MMA News

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

No matter how you feel about Tony Ferguson, whether you think he’s ‘weird’ or just don’t  like him, you can admit that he’s just different. If he’s not in workout clothes, he’s dressed like he just walked out of The Continental hotel with a new tactical suit. And what’s the deal with the shades? Then, he starts talking. Conversation jumps from subject to subject, a metaphor might slip out and confuse you, it’s just like his fighting style: All over the place. When asked to comment on his opponent’s criticisms of his style, he spoke like we’re witnessing an evolution.  “It’s very intellectual. The reason why you guys say [my style]’s weird is because you don’t understand it. It’s f-cking genius. Let me tell you, it’s so far past your guys’ heads it’s not even funny, because this is the next stage in everybody’s evolution. I’ve been working on this since 2008; actually, before that. I said I had a double doctorate in athletics, I’m working on my triple.”

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

We’re still a wreck from yesterday but Kevin Lee looks on top of the world. A couple of days ago, it was reported that he had to lose 19lbs in 20 hours. It was a long and stressful cut, but he pulled it off yesterday. Last night after the big ceremonial weigh-ins, Kevin Lee joined Megan Olivi to talk about the whole situation. Thankfully, he was sipping on a drink during the interview. “It’s always a tough weight cut. This is my first time in a title fight, so we just mistimed it a little bit. But, I feel like a million bucks now. I got some hydration in me. I’m going to be the bigger, stronger man out there. I always am. And, like I said yesterday, I ain’t no b-tch. It’s always going to be a tough weight cut, but I’m going to get it done. Tony [Ferguson] already know. It’s no more time for talking. Talking is over. I let him have the media yesterday. I let him get out his little scenarios, his little words, whatever he want to say. The time for talking is over.”

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

Last week, Conor McGregor addressed a crowd waiting to hear what his next move was, but the man didn’t know himself. After reaching the pinnacle of they money fight game, literally fighting ‘Money’ Floyd Mayweather, he has a long list of options to survey for his next MMA fight and at least three UFC cards to watch before he makes his decision. One of seven names that he rattled off speaking at the Glasgow event was former opponent Max Holloway. The featherweight champion isn’t holding is breathe though, Holloway doesn’t feel like McGregor would ever fight him again. That’s why he’s moving on and forging a name for himself, by himself. “The fight with Conor [McGregor], to be honest, I don’t think it ever happens. He simply is just not about that life. Don’t you think it’s funny this guy walks around calling himself the ‘champ-champ’ and only one of his last four fights was a championship fight? It’s only one. People need to sit back, relax and really think of his last four fights. Only one of them was a championship fight. This guy is over here holding onto something he won in 2015 saying that he’s a champ-champ but he’s not fighting championship fights.”

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

Yesterday was a wild roller coaster of suspense. It was one of the most stressful weigh-ins of UFC history, as yet another fight with Tony Ferguson looked like it was about to be called off. Kevin Lee pushed through a brutal weight cut, made championship weight in his second attempt, keeping the main event still intact. The problem is, situations like this happen all the time. Kevin Lee made it through healthy, but it doesn’t always end up that way. His coach spoke out yesterday after the weigh-in and said that fighters will always do this until the system changes. Told y’all I ain’t no bitch. #scaredyadidntI

Chris Taylor - October 6, 2017

Jon Jones could potentially return to the octagon in 2018 if everything goes his way. “Bones” was stripped of his UFC light heavyweight title shortly following his knockout victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, this after he came back positive for banned substances in a drug test administered by USADA.

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Dustin Poirier can’t be stopped lately. Just yesterday, Dustin Poirier opened up in a candid interview talking about what he sees for his future, his family and more. Saying he was willing to even leave the UFC if it ends up being better for his career. As a top-ten lightweight, of course his eyes are all over the UFC 216’s main event. The interim title fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee almost didn’t happen, due to a panic-attack inducing weight cut. Don’t worry, the fight is still on, but before he made championship weight Dustin Poirier criticized Kevin Lee for missing it. I would have made weight.

