MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2017

Back in early November, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre returned from a lengthy hiatus to capture the UFC middleweight title, hammering then champion Michael Bisping to a third-round submission win. While this stood out as one of the most impressive moments of St-Pierre’s incredible career, it was followed by a stretch of uncertainty, as it was unknown whether the Canadian would defend his title, or perhaps seek out a different opportunity in another division instead.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

T-CITY! BRIAN ORTEGA JUST DID THAT! WOW! #Taps #UFCFresno https://t.co/3XzNcCAvXG — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 10, 2017

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated debut in Fresno, California long-time featherweight contender Cub Swanson stepped into the cage with surging prospect Brian Ortega. Ahead of this bout, which marked the final obligation on his current UFC contract, Swanson repeatedly suggested he planned to test his value as a free agent post-fight. Unfortunately, he lost this contest by second-round submission, which makes his future quite a bit murkier.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

#AndStill and it was lightning quick. @RafaCarvalhoMMA #Bellator190 pic.twitter.com/XweAryvKiq — Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) December 10, 2017

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

Last night, on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated debut in the fight town of Fresno, California, former World Series of Fighting bantamweight king Marlon Moraes stepped into the cage to battle long-time contender Aljamain Sterling. Since joining the UFC roster, Moraes has looked good, but not great, losing a debatable decision to Raphael Assuncao before winning a similarly contentious decision over John Dodson. When he stepped into the cage with Sterling, he nixed any chance of another close decision, as he authored an absolutely hellacious knockout, putting his foe down with a first-round knee.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

Earlier this week, rumors began to surface with respect to UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor‘s next fight. Contrary to widespread expectations that his next bout will occur in the Octagon, these rumors suggest McGregor will once again compete in boxing, where he would take on a bona fide legend in Manny Pacquiao. These rumors began with comments from Pacquiao himself, who claimed that he’s been in preliminary negotiations with McGregor and his team, and that they’re working toward a spring showdown.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s long awaited debut in the fight hub of Fresno, California, surging featherweight contender Brian Ortega stepped into the cage for the biggest test of his career: a battle with the ever-dangerous Cub Swanson. After a competitive first round, Ortega found the win he sought, locking up a standing guillotine as the second round wore down, and forcing the tap in the subsequent seconds.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2017

Last night, on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated debut in Fresno, California, former World Series of Fighting bantamweight champion Marlon Moraes stepped into the cage to battle long-time contender Aljamain Sterling. Since joining the UFC roster, Moraes has looked good, but not great, losing a close decision to Raphael Assuncao before winning a close decision over John Dodson. Last night, that changed, as he authored an absolutely hellacious knockout of Sterling.

Chris Taylor - December 9, 2017

A featherweight tilt between Gabriel Benitez and Jason Knight served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night card in Fresno, California. Gabriel Benitez was able to pull out the unanimous decision victory over Jason a knight at UFC Fresno.

Russell Ess - December 9, 2017

It’s on! The UFC announced late Saturday that UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will meet Francis Ngannou at UFC 220 on January 20 in Boston at the at the TD Garden.

Chris Taylor - December 9, 2017

A key bantamweight scrap between Marlon Moraes and Aljamain Sterling took place at tonight’s UFC Fight Night event in Fresno, California. Round one begins and Moraes lands a devastating knee that sends Sterling crashing to the canvas! This one is all over just seconds in. Wow Marlon Moraes!

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

Once it was announced that Luke Rockhold was fighting Robert Whittaker in Perth for the middleweight title, Kelvin Gastelum took to social media to voice his opinion and declare that he thought he was worthy of the shot. While it’d be easy to see Gastelum sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how that fight played out, it looks like he was offered a big fight with Yoel Romero to headline an early 2018 Brazilian card. According to Romero’s manager, the fight was turned down by Gastelum. It appears that this was the planned main event for #UFCBelem, Brazil on February the 3rd. https://t.co/O7duyUMv5v

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

Joanna Ex-Champion shadow boxing dressed as a Stormtrooper pic.twitter.com/BZLk6EKLBS — Zombie Prophet (@ZPGIFs) December 9, 2017

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

It didn’t take Nostradamus to predict that Kelvin Gastelum wasn’t going to like Luke Rockhold getting the title shot against Robert Whittaker. The next day after Georges St-Pierre announced he was leaving the middleweight division, the title was vacated and the UFC made Rockhold’s fight in Perth with Whittaker for the undisputed belt. Gastelum felt like he deserved it after knocking out Michael Bisping, who just carried the title a month ago, and has been pleading his case over social media ever since. “I knew Luke Rockhold and I were both in the front-running for this fight. I was then told Robert Whittaker wanted the tougher fight and he picked Rockhold. In my opinion that is the easier fight because I feel I’m the toughest fight for anyone in this division. I think Whittaker took the easier fight by going with Luke. He’s absolutely worried about me and for good reason. He and I have trained together in the past and know what the other is all about. We know what the other brings to the table.”

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

Conor McGregor has gone on record saying that he’ll be returning to the fighting game in the Spring of 2018, but we’re not holding our breath. Both Manny Pacquiao and Tony Ferguson both say they are in negotiations to fight the man around April, one to compete in a multi-million dollar boxing match and the other to unify the UFC lightweight titles. Even though those are two big fights, we know the options reach far beyond that. From MMA to multiple boxing bouts, here are the odds of all the potential fights McGregor can choose from via Justin Hartling on Twitter. Betting Odds

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

After Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s fight with Rose Namajunas, the former champion never made excuses. However, she did mention that something personal happened going into the fight but never revealed what it could have been. Yesterday the news finally broke that Jedrzejczyk was dealing with an absolutely brutal cut that she kept under wraps until just now. Fresh on the heels of the news, MMA News Poland dropped a never-before-seen video from Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s 2015 fight with Jesssica Penne that the UFC PR team supposedly wanted to be deleted when it first dropped.  I am looking forward. I know I’ll be back stronger then ever and sooner then you all think☝🏼| Patrzę z optymizmem… https://t.co/HPJppJOvsB pic.twitter.com/HPPEcWhFjR

Justin Golightly - December 9, 2017

Just a couple of days ago, it was made known to the world that Tony Ferguson underwent surgery on his elbow and his return to the Octagon was up in the air. The info was released by his wife on her private Instagram account, but the news quickly proliferated all the outlets asking what this meant for the lightweight division. But fear not, Ferguson took to social media today to give an update on his health. Not only will he be returning sooner than expected but he drops the bomb than when he does come back, it will be against none other than Conor McGregor to unify the UFC lightweight title.

Drake Riggs - December 8, 2017

Starting with the co-main event, Mackenzie Dern controlled the action right away and was implementing a non-stop pressure and aggression that left Medeiros with no space to breathe early on. The size difference was evident and Dern was less wild with her striking than in her previous bouts but her punches were still fairly predictable and wound up when thrown. It didn’t really affect her path to victory though, as Medeiros was unable to effectively create space at any point. She hit several trips on caught kicks to the body and avoided the lethal ground game of Dern for most of the fight…minus the end of round two where Dern had the mount and was dropping bombs. And then the very end of round three where Dern got a mount once more and quickly slapped on an armbar that forced Medeiros to tap. The story of the fight was easily the pressure and aggression from Dern and regardless of whether it was super pretty or not, she got the win over her biggest challenge to date. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the six-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion.