MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 18, 2018

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s debut in St. Louis, MO, Australian flyweight Jessica-Rose Clark picked up a huge win over fan favorite former strawweight Paige VanZant. While it was Clark who came out on top in this fight, however, VanZant showed remarkable tenacity, battling to the final bell despite a broken arm sustained mid-fight. Well… I broke my arm in the first! I was able to finish the fight but as you can see, had a hard time recovering and throwing my right. Thank you to the @ufc and to my opponent. Thank you to my coaches and most importantly my head coach’s @therealburkecamp and @fabianoscherner . I’ll be back better and stronger than ever! 💪🏼🦁 it’s all apart of the fight game. God had other plans for me. 🙏🏼 darn spinning back fist.

Tom Taylor - January 18, 2018

Last month, Team Alpha Male strawweight contender Cynthia Calvillo experienced her first career loss, losing a close decision to former champion Carla Esparza. Unfortunately, that’s not where the trouble ends for her. Calvillo has now been notified of a potential UFC anti-doping policy violation after failing an in-competition USADA drug test for the banned substance Carboxy-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Drake Riggs - January 17, 2018

“I’m disappointed, what can I say? Every time you fight for a world championship fighters take pride…it’s a special moment to be a main event for a world title fight. It’s an unfortunate part of it, but I’m not going to let it take my focus away from what my job is and getting that title. It was totally out of the blue. I didn’t see it coming. I found out through an interview. I didn’t even find out from anyone from Bellator or anything like that so it was a total shocker,” said the challenger.

Drake Riggs - January 17, 2018

Daniel Cormier will get questions about Jon Jones for the rest of his life and if this isn’t your first day discovering MMA, you know exactly why. The two have had one the most heated rivalries in the sport’s entire history and despite coming out on the wrong end of each of their fights, reasons outside the octagon have turned Cormier into more of the winner than the loser. After their first fight in January of 2015, Jones beat Cormier fair and square through five rounds on route to a unanimous decision. After that, Jones was expected to end up defending his UFC light heavyweight title against one of if not the most dangerous strikers in the division’s history, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 187. That was until Jones got into a hit and run incident while under the influence. This led to his stripping of the title and putting Cormier right back into the title picture where he would go on to defeat Johnson for the vacant belt.

Russell Sai - January 17, 2018

It’s becoming much more clear that Dana White is not going to let Conor McGregor remain the UFC lightweight champion if he does not have plans of fighting until the later part of 2018. Speaking on the Toucher and Rich radio show on Wednesday, White said that the fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov is going to take place. In addition, White sounds like he does have plans of stripping the belt from McGregor so the lightweight division can move along.

Drake Riggs - January 17, 2018

There is one word that will always follow Justin Gaethje for the rest of his career. You already know what it is…yup, violence. Pretty much every single one of Gaethje’s nineteen professional bouts has been violence personified and that’s just how the former World Series of Fighting champion likes it. In his last fight, he suffered his first ever career loss to former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez in what was crowned by the UFC as the best fight of 2017. Reports have surfaced today from MMAJunkie’s Steven Marocco that Gaethje may have his next fight and it’s a matchup that will most certainly deliver the action. His opponent is expected to be Dustin “the Diamond” Poirier and it’s expected to happen at either UFC 222 on March 3 in Las Vegas or UFC 223 in Brooklyn, New York.

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

It seems like every couple of months, rumors start up again that MMA legend Chuck Liddell would end his retirement and return to fight at least one more time. The latest inkling was an Instagram post from Wanderlei Silva, but it looks like his previous feud with one Chael Sonnen is still very much alive and well. The two evidently got into some sort of altercation during the press tour for Bellator 192 which takes place this Saturday. Liddell may or may not be ready to come back to the cage, but Sonnen was ready to throw down right then and there. “I come into the dressing room and there was Chuck [Liddell], face-to-face, and it was awkward. I was doing [The Rich Eisen Show] and he told me, ‘You got a message for Chuck? He’ll be here tomorrow.’ So I gave him a message to Chuck, thinking he would be there tomorrow. Turned out Chuck was in the back, watching it on a monitor, with my mother.”

Tom Taylor - January 17, 2018

This Saturday, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 220, Switzerland’s Volkan Oezdemir will attempt to steal the light heavyweight title from champion Daniel Cormier. To prepare for this monumental challenge, Oezdemir has been preparing at the talent-rich Combat Club in Lantana, Florida – a space he shares with former middleweight champion and long-time Cormier training partner Luke Rockhold. In fact, he’s even gotten a few rounds in with Rockhold.

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

From the sand mines and homelessness in France, Francis Ngannou has overcome everything and entered a world of crisp suits and headlining UFC 220. Ngannou’s journey has been nothing short of incredible, but it’s not just about him, it’s about where he came from. His rise to success leads hopeful footsteps that people back home can follow. Whether that dream be fighting for a UFC championship, or simply finishing school, Ngannou wants to show generations of people that anything is possible. “This is going to close the chapter of my childhood and teenage years. All that time I have been frustrated with my whole life, with a feeling that I was always the last one who never had a chance. So I want to close that. I want to leave that behind me. This journey now is not only mine, it’s for all Cameroonians and for the whole of Africa and all of France, too. In Africa, when I started the journey, I was by myself. No one believed me at that time, and today all of them believe in me and they almost rely on me. It’s very important, because I can bring hope to someone or help someone to be ambitious and tell them that everything is possible.”

