MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

Back in July, in the main event of the stacked UFC 214, former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones stepped into the cage with reigning champ Daniel Cormier in an effort to reclaim the title he never truly lost. Though Cormier had some success in the early portions of the fight, Jones ultimately succeeded on his mission to reclaim light heavyweight gold, bludgeoning Cormier with a third-round head-kick and polishing him off with a meteor shower of ground-and-pound. It was a feel-good moment for the returning Jones, whose recent career has been marred by major controversies, both in and out of the cage. Unfortunately, Jones’ causes for celebration were smothered almost immediately, as it was revealed that he’d failed a drug test administered on the night of UFC 214 weigh-ins.

Justin Golightly - September 13, 2017

We’re still about a month away from UFC 217, but the media around the super-stacked card is already beefing up. With great risk comes greater rewards, as the former king of the welterweight division Georges St-Pierre returns to challenge Michael Bisping for the middleweight title. Coming back after being absent from the sport for so long and capturing a title at a higher weight would be an incredible achievement to place in his legacy. It wasn’t always like this, the MMA GOAT-candidate came from humble beginnings. In a new interview with Hot 97, St-Pierre opened up about getting bullied when he was younger and recently ran into one of the culprits back home. “A few months ago, I was in the street and I saw one of the guys that used to bully me. I saw him and he was begging in the street. I don’t know if he was homeless, but he was asking for money. When he saw me, he recognized me. I don’t want to mention his name but I asked what are you doing here? ‘Can you help me, things are not going well?‘ Man, what are you doing here? You’re tall guy, good looking, what the hell? You’re in good shape.  I gave him a few dollars and I told him to get out of here, man. You should be ashamed. You should be embarrassed of what you’re doing. A lot of guy would kill to be like you. You’re full of potential. Go do something with your life.”

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

Last weekend, the UFC touched down in the Canadian combat sports hotspot of Edmonton, Alberta with UFC 215, a card that was badly rocked by fight cancellations, but ultimately fun all the same. In the main event, we watched reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes defend her title with a close and extremely controversial split decision defeat of Kyrgyzstani challenger Valentina Shevchenko.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been a busy man. Since winning the title with a thunderous, first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler in July of 2016, he has defended it against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (twice), and most recently, against dangerous grappler Demian Maia in the co-main event of UFC 214. In addition to his busy schedule as one of the most active champions in the UFC, he also moonlights as an analyst for Fox Sports, and as an actor. Now, it’s time for a bit of rest. Currently suffering with a torn labrum, the champ plans to pass on surgery (if possible), take some time off, and allow the complicated welterweight contendership situation to sort itself out in the meantime.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2017

Colby Covington and Mike Perry, two of the UFC’s most promising welterweight contenders, have been exchanging a bit of trash talk on Twitter. This heat began when when a fan asked Covington what his prediction was for Mike Perry’s UFC Pittsburgh scrap with Thiago Alves. Given that Alves is one of Covington’s teammates at American Top Team, his answer wasn’t particularly surprising.

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

Mike Perry just says it how it is, you know? When you have your nickname “Platinum” tattooed above your eye in cursive, there’s no way you can keep a low profile anyway. After a loss to Alan Jouban ended his nine-fight win streak, he’s about to fight Thiago Alves at UFC Pittsburgh and try to keep in the win column. The outspoken welterweight wildman recently  voiced his opinion on ‘good guy’ Tyron Woodley. The UFC welterweight champion he hopes to fight one day. “I thought it was a championship performance [against Demian Maia]. I thought [Tyron Woodley] did a great job. Everybody hates on him. I think that’s what they’re supposed to do. I think they’re supposed to hate on ‘T-Woodley.’ That’s who ‘T-Woodley’ has become, this hated figure as a champion who just fights smart. People are mad how smart he is. I like the champ, he’s a good guy. I’ve talked to him a few times. He knows it’s a possibility one day we’re going to fight, but it is what it is.”

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

There’s a new force in the UFC’s lightweight division. As stacked as that weight class is, that’s like adding a piranha into a pool of sharks. Justin Gaethje left his World Series of Fighting lightweight title behind and crashed into the UFC with a huge victory over Michael Johnson, pushing him into the top five in the rankings. He’s excited to get punched in the face by Eddie Alvarez, hoping to lure Conor McGregor into a title shot. Getting past Alvarez is a tall task, but Gaethje will look to exploit what he thinks is McGregor’s weakest point at some point in the future: His cardio. “The reason [Conor McGregor] can’t fight through when he gets super tired is he’s never grappled. You have to learn how to fight through when it sucks and it’s really hard. You have to be in that position over and over and over, to be able to perform in that mindset. The fact that he’s never wrestled or grappled, it doesn’t help when he gets super tired and starts questioning himself.”

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.

Tom Taylor - September 12, 2017

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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.