MMA News

Justin Golightly - January 20, 2018

< After the UFC 223 press conference yesterday, a lot of people were confused. Dana White has since tried to clarify, but the UFC’s lightweight title picture is still murky. Conor McGregor hasn’t been stripped, yet Tony Ferguson‘s upcoming fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov is for the undisputed belt. Basically, the UFC is waiting until McGregor gives them the word on whether he’ll defend his belt this year, which will then determine if UFC 223’s main event will be for an interim or the real gold strap. None of it matters to Ferguson though, in his mind, he’s already the real champ and has been since UFC 216. “That is exactly right. I am the undisputed [lightweight] champion. Regardless if [Conor] McGregor comes back or not, we know it was just a big show. The big fight is with me, my fight [with Khabib Nurmagomedov], which is at hand. I’m going to put my 10 fight win record in a row up to 11. What sounds better than 10 in a row? 11. What sounds better than 13 and 1? 14 and 1. So, regardless of what the company does or whatever with the belts, I’m still the champ. I don’t care. That’s [the UFC’s] politics. My politics is this inside that Octagon. So, I have management that will handle the business and do all the other things so I can focus on what’s really important. And that’s Team Tiramisu.”

Justin Golightly - January 20, 2018

That moment when @DC_MMA got a good luck message from …. Jon Jones?#UFC220 @JonJones pic.twitter.com/pHEinkhkZo — UFC (@ufc) January 20, 2018

Russell Sai - January 20, 2018

Dana White dodged answering if Conor McGregor will be stripped of his undisputed lightweight title during the Boston press conference On Friday leading up to UFC 220, which takes place today. Instead, White insisted that the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov “will be the champion.” However, White did state that McGregor’s ideal plan of returning to competition in the Octagon in the third or fourth quarter of 2018 is much too long of a time without an undisputed UFC lightweight title fight.

Justin Golightly - January 20, 2018

Volkan Oezdemir will be one half of the crew who will try to dethrone the UFC champions tonight and prove that they belong at the very top of the heap in their division. Many people are counting them both out, including their opponents of course. Al that aside, Oezdemir believes that not only did Daniel Cormier commit a crucial error in promoting their UFC 220 light heavyweight title clash, but that all of the pressure is on him instead of the challenger. “I just don’t understand the logic here. So, [Daniel Cormier]’s coming off a loss. He’s using this fight to gain back his popularity, right? He has a stink on his shoulder. He needs this fight to bring something to his legacy and the only thing he does is try to make me look bad. It doesn’t look good on him, you know? What does he do if he gets a win on me? It’s nothing. His legacy is not going to get back. This is the fight where he needs it. He needs the win and that’s why there is so much pressure on him. So, the win that he needs is gonna be discredited. You know, that’s kind of stupid. I just don’t understand the logic in here.”

Drake Riggs - January 19, 2018

One of Bellator’s biggest names does not seem too happy with the organization as of late and it appears he wants out. Paul Daley first fought for Bellator in 2012 where he earned a TKO win over Ruby Bears before leaving only to return as an exclusive fighter for Bellator in 2015. Daley has gone 5-2 since 2015 with all but one of his wins coming by way of knockout. His only two losses come to the men competing in tomorrow’s Welterweight title fight between Rory MacDonald and the champion, Douglas Lima. Recently, we’ve seen back and forth heat between Daley and mega-hot prospect, Michael “Venom” Page. The two were expected to fight at some point but it never came to fruition. Daley still wants the fight…but at this point, he seems done with all the drama and what he believes is unfair treatment as he said in a post on Facebook:

Drake Riggs - January 19, 2018

Was there a Ronda Rousey before Ronda Rousey? Sort of, yeah. A female star that everyone knew about and had interest in? Originally you could give that crown to Gina Carano. That is before it was violently stolen by Cris Cyborg at Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg in 2009. Cyborg fought eight times and went 7-0 before finally making her UFC debut at UFC 198 in May of 2016. This was three years after female fighters were first introduced to the UFC at UFC 157 when Rousey defended her title against Liz Carmouche. Ever since that time, Rousey vs Cyborg was the female super fight to make and one that everyone had an opinion on. It was essentially the women’s version of Georges St-Pierre vs Anderson Silva. A fight that so many wanted and came so close to happening but never did and likely never will.

