MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

When heavyweight veteran Alistair Overeem stepped into the Octagon with brick-fisted puncher Francis Ngannou at UFC 218, he opted to stand and trade with him, and ultimately paid the price, succumbing to a first-round uppercut. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, 9th-ranked UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes explained that he does not expect Francis Ngannou’s next opponent, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, to make this kind of mistake. Instead, he expects a cautious and surgical approach from the champ. “I was a little surprised [how the fight went],” Curtis Blaydes said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I wasn’t surprised at Ngannou. He did, definitely, what he should have done, [which] was just stand there and chuck [punches at] him, and it worked. I’m surprised that Overeem was so quick to engage in that type of action. Overeem’s a veteran, and him knowing that he doesn’t have the best chin anymore, I was a bit surprised at how eager he was [to trade].”

Justin Golightly - December 14, 2017

It was like magic. Georges St-Pierre left the middleweight division and a tidal wave of movement happened with no one having to fight each other. Luke Rockhold got a middleweight title shot — not an interim bout, but for the undisputed title — against Robert Whittaker and contenders all got bumped up a notch. Not everyone can be happy though, Kelvin Gastelum thought he deserved the shot after knocking out Michael Bisping and made sure everyone knew it. Rockhold shrugged his opinion off and promised if he kept it up, he can get smacked down in good time. “Given how ridiculous things are, I mean, yeah, of course there’s the [thoughts of] are they really gonna take that step [and give Kelvin Gastelum the fight], are they really gonna keep falling further within that realm? But everybody obviously, people came to me and made polls or whatever and I know I was at the top of every list. I know I’ve proven myself, I’ve accomplished things in this sport, whereas little midgets like Kelvin Gastelum haven’t. I’ve destroyed Chris Weidman, which he got destroyed by Weidman, so it’s like ehh. This kid hasn’t beaten really anybody and done anything in this sport, and for him to run his mouth, it’s pretty funny. It’s laughable. He’ll find out for real if he continues his efforts at 185. I’d slap that kid down real quick. Real quick.”

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

Shortly after Jon Jones knocked out Daniel Cormier to re-capture the UFC light heavyweight title, it was announced that he’d tested positive for turinabol in a pre-fight drug test. With this disappointing turn of events, Jones’ knockout win was overturned, and the light heavyweight strap was returned to Cormier. At present, Jones is undergoing his due process, as the facts are weighed and the evidence is considered. Whatever happens, however, many fans, pundits and fellow fighters are now unsure what to make of Jones and his incredible, greatest-of-all-time level success. File fourth-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa into that group.

Justin Golightly - December 14, 2017

Ever since Ben Askren walked away from combat sports, he made no mistake that only a fight with the best in the world could bring him back out of retirement. He threw the offer down on the table for a fight with Georges St-Pierre, but not a lot of people had faith it happened. Then, St-Pierre relinquished the UFC middleweight title and left the division leaving only two options: Retire for good or go back to welterweight. After hearing this news, he doubled down on his offer and even was willing to put some Bitcoin on the line. In his latest interview with Submission Radio, he talked in depth about St-Pierre and how he’s a stylistic nightmare for the former two-division champ. “Wasn’t that what you expected? I expected that [Georges St-Pierre would vacate the UFC middleweight title]. I knew that, I mean, my suspicion was that there’s no way that he’s ever going to fight again at middleweight. This was the one time he would because I think he had a good idea that he was gonna beat Michael Bisping, but there’s no way he wanted to fight Robert Whittaker. He didn’t want that fight. So, I definitely think we’ll never see him in middleweight again. Now, will we see him fight again? I’m not sure. GSP versus Conor [McGregor] is not a super fight. Conor McGregor is 2-1 in his last three fights against someone who is not even very good, so I don’t think Conor deserves a super fight against Georges. I see it pretty simply. Georges doesn’t like tough fights. And when Georges gets in a tough fight, he takes people down repeatedly and he’s very good at it, very good at it. He’s very good at maintaining top position. I’m not gonna go away easily, I will be a tough fight and Georges will not repeatedly take me down. And if he somehow takes me down he absolutely will not keep me down.”

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

On February 3, the UFC will touch down in Belem, Brazil, with what’s sure to be an exciting UFC Fight Night card. While this card already features some interesting bouts, however, it has long been without a main event. Luckily, that seems to have changed, as former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida is reported to be returning in the card’s headliner, where he’s expected to take on middleweight prospect Eryk Anders. This report comes from the ever reliable Nolan King.

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

Surging UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington is not afraid to get into it with his naysayers on Twitter. The latest person to find himself on the receiving end of Covington’s Twitter trash talk is former UFC title challenger and current analyst Kenny Florian. It began when Covington responded to a Tweet from UFC on Fox, during which UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley discussed the title picture.

Drake Riggs - December 13, 2017

According to The Sports Journal’s Farrah Hannoun, season 27 of The Ultimate Fighter may be getting coaches who are just beginning a heated rivalry. So it seems that Tyron Woodley & Colby Covington coaching the next season of #TUF is being discussed as a possibility. Considering that Woodley is about to undergo surgery, it would make perfect sense timeline wise. Colby is the 3rd ranked WW & the back & forth would be fun #UFC

Drake Riggs - December 13, 2017

If you’ve been watching MMA for the last ten years, then you know exactly who Keith Jardine is. One of the Light Heavyweight division’s most recognizable fighters, Jardine has been retired from fighting since 2012 after losing a bout to Roger Gracie in Strikeforce. During his time in one of the most prestigious divisions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s history, Jardine was able to get his biggest wins over the former champions in Chuck Liddell and Forrest Griffin. Jardine dabbled into acting a bit by appearing in movies like Gamer and Crank: High Voltage while he was at the peak of his MMA career, but never gave it as much commitment as he is now. Jardine spoke with MMA Fighting about his newfound career and how different it is from fighting.

Drake Riggs - December 13, 2017

Tyron Woodley has been on the fence for awhile now about whether or not he wanted to get his needed shoulder surgery or if he would continue to postpone it. But after speaking with TMZ earlier today, it sounds like he has made his decision.

Justin Golightly - December 13, 2017

Day 1 of my new journey with @bodyfitmiranda to the UFC and everything in between stay tuned – Alex. @k_bodyfit @shaejlui @bodyfitauburn @sandhub16 @smaifitness @te_huna @the_dog_father89 . . . . #bodyfit #straitfilms #ufc #heavyweightchampion #mma #knockout #ko #journey #5yeargoal #heavyhands #thebeginning A post shared by Alex “The God” Simon (@godlystrong) on Dec 12, 2017 at 12:06am PST

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.”

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.”

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

If things had gone according to plan, UFC 219 would feature one more dynamite light heavyweight scrap than it currently does, as kickboxer Gokhan Saki was expected to battle Khalil Rountree on the card. Unfortunately, this fight was nixed when Saki was forced to withdraw with an injury. Saki elaborated on the injury that forced him out of this anticipated fight in a conversation with Peter Carroll of MMAFighting.com.

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

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

Russell Ess - December 13, 2017

There is no doubt that Conor McGregor has one of the most passionate fans around. “The Notorious” fanatics aren’t just extreme in the world of mixed martial arts or combat sports but are near the very top of the most dedicated fans in the world, according to the Fansided’s 2017 “Fandom 250.” Fansided’s Mike Dyce explained their ranking system as the following: