MMA News

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

With Daniel Cormier moving up to heavyweight for his superfight with Stipe Miocic before his retirement, it left room for Luke Rockhold to make his move. Before his loss to Yoel Romero, he opened up about how he’s getting older and weight cuts are getting harder. He decided going up to light heavyweight was ‘imminent’. However, two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson warns Rockhold that he may want to re-think his division and offered a stern warning to the former middleweight champ. “Luke Rockhold, your teammate is holding my division hostage and you think there are only easy fights at light heavyweight? If you think [Yoel] Romero hits hard, then wait till you come to the big boys. I want Daniel Cormier, and knocking you out will keep me warm in the meantime. Beware of coming up in weight because I will be standing at the front door waiting.”— Alexander Gustafsson via his official Instagram.

bjpenndotcom - February 13, 2018

Way back in 2001 a young Hawaiian prize fighter by the name of BJ Penn decided to change the game of mixed martial arts by creating his own news website. A lot has happened over the last seventeen years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is BJ Penn’s passion to keep fans up to date with the latest news from the mixed martial arts world. At last month’s UFC 220 event in Boston, BJ Penn revolutionized the game once again by introducing “Play By Play Radio” on BJPENN.com.

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

The plot continually thickens on the mystery of Nate Diaz potentially fighting Tyron Woodley. It was talking about, debated about, then put to rest. However, all of the sudden it looked like an option once again, until it was squashed by Dana White, which resulted in Woodley himself calling the man a liar. The most recent development is this curious post of Nor-Cal Fighting Alliance’s Jordan Williams. He was specifically chosen by Nate Diaz to prep him for his next fight. “I am not going to lie, it feels pretty damn good when someone as good as caliber as Nate Diaz makes a special request for you to train with them to make sure they get a good look for a future fight that’s most likely going to happen. When you are preparing for war, it is best to practice your fight strategies against the highest level lieutenants in the army that you have. Thank you Nate Diaz for rolling up to Petaluma and getting that work put in with the squad.” – Jordan Williams via his official Instagram.

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2018

Argentina’s Santiago Ponzinibbio is riding one of the best win-streaks in the stacked UFC welterweight division, having bested his last six foes – men like Nordine Taleb, Gunnar Nelson, and most recently, “Platinum” Mike Perry. With all of this momentum behind him, Ponzinibbio is hoping to be rewarded with a fight with two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2018

If things had gone according to the original plan, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar would be challenging Max Holloway for the UFC featherweight title in the main event of the upcoming UFC 222 card. Regrettably, an injury forced Holloway out of this planned fight, which left Edgar without an opponent. After several frantic days of searching, the UFC was able to find Edgar a new opponent in surging UFC featherweight contender Brian Ortega. The pair will fight in the UFC 222 co-main event. Unfortunately for Edgar, no title will be on the line. Not even an interim title, which the UFC seems to hand out like candy on Halloween these days.

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

With everyone looking forward to the three superfights that the UFC has in mind for this year, everyone was slightly disappointed to hear that Cris Cyborg was going to be defending her UFC women’s featherweight title against former Invicta FC bantamweight champon Yana Kunitskaya. It turns out it is still just a speed bump in the way of her anticipated fight with Amanda Nunes. That is, if they both win. Either way, the decision to step in and help prop up UFC 222 was strategic. Cyborg is hoping that if she scratches the UFC’s back, they’ll scratch hers. “[Stepping in to fight Yana Kunitskaya] was a great opportunity to keep the momentum from the win against Holly [Holm] and get me back into the octagon quickly so ‘Cyborg Nation’ can keep growing. I’m going to have to start putting a mouth guard in my purse if this fight pace continues the rest of 2018, though. […] When [the UFC] called saying they needed a new main event, we saw this as an opportunity to prove to everyone that Cris Cyborg can be a company girl and that I’m willing to step up when the promotion needs it. I am hoping this will continue to build my relationship within the promotion and lead to the type of marketing and exposure I have been asking for.”

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

In a couple of months, Rose Namajunas will march into the Octagon again to see if she can beat former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk back-to-back at UFC 223. Teammate and friend Justin Gaethje thinks it’s as good as wrapped up already. Citing difficulties with her weight cut, Jedrzejczyk says things will be different this time in the rematch. Gaethje thinks that the way Namajunas won, didn’t have anything to do with the weight cut, which shouldn’t be an excuse anyway. “I think [Joanna Jedrzejczyk]’s weak-minded for [talking about her drastic weight cut complications], even if it is true. It’s her own business. And no matter what, it could be true to the core and you could have proof, who’s going to [care]? Like, I’m not going to support you. Okay, whose fault was it? At the end of the day, whose fault was it? It was your fault. Do you have a scale at your house? Then you get to step on the scale every single morning, just like every single one of us do. We worry about our weight the whole camp, and I’ve never had a nutritionist help me in my entire life. […] I made weight in college eating McDonald’s every day. It’s willpower. You either f-cking do it or you don’t do it.”

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2018

The UFC has updated its official rankings in the wake of last weekend’s UFC 221 card. As expected, several of the promotion’s divisions have experienced quite a bit of movement. At middleweight, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza rose a spot as the result of Luke Rockhold’s knockout loss to the number-one ranked Yoel Romero. At heavyweight, meanwhile, Curtis Blaydes catapulted into the top-five as the result of his impressive decision defeat of Mark Hunt, while Australia’s Tai Tuivasa entered the rankings, claiming the number-15 spot. Interestingly, Ronda Rousey also dropped a spot at women’s bantamweight, entering a ninth-place tie with Leslie Smith.

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2018

Over the last few weeks, undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather has been commanding our attention by repeatedly hinting at a move to MMA. While we all know it’s pretty unlikely that this will actually ever happen, we’ve somehow been ensnared by the madness all the same. If Mayweather did move to MMA, of course, it’s hard to imagine he’d fight anybody but UFC superstar Conor McGregor, who he defeated in a blockbuster boxing match back in August. That said, it sounds like there’s another option on the table for the boxer’s potential MMA debut…

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2018

Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 221, Chicago’s Curtis Blaydes burst into heavyweight title contention with an impressive, unanimous decision win over veteran knockout artist Mark Hunt. While Blaydes’ win was impressive, however, it was not without close calls. Mid-way through the first round, he was rocked badly by his veteran foe, and seemed to be one or two clean shots away from going down. Yet demonstrating remarkable calm under pressure, the rising contender completed a takedown, which allowed him to clear the proverbial cobwebs and control Hunt for the remainder of the rounds. From there, Blaydes leaned on his tremendous grappling skill to dominate the rest of the fight, which led to a clear unanimous decision win.

Tom Taylor - February 13, 2018

Chuck Liddell’s run on Celebrity Big Brother was a bit of a disaster, as he was the first contestant voted off the show. From the sounds of it, however, he may be returning to our screens again soon – and in the way we’re accustomed. In a recent conversation with TMZ, Liddell addressed his continued dedication to training while he was on Big Brother, explaining that he was staying ready for a potential MMA comeback inside the Bellator MMA cage.

Drake Riggs - February 12, 2018

Few if any stories in 2017 were as big and jaw-dropping as yet another Jon Jones failed PED test was. The former king of 205 initially was stripped of his title for a hit and run incident in 2015. Jones would eventually return for an interim title fight with Ovince Saint Preux at UFC 197 in 2016. He would then look for a quick turnaround after winning and look to unify the titles against his biggest rival, Daniel Cormier at UFC 200. Then Jones was busted once more for clomiphene just days before the fight.

Drake Riggs - February 12, 2018

Former flyweight title challenger and Olympic gold medalist, Henry Cejudo has made it very clear who he wants to fight next. That person being a fellow former title challenger at 125, The Ultimate Fighter season 24 winner, Tim Elliott. When participating on that season of TUF, Elliott was on opposite teams as he was coached by Joseph Benavidez who coached against Cejudo and his squad. Cejudo says if there’s one person he didn’t really like during that time coaching TUF, it was definitely Elliott:

Drake Riggs - February 12, 2018

As it stands right now, labeling the career of undefeated Bellator and ONE  welterweight champion, Ben Askren a “mystery” wouldn’t feel very outrageous. How so? Everyone who has ever seen Askren fight can see how very clearly talented he was and is. The mystery just remains, “exactly how good was he?” Askren capped off his eighteen fight career in November fighting for ONE Championships and never stepping foot into a UFC octagon. Despite making it clear he’s retired, Askren has still left the door open to a possibility. Proving he truly was the best regardless of whether he fought for the UFC or not. To do so, Askren believes he must face one of the greatest of all time across all weight classes, Georges St-Pierre. Askren made a bold prediction when speaking with MMAJunkie today:

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

One of the most talked about fights in MMA at present is a possible flyweight superfight between divisional king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, and reigning UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. As the former mentor of the bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw, the probably-retired Urijah Faber is watching on intently as this possible scrap edges toward fruition. While Faber is a little more interested in Dillashaw’s options at bantamweight, he does believe Dillashaw can make the flyweight division’s 125-pound.

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

History says if a younger fighter beats an older fighter and they rematch, the younger fighter wins again…only easier. #BeyondtheFight pic.twitter.com/vr8LpCzF39 — Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) February 12, 2018

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 221, Luke Rockhold’s dreams of reclaiming the UFC middleweight title were temporarily dashed by a savage salvo of punches from Yoel Romero. It was a tough moment for Rockhold and his fans, but one that is characteristic of the brutal and beautiful sport of mixed martial arts. In a Sunday morning post to Instagram, UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem briefly discussed Rockhold’s loss, and how abrupt and decisive defeats of this kind are simply a part of the sport of MMA.

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

One of the highlights of the UFC 221 main card was a welterweight war between Australia’s Jake Matthews and China’s Li Jingliang. This wild battle, which Matthews won by decision, dazzled onlookers and earned both fighters $50,000 Fight of the Night bonuses. Regrettably, this fight was also draped in controversy. Mid-way through the contest, Matthews locked up a guillotine choke that seemed to be quite deep. In a ditch effort to escape this choke, Li appeared to purposefully claw out at at Matthews’ eyes, gouging and poking in an immediately controversial display.