MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 7, 2018

Francis Ngannou: Knockouts To Inspire – UFC 220 Documentary In the above video, MMANytt‘s Jim Edwards takes a trip to France for an in-depth interview with surging UFC heavyweight contender Francis “The Predator” Ngannou.

Chris Taylor - January 7, 2018

Despite being on a three-fight losing skid, former UFC title challenger Donald Cerrone will headline February’s UFC Fight Night 126 event in Austin opposite surging welterweight contender Yancy Medeiros. After falling short in his bid for the UFC lightweight title against Rafael dos Anjos in December of 2015, Donald Cerrone opted to move up to the promotions welterweight division (170-pounds).

Chris Taylor - January 7, 2018

Rose Namajunas wants “the scariest person” for her first title defense. “Thug Rose” shocked the mixed martials arts world at November’s UFC 217 event in New York when she scored a brutal first-round knockout victory over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, thus claiming the UFC’s coveted strawweight championship.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 219, lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov improved to an insane 25-0, brutalizing the dangerous Edson Barboza to a lopsided unanimous decision victory. With this win, Nurmagomedov stands out as the irrefutable number one contender at lightweight – whether his shot comes against interim champion Tony Ferguson or undisputed champion Conor McGregor. Speaking on a recent episode of The Joe Rogan MMA Show, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan discussed Nurmagomedov’s position in the stacked UFC lightweight division. In his opinion, the Dagestani fighter is now the most terrifying lightweight contender in the world.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

Ever since he won the UFC interim lightweight title with a submission of Kevin Lee, Tony Ferguson has been vocal in his belief that undisputed lightweight champ Conor McGregor should either defend his title, or vacate it. Really, the interim champ rarely goes more than a few hours without using his patented #DefendOrVacate hashtag on Twitter “All Clear & Ready To Rock” Doc Cleared Me To Start Training & Sparring 💎💎💎 Fuck Yeah 2018 #DefefdorVacate #AndTheNew #TonyFergusonMMA SnapJitsu™ My Mat. #Back2Work – Thee Champ 🇺🇸🏆🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/Rbz7mRkgWS

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

Be ready! Forget WuTang…#CyborgNation is nothing to mess with! @parilloboxing heeeeey! ========================== Antes da guerra!!!!! Já faz um tempo que é assim.. mas só dessa vez filmaram! Heyy só pra checar se o espírito não fugiu kkkk! A post shared by CRIS CYBORG 🇧🇷★ #ufc219 (@criscyborg) on Jan 6, 2018 at 7:46pm PST

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

On Saturday, surging UFC bantamweight contender and former World Series of Fighting champion Marlon Moraes took to Twitter to share a signed bout agreement for a fight with fellow contender Jimmie Rivera. Here you go @JimmieRivera135 I signed my bout agreement. @ufc on fox. I also agreed to fight you on march 3rd choose what day you want me to beat your ass B-I-T-C-H @seanshelby @danawhite @AliAbdelaziz00 pic.twitter.com/nrU8WTjacF

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2018

On January 14, the UFC will return to St. Louis, Missouri, with a Fight Night card that seems to possess all the elements of a Card of the Year contender. One of the most compelling features of this card is the featherweight debut of long-time lightweight contender Michael Johnson. The St. Louis native will make his debut in the division opposite surging contender Darren “The Damage” Elkins on the event’s undercard. While Johnson is unsurprisingly very excited about a fresh start in the UFC featherweight division, he’s not thrilled about his position on the card. As one of the most consistently exciting fighters out there, and a St. Louis native, he believes he has claim to the main or at least co-main event spot.

Chris Taylor - January 6, 2018

Conor McGregor’s coach responds to Tony Ferguson’s “defend or vacate” request! Since claiming the promotions interim lightweight title by submitting Kevin Lee at UFC 216, Tony Ferguson has been busy campaigning for Conor McGregor to defend or vacate his lightweight strap.

Chris Taylor - January 6, 2018

Marlon Moraes posts signed bout agreement, puts Jimmie Rivera on blast! Marlon Moraes has signed a bout agreement to fight Jimmie Rivera at UFC Orlando on February 24. The former WSOF bantamweight champ posted the contract on Twitter while taking a jab at Rivera.

Chris Taylor - January 6, 2018

Tonight’s Tara LaRosa vs. Internet troll event has been cancelled! Women’s mixed martial arts pioneer Tara LaRosa was slated to participate in a intergender sparring bout with sexist internet troll Kristopher Zylinski this evening in Florida.

Chris Taylor - January 6, 2018

UFC 221 Fight Card set with twelve bouts! The octagon will return to Australia this February for UFC 221. The pay-per-view event will take place on February 11 in Perth, but will air live in North America on February 10 due to the time difference.

