MMA News

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

Dillon Danis has an MMA debut on the horizon that has long been teased since his signing with Bellator in March of last year. Dates were set and broke, set then broke again, but now it looks like everything is good to go. First reported by MMA Fighting, Danis is going to a get a big, main card slot on the big April 28th Bellator 198 card headlined by legend Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir. biggest debut in MMA History. coming to a TV near you… 💰

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

We haven’t seen Nate Diaz since he won the Conor McGregor lottery twice. We haven’t seen Nick Diaz for way longer. It’s understandable. For selfish reasons, we’d love to see the Stockton soldiers back in the Octagon slapping their opponents, but both are making a good living with a wide variety of sponsors, endorsements, appearances and seminars. If they did come back, Jon Anik is convinced that they would put a significant boost in pay-per-view draws, with or without McGregor. “If you’re asking me, I think [Nate Diaz] is a top five pay-per-view draw in the company right now. I think Daniel Cormier is in that mix because he’s been buoyed by the two Jon Jones fights. But I think Nate Diaz can carry a pay-per-view without Conor McGregor. Will he be afforded that opportunity? I don’t know. I’m not sure we’re going to see Nick [Diaz] again, but I definitely think we are going to see Nate Diaz. I think it’s interesting when you talk about him as a pay-per-view draw. What do the internal metrics say about how much Nate Diaz moves that needle relative to his opponent Conor McGregor?”

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

It hasn’t been that long since Valentina Shevchenko’s absolute domination of Priscila Cachoeira at UFC Belem. It was her flyweight debut and she used that as an alarm siren to every 125-pound woman on the planet. She wasted no time at all calling out the champion Nicco Montano, but there has been nothing but crickets. She had since spoken to us about her impatience with Montano and now it seems it has reached a boiling point. Shevchenko scolds her in this recent interview and says it’s not becoming of a champion. “I heard that [Nicco Montano] already started to train, so I was thinking like, from now it’s about, like, how many months? Three, four months? It’s enough time to be in good shape and good preparation, so let’s see. Still, like, I haven’t heard too much from her, but I hope she will talk soon and hopefully she will accept because I don’t see another [option for an opponent], I just see my next fight for the title with Nicco. She won it a few months ago, but she has to move forward and she has to defend it. And like I said, there is no way to be so quiet and don’t say nothing.”

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

Dealing with a knee injury since Summer of last year, Joseph Benavidez has been out on the sidelines watching the flyweight division move on without him. Only, it hasn’t really moved on. The unstoppable Demetrious Johnson is still at the top and all the major players have also been beat by Benavidez. That’s why when he makes his triumphant return against Sergio Pettis at UFC 225, he wants to prove he’s still number one and get another crack at Mighty Mouse. “For anyone who says I shouldn’t [get a shot] or that I’ve fought him twice or whatever — I realize when there is money to be made, maybe you’ll pick the No. 8 guy in the division because it will sell more. But with our division, there’s not a star. Demetrious [Johnson]is the best fighter ever, and he’s not a star. So what do we really have? All we have is our talent. That’s what’s great about the division, you can see things that 125-pound guys can do that some other guys can’t. All we have is our skill. So if we don’t have a big fight, why wouldn’t you have the best fighters fight?”

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

Believe it or not, Sijara Eubanks was supposed to be one half of MMA history. After competing and winning her way through season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter, ‘Sarge’ was all set to fight for the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight title against Nicco Montano. Eubanks, essentially a career bantamweight with only one fight at 125-pounds prior to the season, had felt that this was her perfect opportunity to shine. And for the most part, it was.

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.

Justin Golightly - March 8, 2018

If you weren’t already one singing The Last Style Bender Israel Adesanya’s praises, after just one fight in the UFC he’s already got everyone talking about him. Between the way he talks and the way he wants, but more importantly the way he fights, he’s another young prospect that is hyped to potentially be the next big thing. However, while being controversial can get a lot of eyes on you, it can also turn them away. The UFC isn’t too happy with his pre and post-fight peeing potentially ritual deterring sponsors. “[The UFC] told my manager that, ‘We handle a lot of sponsors, millions of dollars in sponsors. So for him to pretend to be with his dick out and shaking it after he pees as well or whatever, it’s not really a good look.’ For me, how I see it is, f-ck, what are the sponsors worried about: Me pretending to whip an imaginary dick out and pee everywhere to mark my territory or just watching me just beat the f-ck out of a dude? I don’t know what kind of game these sponsors are playing or whatever, but for me, I just have to make a statement and that statement is pretty clear: This is my cage. Any top dog would do it. My stench is still there. Whenever I get back into the cage, I’m sure I’ll smell it.” – Israel Adesanya speaking to FloCombat’s Top Turtle podcast.

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

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold’s days in his division are numbered. He has been very vocal about his imminent move to light heavyweight, as his friend and teammate Daniel Cormier moves up to heavyweight before he ends his career. As vocal as he’s been about going to 205, one man has been just as talkative about welcoming him to the division: Alexander Gustafsson. Well, be careful what you wish for, because he’s coming for that ass. “I don’t see me coming back [to middleweight], man. The weight cut is too much on me. As you get older, your bones get bigger. The last couple cuts have been pretty brutal on me. I had trouble regulating my body temperature and all that shit. It’s not fun. It’s not a fun cut anymore. I’m a different fighter at 205-pounds. That weight cut is taking a lot out of me. We had to make weight and stress out through the staging process like the old days [at UFC 221].

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.