MMA News

Drake Riggs - January 25, 2018

“When I got the offer to fight Justine Kish, everyone was talking about her accident in the cage. Then when it was finalized, everyone I know was telling me to make her shit her pants again. Every time I met someone and start talking about the fight, they kept saying that to me.

Drake Riggs - January 25, 2018

It’s pretty rare to see the longtime Featherweight queen, Cris Cyborg get called out by anyone. Usually, she’s the one who has to go searching for challengers. But today someone has risen from the shadows and they happen to be a fellow champion as well. Current Invicta FC Bantamweight champion, Yana “Foxy” Kunitskaya took to Twitter and let it be known that she wants to test the unstoppable, Cyborg. https://twitter.com/YanaKunitskaya1/status/956629098280796160

Jason Kindschy - January 25, 2018

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 9PM ET/6PM PT! 9:15PM ET- We kick things off with UFC lightweight Mairbek Taisumov. Following what appears to be an end to his frustrating visa complications, the Russian powerhouse appears to have cleared the hurdle as it was announced he’d be fighting Evan Dunham at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York. Riding a five-fight win streak under the UFC banner, Taisumov believes a big win on April 7th against Dunham puts him right in the mix at 155. We’ll discuss the visa situation, the matchup against Dunham, and the landscape of the division.

Justin Golightly - January 25, 2018

It seems like both yesterday and 100 years ago that Brock Lesnar made his triumphant UFC return after being away from the sport for nearly five years, then coming back and beating top 10 heavyweight Mark Hunt. There have been multiple rumblings of his return including a Jon Jones call out, but nothing has happened yet. All that may start to change in April of this year, when Brock Lesnar’s contract with the WWE is up. He’ll have some fine print that keeps him locked until the Fall, but then he’ll be clear to pursue other business opportunities. …Including a UFC return. “According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Brock Lesnar’s contract ends right after WrestleMania, but there are aspects in the contract that could keep him with WWE through August. Lesnar would need Vince McMahon’s approval to do a UFC fight. Dana White this past week indicated that he believed Lesnar would fight in UFC in 2018, and McMahon did give his approval for the Mark Hunt fight in 2016.” — Larry Csonka of 411Mania.

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that long-time Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith had signed with the UFC. Smith made his debut with the promotion during UFC 220 last weekend, working the broadcast desk on Fs1. Now, he’s announced that he’ll return to his bread and butter – commentating on live fights – at UFC 221 on February 4 in Perth, Australia.

Justin Golightly - January 25, 2018

You’ve heard him on @UFCFightPass and #SnoopCast now @SnoopDogg brings his talents to @EASPORTSUFC 3 Knockout Mode! pic.twitter.com/GDq6pzAoKR — UFC (@ufc) January 25, 2018

Justin Golightly - January 25, 2018

The neverending pain of being a fight fan is watching all your favorite fighters fade and eventually walk away from the sport you love. Daniel Cormier has gone on record saying he only has three fights left before he hangs up his gloves due to his 40th birthday. Now MMA legend and PRIDE vet Mark Hunt is saying basically the exact same thing. After his fight at UFC 221, Hunt wants two more chances to walk-off KO opponents before he leaves the UFC. Not retire, but leave the UFC. “I’ve got this one in Perth [at UFC 221 against Curtis Blaydes], then hopefully I can push out two more before the end of the year and my contract will be up. I’d like to fight another three times globally and then probably hang them up. I’ve already been offered three boxing fights. I’m still chasing the UFC dream. I want to be the best mixed martial artist in the world. Maybe I will chase a boxing title after that. Conor [McGregor] fought [Floyd Mayweather] the best boxer in the world, so who knows?”

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Douglas Lima is no longer the Bellator welterweight champion. That distinction now belongs to Rory MacDonald, who beat him with a competitive decision in the co-main event of last Saturday’s Bellator 192 card. Now several days removed from his loss to MacDonald, Douglas Lima has some significant regrets about how it all went down. Most notably, he feels he didn’t fight with enough desperation in the crucial fifth round of a very close fight.

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Paul Daley has not been happy with Bellator MMA of late. Over the last few weeks, the British knockout artist has repeatedly shared his gripes with Bellator on Facebook. Scott Coker talking about Page at the Bellator presser, Bellator are Sooooooo on ass it’s sickening 🤢 He hasn’t fought MMA in how long, his last performance in boxing and MMA were terrible,” Daley said in a recent Facebook post. 

