MMA News

Chris Taylor - December 17, 2017

“Platinum” Mike Perry has issued a statement following his loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC on FOX 26. The popular welterweight knockout artist, Perry, recently took to Instagram where he congratulated his opponent on executing a solid game-plan while assuring his fans that he will be back stronger than ever.

Tom Taylor - December 17, 2017

In the midst of the excitement of last night’s UFC on Fox 26 card, there is also some very sad news circulating in the MMA community. According to striking coach Dewey Cooper, who coaches a number of MMA stars such as Francis Ngannou, long-time Xtreme Couture coach Robert Follis has passed away. A friend is a person who is there for you when you need an ear to listen or a shoulder to lean on. We are friends and I am terribly sorry that my ear or shoulder wasn’t enough to help you get through difficult times. We have love and respect for you Coach/Partner/Friend! Every MMA victory that our fighters have will always be a testament of your Great Coaching! You will be missed Follis; now get your gym in the Heavens up and running well!! This “Fight Thing” was a lifestyle for you; so it doesn’t stop after your physical life! Make sure you keep making Champions in the Heavens above bro!!! Until we speak again! Rest in Peace Robert Follis #RestInTheHeavensCoachRobertFollis #BKSS #follismma #MTP #noadlahat

Tom Taylor - December 17, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in frigid Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with UFC on Fox 26. In the card’s main event, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos picked up a dominant unanimous decision win over former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, establishing himself as one of the division’s hottest contenders in the process. In the co-main event, meanwhile, Team Alpha Male featherweight prospect Josh Emmett picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, flattening long-time contender Ricardo Lamas with a first-round left hook.

Tom Taylor - December 17, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 26, Team Alpha Male prospect Josh Emmett stepped into the Octagon for a short notice bout with long-time featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas. Though Emmett unfortunately missed weight for this fight, he managed to make good on the opportunity in the end, knocking Lamas out with a swooping left hook in the first round. While this win stands out as the biggest of his career thus far, Emmett said post-fight that he’d be happy to give Lamas an immediate rematch. Lamas did, after all, accept a fight with an un-ranked opponent on short notice, and didn’t back out when that opponent missed weight.

Tom Taylor - December 17, 2017

Last night, in the co-main event of UFC on Fox 26, Team Alpha Male prospect Josh Emmett stepped into the Octagon for a short notice bout with long-time featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas. Though Emmett unfortunately missed weight for this fight, he managed to make good on the opportunity in the end, knocking Lamas out with a swooping left hook in the first round. Unsurprisingly, this massive upset win generated some interesting reactions from Emmett’s fellow pros on Twitter. See some of the best reactions below!

Tom Taylor - December 17, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with UFC on Fox 26. In the card’s main event, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler collided in a perceived welterweight number one contender fight. Though Lawler and Dos Anjos were quite evenly matched as far as the betting odds were concerned, Dos Anjos ended up outclassing his veteran foe for the duration of the bout, tenderizing his legs with kicks, landing to the body, completing a few takedowns, and at one point, landing an uninterrupted, 23-second, 40-punch combo. All three judges scored it 50-45 for him.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

Last night, in the second bout of the UFC on Fox 26 main card, all-action welterweight prospect “Platinum” Mike Perry stepped into the Octagon for the biggest bout of his career, a scrap with 10th-ranked welterweight contender Santiago Ponzinibbio. Despite a very valiant effort – throughout which he badly bloodied his dangerous foe – Perry came up short in this fight, losing a unanimous decision after three wild rounds.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

On 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. Relive some of the highlights of Rafael dos Anjos’ masterful defeat of Robbie Lawler in the clips below!

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

The UFC on Fox 26 main event occurred in the welterweight division, where former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler collided with former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in a what was widely considered to be a number-one-contender fight. The fight began with Lawler pressing forward, while dos Anjos returned fire with some very effective leg kicks. This was the story of the first round.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

The co-main event of UFC on Fox 26 occured at a 148.5-pound catchweight, where long-time contender Ricardo Lamas battled Team Alpha Male prospect Josh Emmett, who replaced Lamas’ originally slated opponent, Jose Aldo. Though the amply more experienced Ricardo Lamas entered this fight as a significant betting favorite, Emmett came through in the biggest way possible. As the first round wore down, the Team Alpha Male staple planted a rocket-fuelled left hook right on Lamas’ chin, and that was all she wrote. Lamas plummeted to the supine position, where a classy Emmett left him be, sensing that no further punishment was required.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

The second bout of the UFC on Fox 26 main card occured in the talent-rich UFC welterweight division, where all-action knockout artists Santiago Ponzinibbio and “Platinum” Mike Perry collided in an early frontrunner for Fight of the Night honors. This contest did not disappoint.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

