MMA News

Drake Riggs - March 6, 2018

Few things in the recent history of MMA world champions have been quite as shocking as Johny Hendricks’ fall from grace. The former NCAA Division 1 wrestler out of Oklahoma State went from being a UFC champion with a record of 16-2 in his career to losing six of his last eight fights and being forced up a weight class after multiple misses. On top of all this, Hendricks’ UFC contract has expired and he is currently a free agent. However, despite his uncertainty on whether or not he would be returning to the organization he was once a champion of, some signals are being given out that the UFC may still have interest reports Brett Okamoto:

Drake Riggs - March 6, 2018

After his career-defining performance against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone back in October, Darren Till has remained on the sidelines. With fans amazed by his easy dispatching of the former lightweight title challenger, Cerrone, Till has been on many’s radars as one of the next big things in the stacked welterweight division. And you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. But now, it appears that the twenty-five-year-old Liverpool striking sensation will be getting back in action sooner rather than later.

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

Derrick Lewis made his triumphant return at UFC Austin with a late knockout of Marcin Tybura. After a delayed fourth round celebration with his wife, he went right back on the warpath trying to fight the who’s who of the heavyweight division. He’s been eyeing Francis Ngannou, but he’s just one of many. He’s even willing to welcome Brock Lesnar back to the UFC, regardless of USADA testing or not. “Yeah hopefully we can get something done this year, man. Hopefully we can get something before [Francis Ngannou] turns 50 on us. Usually after every fight, I tell them I would like to fight this guy. I always try to pick out the toughest guys that’s out there. […] I told them Francis, I told them [Alistair] Overeem, even a rematch with Mark [Hunt]. Who’s the other guy, [Curtis] Blaydes and Fabricio [Werdum]. Yeah, [the winner of Blaydes and Overeem]. I’d like to fight in May or June.”

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

.@MightyMouseUFC offering up some kind words of motivation to @FrankieEdgar while looking back on his own loss to @DominickCruz. #UFC222 pic.twitter.com/BAmo8y2Dvb — Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) March 6, 2018

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

Thanks to Conor McGregor, in part due to Frankie Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz, the 165 division has been talked about more recently than it has in the last couple of years. When it was leaked he wanted a 165-pound title during the UFC 222 late replacement back-and-forth, few really believed it. However, Artem Lobov and later Dana White confirmed McGregor was indeed in talks to step up and fight Edgar. Now Diego Sanchez has brought everything back in discussion and has the monumental fight he wants to debut the division. “Conor McGregor, come on brother. We need the 165-pound weight class. You have the power with UFC and Dana White to make it happen. First three division champion fight and winner goes down as the real greatest of all time. The sport needs this weight class. Georges St-Pierre talks 155-pounds, 165-pounds is realistic. Make it happen, Audie Attar. History in the making.” — Diego Sanchez on his official Instagram.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre discussed potential matchups with many of the sport’s biggest names. Among those names were current welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, who has been calling for a fight with St-Pierre for months, and Nick and Nate Diaz. Apparently, none of these matchups are particularly interesting to the former champ St-Pierre. He started by poking holes in the merits of fights with the Diaz brothers.

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

It’s hard to ignore Mike Perry’s relationship with Danielle Nickerson. Not just because he’s a UFC fighter who enjoys a certain amount of spotlight, but because she also helped with his training, meal prep, and cornered him for all his fights. She was more than just his girlfriend, she was one woman fulfilling multiple roles that were crucial to Perry’s camps. This all changes today, as she just announced she is no longer involved with Perry in a lengthy statement she released for reasons she addresses directly. “Mike [Perry] & I are no longer together. I wanted to explain what is going on because there are so many people who have shown me/us so much love and support and have invested into us, and felt like you guys deserve answers. I also don’t want to get hundreds of comments on my photos from here on out about, ‘Where’s Mike. Why aren’t you together?’ and such. I am a huge believer in God & that everything happens for a reason and everyone in your life is there for a reason. Mike and I are not meant to be together in a relationship but only to be friends and support each other through life.”

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

“At @WrestleMania, it’s going to be @TripleH and @StephMcMahon vs. @RondaRousey and ME!” – @RealKurtAngle #RAW pic.twitter.com/QGivGNymOl — WWE (@WWE) March 6, 2018

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

Back in October, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ and UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi made his anticipated Bellator debut opposite the dangerous Alexander Shlemenko. Though many fans expected Mousasi to walk through Shlemenko, it was ultimately a very close fight, as the UFC vet braved a brutally swollen eye to capture a controversial unanimous decision win. In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, Mousasi divulged that the eye injury he sustained in this competitive fight was far more serious than anyone new.

