MMA News

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

Remember the time @PlatinumPerry bumped into @darrentill2 on the cold streets of Poland and warned him about getting a “Tetris shot”? These are the animated tales of #TheMMAHour. (Animation by the great @caseharts.) pic.twitter.com/MF4eQm2lus — Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) December 12, 2017

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2017

Shortly after winning the UFC middleweight title with an exciting, third-round submission of Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre vacated that title, citing ongoing health concerns that will likely keep him on the sidelines for the foreseeable future. Shortly after this development, the UFC elevated its interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to undisputed champion. Whittaker’s first defense as undisputed middleweight champion is now set, as he’s scheduled to take on former champion Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 221, which goes down this February 11 in Perth, Western Australia.

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

As Volkan Oezdemir prepares for his title shot against Daniel Cormier, Alexander Gustafsson has just had a successful surgery and has returned to training. When he comes back, he wants another chance at UFC light heavyweight gold against whoever wins, but there is one thing he wants even more. Back at UFC 165, Gustafsson put on a Fight of the Night performance against Jon Jones, putting the GOAT candidate in more danger than he’s ever faced in his career. Regardless of what Jones was on or wasn’t on, Gustafsson wants to run it back again with Jones to find out who is better once and for all. “…A fight is a fight, right?” – Gustafsson after Helwani asked if he still wants to fight Jon Jones even if he’s (allegedly) on PEDs. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/UmA4jfYLzX

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

It’s hard to believe it happened only two years ago. One night, Jose Aldo is an absolute monster who reigned supreme for a decade, carrying over the WEC featherweight title into the UFC and never losing it. The next night, Aldo’s title is gone and Conor McGregor is a new undisputed UFC champion. Somehow, he did it all in only “turteen” seconds. There has only been 24 months since McGregor beat Aldo, which doesn’t seem like a whole lot, but a lot has happened. While critics will be quick to point out he hasn’t defended a title, he sure has been busy doing a lot of other stuff. No one could beat Jose Aldo for 10 years. Conor McGregor did it in 13 seconds.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2017

Last weekend, on the main card of the UFC’s action-packed stop in Fresno, California, former World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes stepped into the Octagon with long-time UFC bantamweight contender Aljamain Sterling. In this fight, Moraes came out in the biggest way possible, flatlining his opponent with a switch-kick-turned-knee early in the first round. While this win stands out as one of the most impressive – if not the most impressive – of Marlon Moraes career thus far, it’s clear that it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies for him. The win itself was so violent that he was clearly worried for Sterling’s wellbeing in the moments after the finish.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2017

The fighting future of UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is currently shrouded in mystery. There is a chance, of course, that he’ll return to MMA, where is career began, where fights with interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, lightweight contender Nate Diaz, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre could await. He might also return to the boxing ring, where he recently battled Floyd Mayweather Jr., for potential bouts with Manny Pacquiao, Paulie Malignaggi and even Oscar De La Hoya. And finally, there’s a chance he simply never fights again, content to live off the millions he’s already earned. Indeed, we’re all wondering what the future holds for Conor McGregor, but in the opinion of top lightweight contender Edson Barboza, who battles Khabib Nurmagomedov in a possible title eliminator at UFC 219 this December 30, it really doesn’t matter. In his opinion, interim champion Tony Ferguson is now the true champion, and Conor McGregor is simply an afterthought.

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

Now that Max Holloway has cemented his reign as the new featherweight king, ushering in the Blessed Era, he focuses his eyes on a new accomplishment. Holloway’s mission statement now as UFC champion is to continue as an even stronger ambassador to his homeland and to finally bring UFC to Hawaii. It looks like his efforts have been noticed by all parties involved. The UFC contacted the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) to begin negotiations on a fight card. No word on how successful the talks were yet, but word is the HTA were hesitant about the idea. This prompted Holloway to take to social media. “The Hawaii Tourism Authority is concerned UFC Hawaii might attract problems outside the Octagon. Fair play to them. They’re trying to protect our home. But let’s let them know MMA is about respect and Hawaii fans will make sure of that. Fights stay in octagon. Fighters and fans from out of town, we’re gonna’ welcome you with open arms. We’re gonna cheer against each other, but when it’s over we’re gonna’ show you around and share our cultures. Just like Brazil did w us. Let’s tell the HTA mahalo and let them know what UFC Hawaii means to us.” — Max Holloway via his Twitter. 

