MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2017

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor – inarguably the biggest star MMA has ever produced – has recently been getting into all kinds of trouble outside the cage. One day, he’s getting physical with a referee. The next, it seems he’s punching an associate of the Irish cartel. Needless to say, the Irish star seems to be going off the rails a bit, and it has all cast a shadow over his fighting future.

Tom Taylor - November 29, 2017

Earlier this month, we learned that UFC light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir had been arrested ad charged with “aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability.”After a brief stay in the Broward County jail in Florida, his surety bond was set at $10,000.  According to a report from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which includes video of Oezdemir’s court appearance, the light heavyweight contender’s arrest stems from an August 12 fight with a man named Kevin Cohen, which occurred at a yet-unidentified bar in Fort Lauderdale. During Oezdemir’s hearing, it was explained that Cohen sustained swelling and several cuts as a result of this altercation. 

Russell Ess - November 28, 2017

According to Dana White, there were plans for Conor McGregor to fight on the last pay-per-view card of the year at UFC 219. However, McGregor’s incident in the Bellator cage that brought a lot of attention to the UFC’s main competitor had him nixed from the event for shoving the referee and slapping a Bellator staff member. Now, rumors are swirling around that “The Notorious” punched a man in a bar in Crumlin, Ireland. Reports have been circulating in Irish media that the man McGregor hit has ties to the mob in Ireland.

Adam Conklin - November 28, 2017

Adam Conklin - November 28, 2017

  One of the more surprising announcement made by the UFC in 2017 was that of the signing of kickboxing champion Gökhan Saki to their light heavyweight division. The news broke this past May and his debut was surrounded by speculation, especially in a year whose theme within the combat sports world could be, ‘crossover’.

Adam Conklin - November 28, 2017

  There’s no shortage of contenders in the UFC’s middleweight division. Former champions Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman are still considered to be at the top of the heap while dangerous contenders such as Kelvin Gastelum and Yoel Romero wait for a signature win to earn the chance to fight for the belt.

Russell Ess - November 28, 2017

There is no mystery on who UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson wants to fight next in the Octagon. Following his interim title win over Kevin Lee at UFC 216 back in October, “El Cucuy” lashed out at UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor in his post-fight Octagon speech. “Where you at McNuggets, ya f**king piece of s**t,” Ferguson screamed into the mic while being interviewed by Joe Rogan. “I’m gonna kick your ass. You better come and f**king defend that belt. Defend or vacate, motherf**ker!”

Russell Ess - November 28, 2017

There have been rumors floating around this week on the Internet that Conor McGregor was recently involved in some trouble in a bar in Crumlin, Ireland.

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

We all knew it would be hard to get Nate Diaz back in the Octagon after back-to-back gigantic fights with Conor McGregor, but we had no idea it would be this difficult. Initially, we all thought he’d just be waiting until McGregor came back from his multi-million boxing bout, but that lag time just kept growing larger and larger until nothing. The MMA community’s ears peaked up when there was word of a bonkers fight between Tyron Woodley and Diaz to beef up UFC 219, but that has since been squashed. In a recent interview with Dana White, he not only says that the fight was never offered to begin with, but that Diaz has turned down every single fight he’s been offered for a year and a half. “Nate Diaz has turned down a fight with everyone on the roster. We’ve been offering him fights for a year and a half.” -Dana on Nate

Chris Taylor - November 28, 2017

Conor McGregor may never fight again according to UFC President Dana White. “Mystic Mac” has not stepped foot inside the octagon since defeating Eddie Alvarez for the promotions lightweight title at UFC 205 in November of 2016.

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

For hardcore MMA fans and casuals alike, Bellator is bringing back the illustrious grand prix tournament to crown their new heavyweight champion. Ever since it was announced, speculation ran rampant as fans and media alike started making their own match-ups. Not only do we have all of the bouts set, but now we know the location and dates of every opening scrap of the grand prix. The latest trailer is just the cherry on top. “This is going to be something that’s iconic for us. Tournaments, traditionally, are kind of the way martial arts contests happen. Now we get to put eight iconic brand names in our sport together over a year, and then whoever wins will be crowned the heavyweight champion. I think there are certain fights that people want to see. Believe me, we’re going to have some amazing match-ups in this tournament. These fights that we’re going to put together are something that the fans want to see. These are iconic names, big brands.” — Scott Coker speaking to MMA Junkie. 

