MMA News

Russell Sai - January 24, 2018

Nate Diaz gave his fans a real reason to look forward to the summer. The scrapper from Stockton stated on Tuesday in a social media post that a return in May or June is coming. TMZ caught up with Dana White on Wednesday and asked the UFC president about Diaz wanting to fight again.

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?”

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

The UFC has been teasing that this 25th anniversary year is going to be huge. Going into 2018, it’s hard to imagine a big fight year without the superfight between Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw happening. It’s been teased even before Johnson broke Anderson Silva’s title defense record with a spectacular submission finish never before seen in the UFC. Dillashaw has already been training, the fight was falsely teased, both parties want it and the UFC needs it. So, why hasn’t it been finalized yet? Aside from recovering from shoulder surgery, it’s because Johnson wants the best possible scenario for him and his opponent. “It’s the superfight everyone wants. I think TJ [Dillashaw] and I are both on board. We just want to make sure it’s on a stacked card. We want to make sure we can benefit from a good pay-per-view buy. I think I deserve it and I think he deserves it. I’d rather have somebody else [be the] main event, who is going to bring in way more PPVs. In my opinion, that’s held up the fight on my end. I’ve seen guys jump on [stacked] PPV cards and make $1.5 million, fighting an inferior opponent than who I’m about to fight. Me and TJ could fight on a smaller card and pull 275,000 buys, get an extra check for $75,000. My management told me, ‘You know what, we’ll hold out for a big event.’ A lot of media and fans think that’s a way of turning down fights or ducking someone, but that’s a way of being a smart businessman and getting the most money you can get.”

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

It looks like the first superfight of 2018 has finally gotten close to becoming official. Dana White said it was the fight to make. Amanda Nunes has wanted it for some time in her quest to become a two-weight champion. Cris Cyborg has said she agreed with her management for it to happen. So, it seems like UFC featherweight champion will attempt to defend her belt against UFC bantamweight title holder Amanda Nunes. Reluctant to accept at first, Cyborg recently has gone on record saying she thinks Nunes needs this fight for money and to increase her fame. “Amanda [Nunes] fought Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate with big pay-per-view numbers. The reality though is that the UFC promoted her opponents more than her, and after having to fight on her own brand she struggled to sell 100,000 pay-per-views against [Valentina] Shevchenko. Amanda knows my name sells pay-per-views and without it her brand isn’t strong enough to sell enough pay-per-views to reach her bonus incentives in her contract.”

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

For weeks, there’s been mystery surrounding the main event of the UFC’s April 17 stop in London, England. Originally, the idea seemed to be that the retiring Michael Bisping would fight the last fight of his career in the main event. With Bisping now hesitating on fighting again at all, however, it appears the UFC is going a different direction. According to SBG head coach John Kavanagh, Icelandic welterweight Gunnar Nelson has been offered a scrap with surging British contender Darren Till, in a bout that has been targeted as the UFC London headliner. Per Kavanagh’s Tweet, he and Nelson are just waiting on Till and his team to accept the deal.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

Originally, Matt Brown was expected to retire after his last fight – a brutal, elbow-induced knockout of the veteran Diego Sanchez. Instead, however, Brown has put his retirement plans on hold. The fan favorite welterweight is now scheduled for a scrap with the similarly entertaining Carlos Condit on April 14 at UFC on Fox 29. Matt Brown explained his decision to hold off on his retirement on a recent episode of MMA Junkie Radio.

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

Lightweight is on fire. Justin Gaethje is in the UFC. Eddie Alvarez is on a resurgence and carrying an unofficial ‘Most Violent’ title. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson are once again booked to fight each other, which could potentially be for the undisputed lightweight title. Everything threatens to pass multi-millionaire ‘Champ Champ’ Conor McGregor by, but his coach recently waved his finger like no like Dikembe Mutombo. The plan is for McGregor to return to the UFC in 2018. “The landscape changes so much, so quickly when different offers come in. But if you were to put a gun to my head and ask me to say what’s next, I’d say it’s the UFC and it will be this year [that Conor McGregor returns]. There’s so much happening in the division and things changing around and what have you. I can’t say who, I can’t say when but as people who follow him on social media will see, he’s back, very motivated, training a lot. He’s in the gym every day. The plan seems to be forming and getting more exact every day that [he’ll be] back in the UFC this year. When and against who, I would be just guessing.” – Coach John Kavanagh on Facebook Live.

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

Once again, Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov are booked in the single best lightweight fight that is available in MMA at this point. At UFC 223, whether it be for the interim or the undisputed title, this clash is going to be insane. It’s crushing, combat Sambo up against unorthodox striking and 10th Planet jiu jitsu. It’s a match-up that fascinated a lot of people, including Joe Rogan and Ben Askren. Former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champion Askren recently weighed-in on the epic fight and one of MMA’s best wrestlers ended up backing the Russian smashing machine. “[Khabib Nurmagoemdov] was a like a frickin’ Terminator though [in the fight at UFC 219]. He was chasing [Edson Barboza]. It was insane. He’s fantastic. […] I think he beats up Tony [Ferguson]. That’s just my opinion. I’ve underestimated Tony before so I could be wrong again, I just think — again, trump card. I think Tony’s one of those guys who is pretty good everywhere: Pretty damn solid wrestling, high level jiu jitsu, but I see Khabib’s wrestling being better than Tony’s wrestling.”

