said, Rousey had no problem heaping praise on a fellow MMA superstar in Conor McGregor. Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Rousey happily praised McGregor, and said that she feels him a lot for taking some of the pressure off her.

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

Yesterday, we learned that Tony Ferguson had been forced out of his UFC 223 showdown with Khabib Nurmagomedov with a freak leg injury. Though we all wanted to believe this news was an extremely elaborate April Fools joke, it turns out it wasn’t. It’s all very real. With this latest calamity, Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov have now been scheduled to fight a whopping four times to no avail. Four goddamn times they’ve signed contracts to scrap, and not once have they actually made it into the cage together… you can’t make this stuff up!

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

By this point, we’ve all woken up, pinched ourselves, and come to grips with the unfortunate reality that Tony Ferguson’s UFC 223 withdrawal was not an elaborate April Fools joke or a nightmare. The interim lightweight champ really has been forced out of the fight with a leg injury—a leg injury he sustained while he was walking, if you can believe that. The good news is that we get a solid consolation prize. Nurmagomedov will still fight on the card, taking on a beefed up version of UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway, who steps up on just six days notice. The two will battle for the undisputed lightweight title.

Russell Sai - April 2, 2018

Holloway tells KHON2 he is ready for Khabib and ready to “make history” at #UFC223 https://t.co/YBVBQ330Pl @BlessedMMA #BlessedEra pic.twitter.com/B1Wyeu7eCs — Rob DeMello (@RobDeMelloKHON) April 2, 2018

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Nate Diaz reacts to today’s shocking UFC 223 news! Former UFC lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz put current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson on blast shortly following today’s devastating news that “El Cucuy” had suffered a knee injury and could no longer compete against Khabib Nurmagomedov in the headliner of next weekend’s UFC 223 event in Brooklyn.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

UFC 223 Odds: Khabib Nurmagomedov opens as massive favorite over Max Holloway! Undefeated lightweight contedner Khabib Nurmagomedov has opened up as a massive betting favorite for his newly announced UFC 223 lightweight title fight with current featherweight title holder Max Holloway.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Tony Ferguson’s “freak” injury occured the day after the UFC 223 conference call Earlier tonight devastating news broke that current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson had suffered a knee injury and was forced out of his scheduled UFC 223 headliner with undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Tony Ferguson issues emotional statement following UFC 223 removal Earlier this evening the mixed martial arts world was left shocked by some devastating news that current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson had suffered a knee injury and was forced out of his scheduled UFC 223 headliner with undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Breaking! Dana White addresses the UFC’s complicated lightweight title picture Earlier this evening news broke that current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson had suffered a knee injury and was no longer able to compete against Khabib Nurmagomedov in the headliner of next weekend’s UFC 223 event in Brooklyn.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Breaking! Tony Ferguson is out of UFC 223 Current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson has suffered a knee injury and is out of his scheduled UFC 223 fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Drake Riggs - April 1, 2018

It’s going to pretty hard for another month this year to top April’s lineup of fights because it is absolutely loaded with stellar showdowns. And that’s no foolin’… Last month the organizations outside stole the spotlight but the UFC dominates heavily with the fights this month. What April lacks in title fights, it makes up for in a multitude of beautiful stylistic clashes, almost to a surprising extent. But as a fan of any sport, can you ever really get enough?