MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 21, 2018

Last night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 192, arguably one of its biggest cards to date. In the main event, Chael Sonnen defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson by unanimous decision, advancing to the second round of the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix in the process.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

Last night, in the main event of UFC 220, Stipe Miocic made a record-setting third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title, derailing the hype train of French-Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou with a dominant unanimous decision win. In the buildup to this fight, many members of the MMA community noted that the promotion seemed to hope Ngannou would win the title, evidently sensing it had found it’s next cash cow. Miocic made no secret of the fact that he shared this opinion, admitting he felt disrespected by the promotion.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the stacked Bellator 192, three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen advanced to the second round of Bellator’s exciting heavyweight Grand Prix with a unanimous decision win over former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Here’s how the MMA community reacted to Sonnen’s impressive defeat of Rampage.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of Bellator 192, Rory MacDonald finally stepped into the cage with Douglas Lima to battle for the Bellator welterweight title. Though Lima nearly chopped MacDonald’s leg off with a brutal onslaught of calf-kicks, the Canadian ultimately came out on top, winning the Bellator welterweight strap with a competitive unanimous decision victory. Here’s how the MMA community (and a few others) reacted to Rory MacDonald’s title-winning defeat of Douglas Lima.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

In the main event of UFC 220, Stipe Miocic attempted a record-setting third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title. His opponent was surging French-Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou. Much like Volkan Oezdemir before him, the challenger Francis Ngannou came out extremely aggressive. And much like Daniel Cormier before him, Miocic weathered the storm, defended intelligently, and picked his shots. Once he’d survived his challenger’s initial barrage, Miocic began to land, and even seemed to wobble his challenger on several occasions. Despite several scares, however, champion and challenger survived to the second.

Russell Sai - January 20, 2018

Daniel Cormier showed the world why he is the UFC light heavyweight champion on Saturday night in Boston at UFC 220. “DC” was matched up against the quickly rising star Volkan Oezdemir, who went into the title fight unbeaten in the UFC. Cormier was able to walk through an early offensive attack from “No Time” in the early part of the first round and then turned things up as the round came to and end. Cormier ended up finishing Oezdemir in the second round by TKO.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

In the co-main event of UFC 220, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier attempted to defend his title opposite Swiss knockout artist Volkan “No Time” Oezdemir. Though Oezdemir came out swinging, and seemed to frustrate the champ with his range and size, Cormier showed no fear, wading into a firefight with his stone-fisted challenger, and remarkably, wobbling him with a punch. From there, the champ turned to his world-class wrestling, executing a takedown, and threatening with a deep rear-naked choke in the final seconds of the round.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

While UFC 220 is dominating the attention of most MMA fans tonight, Bellator is also back in action, promoting one of its best shows to date in Bellator 192. In the co-main event of this stacked card, Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima attempted to defend his title against his fiercest adversary to date: former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald.  Round one began with MacDonald controlling the distance, backing the champion up with jabs and a head-kick. Midway through the first round the Canadian completed a takedown. From there, he sat in Lima’s guard, raining down ground-and-pound, but eating a few shots from the bottom in the process. Eventually, the referee stood the pair up with 10 seconds left in the round, but both survived to the bell.

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

While UFC 220 is dominating the attention of most MMA fans tonight, Bellator is also back in action, promoting one of its best shows to date in Bellator 192. In the second bout of the Bellator 192 main card, decorated wrestling transplant Aaron Pico delivered yet another incredible knockout, executing Shane Krutchen with a body shot from hell. See this ultra-violent KO below:

Tom Taylor - January 20, 2018

Ever since former pro wrestler CM Punk was dominated in his MMA debut by Mickey Gall, we’ve been wondering if he’ll everget back into the cage. From the sounds of it, Punk will not only participate in a second bout, but it’ll actually occur in the UFC’s Octagon, where he came up short in his debut. UFC President Dana White gave a decisive update on the CM Punk situation in the lead-up to tonight’s UFC 220 card. “I like that guy. He’s a good dude,” White told the AP of the pro wrestler’s future in the UFC (h/t New York Post). “He wants one more. He wants to get another shot. I’m going to give it to him.”

bjpenndotcom - January 20, 2018

Unable to catch tonight’s UFC 220 pay-per-view event in Boston? BJPenn.com has you covered!

Justin Golightly - January 20, 2018

As the smoke settles from the announcement that Tony Ferguson will fight Khabib Nurmagomedov potentially for the UFC undisputed lightweight title, it turns out that this is only the beginning of what could be the biggest year for the organization of all time. That is, if half the things Dana White predicts will happen actually come to fruition. In am interview that went down right after the UFC 223 presser, White goes on to say he believes Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar and either Nick or Nate Diaz will fight in 2018. “I’m going to take the odds [that Conor McGregor will fight more than once in 2018]. I’m going to say yes. I’m going to make a lot of money, I’m going to say yes [that Georges St-Pierre fights again this year]. […] I’m going to take the odds again and say yes [that Brock Lesnar will return this year]. I’ll take the yes [that Jon Jones returns as well]. I’m going to go with yes [that one of the Diaz brothers fight again this year too].”

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.