MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2017

After penning a tell-all piece for the publication Players Voice, in which he admitted to many of the symptoms of brain injury, UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt was plucked from a planned bout with Marcin Tybura, and shelved indefinitely by the UFC. The plan, the organization revealed, was to have Hunt undergo extensive testing before allowing him to return to the cage. According to a report from The Daily Telegraph, Hunt’s test results are in, and they’re good. This report, which sites a Tuesday conference call with specialists from the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, claims Hunt has been declared fit to continue competing. Hunt’s manager subsequently confirmed this news.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2017

Though the fight itself is not confirmed just yet, the early odds for UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic’s fight with surging contender Francis Ngannou have been released – and they’re pretty surprising. Though Stipe Miocic has already established himself as one of the most impressive heavyweight champions in UFC history, he has actually opened as the underdog against the streaking Francis Ngannou.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping lost twice in November: first, to Georges St-Pierre, which marked the end of his title reign, then to Kelvin Gastelum, who knocked him out just weeks after his concussive loss to St-Pierre. In the wake of these losses, Bisping’s long-time coach Jason Parillo believes it might be time for Bisping to think about hanging up the gloves, and plans to have a conversation with him to that end.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2017

Now that Georges St-Pierre is the UFC middleweight champion, the big question is, who does he fight next? Though interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker would seem to be the most logical choice, St-Pierre also has options outside the middleweight division, such as UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor. Whatever the case, all the confusion surrounding St-Pierre has got former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold pretty aggravated. In his opinion, St-Pierre needs to make his intentions clear, or get drop the title altogether.

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Last Saturday night, in the co-main event of the action-packed UFC 218, surging French-Cameroonian heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, punching Alistair Overeem’s head into stratosphere with a rocket-fuelled uppercut. With this absolutely destructive victory, the surging heavyweight juggernaut seems to have positioned himself for a fight with dominant UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Miocic, who is reported to have squashed his contract issues with the UFC, was evidently watching Ngannou’s fight with Overeem. And while Ngannou might just be the most fearsome challenger of his title reign thus far, he doesn’t seem too worried about it. At least, that’s the impression one of his recent Twitter posts gave.

Russell Ess - December 4, 2017

Well if there was anything that could trigger a multi-million dollar rematch between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, this could certainly be it. While on vacation in China, the retired and undefeated boxing great took to social media to put a couple people on blast.

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Though it was not a title fight or a number-one-contender bout, it’s arguable that UFC 218’s Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje fight was the most anticipated feature on the bill. Widely viewed as a Fight of the Night, Fight of the Month, even Fight of the Year contender, the matchup had MMA’s blood-addicted fans crazed with excitement from the moment it was announced. Occasionally, fights of the Alvarez-Gaethje variety fail to deliver. Thankfully, this Fight of the Year Contender absolutely lived up to the hype. It delivered in the biggest way possible, as these two deities from the pantheon of carnage and violence pummelled each other into black and blue putty for two and a half frenzied rounds.

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 218, strawweight veteran Angela Magana came up short against rising contender Amanda Bobby Cooper. In the wake of this loss, Magana took to Twitter to trash any “haters” who criticize her, or any of UFC 218’s other defeated fighters. See Magana’s undeniably compelling points below:

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Ever since Georges St-Pierre submitted Michael Bisping to win the UFC middleweight title, we’ve been speculating as to what might come next for him. While a title unifying showdown with Robert Whittaker is certainly the most logical option, his other options include bouts with welterweight champ Tyron Woodley and even lightweight champ Conor McGregor. In the ever-interesting opinion of Chael Sonnen, though, the Canadian champ is likely to land in the cage with Whittaker next. ‘I think that he’ll fight Robert Whitaker,” Sonnen said on the most recent episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I know that it’s done verbally on both sides with no agreement on date, but that was part of the contingency for George to take the Bisping fight. Should you win, you take Whitaker. He said yes. I know things change in this business but I expect George to be a man of his word and I expect him to be at all times and I know Whitaker would take the fight, and Dana White said it’s happening. I think for me to say anything different would be a little bit reckless, but let’s see what happens there.”

