MMA News

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2018

“The Texicutioner” is coming home! After a big win at UFC 217 over Joe Duffy to extend his streak to three, James Vick wanted a top ten fight and made that very clear. He actually had been wanting one before that…but no one would accept the challenge and still hasn’t. As Vick mentioned recently on an episode of BJ Penn Radio: “I talked to [UFC matchmaker Shelby], it was probably last week,” Vick said  “They’re going to ask Kevin Lee to fight me, which they don’t think is going to happen. Then he said they’re going to ask [Michael] Chiesa to fight me. I think they really want to make that fight with Chiesa because it makes sense for the UFC and for us. They don’t want to fight me,” he said. “I’ve been calling the dude out. I’ve been talking shit to him on Twitter. He don’t want to fight me.”

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2018

In case you were unaware, former Bellator Featherweight champion, Daniel Straus suffered a very bad motorcycle accident last month. At the time we knew very little about the extent of the injuries to Straus, we just knew that they were bad. All we knew according to Straus’ manager Matt Aptaker was that Straus had complete movement of his arms and legs and was awake and could speak. “It’s just too early to tell,” Aptaker said when discussing the accident. Also according to Aptaker, Straus had no memory of the accident even happening. Straus himself ended up releasing this statement after the event took place:

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

How we were able to get Robbie Lawler fighting both Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone and former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in the same year is beyond our comprehension. Those are two fights anyone looked and and decided they were buying whatever card they were on immediately. Lawler and dos Anjos did not disappoint at UFC Winnipeg. It was a wild and brutal brawl that ended up with dos Anjos coming out on top with an unanimous decision. Unfortunately in the process, it looks like he injured Robbie Lawler’s knee. “The guy’s leg was destroyed. [Robbie Lawler] blew his ACL and meniscus and every other thing that’s in your knee out in like the third round. Wobbled over to the fence, laid against it, and asked [Rafael] dos Anjos to come in so they could just bang it out. Robbie Lawler went to the fifth round.” — Dana White speaking to YAHOO! Sport’s Kevin Iole.

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

It looks like the UFC’s ‘next big thing’ turned out to be exactly what they wanted him to be. Francis Ngannou has laid waste to the last ten people that he’s fought, with K-1 and PRIDE veteran Alistair Overeem recently added to the list of victims. He’s a giant natural talent that used to be homeless and didn’t even know what MMA was five years ago. He’ll be going up against reigning UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, who still manages to hold down a job as a full-time firefighter. It’s an incredible match-up that’s got Dana White more excited than he’s been since Conor McGregor boxed Floyd Mayweather. “This fight is awesome. I can’t wait. When we put together that promo [for UFC 220], I watched it 650 times. I love it. I mean, two knockout punchers. Two guys who come forward and try to finish you. It is the perfect heavyweight match-up. It’s one of the — if not the best heavyweight fight we’ve ever done. One of the best ever in the history of the UFC. It’s in Boston. The thing sold out immediately. […] [Ngannou is] somebody we’ve been focused on for the last year and a half but I didn’t expect that. You see the way that punch landed [on Alistair Overeem], it’s like something out a movie. Super impressive.”

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

Thug Rose. Thug Rose. Thug Rose. Daniel Cormier hollered over and over again as Joe Rogan and Jon Anik freaked out. As we all freaked out. Stoic and immovable Rose Namajunas, her golden locks iconically clean shaven, upset Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 to become the new women’s UFC strawweight champion. She was a huge underdog and there were already whispers of  ‘GOAT’ when using Jedrzejczyk’s name in a sentence. Namajunas put that all to rest with one fade left hook. It’s this performance that clinched ESPN to award her with their ‘Fighter of the Year’ award. She reflected back on the historic moment with ESPN’s own Brett Okamoto. “I felt like I was part of the Knicks basketball team [before the fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk]. I was in that really nice locker room and I felt so light on my feet, so agile — just great. Superhuman at that moment. [Saying the Lord’s Prayer] was a habit for me growing up. When I was helpless and didn’t know what to do — that was something I said to make me feel better. Now it’s way more intentional.”

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2018

UPDATE: Abubakar Nurmagomedov has been removed from this bout for “unknown reasons” per Raphael Marinho of Combate. Sergio Moraes is now expected to battle Tim Means.

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

Stipe Miocic is not intimidated. To the reigning UFC heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou is just another giant man trying to take his head off. The same kind of monster he has faced multiple times before. He’s on the edge of making history, with what the UFC is promoting as his biggest challenge yet just ahead of him. There hasn’t been any trash talk. There hasn’t been any insults. Stipe Miocic is simply letting his record speak for himself, just like his recent Twitter post sending a message to Ngannou. Andrei Arlovski — RD1 0:54 ✅ Fabricio Werdum — RD1 2:47 ✅ Alistair Overeem — RD1 4:27 ✅ Junior dos Santos — RD1 2:22 ✅ Francis Ngannou — 1/20 #AndStill pic.twitter.com/QPApohmtey

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2018

Having reclaimed the UFC bantamweight championship with an incredible November knockout of his arch rival Cody Garbrandt, TJ Dillashaw is now hellbent on dropping down to flyweight to unseat the division’s seemingly unstoppable champion, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. If Dillashaw hopes to topple Mighty Mouse – something the flyweight champ’s last 14 opponents have failed to do – he’ll have his work cut out for him. Before any battle with the flyweight champ occurs, however, Dillashaw will face another challenge, and that’s his battle with the scale.