Russell Ess - October 6, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1)  has the chance to set the record for the most consecutive UFC title defenses on Saturday night at UFC 216. “Mighty Mouse” is currently tied with former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as they both hold 10 consecutive title defenses each. However, Johnson is still the champion and has the possibility of racking up much more title defenses to add to his record, unlike Silva at this point.

Russell Ess - October 6, 2017

Former boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi has been doing his best to lure Conor McGregor into a boxing match with him ever since their fallout from McGregor’s training camp for Floyd Mayweather. Malignaggi is retired from the sport but would be more than happy to get his chance to show the world what he can do against the current UFC lightweight champion in the boxing ring. We’ve seen a few short clips of what McGregor did to Malignaggi during their sparring sessions in the training camp, but haven’t seen Malignaggi’s side to how things went in sparring.

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

We’re just an hour removed from one of the most stressful weigh-ins in UFC history. If you want to go through the suspenseful play-by-play, you can relive the entire situation right here. After the sweat and the panic, Kevin Lee walked slowly to the scale with literally seconds left to weigh-in. Unfortunately, he was one single pound off and title fights do not allow for a one pound allowance. With doctor’s approval, he was given the go-ahead to safely lose one pound with in an hour. He then went back and performed the magic: The interim title fight is on. Spotted in lobby a few minutes ago: Kevin Lee, headphones on, walking with his team, holding his coach’s arm for support. #UFC216 weigh-ins

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Everything is all set for Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee to meet each other in the Octagon on Saturday night. Well, all but the weight as of the time of this article. However, last week it was Fabricio Werdum and Ferguson who were about to start scraping at a media lunch. Eventually they were separated after the situation reached a fever pitch, but the fallout that followed was much worse than the actual encounter. Recently, Werdum’s manager commented that he’s actually proud of his fighter’s restraint. “In a way, honestly, I’m so proud of Fabricio Werdum not to fold [Tony Ferguson’s] ass and beat his ass. And the reason why he didn’t do that is probably because he didn’t want to lose the UFC main event [at UFC 216] and he respects Chris Costello. That’s what he told me. But on a normal day, Fabricio would have beat his ass.”

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

After all of the problematic situations with Khabib Nurmagomedov, as well as Ray Borg having to pull out of UFC 215, fans and media were keeping a close eye on the UFC 216 weigh-ins. One after one, we watched them weigh in, waiting on all the events to be secured. It was a lot like sitting at a graduation, waiting for the name of your family member or friend to be called. The focus was mainly concentrated on two fighters: Ray Borg and Kevin Lee. .@MightyMouseUFC hittin’ all the poses on the scale #UFC216 💪🏾🐭 pic.twitter.com/eYB4UR7YSz

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Back during the build-up for UFC 209, Tony Ferguson called himself the new John Wick. Well, we’re starting to believe him. First of all, he’s been secluded at a camp he built himself in California’s Big Bear. It’s secret, there is no huge team surrounding him and glossy posters of his face. What we get from his camp are personal Instagram videos of him doing ridiculous things: Elbowing speed bags, yoga, integrating Capoeira striking, you name it, he’s done it. You’re talking about a guy that looks at a laser maze as a active rest training device. So, it should be no surprise when it came to his UFC 216 open workout yesterday. Yet still, we’re surprised. .@TonyFergusonXT showed off his slick moves at the #UFC216 Open Workouts 👀. Full video: https://t.co/NJxWyRHjTs pic.twitter.com/yMwgmVjdrg

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

Fighting any opponent is more than just what they can do to you in the Octagon. It always has been. As the sport grew more popular, now it’s more different than ever. Kevin Lee just didn’t have to deal with preparing for Tony Ferguson’s unorthodox techniques, but endure social media trash talk, being around him for media obligations, and dozens and dozens of interviews. It’s a normal thing to not like what you’re opponent says, but much like Conor McGregor, going through the war of words with Tony Ferguson is a whole different ball game because of how… unique he is. “Yeah, [Tony Ferguson]’s a weirdo. Like I said, I hit you with facts. He comes up with all these scenarios in his head. I told him, he’s gotta’ stop smoking whatever it is you’s smoking, bro. I don’t know, he be on some — I just let him do what he do. He talk about how I’m a fake and all this but, let’s be honest, the man’s a Mexican from Michigan and he can’t even speak Spanish. So, it is what it is, he’s a weird dude. I don’t really like going back and forth with him. It’s kind of frustrating, I think you can even see it on my face.”

