MMA News

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

Back at UFC 218, the UFC’s unofficial ‘Most Violent’ title was on the line between Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez and they tore the house down. It was brutal. It was bloody. It was nearly three whole rounds of nonstop destruction. Even Gaethje was happy with losing to Alvarez by knockout. It seems like the only person who didn’t seem to enjoy the fight between Gaethje and Alvarez was Khabib Nurmagomedov. He voiced his criticisms on the scrap and it didn’t take long for Alvarez himself to respond. No wayyy @TeamKhabib called Me unprofessional… Ain’t that some shit . God bless You my man haven’t laughed this hard in a while 🤣🤣 Merry Christmas 🎄🎁

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

With the insane year that we’ve had in combat sports, it’s easy to forget that Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson and TJ Dillashaw seem to actually be headed towards one of the biggest fights in UFC history. Dana White said it was happening after UFC 218, while Johnson himself even said the only thing preventing it would be money at this point. Either way, Dillashaw is already training hard for the long, 10-pound trip down to flyweight. Duane Ludwig recently was interviewed and is confident that they will have the upper hand in the superfight. “I’ve already [spent time studying Demetrious Johnson]. There’s already notes and footage of game plans. I’ve dedicated my life to martial arts since the age of eight, this is what I do for 31 years. It’s very fascinating and super fun for me to do this and it’s already done and I’ll continue to do more of it but Demetrious Johnson has already been broken down and we feel that we have the upper hand in that fight. That’s for sure.”

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

With as much happening in the welterweight division, one hard-hitting Scouser can’t get anyone to fight him. Darren Till wanted to test Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson’s Karate techniques, but that looks like it’s not happening. He was rooting for Mike Perry to win at UFC Winnipeg to finish what they started at UFC Gdansk, which didn’t pan out. Finally, he’s turned his sights on Rafael dos Anjos and Santiago Ponzinibbio. After finishing Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, Till is a hot commodity hoping to leverage for a big fight. Of course, no fight would ever be bigger than Conor McGregor, although Till says he’s not there yet. “I’d love to fight Conor [McGregor] but I don’t know what Conor wants to do. What does Conor want to do? Does he want to fight with [Paul] Malignaggi? I heard he was meant to be fighting [Manny] Pacquiao. Does he want to fight to reclaim his belt or defend his belt at lightweight? Does he want to go to feather? You know, you don’t really know with Conor. He’s the biggest name in sports. At the moment I’m, shall we say, insignificant. There’s way more bigger options. But along the line, if he wants to come up to welterweight and fight a superior striker in myself, me and him, we can bounce. […] Right now, I just want to be the greatest fighter in MMA. In the whole of MMA.” — Darren Till speaking to Obviously Fight Talk.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

Last Saturday night, the UFC touched down in snowy Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with UFC on Fox 26. In the card’s exciting main event, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos asserted himself as one of the welterweight division’s top contenders, defeating former titleholder Robbie Lawler with a dominant, unanimous decision win. Shortly after this breakthrough win, dos Anjos received a callout from fellow welterweight contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who called him out for a title eliminator bout to establish a true number-one-contender.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

It’s arguable that Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje’s lightweight showdown was the most anticipated feature of the UFC 218 bill, and when the cage door closed, the fight delivered on expectations. For two and a half rounds, the two patron saints of violence beat each other silly, throwing caution to the wind, until Alvarez put his foe down for good with a third-round knee to the face. While this fight stands out as one of the best of the year, however, not everybody enjoyed it. File undefeated UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov into that group.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

The UFC’s February 24 return to Orlando, Florida, is expected to grow by one awesome welterweight matchup, as a bout between the ever-entertaining Alan Jouban and the venomous finisher Ben Saunders is apprently in the works for the card. This bout was first reported by Farah Hannoun on Twitter.

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

Jorge Masvidal hasn’t been quiet about wanting to ‘slap up’ Michael Bisping. The two have been in multiple confrontations together, mostly stemming from Bisping’s mind games aimed at Masvidal’s teammate Yoel Romero, which included ripping up a Cuban flag. He even offered to fight the former UFC middleweight champion at UFC Shanghai, if Kelvin Gastelum couldn’t make it. Lately though, things have been quiet. However, that’s only because the talk has transpired in private. Well, until now. Masvidal just posted his DMs with Bisping trying to get a fight. Jorge Masvidal: “Hey hoe ass Michael Bisping, quit talking sh-t to me when the UFC team and staff and act like a man. Let this 155-pound end your racist ass, you punk b-tch. You rip my flag and spit on Latin fighter’s corners. Damn right you won’t get in there with me. You know I’m going to hurt you and keep hurting you. Not going to knock you out quick, hell no, I’ll punish your ass for disrespect you bring. Just sing pussy, don’t run your mouth or from the fight. You had your chance to talk like men in private and you chose to make a scene in front of fans and UFC staff. You’re such a hoe.” 

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

Santiago Ponzinibbio stared down the Mike Perry storm and came out on top on Saturday. While Perry was unranked, it was a win over an opponent that was getting a big push from the UFC’s promotional machine. After taking out the prospect, Ponzinibbio is trying to catapult himself into huge fights. Knowing a title shot may not be possible yet, he wants the next best thing: A number one contender scrap with Rafael dos Anjos to see who gets to fight the champ when he comes back from shoulder surgery. “I know the UFC might not give me [a title shot] now because Tyron Woodley has an injured shoulder, so I think they should give me Rafael dos Anjos. Rafael dos Anjos and I should fight and the winner should fight for the title. I think this is a good match. I thought it was a good fight and good performance by Rafael dos Anjos. I like the winner of this fight, it’s nothing personal with Rafael dos Anjos. I like him, he won, but he only has three fights in this division you know. He won against Tarec Saffiedine, he is an old guy. Neil Magny is tough, but Lawler is old too and not having the best moment in his career.”

