MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2017

Bellator’s heavyweight division is starting to look pretty damn good. The division’s top fighters include Matt Mitrione, Cheick Kongo, and Roy Nelson, while other stars like Fedor Emelianenko, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, Bobby Lashley, Javy Ayala, and Sergey Kharitonov are also in the mix. Unfortunately, however, the division doesn’t have a champion, and hasn’t since former champ, Vitaly Minakov, was stripped in the midst of a contract dispute. Yet according to Bellator head honcho Scott Coker, that could change in the first quarter of 2018. “I think that we’ll probably crown a new champion first quarter of next year and then we’ll start having a lot more fights in the heavyweight division,” Coker said on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “We’ve got some great heavyweights now, there’s a lot of matchups that I can’t wait to see and I’m excited about 2018. I think 2018 is going to be a very busy year, a big growth year for Bellator, and the heavyweight division will be a big part of it.”

Russell Ess - October 25, 2017

Andre Fili pulled off his own version of the “billionaire strut” in the moments leading up to his fight against Artem Lobov over the weekend. Lobov had his good friend and training partner Conor McGregor sitting cageside for his fight. While Fili was in the Octagon waiting for Lobov to enter from his walkout, “Touchy” says he got more motivation from seeing the UFC lightweight champion eyeing him down from the crowd.

Russell Ess - October 25, 2017

If there was any truth to Floyd Mayweather saying that his fight with Conor McGregor would be his last, International Boxing Hall of Fame anchor Jim Lampley isn’t believing it for a second. We recently saw Mayweather post a couple of training videos to social media and the speculation has been going around on if there was any meaning behind them.

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Chad Mendes in the UFC. After suffering two back-to-back losses to Conor McGregor and Frankie Edgar, he popped for GHRP-6 and was suspended for two years. GHRP-6 sounds like some sort of robot from Star Wars, but it’s actually a growth hormone peptide that ended up being inside a cream that Mendes used to treat his chronic plaque psoriasis. With all of that said and done and with his body healed from non-stop competition, Chad Mendes is getting close to returning to the UFC.  “We’ll be back in the Octagon either the end of May or beginning of June is what we’re shooting for. A little over two years is what it will be [since I’ve fought for the UFC]. In 24 years, I’ve never taken a year off. From five-years old, there was never an off time. I think both mentally and physically it’s been so great for me. Just being able to step away from it and let my body heal. I had bumps and bruises, broken the tops of my foot, there was just so many things that never gotten the time to heal. […] I think just having the time off, being able to mentally step away form it, let everything recharge — like, I have that drive again. This is the type of sport you can’t half ass. You’re going to get hurt if you do.” — Chad Mendes speaking to Jason Hariston.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2017

Back in August, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. stepped through the ropes of the ring to take part in one of the biggest fights in combat sports history. While the fight was widely expected to shatter previously-set records for pay-per-view sales, however, it was ultimately reported to have fallen short, coming up shy of the record set by Mayweather’s 2015 battle with Manny Pacquiao. Contrary to reports that the fight didn’t actually break the record, UFC President Dana White is maintaining that it did.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2017

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia was planning on returning to action this January, when she expected to fight Mexico’s Irene Aldana. Regrettably, Correia has apparently gone through an accident, and has been sidelined due to an emergency surgery. The Brazilian fighter updated on this unfortunate turn of events in a Monday morning Instagram post.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2017

Darren Till is a big, big welterweight. That’s been amply evident every time the British striking specialist has stepped into the cage. His Saturday afternoon execution of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, who he seemed to cast a shadow over in the cage, was certainly no exception to the rule. While it has long been evident that Till is a big welterweight, he only recently revealed just how big he actually is when he steps into the cage. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Till explained that, on Saturday, he was a hulking 200 pounds.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2017

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Tom Taylor - October 25, 2017

There has been some serious intermingling between the sports of mixed martial arts and boxing over the last year. Thats’s thanks in large part to Conor McGregor‘s blockbuster showdown with the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr., but also to the interest of fighters like Stipe Miocic, Jimi Manuwa, Artem Lobov and Cris Cyborg in testing their skills in the boxing ring. From the sounds of it, UFC fighters that are interested in donning heavier gloves and stepping through the ropes might not have to go far to do so. Speaking on The Unnamed Podvideocast, UFC President Dana White suggested that the UFC could one day promote boxing matches.

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

If for some reason you didn’t get your fill of MMA from UFC’s Saturday afternoon fight card, you can always tune into hockey. We’re not going to pretend to be experts on the sport, but they do have some icy slobberknockers that occur with regularity. It’s rare however, to see one unfold quite like this one between Kevin Bieksa and Radko Gudas. The two squared up and Bieksa launched a superman punch straight to Gudas’ jaw, dropping him with a quickness. Has he been training at TriStar in between games and practice? Uh, was that a Superman punch or….? pic.twitter.com/TxA0BbXAy3

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

Rafael dos Anjos has gone from losing his UFC lightweight title, to being a fight away a shot at the welterweight strap in a little over a year. He’ll fight Robbie Lawler in Winnipeg to determine who’s the next number one contender to challenge Tyron Woodley. It has Fight of the Night potential all over it and definitely could go down as a classic scrap, but they’ll be no heated build-up or public insults. The way Rafael dos Anjos thinks, we shouldn’t really need that. They’ll say all they need to each other inside the Octagon. “I have to fight and get the best fight for me. The best guys are ahead of me and this new generation, they try to talk crap and attack others on social media. I’m glad to have this fight with Robbie [Lawler] because there’s no trash talk. It’s a man’s fight and that’s how I like to do it. We show our talk in the Octagon when we get locked in the cage, we talk with our fists.” 