Justin Golightly - October 6, 2017

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel Cormier tallied up votes that he got from Twitter and decided it was Volkan Oezdemir who should get the next title shot. Of course, Oezdemir accepted the gesture in ‘no time’ flat. Even though Cormier used the fans own comments to decide his opponent, there was still criticism of why Alexander Gustafsson didn’t get another shot at the belt. Cormier took to his Talk and Talker podcast to tell the world simply, that it’s just business. “It was me [who decided to do the voting polls]. I was like man, let’s see where the interest is. Look, there are a lot of people that want to see me fight Alexander Gustafsson. And I would fight Alexander again. Y’know, he’s a tough guy. Another guy who I have a tremendous amount of respect for. But it’s a fight we’ve seen before. Truth of the matter is, that fight with Alex in all the fights that I’ve done — the two [Jon] Jones’ fights that have done tremendous at the box office, the pay-per-views. The Anderson Silva fight obviously at UFC 200 did amazing pay-per-views. The two Rumble [Johnson] fights did really well pay-per-view wise. The only fight that I’ve truly, truly, struggled with was Gustafsson.”

EVOLVE MMA - October 5, 2017

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. In this video, 10th Planet black belt and Evolve instructor Rick Marshall shows us how to execute an Omoplata from the rubber guard. Rarely seen in competition, the Omoplata is one of the most creative submissions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It is also one of the most unique submissions in mixed martial arts. Paying close attention, you can successfully add this to your grappling game.

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

This Saturday, Demetrious Johnson will (finally) step into the Octagon with Ray Borg to attempt a record-breaking victory. If he can get past Borg, he’ll have beaten Anderson Silva’s tally mark of consecutive title defenses, forever cementing him into UFC history. An aura surrounded Silva due to the way he fought and the things he was able to accomplish. It’s the tingles and upset stomach you get when you reach the final boss of a video game. …And you doubt. Then, you panic. Eventually, you are defeated. Demetrious Johnson may never be Anderson Silva to some people, but he’s developing his own energy. It was this energy that Chris Cariaso felt on the night of UFC 178 right before he hit the cage.  “I didn’t feel pressure until about five minutes before I walked out. I thought ‘oh my god, what did I get myself into.’ I remember walking out and hearing Joe Rogan say ‘Cariaso needs to fight the fight of his life!’ and I was like ,’Oh my god, what am I going to do?’ It was during the pre-fight when they were talking about it. They had it on in the back room and it was playing. And I was like ‘oh sh-t, here we go.’ I threw a kick and slipped. He came up on top. I remember him going for the Kimura earlier. I remember stuffing my hand and hiding it and then I saw an opening to escape again. That’s when he went right to it. He caught my arm and it was too late.”

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

Just yesterday, Daniel Cormier spoke out on Anthony Johnson’s alleged return to the UFC in the heavyweight division. It wasn’t just that, but he told an in-depth story that took place backstage, detailing an interaction between him and then Jon Jones. Cormier had revealed he lost respect for his former opponent and called him ‘soft’, that he’d never look at him the same again. Well, Johnson got word of this and boy, did he have something to say about it. “Damn D.C. didn’t know you were salty cuz I talk to the 1 guy that knocked you out. F-cking soft is what you called me, oh well that’s your opinion. Saying I gave Jon [Jones] advice lol buddy what advice is there to give him? I wasn’t fighting either one of you, so there’s no point of giving advice. That’s not my style! I believe in fair fights period.”

Russell Ess - October 5, 2017

Ahead of his UFC 216 interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson that takes place this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada, Kevin Lee has been getting a lot of attention with the words he has been choosing to say to the media. However, it will all come down to his performance and how he does in the Octagon against Ferguson, who is on an impressive nine-fight winning streak in the UFC lightweight division. Tony’s the hardest fight in this division,” Lee said to Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting on Wednesday. “Once I beat him, then there’s no denying me any further.”