MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

On July 7, in the main event of UFC 226, reigning UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will attempt to defend his title against reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. As one of the heavyweight division’s top contenders, it’s no surprise that Curtis Blaydes will be watching this fight very closely. “I think it’s very interesting matchup,” Blaydes said of the UFC 226 main event on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “It’s a good matchup. I like it, seeing as DC is a former Strikeforce heavyweight champion and he is, I think, undefeated as a heavyweight. He knows how – he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. I think [their] weights will be a lot closer than people think. [Cormier will] probably be 235 [pounds] and Stipe will probably be around 245-250, and at heavyweight, that’s not really much of a difference. And [Cormier is] used to being the smaller guy so you don’t have to worry.”

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

Though former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has recently been linked to bouts with fellow legends such as Vitor Belfort, Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida, he’s still without an opponent for the highly anticipated final bout of his career. Bisping’s fellow top-10 middleweight Derek Brunson is hoping to change that. Brunson made a callout of the former middleweight champion on Twitter on Sunday morning, suggesting he might just head to the Fox Sports studio, where Bisping moonlights as an analyst, and pick a fight.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

Over the last few weeks, there has been ceaseless buzz surrounding an MMA rematch between current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather – be it in the cage or the ring. From the sounds of it, however, both men are keen to put an end to this rematch talk.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

Earlier this week, we learned that Vitor Belfort will step into the Octagon for a final time at UFC 224 on May 12. His opponent in this retirement bout will be a long-time friend and fellow Brazilian in Lyoto Machida. In a lengthy post to Instagram, Belfort explained why he chose to accept a fight with a friend in the final fight of his career. His hope, he says, is that this fight will deliver an important message to his fans and fellow fighters.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

Though Paul Daley recently expressed interest in parting ways with Bellator MMA, it sounds as though he’ll be sticking with the promotion after all. In a Friday post to his personal Facebook account, Daley claimed that he’s signing not just one, but two contracts for Bellator bouts. The first, he says, will pit him against recent free agent and former World Series of Fighting champion Jon Fitch in May. The second will see him locked in the cage with fellow Englishman and long-time rival Michael “Venom” Page this summer.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

After fighting out his previous UFC contract under the advisement of his previous manager, there was some doubt as to whether or not rising lightweight contender Stevie Ray would re-sign with the promotion. Luckily, the Scottish fighter was ultimately able to hash out a new deal with the UFC. He’s now set to return to the cage opposite Kajan Johnson when the UFC touches down in London on March 17. Ray announced his new deal with the UFC on Facebook, simultaneously apologizing to the promotion for fighting out his contract in an attempt to leverage a more lucrative deal.

Tom Taylor - February 18, 2018

On Friday, Conor McGregor took to Instagram to take a quick jab at current UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway. In this post, McGregor reminded the world that he was able to defeat a young Holloway with a badly injured leg. This was just moments after I tore my ACL in a fight in Boston Massachusetts. It was when I faced off against the current featherweight champion Max Holloway, who I dismantled before and after this ligament tear, to win a lopsided victory. It was father against son in there that night in just my second UFC bout. Young Max is a hell of a fighter, I wonder what the future holds for my young Uce. Ligaments are needed in a fight definitely. Some can fight on however, where as some can not. I always think there are moments in your career that can make you or break you. I have had many in my storied career and this was most certainly one of them. God bless. Boston Strong 🍀

Chris Taylor - February 17, 2018

UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson decided to take a jab at surging welterweight contender Colby Covington on social media earlier this evening. Covington had taken to Twitter with the following video earlier this afternoon where he announced that #NerdBash2018 was officially on and that nobody was safe.

Chris Taylor - February 17, 2018

Conor McGregor has nothing but respect for Nate Diaz. The UFC lightweight champion of the world, McGregor, recently commented on an Instagram post where he gave his former opponent “The Stockton Slugger” some serious props.

Christine Allen - February 17, 2018

As I watch You Tube footage of Octagon Girl Arianny Celeste’s theatrically enamoured reaction to UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem’s muscular torso during the UFC 141 weigh in, I cringe. Seeing her congratulatory clap, as host Joe Rogan confirms that the ‘demolition man’ has reached the magic number, I can’t help but compare her to the women who risk their health to step into the Octagon for our viewing entertainment on a regular basis.

Chris Taylor - February 17, 2018

March’s UFC 222 pay-per-view event was expected to be headlined by a featherweight title fight between current champ Max Holloway and top contender Frankie Edgar. Unfortunately for fight fans, the Hawaiian champion suffered a leg injury and was forced to pull out of his highly anticipated title fight with “The Answer”.

