MMA News

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:

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

After Derrick Lewis finished his fight with Marcin Tybura in spectacular fashion, we knew we were in store for a wild and crazy post-fight interview. The UFC actually thought it was so risque that they put and edited version of it on their YouTube channel, but as all know what happened in regards to his comments about his plans for his wife April back home. Turns out though, his big game backfired and he hasn’t been able to well, ‘perform’ since his big finish at UFC Austin. He’s been too hurt, especially with his fourth metacarpal fracture. “Man, I’m still hurting right now. We still ain’t do nothing. My hand broken, look. My hand broke. Yeah [I broke it when I hit him with] the first punch. When I first dropped him. I hit his elbow too, so that’s what happened. I hit the tip of his elbow. I don’t got it in me [to make love], man. I’m hurting. I gotta put in a good performance, man. I can’t put in a half-assed performance and lay there like a starfish.” — Derrick Lewis speaking to TMZ Sports.

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.

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

Despite the UFC trying to put together a rematch with Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight title to save UFC 222, TJ Dillashaw has his eyes on the long-hyped superfight with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Other than Johnson himself saying it is in negotiations, not much else has been said publicly about the scrap. Along with giving the reasons why Garbrandt doesn’t deserve a shot, Dillashaw also spoke on Monday that all roads seem to still point to the match-up to go ahead and slide in that co-main even slot for UFC 226. “I haven’t really heard much in the sense of [the fight with Demetrious Johnson being official]. They’re just telling me to get healthy, so obviously I’ve been doing some physical therapy and working on getting healthy and staying ready, and yeah, continuing to watch my body [composition], staying low [in weight] if this thing really happens. They know I want it. Demetrious wants it. He’s talking about how he wants to be on a big card; there’s a perfectly big card for it now coming up in July. They got Stipe [Miocic] and [Daniel] Cormier [headlining UFC 226], so all of the stars seem to be aligning. It’s just all about getting it done now.”

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

In MMA, the search for the next big thing is never ending. Sometimes they work out, other times they never rise to the marketed prophecy of what they were made out to be. Two-time Olympian Jordan Burroughs could be just that. After Floyd Mayweather recently stood inside of an Octagon and teased his MMA jump in a clever ad for Paddy Power, Burroughs recently did the same thing asking, ‘What are the odds?’ According to what the four-time world champion said back in 2013, the odds aren’t that great. “With all due respect. Each fighter has a respective discipline. Whether it be wresting, jiu jitsu, boxing, etc. I think we all can agree that no one in the UFC is the best in the world at his or her respective discipline. Of all the fighters in every organization, there are no Olympic Gold medalists competing. Why would there be? If you were the the best in the world at your respective discipline would you leave to pursue a completely different sport? Probably not. I could be completely wrong, but from my observation most people get into MMA for the financial opportunities.”

Tom Taylor - February 21, 2018

The UFC’s return to Orlando, which will see the Octagon touch down in the Amway Center this Saturday night, has been rocked by a last-minute fight cancellation, as Brazil’s Gilbert Burns has been pulled from his lightweight bout with Canada’s Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Burns was pulled from this contest amid concerns that he could safely cut the remaining pounds required to make the lightweight division’s 156-pound cap. This news was first reported by FloCombat, and later confirmed by MMAJunkie, who acquired a statement on the issue from the UFC.

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

Yoel Romero is on cloud nine after his finish of Luke Rockhold. All signs point to a rematch between him and Robert Whittaker for the middleweight title going down, the big question now is where will it happen? The Chicago card in June has been talked about, but now it looks like Miami is a real possibility. With their big Cuban population, that could mean a huge draw for a Romero main event. It’s an idea that Romero is really excited about. Who knows, maybe Joey Diaz might be in attendance? “I don’t have an idea [of the date of my title shot against Robert Whittaker]. Maybe July? I don’t know when. I hear he’s sick, he’s feeling no good, he’s feeling very bad. I pray for him. I’m waiting. I’m waiting for him. Thank you God, [my leg is] good. I think a lot about [how I’m able to keep this up at my age]. I try to stay [living] a very clean life and very quiet, but I think this is God. Believe me, I think it’s God. It’s God.”

