MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 10, 2018

After his UFC 219 destruction of the always dangerous Edson Barboza, Dagestan’s Khabib Nurmagomedov is once again one of the most talked about fighters in the UFC. Undefeated at 25-0, the destructive grappling specialist is now the undeniable, irrefutable number one contender at lightweight. The big question simply seems to be whether he battles undisputed UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor, or interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson. Logic, of course, would suggest that if Nurmagomedov gets the next lightweight title shot, it’ll come against Ferguson. If McGregor returns to defend his title, after all, he’d likely have to do it against the interim champion Ferguson. Shortly after his fight with Barboza, Nurmagomedov’s manager assured a fight with Ferguson is indeed the focus.

Tom Taylor - January 10, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, we learned that veteran MMA referee “Big” John McCarthy had joined the Bellator MMA family as a member of the promotion’s broadcast team. Initially, it sounded as though McCarthy’s broadcast duties signalled the end of his career as a referee, but apparently that’s not the case. He still plans to work as an officiator in smaller shows. “Can I go and referee? Yes, I can go and referee,” McCarthy told MMA Fighting. “If I want to go and referee something internationally, I can do it. I can do small shows here if I want. I’ll do charity events and things like that. I’m not gonna say, ‘Oh, I’m retired.’ I’m not retired. At this moment, I’m just taking on something else, so that’s gonna go on the back burner. All of my attention is gonna go toward being the best color commentator I can be for Bellator.”

Drake Riggs - January 9, 2018

Stevie Ray’s quest for a new UFC contract continues. Last time we heard from Ray, he was contemplating retirement. That appears to not exactly be the case anymore as he’s still trying to get in touch with Sean Shelby for fights. Ray last fought Paul Felder in July in his home of Scotland. It was the last fight on Ray’s contract and the time since then has been a bit frustrating for Ray. He discussed the situation on the Obviously Fight Talk podcast.

Drake Riggs - January 9, 2018

UFC on Fox 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina will be the UFC’s first event in the state since 2010 and their fourth ever. Headlining will be the hometown top Middleweight contender, Derek Brunson when he takes on the perennial top five 185er, Jacare Souza in a rematch from their 2012 Strikeforce meeting. Jacare won the fight in just forty-one seconds as he had the very clear experience advantage. Now things are a bit more evened out and Brunson knows it. Brunson discussed the rematch and what he wants to happen after in an interview with Clture. “When I fought him before, I was fresh out of college, right when I first started fighting. So I came in as a straight wrestler and it takes a long time to develop your boxing skills, your muay thai skills, to not over-extend yourself when you punch, but actually being able to throw a punch and not leave yourself in danger is a key point. I’m a different fighter now. I’ve been able to knock guys out clean here recently because I’ve been able to find that mix, to find that happy medium.

Drake Riggs - January 9, 2018

The plan for UFC 218 wasn’t always for it to be headlined by a Max Holloway vs Jose Aldo rematch. Initially, it was Holloway set to defend for the first time against former UFC Lightweight champion and two time Featherweight title challenger, Frankie Edgar. Unfortunately, Edgar ended up breaking his orbital bone in training and had to be pulled from the fight just weeks prior. But now he’s ready to go and the pieces have fallen back together. UFC 222 on March 3 from Las Vegas will be the time and place, Edgar spoke with FloCombat today about the rebooking and how it felt when things fell apart.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

We’ve all been waiting to see who Darren Till will fight next after his impressive performance against Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. Talks of opponent after opponent came and went and so did 2017, but this new year promises to be the Scouser’s year. According to this latest interview, he’s got some big plans and envisions himself becoming UFC welterweight champion before 2019. It seems like the big first step to that is fight with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson which was rumored earlier last year. “It’s a great honour to be honest [to be named UFC’s Breakthrough Fighter of the Year]. My name is all over the world now – it’s great recognition and this is extra special since it’s the fans that voted for it. It’s really taken off in the past few months. I was off for the whole of 2016 [with injury], but obviously I came back last year and I had two good wins before I took [Donald] Cerrone out in the first round. People are starting to think I’m the next big thing in MMA and they’re not wrong.”

