MMA News

Drake Riggs - January 15, 2018

Ever since the UFC has brought in USADA to handle their drug testing and help “clean up the sport”, we’ve seen several big stars get busted for performance-enhancing drug use. One of the victims happened to be a former UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett who failed a test after his win over Andrei Arlovski in 2016. Barnett hasn’t fought since then and very likely won’t be anytime soon. “The Warmaster” gave us an update when he spoke with MMAJunkie recently: “I end up no matter what at the mercy of USADA and to be honest, I don’t trust them in any way, shape or form. I have no interest to work with them or be a part of their program. I would be willing to do anything else but work with USADA at this point. When you can’t trust someone, what are you supposed to do? Continue to give them the opportunity to break your trust? They don’t seem responsible enough to have oversight over my career.

Drake Riggs - January 15, 2018

It’s officially fight week for what may very well be the most highly anticipated heavyweight fight of all time. UFC 220 takes place this Saturday in Boston, Massachusetts and is headlined by the reigning champion who’s looking to make history, Stipe Miocic when he takes on the frighteningly powerful rising star, Francis Ngannou. Before Ngannou earned his shot by knocking out the top contender, Alistair Overeem in devastating fashion, the former multiple time kingpin of the big men, Cain Velasquez was expected to be Miocic’s next challenger upon his return. Unfortunately for Velasquez, he has been riddled with injuries throughout his MMA career. For the most part, it began after he initially became champion in 2010 after defeating Brock Lesnar then has been a continual trend since then.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

On April 7, the UFC will make its second stop in Brooklyn, New York with UFC 223. Although this card is still some distance away, it’s already coming together. Over the last few days, three new bouts have been targeted for the event, and they’re all solid additions. The first of these new matchups, which was reported by FloCombat, will occur in the lightweight division, where Al Iaquinta is expected to battle Paul Felder.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

If things had gone according to plan, MMA legend Vitor Belfort would have fought the last fight of his career opposite Uriah Hall in the co-main event of last night’s UFC St. Louis card. Regrettably, Hall was hospitalized as the result of a botched weight cut, which nixed Belfort’s retirement plans. While Belfort didn’t get to fight, he did show up in St. Louis and make weight. As such, he’s hoping to be paid for his efforts.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

If things had gone according to plan, Uriah Hall would have battled the retiring Vitor Belfort in the co-main event of last night’s UFC St. Louis card. Regrettably, Hall was hospitalized as the result of a weight-cut gone awry, and forced out of the fight at the last minute. Despite the fact that Hall is reported to have endured seizures in the midst of his botched cut, UFC President Dana White still isn’t happy with him.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2018

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC St. Louis, Australia’s Jessica-Rose Clark picked up one of the biggest wins of her career, out-duelling former strawweight star Paige VanZant to a unanimous decision win. Unfortunately, not everyone was impressed by her performance. Post-fight, the talented Australian fighter was accosted by an army of braindead haters on social media. She shared a few of the negative messages she received on social media.

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

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 main event, two featherweight knockout artists collided. In one corner, we had the stone-fisted veteran Jeremy Stephens. In the other, we had the unassuming South Korean prospect Doo Ho Choi. Here we go!#UFCSTL pic.twitter.com/nfhVfIPnfT

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

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

If things had gone according to plan, MMA legend Vitor Belfort would have fought the last fight of his career opposite Uriah Hall in the co-main event of tonight’s UFC St. Louis card. Regrettably, Hall was hospitalized as the result of his weight cut, which nixed Belfort’s retirement plans. Though Belfort has made it clear that he doesn’t fault Hall for the last-minute cancellation of this fight, he still expects to be paid by the UFC, as he showed up in St. Louis, and made weight for his fight. Belfort shared his grievances in an Instagram post in his native Portuguese.

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

 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

Sacramento’s Team Alpha Male has long been regarded as one of the top mixed martial arts gyms in the world. That remains true today, when the gym is home to former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt, and two of the top featherweights on earth in Josh Emmett and Darren Elkins. Emmett last fought in December, when he clubbed long-time contender Ricardo Lamas to a massive, first-round upset KO. Elkins, meanwhile, returns to the cage tonight, when he will take on former lightweight contender Michael Johnson on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated debut in St. Louis, Missouri.