MMA News

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

This is not a drill #BlessedEra @moskova pic.twitter.com/X3EwaPDbt4 — Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) January 23, 2018

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

Two of the very best lightweights on the entire planet are once again scheduled to fight. Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson are squaring off and everyone is getting PTSDéjà vu. Try and put whatever is going on with the lightweight title out of your mind and just celebrate that a fight like this is on the books for this year and right around the corner at UFC 223. It’s still a couple of months away but Ferguson is already fired up about it and promises epic violence and slicing elbows in the Octagon. “They’ve wanted me to fight Khabib since the beginning man and I understand that. It’s just a bunch of hype and I try not to look too much into it and I let my fights do the talking, like I always have and I always continue. I think the most interesting point is that I think most people have forgotten that I can translate punches inside that Octagon. I don’t need a translator for that sh-t. I get hit for a certain reason. I want people to use their energy against me, but for b-tch Khabib, that b-tch is not going to touch me, not one time. I’m going to be dance circles around this kid. I will be hitting him with some nasty f-cking uppercuts and that’s going to make him think twice about shooting in on me. Then I’m going to hit him with some other things and cut him up.”

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

Last weekend, the UFC touched down in Boston, Massachusetts with UFC 220. In the main event, we saw UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic halt the momentum of the massively hyped Francis Ngannou, outperforming him from bell-to-bell en route to a lopsided unanimous decision.

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

If you thought that after Conor McGregor boxed Floyd Mayweather that the MMA versus boxing talks would end, you were wrong. If anything, they’ve stayed steady and from both places. For a long time, Anderson Silva has wanted to box one of his idols Roy Jones Jr., and it was always a long way away from happening. But if there was ever a time it could get done, it’s not. Roy Jones Jr. seems to know this as well, so he’s started up the talks again and wants Dana White to do what he needs to do so he can box the legend Anderson Silva. “[This will be my] last boxing match unless Anderson Silva decides he wants to make it happen. For him, for the money that we will generate, because we tried to do it first, I will still do that just for him because I know he wants to do it. It’s something I wanted to do, so for him I would come out and fight. […] All we need for Dana [White] to do is let him go, let him free of his contract and we can make it happen. [Dana White] that’s the only obstacle because Anderson wants it, I want it, so the only obstacle is Dana giving him the okay. I feel like if you give it to Conor McGregor why could you not give it to one of the greatest of all time at your sport, which is Anderson ‘Spider’ Silva?”

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

All eyes were on UFC 220’s main event between Stipe Moicic and Francis Ngannou. Miocic was up against a highly hyped and dangerous Ngannou, with his belt and a record on the line. He passed the test and proved he’s still the best in the world. One man who was watching would like to dispute that. Fabricio Werdum believes he’s the next to fight Stipe Miocic and will attempt to take back the title that he lost in unexpected and devastating fashion back at UFC 198. “The UFC said nothing yet, but I think I’m the next one. I deserve this. Not just because of my last fights, but [I’ve been fighting] for 20 years. I’ve [been fighting] for a long. I think I deserve it. My goal is to put one more belt on my wall. I have two. The third one coming, for sure. […] 100 percent, I will be a champion this year again. I know Stipe Miocic. I respect him. I like him.”

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

WMMA veteran Tara LaRosa’s “fight” (sparring match) with a Kris Zylinsky – an Internet troll who claimed any untrained, in-shape, athletic man could beat a professional female fighter – was originally to happen earlier this year, but was shut down by the local police and athletic commission. Luckily, the pair finally found a way to settle their gripes, and we have the video. 

Justin Golightly - January 23, 2018

Rory MacDonald has a reputation that transcends organizations. He is known for being violent and absorbing punishment. His legendary fight with Robbie Lawler at UFC 189 cemented MacDonald and his opponent as warriors in a completely different dimension of pain management. MacDonald ended up with injuries in that war that would haunt him for years. Despite the damage scale being off the charts, a new level was reached in his fight with Douglas Lima at Bellator 192. Rory MacDonald admitted that it was probably the worst pain he’s ever felt in his life. “Yeah, [I thought about given up] a few times. It went through my head, but I just kept pushing through it. I had to dig deep a few times and just break down some mental barriers and keep pushing. Any fight that I’ve had to endure a lot of punishment and keep going forward, yeah. Your mind always plays tricks on you and wants you to give in and it’s just being disciplined and being able to push through those doubts and anxieties. […] I knew [Douglas Lima] was good at leg kicks. I didn’t expect the low leg kicks to be problem, but they were fast and powerful. I wasn’t able to block them very well. After the first one, I knew I didn’t want to get hit with another one. And in the first round I was already pretty hurt by them. By the third, I was struggling pretty badly with it.”

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

Back in November, in the first of three title fights on the UFC 217 bill, seemingly unstoppable UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk stepped into the Octagon with unheralded challenger Rose Namajunas. In a shocking upset, Namajunas put the champ Jedrzejczyk down with a first-round punch, taking the belt for herself in the process. Now, the pair have been pencilled in for a rematch at UFC 223, which goes down on April 7 in Brooklyn, New York. Despite the fact that Namajunas won the first encounter, she has once again been identified as the underdog in this fight.

