MMA News

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Once again, a UFC card this year has been disrupted at the last minute. Ray Borg had to pull out of his fight with Demetrious Johnson, the original main event is gone and Amanda Nunes gets bumped up to headline. The world is a strange place, readers. There is a pattern that emerges when you go back and look at Canada and Amanda Nunes. Stick with us, we know it sounds weird, but not as weird as these stats. The folks at MMA Junkie looked back at UFC events in Canada and found nine instances where the main event had to be changed: UFC 215 in Edmonton, UFC Fight Night 105 in Halifax, UFC 206 in Toronto, UFC 186 in Montreal, UFC 161 in Winnipeg, UFC 152 in Toronto, UFC 149 in Calgary, UFC 131 in Vancouver, and UFC 115 in Vancouver. That’s all just a little eerie, but another thing that is interesting is that Georges St-Pierre never had a problem in all his trips to Canada.

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Ovince Saint Preux is about to gear up and fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua  in Japan, but there is another fight still in the back of his mind. Back at UFC 197, Saint Preux jumped in to replace Daniel Cormier and fought Jon Jones for an interim UFC light heavyweight title. Losing the bout and suffering a broken arm in the process, OSP took the loss hard but moved on. However, the recent controversy over Jon Jones’ drug test has all of the feelings rushing back. Was Jones’ allegedly on performance enhancing drugs during their fight as well? Saint Preux wants to know the answers. “I mean, I did an article a while back saying, I just wanted [Jon Jones] to tell the truth. But at the end of the day, with me, I just wanted to know. But at the end of the day, what can I do about it? It’s a situation where I’ve learned, especially like my fight when I fought Volkan. You know, I walked in the locker room and I caught myself screaming, and I was like, why am I mad for? I mean, I did everything I did, I poured my heart out in the fight, you know, I trained hard, I felt like I won the fight.”

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

  The “Fertitta Era” is over. Billionaires Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta bought the UFC in 2001 and have been running it ever since. After a long and arduous road losing money and dealing with the legal complications of trying to monopolize the bloodsport industry, the Fertitta’s made the UFC extremely profitable and eventually sold most of their ownership last year. Forbes reports in an exclusive that they have sold their remaining shares, pushing the evaluation of the UFC even higher and leaving the business totally.

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Back before 2008, Angel Heredia was supplying performance enhancing drugs to make sure that the athletes who were on top of their sports, stay on top. We’re talking even Olympic-level athletes. He was eventually forced to cooperate in court by becoming a chief witness for the U.S. Justice Department. All this to say, Heredia knows this enhancement game in-and-out. Now, he has joined Jon Jones’ defense team as a legal adviser and spoke to Submission Radio on why he thinks his testing procedure doesn’t add up from an expert’s perspective. “If somebody takes a designer [steroid] and they pretty much identify any of it’s metabolites, they would pretty much know what steps to follow next, and eventually they will break it down and they will come out with the name of the structure that was not identifiable at the time. So, at this point there’s nothing like that. Pretty much, they’re accusing [Jon Jones] of one particular metabolite. They’re not accusing him of six different metabolites. One single metabolite. And that metabolite is the one that stays up to seven weeks. So frankly, to me, it’s backwards. It doesn’t make any sense.” 

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

Back for the first time since 2015, the UFC will return to Winnipeg to bring the fights to Canada on December 16th. The free card on big FOX doesn’t have much scheduled yet, but it just got a some heat in a flyweight bout. Wildman Tim Elliott will square off with Justin Scoggins in a fight that is sure to cause sparks, rain dogs and probably contain backflips. https://twitter.com/ScogginsFlow/status/901948099756679168

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

Demetrious Johnson is one win away from breaking Anderson Silva’s title defense record, the only man who stands in his way is Ray Borg. What “Mighty” Johnson has accomplished so far is unheard of in a sport where it’s usually very difficult to win consistently. For instance, in the heavyweight division, no champion in the history of the UFC has ever defended the heavyweight title three times in a row. If Demetrious Johnson beats Borg, he’ll have defended his title 11 times. Georges St-Pierre, former UFC welterweight champ and GOAT candidate, recently took time out to give Johnson some recognition. “Becoming champion is hard, but staying champion is even harder.” The legend @GeorgesStPierre w/ some words on @MightyMouseUFC #UFC215 pic.twitter.com/DINPuYF4OZ

