MMA News

Justin Golightly - January 31, 2018

It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Derrick Lewis, better known as The Black Beast. He’s coming back in action at UFC Austin on February 18th to fight Marcin Tybura, but he’s got his eyes on another fighter. Francis Ngannou is taking some time off after coming up short against Stipe Miocic, but whenever he comes back, Lewis is up to throw down with the big man. He doesn’t stop at the call-out though, he alleges the 31-year old is at least 40 and is on performance enhancing drugs. “Yeah, I’ll fight [Francis Ngannou] on sight you know. This guy over here, every time somebody ask me a question about him, I say something nice, but every time somebody say something about him, he’s like trying to talk down on me saying I’m not on his level, talking about how I’m too slow and this and that. I really don’t care, but, don’t try and talk sh-t about me every chance you get. He talks sh-t, but he’s never like, ‘Oh, I want to fight Derek.’ He’s always talking down on me, but he doesn’t want to fight me.”

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

In the wake of last weekend’s UFC Charlotte card, the UFC has adjusted its official rankings. The biggest shakeup this time surrounds Former UFC middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s ejection from the middleweight rankings. Given that St-Pierre is not expected to fight again for quite some time – if ever – his ejection from the middleweight rankings makes some sense. Contrary to this logic, however, Ronda Rousey, who is now a full-time pro wrestler for WWE, is still ranking at women’s bantamweight. Why? Who knows…

Justin Golightly - January 31, 2018

You’re not an MMA fan if you’re not in a constant state of confusion most of the time. Michael Bisping seemed all but confirmed for UFC London in a perfect locale for a retirement bout, but an opponent was never official. There were some reports going around that Rashad Evans, the man who dealt Bisping his first loss, was finally that opponent. After the former middleweight champion himself announced he wasn’t fighting in London after all, it looked like those talks were negated. Still, Bisping took to his podcast to make sure everyone knew he is not fighting Evans. “I’m going to have one last fight, maybe. If some two-bit journalists out there on the Internet f-cking have picked up some information, that’s great, but I’m not going to publicly go out and say things when I can’t say them. Because you know what, [co-host] Luis [Gomez]? I’m a professional. Yes, people are reporting it [that I’m fighting Rashad Evans], but I am not. So, apparently there is a rumor going around about me and Rashad. I will say this. I will say this: I don’t know what to say. Let’s start with the obvious. Rashad fights at 205. I fight at 185. So, that doesn’t even make sense.”

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

A little over a week ahead of Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero’s UFC 221 interim middleweight title fight, the UFC’s undisputed middleweight champion Robert Whittaker has shared a very positive update. Whittaker was originally expected to defend his title against Rockhold in the main event of UFC 221, but was forced out of the fight with an undisclosed health issue. UFC President Dana White later shared a grim update on Whittaker’s condition, eluding to an out of control staph infection.

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

On January 20, in the co-main event of the absolutely stacked Bellator 192, former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald captured the Bellator welterweight title with a fun, and very competitive decision win over the dangerous Douglas Lima. While MacDonald’s win was certainly impressive, not everyone agreed with it. In the eyes of some fans, Lima should have been awarded the win based on the fact that he clearly did more damage over the course of the five-round war, battering MacDonald’s face, and brutalizing his leg with kicks.

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

On January 20, the UFC returned to Boston with UFC 220, a massive pay-per-view that featured title fights at both heavyweight and light heavyweight. In the main event, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic defended his title by outworking dangerous challenger Francis Ngannou to a unanimous decision, derailing one of MMA’s biggest hype trains in the process.

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier’s next fight will not occur in the light heavyweight division, but at heavyweight, where his career began. His opponent in this return to the heavyweight division will be UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. The pair will battle in the main event of UFC 226 this July. While news that Cormier will fight Miocic was met with widespread excitement, it didn’t go over particularly well with Alexander Gustafsson, the top contender in the light heavyweight division, who feels he’s been deprived of the light heavyweight title shot he’s earned.

Drake Riggs - January 30, 2018

UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier is no stranger to a good ol’ Heavyweight tournament. Prior to Cormier’s current Light Heavyweight run, he was an undefeated Heavyweight and a Grand Prix champion himself as he won the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix as an alternate in 2012. Cormier defeated the likes of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Josh Barnett to win the tournament.

Drake Riggs - January 30, 2018

UFC 223 continues to grow! Already off to a hot start with two title fights and three Lightweight fights in total…it looks like another might be getting added! ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reports that a showdown between season 15 winner of The Ultimate Fighter, Michael Chiesa and former WEC and UFC Lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis could be in the cards for the night of action in Brooklyn, New York. Per sources, UFC is targeting a lightweight bout between Anthony Pettis and Michael Chiesa for UFC 223 on April 7 in Brooklyn.

Drake Riggs - January 30, 2018

“Let me just say that…you made a comment earlier about flying around like a rockstar. And when you travel this much, to maintain the kind of training that you would need to actually put together a camp, it’s not realistic. I do train, I train on almost a daily basis. Now granted, I have some stints here and there where i’m out of town for a week so I might only get two days of training in that week because i’m on the road.

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

Just a few months away, former unofficial ‘Most Violent” champion Justin Gaethje will take on Dustin Poirier in April. People are already talking about this fight like it is going to be a Fight of the Night, maybe even a Fight of the Year contender. If Gaethje’s last fight with Eddie Alvarez is of any indication, it definitely could be. Poirier was on his way to the same nominations, had his fight with Alvarez not ended with illegal blows. Unable to earn retribution, he’ll look to leapfrog Alvarez to a title shot with a win over the former WSOF lightweight champ. “With Justin Gaethje, there are two things that are going to happen with this guy. Either, he’s doubting himself after his first loss and his first time getting finished, or he’s going to be focused on being the best he can be when he comes back. I’m prepared for either. I’m expecting Justin to go back to the drawing board and maybe use less of his brawling style and use more of the wrestling that people forgot that he had and try and try to become a complete fighter. I’m preparing for the best guy ever. […] “That’s all I’m focused on, it will be three former world champions that I’ve fought in a row in my last three fights and that’s all I’m focused on.”