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

Promote. Perform. Become The 🐐 in Career Mode. #EAUFC3 Champions Edition 👉 https://t.co/EOAhzJQISd pic.twitter.com/2ZSfNP6Qux — EA SPORTS UFC (@EASPORTSUFC) January 9, 2018

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

The wait is finally over. Bellator is going to kick off their big heavyweight grand prix before this month ends and Chael Sonnen will face off with Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. They’ll be throwing down for the chance to advance in the tournament, which will finally crown a Bellator heavyweight champion by the end of this year. MMA is prizefighting, so it makes sense to have a reward. The two are adding the stakes to their upcoming fight with a side-bet using their own cash. “Let’s do it right here, right now. Let’s do it right here.  I will give you $10K for every takedown you get on me. It’s 10 grand per takedown, $500 per jab. […] You won’t take me down not one time. Hey, I’m giving up $10K per takedown, don’t be a wuss. $500 per jab.” — Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson on the ESPN LA radio show.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

Demetrious Johnson fighting TJ Dillashaw could be the biggest fight in 2018 and while Johnson has been quiet about the match-up, UFC bantamweight champ Dillashaw will not let it the idea of it fade away. He’s been training for it already for months now and is determined to take everything the ‘Mighty’ flyweight belt holder has earned throughout his record-breaking career. Now he’s gone on record saying if he beats Johnson, he’ll defend both the titles, throwing a little shade at ‘Champ Champ’ Conor McGregor. “This is a way to put a stamp on my legacy. I was a little hurt losing that split decision [to Dominick Cruz] and not being on a 13-fight win streak and being called the pound-for-pound best in the world. In my mind, I should be No. 1. So it comes down to beating Demetrious Johnson to prove I’m the best, and it’s a huge thing for my legacy to be the double champ in two weight classes. I’m not a Conor McGregor. I’m going to be active defending my belts. I’m not afraid to fight.”

Tom Taylor - January 9, 2018

2017 was a crazy year for MMA. We witnessed perhaps the greatest submission ever, courtesy of flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. We were dazzled by some truly ridiculous knockouts, many of which happened to be dealt with knees. We enjoyed some thrilling, back-and-forth fights. We watched the meteoric rises of fighters like Max Holloway, Francis Ngannou and Volkan Oezdemir. No matter how you swing it, 2017 was a wild one for our sport. The crazy nature of the year 2017 is perfectly exemplified in the video at the top of this post (via Reddit user mikehutch) which shows the procession of insane shakeups and adjustments the UFC welterweight division experienced over the course of the year. Contenders rose and fell. Long-time staples of the top-10 like Carlos Condit and Dong Hyun Kim made their inevitable exits from the rankings, while a handful of talented young fighters like Colby Covington, Darren Till and Kamaru Usman shoehorned themselves into the division’s uppermost echelon… Relive it all by watching the video above.

Russell Sai - January 9, 2018

Nate Diaz has helped mold the fight game with his brutal honesty and never shying away from how he feels. In fact, the younger Diaz brother was the catalyst to make some changes to the UFC and the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) regulations, according to UFC Vice President of Athletic Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

Suddenly, it’s UFC 218 déjà vu all over again. Max Holloway was supposed to defend his UFC featherweight title against Frankie Edgar, but instead he went back-to-back against Jose Aldo. Not wasting any time, Holloway is determined to keep his promise of fighting every contender in line. His fight with Edgar has been re-booked for UFC 222. 12 straight wins later, Holloway is hoping that Frankie Edgar is the test that everyone keeps saying that he’ll fail. “[The UFC] needed a fight for Vegas and I’ve been asking to fight there. I also have a lot of questions and I heard [Frankie Edgar] got answers. We’re going to find out March 3rd. I can’t wait for this fight. Things happen and we didn’t get to fight the first time around, so I think it only makes sense to bring it back and do it. […] There’s a lot of history between [Edgar] and Hawaiian fighters. I’m going out there to bring one back home, and hopefully next time the UFC will bring my ass all the way back home. Fighting out in the ninth island of Las Vegas is nice, but I want to fight in Hawaii. First thing is first, and ‘The Answer’ is back up, and I got questions for the man. Let’s see if he can answer them for me.”