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

The UFC isn’t playing around this year. Fresh off the heels of an undisputed title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson being made official for UFC 223, there is another huge fight being slated to join them. Rose Namajunas is expected to defend her UFC strawweight championship against former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk after shockingly taking it from her back at UFC 217 in one of the organization’s biggest upsets in their history. First reported by TalkMMA, the information has now been confirmed by Ariel Helwani as being discussed, but not finalized yet. Rose Namajunas to defend her title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk April 7th at #UFC223 (No location/venue announced yet)

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

The middleweight division was about to get rewound back to normal, that is until Robert Whittaker got injured. That’s not the only curve ball the division got thrown. Urijah Hall failed to weigh in and was taken out of his fight with Vitor Belfort. Many jumped to the conclusion that this opened the door for Belfort to fight former rival Michael Bisping in a double retirement fight at UFC London. It seemed like the fight was more than just talk, until Bisping said he wanted nothing to do with the ‘cheat’. Belfort isn’t taking no for an answer though, coming back with a social media low blow. “What a shame Michael Bisping. The UFC just informed me that you have declined the fight. I understand you are scared. The images above pretty much explain it all. So stop pretending that you are tough and just admit that you are afraid. And I thought you were man enough to step up in the octagon with me again, my mistake. Unfortunately, it looks like we will not be delivering to the fans the fight they want to see. Happy retirement, you must be feeling amazing leaving the sport through the back door. To be a legend is not for everyone.” — Vitor Belfort on his official Instagram.

Justin Golightly - January 17, 2018

Aaron Afflalo threw a nasty punch at Bjelica, who put him in a headlock to stop it right there pic.twitter.com/0zAKOb3r1v — CJ Fogler (@cjzero) January 17, 2018

Drake Riggs - January 16, 2018

Over the years, we’ve been accustomed to our monthly UFC Pay-Per-View events. Of course, as the title suggests, you have to pay to view… That number over the last decade or so has always been $49.99 for standard definition and $59.99 for high definition, as was the case for 2017’s last UFC event, UFC 219. But heading into 2018 and kicking things off with UFC 220, that price has increased by $5.00. Don’t believe it? Check it out yourself on the UFC’s website. The UFC hasn’t confirmed that this price increase will be permanent, but it will be in effect for UFC 220. The suggested retail price for UFC 220 is $64.99 per previous UFC press release. The suggested retail price for UFC 219 was $59.99 pic.twitter.com/V5FR7PS2sm

Russell Sai - January 16, 2018

James Krause edges Alex White by unanimous decision to close out the #UFCSTL prelims! Right call by the judges? https://t.co/CS8dt2UiIL — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) January 15, 2018

Drake Riggs - January 16, 2018

Oh, the Reebok deal. Everyone has an opinion on it, whether good or bad. It may not be the biggest step forward, but this year the deal is taking a step forward with the new guidelines and protocol. Fighters receive their Reebok sponsor money depending on what tier they’re in which goes by how many fights they’ve had in the UFC/Zuffa owned companies. UFC 220 marks the first event of 2018 which means the Reebok payouts have changed below. Here’s what all fighters are expected to earn on Saturday: https://twitter.com/jedigoodman/status/953436125443506176

Drake Riggs - January 16, 2018

After suffering a three-fight rough patch in 2016 to early 2017, Ovince Saint Preux has turned things around rather impressively and completely reversed that trend with three straight dominant wins. With all the momentum one could ask for, OSP was all well and ready to carry it over into the new year. OSP is set to take on Ilir Latifi at UFC on Fox 27 this month and…well…according to Saint Preux, Latifi has sustained an injury, therefore, putting him on the search for a new opponent. . @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

Justin Golightly - January 16, 2018

It’s 2018 and the other big question in MMA other than wondering just what Conor McGregor will decide to do all surrounds former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. The latest news to come out recently was the UFC’s Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky saying he believed Jones was innocent. Once again, the roller coaster goes up again as we learn that he took a lie detector test in an attempt to clear the air about his innocence and passed it. “Last month, Jones took a polygraph test in hopes of proving he is telling the truth when he states he never knowingly took Turinabol, an anabolic steroid, or any other performance-enhancing substance prior to his UFC 214 fight against Daniel Cormier in Anaheim, Calif. Jones passed the test, according to UFC sources. The test was conducted by the PGP Polygraph & Interviewing Service in Albuquerque, N.M. on Dec. 7, sources say. Neither the UFC nor the United States Anti-Doping Agency asked Jones to take the test.” – via a report by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

Justin Golightly - January 16, 2018

The UFC lightweight division has been a mystery wrapped in an enigma basically ever since UFC 205. There’s no clue what multi-millionaire Conor McGregor will do, meanwhile Khabib Nurmagomedov came back with a vengeance and Tony Ferguson won the interim title, only to step on the sidelines for a bit for elbow surgery. Everything was up in the air, until today. Fresh off the heels of a report from Tass.ru that McGregor will supposedly be stripped and the UFC will move on with Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, we have just confirmed the news that is expected to be officially announced at UFC 220. Breaking! I have confirmed with sources that Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight for the undisputed UFC lightweight title at #UFC223 in Brooklyn. The bout will be made official later this week. McGregor will be stripped of his title. The bout was 1st reported by TASS