Tom Taylor - February 21, 2018

Earlier this month, middleweight contender Derek Brunson issued a compelling callout of former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. 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 21, 2018

In the wake of Derrick Lewis’ latest thunderous knockout win, which came against a gritty Marcin Tybura, fans immediately began clamoring for a matchup between him and fellow knockout artist Francis Ngannou. From the looks of it, the UFC has been listening.

Tom Taylor - February 21, 2018

Last Sunday, on the undercard of the UFC’s exciting stop in Austin, Texas, former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves returned to the cage for the first time since April of 2017. Regrettably, this return to action went disastrously, as he was knocked out by his debuting opponent Curtis Millender in the second round. Despite this tough loss, Alves seems to be in good spirits. On Tuesday, the Brazilian veteran took to Instagram to issue a statement on this defeat, in which he assured his fans that the best is yet to come.

Tom Taylor - February 21, 2018

According to a report from MMA Fighting, MMA veteran Marlon Sandro is facing multiple charges after allegedly attacking his fiancée Tayssa Wuensche on the streets of Rio de Janeiro late last year. During this grisly attack on his fiancée, the former Bellator and Sengoku fighter is said to have badly injured her arm, choked her unconscious, and then continued to punch and kick her when she regained consciousness. Sandro is now facing attempted murder charges for this attack. He could wind up serving 20 years in prison if found guilty of these charges.

Drake Riggs - February 20, 2018

It appears that we may be losing out on one of the three potential super fights that have recently been teased to us. At least for now… Henry Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz tweeted out that he will be rematching the UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson, some time in the Summer.

Drake Riggs - February 20, 2018

“I’m just waiting for USADA and my lawyers and hopefully it will come back soon for fight with Roy Jones [Jr.] *laughs*. 

Drake Riggs - February 20, 2018

Randy “Rudeboy” Brown is one of the few fighters to have been selected to be signed to the UFC after performing in front of Dana White on his YouTube series, ‘Lookin’ For a Fight’ with Matt Serra. Since entering the UFC, the 10-2 overall, Brown has gone 4-2 with all but three of his career fights being finishes(his last two fights against Mickey Gall and Belal Muhammad were two of them). In Brown’s last fight at UFC 217, he defeated fellow Lookin’ For A Fight signee, Mickey Gall who is most known for being the man to introduce CM Punk to MMA. Now that he’s back to his winning ways, the twenty-seven-year-old Brown feels ready to take on a good step up in competition as he told MMA Today:

Drake Riggs - February 20, 2018

The absolutely epic film, ‘Thug Rose Champion’ was created by MMA fighter Steven Parsons and chronicles the lead up to the first title bout between the then title challenger, Rose Namajunas and strawweight champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217, the fight itself and the rise of Rose as a champion. Their rematch takes place at UFC 223 on April 7.

Justin Golightly - February 20, 2018

Frankie Edgar has finally got a fight after his anticipated scrap with UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway has fallen through twice. At UFC 222 in just under two weeks, he’ll test his infamous pressure, boxing and grinding wrestling on slick Brian Ortega. From one wrestler to another, Edgar recently spoke up about Ben Askren since the UFC on FOX Twitter account had curiously mentioned the former Bellator and ONE welterweight champion. He him a lot of respect and thinks he could have a shot against St-Pierre. “I would love to see [Ben] Askren in the UFC. I think it’s a shame that he hasn’t been here. I think people, or at least Dana [White] and whoever the UFC brass don’t want to see him go out there and wrestle guys to death and whatnot, but he’s out there wrestling and finishing guys now. The dude doesn’t get hit and it’s pretty impressive. Yeah, that’s like the, ‘Who would win out of [Georges St-Pierre] or him?’ That’s something people have been talking about for a long time and he’s got the ability to make that fight very interesting just because of his wrestling ability. Typically Georges is the guy with the wrestling ability, but against Ben I think Ben might have a hand in there.”—Frankie Edgar speaking on the MMA Roasted podcast.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

Though his hype has been somewhat diminished by a handful of Octagon losses, 21-year-old wunderkind Sage Northcutt is still one of the most sought after opponents in the crowded UFC lightweight division. Now riding a two-fight winning streak, he’s got an even bigger target on his back than normal. The latest fighter to call the Katy, Texas native out is British “Bonecrusher,” Marc Diakiese. Diakiese made his first callout of Northcutt with a short but sweet Tweet.