MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 1, 2017

This weekend, in the main event of the stacked UFC 217 card, former UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre will return from a hiatus of some four years to battle reigning middleweight champ Michael Bisping. While plenty of people are confident St-Pierre will be as sharp as ever in his return, others are worried that he will be effected by ring rust. His coach Firas Zahabi, however, doesn’t think this will be an issue.

Tom Taylor - November 1, 2017

Last night (and over the past weekend), dozens of members of the MMA community donned costumes for this year’s halloween celebrations. Check out some of the best Halloween posts from the MMA community below. WARNING: Some are NSFW! We gonna git you sucka

Tom Taylor - November 1, 2017

Jon Jones is currently awaiting sentencing for his latest, gut-wrenching brush with the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Whatever happens, he seems to be in good spirits, as he recently posted a brief training clip to Instagram, suggesting it is time to “pick himself and start again.” UFC President Dana White doesn’t share Jones optimism. On a recent episode of The Jim Rome Show, White went off on Jones for his party habits, and suggested the former champ might be “unfixable.”

Tom Taylor - November 1, 2017

Jon Jones had a turbulent few years. Though he is, without debate, one of the most talented fighters to ever step into the cage, his career has been marred by substance abuse problems, brushes with the law, and most recently, a procession of failed drug tests. News of Jones’ latest failed drug test broke just days after his head-kick knockout win over his arch rival, Daniel Cormier. This test was administered the night before the fight. As a result of this failed test, Jones’ win was overturned, and the UFC light heavyweight strap was returned to Cormier.

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

UFC 217 is one of those cards where every single fight will be a battle for a spotlight. The second fight on the television prelims features Ovince Saint Preux, if that gives you any indication of the scope we’re talking about. Not to be buried beneath the three title fights on the card, Stephen Thompson will throwdown with Jorge Masvidal right before Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends her title against Rose Namajunas. After fighting welterweight champ Tyron Woodley twice, Thompson seems pumped about a refreshing match-up with Masvidal.   “This fight has fireworks written all over it. I’ve been training for Tyron Woodley for almost a year now and this [fight with Jorge Masvidal] gives me somebody different to break down, somebody different to get ready for. The media obligations aren’t there. When I was fighting Tyron, especially with it being a title fight, it was kind of crazy. With this, I can just sit back and focus on the fight, train, train when I want to train and not have to go all over the place to do the media. It’s nice to be able to sit back and just think about the fight. I’m excited, I’m energized, I can relax a little bit more. The energy level is truly up.”

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

Meet Jon Jones. No, not former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but the video game developer Jon Jones.

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

Conor McGregor fans are surely curious as to who and when the current UFC lightweight champion will be fighting next. With Dana White saying that newly crowned UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is the next match to make for McGregor, the UFC President is hoping for “The Notorious” to return to the Octagon before the end of the year. However, it all likely comes down to what Conor McGregor wants to do.

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

Everyone has been talking about it since UFC 216. Many prominent figures involved and not involved directly with Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson has said that the belts must be unified. The manager of both fighters has revealed he believes their confrontation is ‘inevitable’, that it is only a matter of time. According to McGregor himself, this may be sooner rather than later. He just dropped a bombshell that, not only does he feel Ferguson is next, but they are currently negotiating the contract. “I’ve got everyone clawing at me, trying to get at me, and that’s from multiple sports, multiple organizations, multiple everything. It’s been like that for a long, long time, I feel, so it’s just another day for me. I know there are many contenders in the UFC. There are many boxing contenders as well. What interests me is certainly a UFC bout, certainly a defense of my lightweight title. There is a fighter with the interim lightweight belt. I feel that [Tony Ferguson] will be next. We’ll see how negotiations go.”

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

This weekend, Joanna Jedrzejczyk will once again strut into Madison Square Garden just under the co-main event to defend her UFC strawweight title. Rose Namajunas stands a violent and crafty challenger who is not intimidated, but consensus is she’ll be just another person who falls short against her overwhelming dominance. It’s a performance so consistent, that she’s beginning to have familiar questions aimed at her, the same questions given to Demetrious Johnson: When are you moving up in weight for a new challenge? Joanna Jedrzejczyk recognizes the challenge and it’s something she thinks about. “Definitely the flyweight division is something I think about, but if I move up, it’s going to be the biggest challenge in my fighting career. I will see. […] I make my dreams and goals come true. When I seem backed up and I’m tired, I think of my dreams and goal. My dream and goal is to be undefeated. My dream right now is to tie Ronday Rousey’s record, break the record of seven title [defenses] in the UFC for a female fighter, retire undefeated in the future and go for the second belt.”

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

The bad blood continues to boil between former UFC fighter Norman Parke and his KSW rival Mateusz Gamrot. The two met in the cage for the first time in May at KSW 39 where they fought for the promotion’s lightweight title. Gamrot ended up taking a unanimous decision victory. However, the fight did not go without controversy as Gamrot can be seen biting Parke’s fingers during a grappling exchange in the fight.

