MMA News

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

A bantamweight scrap between former flyweight title challenger Tim Elliott and UFC newcomer Mark Delarosa kicked off tonight’s UFC 219 event in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Elliott presses forward quickly. Mark grabs a hold of his neck and drops for a guillotine. Elliott is able to escape and winds up in side control. He drops down a hammer fist. Delarosa rolls and throws up and armbar attempt. It looks deep. Tim is in some trouble here. Elliott is able to step over and escape. Mark attempts to scramble up but gives up his back to Elliott. Tim drops down some big shots from the position. Delarosa rolls and winds upon the bottom with Elliott in full guard. More shots from Elliott now. He grabs a hold of guillotine choke and proceeds to move to full mount position. Somehow Mark escapes the submission attempt and winds up back in half guard. Another scramble and round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

UFC 219 Live Results Thread Unable to catch tonight’s UFC 219 event in Las Vegas? BJPENN.com has you covered! Stay glued to this page for up to the minute live results from all of tonight’s action.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

Earlier today rumors surfaced that former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn would be returning to the octagon this February to battle promotional newcomer Suman Mokhtarian at UFC 221. If this poster is real or not, doesn't matter. @Suman_att will be the talk leading up to #UFC219 & BJ Penn is probably somewhere thinking do I got a fight in Perth. #postergate #MMA pic.twitter.com/BLtJ8PvHb8

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

Whether you’re working in MMA media or just a fan, fights can be stressful. We always have our favorites and we all get invested. It’s easy to log on to Twitter and talk as much (or more) trash to ‘haters’ of the fighter we root for, spouting off encyclopedic facts or quality of opponents and skill clashes. Now imagine that you’re in a relationship with one of those fighters. Not just in any organization, but fighting in the co-main event sport for a UFC pay-per-view. Bruna Barboza, Edson Barboza’s wife, recently gave some candid insight into what that is like. “[Edson Barboza]’s unbearable when he’s cutting weight [laughs]. Before we had [our son] Noah, I used to go with him to every fight. We flew on a Tuesday and he didn’t eat anything before the fight. We wouldn’t talk because he was unbearable. One day I ate a cereal bar and he said, ‘Why are you eating this in front of me? Are you trying to piss me off?’ Imagine if I was eating a brownie [laughs]. I can’t speak with him on fight week, not even a ‘hi’ or ‘good morning. I don’t watch the fight if I don’t go to the arena because I think it’s horrible. I don’t know what will happen, if he’s going to get hurt, and I won’t be there to help.”

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

When the UFC released a video about Max ‘Blue Carnage’ Carlyle, needless to say that a lot of people were confused. We learned about Carlyle’s struggles and his journey to achieve his dream of becoming the first Orc to ever fight in the Octagon. Dana White dismissed the idea that his kind would ever step foot into the UFC, much like he did when asked if women would ever fight for the organization.  Of course, all of this ended up being an elaborate tie-in to Will Smith’s new film Bright which debuted on Netflix. The teaser promised we’d see the rest of the story and today the conclusion dropped. Watch me face off with @travisbrowneMMA 12/30. Only on @UFC. pic.twitter.com/RyERr65R1g

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

The main and co-main event of UFC 219 are some of the best fights all year, with the match-ups that we’ve had in 2017, that’s high praise. Cris Cyborg defending her women’s UFC featherweight title against Holly Holm is arguably the biggest female fight of all-time. Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov makes his triumphant return to fight against top contender and dangerous striker Edson Barboza in a war for title contention. It’s interesting to see Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh’s outlook on the match-ups — especially the co-main event — seeing as how he could still be a future opponent for McGregor, especially if he does end up ever fighting in Russia. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov] by stoppage in the championship rounds. He will be hit in the first but wrestling, in particular his body lock, will break [ Edson] Barboza as fight progresses. Ground-and-pound stoppage in fourth or fifth round. [Holly] Holm by stoppage within three rounds. The lack of size advantage [for Cris Cybog] plus Holm’s technical ability in striking will decide this. Cyborg relies on strength and intimidation a lot, she wont have that here.” – John Kavanagh via his Twitter.

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

Stipe Miocic is about to step into the Octagon with a force that the UFC is hyping more than any other heavyweight since Brock Lesnar. After a devastating knockout of Alistair Overeem, the promotional power seems to be warranted. The UFC has found the beast it has been looking for and they needed it, especially with Cain Velasquez being out and Miocic beating everyone else. Perhaps this is the reason why Miocic just doesn’t seem intimidated by Francis Ngannou. That and the fact he runs into burning buildings when he’s not fighting the Earth’s baddest men. “This is what I signed up for. Why would I be intimidated by another man? Good for [Francis Ngannou]. Let him get all the hype he wants. I’m going to do what I do and keep winning.” Francis is an amazing fighter. Him starting in so fast. He’s got great power, he’s very athletic. He’s a big heavyweight. He’s definitely showing it and that’s why he’s here. I think everyone [wants to see another knockout by Ngannou] but that ain’t gonna happen. He can do it to someone else, but it ain’t gonna happen to me. I’m the underdog. What do you expect? That’s what the betting line says, right? But I like being underdog because I shut people up.” — Stipe Miocic at the UFC 220 press conference.

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

Daniel Cormier and Volkan Oezdemir stared down for the first time yesterday for their upcoming fight at UFC 220. While a couple of mild verbal jabs haven hit social media and while they were on the stage for the press conference, mostly it’s been pretty quiet as far as fight hype goes. However, after the presser, Oezdemir decided to take to Twitter and get things really started with the UFC light heavyweight champion. Daniel Cormier fired back while somehow incorporating his Game of Thrones fandom as well. …That’s impressive. When you already know what’s going to happen but you let him talk… #enjoyyourlast3weeks #ufc220 pic.twitter.com/0BgGtje11N

Drake Riggs - December 29, 2017

UFC 219 is tomorrow! Which means we got the weigh-ins today. Check out all the fighters making weight and their stare downs at the ceremonial weigh-ins.

