MMA News

Justin Golightly - October 27, 2017

Just yesterday, there was a report of Georges St-Pierre saying that the UFC’s new early weigh-in policy is having the opposite affect of its original intentions. He even went on to say that it was the ‘worst thing they could do.’ Well, you know what they say, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Just this morning, Deiveson Figueiredo seemed to be going through an absolutely brutal cut. This was evident as he started weeping throughout the entire procedure.  How difficult is the fight before the fight? Deiveson Figueiredo made it painfully evident.

Justin Golightly - October 27, 2017

It may be new information to some people about just how big of the man Georges St-Pierre was back in the day. There are tons of new UFC fans and more are drawn every day due to the sport’s rapid growth throughout the years. From 2008 to 2013, the UFC’s welterweight division was St-Pierre’s. He ruled over it with a machine gun jab, a battering ram of a Superman punch, and suffocating wrestling. He beat all comers, but Michael Bisping thinks us old fans are looking back at his record with rose-colored glasses.     “[Georges St-Pierre]’s fought a lot of the same people over that period. He’s fought them multiple times. And if you go through the opponents. I mean, BJ Penn, who he fought twice or three times, he’s a featherweight, right? Johny Hendricks, I mean look at Johny Hendricks these days. But still, Nick Diaz is a welterweight. Carlos Condit, oh, that’s a good win. Josh Koscheck, Dan Hardy, Thiago Alves — lightweight. BJ Penn — featherweight. Matt Serra — lightweight. These are all smaller guys.”

Justin Golightly - October 27, 2017

Conor McGregor has his pick of anyone he’d like to fight in MMA or in boxing. For awhile, it seemed like a done deal that McGregor would come back to the UFC and fight Nate Diaz a third time, but at lightweight this time. That seemed to change after UFC 216. More and more the answer everyone is picking for him is Tony Ferguson. Dan Hardy wants it, Eddie Bravo wants it, and now even training partner Dillon Danis thinks it’s the new interim UFC lightweight champion who gets the nod. “I would think Tony Ferguson next because he won and Conor [McGregor] is gonna’ defend the belt and stuff like that. And me knowing Conor, Tony Ferguson is talking a lot of shit and I know Conor is gonna want to shut him up. So, I can see that happening. […] I think a lot of people think that Tony is a tough match-up for him, and I think he would wanna prove people wrong there. He already beat Nate, so I could see that, but at the end of the day It’s his choice and whatever he thinks. But for me knowing him, I think he likes to prove people wrong and that could be the Tony fight.”

Justin Golightly - October 27, 2017

Back at UFC 210 in New York, Gegard Mousasi stopped Chris Weidman with a vicious knee and won the fight. Of course, some didn’t see it that way. Internet fans, media and even officials disagreed on if Mousasi’s controversial strike was legal or not. What complicated matters, was that instant replay was not legal to better determine what actually went down so referee Herb Dean was only able to go on what he saw initially. This new policy by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) looks to change that, by allowing for instant replay for MMA. “This policy sets forth a process for the use of instant replay at ringside, adding clarity, transparency and predictability. Providing clarity to the MMA community through adoption of a written process was the right thing to do, and we are glad to have the policy on the books.” – An NYSAC spokesperson speaking to Newsday.

Justin Golightly - October 26, 2017

The UFC has put together two impressive UFC conference calls back-to-back. Not only did Cody Garbrandt double down on his challenge to Demetrious Johnson, he declared that his fight with TJ Dillashaw at UFC 217 is the real main event. Today, Michael Bisping responded to the dig with a comeback of his own. Of course, it can’t end there. The UFC bantamweight champion just took to Twitter to tell Bisping his fight is only a draw because of Georges St-Pierre. Garbrandt: The Bisping/GSP fight sells on a gimmick. Our fight sells on all angles. #UFC217 👀 pic.twitter.com/4DxngKrxO2

Justin Golightly - October 26, 2017

The warrior spirit is forever tethered to Josh Barnett and his brutal Spotify playlist. If this was any other time or era, he would still be running full speed into battle. Whether he’s doing it physically, or by putting down a Lord of the Void in Magic: The Gathering, Barnett always finds time for violence. It’s just who he is. Let’s take his Summer vacation, for instance. While you were probably out at the beach, Josh Barnett was preparing a group of Vikings in Sweden for conquest. Your consequences were a hangover and a sunburn; their consequences were death. KLONK! @JoshLBarnett @TheGrimfrost #viking #Vikingatheart pic.twitter.com/D5r4oX6Lsb

Justin Golightly - October 26, 2017

We’re only nine days away from the illustrious return of Georges St-Pierre, who will challenge Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title. Promotion is just heating up this week with the conference calls and media obligations. Out of nowhere, an allegation comes from a person accusing Bisping of grabbing him by the throat in the gym and shouting insults at him for taking his weights. Today on the UFC 217 conference call, Michael Bisping says that there is no truth to it at all. “It’s completely inaccurate. It’s not factual.” – Bisping on his gym altercation. #UFC217

Russell Ess - October 26, 2017

A UFC heavyweight is looking to bring some change to the UFC when it comes to the walk out to the Octagon. Undefeated heavyweight Arjan Bhullar was born and raised in Canada and is of South Indian heritage. Bhullar, who is of Sikh faith, was not allowed to wear his turban for his walk to the Octagon at UFC 215 where he made his debut with the promotion against Luis Henrique in September. After being denied once, the heavyweight is seeking approval to wear his traditional customary headwear for his next Octagon walk.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2017

