MMA News

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

Chris Pratt and Randy Couture doing a little hand fighting. (Via Pratt on IG) pic.twitter.com/Ad1E0pVweR — FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) January 29, 2018

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

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.”

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2018

It’s crowded at the top of the UFC welterweight division. Closing in on divisional apex predator Tyron Woodley is an increasingly long list of ferocious contenders, from Colby Covington, to Rafael dos Anjos, to Stephen Thompson, to Darren Till to Kamaru Usman. The sprint to the next welterweight title shot, of course, would seem to come down to two men: Covington and dos Anjos. In the opinion of two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson, however, one is more deserving than the other.

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.”

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2018

This July 7, in the midst of this year’s International Fight Week, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will return to his former haunts – the heavyweight division – where he’ll take on reigning champ Stipe Miocic in an effort to become a two-division champ. If Cormier is able to accomplish this momentous task, he believes he deserves to be in the running for the greatest of all time title. “I win this fight July 7, I’m the greatest fighter of all time,” Cormier said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I’ve done something that was unheard of and that’s what I’ve always chased. I’ve always chased that. I chased it in the fights with [Jon] Jones because even regardless of the belts, I would always say, ‘Once I beat Jones, I will be the greatest fighter of all time.’ So I believe that once I do this, something that was so crazy that no one even has attempted it, I feel like I’m in the conversation for the best fighter of all time.” “When I think of a fight against Stipe, it’s a very tough fight and it’s a very difficult mountain for me to climb,” Cormier added. “But the reality was I’ve always talked about competition and legacy and when you think about legacy, if I’m able to pull this off, there’s no denying what I have meant to this sport and what I will leave behind whenever I’m done.”

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2018

Al Iaquinta has finally worked out his pay gripes with the UFC – at least for the moment. He is set to return to the cage in a rescheduled bout with Paul Felder at UFC 223 on April 7. Al Iaquinta discussed his new contract on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - January 30, 2018

This July, at UFC 226, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will return to his former haunts – the heavyweight division – where he’ll take on reigning champ Stipe Miocic in an effort to become a two-division champ.  While Cormier’s move to heavyweight would seem like it steps on the toes of his friend and training partner Cain Velasquez, Velasquez recently assured all was well in a Tweet. 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 29, 2018

Eddie Bravo may most famously be known for his appearances on his good friend and UFC commentator, Joe Rogan’s podcast. But people may often not know or forget that he’s actually one of the best and most successful BJJ practitioners in the world today. Bravo is Interim Lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson’s main BJJ coach and Bravo did an interview recently on the Outside the Cage podcast where he commented on how Conor McGregor‘s ground game is: “He came into my gym a few years ago and he looked good. The fact that he came through and jumped in with my animals I got there shows that he’s willing to…you know, the thing about Jiu-Jitsu is it’s different from striking in you can train striking everyday and get like, the ultimate striking training everyday and never get into a winning-losing situation, like never get in an actual fight. But with Jiu-Jitsu, every day you’re getting in actual winning-losing situations where people are getting tapped out and losing. So that aspect of Jiu-Jitsu, which is the aspect that people get obsessed with and fall in love with and it’s also the aspect that scares the shit outta people and makes them run away from it. They don’t want to lose. Especially when you’re a UFC fighter.”

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2018

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier’s next fight will not be in the light heavyweight division, but at heavyweight, where he will battle reigning heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic in an effort to become a two-division champion. Cormier’s taking a title shot at heavyweight, of course, would seem to step on the toes of his long-time friend and training partner, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2018

On April 7, at the stacked UFC 223 in Brooklyn, red-hot strawweight contender Felice Herrig will battle former title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz in one of the most important fights of her impressive career thus far. As this big bout looms on the horizon, Herrig is getting plenty of love from the media as one of the strawweight division’s top contenders. Regrettably, one publication made a pretty significant blunder when covering Herrig’s upcoming fight.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2018

Robert Whittaker has not been seen in the cage since he won the UFC interim middleweight title with a decision triumph over Yoel Romero in July. And while he was recently promoted to undisputed middleweight champion when Georges St-Pierre vacated that title, it sounds like it could be some time before he’s back in the cage. Speaking to TSN earlier this month, UFC President Dana White gave a grim update on Whittaker and the health problems that are keeping him out of the cage.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2018

Over the last year, there has been significant discussion surrounding a possible Chuck Liddell comeback. The former UFC light heavyweight champion and bona fide MMA legend has repeatedly been linked to bouts in the Bellator MMA cage – though none of them have come to fruition yet. As it turns out, though, we will be seeing Chuck Liddell back on our screens soon. Just not in the way we expected.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2018

Last night, during the action packed Royal Rumble broadcast, we learned that former UFC women’s bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey had signed with WWE, where she’ll debut at WrestleMania in April. While this news created a tidal wave of excitement among Rousey fans, it also seemed to serve as the eulogy for her MMA career.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2018

EXCLUSIVE: @RondaRousey offers her candid thoughts just moments after shocking the @WWEUniverse at @WWE #RoyalRumble! pic.twitter.com/Ho3HOS8jo9 — WWE (@WWE) January 29, 2018