MMA News

Russell Ess - December 26, 2017

Would a Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre matchup be the biggest fight in UFC history? It would certainly make for an interesting match of styles and with both fighter’s star power, it would definitely make for some massive numbers. St-Pierre’s longtime Tristar Gym coach Firas Zahabi spoke with Express Sport recently on the matchup that he says he has been interested in this fight for St-Pierre for some time.

Justin Golightly - December 26, 2017

It’s difficult to narrow down a clear-cut ‘Fighter of the Year’ for 2017. We’ve seen so many amazing things happen and were blindsided by curve ball after curve ball. It just epitomized how unpredictable this combat game is and that no one is safe, no matter how high the perch. If you’re opening up the discussion for candidates though, no question Holloway needs to be on it. After taking out former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis right at the end of 2016, he won the interim featherweight title. This year, he unified and defended it by beating Jose Aldo twice, something no one had ever done. It’s these accomplishments that factored into Rolling Stone awarding him with their 2017 Fighter of the Year award. “It’s surreal. When I found out I was like, ‘Holy sh-t. This is cool as sh-t.’ I’m not going to lie. There’s a bunch of fighters who could have been up for ‘Fighter of the Year’ – Robert Whittaker, Rose Namajunas, Demetrious Johnson. To be chosen, it’s in my nickname: I’m ‘Blessed.’ It’s been a crazy year. I got to fight the greatest of all-time in my weight division not once, but twice. I was watching this guy when I was 16 years old when I first started kickboxing. I wanted to fight [Jose] Aldo in a kickboxing match. A couple years later I came to MMA and wanted to fight him. 10 years later, I got to fight the man twice. It’s a lot of life goals I got to do. It’s hard to put in words.”

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2017

UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta, who has long been regarded as one of the division’s best fighters, has always been vocal when it comes to the issues that bother him. One of the issues that happens to bother him is the way the UFC pays its fighters – himself in particular. “The way I see it, I’ve been taking the risks the whole time,” Iaquinta said of his career on a recent episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I went on to the Ultimate Fighter, those contracts are bullshit, there’s no money on the Ultimate Fighter, so that’s a huge risk. I got injured a lot on that. You go through the Ultimate Fighter, I made it to the finals so I got a contract. You think you’re gonna make money once you get into the UFC. I don’t know. I don’t wanna even keep harping on it.”

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2017

Russian lightweight contender Mairbek Taisumov is having a hard time finding an opponent. Of course, that’s not really a surprise, given that he’s knocked his last five opponents out cold. Though Taisumov is having a hard time finding a willing dance partner, that’s not for lack of trying. Over the last few weeks, the surging knockout artist has been campaigning for a fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who has teased a return to the lightweight division after an exciting stint at welterweight.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2017

Yesterday, many members of the MMA community gathered together with their family and friends to celebrate Christmas. Across the fighting world, there was food aplenty; there were gifts, drinks, and Christmas pyjamas; there were even a few appearances by Santa Claus himself. See how the MMA community celebrated Christmas below:

Drake Riggs - December 25, 2017

Longtime MMA journalist and business insider, Dave Meltzer recently discussed on his overnight Wrestling Observer audio show the UFC’s prediction for EBITDA in 2017 which should be $320 million dollars. Obviously, that brings up many different questions and variables to discuss. I decided to meet up with friend and avid follower of combat sports’ business side who specializes in MMA and pro wrestling, Frankie NYC to discuss the news. Last time Frankie and I spoke we broke down the UFC TV negotiations in October.  