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

When Andre Fili bested his training partner Artem Lobov at UFC Gdansk, most of the eyes were on Conor McGregor screaming his voice out cageside. However, even more attention was drawn towards  the champ champ after the fight was over. BT Sport and UFC Europe both deleted video of McGregor walking Lobov back to the locker rooms using some questionable language, but the internet is forever. Neither organizations have commented on the slur, but McGregor recently issued an apology on RTE’s The Late Late Show. “I had to put my hands up there. I was watching [Artem Lobov] — a sparring partner, training partner, a friend, a brother — of mine who has given his health — his body health, his brain health, everything — to help me prepare for fights. To give my brain health and my body health to entertain the public. So, that’s the fighter I was going to watch and support. I witnessed him lose a potential career defining or career ending fight, in manner where the opponent was stalling and running away and I was upset.”

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

British welterweight Darren Till has long stood out as one of MMA’s brightest young stars. In the wake of his recent first-round drubbing of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, however, his stardom is reaching brand new heights. Till’s rapid rise into MMA stardom has led many members of the combat sports world to compare him to UFC lightweight champion and bona fide MMA superstar Conor McGregor. Till himself, however, feels the only comparison that can be made between himself and McGregor is in their shared confidence and work ethic.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

Yesterday afternoon American Top Team co-founder Ricardo Liborio took to Instagram with a post that announced his departure from the gym, and also condemned the recent anti-Brazil comments of ATT staple Colby Covington. I feel that I must make a statement in light of the comments made by Colby Convigton along with the amount of messages sent to me from Brazil, the United States, and from all over the world. I’m here to state that I am no longer with American Top Team. Also, I absolutely do not condone any behavior that instigates hate, prejudice, or bullying of any kind. It upsets me to see the sport taking this direction of blatant disrespect. It’s unsportsmanlike, but it also fosters and promotes a culture of cruelty towards others. Combat Sports should always represent the qualities of humility, empathy, and respect. I dedicated my life to the Martial arts, and to the formation and growth of this team. I can not discuss at this time the reasons for my departure from ATT. At some point, I will. For the time being, I want the members of ATT to know that they will always be in my heart❤

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

No tragic curve ball has derailed any of the three title fights stacked up top for UFC 217, that means we’re only four days away from huge fights with even bigger implications. The cherry perched atop the violence smorgasbord is Georges St-Pierre challenging Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title. The UFC and St-Pierre have gone on record saying if he wins, he’ll defend against interim middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, but Tyron Woodley has other ideas. “I think my next opponent is going to be the winner of Bisping and Georges St-Pierre. I think that’s my next fight. Victorious in that fight, I think you see me move up to a different weight class. At one point in time, you look at 1, 2 and 3, and I beat them. I beat 1, 2, 3, 5. Kelvin Gastelum and Johny Hendricks were in the mix, I beat them as well. Tarec Saffiedine, who just got bumped out [of the top 15], Dong Hyun Kim, who just got bumped out. “People have short term memories on what my resume is, and my finishing ability. Out of 17, 18 victories, 11 of those were finishes, 9 of those in the first round.”

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

Earlier this week, long-time Team Alpha Male coach Justin Buchholz announced that he’d been dealt something of a demotion by team founder Urijah Faber. Speaking on the Stud Show podcast, a frustrated sounding Buchholz explained that he’ll no longer be serving as the team’s head coach, but as a striking coach. According to Faber himself, however, Buchholz’s frustration might be a bit unfounded.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

The issues between UFC President Dana White and UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt are both longstanding and well known. The latest chapter in the pair’s ongoing beef occurred when Hunt admitted to having symptoms of brain injury in an op-ed for Players Voice, and was subsequently pulled from a UFC Sydney headlining scrap with Marcin Tybura as a result. Since his removal from the card, Hunt has repeatedly criticized the UFC, while White was moved to pen an open letter for The Daily Telegraph in an attempt to clear the air about the situation.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

The province of Western Australia has finally lifted its cage ban, which means that the UFC now has a wide open road to the city of Perth. On Tuesday, the promotion announced that it will debut in the city on February 11. It will make this debut not with a Fight Night card, but with a full-on pay-per-view card in UFC 221. More exciting still is the news that the promotion’s tentative plan is to to top the UFC 221 bill with a middleweight title unifying showdown between interim champion Robert Whittaker, and the winner of Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre’s UFC 217 middleweight title fight.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

Colby Covington had a wild time in Brazil. Moments after his unanimous decision win over Demian Maia was announced, the red-hot welterweight went off on the country, calling it a “a dump” and referring to its citizens as “filthy animals.” Unsurprisingly, the people of Brazil weren’t happy with Covington’s remarks. The UFC, meanwhile immediately feared for his safety. As such, he was apparently put on “lockdown” from the moment these comments left his mouth until he reached the airport.