Justin Golightly - March 6, 2018

Max Holloway has been passionately campaigning to bring UFC to Hawaii even before his second win over Jose Aldo. It looks like his rise to the top combined with his charismatic persuasion started winning the brass at the UFC over. Initially, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) stalled due to worries about spreading violence in the presence of a UFC card, however a meeting was scheduled with the UFC to make the event finally happen. The plan is to have UFC 227 in Hawaii’s Aloha Stadium with Max Holloway defending his belt against Brian Ortega, but once again the HTA countered the UFC’s offer, leaving the two sides ‘millions’ of dollars apart and negotiations stalled once again. “I heard 227 in August was supposed to be UFC Hawaii, but I Tweeted 226 because you know, I gotta move on. You can’t hold this stuff forever, I can’t hold my breath. I got a life, I got a family to take care of, I got a little kid, I got fans. If I can’t get UFC Hawaii I said, the Ninth Island is the next best thing. It’s tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day, it is what it is. We can’t control nothing. All we can do is create buzz. I’d like to thank all the fans who are creating buzz.”

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

Mixed martial arts can be a brutal sport, and UFC 222 was an excellent reminder of that fact. The Saturday night card, which went down in Las Vegas, Nevada, featured a number of the beatdowns and injuries characteristic of this racket, and several fighters on the bill received lengthy injury suspensions as a result. One of the longer suspensions to result from the card was levied against Sean O’Malley, who defeated Andre Soukhamthath on the main card – but not before badly injuring his leg. Frankie Edgar and Yana Kunitskaya, who lost by first-round stoppage in the UFC 222 co-main and main events respectively, are also facing long sits.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

When Brian Ortega knocked out Frankie Edgar in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 222, he earned himself a shot at increasingly dominant UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. From the moment Ortega earned this bout with Holloway, it’s been talked about as one of the best fights in the history of the featherweight division; a collision of two tremendous, young talents and well-rounded arsenals and killer instinct to boot.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

With respect to potential opponents for the yet-unscheduled retirement fight of former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, a number of names have been mentioned, from Rashad Evans, to Vitor Belfort, to Lyoto Machida. Now, though, it’s looking like Bisping’s last – and probably final – challenge will come in the form of Luke Rockhold. Bisping has previously expressed interest in a tie-breaking trilogy fight with Rockhold, and on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Rockhold revealed his mutual interest in the bout.

Drake Riggs - March 5, 2018

No time was wasted by Volkan Oezdemir as he raced his way to an early title shot in 2017. The relative unknown Swissman, Oezdemir took out three top ten contenders in the short span of just a year’s time and did so in less than twenty minutes. After earning his title shot at UFC 220, Oezdemir put up a very valiant effort early on against the light heavyweight champion and future UFC heavyweight title challenger, Daniel Cormier but ultimately came up short.

Drake Riggs - March 5, 2018

“Ben Askren, I don’t understand why he’s not in the UFC. He’s one of the best in the world and I think it has to do with maybe a problem he has with Dana White, you know but he’s one of the best fighters in the world. If there is a guy that in my career, for my legacy that would have been good to fight, it’d be Ben Askren because he beat everybody. All the guys at Bellator, he beat all the champions outside the UFC but unfortunately, I think he has a fallout with Dana and he never had a chance to fight in the UFC and therefore is stuck. Never went to the value that he’s supposed to be at.

Drake Riggs - March 5, 2018

The social media war continues between former enemies turned UFC champions, Max Holloway and Conor McGregor. There have been slight back and forths between the two since Holloway first won the featherweight title at UFC 212 by defeating Jose Aldo via third round TKO. But it has begun to heat up and get dare I say…a little spicy…

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2018

On Sunday, heavyweight legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic dropped a serious hint that he’d signed with Bellator MMA. On Monday morning, the promotion made it official with a press release. Cro Cop is set to make his Bellator debut opposite fellow UFC veteran and knockout artist Roy Nelson. The pair will collide at the landmark Bellator 200, which goes down on May 25, in London, England.

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2018

If things had gone according to the original plan, Frankie Edgar would have challenged Max Holloway for the UFC featherweight title in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC 222 card. When Holloway was forced out of this fight with an injury, however, Edgar accepted a late-notice battle with surging contender Brian Ortega, putting his well-deserved title shot on the line in an incredibly high-risk move. Unfortunately for Edgar and his fans, his featherweight title dreams were dashed yet again, as he was put down by an Ortega uppercut in the first round, which marked his very first stoppage loss.