MMA News

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2018

By now, you’ve surely heard that Tony Ferguson has withdrawn from his anticipated UFC 223 title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, and been replaced by UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway. With this unfortunate turn of events, this seemingly cursed Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov bout has been scheduled and cancelled a whopping four times. Having tried and failed to book this fight so many times, UFC President Dana White is now assuring that he will never again attempt to schedule it.

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

Early yesterday evening, we were all staring at our screens skeptically, reading that Tony Ferguson had been forced out of his UFC 223 title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov with a leg injury. We expected this kind of nonsense because it was April Fools. Ha ha ha… very funny. Come on out, Ashton Kutcher. Ya got us… Slowly, however, we began to realize that this was no prank. In a truly cruel twist of fate, Ferguson had actually been forced out of his UFC 223 fight with a leg injury he sustained while walking—not by kicking steel pipes, but by turning to sharply while walking.

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

Max Holloway issues statement on UFC 223 lightweight title fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov Earlier tonight shocking news broke that current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson had suffered a “freak” knee injury and was forced out of next weekend’s UFC 223 event headliner with Khabib Nurmagomedov.

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

Khabib Nurmagomedov sends messages to both Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor Just over an hour ago news broke that current UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson had suffered an injury and was no longer able to compete against Khabib Nurmagomedov in next weekend’s UFC 223 main event.

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?

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Exclusive | Benson Henderson’s plan going forward: “Finishes, finishes, finishes!” Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson (24-8 MMA) has had a rough start to his Bellator MMA carrer.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Exclusive | Jimmie Rivera believes former champ Cody Garbrandt is being protected by management UFC bantamweight contender Jimmie Rivera (21-1 MMA) will be looking to extend his current win streak to twenty-one in a row by scoring a victory over Marlon Moraes at June’s UFC Fight Night 131 event in Utica, New York.

Chris Taylor - April 1, 2018

Exclusive | Jorge Masvidal sends a strong message to Kamaru Usman! After putting together an impressive three fight win streak, which included stoppage victories over Jake Ellenberger and Donald Cerrone, Jorge Masvidal has since suffered back-to-back decision setbacks to former UFC welterweight title challengers Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson.