MMA News

Justin Golightly - December 2, 2017

It’s UFC 217 all over again with tonight’s UFC 218. The card is stacked from top to bottom and all the fighters are going to be fighting for the spotlight. Not to be left in the dark underneath the ridiculous main and co-main events, Henry Cejudo will fight Sergio Pettis in what is sure to be a lightning blitz of a battle. Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has said himself the the scrap between (#2) Cejudo and (#4) Pettis is for the number one contender spot. However, what if the superfight with TJ Dillashaw goes down? No problem, says Pettis. He’s actually willing to step aside and wait until Johnson finishes his business. “I’m 24 years old, I’m getting better and better, and if they want me to fight again before a title, I’m good with that. I’m building my resume, getting some money on top of it and getting some experience. TJ [Dillashaw] vs. [Demetrious Johnson], that’s an interesting fight, even for me. I’m a fan of the sport. It’s entertainment and it makes sense. It’s part of the business. I have no hatred towards that. I understand it. If they want me to build my resume and get to that DJ shot, I will. If I have a great performance against Henry Cejudo, maybe I can get there.”

Justin Golightly - December 2, 2017

The fight between Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez is violence personified. They have even gone as far as to say that the UFC’s “Most Violent” title is on the line. It’s the undefeated, former WSOF lightweight champion fighting the former UFC lightweight champion and last MMA fighter to throw down with Conor McGregor. It’s an absolute feast of chaos for the fans, but it’s also a real fighter’s fight. Who better to break down the crazy scrap than other UFC fighters who seem just as giddy for the match-up as we are courtesy of James Lynch from Fightful.com? “Aw, Justin Gaethje for sure man. That guy is the human highlight reel. He’s fun to watch. I used to wrestle with him in the Pack 10 when he was in Northern Colorado and I was at Oregon State, so I saw him a lot. He’s always been flashy and unorthodox. So, I think Justin Gaethje gets the job done [against Eddie Alvarez] dramatically there.” — Colby Covington.

Justin Golightly - December 2, 2017

Conor McGregor is no stranger to breaking records. He holds way more than a handful in the UFC, including the biggest gate, largest purse and being the first simultaneous two-division champion just to name a few. It looks like those records just keep on coming, but in the current climate of the UFC, this one should mean a lot. According to the USADA data compiled by Dimspace on Twitter, McGregor is the most tested athlete in combat sports and it’s not that close. McGregor has been tested by USADA a total of 36 times.

Justin Golightly - December 2, 2017

At UFC 217. Georges St-Pierre swooped back into the UFC and did the unthinkable. Moving up in weight in his first fight in four years, he fought Michael Bisping and choked him out to become the UFC middleweight champion. Other than Dana White and St-Pierre repeatedly saying that he is “contractually obligated” to defend against Robert Whittaker next, his future has been up in the air and there have been rumblings about a move back to welterweight. However, it looks like St-Pierre won’t be fighting in any of those divisions anytime soon. Dana White announced that he has ulcerative colitis. Dana White says UFC middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre is going to be “out for a minute,” as he’s dealing with colitis. That sounds unpleasant. https://t.co/w1umXJ9DX7

Chris Taylor - December 1, 2017

TUF 26 women’s flyweight finalists Roxanne Modafferi and Nicco Montaño squared off for the promotions flyweight title tonight in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Modafferi starts off quickly. Montano greets her with a jab followed by a leg kick. Roxanne charges in a with a combination. Montano fires off a left hand. She presses Modafferi against the cage. Roxanne escapes. Both women connect with hard low kicks. Montano lands a lead left. She just misses with a head kick. Roxanne steps in with a kick to the body. Nicco circles and then lands a low kick. Another good body kick from Roxy. She clinches up with Nicco and looks to score a trip takedown. Montano avoids the trip and circles off the fence. Montano goes upstairs with a head kick but it is blocked. She shoots in and scores a takedown. Roxanne immediately locks up an arm and rolls for an amrbar. Nicco is able to avoid the submission attempt. She lands a couple of hammer fists before Modafferi once again ties her up. One minute remains in the opening round. Nicco stands up and allows Roxy to do the same. Modafferi immediately shoots in and scores a takedown. She quickly moves to side control. Nicco scrambles and gets to half guard. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - December 1, 2017

A bantamweight scrap between Sean O’Malley and Terrion Ware served as the co-main event of tonight’s TUF 26 Finale in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Ware fires off a leg kick. O’Malley returns fire with a side kick to the body. Sean steps in to the pocket and throws another kick. He lands another and then circles off of the fence. Ware is pressing forward but Sean is keeping him at bay with kicks. Terrion goes to the body with a right hand. He presses Sean against the cage and works a knee. O’Malley shakes free and moves back towards the center of the octagon. Ware chases after him and lands a right. O’Malley returns fire with one of his own followed by a question mark kick. Sean with a nice left jab. He follows that up with a right hand over the top. Ware is trying to close the distance but Sean clips him with another left jab. Ware misses with a combination. He backs Sean on against the cage. O’Malley lands a foot sweep but does not follow Ware to the ground. Terrion is back up and fires off a left hook. Sean leaps in with a left hand. He counters Ware with a right hand. Terrion closes the distance and lands a right. Both men trade punches. The horn sounds to end round one.

Adam Conklin - December 1, 2017

  The first ever UFC women’s flyweight champion will be crowned in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale. The first of two fight cards in as many days, the TUF 26 finale features the majority of the season’s cast including a Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contenders Series winner.

Adam Conklin - December 1, 2017

On the eve of UFC 218, the fighters make their final preparations in the hopes of finishing out a busy year for MMA on a high note. The featherweight title fight is on the line in the main event as Jose Aldo steps in for an injured Frankie Edgar to take on reigning champion, Max Holloway, who took the belt from Aldo earlier this year.

Adam Conklin - December 1, 2017

  Fighter pay has been a hot-button issue for some time. The UFC has claimed that the financial environment that they have cultivated for fighters far surpasses anything else in the MMA world while fighters often seem to feel as though they are paid far less than they deserve, given the nature of their profession.

Russell Ess - December 1, 2017

Steve Bunce is a longtime boxing pundit that has appeared on numerous broadcasts on television and radio and has also written quite a bit about the sport of boxing. Speaking recently in an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, Bunce took a strong position on one of the biggest fights in combat sports history between UFC champion Conor McGregor and undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather. Bunce went against what many boxing analyst’s said of the fight, which claim Mayweather simply let McGregor win the first few rounds.

Justin Golightly - December 1, 2017

One by one he took them out. Every single one of them. No matter who the UFC threw at Max Holloway, he dispatched them. He stacked up a 10-fight win streak, seven of them being either by submission or TKO/KO. Topping it all off by finishing the former featherweight king Jose Aldo. After ushering in the ‘Blessed Era’, Holloway struts into fight week ahead of his rematch with Aldo glistening in a jacket that looks like it was made from his UFC title. The symbolism surely isn’t lost on the Hawaiian fighter, who knows full well what this means for his legacy. “I’ve got bigger things. Bigger fish to fry. It is what it is. I’m just enjoying the moment, enjoying the ride. I get to prove. I get to set a legacy. You want to cement your legacy and I get to do it like Drake said, back to back and December 2nd is where it starts. I’m bringing some Hawaii love. Right here, this is Detroit. My shoes — Big Sean made these shoes — they’re called Hawaii because he always visited Hawaii. So, that’s my little love to Detroit and I’m bringing lava Saturday night.”

Russell Ess - December 1, 2017

UFC 218 is set to take place tomorrow night as Hawaiian Max Holloway will look to defend his UFC featherweight title against former champion Jose Aldo in an immediate rematch. The two are scheduled for a five-round title fight in the main event of the evening, which takes place at the Little Caeser’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan. On Friday morning, fighters took to the scales for the official weigh-ins. All fighters from the UFC 218 card made weight and interestingly, both of the main event title fighters needed to disrobe and have the towel held up for them to make the official title fight weight of 145 pounds.

