MMA News

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

Things at lightweight are as convoluted as a Christopher Nolan movie plot. Tony Ferguson is the interim champion, who is waiting for Conor McGregor while he’s off surveying all of his nearly infinite options. Meanwhile, Eddie Alvarez just finished Justin Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov is just a couple of weeks away from fighting Edson Barboza to potentially determine the #1 contender. That leaves Dustin Poirier just below this logjam, potentially a single win away himself of being in title contention. Which is why he’s pushing the UFC to strip McGregor to release the floodgates as much as he wants to fight Alvarez again. “The thing is, the UFC’s pretending with Conor [McGregor], but you have a list of top 10 fighters who aren’t pretending or messing around. This is their lives and their goals and their family’s future, a lot of stuff on the line here. So no pretending — let’s strip the belt from the guy or make him fight. We have to [strip him] and then other fights make sense. Tony [Ferguson] gets the belt, his belt becomes the real belt and then he fights the winner out of these next few fights we have coming at the beginning of the year. We’ve got to clear it up. I’m going to be the world champion next year.” — Dustin Poirier speaking to MMAWeekly.

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. All finishes. Everyone Francis Ngannou has tested his record-breaking power on has not been able to take it. The latest victory over former K-1 grand prix champion Alistair Overeem, earned the surging contender the biggest fight of his career. At UFC 220 in Boston early next year, he will fight Stipe Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title. The full-time firefighter isn’t phases though. He spoke to Joe Rogan today about the match-up and claims no one — not even Ngannou — will take the belt from him. “I think [Francis Ngannou]’s a great fighter, you know? Definitely. He brings it. He hits hard. Unfortunately, nothing’s going to change. I’m walking out with the belt still wrapped around my waist. I’m excited for him. You know, he’s getting a shot, but as long as I’m here no one’s going to be the champ. His power I guess, [stands out] but I think everyone hits hard in the heavyweight division. A 260-pound man, 250-pound man — you’re not supposed to be hit by something like that. I fought [Junior dos Santos]. I fought Roy Nelson. I fought Mark Hunt. I mean, I fought guys who threw hard. He’s a little wild, too. That’s tough. Sometimes you can’t prepare for that because there are punches you don’t see.”

Jason Kindschy - December 13, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT! 8:15PM ET- Kicking things off tonight is heavyweight prospect Curtis “Razor” Blaydes. While it was just announced that Curtis is set to face Mark Hunt at UFC 221, we caught up with the Team Elevation product before the bout was made. Nevertheless, we spoke with Blaydes about his evolution as a martial artist, the opponents he was hoping for at the time, and what he thinks of the current title picture.

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

After back-to-back losses at lightweight and losing his UFC title, Rafael dos Anjos abandoned the division and decided to move up to welterweight. It was something he was thinking about even before his victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The experiment has been successful so far. He’s earned wins over Tarec Saffiedine and Neil Magny in a Performance of the Night. He recently opened up about his rejuvenation and upcoming bout with Robbie Lawler and is hyped up for a good old school battle between two gamers. “I can live. I can eat normal. I don’t have to have that feeling after having my meal of still being hungry. Now, if I feel hungry I can eat again if I want. […] Before, 70 to 80 percent of my camp was focused on losing weight and being stressed out about making weight. Now, I still have to cut some weight, but it’s way easier. I can have a normal life, I can enjoy my life and my training and put a hundred percent of the work into my technique and training and not just losing weight and being stressed out. It’s been a very good moment for me. I’ve been around for so long, but I’ve never been as happy as I am now.”

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

What Volkan Oezdemir has done in a single year is pretty remarkable. It’s hard to believe he just debuted with the UFC back in February. Since then, he’s stacked together three straight wins, two knockouts, and earned a light heavyweight title shot against Daniel Cormier in January for UFC 220. If there is one person who knows about accomplishments, it’s Conor McGregor. Just take a look at what he’s done since his Jose Aldo fight. Oezdemir gave the UFC’s only Champ Champ some praise and asked him if he could pick his brain in the gym, to which McGregor obliged. “Hey Conor [McGregor], how are you? This is Volkan [Oezdemir]. I hope everything is well wiith you. First of all, I wanted to congratulate you on everything you’ve accomplished so far. It is amazing. Nobody has ever done that before. They told me to ask you a few questions, but I have only one request. What do you think if next time I go to Switzerland, I stop by Dublin so we can share the mat together [and] share some knowledge about fighting, because I love your philosophy of fighting.” — Volkan Oezdemir speaking to Takedown by Gentside.

Russell Ess - December 13, 2017

UFC veteran @DiegoSanchezUFC explains how he began training "The Shermanator" Isaac Marquez and helping him achieve his dream of becoming a fighter ❤️❤️❤️ #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/7PUAKRGsvS — MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) December 11, 2017

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

Forrest Griffin is one of the most beloved fighters in UFC history. As such, the all-heart former UFC light heavyweight champion receives plenty of fan mail – even years after his retirement from competition. That said, not all of the mail Griffin receives is… positive.