Russell Sai - January 19, 2018

Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and martial arts movie legend Jean-Claude Van Damme had a bit of an incident while training together recently. Van Damme was showing Garbrandt and others from Team Alpha Male some kicking techniques and accidentally kicked Garbrandt in the face, which obviously upset the former UFC champ.

Drake Riggs - January 19, 2018

Two big title fights are on the horizon at UFC 222 in March and UFC 223 in April. The #UFC223 main event WILL HAPPEN in Brooklyn! @TonyFergusonXT vs @TeamKhabib April 7th!! pic.twitter.com/6IA7P0PqwS

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

We are only an hour away from a press conference officially announcing Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fight with Tony Ferguson. As of right now, it’s for the interim UFC lightweight title, but there have been talks that it will eventually be for the undisputed title and that Conor McGregor will be stripped of his second title. His coach John Kavanagh —and we’re assuming the man himself — has shrugged this decision off, stating that he’ll have to be beaten in order for the UFC to crown a true champ. But being beaten is an easier said than done, even if McGregor steps into the Octagon again according to Kavanagh, who predicts a knockout if the Irishman collides with the Russian smashing machine. “I do think this is the immovable object and the unstoppable force. [Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor are] on a path to meet each other. I’m of course watching everything that he does. In his last fight, I just think when you’re facing somebody with the type of stopping power Conor has in his hands, if you stand very much upright and just kind of walk toward somebody to get a body lock, that’s a risky strategy. I find it hard to visualize anything else other than Conor knocking him out.

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

There are some huge fights tomorrow. Two giant title fights are perched atop UFC 220 which goes down in Boston, but Bellator’s title fight is just as big. Former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald gets his shot at Bellator gold against belt-holder Douglas Lima. MacDonald has a chance to accomplish something he was never able to pull off in the UFC, but Lima is there to try and stop him every step of the way. Even if that means targeting a body part that has caused him problems since 2015’s Fight of the Year against Robbie Lawler. “At some point over 25 minutes, [Rory MacDonald]’s going to have to take those shots and I’m definitely curious to see how he handles it and how he’s going to react to that. I’m throwing everything with bad intentions. I’m going to try to finish him every second of the fight. I don’t want this fight to go to a decision. I want to make a statement and I want to take his head off. Let’s see if his nose has healed up. I’m definitely going to aim for that.”

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

We are only a day away from UFC 220 and Daniel Cormier attempting to defend his title against hard-hitting Volkan Oezdemir. So many fights have been derailed by the early weigh-ins, luckily that isn’t the case for today. Cormier hit the scales successfully today, but that doesn’t mean it was a walk in the park. The UFC light heavyweight shared a message after weighing in, complete with a picture of him looking like a suffocating mummy wrapping in a pile of white towels. It’s worth it but this is the worst shit ever honestly. Someone has to pay for this shit!!! #ufc220 can’t wait! Thanks to my team for helping me get thru making weight. I love you guys. @themeleeway you are the man , @lockhartandleith the best in the business pic.twitter.com/Mzluz3MtOH

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is sidelined waiting for his shoulder to heal, but he’s made no question that he wants Georges St-Pierre when he comes back. After vacating the middleweight title due to health issues from gaining weight, it seemed like it was a fight that made sense for St-Pierre. Meanwhile, former title challenger Stephen Thompson is coming off a win over Jorge Masvidal and is gunning for another fight with Woodley himself. Friends with St-Pierre, Thompson recently sat down and gave us some insight on the potential welterweight title fight told us why he believes it doesn’t happen. “Do I see [Tyron Woodley] fighting Georges [St-Pierre]? Hell no. Well, that’s the thing. [St-Pierre]’s a very good friend of mine. I really, I don’t want that to happen. He understands that that’s my goal is to get that belt, you know what I mean? If that does come down to it, I would actually put that in his arena if he would like to [fight me] or not because he would be the champion if he beats Tyron. I would put that in his arena and say, ‘Hey,’ — make UFC go to him and say — ‘Hey, does this fight seem right?’ or whatever. Cause before I fought Tyron, we talked. [St-Pierre]’s like, ‘Man, I’m coming back. I have no interest in fighting you,” stuff like that as a friend.”