Tom Taylor - January 9, 2018

On January 20, in the main event of the stacked UFC 220, surging French-Cameroonian heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou will step into the Octagon with UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Over the course of his destructive run in the UFC’s Octagon, Ngannou has flaunted some truly terrifying punching power – something many fans and pundits believe could spell disaster for Miocic. That said, Ngannou has not yet been tested by a truly elite wrestler. As a former NCAA standout, Miocic could well be that wrestler.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

The danger of Francis Ngannou has reached mythic proportions as UFC 220 draws closer and closer. In his short but meteoric rise, Ngannou has become almost a folk hero. His documentary is a crazy eye-opening rags to riches story and we all know by now that he has record-breaking punching power. However, his head coach Fernand Lopez says there are still a lot more that no one has seen yet, from his ground game to even more lethal striking techniques. Quite frankly, he’s afraid of what Ngannou can do to opponents. “I think there are a lot of fighters in the UFC who we’ve never seen the best of because they’ve never had the opportunity to showcase the skills they have. If you’re going to a decision every time you fight, you may have time to show everything, but this guy [Francis Ngannou], he’s spent like one hour in [the cage] his whole career. People really don’t know what this guy can do. Submissions, heel hooks, if you see this guy does a heel hook or guillotine someone, it’s crazy. He’s got a very quick, very nasty guillotine, very nasty heel hook. There are so many skills he can do.”

Tom Taylor - January 9, 2018

The lineup for UFC on Fox 28, which goes down on February 24 in Orlando, Florida, has grown by one interesting bantamweight scrap, as former champion Renan Barao is scheduled to return to action on the card. Barao’s opponent in this fight will be Brian Kelleher.  This bout was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel.

Justin Golightly - January 9, 2018

Out of nearly the entire top 15 of welterweights got booked at the tail end of 2017, one was missing. Darren Till wasn’t able to capitalize off the hype of finishing Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. He was in talks and rumored to fight everyone and none of them seemed to finalize. Despite Mike Perry losing in his last fight, Till was still open to fight him to build off their UFC Gdansk hollering match, but he’s already got a fight. Which brings us back to Gunnar Nelson. The two verbally agreed to a fight on Twitter in early November and Nelson is wondering what’s up. “I had a little back and forth with Darren Till there online not too long ago and I thought that was going to happen. Well, they haven’t scheduled anything yet, but it looks like he’s calling everyone out. I said I’m here. Nothing’s happening, I don’t know. I’d love that fight. He’s saying he’s not getting any opponents, he’s a good fighter, he’s up there and he’s online saying nobody wants to fight him or whatever, and I said ‘I’m ready’ and that’s it. He’s ranked up there, and I’m willing to fight. He’s good, he’s very good.”

Tom Taylor - January 9, 2018

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is always in the news – and not always for the best reasons. Despite the controversy that so often surrounds him, however, McGregor continues to do good work in his community, using his platform to help wherever he can. In fact, McGregor recently visited the Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in his native Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland, and had a pretty touching experience as a result. He shared this story on his official Instagram account.

Tom Taylor - January 9, 2018

Back in the summer of 2016, the UFC was sold to WME-IMG for a whopping 4.2 billion dollars. While this initially looked like a great investment, with fighters like Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey still actively competing, 2017 was a much slower year for the UFC. Conor McGregor didn’t fight at all. Neither did Ronda Rousey. Neither did Brock Lesnar. Jon Jones fought once, but then failed a drug test. Georges St-Pierre fought once, but seems to have re-retired post-fight. You get the picture… According to UFC President Dana White, however, there’s no cause for alarm. In fact, the UFC is still doing great business – such that WME-IMG is probably pretty pleased with their investment.