MMA News

Tom Taylor - March 22, 2018

As the owner of ONE Championship’s lightweight and featherweight titles, Martin Nguyen is already a two-division champion. For the man they call “The Situ-Asian,” however, two titles is simply not enough.

Tom Taylor - March 22, 2018

UFC 224, which goes down on May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has looked like it could be a very big card from the moment it was announced. According to BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor, who has spoken with multiple sources close to the situation, the card is about to get a whole lot bigger, as the UFC is working on a UFC 224 interim welterweight title fight between top contenders Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington.

Tom Taylor - March 22, 2018

SBG Ireland’s Artem Lobov is currently on a two-fight losing-streak, having recently given up decisions to dangerous foes in Cub Swanson and Andre Fili.

Jason Kindschy - March 22, 2018

Another STACKED episode of BJPENN.COM Radio has arrived, Penn Nation! We kick things off with our good friend, Duane Ludwig. “Bang” will give us his thoughts on the stalled negotiations for a super-fight between TJ Dillashaw and Demetrious Johnson, how he plans to help Curtis Blaydes prepare for Alistair Overeem, and we’ll also hear the latest in his journey of instructing martial arts students and helping them rise to their full potential.

Drake Riggs - March 21, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMAFighting/status/976546940027457536 “I haven’t even got married yet. I think that those are future plans [to have a child]. Nina [Ansaroff] is getting closer to the ranking and I think she has a great chance of also being a champion. So she wants another couple of opportunities to see where she can get in the rankings and then we’ll decide about getting married and having kids.

Drake Riggs - March 21, 2018

UFC 222 marked the first time “Alpha” Cat Zingano made the walk to the octagon since UFC 200 in July of 2016. Unfortunately, the return to action against undefeated rising Brazilian contender, Ketlen Vieira did not go as Zingano had planned. Vieira would end up earning the split decision victory in what was a tough battle that extended her winning streak to ten and Zingano’s losing streak to three(the first and only skid of her career).

Drake Riggs - March 21, 2018

.@TWooodley hops on @UFCtonight and dishes on his shoulder, training @FloydMayweather and there being no real #1 contenders in his division! pic.twitter.com/C5IyDuF9e0 — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) March 22, 2018

Drake Riggs - March 21, 2018

A UFC debut can’t get much rougher than the one that new UFC flyweight, Priscila Cachoeira had to go through last month. The undefeated Brazilian newcomer, Cachoeira entered the octagon for the very first time in her home country…but in the end, that was about the only good memory to come of that night in Belem. Her opponent would be none other than the recent bantamweight title challenger and multiple time Muay Thai champion, Valentina Shevchenko.

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

The UFC’s upcoming debut in Chile, which is scheduled for May 19, will feature one hell of a light heavyweight showdown as former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua has been booked opposite recent light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. This bout was announced on the UFC’s official social media channels on Wednesday evening.

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

How many fighters ask Dana White for a bonus after their fights? How many Tweet at matchmakers requesting certain match-ups? If you haven’t paid attention, it’s a whole lot. That’s not Artem Lobov’s style. He believes if you want something, you have to go out and get it yourself and make it undeniable. No matter how many wins or losses on his record, he is letting everyone know that will never be him. “The UFC is full of beggars. They’re all beggars. You need to be a go-getter. You need to go and get it. You need to go and make changes and go after what you want. All these guys they beg for everything. When they want more money, they don’t how else to go about it. They say, ‘Oh please pay me more, you’re not paying me enough’. What kind of attitude is that? I hate people like that. I never want to be a guy like that and I never will be. I went out there, I reached out to other organizations and said I could potentially be getting cut, I’m not yet but I could be, what are the offers, what are the options?”

