MMA News

Drake Riggs - February 22, 2018

The Ultimate Fighter season 17 winner, Kelvin Gastelum may have just got the title eliminator he was looking for. The UFC announced on Thursday that a huge middleweight fight will be taking place at UFC 224 on May 12 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil as the countryman, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza returns home to defend his turf against one of the best young rising stars in MMA, Kelvin Gastelum.

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

The fire just keeps roaring and spreading. Conor McGregor lit the MMA world ablaze by saying he was going to step in to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222. Immediately, Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz put the Irishman on blast on social media and to ESPN. Now, Edgar’s coach Mark Henry took to Instagram to write a lengthy post calling Conor McGregor’s bluff. While partly complimentary, Henry takes serious issue with McGregor’s character. “When you bring up Frankie Edgar’s name, that’s the perfect picture for you Conor McGregor. You ducked him three times in the past, Edgar and his manager Ali Abdel-Aziz asked for Conor’s name specifically when Max went down, but we knew you only take stylistically what is a good match for you and you ducked him three times already. It’s bad enough you post crappy posts putting people down when you have never defended a title cut lines to titles and 90-percent of the time fight people in your comfort zone. I agree Conor is an amazing, amazing fighter and has transcended the game with his accent, personality, wit, incredible fighting style, power, intelligence and don’t forget trashing people some of the best stand-up I’ve ever seen in MMA, which beat a great and one of my own guys. I really thought he had a chance first two rounds to beat [Floyd] Mayweather.”

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

Earlier today, Conor McGregor served an appetizer to those that are eagerly awaiting his return to the Octagon. The self-proclaimed Champ Champ™ came out of nowhere and went on record saying that he actually offered to step up and wipe out the ‘final featherweight’ Frankie Edgar in place of Max Holloway at UFC 222. According to him, the UFC wasn’t able to ‘generate the money’ to put it together. Before the steam even cleared even cleared from that heat, Edgar’s manager Ali Abdel-Aziz was already speaking out about the claim. On McGregor’s claim he offered to fight Frankie Edgar at UFC 222, Edgar’s manager @AliAbdelaziz00 tells me, “He’s full a s—. He’s a liar. He should have fought Frankie two years ago.”

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2018

On Thursday morning, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan took to Instagram to praise Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Yancy Medeiros for their thrilling scrap at UFC Austin – a card he was off-duty for.  Rogan, like many, was blown away by the respect the two welterweights showed each other during this brief but exciting battle. I just got home from the @icehousecc and decided to unwind by rewatching this epic fight between @yancymedeiros and @cowboycerrone. This fight wasn’t just epic because it launched cowboy into a 3 way tie with @mikebisping and @georgesstpierre for the most wins ever in the UFC (20). It was also a special fight in that one of the things that was so enjoyable about the fight was the respect the two had for each other, both before and after their one round of chaos. They even embraced in friendship in the middle of a round, and I fucking loved it. They briefly paused to hug and then went right back to a full tilt brawl. They both just went for it with pure respect and love for each other, and they both swung for the fences. Cowboy wound up connecting with a pinpoint right hand and wound up getting the stoppage right before the buzzer. It was epic, and then again, after it was over there was nothing but love and respect. I thought it was all around an awesome experience to watch it even a second time. Thank you, gentlemen, for a great moment in MMA, and a really fun fight to watch.

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2018

After a long period of quiet, the anti-trust lawsuit levied against the UFC is once again trundling along. As expected, this ongoing legal battle is revealing some very information about the UFC, its decision makers, and their practices. One of the more interesting stories to emerge over the last few days came from UFC President Dana White, who essentially took responsibility for Conor McGregor‘s superstardom in a deposition. From his deposition White taking credit for McGregor’s success. pic.twitter.com/qAbABVMwR2

Jordan Colbert - February 22, 2018

In the main event of the UFC’s Sunday return to Austin, Texas, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone rebounded from a three-fight skid with a first-round TKO victory over Yancy Medeiros, who was riding a three-fight win streak coming into his first ever UFC Main Event contest. Following the bout, Cerrone was relieved to have finally gotten back in the win column and, when asked what was next for the man tied for the most wins in UFC history, he set the record straight. He intends to return to the UFC’s lightweight division for one last run at the title. In particular, Cerrone called out Khabib Nurmagomedov, a fighter he was scheduled to fight against in May of 2015 before Nurmagomedov withdrew due to injury. Nurmagomedov is currently scheduled for a main event bout at UFC 223 against current interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, so that bout is unlikely, but there are many other matchups at lightweight that fans could easily get behind for Donald Cerrone.

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

After Brian Ortega submitted Cub Swanson at UFC Fresno, everyone was asking him if he was going to fight UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway next. His answer? He’d let Frankie Edgar get his shot first. Normally, nice guys finish last in this combat sports game, but for Ortega it looks like things have worked out. After the title bout between Edgar and Holloway has fallen through twice, Ortega jumped at the chance to fight Edgar not only to guarantee he fights for the belt next, but to get over with the fans and the UFC. “When you think about it, there’s guys and there’s fighters who have waited before that got promised a title shot and things never happened. For whatever reason, they had to fight again and it just never happened. So, the way I looked at it, this [fight with Frankie Edgar] is a blessing in disguise. I beat Frankie and it insures a for sure title shot without question, without wait. If I beat Frankie, automatically the fight between myself and Max [Holloway] will get booked. So, I figured why wait and keep your fingers crossed for that shot, wait even longer to fight and get a little cold?”

