MMA News

Justin Golightly - March 20, 2018

It just so happens that when Alexander Gustafsson is ready to come back, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is jumping up in weight to try and hold belts in two divisions. Regardless if he beats Stipe Miocic at UFC 226, Cormier will be retiring before March of last year so he’s on his way out. This leaves Gustafsson asking what about him? He thinks he deserves to fight for an interim belt. “Me fighting [Daniel Cormier] for the real title, that opportunity went out the window. I feel I earned my spot off my last performance, but here we are. With DC moving up, the next step for me should be for an interim title. I brought it up to the UFC. Let’s see what happens. All I know is that in my situation, whoever they put in front of me next, it must be for the interim title. I feel like I’ve been taking fights and climbing ladders, climbing rankings, my entire career.”

Justin Golightly - March 20, 2018

It looks like Frankie Edgar wants to get back in the Octagon quick and get this UFC 222 loss out of his head. Although, the match-up may cause you to lose your own. Edgar and Cub Swanson are in the works to fight at UFC Atlantic City according to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, which no doubt will be a fire fight of epic proportions. The fight is only half of the newsflash, the other part being that this means Cub Swanson will have signed back with the UFC after testing out free agency. Some news … https://t.co/Vwf1lreqBg pic.twitter.com/kRxaAXPiSH

Tom Taylor - March 20, 2018

Though former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva is currently embroiled in an ugly scandal stemming from a failed drug test, he’s not willing to close the door on his fighting career completely. Even though there is a legitimate chance he could be sidelined with a lengthy suspension as a result of this latest steroid-related SNAFU, he still envisions a future where he could fight for again. He even believes he could fight for the title again one day. “I’m happy with everything that I’ve conquered,” Silva told Globo Esporte in a recent interview (via Bloody Elbow). “Nothing is forever. I still have my UFC contract and I’m very happy with it. Only time will tell what’s next. I’m feeling well, I train everyday, I’m a healthy guy. Waiting is all there is to it. I’m still alive in the division and there may be a chance to fight for the title again.”

Justin Golightly - March 20, 2018

What in the world is Conor McGregor going to do? He can fight the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson after UFC 223, the trilogy with Nate Diaz is always there, arguably the biggest potential fights though are with Georges St-Pierre or another exhibition bout with Floyd Mayweather. Or, he could always just go into pro wrestling. John Cena, who’s accomplishments in pro wrestling are longer than this article, believes McGregor would be amazing at it. “[Conor McGregor] would do fantastic [in the WWE]. Hell, he would put me out of work. He gets the entertainment aspect of sport and I think he gets it as good, or better, than anyone else. The way he promoted the fight against [Floyd] Mayweather; that’s what we do. He did it as good, or better, than us. I hope one day, if you’re out there watching and you want to come to WWE, he would be a fantastic WWE superstar, but again that’s out of my hands.” — John Cena speaking to Entertainment.ie.

Tom Taylor - March 20, 2018

It’s looking more and more likely that 41-year-old retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather will step into the Octagon in the near future – though most of us still have understandable doubts that it will actually happen. If Mayweather does step into the cage, of course, he’ll be discounted against pretty much any opponent he fights. That is likely to be particularly true if he battles his arch rival Conor McGregor, who he defeated in the boxing ring back in August of 2017. As talk of Mayweather’s move to MMA continue to louden, sportsbook Westgate Las Vegas has released odds for a potential MMA showdown between the boxer and the MMA star. As expected, McGregor is considered a massive favorite, while Mayweather has been pegged as a significant underdog.

Tom Taylor - March 20, 2018

Nicco Montano is the UFC women’s flyweight champion. She earned that distinction with a December decision defeat of Roxanne Modafferi. While Montano is the champion, however, many fans seem to consider flyweight contender Valentina Shevchenko the division’s best fighter. There are even some fans who believe Montano is avoiding Shevchenko. Speaking to KRQE earlier this month, Montano explained that this simply isn’t the case. She’s currently doing her best to heal up from a nasty foot injury, and his happy to defend against Shevchenko when she’s fighting fit.

Tom Taylor - March 20, 2018

Brock Lesnar’s WWE contract could wrap up after WrestleMania this April, and UFC heavyweight Francis Ngannou is hoping that means Lesnar will return to the Octagon. Speaking on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Ngannou begged the hulking pro wrestler to return to the UFC, where he hopes they can fight.

EVOLVE MMA - March 20, 2018

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Nicknamed “Tobikan Judan” which in Japanese loosely translates to “The Grandmaster of Flying Submissions”, Shinya Aoki is a well-known figure in the martial arts world who is recognized for his technical grappling skill. He is a multiple-time grappling world champion, and is widely-considered one of the most talented grapplers in all of MMA.

