MMA News

Justin Golightly - February 20, 2018

It has been nearly 10 days since Yoel Romero finished Luke Rockhold with an uppercut so brutal that we’re still talking about it. We’re also still talking about the kiss he landed on Rockhold’s cheek as well at UFC 221. Originally it was thought that it was nothing more than a sportsmanlike gesture, but Romero had the bible on his mind as he called Rockhold a brother and put his lips on his cheek. He was thinking of Judas, who betrayed Jesus with a kiss after The Last Supper. The Soldier of God flipped the allegory in the Octagon that night when he pecked Luke Rockhold, then told the story of their fall on Monday. “Before USADA, every time when [Luke Rockhold] saw me […] he’d say, ‘Hey, what’s up, my man? You want to go out with me? I need a party.’ I’d say, okay, come on, let’s go, no problem. When I [was hanging out] with him, he was like a friend. […] When I had this problem with USADA, he and Michael Bisping is the two guys who were talking a lot of [trash] about me. Ok, Bisping is Bisping. I don’t have a relationship with this guy, but with [Rockhold] — You talk like this against me? But God is good. Maybe he was thinking, ‘Ok, this guy is 39-years old. Minimum two years out [with a suspension], he’s 41. Bye, bye Yoel.’ But God is good every time. I’m still here. That’s why the UFC call me and I say, ‘Yes, I want the fight’ and I tried to get down my current weight.”

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

When fan favorite lightweight contender Nate Diaz announced his intention to return to the cage, recent interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee was among the first fighters to call him out. When this callout went unanswered, however, Lee formed the opinion that Diaz doesn’t actually want to fight. “I don’t know how folks jumped on the Nate bandwagon so hard, folks just think he is such a fighter, but the man doesn’t want to fight, that’s the bottom line,” Lee said on a recent episode of Cage Side Submissions (h/t Nicole Bosco of FanSided). “If a man doesn’t want to fight, I’m not a bully. I’m not going to keep berating him and going at him. He is in and out of Vegas all the time, I see him in the store here a lot, me and him we will get into a little conversation here and there, but I’m not going to berate a man that doesn’t want to fight. If he doesn’t want to fight ok, we won’t worry about it. He doesn’t want to fight, if he does he damn sure ain’t going to fight someone like me, he’s going to fight somebody like Eddie [Alvarez] who is on his way out.”

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

Kamaru Usman wants to fight Colby Covington. At this point, that’s no secret. Apparently, however, Usman is getting tired of waiting for his fellow welterweight contender to oblige him. On Monday, “The Nigerian Nightmare” once again called out his rival, this time challenging him to a showdown at UFC 224, which goes down May 12 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – a nation packed to the edges with Covington haters. Apparently, if Covington doesn’t answer Usman’s calls this time, Usman will never entertain the idea of fighting him again.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

Back in November, in the co-main event of UFC 217, TJ Dillashaw reclaimed the UFC bantamweight title, surviving a first-round knockdown to stop Cody Garbrandt with a volley of second-round punches. Since then, the former champion Garbrandt has been outspoken in his desire for an immediate rematch. Garbrandt’s calls reached a crescendo when UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his UFC 222 title fight with Frankie Edgar, leaving the card without a main event. It was his hope that he and Dillashaw would rematch in card’s new headlining bout.

Drake Riggs - February 19, 2018

Few performances if any this past Sunday were quite as impressive as the debuting Curtis Millender’s when he took on the tough UFC veteran and former 170-pound title challenger, Thiago Alves. Millender came into the bout with two straight clean knockout victories and he would add another against Alves thus extending his overall win streak to seven. Millender earned a performance of the night bonus in his debut and also became the first man to knock out the thirty-four fight veteran, Alves. In his post-fight scrum with the media, “Courteous” Curtis commented on the fight and who he wants next and why:

Drake Riggs - February 19, 2018

When you thought you had finally seen it all in MMA, Canadian UFC star, Elias Theodorou goes and makes what many have joked about over the years a reality. He confirmed today when speaking on the MMA Hour that he will be the first ever ring-boy for a major promotion when he will be in action at Invicta FC 28 on March 24. Invicta FC has been the premier all-female MMA organization since it’s birth back in 2012. Now what a better time for them to grab their first ring-boy and for it to be the man with a Pert shampoo sponsorship, Elias Theodorou?

