MMA News

Justin Golightly - November 11, 2017

Amidst all the chaos happening in the MMA world right now, Bellator dropped a huge bombshell yesterday that they’ll be putting on a heavyweight grand prix to crown their first heavyweight champion in four years. With all the names participating in the bracket, nearly every match-up is an opportunity to see bouts that we were never able to see due to the fighters not being in the UFC. After two long and storied careers, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will meet the legend Fedor Emelianenko in the first round. “I’ll be a part of the eight man tournament that’s been announced by Bellator. I got the word just last night or the night before. I got the call to say, ‘Hey, we need a headshot. We’re putting you in this.’ I obviously agreed. They told me the names that were in there and it looks like I’ll probably be lining up with Fedor [Emelianenko], hopefully in April [2018]. It’s a huge moment. I didn’t even sleep that night thinking about it, running it through my mind, watching videos, already starting to try to pick apart his different traits and gameplans.”

Justin Golightly - November 11, 2017

News broke yesterday that Anderson Silva has been pulled from his fight with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Shanghai due to a possible anti-doping violation. Gastelum said he is staying on the card, but the fight is just two weeks away and that makes it difficult to find a replacement. That is, unless Mike Perry hears the news. The surging welterweight contender is willing to jump up to middleweight and step in to fight Gastelum. Chin check @KelvinGastelum before Pinocchio @Abraham_kawa ? https://t.co/QEDGFnIC5y

Justin Golightly - November 11, 2017

Darren Till’s hype is like a meteor after finishing Cowboy Cerrone at UFC Gdansk, but what good is momentum if the guy can’t get a fight? Mike Perry and Till had their screaming match after the fight, but he’s booked for the time being. Our hearts skipped a beat when Dana White announced Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and Till were going to scrap, but Thompson quickly squashed the news. It was frustrating enough for Darren Till to post that the welterweight division is all running scared, which led none other than Gunnar Nelson to chime in. They’re all running scared, fuck… I would run from me!! https://t.co/XYJnc1V79n

Justin Golightly - November 11, 2017

Before making her return to the UFC, Angela Hill strung together a four-fight win streak and captured the strawweight title in Invicta FC. The last loss she had before leaving the organization was against Rose Namajunas. That was only two years ago, but it’s wild to see how much has changed within that short time. While Hill is still unranked, her plan is to stack some wins together to eventually have a chance to avenge her loss to the new UFC strawweight champion. “I’ve always wanted my rematches, but I wanted to make sure that I was ready when I did have those rematches. You know, everyone’s on the list that I’ve lost to when it comes to that. But I definitely feel like I was a totally different fighter when I did fight [Rose Namajunas]. I was motivated to fight [Joanna Jedrzejczyk] when she was champ. I was hoping that I could work my way up to that. I was already thinking about what I was going to do for the face-off and everything. But now that she’s out of the picture, she’s still going to be around. I’d still love to fight her at some point. Yeah, I’m definitely going for that title run after I feel I’ve got enough wins, and I’ve impressed enough to get a go at [Namajunas].”

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

As if we didn’t have enough chaos going on right now in the MMA world, Anderson Silva has been notified of a potential anti-doping violation. This is Anderson Silva’s second time being flagged by USADA, the first time was back in 2015 after his fight with Nick Diaz at UFC 183. He was suspended for a whole year, fined his $200K win bonus and 30-percent of his $600K was taken. He still has his day in court, but if the tests prove to be accurate then he’ll face an even stiffer punishment this second time around.  Breath……..inhale ……….exhale 😭 https://t.co/BTemZm5xeT

Russell Ess - November 10, 2017

There has been a lot of talk with the return of Georges St-Pierre. With his historic win over Michael Bisping at UFC 217, GSP became the fourth fighter in history to become a two-weight UFC world champion. St-Pierre says that he is contractually obligated to fight interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker next, if he decides to continue competing. However, many fans and pundits are all clamoring over a matchup between GSP and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor.

Russell Ess - November 10, 2017

Terrible news was released on Friday as former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation. The UFC released the following statement via their website on Friday:

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

Conor McGregor also slapped a commissioner tonight as he was told to get down from the cage. Not good. Video via @BryanLaceyMMA https://t.co/g2wFMsETTc pic.twitter.com/WZkXSV7oOT

Russell Ess - November 10, 2017

Georges St-Pierre’s return to the Octagon over the weekend at UFC 217 was a success even after being away from competition for nearly four years. “Rush” stepped up a weight class to compete at 185 pounds for the first time in his professional MMA career and became the fourth fighter in history to become a UFC champion in two different weight classes by putting Michael Bisping to sleep with a rear-naked choke in the third round. Following the fight, St-Pierre said on social media that winning at UFC 217 was the best night of his career. Despite all the glory, in speaking on a special edition of The MMA Hour on Thursday, GSP opened up on fighting professionally and revealed that there are times where he truly hates his job.

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

@TheNotoriousMMA jumps the cage for his teammate Charlie Ward and its all chaos. #MMA #ConorMcGregor #Bellator187 pic.twitter.com/gu9LZL8ORf — Dutch Fight Network (@DutchFightNet) November 10, 2017

Russell Ess - November 10, 2017

UFC 217 was a stacked pay-per-view card with three UFC title fights. For those that didn’t tune in to the action, it was a thrilling card where new champions were crowned in each title fight. The main event of the evening saw the return of former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre. With previously last competing in 2013, GSP returned to the Octagon up a weight class and challenged Michael Bisping for his middleweight title. “Rush” ended up securing the win in the third round by choking Bisping unconscious after dropping him with a punch and some ground and pound. With the win, St-Pierre became the fourth fighter in history to become a two-weight UFC world champion.

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

Mirko Cro Cop is one of the most incredible legends of this sport. After a startling 21-years involved in combat sports, his resume is insane. He has the most finishes in combined UFC, Pride, WEC, and Strikeforce history at 21, which is a finish for every year he’s been fighting. He’s the only fighter to win K-1, Pride and RIZIN grand prix tournaments. He’s fought your favorite fighters, he’s beat your favorite fighters, we could write a book on this man. We thought he had finally hung up the gloves, but RIZIN announced today that the Croatian kickboxing sensation is back. RIZIN GP2016無差別級王者のミルコ選手が一年振りにRIZINのリングに帰還します。 引退までの残り数試合、最も愛する日本のファンの前で闘う事を決断しました。 最後まで勝負論の有る試合がしたいと言うのがミルコの希望です。 引退に向けて動き出すミルコの最終章に注目して下さい！ #mirkocrocop #RIZINFF #RIZIN2017 The RIZIN GP 2016 winner Mirko Crocop will be returning to the RIZIN ring after a year. He has decided to fight in front of his beloved Japanese fans a few more times before he retires. He would like to continue to face meaningful opponents until he hangs his gloves. Keep an eye out for Mirko’s final chapter.

Justin Golightly - November 10, 2017

The grand prix is the pinnacle of combat sport. It is the most difficult tournament format and has the potential to produce absolutely chaotic results. That chaos is why that, for the most part other than Japan’s RIZIN, the creation of an MMA grand prix is few and far between. However, there is a man who has never strayed from that chaos, but welcomes it to put on exciting fights throughout the years. That man is Scott Coker and he is at it again. Bellator will put on a heavyweight grand prix to crown its first heavyweight champion in four years. “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 10, 2017

After four long years, Georges St-Pierre decided to come back to the UFC and challenge himself once again. He didn’t step back into the security blanket of his old division, now overrun with a new breed of challengers, instead he decided to move up to middleweight. It was a shift that was talked about his entire career, but St-Pierre always said such a big jump would take time, something GSP didn’t have with a revolving door of challengers. The experiment was a success. St-Pierre choked out Michael Bisping to become the new UFC middleweight champion, but the fight was just half of the battle according to coach John Danaher. “Experiment with mixed results: The victory by welterweight Georges St-Pierre at middleweight to gain a new world title was a bold experiment with a truly great result, but was not without its problems. The fundamental problem was always going to be size. Mr. St-Pierre always walked into the Octagon around 189 pounds on fight night throughout his career. This made him a very averaged sized Welterweight. In order to move up to middleweight, Mr. St-Pierre took on a nutritional program designed to facilitate weight gain and hold weight during the rigors of a full fight camp. The result was a disaster. Two weeks into camp he developed severe stomach pains and vomiting. Initially it was suspected that he had an illness, but all tests came back negative.”

Chris Taylor - November 9, 2017

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko has issued a challenge to Paige Vanzant! “The Bullet” recently announced her intentions to drop down to the UFC’s new women’s flyweight division, this following her controversial split-decision loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 215 in September.

Justin Golightly - November 9, 2017

News hit last night that Frankie Edgar unfortunately had to drop out of his title fight with Max Holloway at UFC 218 because of a facial injury that requires surgery. Immediately there was an incredible swarm of fighters coming out to try and take advantage of Edgar’s misfortune. Cub Swanson was the first on the buzzer, hoping to avenge his loss and finally get a chance at gold. Both Jose Aldo and Ricardo Lamas have also expressed interest in leaving their fight together at UFC Winnipeg to potentially capture Holloway’s UFC featherweight title. His management just released a statement of the names in consideration, but stress that the champ is down to fight anyone. When you become the champ the right way, the division is cleaned out… Choices are limited but we’ll fight anyone. Cub, Ortega, Ferguson, Conor… we’re just waiting on the call. Respect to @frankieedgar who truly deserved this fight and wishing him a speedy recovery. #blessedera #ufc218 #represented #Repost @blessedmma ・・・ Injuries are part of this fight game. Frankies the man. Wish him a speedy recovery. Detroit, you guys are a bunch of tough mfers. I met many of you last month when we visited. You guys deserve the best fight card of the year and youre still gonna get it. I’m fighting no matter what. Santa is still coming early to Detroit, so get ready. Malice in the palace part 2 if we have to. I’ll see you soon.

Justin Golightly - November 9, 2017

There’s only one MMA fighter that comes to mind when you think of powerbombs and chains. Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson has been fighting for 18 years and has fought the very best in the UFC and Pride. Amid the busy week of post-UFC 217 reactions, card changes, and injuries, we get hit with another big announcement. Jackson will make his return to Bellator early next year, adding to an ever-growing roster of big names that the promotion has added to their fold. “I am excited for this new beginning and looking forward to an action packed 2018. I can’t wait to get back in the cage and put on exciting fights for both the ‘Rampage’ and Bellator fans.” – Quinton Jackson via official Bellator press release.

Justin Golightly - November 9, 2017

Before all hell broke loose, Jimi Manuwa was seemingly the next guy in line for a UFC light heavyweight title shot. Of course, then we were hit with a Jon Jones controversy and Manuwa was hit by Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 214. That was at the end of July, now the hard-hitting Brit is ready to come back to the Octagon and get back on track for a title shot. In order to do this, he wants to take on scrappy veteran Glover Teixeira on his path to gold. I want glover in my next fight, after that I’m coming for Cormier or oezdemir, who ever wins. 1 fight then the title is what’s happening #lionseatfirst pic.twitter.com/W7fmfvLekK