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

After demolishing Japanese MMA veteran Shinya Aoki at ONE: Immortal Pursuit, Ben Askren rode his funky train into the sunset, retiring from MMA for good. …Or maybe not. Freshly-retired Askren took to Twitter to plant the seed of a possible return fight with Georges St-Pierre. If you think this opens the door to a bunch of other potential match-ups, you’re wrong. For Askren, it’s either the “best in the world” or he’s happy to move on to a new chapter outside of the cage. “I’ve never said I’m retired, period. I’ve said that I’m retired with the caveat that if I somehow get to fight to prove that I’m No. 1 in the world, I will take that opportunity. I’m not gonna fight to be No. 3 or 5 or 7 or anything else. Just to be No. 1, that’s it. It’s not really a money thing, it’s a pride thing. There’s this other guy who was a very famous welterweight named Georges St-Pierre who doesn’t seem to have a dance partner right now and doesn’t seem to want to fight Tyron [Woodley] or Robert Whittaker. So I figure, he doesn’t want to get hit hard, I don’t hit that hard. So we might as well just get in there and get after it.“If he needs a dance partner, I’m more than willing to do it. I’ll come to Montreal and fit the bill for him. We’ll fill out the Bell Centre.”

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

Sage Northcutt was last seen at UFC Norfolk putting on one of the best performances of his career against Michel Quinones. It was his first trip to the cage after training with Team Alpha Male and it looked like it paid off. This turning point in Northcutt’s career is a perfect time to take a look back at the his formative years. Thanks to a thread on Imgur, a fellow classmate of Sage Northcutt posted a ton of photos from his annual giving us a peak into what life was like for Northcutt in the class of 2012. Surprisingly, the bright-eyed UFC fighter isn’t that much different than he was back then. 

Tom Taylor - November 28, 2017

Last night, rumors began to swirl on social media suggesting that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor had been involved in an altercation at a pub in Ireland, during which he punched at least one person. From there, additional details began to suggest that one of the men on the receiving end of McGregor’s punches was a known associate of convicted Irish drug dealer Graham ‘The Wig’ Whelan. While all of this initially resided strictly in the realm of rumor, several reputable publications are now reporting that a yet-unnamed Irish star was, in fact, involved in an altercation that saw an associate of the Irish cartel punched.

Justin Golightly - November 28, 2017

Sometime next year, Matt Mitrione and Roy Nelson are going to throw down again in a rematch from 2012. This time though, it won’t take place in the UFC, it will take place in Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix. Hopefully, the cage will be as large as possible because Mitrione is definitely not a fan of a small cage. He still holds a grudge against former UFC matchmaker Joe Silva, who he accuses of lying to him about the size of the cage in his first fight with Nelson, even claiming he kicked him because of it. “One hundred percent, [Joe Silva lied about the cage]. Because they know I won’t take a fight in that small cage. That’s one of the reasons why, I would always tell them, ‘what cage is it in?’, ‘we don’t know what it is yet.’ How can you tell me that’s something you don’t know, when I’m the most mobile heavyweight, and I’m actively saying I don’t want to fight in the small cage? ‘We don’t know what it is until we figure out the venue. We just know the date.’ That’s some bullsh-t man. That’s the reason why I kicked him — if you go back and watch the film, I kicked Joe Silva in the stomach right after the [Roy Nelson] fight. I literally threw a bodykick and kicked him in the stomach. He’s like ‘Matt I had gall bladder surgery,’ you shouldn’t have lied to me then.” — Matt Mitrione on The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - November 28, 2017

Originally, long-time UFC featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas was expected to rematch former champion Jose Aldo at UFC on Fox 26, which goes down on December 16 in Winnipeg. When Frankie Edgar was forced out of his UFC 218 featherweight title fight with champ Max Holloway, however, Aldo was pulled from his fight with Lamas, and reassigned as Holloway’s replacement opponent. This, of course, left Lamas without an opponent. After a prolonged stretch with no updates on Lamas’ replacement opponent, it seems as though the UFC has finally found him a new foe. According to ever-reliable MMA insider Farah Hannoun, Lamas is now likely to battle Josh Emmett in Winnipeg.

Tom Taylor - November 28, 2017

On the latest edition of the MMA Hour, former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione claimed that former UFC matchmaker Joe Silva lied to him about the size of the Octagon ahead of his 2012 bout with Roy Nelson, claiming the large cage would be used, when the small cage was used instead. “Anyone who’s ever [seen] me fight or [listened to] my interviews, knows how much I despise that small cage, and Joe Silva lied to me and told me it’s the big cage so I would take the fight,” Mitrione said (h/t BloodyElbow). “The reason why I don’t like it is because it eliminates all my mobility, it eliminates my evasive action and my offensive footwork.”

Tom Taylor - November 28, 2017

For week, there has been talk about a possible blockbuster main event for UFC 219. While the card already includes dynamite women’s featherweight title fight between Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Holly Holm, the widespread hope was that the UFC would tack at least one more title fight onto this typically stacked end-of-year card. While we’ve heard names like Tyron Woodley, Nate Diaz, Tony Ferguson and even Conor McGregor thrown out there over recent weeks, it now looks more certain than ever that the card’s Cyborg vs. Holm fight will serve as the main event. We can make this assumption given that Lance Pugmire of the LA Times recently confirmed that UFC 219’s Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza lightweight bout will serve as the co-main event.