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2017

Back in July, in the main event of UFC 214, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier sought to defend his title opposite his fiercest rival, Jon Jones. Despite a strong start, Cormier was ultimately turned off by a Jones head kick, which signalled the end of his title reign – but only for a moment. Shortly after UFC 214, we learned that Jones had failed a pre-fight drug test. In the wake of this development, Jones’ knockout win was rendered a no contest, and the title was returned to Cormier.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2017

Having been cleared to fight again by doctors, and given the ‘OK’ by the UFC, long-time heavyweight contender Mark Hunt is now getting ready for his next challenge. While the opponent for his next bout is not yet known, he has a threatening message for one nameless heavyweight who has apparently called him out. He’s also got plenty to say about former champion Fabricio Werdum, who apparently turned down a fight with him. U have called me out and now I’m going to give it to u right in that big mouth of yours I’m going to wrap this gift 🎁 up nice and tight for u boiii so u never compete again at this level the only good thing I can say about u is u are not a spineless coward mutt like werbum there isn’t anything worst for me than someone who is scared to fight like werbum #standupinthegameormovethefuckasidebitch #FUKMEDED #someonesgettingrolled 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👀👀👀👀👀👀

Russell Ess - December 11, 2017

Go look at her ig watch her story posts she just running a money scam. Really really sad and disgusting. Tagging celebrities trying to get them to donate to her go fund me account smfh. @kimberlyjones_38 @danawhite @gracegracieworld @snoopdogg @plies A post shared by Joe Schilling 🦍 (@joe_schilling) on Dec 11, 2017 at 7:12am PST

Drake Riggs - December 11, 2017

Prior to the Max Holloway vs Jose Aldo rematch at UFC 218, it was supposed to be Frankie Edgar stepping into his ninth UFC title fight(his fifth as a challenger and third at Featherweight). Edgar is one of the greatest fighters to ever compete and a legend of the lighter weight classes. Prior to Brian Ortega’s huge win over Cub Swanson last Saturday, Max Holloway had fought and beaten everyone in the UFC’s Featherweight top 5 that wasn’t named Frankie Edgar. Therefore, it makes sense that Edgar would still want the fight that he was expected to get in the first place as he told Ariel Helwani on today’s MMA Hour.

Drake Riggs - December 11, 2017

Michael “Mayday” McDonald was at a time one of the UFC’s brightest young stars. At 135 lbs, his power and speed seemed unmatched for almost everyone he fought. McDonald went on an impressive eight-fight winning that consisted of six finishes(five KO/TKOs and one submission) before earning his first and only UFC title shot against the then interim champion, Renan Barao. McDonald would alternate wins and losses following his loss to Barao before asking for and receiving his release from the UFC. Still just the young age of twenty-six years old, McDonald is seeming much happier with his new Bellator deal than he was with his UFC deal. He spoke to MMA Fighting recently and didn’t hold back when discussing the difference in their contracts.

Drake Riggs - December 11, 2017

It seems that former Bellator and UFC Lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez is in no rush to get back to the title. Primarily because he knows it will take awhile for things to get back into motion atop the always stacked 155 lb division. Top contender @EAlvarezFight is in no hurry to fight the UFC lightweight title, believes the UFC belt has lost its value. Watch #TheMMAHour LIVE: https://t.co/LhsTRQ4VCo pic.twitter.com/6Ldjcadto1

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2017

This Saturday, the UFC will return to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with UFC on Fox 26. This event’s stacked main card will air on Fox. In the main event, former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler will take on former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in a bout that could well produce the next challenger for reigning welterweight champ Tyron Woodley. Elsewhere on the main card, long-time UFC featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas will take on Team Alpha Male prospect Josh Emmett, who steps in on short notice to replace Jose Aldo. The other two features of the four-fight main card, finally, are a welterweight contender bout between knockout artists Santiago Ponzinibbio and Mike Perry, and a light heavyweight showdown between top-10 fighters Glover Teixeira and Misha Cirkunov.

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2017

The latest Conor McGregor buzz surrounds a possible boxing match with legendary pugilist Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao himself is responsible for these swirling rumors, having recently divulged that his team had begun preliminary negotiations with the McGregor side.

Russell Ess - December 11, 2017

UFC President Dana White and longtime boxing promoter Bob Arum are not very fond of one another. When asked about each other by the media, it’s likely that they will both come out with some scathing remarks directed at one another. The tune has not changed as Arum spoke with the media after the Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux card in New York. Arum was asked about White’s plans of getting into boxing promotions and the Top Rank CEO fired away with another boxing vs. MMA fueled response.

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2017

Last Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Fresno, California, surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega picked up the biggest win of his career, tapping long-time contender Cub Swanson in the second round. With this win, Ortega immediately stands out as one of the top contenders in the featherweight division – perhaps even the next man in line for the champ Max Holloway. Post-fight, UFC President Dana White sang Ortega’s praises, hailing him as the next big thing at featherweight.

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2017

Over the weekend, footage of a young bullying victim named Keaton Jones went viral. In this gut-wrenching video, the teary-eyed boy recounted his many struggles with bullying, which included everything from insults to being doused with milk and food in the cafeteria of his school.