UFC 217’s main event, a middleweight title fight between champ Michael Bisping and challenger Georges St-Pierre, seems to have the world divided. There are some members of the combat sports community who believe Bisping will come out on top. Others are convinced St-Pierre will win. File current Bellator star Chael Sonnen into the latter category. “I like that fight,” Sonnen said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I am picking Georges in that fight, but I really like it. I’ve competed with Bisping twice myself, once in MMA and once in grappling. Tough sonofa bitch. I’ve only trained with Georges, so maybe I come to you with a little different perspective, but it appears a lot of what’s being said about this fight is Bisping’s size. Anytime you talk about size, what you’re really talking about is, the [bigger] guy is stronger, right? We don’t really care about who weighs more, we care about who’s stronger than who. This is a weird one because Bisping is meaningfully bigger. He will cut to make 185, he will get into the ring about 200 pounds. Georges St-Pierre will weigh in about 183 pounds, he will get in the ring at 183 pounds. However  – this might surprise you – Georges is meaningfully, meaningfully stronger than Bisping.”

Russell Ess - October 26, 2017

It was huge news when former UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre and the UFC had reached an agreement in February for a new contract to come back to compete in the Octagon. One man who played a key role in getting both St-Pierre and the UFC to agree on terms is legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach. Roach will enter as a cornerman in MMA for the first time when St-Pierre returns for his fight scheduled against Michael Bisping at UFC 217 on November 4.

Justin Golightly - October 26, 2017

Next weekend, UFC 217 will finally be upon us, lighting up the night with three huge title fights that will have us screaming and jumping out of our seats. One of the many awesome fights we are blessed with by the MMA gods will be Joanna Jedrzejczyk throwing down with “Thug” Rose Namajunas. Leading up to her title defense against Namajunas that could potentially tie Ronda Rousey’s record, Jedrzejczyk is giving us an unprecedented look into the lead-up with her “Champ Camp’ video blogs. In her latest one, she shoots some b-ball in the park as part of her active rest and one kid tries to convince his friends that it really is “deadass” the UFC strawweight champ. Kid arguing with his friends if that’s really @joannamma ballin’ in the park or not. #UFC217 pic.twitter.com/gYQFXXbHWd

Russell Ess - October 26, 2017

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida is set to return to competition after over two years since last fighting in the Octagon. Machida is coming off an 18-month suspension after admitting the use of the banned substance 7-Keto-DHEA. Machida claimed that he did not know that the pills he bought over the counter contained anything on the banned substance list. With a return to the Octagon set for UFC Fight Night 119 on October 28 in Sao Paulo, Brazil against Derek Brunson, Machida was pumped up during their staredown on Thursday. After the two faced each other in front of the media, Machida and Brunson turned to the audience and Machida let out a big yell that shocked some in attendance.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2017

Not long ago, there seemed to be real reason to believe that MMA legend Chuck Liddell was ready to make a comeback. Most rumors on this subject suggested that this possible Liddell comeback would occur in the Bellator cage, and that his opponent would be three-time UFC title challenger and current Bellator star Chael Sonnen. Even Sonnen believed this is the way things were going to down, as he repeated eluded to this fight in interviews and on social media. Unfortunately, “The American Gangster” now feels this much-discussed scrap is a no-go.

Justin Golightly - October 26, 2017

Volkan Oezdemir was the guy we all wondered why was ranked so high, until he showed us. He mowed through Ovince Saint Preux, Misha Cirkunov, and Jimi Manuwa to skyrocket to the second-ranked UFC light heavyweight in the world. Daniel Cormier made it clear that he’s the guy who gets the next shot at the title, a fight that would happen sometime in early 2018. Volkan Oezdemir recently took to Twitter to tease a his next fight announcement, could it be with the champ himself? Nothing can stop me 🌋 #onmywaytobethegoat #Notime #UFC #staytuned pic.twitter.com/WYWMY30kAv

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2017

On November 4, in the main event of UFC 217, former UFC welterweight champion and bona fide MMA great Georges St-Pierre will return from a multi-year hiatus to battle reigning UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping. While many fans envision a return to excellence for St-Pierre, his long-time friend and mentor Kristof Midoux does not. In fact, he believes Georges St-Pierre’s comeback is ill-advised, and that it could end in disaster. “I do not agree with this return and I do not know who managed to convince him,” Midoux recently told UFC veteran Patrick Cote on the Uppercut Podcast (translated from French via Le Journal de Montréal). “I do not see the objective surrounding this fight.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2017

Earlier this week, on The Unnamed Podvideocast, UFC President Dana White admitted that he can potentially see the UFC promoting boxing matches in the future. “I could see bringing boxing under our umbrella and trying to see what we could do with that,” White said (h/t Sherdog.com). “I could see doing that.”

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2017

Last month, in the co-main event of the UFC’s return to Japan, top flyweight contenders Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade were locked into the cage together. Despite being a noteworthy underdog heading into this fight, Andrade ultimately came out on top, capturing a decision win in an absolutely thrilling upset. Speaking on a media conference call ahead of her UFC 217 fight with Rose Namajunas, UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk shared her belief as to why Jessica Andrade was able to beat Claudia Gadelha. In her opinion, Gadelha simply took the fight lightly.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2017

UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and top contender TJ Dillashaw, who will battle in the co-main event of UFC 217 this November 4, share one of the most sizzling beefs in MMA. This beef began when Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male, where Garbrandt still trains, to pursue other opportunities. In the opinion of Garbrandt, this is a move Dillashaw likely regrets every day.