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 218, Amanda Cooper picked up a dominant stoppage win over polarizing strawweight star Angela Magana. While Cooper’s win was more than enough to put her heated rivalry with Magana to bed, she still had plenty to say about her at the UFC 218 press conference, evidently still put off my Magana’s history of trash talk and internet bullying. “I don’t think the sport needs her,” Cooper said at the UFC 218 post-fight presser (h/t MMAJunkie.com). “I don’t think the UFC needs her. Maybe she needs it. As soon as I called her out she was on Twitter freaking out. I think she gets something out of it. I don’t mean to be mean, but I think she probably needed that a little bit. I don’t think the sport needs her, but I think she needs it.”

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the absolutely wild UFC 218 card, surging heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, punching Alistair Overeem’s head into outer space, where it is believed to have settled somewhere among the comets and asteroids of the Kuiper Belt. With this absolutely destructive victory, the French-Cameroonian juggernaut seems to have positioned himself for a fight with dominant UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. While Ngannou could easily be the most dangerous challenger of Miocic’s reign thus far, the champ doesn’t seem to be particularly worried. Shortly after Ngannou’s big UFC 218 win, he took to Twitter with a simple, yet clear message: “And Still.” In other words, he expects to leave a prospective battle with Ngannou with the belt still wrapped tightly around his midsection.

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

On the heels of Dana White announcing TJ vs DJ next, TJ Dillashaw is bringing his body weight down over a 20 week period and trying to lose 6.4lbs of muscle to make Flyweight. pic.twitter.com/KT4NSTYXjx — Justin Golightly (@SecretMovesMMA) December 4, 2017

Chris Taylor - December 3, 2017

What’s next for the UFC 218 main card winners? UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway made his first successful title defense at last night’s UFC 218 event in Detroit.

Russell Ess - December 3, 2017

Max Holloway successfully defended his UFC featherweight title against Jose Aldo at UFC 218 on Saturday night. The two met in an immediate rematch with Frankie Edgar having to pull out of the originally scheduled title fight against Holloway due to an injury. Just like their first fight at UFC 212 in June, Holloway finished Aldo in the third round by TKO.

Chris Taylor - December 3, 2017

Last night’s UFC 218 pay-per-view event in Detroit delivered in a big way with some incredible performances and jaw dropping finishes. Arguably the best “fight of the night” came on the cards prelims when welterweights Yancy Medeiros and Alex Oliveira went to absolute war inside the octagon.

Chris Taylor - December 3, 2017

Jose Aldo made a fans night following his UFC 218 title fight loss to Max Holloway. The former featherweight kingpin, Aldo, suffered his second straight TKO loss to Max Holloway in the main event of last night’s UFC 218 fight card in Detroit.

Russell Ess - December 3, 2017

Francis Ngannou delivered one of the most memorable one punch knockouts last night at UFC 218 against the always dangerous Alistair Overeem. Despite sending Overeem to the canvas in a state of unconsciousness, Ngannou was not awarded with a “Performance of the Night” bonus. White announced two “Fight of the Night” bonuses that went to the amazing fights featuring Eddie Alvarez vs. Justin Gaethje and Yancy Medeiros vs. Alex Oliveira.

Tom Taylor - December 3, 2017

Back in June, Hawaii’s Max Holloway captured the UFC featherweight title by stopping MMA legend Jose Aldo with a salvo of third-round punches. Last night, in the main event of UFC 218, the pair ran it back. Just like their first fight, this one was very fun while it lasted, but ultimately went to Holloway, who won with third-round strikes. Now 2-0 against Aldo, Holloway clearly has ample respect for his foe. Post-fight, the champ took to social media to issue some thank-yous. One of the recipients of his thanks was Aldo.