MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC St. Louis, former strawweight star Paige VanZant made her debut in the UFC flyweight division opposite Jessica-Rose Clark. Though VanZant hung in there for the duration, she was outworked by her larger foe for the majority of the fight, surrendering a unanimous decision as a result. As it turns out, however, VanZant’s lasting three rounds against Clark was pretty remarkable. Between the second and third rounds, the popular fighter told her corner that she suspected she broke her arm in the first, and a post-fight x-ray proved this to be true.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

Last night, between Darren Elkins’ epic comeback win over Michael Johnson, and Kamaru Usman’s domination of Emil Meek, MMA legend Matt Hughes returned to the limelight after his truck collided with a train in a near-fatal accident, and walked out to the Octagon once again. It was as emotional a moment as we get in the wild world of fighting. Welcome home, Matt Hughes.#UFCSTL pic.twitter.com/2CH5mB3DGH

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Over the last few weeks, we’ve all been wondering what the hell is going to happen at the top of the UFC lightweight division. Will undisputed champion Conor McGregor return? If he does, will he defend his title against interim champion Tony Ferguson or streaking contender Khabib Nurmagomedov? If he doesn’t, will we get Ferguson vs. Nurmagomedov? And when, pray tell, will the UFC strip McGregor for inactivity? Indeed, the questions go on and on… Speaking on FS1 in the wake of Sunday night’s action packed UFC St. Louis card, UFC President Dana White attempted to give the fans a clearer picture of all of this madness.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated debut in St. Louis, long-time featherweight contender Jeremy Stephens authored yet another impressive win, this time at the expense of fan favorite South Korean prospect Doo Ho Choi. Here’s how the MMA community reacted to Jeremy Stephen’s crushing TKO victory:

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

In the UFC St. Louis co-main event, former strawweight star Paige VanZant made her flyweight debut opposite Australia’s Jessica-Rose Clark. Round one began with a brief feeling-out process. VanZant looked for kicks, while Clark favored a boxing-based approach. From there, Clark landed a big takedown, taking the fight to the ground. After briefly chasing an arm-triangle choke, the Australian rode out the round from side control, and put a stamp on things with a few forearms to the face in the closing seconds.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Shortly after Darren Elkins’s epic comeback win over Michael Johnson and the UFC’s touching tribute to the recovering Matt Hughes, welterweight contenders Kamaru Usman and Emil Meek stepped into the cage to do battle. Round one of this fight was decisively Usman’s. Though he very nearly dove into a Meek guillotine with his first takedown, he survived this scare to control the rest of the round, softening his viking foe up with ground-and-pound in the process.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Welcome home, Matt Hughes.#UFCSTL pic.twitter.com/2CH5mB3DGH — UFC (@ufc) January 15, 2018

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Originally, featherweights Michael Johnson and Darren Elkins were expected to battle on the UFC St. Louis undercard. When the card’s co-main event was scrapped at the last minute, however, Johnson and Elkins were bumped up to the main card. Round one of this fight was all Michael Johnson’s, who pelted his foe with crackling combinations, wobbling him on more than one occasion. By the time the first frame ended, Elkins seemed to be oozing blood from every orifice north of the neck, and yet he managed to get off his stool for the second all the same.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Back in January of 2016, TJ Dillashaw lost a split decision to Dominick Cruz, surrendering the UFC bantamweight title in the process. Almost two years later, after lopsided thrashings of Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker, Dillashaw reclaimed the title with a second-round knockout of Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217. Speaking on the latest stacked episode of BJ Penn Radio, the bantamweight champ explained that he expects Garbrandt to endure a similarly long road back to the UFC bantamweight title.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

When he defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision back in December, Rafael dos Anjos established himself as one of the top contenders in the stacked UFC welterweight division – perhaps the top contender outright. Since then, the Brazilian star has been angling for a title shot opposite reigning welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Woodley, meanwhile, has expressed interest in a number of other high-profile fighters, such as Georges St-Pierre and Conor McGregor, and simultaneously dismissed dos Anjos. Yet this doesn’t seem to have discouraged dos Anjos.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