Justin Golightly - January 6, 2018

#OnThisDay in 2012: @TheNotoriousMMA became double @CageWarriors champ! 📽 https://t.co/TMZIENdJ5x pic.twitter.com/Su3KfnZK9p

Justin Golightly - January 6, 2018

Glossy video packages, crisp suits, $50K bonuses. This is a world still brand new to Francis Ngannou. Just five years ago, the man was homeless and didn’t even know that mixed martial arts existed. The only thing he knew, is that he saw something bigger for the life which contained him. Ngannou didn’t just see the vision behind closed eyes and admire it, he went out to seek it by any means necessary. For himself, for his family, for his village. “Even during my pregnancy, [Francis Ngannou] was always moving so much I couldn’t sleep. But no, he wasn’t fighting. Never fighting. And he would never let someone hit another kid.” — Francis Ngannou’s mother

Justin Golightly - January 6, 2018

Dana White wants to launch ZUFFA Boxing and suddenly he’s at war with SHOWTIME and other promoters. He went on a tirade the other day on what he beleived were false SHOWTIME numbers regarding the historic Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather boxing bout. Since then, SHOWTIME executive Stephen Espinoza, who he worked together with to promote the fight, clapped back at his claims. Now Bob Arum has add fuel to the flames in his own, level-headed and precise way. Dana White wanted to talk numbers, so he’s talking numbers. “A lot of what [Dana White] says is inconsistencies but I don’t want to take it apart piece by piece. What’s really happening is the UFC is cratering. You look at the ratings they’re getting and you look at their pay-per-view business, which is way down. Why? Because they don’t have the marquee stars that they had before. Because the UFC model is to keep the money for itself and not pay the fighters the way people in boxing pay the fighters, which is a major part of the revenue. So really, he has a real problem getting a deal that will justify the $4.5 billion price that they sold UFC for and neither FOX or anyone else will come close to that price.”

Justin Golightly - January 6, 2018

If there is one thing Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone is about, it ain’t lying. Whatever Cerrone gives you, whether you like it or not, is the truth as he sees it. He talks like he accepts fights: Immediate. So, when a controversial report that seems to originate in a Bloody Elbow Fanpost about Jackson Wink’s long losing streak, Donald Cerrone was quick to shoot straight about it when he could have understandably condemned the article for poor taste. On the contrary, Cerrone isn’t making any excuses about Jackson Wink’s losing streak, or his own. “Yeah man, It’s just wild. I mean, sh-t, it’s not a thing that’s the norm. Even since I’ve been there we’ve been a pretty successful squad, but lately we’ve had a bit of trouble. Look at me, I’m f-cking three losses. The first I’ve had ever. It’s bullsh-t, I don’t know what the f-ck is going on. I’m like 174-175-pounds right now. That’s like my walking around weight so 170-pounds is easy. I don’t have to train nearly as hard, but I’m not making any excuses.”

Justin Golightly - January 6, 2018

The biggest heavyweight fight potentially of all-time is a couple of weeks away and it is curiously absent of trash talk. Although, when you’re two guys like Francis Ngannou and Stipe Miocic, the need to say threatening things has never really been something that comes up a lot. Both men are equally humble as they are frightening. Both men have made it a habit of dispatching other scary dudes. Which is why Miocic shrugs at the notion of Ngannou’s horror story mythos being built around him and his record-breaking punching power. To Stipe Miocic, Ngannou is just one more guy like he’s fought over and over. “[Franics Ngannou]’s tough, he’s big, strong, hits hard but he’s just another dude. That’s what it is. You’re telling me Mark Hunt doesn’t hit that hard? Or Roy Nelson? Or Junior dos Santos? Come on. He hits hard and definitely if you get hit square like that [it’s bad news], but I’m definitely going to keep my head up, keep my head on a swivel, and make sure I’m doing everything right.”

Drake Riggs - January 5, 2018

If you have Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal as one of your training partners…it will be hard for you to not find at least some success in MMA or wrestling. Mo is one of Bellator’s staple big name fighters and is next taking on their Light Heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader as part of the Heavyweight title Grand Prix. Recently, the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, King Mo caught up with the In This Corner Podcast and shed some light on how much potential that the NFL football star turned MMA fighter, Greg Hardy really has: “I sparred with him five or six times and the last time we sparred, it was a battle. It was a battle and he gave me work and took me down. He’s a 285-pound guy and he just picked me up and just threw me. I remember the first day that he came last year, I saw him and gave him a pair of my gloves,” Lawal said. “I said, ‘Alright man let’s work on this.’ He was on the bag and he went from hitting the bag with his right hand and hook to uppercuts, learning kicks, to learning takedown defense and jiu jitsu. He’s a fast learner and he loves it.