MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

Back in July, in the main event of UFC Glasgow, Argentine striking specialist Santiago Ponzinibbio scored an impressive KO win over Iceland’s Gunnar Nelson. Unfortunately, Ponzinibbio’s win was mired in controversy, as he seemed to land multiple inadvertent eye-pokes in the lead-up to the fight-ending blow. In the wake of his loss to Ponzinibbio, Nelson complained repeatedly that the eye-pokes were a significant catalyst to the loss.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

Last Saturday, in the main event of UFC 215, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and challenger Valentina Shevchenko battled for five rounds. In the end, the judges awarded the victory to the champ Nunes by split decision – but that result did not jive with Shevchenko. From the moment the decision was announced, Shevchenko shared her disappointment with it. Late on Tuesday night, that trend continued, as she issued a lengthy statement on the fight, argued that she should have won, and vowed to meet Nunes a third time.

Russell Ess - September 12, 2017

The results of Jon Jones’ B sample were revealed late Tuesday. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report that sources confirmed Jones’ B sample came in testing positive for the anabolic steroid Turinabol, which is the same banned substance from his A sample.

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

After many twists and turns, the Jon Jones saga still is far from ending. After a positive urine test blew up MMA Twitter, a separate blood test came back clean. As we await the test results of the B sample and maybe even a court case following the results, speculation as well as hope for exoneration runs rampant. A laundry list of consequences face Jon Jones if he is proven guilty of his anti-doping violation, but UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping thinks Jones should receive the harshest possible punishment imaginable. “I think it’s fair to say that he has definitely tarnished his legacy. I think he will always be remembered from the stunning performances he’s put on. […] Yes, outside of the Octagon he’s made some very bad decisions and unfortunately this is one that isn’t go away for a long time. I think he’s looking at a four-year suspension and it’s fair to say there’s no smoke without fire. This isn’t his first time. I guess we’re going to see how this thing unfolds, but it’s not looking good.”

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

Last weekend was supposed to be the event that Demetrious Johnson broke Anderson Silva’s defense record, instead the spotlight was on another flyweight. After Henry Cejudo sandwiched his loss to the UFC flyweight champion by being on the wrong end of a razor-thin split decision to Joseph Benavidez, Cejudo knew he needed to make a statement at UFC 215. On Saturday, he walked out there and finished Wilson Reis in the second round. Just like that, his name was on dozens of polls asking who should get the next title shot. The other name? Sergio Pettis. A guy who wants Cejudo next to most likely determine just that. After an unfortunate injury before my last fight I wanted 2give the fans what they deserve, A KO by a flywt @danawhite #ufc215 #potn

Russell Ess - September 12, 2017

Conor McGregor is coming off the biggest payday of his career with his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. Although the current UFC lightweight champion was TKO’d in the 10th round of their fight, McGregor was guaranteed to take home a $30 million fight purse. With the UFC star being a partner in the fight as a promoter, his earnings from the fight will be much more than the $30 million as the Irishman will get a cut of the pay-per-view sales, personal endorsements, and likely some other portions of the revenue generated from the fight. At the end of it all, “The Notorious” is expected to make around $100 million for his dance with Floyd Mayweather.

Russell Ess - September 12, 2017

WARNING: Photo is GRAPHIC and may not be suitable for all audiences Social media can bring a ton of attention to certain incidents or events both good and bad.

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

We’re still about a month away from UFC 217, but Michael Bisping is already heating things up with Georges St-Pierre. The dude followed him into an elevator with steroid accusations and it’s only going to get wilder from there. On the latest episode of his podcast, he talked about the match-up and what he thinks of St-Pierre boning up on his boxing with famed trainer Freddie Roach. “I know [Georges St-Pierre] is a good wrestler, he’s a strong guy. He’s working with Freddie Roach which I couldn’t give a sh-t about to be honest. I’m really not concerned about what he’s gonna’ do or what [Roach] is gonna’ improve him on and I hope that he improves his boxing to where Georges wants to stand and have a boxing fight with me. I hope he does that.”

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

Back in March, Eddie Bravo added another element to his groundbreaking sub-only grappling tournament. The ruleset for his Eddie Bravo Invitational had already been unanimously agreed upon as the most exciting to grapple under, it was even borrowed by Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground. If his system of no-points and overtime to force a winner wasn’t good enough, he introduced Combat Jiu Jitsu to the world. The only grappling tournament on the planet that featured Pancrase-palm thrusts. On November 12th, the first Combat Jiu Jitus pay-per-view will take place and features and incredible group of athletes.