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

Have any of you ever heard of the Bermuda Triangle? It’s that loosely-defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where aircraft and ships seem to disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The UFC currently has its own kind of nefarious location that match-ups seem to vanish over in London. Michael Bisping was all but confirmed that he’d retire at the card, but that is off the table. Stephen Thompson, along with Gunnar Nelson, were in talks to fight Darren Till, but neither of those are going to happen either according to John Kavanagh. I’m sure [Darren] Till will make his own statement, but I believe he’s ill. He has however agreed to face [Gunnar Nelson] later in the year. [We wish him a] speedy recovery. However, for now we need someone for March 17th. So. if you’re a UFC welterweight, get onto [matchmaker] Sean [Shelby] and get paid. Hope to get matched soon. I can tell you UFC have asked almost every welterweight who’s not currently matched or injured and everyone busy that night [at UFC London] for some reason? A chance to main event a good European show and everyone is getting their hair washed. Bizarre.” — Coach John Kavanagh on Twitter.

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

It has been well known that Michael Bisping would be retiring at UFC London. The locale was perfect for his swan song, the timing seemed right, the only thing that was missing was going to be an opponent. After an exhaustive list and failed attempts to get something done, it seemed like the UFC had finally zeroed in on Rashad Evans. He was Bisping’s first ever loss and sounded like a great way to close out his career. Except that isn’t happening. Michael Bisping isn’t fighting Evans at UFC London, matter of fact, he isn’t even fighting at all at he card. Don’t buy tickets to see me fight in London. I’m not fighting. Just spoke with ufc.

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2018

A post shared by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather) on Jan 30, 2018 at 10:38am PST

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

If you’re still confused about the UFC’s lightweight title situation, you’re not the only one. Even Tony Ferguson is frustrated. Dana White was criticized for not being clear when he announced that Ferguson’s bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 would be for a title, but didn’t clarify which title would be on the line. What makes it more mysterious, is that Conor McGregor has yet to be stripped of his title. A lot of people had their own theories as to what is going on, but Eddie Alvarez recently tried his hand at it. “I saw another theory online and I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s exactly what it is.’ What’s going on is, this fight [between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson] is 0 for 3. They’re not going to strip Conor [McGregor] of a belt and then have a vacant title for a fight that’s 0 for 3. They have not been able to make this fight. Every time they book it, they’re not able to make the fight – either Khabib gets hurt or Tony gets hurt or someone gets hurt.”

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2018

This weekend, on the undercard of UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, red-hot featherweight prospect Alexander Volkanovski will return to the cage for a rescheduled bout with Canada’s Jeremy Kennedy. If Volkanovski can win this bout, he’ll be 4-0 in the UFC, and 16-1 overall, and he expects to be rewarded for this impressive run with a top-15 opponent. “That’s gonna be four,” he said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “If I win this, that’s four wins in a row. I haven’t even lost a round [in the UFC] yet, so I’ve been dominating most of my opponents and I’m sure they’re gonna wanna give me a ranked opponent. I just think that’s the only option after this. And I’m pretty sure, you know, my manger was talking to [matchmaker] Sean Shelby and that’s pretty much what he was implying, so I definitely think that’s what’s gonna happen, and that’s why I’m happy with the match up and I can’t wait, mate.”

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

Aside from Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic’s ultra mega fight being booked, there is at least a couple more superfights lingering around that haven’t been finalized. One of them is UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg defending against UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. Dana White said he’d put it together, Nunes campaigned for it, Cyborg has said she’s agreed to it but nothing has happened yet. This has led to Nunes to publicly wonder what the hold up is with the match-up. “I wanted that fight [with Cyborg]. She didn’t even think about that when I decided to do it. I texted Dana White, and I said I wanted that fight. I’m ready to go up. I wanted something big for my career and I decided the next step would be Cyborg. But the negotiations have been so slow. I don’t know what is wrong, but I didn’t even see my contract yet. Nothing is official. [I didn’t want a] catchweight at all. I’m going up to 145. I don’t want to make this so long – already it’s long. […] I’ve fought there before. My first fight in Strikeforce at 145 was against Julia Budd. Things worked very well for me. I’m a little bit over losing weight as well. I have to get on the diet and go down. I want to take a little break from that and go up. I think this is the best choice for me right now and they don’t have nobody in my division.”

Justin Golightly - January 30, 2018

Out of nowhere, we were suddenly hit with probably the biggest fight of the year in 2018. Whether there is some sort of triumphant return of Conor McGregor or not, Daniel Cormier jumping up to heavyweight to challenge Stipe Miocic for his title as his career comes to close is absolutely gigantic. Just as with his fight with Francis Ngannou, don’t expect a whole lot of trash talk. Miocic is actually happy for both of them that fight got made, as well as expressing a lot of respect for the light heavyweight champ. “[The fight with Daniel Cormier] just happened. It was kind of crazy how it all happened. I’m just glad it all worked out and we can both do it and both make a lot of money doing it. DC’s a great guy. He’s an amazing fighter. He’s done so much stuff in his life. He went to the Olympics twice, won the Grand Prix in Strikeforce and all that. It made sense for both of us and we’re doing it.”