MMA News

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

Eddie Alvarez is now at the top of the lightweight rankings and knocking on the door for another title shot after a Fight of the Night performance against Justin Gaethje. However, there is more than just the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Edson Barboza who stands between Alvarez and either interim or undisputed gold. Lurking in the shadows and pacing for another crack at Alvarez is Dustin Poirier. At UFC 211, Poirier believes he was track for a big victory of his own until an illegal knee by Alvarez ended their fight. It’s something Poirier isn’t going to let go, especially now that the ‘Most Violent’ nickname is on the line. “I don’t like [Eddie Alvarez] personally. I used to be a big fan of him, I still respect his fighting style. He’s a dog, he’s a warrior, he’s down but never out in fights. I believe that truly. But I used to really respect the guy and look up to him. Now he’s a piece of sh-t. The way he’s lied to himself and lied to people and said stuff about me and about the fight. So, I don’t have any respect for the guy. Eddie went in there with a good game plan [in the fight with Justin Gaethje], used good body work and like I said real good in and out movement. Gaethje stands real flat-footed and if move in and out on a guy like that, you can really finesse him.”

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Last weekend, Nicco Montano and Roxanne Modafferi stepped into the Octagon to compete in the first ever UFC women’s flyweight title fight. After five, fun, back and forth rounds, Montano came out on top, making history as the first female flyweight champ in UFC history. Unsurprisingly, long-time women’s bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko, who could well be the next flyweight title challenger, was watching closely. “I was watching the fight,” Shevchenko said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “It was a very good fight, a very entertaining fight. It was five rounds, no talk, not one girl wanted to quit and both girls put all the heart that they had [out there]. My number one goal, like it was before, and it still right now, is to be the champion of UFC, and I’m very glad that now we have one more weight class, 125. It’s my natural weight class, and I feel like fighting in this 125 [division], I will have more opportunity to show more skills, more technique, because it’s different when you have to fight with bigger sized opponent and it’s different when you have to fight with the same sized opponent. It doesn’t matter for me because in 135 I was feeling the same good. I was feeling very strong there and everything was great. But I feel for 125, it’s more natural weight class for me.”

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

The kind of hype train that Francis Ngannou and the UFC has created hasn’t been seen in quite some time. It’s not even just a train anymore, we’ve got hype planes, trains and automobiles here. Whether proven or not, it doesn’t even matter, the only thing that can slow all this momentum now is Stipe Miocic in January. With their fight in almost a month to the day, Ngannou has now been elevated to the very top of the heavyweight heap. Less than 2 years in the UFC!@Francis_Ngannou is now your number one ranked heavyweight! 🇨🇲🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/90uyL74xgH

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Last weekend, Nicco Montano and Roxanne Modafferi stepped into the Octagon to compete in the first ever UFC women’s flyweight title fight. After five, fun, back and forth rounds, Montano came out on top, making history as the first female flyweight champ in UFC history. Now a little under a week removed from this history-making fight, the UFC has released the official, top-15 rankings for it’s new women’s flyweight division. As expected, Montano sits atop these rankings, while the top five is populated by Sijara Eubanks, Lauren Murphy, Roxanne Modafferi, Barb Honchak, and Montana De La Rosa. The rest of these new rankings are populated by a slew of Ultimate Fighter veterans, as well as strawweight veteran Bec Rawlings and her recent foil Jessica Rose Clark.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Last Friday, the UFC crowned it’s first ever women’s flyweight champion in Nicco Montaño, who defeated Roxanne Modafferi to earn the inaugural title. While Montaño now owns the belt, however, many expect her reign to be quite short, as long-time women’s bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko zeroes in on a drop to flyweight, and most likely, an immediate title shot. In fact, many fans seem to consider Shevchenko the uncrowned flyweight queen. Yet while Shevchenko finds these opinions flattering, she is being careful not to let them get to her head. Overconfidence, after all, is a killer in MMA.

