MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2017

Yesterday morning, UFC heavyweight legend Mark Hunt took to social media with a threatening message directed at his next opponent. He did not, however, specify who that next opponent was. “You have called me out, and now I’m going to give it to you right in that big mouth of yours,” Hunt said in this post, which has since been deleted “I’m going to wrap this gift up nice and tight for you boii so you never compete again at this level. The only good thing I can say about you is you are not a spineless coward mutt like ‘Werbum’. There isn’t anything worse for me than someone who is scared to fight like ‘Werbum.’”

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

Just last week, Georges St-Pierre vacated his freshly won UFC middleweight title, directly promoting Robert Whittaker’s fight with Luke Rockhold in Perth for the undisputed belt. It was the fallout from his UFC 217 health scare that led to his decision. St-Pierre basically tortured himself to move up a division, which culminated in a ulcerative colitis diagnosis. It became so bad, the fight was almost called off. Now John Danaher admits he even though St-Pierre would lose in his impaired state. “Halfway through this camp we knew there was something very seriously wrong. There was a point where we lost a week and a half of training. Even the day of the [Michael Bisping] fight, [Georges St-Pierre] was dealing with serious medical problems. I’m not going to lie to you, two weeks out I had a talk with Firas Zahabi and I said that the St-Pierre I saw train today gets knocked out by Michael Bisping. He did exactly what the plan was designed to do. He finished the fight with a beautiful strike setting up a submission hold. […] And he did it on a man above him in weight class. What made it all the more impressive if he did this with all the health problems he was dealing with.”

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

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

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.

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

Saturday night in Fresno, California, something weird happened. For perhaps one of the first times in UFC history, a fight was paused and a point was deducted for … biting? While trying to take Gabriel Benitez down, it appeared that Jason Knight bite down on Benitez’s fingers. The fighter complained to the referee and he made his decision to take a point away. The only thing the internet was able to provide is a blurry screenshot, but Jason Knight himself admitted that it happened in a recent social media post. Although, he had a good reason. Yea I accidentally bit the dude this weekend, u put your fingers in my mouth I’ll bite them too , a fish hook is not a takedown defense pic.twitter.com/QuuTzjcQXo

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.

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

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 out of action for some time. In the wake of this development, the UFC promoted 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.

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

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

Nicco Montano is the UFC’s newest champion. And aside from a shiny gold title belt, what is the first thing that a new champion earns? If you guessed a target on their back then you would be correct. The biggest question a champion faces when they first become crowned that title is, “can they defend it?”. And for Nicco Montano, she has more than enough hungry challengers in the brand new UFC Flyweight division.