MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2018

Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov will get another opportunity in the UFC’s Octagon at UFC 223 this April 7. The Russian-born Irishman is set to battle Alex Caceres in an intriguing featherweight bout on the card. The earliest reports of this bout came from The Mac Life. It has now been confirmed by MMAFighting.com.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2018

At UFC 223, which goes down April 7 in Brooklyn, New York, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for the UFC lightweight title. What exactly this means for Conor McGregor, who is hanging on to his own lightweight belt with both hands, remains to be seen. Whatever the case, Nurmagomedov and Ferguson’s massive title clash is already dominating fan attention. Everybody and their mother has opinion on the fight, and that includes the pair’s fellow fighters.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2018

After blasting through the 2017 Rizin bantamweight Grand Prix to capture bantamweight gold, former UFC flyweight title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi now has another momentous challenge to look forward to: a battle with fellow UFC veteran Ian McCall. The pair will collide in Fukuoka, Japan on May 6. McCall announced this awesome booking on his official Instagram account.

Drake Riggs - February 13, 2018

After a bumpy 2-5 in his last seven, Jeremy Stephens has put together two very impressive performances over the likes of Doo Ho Choi and former Strikeforce lightweight champion and two-time UFC lightweight title challenger, Gilbert Melendez. Stephens’ last fight against Choi took place in January where he won in exciting fashion with a second-round TKO. Fast forward one month and ‘Lil Heathen’ is already booked for another main event as he’s set to square off with Josh Emmett in Orlando, Florida for UFC on Fox 28. Jeremy Stephens has been with the UFC since May of 2007 and racked up twenty-nine fights with the promotion. When Stephens looks back at his non-stop action career, one moment stands out in particular, and it might not be one that you would expect. Of his forty-one fights overall, Stephens has only been knocked out one time and that was to the ‘Thugjitsu Master’ Yves Edwards in 2012. Stephens credits this loss greatly for a turnaround in his career after going on a three-fight losing then dropping to featherweight.

Drake Riggs - February 13, 2018

This Friday, Bellator will be finding out who the second fighter to advance to the next round of their heavyweight Grand Prix will be. It will either be Matt Mitrione or Roy Nelson walking away to face either ‘King Mo’ Muhammad Lawal or current Bellator light heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader in the semi finals. This fight will be a rematch of for Mitrione and Nelson of their 2012 clash. Both men competed on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, but it wasn’t until the TUF 16 finale that they would finally meet after Nelson coached against former interim heavyweight champion, Shane Carwin. Carwin would suffer an injury and be forced out of the bout which gave Mitrione the opportunity to fill in. Unfortunately for Mitrione, things wouldn’t go his way as Nelson would defeat him by first-round TKO.

Drake Riggs - February 13, 2018

The year is 2016, the UFC has been sold to WME-IMG from Zuffa in a four billion dollar deal. Fighters unions are being formed and trying to stay intact. Primarily there was the MMA Athletes Association(MMAAA) and the Professional Fighters Association(PFA). Both of which weren’t helped by being associated with former Bellator promoter Bjorn Rebney. So much so that they disbanded pretty quickly. The oldest of all has been the MMA Fighters Association(MMAFA) which is roughly ten years old. The MMAFA has never had unionization as their goal though, its focus has been on the Ali Act extension bill in Congress and an antitrust lawsuit against the UFC.

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

In the lead up to UFC 221, we tried to educate you on Israel Adesanya and why his debut — despite barely any promotion — was one the most hyped UFC debuts since Conor McGregor. He didn’t let any “kickboxing hipsters” who were singing his praises to friends on social media down, as he dominated his fight with surgical precision then proceeded to cut a fun promo in the Octagon. After a nearly 80 fight journey has finally culminated in being in the premier MMA league on the planet, he recently sent a message to those that closed the doors on him. “Sponsors. Shout out to the ones that turned me down. The ones that said, “You’re not what were looking for at the moment.’ The ones that “helped” me only to help themselves, then keep reminding you they “helped” you four years ago. I f-ck with Ash James [from ENGAGE Fight Wear] because he saw the potential of what I could do beyond just fighting. He bought in early and helped me along some highs and lows of this game, because he’s a good c-nt. The rest of you corporations  trying to buy in now because I’m hot in these streets, my stock is rising, it’s gonna keep rising and the buy-in rate just tripled. Also, you have to be a GC.”—Israel Adesanya via his official Instagram.

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.

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.

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

Back in September of last year at UFC Rotterdam, a New Jersey featherweight by way of Dagestan made his debut and immediately had everyone talking about him. Zabit Magomedsharipov was fighting like it was a video game and he had all the cheat codes. To prove it wasn’t a fluke, he did the same thing in November and cemented his place as a problem to the new division. Evidently, too much of a problem. Magomedsharipov has been itching to get back into the Octagon — eyeing the UFC 225 Brooklyn card — but has had a total of five opponents turn him down. Two of them are Arnold Allen and Artem Lobov. Zabit Mamogedsharipov has had 5 opponents turn down the fight against him according to Ali. Artem Lobov said yes, but his team said no. They want an opponent for #UFC225. #TheMMAHour

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

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.

Justin Golightly - February 13, 2018

Ronda Rousey shook up the world of professional wrestling when the move that had been teased for years finally came to fruition. She’s a WWE superstar now after making her debut at the Royal Rumble. However, any current fan of the promotion knows that there are two brands in the WWE for Rousey to align with. The final part of her signing was announced last night on Monday Night RAW by Kurt Angle that Rousey will be signing her RAW contract at WWE’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event later this month. “This is my life now. First priority on my timeline for the next several years. This is not a smash-and-grab; this is not a publicity stunt. When I first met with Triple H, I told him, ‘There are other things I can do with my time that’ll make way more money, but I won’t enjoy nearly as much.’ I don’t have words at all. I’m like — this is the most overstimulated I’ve ever been in my life and I’m just, like I’m still processing it.”

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

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.