MMA News

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.”

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

Fans that were hoping to see the exciting UFC 218 lightweight matchup between Al Iaquinta and Paul Felder will be let down to hear the news that the bout has been canceled. On Tuesday, MMA Fighting reported that Iaquinta, who is currently ranked no. 11 in the UFC lightweight rankings was removed from the scheduled bout with Felder due to suffering an injury. The report went on to state that Charles Oliveira was looking to be the targeted replacement to face Felder. MMA Junkie later confirmed with multiple sources that Oliveira has stepped in. However, that matchup has not been announced by the UFC yet.

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.”

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.

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

Even before Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor boxed, Nate Diaz was the clear choice for the champ champ’s UFC return. Slowly, as Diaz haunts the division out of sight, the front-runner became Tony Ferguson. Dan Hardy has said Tony Ferguson is the fight, Eddie Bravo wants his protege to have the shot, even Dillon Danis wants McGregor to fight T-Ferg. None of their opinions though, mean quite as much as this one. Both Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson’s manager Audie Attar says their fight will definitely happen, he just didn’t reveal if it’s next or not. “The sport is one where they’re going to compete. If you have clients in the same weight class, and they’re the top of the division, they’re going to meet. With Tony [Ferguson] and Conor [McGregor], it’s inevitable. You have the lightweight champ and the interim lightweight champ, so that’s a fight that’s naturally going to happen. I can’t say [who McGregor will fight next]. Here’s what I will tell you: Tony earned a shot at the belt. He won the interim lightweight title.”

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❤

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

A little pumpkin practice 🎃 for Halloween ! 👻 happy holidays everyone. Enjoy the candy. Tune in too @ufconfox December 16th to watch the fight of the year between me and the #10 ranked welterweight in the world ! #PumpkinsAreHarderThanIThought #BestFightOfTheYear #AndItsBeenAGreatYearForFighting #StylesMakeFights #PlatinumPandaStyle 🐼 #HardWork #Dedication #Follow @platinumprincessofficial A post shared by Platinum Mike Perry (@platinummikeperry) on Oct 30, 2017 at 5:50pm PDT

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.

Russell Ess - October 30, 2017

Colby Covington made sure to get people to pay attention to him following his win over Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 119. Following a unanimous decision win in Sao Paulo over the former UFC middleweight and welterweight title challenger, Covington degraded Brazil and Brazilian fans in his post-fight Octagon interview. Covington referred to the fans in Brazil as “filthy animals” and called Brazil “a dump,” in which he later gave his reasoning for.

Russell Ess - October 30, 2017

Could you imagine watching Conor McGregor Jr. fighting in a main event in a couple of decades? It is certainly a possibility as the current UFC lightweight champion says he is already putting his son through training at the age of five months.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s action-packed return to Sao Paulo, Brazil, surging UFC welterweight Colby Covington picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, defeating Demian Maia with a dominant unanimous decision. As impressive as Covington’s win was, however, it has been somewhat overshadowed by his headline-dominating his post-fight speech. In this speech, Covington referred to Brazil as “a dump,” and its residents as “filthy animals.” What followed was a wave of controversy. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Covington’s friend and training partner Jorge Masvidal jumped to his defense, assuring that there’s no reason to be upset about this post-fight speech.

Russell Ess - October 30, 2017

UFC Fight Night 119 took place over the weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil with some great performances displayed in the Octagon. The event was headlined by Derek Brunson and Lyoto Machida where Brunson earned a first-round KO over the former UFC light heavyweight champion. In the co-main event, Colby Covington took a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia.

Russell Ess - October 30, 2017

TJ Dillashaw is switching things up ahead of his UFC 217 bout where he will challenge former teammate Cody Garbrandt for the UFC bantamweight title. Dillashaw used to train with Garbrandt at Team Alpha Male and took his training to Colorado after his striking coach Duane Ludwig left the team and took his coaching to the Elevation Fight Team. Now, Dillashaw will be training out of California as he recently announced on a UFC 217 media conference call that he is starting his own team in Burbank.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2017

Last week, UFC and World Series of Fighting veteran Gerald Harris picked up a gruesome, slam-induced stoppage win, badly breaking his foe’s arm to force the end of the fight. In the subsequent moments, Harris seemed elated – even pleased about his opponent’s injury – but apparently, this wasn’t the case. Despite the tidal wave of trash talk Harris received in the buildup to this fight, he harbored no ill-will toward his opponent, and didn’t even know he’d broken his arm until later. “A lot of people, they watched the video, and you can’t judge a book by it’s cover,” Harris said on episode 55 of BJ Penn Radio. “It looked like I was celebrating the injury, and I was overreacting, but man, everything that happened before that… This guy cursed me out at weigh ins, he was three pounds overweight, he tried to fight me at weigh ins, and then before the fight he was yelling at me, and then in the fight he was yelling at me, and right before I slammed him, literally, the round before that, he was giving me the ‘suck-it’ sign, he was like ‘F-you, you ain’t no slam king, you can’t even slam me b*tch.’ Then a minute later, that same hand he was flipping me off with was crooked as hell behind his head. There was so much karma in that moment. I don’t have anything against the dude, he’s a fighter and he does what works best for him, but he just disrespected me a little bit too much.”