MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 27, 2018

A lightweight scrap between Jordan Rinaldi and Gregor Gillespie took place on the main card of tonight’s UFC event in Charlotte. Gillespie pressing forward early. Jordan tries to keep him at bay with his jab. Gregor continues to pressure and lands a left. He shoots in and scores with a single leg takedown. Gillespie moves to half guard and then steps over into side control. Rinaldi looks to scramble but cannot break free from the position. Gregor moves to mount and begins working some short shots. Jordan scrambles and gives up his back. Gregor rolls him over and lands some heavy shots. Gillespie moves back into full mount. Rinaldi scrambles and once again gives up his back. Gillespie stays on him and works some knees. He is looking to lock in a body triangle. He flattens Rinaldi out and starts raining down some heavy shots. The referee takes a look. Jordan is getting hammered here. The referee has seen enough and steps in and calls the bout.

Chris Taylor - January 27, 2018

A welterweight scrap between Frank Camacho and Drew Dober kicked off tonight’s main card in Charlotte. Rounds one and two were very close with Frank Camacho scoring a takedown and doing some solid work in the clinch, while Drew Dober was able to find a home for his left hand.

Chris Taylor - January 27, 2018

A lightweight scrap between Bobby Green and Erik Koch served as the featured prelim of tonight’s UFC event in Charlotte. The fight went the full three rounds and although Erik Koch put forth a solid effort, tonight belonged to Bobby Green.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2018

Unable to catch tonight’s UFC on Fox: Jacare vs. Brunson 2 event? BJPenn.com has you covered! Tune in to “Play By Play Radio” for up to the second results. Tonights “Play By Play Radio” will be hosted by 2X UFC Hall of Fame Champion BJ Penn.

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

If you happened to be away from the internet and felt the ground shaking last night, it was probably just the most ridiculous fight announcement you’ve ever heard. Stipe Miocic will defend his UFC heavyweight title against none other than UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The match-up will no doubt bring a lot of attention and gamblers throwing their money around. The opening odds courtesy of Best Fight Odds have already been put up and it’s a lot closer than you think. Cormier opened as a slight underdog at +170, while Miocic sits at -215.

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

Michael Bisping is gearing up to leave the combat sports world in a couple of months, but everyone had their hands up in the air regarding a potential opponent for a myriad of reasons. However, it looks like the UFC is finally settling on a potential match-up for Bisping’s UFC London swan song. As just reported by Ariel Helwani, Bisping could potentially meet Rashad Evans in the last fight of his storied career. A main event fight between Michael Bisping & Rashad Evans is on the table for the London card on March 17. It’s currently being discussed/considered but not finalized yet. A decision will be made soon. Would be a rematch of UFC 78’s headliner, which Evans won via split decision.

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

Despite being in this fight game for the last 15 years, Paul Daley had been pretty much lighting it up in Bellator. In his last 10 fights, he’s only loss to current Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald and previous champ Douglas Lima. After multiple disputes with the Powers That Be, Daley said he had been released from his contract. Bellator was quick to refute the report, but either way it’s clear he wants to be on his way out. If the UFC is willing to take him back, he’s ready to test himself against the best in some fire match-ups. “If Bellator are gonna act like they don’t want me then they should just let me go instead of backtracking in the media. I’ve had like ten inbox messages from promotions, princes, Kings of Dubai and Russian Oligarchs and all kinds of people. So, if they are gonna let me go just let me go. If the UFC contacted me I would go back there. Of course I would. All I want to do is fight the fights that I’m promised within a reasonable time frame.”

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

With Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic announced, it’s hard to think about anything else. However, last year another insane superfight went down that no one ever thought could be possible. Conor McGregor took an hiatus to the UFC with their blessing, boxing Floyd Mayweather and making everyone involved an absolute goldmine of money. Just when you thought you had the spectacle out of your memory banks to make room for the craziness the UFC has planned this year, ‘Money’ Mayweather is here to remind you with his check that would make the Publisher’s Clearing House jealous.

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

Kevin Lee on Nate Diaz. pic.twitter.com/XkDNnqg4GB — MMA Digest (@themmadigest) January 27, 2018

Justin Golightly - January 27, 2018

In case you haven’t heard the news, maybe you need to sit down. UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is going to challenge Stipe Miocic for his UFC heavyweight belt in July after they coach a season of The Ultimate Fighter. We aren’t kidding. This is really happening. While this is insane, Cormier’s teammate Cain Velasquez may be hinting at something even crazier. Even the UFC’s official Twitter account was confused at what was going on. Either that, or they’re cleverly stirring the speculation pot. Like always, I’m gonna be in the gym everyday to help my brother @dc_mma become the next heavyweight champ at #UFC226. Once he wins, things could get interesting. #AndNew #WeAreAKA #GonnaGetMyBeltBack

Drake Riggs - January 26, 2018

The fighters started the action feeling each other out with kicks that didn’t really land. As the first minute ticked away, Fernando Gonzalez landed a nice body kick as Lorenz Larkin regained cage control and began to work his patented front teep kicks to the body and thigh. Gonzalez fought back with single hooks at times but nothing significant came from them. Larkin landed a perfect low leg kick that Gonzalez countered on with a good left hook but it didn’t get though Larkin’s defense. “The Monsoon” Larkin was picking and moving with his shots, employing his game but when Gonzalez found an opportunity to flurry he took it and each traded strikes for a brief moment. Larkin quickly got back to controlling the pace and working his kicking game.

