MMA News

Justin Golightly - March 16, 2018

It’s happening!! #UFCLiverpool is official for May 27! 🎟 https://t.co/shPzwVYT9L pic.twitter.com/rIIwOylJxo

Justin Golightly - March 16, 2018

As far as quality of competition goes, Dan Hooker is on the best streak of his career. Two finishes back-to-back over Ross Pearson and Marc Diakiese has led him to his biggest challenge yet. Jim Miller is not only Hooker’s next opponent, but a fighter that he respects. That doesn’t mean he’s not going to try to knock him out with a liver shot at UFC Atlantic City. “Jim Miller’s been a big name since I first started watching UFC. I think this fight will tie him with Michael Bisping for the most UFC fights of all time. I think he’s on 28, and then our fight will make him 29, so that will tie him for the most UFC fights ever. So there’s a lot of guys going around calling themselves ‘UFC veterans’ after a couple of fights, but Jim Miller is about as veteran as you come. So this is a fight, you know, I relish a name like that. I love it when you get that name and it’s someone you look up to, it’s someone you recognise their name and you think back to all the fights you’ve seen them have, all the wars. So yeah, I like seeing the posters up there with our names squared off against each other.”

Justin Golightly - March 16, 2018

You may have not heard of AKA Fights in Louisiana. That’s okay, most fight fans are on a strict UFC diet with a little bit of Bellator mixed in for seasoning. However, even the most hardcore viewers who stay up to watch RIZIN or hunt down obscure Russian fighting organizations probable haven’t heard of the regional promotion in the land of gumbo. Although, you may want to check them out tonight considering Nick Diaz will be there. Legend. @nickdiaz209 is onsite and ready to roll in Louisiana.

Justin Golightly - March 16, 2018

Big man Tai Tuivasa is on a perfect seven-fight win streak, with two of those in the UFC now. The most impressive state about the Aussie, is that all of those wins are finishes. Coming off his violent, first-round finish at UFC 221, it looks like he’s ready for his next opponent with a step up in competition. Not only that, but he’s trying to bring excitement back to a dead division. “[The heavyweight division is] boring. Heavyweights that I used to watch, you know, it would be one or two big punches, just exciting, big hits. Now I think it’s just – they’re all just going out there and f-cking sh-t. It’s boring. I feel like I’m watching the soccer or something. Oh yeah, [there’s Francis Ngannou] but that’s one guy. I’m talking about the division.”

Drake Riggs - March 15, 2018

Let there be heavyweights in Chicago! UFC 225 plays host to the UFC’s return to Chicago, Illinois on June 9th and is headlined by a middleweight title rematch between the champion, Robert Whittaker and the challenger, Yoel Romero.

Drake Riggs - March 15, 2018

Former Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight queen, Ronda Rousey isn’t fighting in MMA and earning gold title belts anymore. But she is continuing to add different kinds of combat sports titles to her resume. First, she was an Olympic bronze medalist in Judo before transitioning to MMA. From there she has now recently gone into the world of professional wrestling as part of the WWE. Now, it seems she’s gotten herself into management as well as Golden Boy Promotions announced that welterweight prospect, Ferdinand Kerobyan has been signed as the first fighter under the management of Rousey.

Drake Riggs - March 15, 2018

A star from Liverpool, England emerged from the darkness on the fateful night of October 21, 2017. It was Darren Till’s very first UFC main event and he passed his test with flying colors when he absolutely dismantled the legendary, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in just one round. Till turned into an immediate name to keep an eye on and launched himself from the likes of the unranked to the top 10.

Justin Golightly - March 15, 2018

The superfight has been put on hold, Cris Cyborg eradicated her last foe, and Amanda Nunes has a title defense at UFC 224. Both women are down to meet up after their business is finished, but now Cyborg thinks Nunes isn’t actually going to end up showing her face in the Octagon and has just been asking for the fight to promote herself. If Nunes doesn’t fight Cyborg at UFC 226, then she says that the UFC bantamweight champ will have to get to the back of the line of featherweight. We’d tell you who that would be behind, but the division still doesn’t exist on the UFC website. “I’m starting to think that Amanda Nunes just started using my name to negotiate a new deal with the UFC. Like many other girls, she’s using my name to create her brand. If Amanda is not ready to fight at UFC 226 in Las Vegas, I have to tell my team that I want to fight whoever is ready. I explained to my manager that if Amanda wins in Rio and refuses to fight in July, I will not invest my time trying to carry out this fight.”

Justin Golightly - March 15, 2018

MMA is a revolving door of talent. When one person leaves, hundreds more are waiting to take their place. Despite logging in nearly 80 fights in kickboxing and boxing, Israel Adesanya is just starting his UFC career as Ronda Rousey moves on in her new WWE career. Adesanya is familiar with the bandwagon jumpers, but also smart enough to know that fickle fans will abandom him just like they’ve done to so many other UFC fighters. If the young prospect could give any advice to Rousey, it’s to not care what anyone thinks and just do her own thing. “[I’m] 100 percent [behind Ronda Rousey], you see the work those guys put in and people are so quick to forget [about Rousey’s other accomplishments]. I don’t buy into the whole fandom, I just think with people who are with me. People are so quick to forget how great Ronda was, how much of a pioneer she was in the game.”

