MMA News

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

Whether or not he’s your favorite fighter or not, Khabib Nurmagomedov is the shining, smashing example of a fighter’s fighter. The type of man that other UFC fighters pick as their favorite fighter, that is unless they have to face him in the Octagon. He came back, answered the single doubt he’s left in anyone’s mind, and absolutely dominated a top five lightweight in Edson Barboza in devastating fashion. From one champion to another, Tyron Woodley is mad hype on Khabib Nurmagomedov. “Let’s get some respect for this dude, because I don’t want [Khabib Nurmagomedov] storming in here trying to double leg my ass. I’m gonna say something outlandish. ‘F’ Tony Ferguson right now. I think he jumps Tony Ferguson and he goes straight to Conor McGregor. Man, it was completely savage how he was whooping up on the homie Michael Johnson — which is a tough cookie — and was saying stop. When a man telling you to quit and give up in a fight, he’s on a whole ‘nother level.”

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

Ever since UFC 219 came to a close when we heard Bruce Buffer make the announcement that Cris Cyborg had retained her UFC Featherweight title, everyone has been wondering who will be next.  That includes fans as well as fighters themselves. As well as former fighters and former UFC and Strikeforce Bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate in particular. Miesha spoke about the situation in UFC’s Featherweight division recently on Sirius XM’s MMA Tonight. The current UFC 145 lb division is currently occupied by Cyborg and the 8-2 former Invicta FC champion. Megan Anderson. Anderson has been talked about as a strong candidate for getting the next crack at Cyborg. .@MieshaTate tells @realOCsports that her problem with a potential @criscyborg vs. @MeganA_mma fight is Megan's inexperience plus the quality of opponents in which Megan has beat. pic.twitter.com/5NbqBkC9Nl

Drake Riggs - January 5, 2018

Just a few years ago, the biggest possible fight among the women would have obviously been the former UFC Bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey vs at the time, the Invicta FC Featherweight champion and former Strikeforce Featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg. It was always an issue of Cyborg making 135 lbs…since that was initially the only division for the women before the UFC introduced the 115 lb Strawweight division. Then by the time that Cyborg had come to the UFC, Rousey had been dethroned in devastating fashion and the opportunity for a big female super fight died. That is perhaps until now. After Cyborg’s dominant decision victory over the woman that dethroned Rousey, Holly Holm at UFC 219, everyone has begun to ponder what’s next for the longtime ruler of 145. The obvious choice is fellow top three Featherweight worldwide, the Australian, Megan Anderson. Anderson was the most recent Invicta FC Featherweight champion prior to her signing to the UFC to fight Cyborg for the vacant title at UFC 214 before being forced out for undisclosed reasons. It’s not like Anderson is unqualified, but she is also the only other Featherweight on the UFC roster.

Drake Riggs - January 5, 2018

When it comes to managers, few are quite as vocal as many of MMA’s biggest stars manager, Ali Abdelaziz. One of his fighters happens to be the hot commodity that is Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov. Khabib last fought at UFC 219 where he put on an epic beating on top five Lightweight, Edson Barboza over the span of three rounds on route to a clear-cut unanimous decision that included multiple 10-8 round scores. Abdelaziz tweeted out today that they are looking at the interim champion, Tony Ferguson for their next move.  

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

In just two weeks, one of the biggest fights in Bellator history will go down to determine if Douglas Lima keeps his welterweight title, or if UFC transplant Rory MacDonald fulfills capturing the hold that alluded him in his previous organization. As the bell time draws closer and closer, MacDonald revealed some of the violent plans he has in mind for not just Lima, but for Bellator itself. Douglas Limas, who thinks MacDonald is a little too overconfident, has his own plans of proving he’s one of the very best in the world whether he’s in the UFC or not. “It’s the fight I wanted. [Rory MacDonald]’s a tough guy but no big deal. To me, he’s an opponent like any other. He’s got his strengths. He’s been in many wars, but after the first hand lands, he’ll change his plan, for sure. He’s very sure of himself. He’s saying he’s one step ahead of everyone in the division, right? But let him be. He’s very confident, and that will change as soon as the first hand connects.”

Russell Sai - January 5, 2018

Jean-Claude Van Damme was recently at Team Alpha Male to show the fighters there some of his techniques. However, things got a bit more physical than anyone expected. During a technique exchange where Garbrandt wasn’t expecting any contact sparring, Van-Damme caught the former UFC champ with a kick to the face. Team Alpha Male’s Urijah Faber was right there when it all happened and explained to TMZ what he saw go down between the two.

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

It looks like we won’t be seeing UFC strawweight Jessica Penne during nearly all of 2018. Stemming from a potential anti-doping violation from back in May, Penne has been suspended from competition for 18 months. The suspension has been retroactively brought back to the day after her fight with Danielle Taylor at April 22nd 2017. That means that Penne will be eligible to return to the Octagon on October 23rd of this new year. “Although Penne’s sample was initially reported as negative for prohibited substances on the standard out-of-competition testing menu, upon review of Penne’s Athlete Biological Passport, the sample was subsequently flagged for additional analysis due to an increased degree of variability in urinary biomarkers measured in the sample,” USADA officials said in a press release. Sophisticated carbon isotope-ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) analysis confirmed the presence of a synthetic anabolic agent in Penne’s sample. Before the reanalysis of her sample was completed, Penne fought at the UFC Fight Night event in Nashville on April 22, 2017, an event sanctioned by the Tennessee Athlete Commission.” – As per a press release from USADA officials via Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

Ahead of a new TV deal the UFC needs and the beginnings of ZUFFA Boxing being worked out, Dana White doesn’t care at all about burning bridges, especially if that bridge is SHOWTIME. They worked together to promote Conor McGregor’s gargauntuan boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, with White saying that the whole thing was an easy experience. However, it looks like that wasn’t the case behind the scenes as White just recently publicly buried them in this recent interview. “Think about this — and I don’t give a sh-t about SHOWTIME’s f-cking full of sh-t press release they put out — [Conor McGregor’s boxing match with Floyd Mayweather] is the biggest fight ever. Ever in combat sports history. The thing did over 6.7 million buys and if the service didn’t drop, we would have gotten closer to 7 million. It was the biggest event ever.”

Justin Golightly - January 5, 2018

There’s an unofficial ‘Most Violent’ title going around the UFC, but it feels wrong to have that in contention when Rory MacDonald is in Bellator. One of the top welterweights in the world enjoys fighting so much, he even welcomes a defeat, as long as it is bloody and brutal. You have to have a very special brain to call what happened in the fight with Robbie Lawler one of the best moments of your life. That’s just how MacDonald is, he is a killer. It’s that type of mindset that the cerebral assassin is looking to release once again in the Bellator cage. This time though, it’s for a title. “Getting to beat someone up and to unleash what’s inside of me, that’s what I like. That’s what gets me up and excited. Look at what I did to Paul [Daley] and look at the fight [Douglas Lima] had with Paul. I do feel that Douglas is better on the ground, so when we get there I feel like I’m going to be able to showcase my found and pound more and my jiu-jitsu a lot more than I did against Paul. Where it was me just schooling Paul, I think it’s going to be more of a battle.”

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.