MMA News

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.

Justin Golightly - December 19, 2017

We haven’t seen Yoel Romero since his decision loss to Robert Whittaker back in July. Up until then, the middleweight monster was on an eight-fight win streak with huge wins over Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, and Chris Weidman. Since then though, all he’s wanted is a fight. With anybody. However, it looks like he’s tried unsuccessfully with both Luke Rockhold and former champ Michael Bisping. Finally, the clouds have broken up and it looks like he could have a fight for the UFC Orlando card: Former WSOF two-division champion David Branch. Yesssss lets do it!!! @Mickmaynard2 https://t.co/oKOCIQZD4v

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

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

It’s no secret that Ben Askren – long regarded as one of the best fighters outside the UFC – is not a fan of UFC President Dana White. Speaking on a recent episode of Submission Radio, Askren reiterated his feelings on White, and he pulled no punches. “Dana White’s a scumbag, I don’t take anything he says with any value,” Askren said (h/t BloodyElbow). “He’s very, very insecure and he abhors anyone who won’t cater to his every whim.”

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

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

Former UFC Bantamweight title challenger, Michael “Mayday” McDonald made his Bellator MMA debut last Friday in the Bellator 191 main event against Peter Ligier. A fight that McDonald succeeded in by winning a unanimous decision across three rounds. But despite the win for McDonald, he will be facing yet another setback due to injuries. Sometime in the second round, McDonald broke his hand and fought through it. After seeing the X-Ray photo…surely the break only got worse as the fight continued after the initial break. I am proud of my performance & so should my opponent Peter. He truly rose to the occasion & put on a fantastic performance. I assume you all want to see the broken hand X rays lol. Here you go! Cant believe I fought another round busted like this lol. Praise God for adrenaline! pic.twitter.com/0RmlrqyU9J

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.

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.

Christine Allen - December 18, 2017

As a twenty – nine-year-old female who has thankfully yet to experience chronic neck or back pain, my understanding of the term ‘Chiropractor’ has been limited to that of someone who addressed back problems. My interest in the practice however peaked when, whilst listening to an archive of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, UFC commentator and host Joe Rogan opined “I don’t believe in Chiropractors at all, I think it’s 98% horseshit…I think that manipulation that they do…it’s just popping your neck, and it just feels good.”

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

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

England’s Jimi Manuwa is one of the top light heavyweight contenders in the UFC. That said, his recent knockout loss to Volkan Oezdemir probably means he’s another impressive win away from a title shot. When weighing the options for Manuwa’s next fight, there are a few that really stand out. One is Glover Teixeira, who won big over Misha Cirkunov last weekend (though he doesn’t seem that interested in this potential fight). Another is MMA legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who has recently been enjoying a significant, late-career resurgence.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

On Saturday night, on the main card of the stacked UFC on Fox 26, Brazil’s Glover Teixeira reasserted himself as one of the light heavyweight division’s top contenders by smashing the highly-regarded Misha Cirkunov to a first-round TKO. With this win, Teixeira might well have earned himself a shot at the winner of UFC 220’s Daniel Cormier vs. Volkan Oezdemir light heavyweight title fight. That said, he’s still only one win removed from a crushing, knockout loss to Alexander Gustafsson, and so he might still need another win to solidify his title shot.