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

Kelvin Gastelum has enjoyed a pretty solid run since rejoining the UFC middleweight division. His latest middleweight run began with a decisive defeat of Tim Kennedy. Next, he smashed Vitor Belfort to a first-round TKO – though this win was overturned when he tested positive for marijuana metabolites. From there, he had his momentum halted by a submission loss to Chris Weidman, yet he recently rebounded from that loss with perhaps the best win of his career: a first-round knockout of former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping.

Justin Golightly - January 24, 2018

Being the champion of the UFC is more about just a gold strap, it’s about marketing power and promotional leverage. Max Holloway unified the titles and defended the undisputed featherweight title against Jose Aldo with back-to-back finishes. All the while, he was using the momentum gained from his win and being Rolling Stone’s Fighter of the Year for 2017 to get the UFC closer to finally putting on a Hawaii card. Thank to his efforts, it now looks closer than ever after what is reported by KHON to be a successful meeting between the Hawaiian Tourism Authority and the UFC just went down. “UFC Hawaii is not just about me. Hawaii is MMA. So many local martial artists that could be helped with a UFC event here. Instead of money leaving Hawaii for every event it’s time to bring it home. Thanks Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) and Aloha Stadium for fighting for Hawaii.” — Max Holloway yesterday via his Twitter.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

In the wake of his submission loss to UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, Kevin Lee has been looking for ways to freshen up his game. He’s hoping renowned MMA coach Firas Zahabi can help him with that. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Lee explained that he’ll be doing some work with Zahabi over the coming weeks.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2018

Having lost the UFC middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre, and come up short in an abrupt and ill-advised comeback fight against Kelvin Gastelum, former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been planning to retire when the UFC touches down in London this March 17. Apparently, Bisping has now received a bout offer for this card, and while he’s tempted to accept it, his family and friends would prefer he just calls it a career now, and forgets about partaking in one last fight.

Chris Taylor - January 23, 2018

Nate Diaz says he is ready to return and two top lightweights have already offered their services. Former UFC lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz took to social media earlier this evening where he announced that he is “sick of sitting around” and revealed that fight fans will see him back in action this May or June.

Drake Riggs - January 23, 2018

 “That’s the tough part (doing a rematch). You can’t paint the Mona Lisa twice. It has to be something different, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, either. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing but keep getting better obviously all the time. (I knew I was going to knock her out) because everyone is so desperate for the takedown. Everyone tries to take her down from what I see. I stand across from Valentina Shevchenko, and we go back-and-forth, and it’s not a thing to me. I’ve got Pat ‘HD’ Barry in my corner. I’ve got Trevor Wittman. I’ve done taekwondo striking my entire life. It’s not something I’ve never seen before.

Drake Riggs - January 23, 2018

There aren’t many fighters like the Diaz brothers.  After posting out a collection of fight-related pictures on his Instagram page, Nate Diaz capped them off with a clearer message. This is what he had to say:

Drake Riggs - January 23, 2018

UFC 223 will play host to the rematch of the most shocking upset of 2017. At UFC 217, the 25-year-old, “Thug” Rose Namajunas dispatched of the then reigning champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk effortlessly to earn a first-round knockout victory. The fight was in November and we’ve since learned from the former Strawweight queen, Joanna that this was one of if not the worst weight cut of her career. She has also been one of the bigger 115 lbers and had fought previously at 125 lbs in her career before coming to the UFC. But when it comes to her toughest time making her division’s limit, the fight with Rose took the cake as she described it as a “miracle” that she made weight.

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

After a dominant performance against Volkan Oezdemir, Daniel Cormier let everyone know that they wouldn’t see him too much longer. March 20th next year, Cormier will turn 40-years old and has decided to retire. Of course, as we all know, minds can always change especially when it comes to MMA retirements, but it seems like the current UFC light heavyweight champion is serious. He opened up more about his intentions today and would like to have three fights before he finally walks away from the sport. “I’ve got a little break in my thumb and also some ligament damage. I don’t like to do surgery, so I’m going to try and put off the surgery. […] If it’s starting to heal, I’m not going to do the surgery, I’m going to some PRP (Platelet-rich plasma). I prefer to not go under the knife. I would rather just always try to do the alternative so as not to have too much time off. There was a break in there and also a torn ligament in my wrist, so that’s why I was having so many issues after the fight. It just takes longer. I want to try to not have surgery. […] I don’t really have the time to waste.”