MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2017

Over the last few years, Bellator MMA has signed a procession of high-profile free agents. One of the finest free agents they’ve picked up to date is Michael McDonald, a former UFC bantamweight who once fought Renan Barao for the interim bantamweight crown. McDonald’s Bellator debut is now set, per MMAJunkie.com. He’ll make that debut when Bellator takes over the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, England on December 15. His opponent has not yet been made official, but should be announced soon. 

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2017

Over the last few months, the potential comeback of MMA legend Chuck Liddell has been repeatedly been discussed. Were this potential comeback to occur, it would likely go down in the Bellator cage, rather than the UFC’s Octagon, where Liddell became a legend. Chael Sonnen, who has recently battled other aging legends in Tito Ortiz and Wanderlei Silva, has repeatedly tried to goad Liddell into a fight, and Liddell seems to be interested. Bellator boss Scott Coker has also seemed to have an open mind about promoting a Chuck Liddell comeback.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2017

On November 4, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 217, UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt to defend his title against his most heated rival in TJ Dillashaw. If Garbrandt successfully defends his title, the expectation is that he’ll then turn his attention to the next contender on the docket – perhaps the winner of Jimmie Rivera and Dominic Cruz’s UFC 219 scrap. Apparently, however, Garbrandt’s team is still eying a drop to flyweight for a battle with dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Garbrandt’s head coach Justin Buchholz shared the plan on Five Rounds podcast.

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

When it rains, it totally pours. Four giant fights are slated for UFC 218, including Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou being official. Now, we have our first three fights announced for the UFC’s year-end  card on December 3oth. Former UFC champions, Carla Esparza and Dominick Cruz will return to action in high-profile fights for their divisions. HOLD UP!

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

Even before Conor McGregor stepped into the ring with Floyd Mayweather, the talk has been McGregor would come back to the UFC to fight Nate Diaz. Even other UFC fighters said it had to happen. Champ champ Conor McGregor said he wanted to fight before the end of this year, making it clear that the Diaz fight would take place in the lightweight division. Unfortunately, his coach has came out and said that UFC 219 will not happen, but has an even bigger date in mind to settle the trilogy. “[Conor McGregor fighting Nate Diaz on] December 30th is definitely not happening. I don’t know how these things get started, but they have a certain way of gaining momentum. I can also tell you that his manager [Audie Attar] rang me this morning saying that him and Conor had been in meetings all day. Obviously, tomorrow is when we would start to consider the date. If it was my choice, and I must stress that this is only my choice and that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen, it would be Nate Diaz in March.”

Russell Ess - September 27, 2017

The M-1 Global promotion is celebrating their 20th anniversary and doing it with a bang by highlighting the best KO’s that have taken place at their events. A likely fan favorite of all the fighters who have competed under the promotion is Fedor Emelianenko, who had a few fights with M-1 along with their co-promoted events with Strikeforce. Other big names that have competed in M-1 include Alistair Overeem, Gegard Mousasi, Andrei Arlovski, Melvin Manhoef, and Ben Rothwell.

Russell Ess - September 27, 2017

Come on @lukerockhold all I want is to train man. Come on champ!!! A post shared by Daniel "DC" Cormier (@dc_mma) on Sep 27, 2017 at 12:18pm PDT

Jason Kindschy - September 27, 2017

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you crave! 8:15PM ET- Kicking things off we are joined by former K-1 MAX champ and UFC welterweight turned world-renowned coach, Duane “Bang” Ludwig. Calling us from Holland, we’ll catch up with Duane about his journey of coaching athletes under his Bang Muay Thai system and growing as a martial artist himself. You’ll hear the latest on TJ Dillashaw’s preparation for UFC 217 and the opportunity to reclaim his title agains former teammate Cody Garbrandt. Also, we’ll get Ludwig’s expert opinion and analysis for the stacked card at UFC 217, his thoughts on May-Mac and Conor’s future in boxing, as well as the talk of Ronda Rousey fighting one last time against Cyborg. Always an informative and entertaining conversation with “Bang!”

Russell Ess - September 27, 2017

There is no doubt that we are living in a new world of communication with social media being able to have such a big impact on people’s lives. Just dating back to a few presidential terms, even the thought of the President of the United States having a twitter beef with leaders of other countries and professional athletes for that matter would have simply been laughed at.