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

Earlier this month, Team Alpha Male prospect Benito Lopez made his UFC debut, taking on Albert Morales as part of the UFC’s stop in Fresno, California. Though Morales did not make it easy for him, Lopez won this debut with a unanimous decision, moving to a perfect 9-0 in the process. Having cashed his first UFC check, Lopez decided to give back to the people who have supported him on his way up – namely his grandmother. In a weekend post to Instagram, the Team Alpha Male talent revealed that he’d bought his grandmother the car she’d been eyeing with some of his winnings.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

On February 11 (February 10 in North America), the UFC will take over Perth, Western Australia with UFC 221. In the main event of the UFC’s anticipated return down under, UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker – who was promoted from interim champion when Georges St-Pierre vacated the title – will attempt his first title defense opposite former champion Luke Rockhold.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

Top UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero is having a tough time finding an opponent. Having recently come up short against reigning champion Robert Whittaker, he was hoping his next fight would be against former champion Luke Rockhold, but unfortunately, Rockhold took a fight with David Branch – an opponent Romero considers much easier than himself. “I don’t understand why [Rockhold] said no,” Romero said on the MMA Hour (h/t MMAMania). “I don’t understand. Maybe he had a strategy in the mind. He say, ‘No I wont fight Yoel, I will fight somebody easy.’ Respect to David Branch, but that’s the way he thinks, you know? That’s Luke’s mentality, ‘I want a more easy fight, win and Yoel Romero lose his last fight.”

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2017

Last Saturday night, in the main event of UFC on Fox 26, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos asserted himself as one of the top contenders at welterweight by taking out former champion Robbie Lawler. While dos Anjos’ performance dazzled most of the MMA community, however, it didn’t do much for rising contender Darren Till. In fact, Till believes he would have dominated the versions of dos Anjos and Lawler that fought on Saturday night. “He’s good, mate, but, I just don’t see where ‘RDA’ beats me,” TIll said on The MMA Hour (h/t MMAMania). “His striking, he’s got nothing. He is half my size…. Lawler, he’s just fucking taking shots for fun nowadays. I just don’t think those two fights are [difficult] fights for me. If them two were to ever fight me, I think I wold put them straight to sleep in the first round. That’s just me being confident and not cocky. Robbie is an ex-champion and so is Rafael. But, you know, their time has come. They have been around for a long time and it is time for the young ones to step up.”

Drake Riggs - December 18, 2017

UFC Fight Night 123 in Fresno, California ended up being a short night for the “Funkmaster” Aljamain Sterling. Unfortunately, he wasn’t on the positive end of the results. The 14-3 top 10 Bantamweight suffered his first career loss via knockout to Marlon Moraes on December 9 and the knockout was rather nasty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtqdGGz74Ow

Drake Riggs - December 18, 2017

The unbeaten Brit, Darren Till became an overnight star with his huge first-round victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone back in October. Since then, Till has vaulted into the Welterweight top 10 and let it be known that he’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Till just being the young age of 24 and already as talented as he is, there’s no reason to disagree with him. There’s one man in particular who Till has his eye on though. Right after his win over Cerrone it was Mike Perry who recently lost this past weekend to Santiago Ponzinibbio. Because of that, Till isn’t looking so much to get this fight anymore but would still be welcome to the chance to throw down with “Platinum”. Till instead focuses his attention to the man he was rumored to fight in the UFC London main event, former two-time title challenger, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Drake Riggs - December 18, 2017

Cris Cyborg is the UFC Featherweight champion of the world and most notable for being one of the most dangerous and feared fighters in all of MMA. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a soft side when she’s not in the cage. This Christmas, Cris will be asking all who live or are visiting Las Vegas the weekend after her championship bout with Holly Holm at UFC 219, to donate new teddy bears. The teddy bears will be gathered up by Cris’ team and hand-delivered to the kids at the Sunrise Children’s Hospital.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

For weeks and weeks, the status of Kamaru Usman and Emil Meek’s anticipated welterweight scrap has been uncertain. Originally, the fight was scheduled to occur at UFC 219, on December 30 in Las Vegas. Regrettably, it became known that Norway’s Meek was having a difficult time acquiring a US visa, which shrouded this contest in doubt. At that point, Usman claims to have been offered a replacement fight with fellow welterweight contender Colby Covington, which he claims Covington turned down. From there, Meek secured his visa in time for his visit to the US, assuring that he’d fight on Usman at UFC 219 after all, but apparently it was too little too late. The fight was removed from UFC 219, while multiple reports suggested it would likely be rescheduled for UFC 220, which goes down on January 20 in Boston.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, the MMA community was rocked by the news of coach Robert Follis’ passing. The long-time Xtreme Couture coach was just 48 years old. In a heartbreaking twist, MMAFighting.com has confirmed with a spokesperson from the Clark County Coroner in Nevada that the cause of Follis’ death was suicide. 

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

Re-@rob_monroe_cutman -Repost from @krualinhoc perfect example of a cutman saving a epic fight for the fighter and fans. Not 1 but 2 doctors over Alin’s shoulder looking to stop the fight. (Sound on) Alin insisting to have a chance to work. @jordanbreen @Sherdog @mikefridley pic.twitter.com/JiYvHscNBY — MostafaAlshammary (@yesmostafa) December 18, 2017