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

Cris Cyborg came, she saw, she conquered. She took on her biggest test to date and still proved she’s the most dominant women’s champion in the world of MMA today. After winning a decision over former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm, everyone is wondering what will be next. Cyborg has said she wants true featherweight fighter Megan Anderson, but the UFC seems to have other plans. Despite saying she doesn’t want to fight another Brazilian, Dana White says Amanda Nunes challenging Cyborg is the fight to make. “First of all, Amanda Nunes wants to fight her. Amanda Nunes wants to fight [Cris] Cyborg,” White said. “That is the fight to make, and that is the fight I will make. Yeah, That’s the fight. That’s the fight. Amanda Nunes is a big, strong, powerful puncher. I think she matches up very well with Cyborg too, and I think that’s a fun fight. And that’s the fight to make.”

Justin Golightly - January 4, 2018

It looks like Khabib Nurmagomedov’s convincing and violent marketing campaign has paid off. He was talking to Dana White in between dominating Edson Barboza at UFC 219, even waiting on him at his car to speak with him in the parking lot. Everything with Conor McGregor is still up in the air, so the UFC is now moving on with or without him. The plan right now is for Nurmagomedov to finally fight Tony Ferguson. It will depend on McGregor if that fight is for the interim or the undisputed UFC lightweight title. “As long as Conor [McGregor] is willing to fight by March, we could do Khabib [Nurmagomedov] versus Tony [Ferguson]. We could do Khabib versus Tony and then the winner fights Conor for the title. Or, Conor doesn’t want to fight and wants to sit out until next fall, then we would have to make Khabib vs. Tony for the title – not the interim title.”

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2018

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has yet to defend his title. Given that he won that title all the way back in November of 2016, that’s really starting to bug a lot of fans. In fact, there are widespread calls for the UFC to strip McGregor of his lightweight belt. While many fans would like to see McGregor stripped, however, it hasn’t happened yet. The leading theory to that end is that UFC President Dana White wants the belt to stay around the waist of his Irish cash cow for as long as possible.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2018

It has now been almost three years since Nick Diaz’s last fight, a January 2015 no contest with middleweight legend Anderson Silva. That said, there is still widespread hope that he will one day return to the cage. While UFC President Dana White isn’t optimistic we’ll ever see the older Diaz brother back in the Octagon, UFC VP of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky believes we might. He thinks the fighter just needs to work through the issues stemming from his failure to report his whereabouts, as required by USADA.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2018

UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa has been teasing fight news for several days, and now, his next fight is official. The Brit will return to the cage in his native London, England this March 17. His opponent will be Poland’s Blachowicz. Manuwa announced this fight on his official Twitter account.

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2018

Violence, violence and more violence. If that’s the game then Justin Gaethje is the name! Gaethje was last seen in action when he took on former UFC and Bellator Lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 in what was a crazy fight to say the least. But that’s nothing new for the man known as “the Highlight”. Gaethje recently spoke about who he might like to fight next and one name that came to mind was that of recent title challenger, Kevin Lee. Today on Sirius XM’s MMA Tonight broadcast, “the MoTown Phenom” responded. .@MoTownPhenom responds to @Justin_Gaethje's callout: "I like easy money. Justin likes to take a lot of damage. I like to give a lot of damage. It seems like a good matchup to me." @MieshaTate @realOCsports pic.twitter.com/5Y1z1DVgdd

Russell Sai - January 3, 2018

Some interesting news regarding Jon Jones and his positive steroid case came out today. Jeff Novitzky, the UFC vice president of athlete health and performance was a guest on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and stated some good news for Jones’ case saying that “at this point in the game with this type of information out there, it wouldn’t indicate intentional use.”

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2018

It’s been quite a bittersweet end to 2017 for the man known as “Uncle Creepy”, Ian McCall. The California native, McCall returned to action for the first time in nearly three years on New Year’s Eve when he took on Manel Kape in the Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix in Saitama, Japan. McCall who’s found most of his career success at Flyweight was one of the fighters to help get the division on the map when the UFC created their 125 lb division. Earlier this year, after trying to compete several times only to have fights fall through for a myriad of reasons, McCall asked for his release from the UFC which led to the fight in Japan.

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2018

November 11, 2017: The event was UFC Fight Night 120 from Norfolk, Virginia. Matt Brown went up against The Ultimate Fighter season one winner, Diego Sanchez in what everyone expected to be Brown’s last fight. However, after defeating Sanchez with a sensational elbow knockout, Brown has been on the fence about calling it a career.

Justin Golightly - January 3, 2018

What Demetrious Johnson has done is hard. Like, very hard. Look at all the titles that changed hands in 2017. Of course, Mighty Mouse wasn’t one of them. He hasn’t ever been one of them. For six years he hasn’t been beaten, collecting a history-making number of title defenses and surpassing Anderson Silva in the process. It’s one of the reasons he may be slowing down a little bit coming into 2018. The UFC flyweight champion only plans to defend his title twice this year. “That’s the plan, this year two fights. There comes a point in time, I was looking at my Wikipedia page and there were times where I fought four times in one year, I defended the belt three times in one year, got surgery between those title defenses. I think it’s safe to say that my goal is to get two title defenses this year and we will go from there. I’ll try to stay healthy and we will see then. […] You see champions all the time, they get the belt, then they go on a two-fight win streak and lose it. To be able to defend the belt from 2012 to 2017 and hopefully defend two more times in 2018, it’s extremely freaking hard.”