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

If you didn’t know better, one look at Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone’s Instagram would make you think his MMA training consists of taking wakeboards off of sweet jumps and cold beer at the lake. Don’t worry, he takes time out for his muay thai and jiu jitsu and it shows. This dude ran off an eight fight win streak (and four post-fight bonuses) in the lightweight division, book-ended by losses to Rafael dos Anjos. After jumping up to welterweight, he won four straight until running into Jorge Masvidal and Robbie Lawler. It’s clear he’s not slowing down or taking time to smell the roses. He didn’t even know who Darren Till was and he just agreed to fight him. “[I knew] Absolutely nothing [about Darren Till]. No. Never seen his fights. I don’t know where he’s from. I’m not bagging the dude, just f-ck, I don’t know anybody. I said yes before I even had an opponent. That was [the UFC’s] job to find the opponent. […] My grandma sent me a thing this morning all mad. ‘He called you a c-nt,’ I said, no grandma, that’s just how they speak over there.”

Russell Ess - September 7, 2017

Although Amanda Nunes may be feeling a lack of promotion after pulling out of UFC 213, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion is still just focused on one thing: fighting. Nunes was given a hard time after pulling out of the UFC 213 championship title fight against Valentina Shevchenko the day of their scheduled fight. Nunes stated that she had chronic sinusitis and was not feeling well enough to fight. Shevchenko believes that Nunes had a rough weight cut and was feeling week after making the 135-pound limit, which ultimately caused her to pull out of the fight.

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

In just a couple of days, Neil Magny welcomes Rafael dos Anjos into the welterweight division at UFC 215. However, it’s in-fighting between other UFC fighters that is also on his mind. He’s tried to convince his fellow UFC fighters to form an unofficial organization of support, but unfortunately it hasn’t prospered as much as he’d like. The culprit according to Magny, is that most fighters are always stepping on each other for their own shots. “It’s not going so well at all, actually. It’s pretty sad that, like, the fighters’ biggest downfall is the other fighters. I know that people are like, trying to turn it into saying ‘it should be us against the business,’ but in the reality of the business, it’s just, fighters are looking out for themselves and are screwing over all the other fighters.”

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

Stipe Miocic has systematically taken out the best of the best: Mark Hunt, Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, and Junior dos Santos. That’s a murderer’s row of murderer’s rows. As Miocic enjoys an incredible reign as the UFC heavyweight king, there is one fighter that he hasn’t been tested against. Former heavyweight champ, Cain Velasquez will have been out of competition for a whole year in two days. Hopeful fans had their fingers crossed that Miocic would defend against Velasquez this year, but unfortunately it seems like it won’t happen. “This year? Probably not. [Early next year], we’ll see. […] I’m close. I’m not there yet but I’m close. Focusing on this time as far as the baby we have coming along. I want to be there for that. He’s due in November, so it’s been a good process of healing and being with the family. I want to 100% ready for the fans. I need to stop messing around and coming back too early. You know what I mean? I can’t do that. I can’t afford that anymore. I gotta’ be 100% ready to come back. […] That’s not up to me [to get an immediate title shot]. I’ll ask for whoever. We haven’t talked. But I’m with the family and just recuperating  still.” – Cain Velasquez to Ariel Helwani for UFC 215 media day.

Russell Ess - September 7, 2017

While Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor failed to surpass the 2015 Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio record for the highest gate, they are still sitting pretty at the number two spot. Despite not setting the record for the live gate, the Mayweather and McGregor madness has set a new official pay-per-view (PPV) record. Boxing News reported on Thursday that Sky Sports confirmed that the Mayweather vs. McGregor event set a new PPV record in the U.K. Sky reported that the PPV numbers surpassed 1 million buys. The Mayweather and McGregor event broke the previous record set by Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko, who fought in April at the Wembley Stadium in London in a heavyweight boxing championship match.

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

Talking about Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson fighting almost brings up some post-traumatic canceled disorder symptoms. It seems like we’ve talked about the fight longer than the build-up to Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather. Their rivalry reached its peak for UFC 209 with an interim UFC lightweight title on the line. There was so much hype around the fight and it was billed as the best lightweight fight the UFC could have put on at the time. As we all know, Khabib had medical issues and had to pull-out of that fight. They were in talks to meet once again in the Octagon this year, but nothing ever materialized. Tony Ferguson recently expressed his frustrations on the latest episode of Submission Radio. “It is what it is and it’s not funny anymore, it really isn’t. [Khabib Nurmagomedov] got a lot fans that are really disappointed in you and you’re… f-ck dude, you’re disappointing yourself. You’re letting me fight a number seven [ranked fighter]. You gotta’ be sitting on the sidelines hating your ass. You gotta’ be thinking, like, ‘sh-t, why the hell did I not sign on that dotted line? Why am I letting Ferguson fight Kevin Lee? Holy sh-t, Tony’s gonna’ get a belt and I’m not gonna get sh-t. I’m gonna be stuck here with that fake belt that I got when I f-ckin’ went to Russia and everyone gave one to me.’ That’s what he’s gonna’ be saying, enjoying his team tiramisu like at the end of dodge ball when you have Ben Stiller eating that f-cking ice cream f-ckin’ Chuck Norris.”