Tom Taylor - March 20, 2018

After a flawless, 12-0 start to her run as a professional mixed martial artist, Ronda Rousey‘s career was derailed by two brutal losses. The first came courtesy of Holly Holm, who put her down with a second-round head kick, while the second was dealt by Amanda Nunes, who put her away with punches in less than a minute.

Justin Golightly - March 19, 2018

We said it wouldn’t happen. We said it didn’t make any sense. We made fun of people that thought it was going down. Sound familiar? This is how nearly the entire planet felt about a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, but it manifested itself nevertheless. It seems like Mayweather making his MMA debut could be following the same pattern. “[I haven’t applied for my MMA license] yet. Not yet, but everything takes time. Eventually we’re gonna apply for the license and hopefully we can fight [in the UFC]. We probably need a little bit longer [than three months to get ready for my first MMA fight]. A little bit longer. Even if it takes six to eight months, whatever it takes, we want to make sure everything is done correctly and everything is done the right way.” — Floyd Mayweather speaking to TMZ Sports.

Justin Golightly - March 19, 2018

When Darren Till got announced as the headliner for UFC Liverpool, patient fans finally had a reason to celebrate. Till would finally return after his destruction of tough-as-they-come Donald Cerrone at UFC Gdansk back in October of last year. Unfortunately, we can’t get too stoked though, he still doesn’t have an opponent. On the long list sits Jorge Masvidal, who’d love to fight Till, but he just can’t make it to the Scouser’s backyard that fast. “[Darren] Till. I’d love that fight, man. I think the dude is talented. He’s young, he hungry, he stepped up to the plate when he fought Cowboy [Cerrone]. I got nothing but respect for that dude. His performances before that — again, the kid’s good — but when he had his toughest fight, he came, he showed up, he did what he had to do.”

Justin Golightly - March 19, 2018

While it hasn’t been long since Robert Whittaker first defeated Yoel Romero at UFC 213, it seems like forever ago. A lot has went down, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. Whittaker still holds the UFC middleweight title and has been waiting to see the rightful challenger rise to meet him after his injury. It just happens to be Romero, who is expected to be just as if not more dangerous at UFC 225 than their last encounter. “[Yoel] Romero is a hard fight. It was a war the first time. It’s definitely up there as one of my hardest fights to date, one of the hardest fights mentally due to getting injured in the first round and having to get through it all. He’s such a tough competitor, he’s such a good athlete and such a good fighter.”

Drake Riggs - March 19, 2018

Champions do champion things. And Cris Cyborg continued to show why she’s a champion in and out of the cage recently when she went to visit Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles, where she brought 222 In & Out Burgers to the homeless that occupied the area.

Drake Riggs - March 19, 2018

It’s been a rough past couple of years for the former UFC lightweight champion and last WEC lightweight champion, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis. Since starting his UFC career off 5-1 and winning the title, Pettis has gone a disappointing 2-5 which also included a very brief stint at featherweight.

Drake Riggs - March 19, 2018

It seems that Ronda Rousey may end up having started a trend. Well, she kind of already has as more and more fighters have expressed interest in potentially jumping from the UFC ship to the WWE one day. The latest to express interest is one of the UFC’s brightest young stars, Paige VanZant.

Tom Taylor - March 19, 2018

Boxing heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is flirting with a move to the UFC, and he’s got to big names in mind if he makes this perilous jump: Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou. The undefeated knockout machine discussed this exciting possibility on Sky Sports’ boxing’s Toe 2 Toe podcast.

Tom Taylor - March 19, 2018

Shortly after he defeated Scotland’s Stevie Ray by decision on the undercard of last weekend’s UFC Fight Night in London, Canadian lightweight Kajan Johnson criticized the fans in attendance for booing. In a post-fight chat with MMAJunkie, the ever outspoken Johnson elaborated on his gripes with the fans, and blamed UFC President Dana White for the fans’ frequent disrespect of fighters.

Tom Taylor - March 19, 2018

If things had gone according to plan, Germany’s Nasrat Haqparast would have battled Nad Narimani on the undercard of last weekend’s UFC London card. Regrettably, Haqparast was forced out of this anticipated undercard bout at the last minute with an eye infection. “News regarding my fight at UFC London,” Haqparast said on Instagram shortly after his withdrawal was reported by Nolan King on Twitter. We’re sitting in the locker room and it’s just 1 hour left to the fight but unfortunately the UFC doctors stopped my fight. I got an eye infection on fight week, got 3 different medications and from day to day it became worst. I had sunglasses on on the official weigh ins to not show my infected eye and still try to fight. We tried everything possible to deliver the best performance of my life. I had the best fight camp in my life.”