If things had gone according to the original plan, MMA legend Vitor Belfort would compete in the final fight of his illustrious MMA career this very evening, as he was scheduled to battle Uriah Hall in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated debut in St. Louis. Regrettably, Hall was hospitalized in the midst of his weight cut, which of course meant that Belfort’s retirement fight was put on ice. Luckily, it seems that the Brazilian legend already has a new date for his retirement fight. According to a report from Combate, Belfort will battle Michael Bisping when the UFC touches down in London on March 17. The expectation is that this bout will also be Bisping’s retirement fight.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

 After some six years away from the UFC’s Octagon, former welterweight contender Chris Lytle made a triumphant return to fighting over the weekend, stepping into the ring for a bareknuckle boxing match in England. In this fight, Lytle defeated his opponent Lewis Gallant by third-round TKO, per Daily Star. Lytle’s last mixed martial arts bout occurred in 2011, when he submitted Dan Hardy in the final minute of a three-round war. His penultimate bout was an upset loss to Brian Ebersole, which was preceded by four-straight wins over Matt Serra, Matt Brown, Brian Foster, and Kevin Burns.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

Ever since he knocked out Cody Garbrandt to recapture the UFC bantamweight title, TJ Dillashaw has been angling for a flyweight title shot opposite dominant divisional kingpin Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. In order to earn this opportunity, of course, Dillashaw will have to cut down to 125 pounds – something Garbrandt doesn’t believe he can do. I’d make 125 in a month! This fool can’t make 125, he knows what it is. I’ll be here cleaning the division out again, waiting for him🏃🏼🏃🏼 https://t.co/XzybIfRWNv

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

The vast majority of the MMA community is currently waiting eagerly for Conor McGregor news. There are dozens of questions currently attached to the Irish superstar’s name. Will he return to the Octagon, or the boxing ring? Will he even fight again at all? After so many months on the sidelines, will the UFC strip him of his lightweight title? What would this mean for Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov? The list goes on and on and on. In the opinion of UFC featherweight Cub Swanson, however, fan attention would be better focused on fighters who are actually staying busy. On Saturday afternoon, Swanson took to Twitter to express his confusion with the widespread interest in fighters who fail to stay active.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2018

With UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor currently on the sidelines counting his millions, the immediate future of interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson has recently been shrouded in mystery. The main uncertainty has been whether Ferguson will end up battling McGregor in a lightweight title unification bout, or defending his interim title against undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov. Whatever the case, it seems Tony Ferguson in the cusp of having a fight booked. On Saturday afternoon, the interim champ took to Twitter with a message that seemed to imply there’s major fight news on the horizon.

Justin Golightly - January 13, 2018

As chaotic as the MMA world is right now, the UFC’s lightweight division is still ridiculous. Eddie Alvarez jsut got off an extremely violent win over Justin Gaethje and is waiting for a huge fight. Khabib Nurmagomedov is back and on warpath. Tony Ferguson is the interim lightweight belt holder and still recovering from elbow surgery. Meanwhile, the undisputed champion Conor McGregor is still counting his money and waiting on the right time to show back up. With his future up in the air, Joe Rogan thinks the UFC will strip him make big fights in his absence. “Here’s my prediction: My prediction is Conor [McGregor] doesn’t fight for a while. They strip Conor. Tony [Ferguson] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] fight for the [undisputed UFC lightweight] world title. […] What I believe is gonna happen is, Conor’s gonna vacate. I think they’re going to strip him.”

Justin Golightly - January 13, 2018

Damn…. @aliabdelaziz000 @ufc @mickmaynard2 @danawhite I wish Yoel and Lucas the best, speedy recovery champ. 😔 A post shared by David Branch (@davidbranch32) on Jan 13, 2018 at 4:33am PST

Justin Golightly - January 13, 2018

The main and the co-main event of UFC 220 in Boston have a lot in common. Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier are both champions who have passed the tests of many incredible threats. The names in their win columns are intimidating to say the least. They’ll be up against young talent that boast terrifying knockout power that fans love. Daniel Cormier is here to remind you that there is more to this game than just punching someone very hard. Anthony Johnson was one of the most feared hitters in the UFC light heavyweight division, but in the end it didn’t allow him to beat Cormier. “I think people fall in love with power punchers. I believe it’s just because they finish the fights. They finish fights in no time. The fight is going and all of a sudden it’s over. You got guys like [Anthony] ‘Rumble’ [Johnson] who was knocking everybody out. Then you have guys like Volkan [Oezdemir], they can knock everybody out and people fall in love with them.”