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

Kicking off with April, the UFC has an insane line-up of fights that will eventually lead up to a huge UFC 226 card headlined by Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier. Rising contender Curtis Blaydes, who is fresh off his win over Mark Hunt, trained years back with the UFC heavyweight champion. While it’s tough to choose, Blaydes believes Miocic has the edge over the Olympian light heavyweight belt-holder. “It is a tough one. This is another great match-up. Daniel Cormier, who is I think undefeated as a heavyweight, to put him against, as you said, possibly the greatest heavyweight champion we’ve had, I think it’s a great match-up. I’m going with Stipe [Miocic]. I think it’s going to be a banger. I think it’s going to be five rounds, just like Jon Jones’ last fight, not his last one against DC but their first fight against each other. I think it’s gonna go like that. They’re both gonna get rocked, they’re both gonna get taken down, they’re both gonna get cut and have bruises and what not, but I think Stipe’s length and his boxing [will be too much].“

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

Despite not being able to fight twice now, Max Holloway isn’t through with Frankie Edgar. Both seem to be moving on – Holloway defending against Brian Ortega, with Edgar in talks to fight Cub Swanson – but Holloway is confident they’ll meet eventually. He also went on record in defense of the former UFC lightweight champion, as well as Jose Aldo. “Me and Frankie [Edgar] still got unfinished business. Everyone is talking about Frankie and [Jose] Aldo like they’re two dead guys. They say, ‘Too washed up.’ They’re still animals. They’ve been at the top of the heap. They’ve been top-five, top-three in any division they were in, forever. People keep talking about how these guys are old; we’ll see. You can’t speak on it yet. It’s a couple losses. It’s MMA.”

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

Back in February, Lyoto Machida got back in the winners column after a three-fight losing streak. The 39-year old veteran isn’t close to slowing down, as he is booked to fight another legend in the sport, Vitor Belfort at UFC 224. Not that the pressure is off, he’s looking forward to leaving it all out in the Octagon in Rio and holding nothing back. “They want to retire me, but I don’t want to be retired. I have more fights. I have more years. I believe that. Because the verb that I like to say here, it’s not about ‘can,’ but about ‘want.’ If you want something, you can get it. That’s what I put in my mind. It’s different because I feel more confident now. I feel like I can give my best. Because, when you have no options – only victory – you feel a lot of pressure over your shoulders. But once you release everything, it’s showtime. It’s time to show everything I have.”

Justin Golightly - March 21, 2018

Darren Till can’t get a fight even though he’s headlining a major UFC Liverpool card. Kamaru Usman is sitting just above him in the rankings, but can’t get a fight either. The two recently went at it on Twitter, but doesn’t believe it will actually result in them fighting at UFC Liverpool. Why? First, because Usman doesn’t believe the UFC wants Till to lose on hs own show. Second, because the stalling at the top of welterweight. “The UFC got itself in a situation here. This is the situation right now in the welterweight division: Darren Till and I are sitting at No. 7 and No. 8. No one above us will take a fight with either him or I, absolutely not. A couple of guys above us are actually terrified of us. Colby Covington being the first one. He is definitely terrified because he only wants [Tyron] Woodley. He thinks, ‘I already got up here, so I’m not going to risk getting beat up by any of these other guys. If I’m going to get beat up I want to get paid for it by fighting Woodley.’ Nobody above us will fight us.”

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

When Californian featherweight Brian Ortega knocked out Frankie Edgar at UFC 222, he usurped the New Jersey native’s spot as the division’s number one contender. Ortega is now poised to challenge reigning featherweight champion Max Holloway for the title, just as soon as the champ is fighting fit. Speaking on The MMA Hour this week, Holloway explained that, while he’s very excited to fight the undefeated Ortega, he can also envision a world where Edgar racks up a few wins  and earns another title shot.

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

UFC women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes and top flyweight contender Valentina Shevchenko have previously engaged in two competitive scraps, with Nunes’ emerging the victor by a narrow margin on both occasions. While the grounds for a third fight would certainly seem to be there as a result, this is not something Nunes is interested in. “I don’t care about [Shevchenko],” Nunes told MMAJunkie this week. “She’s, like, only Valentina. She’s going to talk about me. I’m the best, you know? That’s why she talks about me.”

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

Last weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s exciting trip to London, England, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum was knocked out by former Bellator heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov. Speaking to MMAFighting in the wake of this loss, Werdum explained that he feels his lack of patience was one of the main factors that contributed to this loss.

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2018

Yesterday evening, UFC welterweight contenders Kamaru Usman and Darren Till engaged in a heated back-and-forth on Twitter. Shortly thereafter, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz involved several other top welterweights with a followup Tweet – including Jorge Masvidal, who didn’t take kindly to what was being said. Here’s how it all went down.