MMA News

Tom Taylor - March 28, 2018

On Tuesday, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and new WWE star Ronda Rousey engaged in a whirlwind media day that produced plenty of interesting soundbites – and a few truly awkward moments. Given the current landscape of combat sports, it should come as no surprise that Rousey was eventually asked about the possibility of undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather moving to MMA.

Drake Riggs - March 27, 2018

The UFC’s 135-pound bantamweight division isn’t lacking any sort of talent. Especially when it comes at the top, as you could argue that the division has the highest level of combined talent out of any other division in MMA. Among those names is the often overlooked, Raphael Assuncao who is 10-1 in the weight class. That includes a 1-1 record against the current champion, TJ Dillashaw.

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/978677004265385984 This morning, we shared video of an extremely tense interview, during which Mike Golic made the mistake of asking new WWE star Ronda Rousey about her previous career as a professional fighter (see Golic’s undeniably clumsy attempt to get Rousey to open up on her MMA career here).

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has accomplished more in his 39 years than most of us could in several lifetimes. When he moves back up to the heavyweight division to challenge reigning king Stipe Miocic at UFC 226 on July 7, he stands to accomplish even more. That, of course, doesn’t mean Cormier’s life is devoid of regret. The champ is human, after all, and if he could time-travel, there’s one particular thing he’d go back and do over. It is not, for those wondering, his “Cake and Chicken” video. 

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

Back in November, in the first of three title fights on the UFC 217 bill, Joanna Jedrzejczyk lost the UFC strawweight title to Rose Namajunas, succumbing to a first-round knockout. While this emphatic loss marked the end of her longstanding title reign, Jedrzejczyk seems to have taken it in stride. In fact, she says her life is better than it was before she lost the title. “Life has been great, better than before,” Jedrzejczyk told Jim Edwards of MMANytt. “After my last fight my life just got better. I have honest people – I’m surrounded by good and honest people and life is good. I know the value of my life, my family, my friends and the real people around me unlike before.”

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

Well this is painfully awkward. Ronda Rousey misunderstands question, gets annoyed. pic.twitter.com/Pt7XwVRazh — Cork Gaines, Ph.D. (@CorkGaines) March 27, 2018

Tom Taylor - March 27, 2018

Frankie Edgar last fought just a few weeks ago, when he was knocked out by surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega in the first round of the UFC 222 co-main event. Despite this recent, concussive loss to Ortega, Edgar will fight again on April 21 in Atlantic City, where he will rematch fellow featherweight veteran Cub Swanson. Given that Edgar was knocked out so recently, many fans and pundits feel he should be taking a little more time off before he gets back in there. It’s the same kind of criticism Michael Bisping received for fighting Kelvin Gastelum mere weeks after he was defeated by Georges St-Pierre.

Christine Allen - March 27, 2018

“Every single loss feels like a piece of my soul has died. I’m never the same after a loss. For me, losing is second only to having a loved one die,” Ronda Rousey says in her memoir My Fight / Your Fight. Former UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, continues to be criticized by many within the MMA community following her unofficial retirement from the fight game on foot of back to back defeats within The Octagon.

Drake Riggs - March 26, 2018

All good things must come to an end… It just depends on when! And the time was not now for veteran featherweight, Cub Swanson. Swanson has had twenty-two fights in the UFC and WEC combined. A fan favorite in the aforementioned WEC, Swanson’s popularity carried over to the UFC after the organization was absorbed and his name value only began to grow from there. All you need to do is look at his eight fight of the night awards to see the evidence.

Drake Riggs - March 26, 2018

A fight result doesn’t get quite as shocking as the first of three title changes from November 4th, 2017. UFC 217 marked a historic and incredible night for the UFC and one of those reasons was due to how the then title challenger, Rose Namajunas was able to cut through reigning champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk with her striking. No one had ever had as much success against Joanna in such a short amount of time let alone defeat her. Rose was able to score a big early knockdown before finally capping the night off with a big left hook that forced echoing, ‘Thug Rose!’ chants out of the light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier on commentary.

Drake Riggs - March 26, 2018

One of the more underrated light heavyweight competitors of the last decade has been the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season 8 and current Bellator 205-pound champion, Ryan ‘Darth’ Bader. Bader has fought practically his entire MMA career in the UFC but has recently ventured over to Bellator where he’s had nothing but success. That’s not to say he didn’t find success in the UFC either though as he amassed a record of 15-5 with the organization before they decided to let him walk as a free agent. Including Bellator and UFC, better has won nine of his last ten fights.

Chris Taylor - March 26, 2018

REPORT | Another key welterweight fight in the works for UFC Liverpool The UFC’s welterweight division is finally back in motion as three huge 170-pound matchups were confirmed to be in the works last week.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

Drew Chatman’s pro debut, which occurred at LFA 36 over the weekend, could not have been weirder. After his opponent Ivrins Ayala KO’d himself by colliding with Chatman’s knee on the mat, Chatman stood up, and executed a front-flip off of his unconcious opponent’s spine. For this display of truly unsportsmanlike conduct, Chatman was handed a DQ loss (which deprived him of his pay per California Athletic Commission rules), and received a 90-day suspension.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

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Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

Volkan Oezdemir’s first shot at the UFC light heavyweight title did not go as planned, as he was thwarted by the ground-and-pound of champion Daniel Cormier in the bout’s second stanza. Despite this tough loss, the Swiss knockout artist doesn’t seem to be discouraged in the slightest. In fact, he believes he can be the UFC light heavyweight champion within a year. “It’s all about the goal,” Oezdemir told MMAjunkie late last week. “It’s all about where I’m headed… I’m still heading toward the same goal. It was not even one year to [earn] my title shot, and I guarantee you it’s not going to be another year until I’m champion.”

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

When it comes to making the featherweight division’s 146-pound limit, Charles Oliveira’s track record is not particularly good. Throughout his 12 attempts to hit this mark in the UFC, he’s succeeded just eight times. It’s for this reason that the promotion recently sent him packing up to the lightweight division. Since returning to the lightweight division, Oliveira has gone 1-1, first defeating Will Brooks by submission, then losing to Paul Felder by KO. In this loss to Felder in particular, Oliveira claims he felt he was at a significant strength disadvantage – which is why he and his management are currently fighting hard for the opportunity to return to featherweight.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

From a competitive standpoint, CM Punk’s MMA debut was a downright disaster. Though nobody has ever questioned the former pro wrestler’s cojones, he looked every bit a novice when he stepped into the cage with Mickey Gall at UFC 203 in September of 2016, and ultimately submitted to a first-round choke. While a blowout loss of this scale might have deterred a lesser competitor, however, Punk didn’t let it shake him from his goals. The former pro wrestler returned to the gym almost immediately after his loss to Gall, where he’s been working tirelessly ever since.

Tom Taylor - March 26, 2018

Undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather wants to test his mettle in the perilous arena of mixed martial arts. At the very least, that’s what he wants us to believe. Regardless of whether or not the 41-year-old Mayweather ever actually makes this jump, he’ll reportedly begin game-planning and training with UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley very soon. Woodley, who offered to prepare Mayweather for his MMA debut, updated on the boxer’s transition in an interview with TMZ. Apparently, his role in Mayweather’s training will have more to do with game-planning than actual hands-on training, though there could be a few legitimate training sessions peppered in throughout the process.