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

The year of the superfight is truly upon us. Whether they all go down or not, three giant fights between champions in different divisions are expected to fight each other. Whether this is the UFC’s big explosion like the death of a star, or their metamorphosis to survive in the future, it’s clear that things are changing. So, if we’re going to crack open the door to allow for epic fights like these, why not just kick it off the hinges? Let’s take down the political boundaries between organizations and have champions be able to fight other champions to really decide who are the top fighters on our humble spinning rock. Unfortunately, that’s impossible until some sort of MMA Ali Act is passed. However, there is no red tape on our imagination, so this is what we’ll explore in the very first edition of Fight Think. 5.  Bellator World Grand Prix winner vs. Stipe Miocic/Daniel Cormier winner (Bellator heavyweight champion vs UFC heavyweight champion)

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

The upcoming UFC 223 pay-per-view card that hits on April 7th is going to be huge. If Daniel Cormier wasn’t fighting Stipe Miocic later on in the Summer at UFC 226, UFC 223 would be the biggest PPV of the year. Rose Namajunas will attempt to defend her new UFC strawweight title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk who is thirsty for revenge. The card is headlined by Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, in a fight that will determine the very best lightweight on the planet not named Conor McGregor. A card this crazy deserves a big budget promo video and it looks like we’re getting just that. Whether he was supposed to or not, Tony Ferguson shared some footage on his Instagram of the shoot. It looks like he’s the new John Wick fighting invisible ghost ninjas in the rain. In other words, it looks completely awesome. After an exhaustive search on social media, no one else in the main or co-main has let anything slip besides a picture of Joann Jedrzejczyk just smiling and saying she spent the morning in Los Angeles on the same shoot. With this sneak peak though, just imagining her, Nurmagomedov, and Namajunas inserted in the scenario has our hype at maximum levels.

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

For those that believed Donald Cerrone when he said he was slowing down and going back to lightweight, think again. He recently opened up about the terrifying road to fight day in an interview that produced chills, but in it spoke about how the old Cowboy is back. A revelation that led to him sticking to welterweight and fighting the very game Yancy Medeiros. The cut is just too big and Cowboy loves the fight game too much. So much in fact, that he wants to step inside the Octagon four times this year. “[I plant to fight] four [times in 2018]. Who knows? If they call me and say they need me to fight next week, I will. I love it, I literally love my job. […] I think I did a good job branding myself young in this sport. But other than that, those young guys, you can’t just have one fight in the UFC and think, ‘Oh man, I’m going to sign a huge deal.’ It doesn’t work like that. Just like I can’t say, ‘I’m going to fight Floyd Mayweather and make $100 million.’ The opportunity isn’t there for me – you’ve got to take it when you can get it.”

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

.@RusHammerMMA on @TheNotoriousMMA: “There’s going to be a clear challenger decided April 7th, and that’s who Conor’s going to fight.” Full interview with @niallmcgrath4 on this week’s @talkingbrawls: https://t.co/yoiIESN5gH

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

One of the biggest accomplishments in combat sports is to be a K-1 grand prix champion. It’s a high honor for any kickboxer, but for an MMA fighter to also achieve it, is pretty insane. Mark Hunt has done it, Alistair Overeem has done it, and so have the legend Mirko Cro Cop. Not only did he accomplish the feat, but he did it in his own homeland of Croatia. It’s too bad that this achievement from 2013 is still tarnished to this day because according to Cro Cop, he still has never got paid by the owner of the organization. So, he recently put together a little campaign. “This lovely face belongs to Mike Kim,the owner of legendary K-1 organization. I wrote about him two months ago and I told that he is a cheater who never paid fighters from K-1 Grand Prix 2013. He called the next day and begged me to stop writing and that he will pay. Of course, he is not answering the phone calls and messages since then and I promised him that I will not forget him, and that I will inform K-1 fans, fighters and his business partners as to what kind of man he is. Punks and cheaters like him deserves that. I printed these t-shirts as I promised I would so people will remember his name and his adorable face. This is just first t-shirt, others will be posted later with appropriate banner each time. Please share, because people like Mike Kim deserves that every one finds out what a cheater he is. When he can steal from fighters who fought for him then he can and he will steal from anyone.”—Cro Cop via his official Facebook

Drake Riggs - February 16, 2018

The electrifying Russian featherweight prospect has another fight. Zabit Magomedsharipov has burst onto the scene among the star-studded 145-pounders. He shared the news today that he has his UFC 223 fight and his opponent will be Kyle Bochniak. https://www.instagram.com/p/BfRZPI2lSAg/?utm_source=ig_embed

Drake Riggs - February 16, 2018

Very few performances were quite as impressive as the debuting Israel ‘Stylebender’ Adesanya’s at UFC 221. The Nigerian born kickboxer put on a striking masterclass against Rob Wilkinson after stifling his takedown attempts in the first round. Adesanya systematically broke Wilkinson down with punches, kicks and elbows before he eventually wilted and the referee was forced to stop the action. At only 28, Adesanya doesn’t care who he fights next because quite frankly as he told MMAJunkie…he believes the result will be the same no matter who he fights.