Justin Golightly - January 25, 2018

It was back in October of last year that Colby Covington beat Demian Maia to become the third ranked welterweight in the world. Since then, he hasn’t been booked in a single fight. It’s clear from his multiple tirades in the media that he’s holding out for his title shot against Tyron Woodley. The UFC welterweight champion is currently rehabbing his shoulder, but looks to return to fight Georges St-Pierre in July. Covington claims Woodley should focus on the money fight with him, instead of fighters who he says are out of the picture. “[Tyron Woodley] tries to racebait. The people that don’t like him and don’t wanna watch him for or think he’s boring, ‘Oh, they’re racist’. That’s his only claim now. So, he’s just trapped, he’s in a corner and he’s defeated before anything. The fans have completely gotten in his head and everybody’s under his skin. He doesn’t know how to handle the position he’s in now, but it’s okay, I’m gonna take over his position as welterweight champ and you will see the division be made great again. Tyron Woodley, all these fans hate him. He wants to be a hero, he wants to be the good guy, all the fans are telling you – I’ve literally had thousands of replies from Twitter that say, ’Tyron, if you knock out Colby I’ll be your biggest fan, I promise I’ll support you for the rest of your career’.”

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

We’re now almost a week removed from Francis Ngannou’s tough loss to UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. This loss was as lopsided as they come, as Ngannou emptied his gas tank early, and spent the rest of the five-round affair clinging to life opposite the patient and powerful Miocic. While Ngannou’s first crack at the UFC heavyweight title was more or less a disaster, his coach Fernand Lopez feels there are a few positives that can be taken away from the bout: namely, Ngannou showed he’s got heart.

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Back in October, former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida returned to the Octagon after a layoff of more than two years, only to be knocked senseless by middleweight contender Derek Brunson in the very first-round. With this loss, Machida fell onto a tough, three-fight skid, having been knocked out by Yoel Romero and submitted by Luke Rockhold in his next most recent bouts.

Tom Taylor - January 25, 2018

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in St. Louis, Australian flyweight Jessica-Rose Clark picked up a key win over Paige VanZant. Given the way she performed in the cage, one would never guess how terrible her fight week was. But it was terrible. “Horrific,” in fact. In the days leading up to her fight with VanZant, Clark’s Las Vegas home was robbed. During the robbery, many of her belongings were stolen or destroyed, and her cat was also killed. She recounted the grisly debacle on the latest episode of The MMA Hour.

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2018

Daniel Cormier addresses the final 420 days of his career on @UFCTonight… …is he interesting in a heavyweight title fight? …is he still pushing for a Jon Jones fight?…is he going to lose his dressing room to @Twooodley?@DC_MMA has the answers! https://t.co/bXqp8uwYTS

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2018

Last week, top-ranked UFC Bantamweight contender and The Ultimate Fighter season 18 winner, Julianna Pena gave birth to baby girl, Issa Cruz. https://twitter.com/ufc/status/955986379724509184

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2018

It’s not the most common of situations to have to seek help to get your cornermen to your fight. But unfortunately, that was the case for the #15 ranked UFC Heavyweight, Tim Johnson ahead of his bout with Marcelo Golm next week at UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil. Johnson’s GoFundMe page description reads as follows: As many know the UFC has me traveling around the world for fights.  What most people don’t know is they only pay for 2 tickets.  Sponsorship money is tight and had a few not contribute to this trip.  So I’m asking for your help in the last minute ditch effort to help get my other two coaches to Brazil for my fight, as this will be going towards their flights.  Any extra will be donated to wounded warriors or a similar donation.   Thanks for your time and support.

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2018

Only one woman has gone the distance with both the UFC Strawweight champion, Rose Namajunas and the former champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk…and that’s Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Kowalkiewicz earned her first and only UFC title shot by defeating Namajunas by split decision at UFC 201 in July of 2016. This led to her taking on the then champion, Joanna at the big, inaugural UFC New York card, UFC 205. Unfortunately for Kowalkiewicz she would drop a unanimous decision to the champion then go on to lose to Claudia Gadelha before regaining another win this past October. Being so familiar with both, Kowalkiewicz obviously has an opinion. When asked by MMARocks her thoughts on the upcoming Rose vs Joanna rematch at UFC 223 and who she thought would win, this is what she had to say:

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

The UFC’s next big thing took on Stipe Miocic and it was hyped as if Francis Ngannou could obliterate the heavyweight champion over the course of a couple of rounds. Some others put their money on Miocic, the more experienced and well-rounded fighter to take out Ngannou. What no one expected was that it was going to last all five rounds in a battle of attrition. An exhausted Ngannou lost to a decision to what could be the best heavyweight in history, then immediately got hit with criticisms about his ground game and gas tank. His coach recently spoke out defending his fighter. “I was surprised that someone like Joe Rogan said that Francis [Ngannou] didn’t know what to do on the ground. I think people should go check the fight again. Francis spent three minutes throwing heavy punches without hitting the target and he wasted a lot of energy. After that, he got taken to the ground and he was in the cross mount. At that position, when you have a heavy wrestler on your back and you really have a very little small amount of moves you can make from there. […] What I’m trying to say is that if Francis didn’t know what he was doing on the ground, how come Stipe [Miocic], who has way more experience in professional MMA and who has vicious ground and pound, how come Stipe didn’t finish Francis on the ground if Francis didn’t know what he was doing?”