MMA News

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

What are the odds? Turns out pretty good. Floyd Mayweather has been teasing a transition into MMA like a politician, flipping and flopping on whether it will really happy or not. Dana White revealed the talks were true, until Mayweather called him a liar and then proceeded to continue to post social media winks on his account. However, this recent news is the biggest confirmation yet. UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley had linked up with Moeny Mayweather to help prepare him for his UFC debut. “Floyd Mayweather is interested in taking a mixed martial art bout, maybe a few of them, so who better than The Chose One to teach him the ropes on how we get off the ropes and get in the cage. I saw him at the Jordan party during the All-Star weekend, we started chatting about training MMA and we decided let’s connect, let’s hook up in Vegas and do some training. Get him ready for MMA. Y’all think it’s a joke but think about this: Floyd Mayweather’s one of the best strikers of all times. How many guys in the UFC that can’t wrestle, and can’t grapple and they consider themselves a stand-up fighter? If they have to stand across from one of the greatest strikers ever, they’re gonna be in a world of smoke.”

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

You know the Yoel Romero story by now: He missed weight, the fight went on, and he finished Luke Rockhold in spectacular fashion at UFC 221. it was a moment of glory that was only slightly blemished due to the percentage of his purse being taken and the fact that he wasn’t awarded an interim title. However, as Romero would say himself, ‘God is good all the time.’ While no official UFC announcements have dropped, our sources have confirmed Romero gets his title shot against Robert Whittaker at UFC 225 in Chicago on June 9th. Breaking! Per sources Yoel Romero vs Robert Whittaker 2 is a done deal for #UFC225. The title fight rematch is expected to serve as the main event in Chicago!

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

After Conor McGregor congratulated Jay Z on surpassing fellow rapper and entrepreneur Diddy, even though it was really about him surpassing Floyd Mayweather on the Forbes Top 100 list, he made a quick not that 50 Cent had blocked him on Instagram. That whole description sounds completely ridiculous, but what is more nuts is the statement 50 Cent released in response to McGregor. Not only did he say that white people couldn’t be champions, but claimed McGregor ran out on his wife and kid. Of course, it couldn’t end there. The Champ Champ™ went off on him yesterday to celebrate International Women’s Day of all things.

Drake Riggs - March 8, 2018

The anticipation was real for Mackenzie Dern’s UFC debut and it showed in the 1,076,000 viewers during her fight. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wizard, Mackenzie Dern has been on many MMA experts’ radars since her transition to MMA in 2016. Dern is an undefeated 6-0 in MMA with that most recent victory coming in that UFC 222 debut last Saturday when she defeated Ashley Yoder by split decision. UFC jitters? No such thing says Dern when speaking on the MMA Hour:

Drake Riggs - March 8, 2018

It felt like we would never see the days that the longtime featherweight ruler, Jose Aldo wouldn’t be in the title mix. But here we are. After suffering two consecutive losses for the first time in his career, both by TKO(also a first) to current champion, Max Holloway, the consensus greatest featherweight of all time now finds himself having to climb his way back into title contention. Something he hasn’t had to do in over ten years.

Drake Riggs - March 8, 2018

Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter was the first and only season that has been done live. The season gave us some of today’s best 155-pound fighters as eight are still in the UFC to this day. Most notably, the winner, Michael “Maverick” Chiesa. Chiesa defeated Al Iaquinta in the finals to earn the crown of TUF champion but along the way, he defeated one of the UFC’s current hottest rising contenders, James Vick.

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

Georges St-Pierre finally had his first lengthy interview since a health battle forced him to bow out of the middleweight division and vacate the title he just won. The multi-million dollar question is who St-Pierre would fight if he comes back and which division he’d be in. It’s not a simple question. All of the fights that media members and fans would have thought could be possibilities, St-Pierre shot them down for one reason or another. The only man he seemed most interested in was Ben Askren, only to then claim his lack of exposure would be why he wouldn’t fight him. “[Georges St-Pierre]’s contradicting himself and when you say something like, ‘I only care about my legacy.’ GSP has made many, many millions and if he’s been smart and saved them, a few more millions ain’t going to help him that much. That’s what most athletes have to realize and I didn’t make nearly as much money as GSP, but I realize from my early days growing up and I’ve said this many times now, most athletes stay too long and most athletes spend too much money. For GSP, if he wants to say it’s all about his legacy, I’m the guy he has to fight if he wants to grow that legacy because I’m the person people are pointing at and saying, ‘That is the guy that can beat GSP.'”

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

While this fight has been penciled in for awhile now, the UFC has been wishy-washy about etching it in stone. As of today though, the UFC officially confirmed that Amanda Nunes will put her women’s bantamweight title on the line against Raquel Pennington. Nunes is currently rising a six-fight win streak against absurd competition, beating Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, and Valentina Shevchenko twice. While she’s been out for two years, Pennington is still rising a four-win run of her own. Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pennington finally official for UFC 224 in Brazil. Long time coming, UFC originally targeted this as far back as December. Latest date first reported by @DamonMartin. Interesting title fight.