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that Conor McGregor training partner Dillon Danis – the man who helped the Irishman sharpen his ground game in the lead-up his rematch with Nate Diaz – will make his Bellator debut at 198 on April 28. And now, he’s got an opponent for that debut. Per a Thursday press release from Bellator, Danis will make his MMA debut opposite Kyle Walker, who will be making his Bellator debut. While the expectation was that Danis would debut at welterweight, this fight will be contested at a 175-pound catchweight.

Justin Golightly - March 15, 2018

A new challenger has arrived. The light heavyweight division has been put on notice. The next hot prospect to wreak havoc in the UFC will be… president Dana White? That’s right, EA Sports UFC 3 will introduce Dana White as a playable character today. So, far any fan who wanted to punch him in the face, they finally get their chance. Or, you can rule your organization with an iron fist in a reign of terror as you beat up fighters that have done you wrong over the years. “From what EA tells me, the fans have been asking for this for a long time. They asked me if I would be willing to do it and I said, ‘Yes, I think it’s great.’ It’s fun. And for all the people out there that have wanted to punch me in the face over the last 20 years, this is your chance. When I saw the video of me in the Octagon fighting for the first time it was hilarious because I was fighting Gian Villante. I called him on FaceTime and showed him the video of me whooping his ass. It was fun. I sent it to Chris Weidman and Matt Serra and we had a blast with it.”

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

At present, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has his crosshairs set on UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who he’ll battle in the main event of UFC 226 on July 7. As buzz surrounding the possible UFC return of WWE star Brock Lesnar continues to grow, however, Miocic is likely to get more and more questions about a potential matchup with the hulking former champion. In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Miocic addressed a possible matchup with Lesnar. While Miocic gives Lesnar his due respect, he is extremely confident about his chances in this prospective showdown.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

One of the most talked about fights in MMA at present is a possible showdown between dominating UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, and reigning UFC bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. While this fight is what both men want, it seems to be stuck in a mire of unsuccessful negotiations. In the opinion of former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping, that’s a damn shame. In Bisping’s eyes, Johnson needs an opponent of Dillashaw’s caliber to solidify his already sterling reputation in the sport.

Justin Golightly - March 15, 2018

Most of the things Conor McGregor gets into aren’t straight forward. There are layers, plot twists, double meanings. Everyone scoffed at his comment that he was going to step up to fight Frankie Edgar, but after UFC 222 Dana White admitted it was true. One thing he didn’t comment on though, was the rumored addition of a 165-pound title. As striking coach Owen Roddy broke down the prep leading up to this actually happening, he also revealed a new kernel of information regarding the “super lightweight” title. “I got the call from Conor [McGregor] almost a little under a month out, just kind of out of the blue, ‘Oh yeah, look, [Max] Holloway’s out of the fight, they’re looking for a replacement to fight Frankie so I’m up for it, I’m thinking of doing it’. So I was like, ‘well, alright, let’s see what the craic is,’ and we went in and he sparred. He hadn’t sparred too hard in a while, so like went in and had a good, tough spar with one of the guys similar to Frankie’s size, similar style and stuff like that, and then looked amazing. […] He got back the next day saying that the fight’s gone, that the fight was unavailable now. So yeah. But he was up for it and he was ready to go. And you know, he was putting it in as well. Conor’s been training up here, so he’s got the bug again which is great, but unfortunately that one didn’t come to pass.”

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

Last week, we learned that UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley had offered to help undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. prepare for his much-discussed move to MMA. Speaking to TMZ this week, Mayweather confirmed that he plans to take Woodley up on this offer. “I’m going to start soon,” Mayweather said (h/t MMAJunkie). “We’ve been texting back and forth. We talked a couple times, but we’re going to start working out real soon.”

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

Fabricio Werdum, who takes on Alexander Volkov in the main event of the UFC’s Saturday night return to London, England, recently almost had his nose broken by legendary heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson. The former UFC heavyweight champion Werdum recounted this wild story in an interview with TMZ. Apparently, it went down on the set of the movie Kickboxer: Retaliation. The former UFC heavyweight champ was running through a fight scene with Tyson, during which Tyson inadvertently blasted him in the nose with one of his devastating punches.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2018

Yesterday, we got an interesting look into Tony Ferguson’s UFC 223 training camp, as the interim lightweight champ shared a video of himself kicking a steel pipe to condition his shins. While his opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem to be getting quite as –  er… innovative – with his training, it looks like he’s killing it in the gym all the same. On Wednesday afternoon, the undefeated lightweight contender shared some images from his training camp. According to these post, he’s been drilling Cain Velasquez style wrestling, and sparring in standard-size MMA gloves (rather than bag gloves).

Drake Riggs - March 14, 2018

The next big event for the UFC is UFC 223 on April 7th when they return to the state of New York for the seventh time. New York is the newest state to legalize MMA and we’ve gone through some definite growing pains since the first show after legalization in November of 2016. The most notable incidents would be at UFC 208, which also took place in Brooklyn, when Holly Holm took on Germaine de Randamie in the main event for the inaugural women’s featherweight title.