MMA News

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

Do you remember when you were in school and someone did so well on a test that the teacher graded everyone on a curve? That curve is Demetrious Johnson. Were you ever jealous of a sibling that overshadowed the B you were proud of, because they got a A+? That A+ is Demetrious Johnson. An incredible fighter like Joseph Benavidez gets overlooked because Johnson is just that good, but he’s only ever lost to two men: Dominick Cruz and the one and only UFC flyweight champion. Out of 11 years and 25 fights, only losing to those two fighters is an amazing accomplishment. Still, as a fighter, you want the belt. You want to defeat the best in the world. Benavidez came very close at UFC 152, and it’s something he still gets lost in thought about. “I was that close to finishing someone many consider the best ever [in the first fight]. It’s something that goes through my head all the time. Every little thing that I could have done different. I will randomly be driving and get upset. My wife will say ‘what’s the matter?’ and I will say ‘nothing.’ But sometimes I think about little things like that and if it could have gone another way. When I fought [Demetrious Johnson] the first time, you couldn’t predict the epic run that he would go on. But when you see him going through other opponents you think, ‘Wow, he tears these guys apart and makes them look normal.’ [His speed] is something you can’t adjust to. I tried to go with the fastest people I could leading up to the fights with him and you still can’t get as fast as him until you get there.”

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

We’re mere days away from Tony Ferguson finally stepping back into the Octagon, after being plagued by some bad luck at the hands of Khabib Nurmagomedov. It seemed like MMA’s Groundhog Day. The fight would always go along and just never happen. Jokes about Nurmagomedov eating tiramisu caused by the UFC Embedded show leading up to the fight came and went, and came… and went again. Now, it’s been reported that Kevin Lee weighs as if he’s about to challenge for the interim welterweight title instead of the lightweight. Worst of all, he may have enjoyed tiramisu himself. … about the tiramisu, not the 174 pounds. Needs to hit 155 pounds in around 21.5 hours.

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.”

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

The last time we saw Dustin Poirier, he was in the midst of what looked to be a Fight of the Night against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 211. A fight that ended due to illegal knees Alvarez landed to Poirier’s head. Since then, ‘Diamond’ Dustin Poirier has moved on to another former UFC lightweight champion, Anthony Pettis, who he’ll face at UFC Norfolk on November 11th. However, it could be the UFC in which he moves away from, according to a candid new interview. “I love fighting for the UFC. I grew up watching guys in the UFC. It was the biggest company that I know of for mixed martial arts. But as you get older, I have a family, I don’t know how long this window’s going to last. I’d like to fight until I’m 35, 36, we’ll see. But I might have two, three years — I don’t know how many years I have left, so I gotta make the most money that I can right now. And I’m not a guy who’s fighting for fame. I’m fighting because I love to fight and I got a family to feed. I’m a guy who, if I was given an opportunity, I would leave and go fight in ONE FC, go fight in a company you’ve never heard of to maximize my earning potential.”

Russell Ess - October 5, 2017

UFC 216 is set to take place this weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee are featured in the main event of the evening as they will fight for the UFC interim lightweight title. In the co-main event of the evening, there is a chance history will be made by the current number 1 UFC ranked pound-for-pound fighter, Demetrious Johnson. “Mighty Mouse” will look to defend his UFC flyweight title for the 11th time against Ray Borg. Johnson is currently tied with former middleweight champion Anderson Silva for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history at 10 a piece and Johnson will look to set the new record on Saturday night.

