MMA News

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.

Justin Golightly - October 24, 2017

Andre Fili put on a great performance against Artem Lobov at UFC Gdansk, but unfortunately it was overshadowed by Conor McGregor twice. In the midst of the fight before his right hand man Lobov would square off against Team Alpha Male’s Fili, the crowd erupted as McGregor entered the arena. This fever pitch was only amplified in the featherweight clash as McGregor ran around cageside, screaming to his teammate during the fight. However, it was his choice words after the fight that found him in hot water. Andre Fili expressed his criticism of McGregor’s behavior and detailed his interactions with him post-fight. “There’s no need to use words like that. You don’t need to demean other people to make yourself seem bigger. Whenever you hear someone use that word or call someone a ‘bitch,’ that makes you look so insecure. Don’t be fake with me. I’m as real a person as you’re going to meet. You’re always going to know where you stand with me. For him to say what he said and then turn right around and act like we’re cool, that’s so fake.”

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

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2017

Over the weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s return to Poland, rising British welterweight Darren Till picked up the finest win of his impressive career thus far, putting down long-time contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone with a volley of punches in the first frame. In the wake of this impressive win, Till made a clever callout of another rising welterweight in “Platinum” Mike Perry, who was sitting cage-side during the event in Poland. Unsurprisingly, this callout resulted in a heated, through-the-chainlink confrontation between Till and Perry, which gave immediate merit to a potential fight between them down the road (Perry is currently booked for a fight with Santiago Ponzinibbio).

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

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2017

On November 4, in the co-main event of UFC 217, bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and challenger TJ Dillashaw will finally step into the Octagon to settle their score. In advance of this anticipated showdown, the former teammates have exchanged near ceaseless trash talk – particularly the Garbrandt side of the equation. One of Garbrandt’s latest barbs, however, appears to have been a misfire. The bantamweight champion and his team recently attempted to insult Dillashaw by suggesting he is more athlete than fighter. Unfortunately for them, however, Dillashaw takes this as a compliment. The upcoming bantamweight title challenger explained his feeling on Garbrandt’s recent comments on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2017

On November 4, in the main event of the stacked UFC 217, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will return from a lengthy hiatus to battle Michael “The Count” Bisping for the UFC middleweight belt. Though St-Pierre is widely considered one of the greatest fighters ever, he’ll have plenty of disadvantages when he steps into the cage with Bisping – namely being the smaller man in the cage, and being a fighter riding such a long layoff. That said, St-Pierre believes he’s got some advantages too, particularly in the grappling department. In fact, he believes Bisping is “terrified” of a prolonged grappling match on November 4.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2017

At this stage, the circumstances of Conor McGregor’s next fight are quite nebulous. The Irish MMA superstar has a seemingly endless list of options available, spanning both MMA and boxing. That said, there are two options that seem to stand out from the rest: a fight with UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, and a trilogy fight with his arch rival Nate Diaz.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2017

Last weekend, Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov returned to the Octagon opposite Team Alpha Male’s Andre Fili. Though Lobov was not without his moments in the fight, he was ultimately out-hustled by Fili, losing a unanimous decision as a result. Shortly after this loss, Lobov hinted at a possible retirment from MMA, and divulged his interest in a move to the boxing ring. Speaking to BT Sport, he suggested a potential fight with Conor McGregor rival Paulie Malignaggi if the UFC releases him from his contract.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2017

Shortly after Jon Jones knocked out Daniel Cormier to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title, it was announced that he had failed a pre-fight drug test. As a result, his knockout win was overturned and the light heavyweight strap was returned to Cormier. While Cormier is once again the champ, and Jones is facing a potentially career-ending suspension, Cormier’s training partner Cain Velasquez is still pretty displeased with the way things shook out. The former heavyweight champ went off on Jon Jones during a recent media appearance in Seoul, South Korea.

Russell Ess - October 23, 2017

Artem Lobov was edged out by Andre Fili during their UFC FIght Night 118 contest that took place in Gdansk, Poland over the weekend. Fili was given the judge’s unanimous decision after their three-round fight came to an end. Lobov now holds a professional MMA record of 13-14 with one draw and one no-contest. After the loss, Lobov tweeted that he is unsure of what his future holds as he does not want to retire and come back to fighting numerous times. Interestingly, the SBG Ireland teammate and close friend to UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor said after his fight with Fili that he may even consider going to try a new combat sport and have a go at boxing like “The Notorious” just did if the UFC will allow him to do so.

Russell Ess - October 23, 2017

Rising star Darren Till rose to the occasion in the main event of UFC Fight Night 118 over the weekend. Till had the biggest fight of his life for his first UFC main event against fan favorite Donald Cerrone and made a statement by stopping “Cowboy” in the first round by TKO. UFC commentator Joe Rogan, former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub, and Eddie Bravo got together to watch the UFC Fight Night 118 event and streamed it for the Joe Rogan Experience – Fight Companion episode. You can watch the crew’s live reactions to watching the fight between Cerrone and Till unfold and the guys give some interesting insight on the matchup.

Russell Ess - October 23, 2017

UFC Fight Night 118 took place over the weekend in Gdansk, Poland with an exciting night of fights. Fan favorite Donald Cerrone met rising star Darren Till in the main event where Till stopped “Cowboy” by TKO in the very first round. Cerrone gave praise to his 24-year-old opponent and showed an x-ray of his broken nose from the bout. With the considerable damage suffered in the fight, “Cowboy” is facing a medical suspension of up to six months, which is a long time for the fighter who likes to stay active in the Octagon.

Tom Taylor - October 23, 2017

Mairbek Taisumov has been angling for a ranked foe for some time. Despite his best efforts to coax stars like Anthony Pettis and Edson Barboza in the cage, however, he has not yet earned the opportunity he’s seeking. On Monday morning, the rising Russian lightweight took another crack at goading an elite lightweight into a fight, this time taking a dig at the entire top-1o with one hilarious cartoon. This cartoon, which is in the style of your typical political cartoon, also jabs at US President Donald Trump and his infamous wall.