Drake Riggs - February 19, 2018

Over the past weeks, boxing legend and great, Floyd Mayweather has used his social media accounts to tease fans with what looks like a transition to MMA… Nothing at all is confirmed right now and who knows if anything is close to becoming official behind the scenes. All we know is that UFC President, Dana White has expressed interest in having Mayweather fight for him in an MMA format and of course, his most recent opponent, UFC lightweight champion, Conor McGregor has shown interest in this as well. Who isn’t very interested in this though? Well, surely there’s a broad answer to that question as the circus surrounding McGregor has gone on for quite some time now. But specifically, the Mayweather team doesn’t look to really want this to happen and if it did, they don’t think Mayweather would fair well. Insider for the camp, Jody Kohn spoke with BodySlam.Net‘s FrankieNYC about the potential fight:

Drake Riggs - February 19, 2018

“We knew that if I got put in the crucifix, I was going to do this one move. Which I did. So if you go into the video and watch the video that’s on the internet or on YouTube, if you go into a minute and fifty four seconds left in the third round, you’re going to see me do a move that I do where I bring my left heel across his right calf, I squeeze my knees together, and if I bridged or twist my hips hard enough it actually becomes a sweep and I end up on top and Roy [Nelson] loses his position. Well when I reached my leg across I didn’t squeez my knees hard enough. But it was enough for Roy to kind of feel he was going to lose his balance if I did it again.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

Last night, the UFC touched down in Austin, Texas with an exciting 12-fight card. In the main event of this card, ranked welterweight fighters Donald Cerrone and Yancy Medeiros collided in a fight many considered a frontrunner for Fight of the Night – even Fight of the Year – honors. In the end, Cerrone and Medeiros’ scrap didn’t really last long enough to make it into the Fight of the Night discussion. That said, it was fun while it lasted, as the pair of fan favorites traded heavy leather until Cerrone landed a fight-ending blow with just two seconds left in the first round.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated return to Austin, Texas, Derrick Lewis surged back into the heavyweight contendership picture with a thunderous third-round stoppage of Polish contender Marcin Tybura. That said, the Texan heavyweight was not without close calls, as Tybura had him in trouble on the mat on more than one occasion. Here’s how the pros reacted to Derrick Lewis’s back-and-forth win over Marcin Tybura.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

Last night, the UFC touched down in Austin, Texas with an exciting, 12-fight card. In the main event of this action-packed broadcast, long-time UFC welterweight contender Donald Cerrone picked up a knockout win over Yancy Medeiros, rebounding from a three-fight losing streak in the process. In the co-main event, meanwhile, Texas’ own Derrick Lewis burst back into heavyweight title contention with a stoppage win over Poland’s Marcin Tybura. Elsewhere on this action-packed card, we saw big wins from James Vick, Curtis Millender, and Sage Northcutt – though the latter was quite controversial.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

On April 7, in the main event of UFC 223, interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for the lightweight title. This fight stands out as one of the biggest and most important in the illustrious history of the UFC lightweight division. Regrettably, it’s also one of the most ill-starred fights in MMA history. Yes, having been booked to no avail on multiple occasions over the last few years, this matchup looks very much like its cursed. And while we’re all hoping it finally comes to fruition this April, the realists in the MMA community are bracing themselves for the possibility of heartbreak yet again.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated return to Austin, Texas, Derrick Lewis survived a few scares to author a thunderous third-round TKO win over Polish talent Marcin Tybura. With this win, Lewis rebounded from  tough, stoppage loss to heavyweight legend Mark Hunt, and reasserted himself as a top contender in the perilous UFC heavyweight division. Though he’s likely still a win or two away from a heavyweight title shot, Lewis has a few opponents in mind for his next fight, any of whom could well propel him the rest of the way to the top. Those men are: Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, and Fabricio Werdum. Or, you know, whoever is willing to sign a contract first.

Tom Taylor - February 19, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated return to Austin, Texas, Donald Cerrone rebounded from a three-fight losing streak with a destructive, first-round stoppage of Yancy Medeiros. While this impressive win served to keep Cerrone ranked at welterweight, he admitted post-fight that he plans to return to his former haunts in the lightweight division, where he hopes to make one last run at the title. In particular, Cerrone seems hellbent on a fight with Dagestan’s Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will battle Tony Ferguson for the title at UFC 223 this April 7. Cerrone and Nurmagomedov, to remind, have plenty of history together, having been booked to fight twice in the past to no avail.

Chris Taylor - February 18, 2018

Pros react to Donald Cerrone’s impressive first-round victory over Yancy Medeiros! Donald Cerrone snapped his three-fight losing skid in the main event of tonight’s UFC Fight card in Austin by scoring a first-round TKO victory over Yancy Medeiros.

Chris Taylor - February 18, 2018

Nate Diaz sparks up cageside at UFC Austin! Former UFC lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz was cageside for tonight’s UFC Austin main event fight between Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Yancy Medeiros.

Chris Taylor - February 18, 2018

UFC Fight Night Austin Results: Derrick Lewis TKO’s Marcin Tybura A heavyweight clash between perennial division contenders Derrick Lewis and Marcin Tybura served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night card in Austin, Texas.

Chris Taylor - February 18, 2018

UFC Fight Night Austin Results: James Vick defeats Francisco Trinaldo A key lightweight scrap between Francisco Trinaldo and James Vick took place on tonight’s UFC Fight Night Austin main card.