MMA News

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

When Michael Johnson told everyone back in September that he was moving down to featherweight, needless to say it was a shock. However, Johnson assured everyone that this was the plan all along. Although, a top 10 lightweight coming down to featherweight is a tough guy to get a fight for. Michael Johnson originally called out Jose Aldo, then Cub Swanson and others with no luck. Finally, he is booked against 10th-ranked featherweight Darren Elkins for next Sunday. According to the man himself, he hasn’t been 145-pounds since he was 13-years old. “I played football in my freshmen year of college and I was weighing close to 200-pounds there. So, my weight has been fluctuating up and down a lot. The last time I was 145-pounds I was 13. I wrestled 145 during my freshmen year at high school. I’m all in on this weight class and this weight right now. I want to get up to that title and take that title away from Max [Holloway] or Frankie [Edgar] or whoever has it at that point. Then maybe I’ll think about coming back up to 155 to hold two of them, but for now, my focus is on 145-pounds.”

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

Dana White just said yesterday that Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson would be the next fight they make. Whether or not it will be for the interim lightweight title or the undisputed lightweight title, will depend solely on if and when Conor McGregor decides he is coming back. This leaves Dustin Poirier wondering just who Eddie Alvarez is going to wait and fight. This is the reason why he believes he finally has Alvarez in match-making checkmate. “It’s the only fight that makes sense right now. There are two guys ranked above me right now, but both of them are coming off losses in their most recent fights. I feel like I’m close to the top, but there is a lot going on right now in my division. If they strip Conor [McGregor] of the title and Tony [Ferguson] and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] fight for the actual title, there is no one else for me to fight but Eddie Alvarez. All roads lead back to that fight. I knew it was going to happen like this, and I think Eddie and I should fight to see who gets the next shot at the title.”

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2018

Invicta FC appears to be continually losing their champions to the UFC. Most recently, their Bantamweight champion, Tonya Evinger got pulled up to the big show to challenge Cris Cyborg for the vacant UFC Featherweight title(Cyborg herself was also an Invicta champion). This isn’t a new trend for Invicta fighters to go from champions to the UFC. Plenty of Invicta alumni(champions or not) are currently a part of the UFC roster and thriving. The newest fighter to make the move on over is/was their current Bantamweight champion(who won the title in the time that Evinger had left), Yana Kunitskaya. Kunitskaya is one of Holly Holm’s main training partners at JacksonWink MMA and she won the title last August at Invicta FC 25 when she defeated Raquel Pa’aluhi by dominant unanimous decision victory. Kunitskaya will be taking on one of those Invicta alumni I mentioned, as well as perennial UFC top 10 Bantamweight and former Olympic silver medalist in wrestling,  Sara McMann at UFC on Fox 28 in Orlando, Florida. McMann broke the news on her Instagram page:

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2018

UFC Fight Night 125 in Belem, Brazil is nearing completion! Today, Combate reported another fight between potential Bantamweights contenders Pedro Munhoz and former two-time Flyweight title challenger, John “the Magician” Dodson.

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.”

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2018

If things had gone according to plan, Brazilian grappling star Gabi Garcia would have returned to the Rizin FF ring on December 29, when she was scheduled to battle 53-year-old pro-wrestling veteran Shinobu Kandori. While this fight was labelled by many as a “freak show,” it marked Garcia’s opportunity to end a tough year on a high note, erasing memories of two 2017 no-contests. Unfortunately, Garcia’s fight with Kandori never occurred, as health problems led her to miss weight by a whopping 26 pounds.

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

After a false alarm leak, Demetrious Johnson released a statement saying that a Champ Champ fight with TJ Dillashaw still isn’t official yet. But hey, don’t tell Dillashaw that. He’s been training since early December now and is steamrolling ahead like the fight is tomorrow. This is a giant scrap for both fighters and could be one of the most high-level displays of MMA ever. TJ Dillashaw recently opened up about the match-up and the fact that it has a whole lot more on the line that just a belt. This is about legacy and the title of greatest of all time. “I’m looking to come in and dethrone [Demetrious Johnson] from his legacy. He won’t be able to call himself the GOAT anymore. It’s so easy for him to continue calling himself that and take the fights he thinks are a little easier. He’s a cerebral fighter. He and his coach are smart guys, and they know I bring the greatest threat. I think he knows that’s going to be a tough one for him to win. It’s frustrating, because I believe I should be a lot higher [pound-for-pound].”

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

On January 14, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop on St. Louis, MO, South Korean featherweight contender Doo Ho Choi will return to the cage for the first time since his insane 2016 loss to Cub Swanson. His opponent in this long-awaited comeback fight will be a fellow knockout artist in Jeremy Stephens. Should Choi win this fight with Stephens, he’ll vault up the UFC featherweight rankings in the direction of a title shot. And while he’ll likely need another few wins beyond Stephens to secure that shot, he’s hoping it’ll happen soon – before he’s forced to complete the two years of mandatory military service required of all South Korean men.

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.”