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

Eddie Alvarez knows that the title picture at lightweight is all jumbled up so he just invented his own belt. It’s not gold, you don’t wear it, but it already has a challenger. Alvarez declared that he took the UFC Most Violent title away from Justin Gaethje at UFC 218, a title that Dustin Poirier wants to pry out of his hands. He’s wanted a rematch with Alvarez ever since their fight ended with an illegal strike and has been rallying for it ever since. He’s done everything he can to get Alvarez to take the fight, now he’s even offered his former opponent a Christmas present. Took my time today and wrapped your Christmas presents nice @Ealvarezfight pic.twitter.com/rneFy3fCpC

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

Cain Velasquez is one of the greatest heavyweights ever to compete in mixed martial arts. As a two-time former UFC heavyweight champion, and a fighter who has mauled top-flight opponents like Junior dos Santos (twice), Brock Lesnar, Ben Rothwell, Travis Browne, Cheick Kongo, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (twice), and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, there is simply no denying his status as one of the best heavyweights to ever do it. Unfortunately, Velasquez might also go down by one of the great what-ifs in MMA history, as an irrefutable top talent whose heyday was riddled with career-joggling injuries. Yes, as great as he is, it’s possible he’s already spent his best years on the on the sidelines. At least, that’s what his chief training partner Daniel Cormier seems to be worrying.

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

UFC Winnipeg is coming in hot this weekend giving us more violence between Robbie Lawler and former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Those aren’t the only welterweights promising destruction on the card. Mike Perry is looking to continue trying to punch his hype into the stratosphere by taking out Santiago Ponzinibbio. Breaking the fight down in a recent interview, Perry references surging heavyweight Francis Ngannou when forecasting what we can expect in their clash on Saturday. “[Santiago Ponzinibbio] comes forward and he comes to fight so I’m going to throw hands. I’m quite experienced in that area and I’m used to opponents that like to kick and wrestle a lot so this changes it up a little. Styles make fights. He’s coming to throw hands and I got a lot of tools for that. I’m probably going to knock him the f-ck out in the first round. I just had a dream that I was f-cking this guy up for two rounds and I was about to choke him out at the end of the second. I let go of the choke and I just started hitting him and hitting him and he protected himself and I was like, you know, maybe I didn’t want to submit him and I wanted to get that knockout. Who knows man. I’m a smart motherf-cker and I’ll take that win any way that it comes to me.”

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

Everybody knows Robbie Lawler likes to stand and bang. The blood-crazed former UFC welterweight champion is beloved for his action-packed stand-up battles, and his fight-ending knockout power. A recent stat unearthed by MMAFighting’s Mike Chiappetta, however, shows just how addicted Lawler is to the stand-up side of mixed martial arts.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

Though it’s still an undeniably strong card, UFC 219 has not had an easy go. Ever since it was announced, the December 30 card has been rocked, rattled and reassembled by injuries and other issues, and this week, the trend is continuing. According to Ariel Helwani, the card is now down one welterweight contender clash, as the 12th-ranked Kamaru Usman’s scrap with Emil Meek is being rescheduled for UFC 220, which goes down January 20 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Drake Riggs - December 12, 2017

Augusto Mendes is a 6-2 UFC Bantamweight fighter. Just this past Saturday, he competed in the ACB Jiu-Jitsu no-gi 60kg Grand Prix where he won the tournament by defeating the likes of Milton Bastos under twenty seconds, Jao Miyao and lastly, Samir Chantre with a fifth-round guillotine. https://youtu.be/HA_2CSFSHDw

Drake Riggs - December 12, 2017

Joseph Benavidez is one of if not the most underrated fighter of all time in MMA. He’s beaten every single fighter put in front of him that hasn’t been named Dominick Cruz or Demetrious Johnson. Who also happen to be pretty darn good fighters themselves. Benavidez was one of the WEC’s original stars and a staple in Team Alpha Male. Despite not losing any fights this year, or even fighting at all, it was still the former two-time UFC title challenger’s toughest of his eleven-year career. Benavidez is currently riding an impressive six-fight win streak with his last win coming over Henry Cejudo last December. June 11 was the date of UFC Fight Night 110 in Auckland, New Zealand. Trying to battle his way back to another title shot against Flyweight king, Demetrious Johnson,  and Benavidez was scheduled to take on Ben Nguyen until he suffered the first major injury of his career when he tore his ACL in training. He spoke to MMA Junkie recently and spoke about what the year has been like for him.

Drake Riggs - December 12, 2017

Initially reported as in the works by Luciano Andrade of Combate, the rumored bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Priscila Cachoeira is on as confirmed by the UFC.

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

He did it. Francis Ngannou held all of his hype on his shoulders and knocked out Alistair Overeem. Still, the people say what’s next? Stipe Miocic is what is next. Ngannou is one of the quickest catapults to the #1 contender in UFC history, allowing him to challenge Miocic for the UFC heavyweight title. Meanwhile, Fabricio Werdum looms just around the corner. He predicts that the rising heavyweight will indeed capture the title, only to lose it to him in his next fight. “[Francis] Ngannou has a lot of power, but I don’t think he’s very technical. However, I still believe he’ll surprise [Stipe] Miocic and knock him out. They both enjoy trading shots, so if Miocic doesn’t have the right strategy, that big black guy will knock him out. Ngannou is very confident and that can make a difference, if he really connects, you’re going down, as we saw with [Alistair] Overeem. I can already see myself submitting [Ngannou], though, and becoming champion again. That’s my goal, to have a third belt on my wall and I really do believe it’ll happen. I’m sure I’m next. I’ll be waiting for him in April or so.”

Russell Ess - December 12, 2017

Now that UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt has been medically cleared to fight in the Octagon again, all he needs is an opponent. Speaking with Sporting News, “The Super Samoan” is still looking to get a rematch with former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum after losing by TKO at their UFC 180 match in 2014.

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