MMA News

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.

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

As if we needed to have November 4th’s stacked UFC 217 card sold to us, we’re just a couple of weeks away and the promotional engines are firing on all cylinders. Cody Garbrandt just probably had his best verbal performance of his career and is convincing us all a fight with Demetrious Johnson is next. Meanwhile, Joanna Jedrzejczyk is cutting at Rose Namajunas deep on the UFC 217 conference call, but was it too harsh? “Hey, listen to yourself, you didn’t want to do media, you didn’t want to do extra media — how are you going to be a champion and deal with all the things? You know what, you are not strong mentally. You are mentally unstable and you are broken already and I will break you in the fight. This country’s been amazing to me. I think that you have some personal problems, and I will show you what’s your problem, OK? You’re never going to be a champion.” — Joanna Jedrzejczyk on today’s UFC 217 conference call. 

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

Cody Garbrandt is about to squash one of the biggest rivalries in MMA with the violence that awaits us at UFC 217. He’ll be defending his title against TJ Dillashaw, who needs no introduction. Potentially stacking back-to-back wins over long-time bantamweight king Dominick Cruz and former champion Dillashaw, would be a huge feather in the hat of Garbrandt. However, the current belt holder doesn’t want to just stop there, he wants to fight Demetrious Johnson next to become a two-division champion. He’s talked about it before, but he doubled-down on this ‘business move’ today on the UFC 217 conference call. “With a knockout over TJ [Dillashaw] I’ve wiped out the division. There’s a big gap between myself, then it goes [Dominick Cruz], and then TJ, and then it falls off from there so TJ is my next adversary, my next challenge. I know what he brings to the table. I’m focused and prepared on that, to wipe him out and then go on from there. I always like to have a fight ahead of myself, you know, plan ahead, and obviously I’m focused on TJ, but Mighty Mouse is next at 125 pounds. I can make 125 on November 4th if I wanted to.”

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

For years, we’ve watch Joe Rogans big veiny head scream at us in video packages before UFC fight cards, hyping us up for the match-ups. It’s become a nostalgic part of the UFC experience, just like that “Face the Pain” song. This time though, Joe Rogan has been swapped out for none other than the UFC light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier. He’s been doing his commentary and desk gigs long enough to be put into the spotlight and seems pretty pumped about it. He even got some pointers from Rogan himself. I’ve seen these for years and now to get to do a fight preview is awesome. When you pay attention you will be surprised how much you can learn. Thanks @joerogan for all the help. DC #brunsonvsmachida Saturday on @fs1

Russell Ess - October 25, 2017

You often hear that there are two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle. With the feud between former Team Alpha Male teammates Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, there is one particular story that claims Dillashaw ended a Team Alpha Male teammate’s career. Garbrandt claims Dillashaw hit Chris Holdsworth with a cheap shot to the back of the head during practice, badly concussing the TUF 18 season winner.

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

If Conor McGregor campaigned for a fight against the winner of Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre, then he’d probably get it. You’re talking about a fighter who pick whoever he wants out of thin air and fight then. All of this taken into consideration, it’s easy to understand why it’s so hard to figure out his next move. Meanwhile, Tony Ferguson has an interim belt he says might as well be the real thing, something Dan Hardy thinks McGregor needs to take care of. Not just because it makes sense, but to silence his critics. “What I would like to see him do is unite the belts. I think Tony Ferguson is definitely deserving of that title shot against Conor McGreogr and I don’t like two belts floating around in the division for too long. I think that the interim title is a placeholder for the real title. You shouldn’t have that for very long. So, it makes sense for McGregor to come back and defend the belt against Tony Ferguson. Obviously the money fight is [Nate] Diaz, everybody wants to see that, including me. But, for the integrity of the sport and for McGregor’s legacy, he needs to solidify himself as a champion that would defend his belt, which he has not done yet. He’s getting a lot of heat for that from the fans and I think now he’s got a bank account full of cash. He doesn’t really need to worry too much about that now. He can focus on the things he wants to achieve as an athlete.”

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

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.

Justin Golightly - October 25, 2017

We’re edging closer and closer to the return of Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217, who’ll be challenging Michael Bisping for the middleweight title. The stakes are gigantic. If St-Pierre loses, Bisping gets a huge notch in his legacy and GSP has said he’ll retire. If St-Pierre wins though, he’ll be cemented once again as one of if not the greatest of all time and he goes on to defend against Robert Whittaker. …Or will he? Michael Bisping thinks there is a much greater master plan by the UFC brass that he is set to spoil. “[Georges St-Pierre] keeps talking about, ‘It’s in the contract. It’s in the contract that I fight [Robert] Whittaker,’ but he ain’t. He ain’t gonna’ fight Whittaker if it’s in the contract or not. I believe it is in the contract but all he’s gotta do is say, ‘I don’t fancy doing that and if you want me to fight again and maybe sell a lot of pay-per-views, it’s gotta be someone else.’ The UFC would fold, I’ve got to imagine. He wants to beat me, go back down to welterweight, beat Tyron [Woodley], and then face Conor [McGregor], beat all three, and then retire and make a ton of money. And the UFC probably wants that to happen. By that I don’t mean beat Conor, I mean beat me. Beat me, then either beat Woodley or go straight to Conor.”

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

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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