Drake Riggs - December 29, 2017

The United Kingdom’s best Light Heavyweight has been looking for a fight ever since his last one ended. Understandably so, Jim Manuwa’s bout with Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214 did not quite go as planned. The Brit was looking at a potential title shot with a big win over the man from Switzerland. Instead, it was Oezdemir stealing the shot with his early KO over the surging Manuwa. But now it sounds like he’s finally got an opponent. UFC London on March 17 is looming…could this be where Manuwa’s next fight will take place? Perhaps in the main event? Manuwa took to Twitter to tease some news. Fight news coming soon…I’ve been lucky enough to be able to not have camp through Christmas and spend with the family , now it’s back to the money. Camp is on!!

Drake Riggs - December 29, 2017

UFC Fight Night 123 in Fresno was the last California event hosted by the UFC. It featured top Featherweights Cub Swanson and Brian Ortega going at it in the main event. Along with those two, we got a quick turn around from Marlon Moraes who filled in against Aljamain Sterling and only needed just over a minute to put away the Serra-Longo product with a devastating knee. According to MMA Fighting, Moraes was flagged by California State Athletic Commission doctors after the fight day weigh where he came in well over the commission regulations that state to be within ten percent of the contracted weight(135 lbs for Moraes). But Moraes wasn’t the only one flagged from UFC Fresno. Two of the three other fighters who were notified about being wanted to move up a division were also Bantamweights in Luke Sanders and Iuri Alcantara(who both lost). The other being Lightweight, Davi Ramos who defeated Chris Gruetzmacher.

Drake Riggs - December 29, 2017

UFC on Fox 28 in Orlando, Florida just keeps getting better and better. A top Middleweight matchup has been reported by the Orlando Sentinel. Making his return for the first time since losing his interim title fight against Robert Whittaker at UFC 213, Yoel Romero will take on former WSOF Middleweight and Light Heavyweight champion, David Branch. UFC on Fox 28 takes place on February 24!

Justin Golightly - December 29, 2017

The New Year is approaching and it is the time for resolutions. Whether they be public or something that you promise yourself, opening up a new calendar is always an excuse to change something about your life. To say that Cris Cyborg has had a roller coaster relationship with the UFC, would be an understatement. However, she’s determined to move into 2018 by putting the past behind her. That includes her grievances with the organization and Dana White himself. “The result of this [good relationship] is persistence, not giving up even in the face of adversity. Everything changed, I’m very happy that they put me in the main event. It shows to my fans that even when it’s difficult, we have to be persistent. [The treatment] It’s getting better, it’s getting better. From the moment that he admitted to having made mistakes, from that moment on, I dropped the negative emotions that I had. Now, let’s work together.”

Justin Golightly - December 29, 2017

No weight issues for top contender @TeamKhabib, as he registers 155.5 pounds on the scale 💪. Watch #UFC219 official weigh ins LIVE: https://t.co/2iQmYbS437 pic.twitter.com/59GjoFZHrp — MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 29, 2017

Justin Golightly - December 29, 2017

We’ve all heard the usual pre-fight trash talk in the build-up to an event. Fighters waxing poetically about how they are going to knock out their opponent, predicting which round they may fall, or insulting their like of skills. You will not hear any of that from Neil Magny, who will be stepping into the cage tomorrow against Carlos Condit in his return to the Octagon. On the contrary, Magny is being completely blunt about his perceived chances. He doesn’t see any advantage he has in this fight, but that just excites him. “Yeah, [I don’t have] not one single advantage in this fight [with Carlos Condit]. I mean, reach advantage, cardio advantage, not a single advantage. Everything I want in this fight, we have to fight for that’s something I’m excited about. I’m going to win by going out there and being relentless. We’re going to fight tooth and nail for every single thing I want. I know every punch that I throw is not going to come easy, every kick I throw is not going to come easy, every takedown that I get is not going to come easy, so I know I’m going to have to fight for every single thing that I want in this fight. That’s what’s bringing out the excitement and that’s how Im going to win, by being relentless.”

Justin Golightly - December 29, 2017

After a string of some of the worst luck the MMA world has ever seen, Ian McCall is out of the UFC and healthier than ever. In his first fight since January, he was set to enter into Japan’s RIZIN ring to fight smart-mouthed prospect Manel Kape. The two nearly came to blows in their first staredown, then actually threw strikes at each other at the weigh-ins. So when the time actually came to fight, the air was electric and people were not disappointed. That is, until the fight ended. Not because Ian McCall was actually beat by Kape, but because of a cut caused by ring ropes. Ian Mccall losing via TKO (Rope Cut) stoppage has to be a first. #RIZINFF pic.twitter.com/eewlAgjG3r

Justin Golightly - December 29, 2017

Apparently Gabi Garcia missed weight by 27 pounds because her nose is blood? Beautiful angle by #RIZINFF. #RIZIN2017 pic.twitter.com/dMHuzA8cBq — Josh Sánchez (@jnsanchez) December 29, 2017

Drake Riggs - December 28, 2017

Holly Holm is no stranger to big fights. Whether it be in boxing or MMA, she’s been a championship level fighter where ever she’s gone. A win over UFC Featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg would be a record setter for “The Preacher’s Daughter” which is just extra pressure added onto her against an already tough task in the fight alone. Holm chatted with Ariel Helwani today about that, her fun and interactive open workout and more.