Russell Ess - September 12, 2017

Floyd Mayweather added a good chunk of cash to his fortunes with what the now 50-0 boxing great said would be his last fight ever. Mayweather pocketed a guaranteed $100 million purse for his boxing match against Conor McGregor and “Money” has stated he could make over $300 million when everything including pay-per-view is added up. Mayweather appeared for his first television appearance on Steve Harvey’s new talk show on Monday night and the two spoke about his historic 50-0 record, the fight, and his opponent.

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

If things had gone according to plan, dominant UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson would have taken on Ray Borg in the main event of UFC 215 this weekend. Regrettably, Borg was forced out of the fight with an illness at the very last minute, leaving Johnson without an opponent – and apparently, without a payday. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, the flyweight champ explained that he has still not been paid by the UFC – despite the fact that he was prepared to show up for the fight, and the bout’s cancellation really had nothing to do with him. Luckily, it sounds as though his bout with Borg will be rescheduled for UFC 216 in October, however.

Justin Golightly - September 12, 2017

Creeping up on us after the last minute switch-out of UFC 215, UFC Pittsburgh is a sleeper card with some guaranteed killer fights. Headlining the card is former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold fighting David Branch. The welcome wagon continues for Branch, after getting a win over over Krzysztof Jotko at UFC 211. It was the first time since 2011 that Branch fought in the UFC, meanwhile he was off in World Series of Fighting becoming a two-division champion, holding both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles. He brought more than just his experience becoming a “champ champ” back into the UFC with him, wasting no time showing everyone what kind of attitude he brings into fights. “[Luke Rockhold]’s going to try and come out to establish his dominance. He’s going to try and run his alpha male sh-t on me and I’m going to shut that sh-t down, obviously. I think that in that fight against [Michael] Bisping the motherf-cker slipped up. You can’t go out there and take anybody lightly. That’s the thing with me, I come from a different background than Luke, and I don’t have that kind of indoctrination that he does. I come from the f-cking streets and I don’t take anybody lightly.”

Dr Pete - September 12, 2017

This week, Dr. Pete hit the mats with Rener Gracie at Gracie Academy in sun-soaked Torrance, California. Rener Gracie is the grandson of Brazilian jiu jitsu co founder Helio Gracie, and the son of UFC co creator Rorion Gracie. As the head instructor at the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy, and the co-creator of Gracie University, he is widely considered one of the finest BJJ instructors in the world. Together, he and Dr. Pete break down an absolutely savage method of posture control – a key addition to any BJJ practitioner’s arsenal.

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

Earlier this summer, the MMA community was hit by the surprising news that former fighter Brian Stann, arguably the best commentator and analyst employed by the UFC, would be leaving his post with the organization. This coming week, he’ll take up a new position as a Chief Operating Officer of a company he has described as a “large real estate firm.” He’ll also be returning to school, as he pursues an executive Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. On the latest edition of The MMA Hour, the ever articulate Brian Stann gave an in-depth breakdown of the reasons for this move. See what he had to say below (h/t Shaun Al-Shatti of MMAFighting.com).

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

Mickey Gall, one of the brightest young stars in the UFC welterweight division, is set for a return to the cage at UFC 217, this November 4 in New York City. Gall, who rose to prominence on Dana White’s Lookin for a Fight web series, will battle a fellow product of the show, Randy Brown. This bout was announced by the UFC on Tuesday morning (via Newsday).

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 215, women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes stepped into the Octagon to defend her title against dangerous challenger Valentina Shevchenko. The bout was a rematch of a close 2016 fight, and just like that initial 2016 fight, it was incredibly competitive. In the end, the judges gave the fight to Nunes by split decision. Not everyone, however, agreed with the decision. Many members of the MMA community – and Shevchenko herself – were quick to call the fight a robbery.

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

Earlier this month, dominating UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk teased an imminent fight announcement. This morning, we got that fight announcement. As expected, the champ’s next defense will pit her against long-time strawweight contender Rose Namajunas. The two stars will collide at UFC 217 this November, 4 inside New York City’s hallowed Madison Square Garden. The bout was announced by Fox Sports on Twitter.

Russell Ess - September 11, 2017

There were a lot of people who questioned the referee who was in the Octagon officiating the fight between Gavin Tucker and Rick Glenn at UFC 215. UFC President Dana White tweeted during their fight, “This ref SUCKS!!!!!!” and tweeted after the fight went three rounds to a decision, “Look at that poor kids face!!! The ref needs his ass whooped!!!!” Gavin Tucker's wife was just escorted past press row by security and she's balling her eyes out. Can't imagine having to watch that. Bad.