The first fight on the UFC on Fox 26 main card occurred in the light heavyweight division, where former title challenger Glover Teixeira and Canadian contender Misha Cirkunov collided in a clash of top-10 fighters. The bout began with Cirkunov pouring on the pressure on the feet. From there, however, Teixeira was able to drag the encounter to the mat. After briefly threatening with a rear-naked choke, he rolled into back mount, sat up, and poured on the ground and pound until Cirkunov could take no more. The TKO occurred at the 2:45 of the first round. See it unfold below:

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2017

In the first bout of UFC on Fox 26’s Fox Sports 1 prelims, Italy’s Alessio Di Chirico stepped into the Octagon with dangerous puncher Oluwale Bamgbose in an interesting middleweight tilt. Despite a mind-numbingly boring first-round, during which neither fighter really did anything, Di Chirico ultimately found a way to win in truly emphatic fashion, levelling his foe with a brutal knee to the face. The impact of this knee caused Bamgbose to careen, face-first, into the canvas, where he recovered several minutes later. See this insane knockout, which is a late contender for Knockout of the Year, below.

Justin Golightly - December 16, 2017

When Conor McGregor tried to burn Nate Diaz about teaching kid’s jiu jitsu class on the weekends, some people may have not known than he was telling the truth. Despite his economic success, Diaz not only chooses to stay in or around Stockton, but contributes to the 209 community. The people there feel his impact and it results in a fan loyalty that can’t be manufactured. This latest story told by a local fire department is just one of many examples of Nate and Nick Diaz’s fingerprint to the area. “Tough: Strong enough to withstand adverse conditions. Proud: Deeply satisfied due to one’s own qualities or reputation. These are two words that inevitably might come up if you had to describe the City of Stockton, those from the community, or those that protect it. ‘Tough’ & ‘Proud’ are words that are representative of Stockton, and of Stockton Firefighters. They also happen to describe the Diaz Brothers, hometown heroes that have made their mark on the international mixed martial arts world.”

Justin Golightly - December 16, 2017

“I was out of my mind at that moment.” @PlatinumPerry talks making weight and what he was smelled when he sniffed Ponzinibbio during face-off: https://t.co/xqWDn3scOL — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 16, 2017

Justin Golightly - December 16, 2017

Congratulations to the new @TitanFighting featherweight champ! Luis Gomez stops Sodiq Yusuff with a powerful and perfectly-timed arm throw! #TitanFC47 #UFCFIGHTPASS Event Replay ▶️ https://t.co/b0KGr4dlHr pic.twitter.com/T93u3xhOxn

Justin Golightly - December 16, 2017

When Eddie Alvarez knocked out Justin Gaethje with a brutal knee after their UFC 218 war, in his mind, he won the unofficial Most Violent UFC title. It was something that he created due to limbo at lightweight and the nature of the fight he had before him. However, there is a real belt in the division, or at least an interim, held by Tony Ferguson. The interim lightweight champ Ferguson wasn’t impressed, by the fight are the ‘title’ Alvarez boasts about. He took to Twitter to tell Alvarez what he thought and didn’t hold back one bit. …Eddie Alvarez was quick to respond though. I would rip your skinny body apart if I cared to fight you , but I don’t care to fight You soo … Merry Christmas “Champ” 😂😂😂

Justin Golightly - December 16, 2017

The UFC heavyweight division is still populated with monsters. Stipe Miocic, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos —these men are all beasts, but they’re not stars. Brock Lesnar was a star. He rampaged through the division unlike any other. He even was a huge draw after returning from years of being out to earn a win against top-10 heavyweight Mark Hunt. No matter what, the UFC’s door is always going to be open to a guy like that, but would he ever come back? Jim Ross doesn’t think so. “I were advising him – I’m not by the way – I would say, you’re going to leave to do what? Are you going to leave to retire and not do anything but hunt and raise your sons and be a good husband to your wife? I don’t know, are you going to launch another career? Some guys like to do that, sometimes they need new challenges. I read that he might be the son of the, in the Rocky movie, (Apollo) Creed’s opponent that got beat by the Russian guy and he may play that Russian guy’s son. I read that. I had no idea if that was even true, but I don’t know why you’d even want to leave. He’s got a beautiful schedule, he’s making well north of seven figures a year, and he works part-time and he has fun. I don’t know why you would… I would say this, it might answer your question with a question, leave to do what that’s better? Plus, he can still be contracted to WWE and make movies or things like that. I don’t see him getting back into MMA. Now, I might be wrong on that one, but I don’t see that being a fit for him going forward.”