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

While some insane fights have happened and are still slated for UFC’s shark tank lightweight division, Tony Ferguson has been hanging back after beating Kevin Lee for the interim lightweight championship. With threats looming in the distance, all of our fingers crossed that we’d see Ferguson back in action soon, maybe against Khabib Nurmagomedov if not Conor McGregor. However, it looks like we’ll have to wait. First reported by Amy Kaplan over at Fansided, Tony Ferguson underwent elbow surgery and a date for his return is delayed indefinitely. “In good spirits even after elbow surgery. Praying for a speedy recovery, baby. We love you daddy.” — Tony Ferguson’s wife, Cristina Ferguson, on her private Instagram account.  

Justin Golightly - December 7, 2017

At the end of the month, one of the biggest women’s MMA fights of all-time will go down at UFC 219. Holly Holm will step into the Octagon to challenge Cris Cyborg for her women’s UFC featherweight title. A huge fight like this with such high stakes hearkens back to when Holm fought Ronda Rousey and finished her to become the women’s bantamweight champion in Australia. That feeling can’t help but conjure up images for Tito Ortiz of the fight that never was — Cris Cyborg versus Ronda Rousey —  and he thinks the fans deserve to have that happen. “I think the fans deserve [the fight between Cris Cyborg and Ronda Rousey]. Cris deserves it, and for sure I think Ronda deserves it after everything she’s said about Cris. If you’re ever gonna’ talk about somebody, at least step in the cage and try to prove yourself. But she’s afraid to do it, I understand. There’s many women who are afraid to fight Cris, and I’d just say the proof is in the pudding of how dangerous Cris truly is. If that fight’s in front of her it shows that UFC are able to once again put a great, huge fight together.”

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Angela Magana, a veteran of MMA’s women’s strawweight division, is well acquainted with her haters. While she’s got a legion of loyal followers, her outspoken attitude assures she receives plenty of backlash too. That said, Magana has never let her haters get to her. Believing that she’s just a bit misunderstood, she chooses instead to dismiss them and keep being herself.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

On January 20, when the UFC touches down in Boston, Massachusetts with UFC 220, Swiss light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir will attempt to topple the division’s champion Daniel Cormier. Ahead of this fight, the two fighters’ advantages are quite clear. Oezdemir, of course, has established himself as one of the light heavyweight division’s most venomous punchers. Cormier, meanwhile, is one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the division – and in MMA, period.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 218, Angela Magana came up short against Amanda Bobby Cooper, succumbing to second-round punches. Unfortunately, Magana feels as though the fight might have been stopped a little early by referee Keith Peterson. “I feel like the fight was stopped early,” Magana explained on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I remember my corner saying 28 seconds, and there were less than 30 seconds. Yes, [Cooper] was bashing the shit out of me, but I was fully with it. I was fully aware of what was going on. As soon as it stopped I was over with the referee just seeing the replay. I put my hands out like what the hell? But that’s his decision. You have to respect his decisions. I felt like if I could have got a third round, and my corner said, ‘whatever you do, don’t go to the ground, stand up [with her].’ I might have pulled something out of somewhere, I don’t know, to be able to win it. Who knows, but it was stopped a bit early. I feel like that’s the thing with women’s MMA. That they always stop us early in comparison to the men.”

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Dana White’s thoughts on Francis Ngannou could not be clearer. When the UFC President talks about the hulking French-Cameroonian heavyweight contender, his eyes might as well light up with dollar signs. In Ngannou, he believes he has found a future superstar. “Once we keep this guy active, and you see him doing this to all the big stars that you know and yeah, I think this guy’s going to be a rock star globally,” White said at the UFC 218 post-fight press conference, just hours after Ngannou punched Alistair Overeem’s head into the outer reaches of the solar system.

Russell Ess - December 6, 2017

According to UFC commentator Joe Rogan, we could be seeing a resurgence of days similar to the likes of when “Iron” Mike Tyson was the most feared man to step into the ring with. Over the weekend at UFC 218, rising heavyweight star Francis Ngannou put together a highlight reel knockout over the always dangerous Alistair Overeem. With the win, Ngannou has earned a shot at the UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and the two are reportedly being targeted to fight at UFC 220 in January.