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

It was just last week that Michael Bisping revealed he was at least thinking about retirement, but he sure isn’t sounding like he’s leaning toward it. He says he’s down to go up and challenge Daniel Cormier, now he’s got some bold predictions regarding his upcoming fight with Georges St-Pierre. Not only is he confident that he’ll knock out the former welterweight champion in the very first round, but part of his confidence could come from… spies in Georges St-Pierre’s camp? “Generally, when I fight wrestlers in the past, I move around a lot. I utilize a lot of lateral movement, forward and back movement, side to side, because if you’re moving, it’s hard for a wrestler to shoot a double leg on you because you’re a moving target. I won’t be doing that this time. I’m going to stand right in front of [Georges St-Pierre], I’m going to plant my feet, I’m going to walk him down, put him on the back foot, and I’m going to knock him out in the first round. You have my word.”

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

On October 7th, in the co-main event of UFC 216, flyweight contender Ray Borg will attempt to spoil the history-making 11th title defense of dominant flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Given Borg’s history of missing the flyweight division’s 126-pound cap, there is worry among some fans that he’ll miss the 125-pound limit required for this title fight. Fans that are worried about this are not likely to feel any better upon learning that Borg won’t be using a full-time nutritionist ahead of his UFC 216 title fight. While he’ll be consulting the nutritionist at the UFC Performance Institute, that will be the extend of his work with nutritionists.

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

The man, the myth, the legend, any cliche about superstars of any sport could be said about Chuck Liddell. He’s one of the fighters who carried UFC’s torch into new eras and put more butts into seats that you could count. He recently appeared on The MMA Hour talking about his long-hinted at return from retirement, but still no concrete plans. That won’t stop one guy from mentioning his name. The guy being ‘American Badass’ Chael Sonnen. Chuck Liddell recently got stopped by TMZ and asked about if that’s a guy he’d come back and fight. Chuck Liddell: Chael Sonnen Would Be 'Warm-Up Fight,' If I Came Back https://t.co/5Se9P1kgIs

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

This Saturday night, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor was expected to partake in a pay-per-view Q&A in London, England. Regrettably, this event has been nixed. This news comes from Starsport. At the time of this writing, the catalyst for the event’s cancellation is not known.

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

It came as a surprise when ‘The Immortal’ Matt Brown decided he was going to step away from the sport. He announced that his UFC Norfolk fight with Diego Sanchez would be the last time he steps into the Octagon, officially retiring whether he wins or loses. His exciting fights will be missed, but much respect to Matt Brown for getting out when he feels it’s time. He thinks that this moment could be all the more special, if his opponent decided it was time to leave the gloves in the cage as well. “My game plan is not much different than always. I’m going to punch [Diego Sanchez] before he punches me, I’m going to punch him more times than he punches me, and I’m going to punch him harder than he punches me. It’s not that complicated, man. You know what you’re getting when you’re fighting Diego, I think people know what they’re getting when they fight me. I’m going to come forward, he’s going to come forward, we’re going to meet in the middle, we’re going to throw down.”

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

On November 4, in the main event of the absurdly stacked UFC 217, UFC middleweight king Michael Bisping will attempt to defend his title opposite returning former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. This fight registers as one of the biggest of the year, and from the sounds of it, Bisping could follow it with another massive showdown. Speaking on his podcast, Believe You Me, the ever-dangerous middleweight champ suggested a fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier could well be the next move, if UFC 217 goes his way.

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

Back in 2008, when he held the UFC light heavyweight title, Rashad Evans was considered the best light heavyweight fighter on the planet. Even after he lost that title, succumbing to punches dealt by the surging Lyoto Machida, he was still regarded as one of the division’s very best. Unfortunately, Evans eventually began to decline. After failing to reclaim the light heavyweight title from his heated rival Jon Jones, the former champ lost a tepid decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, defeated Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen, and then lost decisively to Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. With this diminishing success, he finally made a long-discussed move down to the middleweight division.

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

The August 26 boxing match between undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor was widely expected to topple all previous combat sports records. Unfortunately, it’s fallen short in that regard. First, we learned that the so-called “money fight” failed to break the record for live gate, clocking in at $55,414,865.79, and failing to overtake Mayweather’s lucrative battle with Manny Pacquiao, which did a live gate of $70 million. 

Justin Golightly - September 26, 2017

Poor, Paige VanZant. Her life has been a series of literal ups-and-downs lately. First, she moved up in weight and was feeling like a brand new warrior woman, ready to impress in UFC’s new flyweight division. However, just yesterday she had to drop out of her upcoming fight with Jessica Eye due to a back injury. Turns out, it actually wasn’t that simple. Evidently, VanZant got checked out and discovered her body was like a minefield that just went off. Check out all the stuff that’s going on with PVZ right now.