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

While we’ve got a couple of things splattered here and there for UFC 219, we’ve had nothing announced that screams “huge end of the year” card. If Jon Jones hadn’t of had his gut-punch anti-doping violation, we could have gotten a superfight to end all superfights with Jones challenging Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title potentially at UFC 218. But, just like the Rolling Stones song goes, you can’t always get what you want. The news here instead is that Jon Jones is still being tested. He just successfully passed a test earlier this month. USADA still testing Jon Jones, as case pends. Records show he was tested 4th quarter of 2017. I’m told it was 10/11, results were clean.

Russell Ess - October 24, 2017

Two former teammates will meet in the Octagon for the UFC bantamweight championship title at UFC 217 on November 4. Champion Cody Garbrandt will look to defend his title against former teammate and former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. As the two have had a long history training with each other at Team Alpha Male, Garbrandt started his professional MMA career when Dillashaw was on his way to winning the UFC title. With being able to train against the top fighter in the UFC bantamweight division, Garbrandt said he knew it was only a matter of time before he would be holding the belt.

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

It may not be as exciting as dudes punching each other in the face, but there’s a potential huge story brewing that could change the UFC forever. Their deal with FOX is up early next year, while they could easily renew their contract after renegotiating, signs are pointing to it not being so cut and dry. Even if the UFC may have dropped slightly in interest after it’s incredible 2016 year, other networks may be interested in stealing away the product from FOX. But with technology and the way we consume our content constantly changing, is it possible for UFC to rely more on streaming in the future? Absolutely, according to Dana White. “With technology we’re getting to the point that I always dreamed about. I always sued to say, we’ll take this thing all around the world, build a fanbase, build up some talent in every country around the world, and then we’ll get to a point in time where everyone can watch it at the same time, on the same platform. We’re getting to that day. [on our own platform], on a type of Over-The-Top platform. Absolutely, [streaming services are] all about the change. When I grew up, we had channel 3, channel 5, channel 8 and channel 13, and then the channel Sesame Street was on. Those were all the channels that we had, right? Now what’s crazy about television these days — I have DirectTV and I have cable, so I have 2,000 channels right? And nothing’s on. Nothing’s on. I think we have the type of content that people will watch.”

Russell Ess - October 24, 2017

Michael Page is coming off his professional boxing debut, making quick work of his opponent Jonathan Castano. Bellator President Scott Coker said earlier this year that he worked in a deal with boxing promoter Lou DiBella to let “MVP” have a go in the boxing ring and Page did not disappoint in his Friday debut with a flashy third-round TKO.

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

We shouldn’t have been surprised. All through the build-up UFC Gdansk, Darren Till told us what he’d do. He made no mistake showing off his confidence. Now we know that he was fibbing, he showed up in Poland and took out Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. He didn’t just take the win, but he did it with ease. Cerrone isn’t the only thing that Darren Till made short work of, he went from being nowhere near the Ufc welterweight rankings to breaking through into to the top 10. Darren Till rockets from unranked to #8 after #UFCGdansk, consequently pushing #15 Mike Perry out and causing all sort of mix-ups. pic.twitter.com/YFpFTpPWJR

Russell Ess - October 24, 2017

Georges St-Pierre is returning to compete in the Octagon after taking a nearly four-year hiatus from the sport. GSP will go up to the middleweight division for the first time in his career to take on Michael Bisping at UFC 217 on November 4 for Bisping’s UFC middleweight title. Given that “Rush” said he is returning to compete in MMA because he wanted fights that would excite him and get him motivated, it is hard to imagine a matchup against the trash-talking Irish UFC lightweight champion would not get him excited. St-Pierre spoke with Sports Illustrated recently and was asked if he has plans of fighting Conor McGregor in the future.

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

Former UFC flyweight title contender Ian McCall didn’t take long to jump ship to RIZIN. It was so quick, it was like a he grabbed his suitcase, walked to a dock, and got on a ship like in Mortal Kombat. He had made up his mind he was going to respectfully confront Kyoji Horiguchi, eyeing to fight him in the final of the RIZIN bantamweight grand prix. Of course, he’d have to get through Manel Kape first. His wild man opponent proved he’s willing to say whatever it takes to get under McCall’s skin, but Kape needs to be careful what he wishes for. Hahahah keep wishing u fucking retard, Sort out your phycological problems you mental fuck. I’ll finish you in one round