Drake Riggs - December 25, 2017

It’s the season of giving! And Jimmie Rivera keeps on being given news of opponents dropping out of his UFC 219 fight. At first, he was supposed to fight former Bantamweight king, Dominick Cruz. That was until Cruz suffered a broken arm in training resulting in his drop off the card. In to replace Cruz stepped fellow top 5er at 135, John Lineker. Then just the other day, Lineker had to undergo emergency surgery for a tooth infection which has also pulled, no pun intended, Lineker from the Rivera fight. Now we’re here. Rivera stated after the news was broke that he was willing to face former WSOF Bantamweight king, Marlon Moraes who has been wanting to fight Rivera for some time now. I accept the fight with @MMARLONMORAES and even give him two pound allowance at 138lb #merrychristmas #ufc219

Russell Ess - December 24, 2017

A pivotal matchup set for UFC 219 has been scrapped from the end of the year card taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 30. The exciting matchup between current number 4 UFC ranked bantamweight Jimmie Rivera and number 6 ranked John Lineker has been canceled due to Lineker being forced to pull out of the bout. According to MMA Fighting, multiple sources have confirmed that Lineker was removed from the bout due to a tooth infection and will have to undergo emergency surgery.

Chris Taylor - December 24, 2017

Darren Till doesn’t care about rankings or losses, agrees to have a war with “Platinum” Mike Perry. Despite suffering a decision loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio in his most recent performance, Mike Perry (11-2 MMA) still has his sites set on undefeated welterweight contender Darren Till.

Chris Taylor - December 24, 2017

Perennial UFC welterweight contender “Platinum” Mike Perry was nice enough to remember Darren Till’s birthday. Perry recently took to Twitter where he sent the undefeated welterweight, Darren Till, the following well wishes along with a “gift”.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

From the looks of it, Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov has found an opponent for his next fight. Over the weekend, at an action-packed ACB show in Russia, Lobov got face to face with another UFC featherweight in Zabit Magomedsharipov. Shortly thereafter, Magomedsharipov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz took to Twitter to stoke this potential fight to life, and Lobov was all for it. See how it went down below:

Chris Taylor - December 24, 2017

Donald Cerrone has a message for every lightweight and welterweight on the UFC roster! The former lightweight title challenger, Donald Cerrone, took to Instagram yesterday evening where he posted the following video at his BMF Ranch.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

“Sugar” Sean O’Malley is one of the hottest prospects in the talent-rich UFC bantamweight division. Now 1-o in the UFC, having bested a game Terrion Ware in his recent promotional debut, he’s keen to continue his climb up the bantamweight ladder, and perhaps one day, battle reigning champ TJ Dillashaw. While O’Malley hopes to fight Dillashaw one day, he actually has tremendous respect for him, especially after his thrilling December knockout of Cody Garbrandt.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

Having established himself as one of the welterweight division’s top contenders, Colby Covington is now eyeing one of two fights: a title fight with reigning champ Tyron Woodley, or an interim title fight with fellow contender Rafael dos Anjos. Unfortunately for him, neither man seems interested in fighting him at this particular moment. Covington believes he knows why this is the case.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

British knockout artist Jimi Manuwa is one of the best light heavyweight mixed martial artists on earth. And though he is currently riding a tough knockout loss to upcoming light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir, he is still only a win or two from his own shot at the belt. While Manuwa has plenty of interesting options in the UFC light heavyweight division – ranging from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to Glover Teixeira – he has also been flirting with the idea of a boxing match with fellow Brit David Haye.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

Over the last few weeks, the MMA community has been buzzing about the possibility of undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. cutting a deal with the UFC and stepping into the Octagon. These rumors were started by comments from Mayweather himself, then thrust into overdrive by subsequent statements from Joe Rogan and Dana White, who confirmed outright that the promotion was in talks with the boxer. Since then, of course, Mayweather has assured he has no real intention of competing in mixed martial arts. That said, many fighters are still dreaming of the chance to welcome the boxing legend to the cage – and you can count bantamweight prospect “Sugar” Sean O’Malley among them.

Chris Taylor - December 23, 2017

Stipe Miocic receives some NFL support prior to his UFC 220 title fight with Francis Ngannou. UFC heavyweight champion of the world Stipe Miocic will attempt to make his third consecutive title defense at January’s UFC 220 event in Boston when he squares off with surging division contender Francis Ngannou.

Chris Taylor - December 23, 2017

Rampage Jackson and Chael Sonnen will square off at Bellator 192 on January 20 in the first-round of the promotions heavyweight world grand prix. The former UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (37-12 MMA), has not competed since suffering a unanimous decision loss in his rematch with Muhammed Lawal at Bellator 175 on March 31, 2017.