EVOLVE MMA - March 8, 2018

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Ever wondered how to pull off that slick flying armbar you see in jiu-jitsu competitions? Well, one of the best in the world at this particular move is EVOLVE MMA’s Shinya Aoki.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

In her last outing, a decision loss to Australia’s Jessica-Rose Clark, Paige VanZant suffered a broken arm – and remarkably fought through it. Despite her remarkable toughness, this injury has unsurprisingly kept VanZant on sidelines since. And from the sounds if it, it’ll be awhile before she gets back into the cage. Speaking with TMZ this week, VanZant updated on the state of her arm injury, and gave a rough timeline for her return.

EVOLVE MMA - March 8, 2018

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Japanese legend Shinya Aoki is the former ONE Lightweight World Champion and one of the most highly-skilled Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the world. So when he shows you how to execute a submission, you better be listening.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

After knocking out Frankie Edgar in the co-main event of UFC 222 last weekend, Brian Ortega now has his crosshairs locked on UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. It’s a monumental challenge, to say the least, but it isn’t stopping Ortega from looking further into the future. On a recent episode of theUFC Unfiltered podcast, the surging featherweight contender shared grand plans to move to the lightweight division down the road. That being said, Ortega isn’t going to be heading North to 155 pounds for any old challenge. It’s going to take something truly special to coax him up to this heavier division.

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

Money equals power, if that is the case then Conor McGregor is the most powerful man in the UFC. Yes, he’s not defended a title. Yes, he hasn’t fought in the Octagon since November of 2016, but to rattle off those facts is to miss the point. He hasn’t done those things because he simply doesn’t have to. He defies all the laws — whether actual or forced onto MMA by the fans — that govern any other fighter. He’s earned this leverage by earning more for himself and his company than anyone ever before him. It’s those reasons why Randy Couture thinks the man absolutely deserves whatever he’s asking for. “[Conor McGregor]’s the poster child for why we need the amendment for Mixed Martial Arts. It will be interesting to see if he comes back to MMA. There’s been a lot of rumors and a lot of talk. Has he been stripped of both his titles? Is he gonna come back and fight again? What’s gonna happen? Who’s he gonna fight? And the big question, what’s he gonna get paid after just getting paid 100 million dollars for a boxing match, even though it was just an exhibition and not for a title? What’s he gonna get paid the next time that he comes back and fights in MMA under the UFC moniker? Why would he expect to get paid any less than he got for boxing? I can guarantee you they are not gonna give him that kind of money. So again, why? What’s the difference? Where is the flaw here?”

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

It looks like we have another potential rising star on our hands, but there are a lot of people pumping the brakes. Rightfully so though, if you look back at the group of hyped prospects that have ended up being pushed too soon or falling short in the long run. Sean O’Malley sure seems to have all the tools, especially after UFC 222, but he’s only three years into this sport. However, anyone who doubts him can turn to former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, who is here to help convince you that O’Malley will be wearing gold sooner or later. If you can’t see him w/a belt around his waist you better get your 👀 checked. There’s real🔥 behind his flash. And he’s in a room where 🗣 is cheap & it doesn’t matter who you are or what you did, you’re pushed everyday by our brothers & sisters.#YouGotTeammates #WeGotBrothers https://t.co/Sk8vIcIQJb

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has proven he’s an extremely difficult man to beat, having bested top-flight foes in Robbie Lawler, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Demian Maia and many others. That said, the champ has tasted defeat in the past, most recently to reigning Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. Given the fact that Woodley has lost to MacDonald, some fans now consider MacDonald the top welterweight in the world. In a Twitter poll posted by MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani, this seemed to be the consensus.

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

Michael Chiesa was riding a nice little three-fight win streak until he ran into Kevin Lee, but now he’s back on the journey to restore his standing in the division and get back in that win column. He’ll be fighting former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at the stacked UFC 223 card. Not only is he eager to get back in the cage, but he’s also relieved that Conor McGregor will be stripped to leave room for other fighters like himself to eventually get a title shot. “The biggest thing we need, is we need movement. The 155-pound division has been log-jammed so many times. When Anthony was champion he had some injuries that held him out for a while, you know, so the division got jammed up. And then we had some movement, and then Conor [McGregor] won the title and we’re jammed up again, and you know, you just gotta keep the wheels in motion. It’s just good to see. Conor’s a two-time champion, but he can’t just sit and hold the belt and keep us all waiting. You know, there’s a lot of tough guys jockeying for their position to be number one, and you only have so much time in this sport, so you can’t let one guy rob a bunch of us of our opportunities to fight for the belt.”

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

A post shared by Quinton Jackson (@rampage4real) on Mar 7, 2018 at 2:35pm PST Current Bellator MMA star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson recently signed a new contract, and apparently, it’s the best contract of his illustrious fighting career thus far. As a thank you, he decided to do something nice for his long-time manager, Tiki Ghosn. Something really nice. Really, really nice.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2018

UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee is currently booked for a dangerous test opposite Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night 12 on April 21. Though this bout is at the forefront of his focus at the moment, Lee also believes he’ll be fighting current UFC lightweight champ and MMA superstar Conor McGregor by the end of the year. “That fight happens at the end of the year, me and Conor,” Lee said at a UFC 222 media scrum, (h/t BloodyElbow). “I think that’s the fight that everybody’s been looking forward to, and is right there within striking distance.”