Justin Golightly - December 1, 2017

UFC 219 feels like a cursed card. The main event was constantly up in the air, a fight between Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm was in limbo, Dominick Cruz pulled out with an injury, and Kamaru Usman is basically the hardest person to find a fight for on the roster. Finally, Emil Meek was made official as the opponent for the surging welterweight contender, but eventually even that match-up looked to be off due to Meek’s United States visa trouble. He told us that he intends on showing up at UFC 219, and it looks like he kept his word. Emil Meek has just received the visa that will allow him to fight. Great news for @emilvalhalla: he has officially received his US visa. Meek tells me he is awaiting word from the UFC as to whether his 219 fight versus @USMAN84kg is still on. Hoping to get that today. pic.twitter.com/ODlUmcYRH7

Justin Golightly - December 1, 2017

Back in September at UFC 215, former flyweight title challenger Henry Cejudo returned with a vengeance and took it all out on Wilson Reis. He knocked the contender out in the second round to earn Performance of the Night. Not only did he bounce back from recent losses, he looked like he improved drastically and added tons of new tools to his game. The champion Demetrious Johnson said himself that Cejudo’s fight with Sergio Pettis at UFC 218 determines who the No. 1 contender will be, but TJ Dillashaw is pushing a move to flyweight for an immediate title shot. A fight that Cejudo thinks “Mighty Mouse” Johnson wins. “Hopefully, the winner of this fight [with Sergio Pettis at UFC 218] fights for the belt. I want to fight for the belt. Demetrious [Johnson]. If anything — I don’t know, I don’t mind mind the idea — I can welcome TJ Dillashaw to the flyweight division. You know, I’m not afraid. Cutting down 10 extra pounds to this weight class? It gonna’ be a big difference. I’m a big 125-er and I know what it’s like cut 10-pounds. An extra 10-pounds on top of that. And personally, I think DJ would easily get the win [against TJ Dillashaw].”

Justin Golightly - December 1, 2017

Just a couple of months ago, Jessica Andrade stood across the Octagon from Claudia Gadelha and those two went to war. There was blood, pro-wrestling slams, and epic showings of heart from both fighters. Andrade not only won the decision against the top contender, but earned Fight of the Night honors. Fresh off that incredible performance against Claudia Gadelha, Jessica Andrade has her next fight lined up. As reported by Combate.com, Andrade is slated to fight Karolina Kowalkiewicz on February 24th at UFC Orlando. Jessica Andrade (@jessicammapro) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (@KarolinaMMA) added to #UFConFox28 in Orlando, Florida (February 24th) via @raphamarinho #UFC #WMMA #MMA #UFCOrlando pic.twitter.com/A7tuz0CwMt

Justin Golightly - December 1, 2017

Tonight we have The Ultimate Fighter 26 finale, but tomorrow is UFC 218 which is stacked with ridiculous fights. Sandwiched between the main event between Max Holloway and Jose Aldo and the violent scrap of Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez, will be an slobberknocker between Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou. It will be a battle between a calculated veteran and a young, explosive contender. Absolute MMA legend Bas Rutten does an in-depth breakdown the heavyweight match-up. “We know [Francis Ngannou] can hit, but if you look at his record, yes, he’s 10-0, he’s never been finished, but in the UFC – and I’m not taking away from anybody, everybody in the UFC is good, but if you look at the records that they have, the guys he’s fighting, these are not guys that [Alistair] Overeem fought. Overeem fought literally the top guys on the planet in kickboxing and in mixed martial arts, so he fought the better competition. And that’s the only thing I’m concerned about. Trust me, Ngannou, when he connects, it could be over because we know that Overeem doesn’t have the strongest chin for heavyweight, and he’s got an incredible punching power. […] If Overeem goes back to the way he was fighting when he did really well, and that is keeping in mind that his chin is not the strongest and that means single shots, not single kicks, single shots, you have one hand at the defense at all times, then I think he might win this fight. But the killer is here, does he get hit? He only needs to get hit once against a guy like Ngannou because he’s got so much power.”

Adam Conklin - November 30, 2017

Russell Ess - November 30, 2017

Conor McGregor’s name has been buzzing in media headlines this week even without any plans of fighting again in 2017. Early this week, rumors spread on social media that “The Notorious” was involved in a bar fight in Crumlin, Ireland with at least one man linked to the Kinahan drug cartel.