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

On April 7, at UFC 223, UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will take on Khabib Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title fight. That said, Ferguson doesn’t know whether he’ll be defending his interim title, or fighting for the undisputed title, which would first have to be stripped from Conor McGregor. UFC President Dana White has been incredibly vague and unclear when asked about this situation, and it’s starting to get to Ferguson. “Yeah, it bothers me. It bothers the sh*t out of me, dude,” A fired up Ferguson admitted Monday on The MMA Hour (h/t MMAFighting.com). “Straight up. I’m the f*cking champ and we don’t know if we’re fighting for the real belt or not. What the f*ck is that? Dana White is telling us one thing on one [side] of the curtain and on the other side he’s saying, ‘No, Conor McGregor is the champion. Go and do your homework.’ And I love Dana, man, but I’m like, ‘What the f*ck, dude? Am I not the champ or am I the champ? Do you want to hype me up or do you not want to hype me up for this fight?’”

Tom Taylor - January 23, 2018

Having recently come up short in an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, “The Motown Phenom” Kevin Lee is eager to get back on track and reinsert himself into the title mix. While he was briefly discussed as a possible opponent for former World Series of Fighting champion Justin Gaethje, Gaethje has now been targeted for a scrap with Dustin Poirier. Now that this Gaethje-Poirier fight has been scheduled, Lee feels he might end up in a fight with Edson Barboza, who recently lost to Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Drake Riggs - January 22, 2018

It appears that the UFC Featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg has changed her mind! Originally, she was stating that for her next fight she would like to defend against a fighter that has been competing and winning at Featherweight lately. She has now said that she is ready for the UFC Bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes next rather than waiting until after the title defense against a Featherweight that she was asking for. I have agreed with my management to fight @Amanda_Leoa #ufc226 July 7th in Las Vegas during international fight week. I will let her finalize her side of the bout now. pic.twitter.com/w5YIYYRGV5

Drake Riggs - January 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMAFighting/status/955565445997826050 “It’s her crazy fans that talk a lot more trash than she does. If I had a broken arm in a fight, i’d be talking about it to.

Drake Riggs - January 22, 2018

“So when I was 12-0, I had my last fight in Bellator against Andrey Koreshkov on July 30, maybe 31, of 2013 and I beat him up pretty good. I had a 12-month matching period, so what was expressed to me by the UFC brass was that you need to get out of your matching clause and we will make you an offer, but, we won’t make you an offer until that happens. So I called Bjorn [Rebney] and I said ‘Hey Bjorn, I’m not going to re-sign, let me go. Bjorn had a terrible reputation, but I never had a problem with him, we never butted heads too bad. Anyway, I said Bjorn, I don’t want to come back, but people say that they didn’t want me back, but that’s not true at all, but every day, I was like ‘Bjorn let me go, Bjorn let me go,’ and I love challenges. There’s nothing more in the world that I love than a challenge. Go through my wrestling career, it’s what I’m all about, taking the next best single thing every time. So all this time, Dana and the UFC are saying ‘We want Ben Askren. We want Ben Askren.’ I’m ranked number 7 in the world and 12-0 and so, I was going to the Asian store because I was going to make some Tom Kah soup and Bjorn called me and said ‘You’re released. You’re released, you can go.’ I said, ‘I appreciate that.’

Christine Allen - January 22, 2018

“In the Middle East, I think people are warriors by nature. They live their whole lives in conflict. I think that martial arts for them is something that suits them perfectly.” Samy Al Jama, Brazilian Jordanian and founder of Source MMA, speaking to FIGHTLAND as part of their mini documentary entitled MMA in The Middle East.

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

On April 7, at UFC 223, interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will battle for a lightweight title. Will it be the interim title currently owned by Ferguson, or the undisputed title currently owned by Conor McGregor? Dana White was incredibly unclear when asked about this at a press conference in Boston, refusing to say whether the UFC will strip McGregor of his undisputed title, but also assuring the winner of this Ferguson-Nurmagomedov fight will be the champion… Whatever the case ‘The Motown Phenom” Kevin Lee expects Tony Ferguson to be the man who comes out on top – against Nurmagomedov and McGregor.

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

Last weekend, at UFC 220, we watched UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier thwart dangerous challenger Volkan Oezdemir, and UFC light heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic turn away the dangerous Francis Ngannou. In the wake of these successful title defenses, there has been a deafening outcry for the two champions to fight each other at heavyweight. Daniel Cormier addressed this possibility at the UFC 220 post-fight press conference. Apparently, it’s not something he’s keen on.

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

Last Saturday night, in the main event of the exciting UFC 220, hulking French-Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou lumbered into the cage with the goal of defeating Stipe Miocic and winning the UFC heavyweight title. In the end, however, the massively hyped Ngannou was outclassed by the champion, whose cardio, pressure and wrestling were simply too much to deal with. Now, it’s back to the drawing board for the undeniably talented Ngannou, who has been studying MMA for just four years. Though he certainly has some holes in his game that need filling, it seems he’s keen to learn from this loss, and use it as fuel for his continued evolution.

Tom Taylor - January 22, 2018

Last weekend, Bellator MMA’s anticipated Heavyweight Grand Prix officially got underway, as Chael Sonnen advanced to the second-round with a unanimous decision win over former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. While the tournament is now rolling, however, the official alternates – understudies should any fighters get injured – have been a mystery.