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

Conor McGregor is a veritable money-making juggernaut. When he’s not laying out champions in the UFC, he’s strutting on yachts with silky opened-button shirts flapping in the wind like he stole the wardrobe from Baz” Luhrmann‘s ‘Romeo + Juliet’. He works when he’s not working, even suffering a rare loss, he makes more money than most fighters did while winning. But long before earning the fire-spitting Lamborghinis and getting the infamous gorilla tattoo emblazoned on his chest, he was on welfare and living in his parent’s house. Now a feature film documenting his rise will be hitting theaters and the intense trailer just dropped. The Irish takeover is nearly upon us… #Notorious. Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/5vj6ZDsJlU

Russell Ess - October 5, 2017

Tony Ferguson has the biggest fight of his career in just a couple of days as he is set to take on Kevin Lee for the UFC interim lightweight title. Ferguson and Lee headline UFC 216, which takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. The winner of the fight and the interim title should have the best chance of fighting current undisputed UFC lightweight champion, Conor McGregor. If negotiated right, any opponent who fights McGregor should be getting the biggest payday of their career as the draw of “The Notorious” seemingly can’t be matched by any other fighter on the roster at the moment.

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

After already becoming the official drink of Conor McGregor’s giant boxing match with Floyd Mayweather, it nails its biggest marketing deal in company history. The UFC has officially entered into a multi-year partnership with Kobe Bryant’s sports drink company, BODYARMOR. The partnership will begin in 2018 and it feature the company becoming heavily involved in the events and the UFC brand, not just taking a seat in the background. UFC announced this morning that @kobebryant‘s @DrinkBODYARMOR will be the official sports drink of the UFC in the United States beginning in 2018. Multi-year partnership. #likekobeifIcouldbelikekobe

Tom Taylor - October 5, 2017

When Jon Jones failed a UFC 214 drug test, and the light heavyweight strap was returned to Daniel Cormier, the question of the next light heavyweight title challenger seemed to come down to two men: Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson and Switzerland’s Volkan Oezdemir. In an effort to pick the next challenger for his reinstated title, Cormier took to social media to let the fans decide. Apparently, they landed on Oezdemir. From there, Cormier offered Oezdemir the title shot, and the Swiss knockout artist quickly accepted.

Justin Golightly - October 5, 2017

You can’t talk about the UFC’s featherweight division without Cub Swanson. He’s been one of the top guys at his weight for a long time. After fighting in WEC, he put on a six-fight win streak in the UFC. His most recent losses are to Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar — the current champ and the current title challenger — with four more wins straight pushing them into the past. Matter of fact, all his losses are former champions or fighters who have fought for the title. This is one of the reasons that, after his fight with Brian Ortega, he will not renew his UFC contract. “It’s a power move. Of course, I want to get paid more. The thing people don’t understand is that I’ve got to a point where I’m making good money and it’s enough to live on, but it’s not retirement money. Not even close. I’ve been doing this for 13 years and I’m in the prime of my career, but at some point it’s going to dip off and I’d like to walk away before I start having really bad performances with enough money in my account to make smart investments and do the right things. I just want that opportunity. [Max Holloway fighting Frankie Edgar] is the 20th title fight since I’ve been in this division. I’ve been in the top tier of guys my entire career. It’s a little frustrating seeing somebody like Frankie, who is great, get tons of title fights. I just don’t understand it. I wanted some leverage for that [in my contract]. I’m next. They’re always saying, ‘We can’t guarantee anything,’ and it’s like, c’mon, yes, you can.”

Tom Taylor - October 5, 2017

This weekend, on the main card of the anticipated UFC 216 card in Las Vegas, fan favorite heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis will take on perhaps the biggest test of his career in former heavyweight king Fabricio Werdum. When the cage door closes, Lewis is going to have his hands full, as Werdum is perhaps the greatest jiu-jitsu player in the history of heavyweight MMA. That said, Lewis isn’t particularly worried about his foe’s grappling. He’s just going to go out there and do what he always does: swing for the fences.

Tom Taylor - October 5, 2017

This weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 216, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson will attempt to defend his title against Ray Borg. If Johnson is successful, it’ll mark his 11th consecutive title defense – the all-time record in the UFC. Despite the fact that Johnson is just days removed from potentially establishing himself as the most dominant champion in UFC history, he’s not really paid as such. Luckily, Johnson has worked out a new deal that means he will finally be getting pay-per-view points – a luxury afforded to most other champions – for this UFC 216 bout with Borg.