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

Luke Rockhold still intends to go up to light heavyweight according to his Instagram story. No tiramisu on the table though with the other four desserts. pic.twitter.com/iZC3znvmyT — Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) February 22, 2018

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

Ben Askren has made it no secret his retirement has one, big Canadian asterisk. He’s only coming back to fight Georges St-Pierre to finally prove to all the naysayers that, despite the fact that he never fought in the UFC, that he’s the very best welterweight in the entire world. But what if that fight can’t happen? What about a money fight with the likes of Nate Diaz or even Conor McGregor? Don’t get your hopes up. Askren essentially shrugs at the names and says he’s going to stay on course in campaigning for a fight with GSP. “Nate Diaz sucks. I mean, yeah. [Conor] McGregor is barely the best in the world. I mean, the guy beat up Nate Diaz barely a couple of times and Nate Diaz himself is a very mediocre UFC fighter. There is no way you can argue that sentiment because all you have to do is look at [Diaz’s] record. The record shows he’s a very middle-of-the-road UFC fighter, he’s a 500 guy. He wins half, he loses half. Sure, he’s had some good wins, but he’s also had some terrible losses.”

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2018

Over the last few days, Derek Brunson has made multiple Twitter callouts of former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. He even shared what looked like a signed bout agreement to fight the former champion. I gotta go to the Fox studio to find @bisping I see. You’re ranked 6, I’m ranked 7. Let’s exchange @AliAbdelaziz00 @Mickmaynard2 @ufc @danawhite

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2018

On July 7, in the main event of UFC 226, reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will complete a fearless march back to the heavyweight division, where he will take on dominating UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in a true superfight. Despite the fact that Cormier has been a part of some truly momentous battles in the past – such as his two fights with Jon Jones, his battle with MMA legend Anderson Silva, and his Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winning showdown Josh Barnett – he is calling this fight with Miocic the biggest of his life.

Tom Taylor - February 22, 2018

On April 7, in the main event of UFC 223, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for the UFC lightweight title. What exactly that means for Conor McGregor, and the UFC lightweight title he still technically owns, remains to be seen… Speaking to TMZ this week, UFC President Dana White reaffirmed that when Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov step into the cage at UFC 223 in April, they’ll be fighting for the “real title.” “I said in the last press conference [in Boston]: That fight will be for the title,” White said (h/t MMAJunkie.com). “It’s not for the interim title. That fight is for the real title.”

Drake Riggs - February 21, 2018

It’s not very often that you hear of an elevator accident being the reason for someone having to pull out of a fight… But this was the case for ‘the Doberman’ CB Dollaway at UFC 203. Dollaway was supposed to be taking on Francimar Barroso that night in Cleveland, Ohio but disaster struck the day of the event when Dollaway stepped into his hotel’s elevator and a malfunction occurred. Dollaway was able to walk away from the accident but not without cost. He suffered a back injury serious enough to force him from the fight and as he told MMAFighting, bad enough that he may never fully recover.

Drake Riggs - February 21, 2018

It has been a rough past three years for one of MMA’s former very best pound-4-pound fighters in the octagon. When Renan Barao burst onto the scene in 2011 with his devasting win over Brad Pickett, the sky appeared to be the limit for the Brazilian. And to a point, it was. Barao would go 6-0 in the UFC and 32-1 overall including four wins in UFC title fights(three interim, two interim defense, and one undisputed defense) before finally losing his first fight in almost ten years. That loss would come to none other than the current champion, TJ Dillashaw in what was and still is to this day one of the biggest upsets in MMA’s history.

Drake Riggs - February 21, 2018

The current #2 ranked UFC strawweight contender is none other than 115-pound powerhouse, ‘Bate Estaca’ Jessica Andrade. Andrade will be featured this Saturday in UFC on Fox 28’s co-main event when she takes on Tecia Torres in a battle that very well could provide us with our next title contender. But who may they winner battle for the title? We’ll have to wait until UFC 223 on April 7 to know that answer. But what we know for sure is that it will either be the former longtime champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk or the brand new champion who wants to prove that she is here to stay, Rose Namajunas.

Drake Riggs - February 21, 2018

We’re just two days removed from Conor McGregor breaking the record for most days as a champion without an attempted title defense… Reports have come in that we might be getting closer to an idea of when he will return and who it might be against. Dave Meltzer stated on his Newsletter that negotiations are going well and the opponents in mind for his return are all options that many of us have been expecting, reports BodySlam.Net:

Jason Kindschy - February 21, 2018

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 9PM ET/6PM PT! 9:15PM ET- We catch up with Alexander Volkanovski following his dominant finish of Jeremy Kennedy in Perth, Australia, at UFC 221. Still undefeated in the UFC and showing tremendous athleticism in the featherweight division, bigger fights are definitely on the horizon for this Aussie bashing machine. We’ll recap the win, discuss what’s next, and when fans can expect to see him back in action.

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

We’re all waiting, hoping, that Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov both make it to UFC 223 in April. It’s been coming for a long time and — next to Conor McGregor’s long awaited return — this is the best and most highly anticipated lightweight fight possible. Meanwhile, 11 slots under the top of the lightweight mountain, James Vick has eyes on moving up the roster after his win at UFC Austin. He recently weighed in on the UFC 223 fight and predicts that Nurmagomedov comes out on top. “I think Khabib [Nurmagomedov] wins. I think that [Tony] Ferguson’s too content with being on his back. He’s going to get taken down, obviously. Khabib can take down pretty much anyone in the division. Guys can get up, but Tony Ferguson will accept being on his back and throwing elbows and playing rubber guard and he’s not going to win [against Nurmagomedov] like that. Unless he just likes land a big elbow and cuts Khabib from the bottom or something, I don’t see him being able to win a fight off his back. He gets too content with staying on his back instead of trying to get the hell up.”—James Vick speaking to MMA Junkie Radio.