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

Rory MacDonald’s upcoming fight with Douglas Lima for the Bellator welterweight title is arguably the biggest fight in the organization’s history. So, needless to say, a lot of people were confused when it turned out this fight was not going to be the main event of the card. Instead, the heavyweight grand prix tournament bout would headline the Bellator event. An executive who has been carried over from Spike TV into their new Paramount network recently spoke out on the decision to clear the air. “We’ll creatively differentiate the main event card and the grand prix in many different ways. We want this creative differentiation to make the heavyweight grand prix feel like a separate and unique event to the audience and that’s why it ends the night. And moving forward, all of the Bellator tentpoles in 2018 will end with a Bellator grand prix event. It’ll make sense to you, because what we’re doing is really creating another — it’s like a show in a show. “It’s an event within the event.”

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

It’s official. It was reported, we confirmed it, Dana White backed the report up and later today there is a press conference on it. Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will try to fight once again. The word is it won’t be for an interim title, but for the undisputed title, which may be confirmed today as well. Either way, Conor McGregor and his coach believe that doesn’t matter, and the Irishman’s shadow will loom over the division until someone actually beats him. As far as the match-up, coach John Kavanagh dissected it in detail and believes Nurmagomedov will come out on top. “[Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov are both] grapplers for a start. Neither really has high level striking, so it’s going to be a grappling match. I think a lot of it will be played with Khabib on top, and I think he wins a decision. I think it goes the five rounds, I think it’s a decision to Khabib. I do think there is a really high risk of it not happening. It’s been scheduled twice and it has not happened twice. It’s very impressive what Khabib can do when he is fighting, just that pace he has and the relentless pressure, but it does require you to train in a certain way that brings on injuries. There is a reason why he is averaging one fight or less over the last couple of years because of multiple surgeries and so on. He’s got a lot of miles on the athletic clock. I would almost see as there being a high likelihood of one pulling out before the fight happens.”

Drake Riggs - January 18, 2018

The speculation is over regarding UFC on Fox 28’s main event. After losing the Yoel Romero vs David Branch fight that was looking like it was going to end up headlining in Orlando, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel has now reported that the main event will be a top Featherweight clash between Josh Emmett and Jeremy Stephens.

Drake Riggs - January 18, 2018

Drake Riggs - January 18, 2018

Early last month, “the Heat” Heather Hardy teased us with some fight news and now we know what it is. After the suspicious timing of Hardy’s fellow boxer turned Bellator MMA fighter, Ana Julaton teasing fight news of her own, MMAFighting has confirmed that they were indeed referring to each other as each’s next opponents. Hardy and Julaton will compete at Bellator 194 on February 16 then sometime after that to be announced, they will also compete in a boxing match against each other! This rivalry is just going to further heat up as we’ve already seen a bit of it start during the lead up to each of their last fights at Bellator 185.

Drake Riggs - January 18, 2018

Well instead of a replacement, it looks like Ovince Saint Preux won’t be changing opponents after all but instead just fight dates. He and fellow top-ranked UFC light heavyweight, Ilir Latifi were initially supposed to square off at UFC on Fox 27, January 27. That was until Latifi suffered an injury which led to OSP to going on the search for a replacement. . @Latifimma is hurt & out of our scrap next Sat in Charlotte, NC #UFConFOX27 who wants to step up and scrap? I’m even open to going up in weight if NO guys in my division will step up? Looking for someone to do what I do: step up and fight… pic.twitter.com/lvznRvE22I