Drake Riggs - January 26, 2018

Not many fighters have been so vocal about how unhappy they are with their UFC contracts after a fight as Al Iaquinta has been after his last few fights. But it sounds like “Ragin'” Al has negotiated a deal that he can fight happily under. He explained when talking to ESPN.com: “After my last fight in April, I put a number in my head, and I wasn’t going to fight for anything less. They almost got me in December. I accepted a fight against Paul Felder, but it wasn’t the number I had. I kind of rushed into it. So I pulled out of that fight. I stuck to my guns. One day, I got on the phone with [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby and said, ‘Listen, USADA is coming to my office to test me. This is unacceptable. I said I was going to pull myself from the USADA program. And they came back with the number I wanted.

Russell Sai - January 26, 2018

Another champion versus champion superfight has just been announced by the UFC and is set to take place in July at UFC 226. On Friday, the UFC announced that heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will be coaches on the 27th season of The Ultimate Fighter and the two will fight for Miocic’s heavyweight title at UFC 226 on July 7.

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

The middleweight division was just on the verge of reaching a relatively normal state of affairs and then an injury sent it right back into chaos. Georges St-Pierre bowed out of the division and left his new title behind. Whittaker was promoted to the undisputed champion but had to pull out of his first defense. Yoel Romero was immediately booked into Whittaker’s fight with Luke Rockhold and it was changed into an interim title bout. If you’re confused, don’t worry, Kelvin Gastelum is too. He thought he was a shoe-in for the shot after his performance at UFC Shanghai, but the UFC had other plans. “It does bother me a little bit that I haven’t even been considered for a shot, but it is what it is, I know this is a process, and I’m just dealing with the process. What I do think set me back was Robert Whittaker getting hurt and them making that match-up for the interim [middleweight] belt. That sets every middleweight back, because the winner is going to have to fight Whittaker. It’s just going to have to be a process for anyone to get a title shot.” — Kelvin Gastelum speaking to MMA Junkie.

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

All through the lead up to UFC 220, most of the spotlight was on Stipe Miocic‘s opponent Francis Ngannou. He was built up to be a genetic freak who threatened to take out the reigning and defending UFC heavyweight champion just as fast as he has dispatched of his other competition. No question Ngannou has an incredible story and was someone fresh, but Miocic couldn’t help but feel a little disrespected going into the event. After all, he was on the precipice of making history by breaking the division’s title defense record. After getting past the test, he declared himself the best heavyweight champ of all time, prompting the UFC to ask the fans if this was really true. This caused Miocic’s wife to finally lash out at the organization. “So disappointing and honestly in shock that you would even write this post. Get behind your Champion. It’s time. Continued disrespect for the blue collar, stand up individual serving his community, and dominating his division. This is a man that goes above and beyond for everyone he meets and does nothing but gracefully display his talent. He is a shining example of a hero, a family man, a role model for kids and everyone else he encounters. You really need to re-evaluate who it is that you choose to stand behind. Very disappointing. But sadly, not surprising.” — Ryan Miocic responding to the UFC on Instagram as reported by WKYC 3.

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

As soon as Nate Diaz announced that he’s tired of waiting on the sidelines and ready to come back to bring excitement to the UFC again, a lot of fighters wanted to get on that action. Dana White said he was going to offer him a fight, but that it wasn’t going to be Tyron Woodley or Conor McGregor. While there were some talk going around about unofficial UFC ‘Most Violent’ champion Eddie Alvarez, it looks like this latest public service announcement confirms he may have been one of the fights offered to the Diaz brother. Alvarez just blasted Nate Diaz for supposedly not practicing what he preaches. “If you only want Conor [McGregor] there’s nothing wrong with that, but keep it 100 with everyone, Nate Diaz. Don’t call out the entire [lightweight] division when you don’t want no work from anyone of us  It’s as phony as your whole character, you f-cking dork . You changed, man. Fake news. For your information, Nate Diaz had a common friend text me a message he sent saying he ain’t trying to fight me because I lost to Conor and he beat Conor on some MMA math sh-t . I was as shocked as you are right now. You forget [Rafael dos Anjos] ragdolled you? Nate’s fake news.” — Eddie Alvarez on Twitter.

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

Smarter. Faster. Stronger.@DerekBrunson knows what he needs to do to get his hand raised. #UFCCharlotte pic.twitter.com/1x6rp1JO4u — UFC (@ufc) January 26, 2018

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

Georges St-Pierre came, he saw, he conquered. The welterweight legend came back after four years removed from competition in the UFC and didn’t skip a beat. He looked amazing as he fought middleweight champion Michael Bisping and submitted him, capturing a title in a higher weight division. Understandably, fans were surprised and devastated to find out he compromised his health for the accomplishment, would vacate the belt and take yet another break from the sport. All eyes are on St-Pierre to return this year, perhaps at welterweight, but his coach doesn’t think that’s going to happen. “I honestly don’t bother [Georges St-Pierre] about [the next fight], because I know everybody is always asking him about it 24 hurs a day. When I see him, I don’t talk about the next fight. We don’t talk about it. I know what he’s thinking, he knows what I’m thinking and that’s it. We just leave it at that. Personally, I think he’ll fight again.He doesn’t know, nobody knows, but I think he’s just so hyper-competitive that eventually he’s going to wake up one day and he’s going to be like, ‘I need something. I need a challenge.'”