Drake Riggs - December 6, 2017

The last time we saw Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone he was on the receiving end of a rising star’s best performance. The 34-year-old, Cowboy now looks to slow things down a bit in regards to his fight frequency and plans for a return to his old home of the Lightweight division. But awaiting him may be a very hungry challenger by the name of Mairbek Taisumov, as there have been several reports surrounding the fight as well as claims from Taisumov himself. UPDATE (pertaining to the rumors of Cerrone vs. Taisumov): I'm told that the bout at UFC 221 in Perth HAS been offered to the two fighters by the UFC. Taisumov's camp says he has signed the agreement and they are just waiting on Cowboy. #UFC

Russell Ess - December 6, 2017

The last time we saw a UFC heavyweight title fight was back in May when champion Stipe Miocic successfully defended his belt against Junior dos Santos. In doing so, Miocic scored another first-round finish and avenged a 2014 decision loss to dos Santos. With Francis Ngannou’s insane highlight knockout over Alistair Overeem that took place over the weekend at UFC 218, the rising heavyweight knockout specialist has earned a shot against Miocic.

Justin Golightly - December 6, 2017

Ronda Rousey hasn’t been inside the Octagon for nearly a year now, but she hasn’t been sitting around doing nothing. She got married to UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, is releasing multiple business ventures including her own website, and she’s been all over the WWE Universe. It hasn’t been an accident. Even when she was supporting her best friend Shayna Baszler’s introduction into the professional wrestling promotion, it all felt like it was building towards something. Now, it looks like the deal is done. Two people close to Rousey told USA TODAY Sports that she is finalizing details of her move to WWE. These mystery people can be listed, because they requested to be anonymous since the news hasn’t been announced yet. A @WWE publicou este vídeo no seu site: “Becky, Charlotte and Bayley confront Ronda Rousey and The Four Horsewomen”https://t.co/rppovLgvOS

Jason Kindschy - December 6, 2017

BJPENN Radio is live at 8PM ET/5PM PT! 8:15PM ET- First up, one of MMA’s most recognizable names, Joe “Diesel” Riggs joins us to preview his upcoming fight for the M-1 middleweight strap and what’s next for the long-time veteran. A return to the UFC? Another bare-knuckle boxing match? We’ll be discussing it all.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2017

Francis Ngannou, a French-Cameroonian juggernaut with c-4 packed into each of his gloves, is now the top contender in the UFC heavyweight division. He is expected to take on the promotion’s heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic some time in the near future – perhaps as soon as UFC 220 this January in Boston. Whenever this massive heavyweight title fight occurs, Ngannou’s striking coach Dewey Cooper – a former boxer and kickboxer – assures his student will be ready.

Justin Golightly - December 6, 2017

As quick as he left us, Georges St-Pierre was suddenly back in all of our lives and causing a shockwave that is still reverberating through the UFC. After four years away from the sport, St-Pierre returned in a division above where he reigned supreme for so many years. …And it paid off. He became the UFC middleweight champion, but he went through hell to do it. It was a brutal journey to put on that much mass which ultimately resulted in ulcerative colitis. It seems this was the final nail in the coffin: St-Pierre is leaving the middleweight division. “We’ll have to talk about it, but I’m not sure if I compete, if I will go back at 185-pounds. I don’t think so. Of course in terms of weight, If I want to go back to compete at 185-pounds I will. Obviously eating — I did what I did, I learned from my mistakes — I don’t think it’s a good thing to do. Force myself to eat to gain muscle mass. I’ve always been against performance enhancing drugs and I [moved up to another weight division] the natural way. There is no easy way. I did it the hard way and it was to gain weight and maintain my muscle mass. It was very hard and it was not healthy. I think the body has a natural weight where you can perform and its best athletic ability and for me, the weight I am now is my perfect weight.” — Georges St-Pierre speaking to TSN.