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson feels like the UFC’s schedule of events is getting a little too busy. Speaking to the media during a recent scrum for his UFC 215 battle with Ray Borg, Johnson explained that he feels his upcoming fight hasn’t been properly promoted, and he believes that’s because the UFC has overextended itself. “It’s so damn hard, there’s so many UFC fights,” the champ said during his media scrum (h/t MMA Fighting). “I was literally having breakfast and I was talking to one of the guys who works for UFC and I was like yo, you guys just got back from Rotterdam, are you getting ready to go back home to Las Vegas and relax?”

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

Tony Ferguson has never been the kind of guy that holds anything back. He’ll walk into anywhere, shades permanently on his face, and speak his mind to anyone. If you’re not careful, he may start to demonstrate some new hybrid breakdance combat move that he invented right in front of you. He was in rare form though, speaking to the guys at Submission Radio while driving en route to a secluded training camp. Tony Ferguson was asked about Conor McGregor’s return and Nate Diaz, then fire emoji came out of Ferguson’s mouth one after another. “[Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor] are a bunch of b-tches. They want to go and they want to talk – look, we can f-cking put this sh-t out on video and we can make this a money fight. If you guys really wanna get gangster, let’s do that sh-t. If you want to f-cking put on money, let’s put it on paper. Nate, I will f-ckin’ Stockton slap the sh-t out of you, kid. You don’t f-cking know me, dude. Straight up. Same thing with Conor McGregor. You guys are a bunch of b-tches, and you guys are a bunch of fakes. If you wanna’ fight while we’re here in the UFC, why don’t you come and sign on the dotted line after you get your sh-t together and defend your f-cking belt, Conor?”

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

On this week’s episode of the MMA Hour, surging French heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou asserted that, because no other heavyweight contenders are available for a fight, he deserves a crack at reigning heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic. “After [Junior Dos Santos] was pulled from [our UFC 215 fight] all the top-10, almost all of the top-15 was booked,” Ngannou told host Ariel Helwani. “The only one available was [Alistair] Overeem. He said he’s injured […] and he took a little time for family.”

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is now a licensed boxer in the state of California. The Brazilian juggernaut received her license on Wednesday, per a report from Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com. The timing of Cyborg’s being granted a boxing license is quite convenient, as her current UFC contract will wrap up in October. Because she’s a UFC champion, however, the UFC will have an exclusive one-year window to negotiate a new contract with her. If the two parties don’t agree to a new deal Cyborg should, in theory, be allowed to go full-steam ahead on her long-discussed boxing career.

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

Shortly after his destruction of Zebaztian Kadestam at last weekend’s ONE Championship: Shanghai event, it was announced that Ben Askren’s next fight would be his last. His opponent in this November 24 retirement fight, it was revealed, would be Japanese lightweight veteran Shinya Aoki, who stands out as one of the finest submission players in MMA history. Speaking on BJ Penn Radio, Askren revealed that this awesome matchup was initially a surprise to even him:

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

The UFC has been looking for a main event for its October 21 return to Poland for some time. For a moment, it looked as though that main event would pit Brazilian middleweight knockout artist Thiago Santos against debuting Polish star. Unfortunately, that proposed main event fell through. Now, it seems, the promotion is close to locking down a replacement main event, and it involves all-action welterweight star Donald Cerrone. According to reports from MMAUno.com and @TalkMMA on Twitter, a bout between Cerrone and rising British striker Darren Till is being discussed as the card’s main event. When we last saw Cerrone in action, he lost a controversial decision to former welterweight champion and fellow action fighter Robbie Lawler. This loss was preceded by an upset knockout loss to the surging Jorge Masvidal. Prior to these back to back losses, Cerrone went 4-0 at welterweight, trashing Alex Oliveira, Patrick Cote, Rick Story and Matt Brown to establish himself as a legitimate contender in the division.