MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2017

On September 9, in the main event of UFC 215, red-hot flyweight contender Ray Borg will attempt to spoil the record-breaking 11th-straight title defense of dominant divisional king Demetrious Johnson. In fact, Borg plans to go even further, as he recently told reporters he’d beat Johnson with such severity that he not only loses the title, but retires outright. Unsurprisingly, Johnson wasn’t pleased with these comments:

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2017

Last weekend, Conor McGregor came up short in his anticipated boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., succumbing to 10th round punches. While this loss can be primarily attributed to Mayweather’s fantastic ring craft, it can also be stacked up to McGregor’s cardio issues – issues that also plagued him in his two Octagon battles with Nate Diaz. On the most recent episode of his podcast Believe You Me, UFC middleweight champ weighed in on McGregor’s cardio woes:

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2017

Back in July 0f 2015, Canadian welterweight contender Rory MacDonald and then UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler co-authored one of the greatest fights in MMA history. In the end, Lawler would win this bloody battle, putting his foe down with a fifth-round volley. In the opinion of MacDonald, however, there should be an asterisk attached to Lawler’s TKO victory. He believes the former champ was on performance enhancers at the time of their fight. MacDonald made this claim during a recent AMA on Reddit, responding to a question from user cczzrr.

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2017

On October 7, in the main event of the stacked UFC 216, streaking lightweight contender Tony Ferguson will battle Kevin “The Motown Phenom” Lee for interim lightweight gold. According to a massive billboard Ferguson recently encountered, however, his fight with Lee will actually be for interim featherweight gold. Quick, somebody tell featherweight champ Max Holloway!

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

Stefan Struve suffered a third-round TKO loss to Alexander Volkov in the main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 115 fight card in Rotterdam. “The Skyscraper” had a solid opening few minutes, but eventually the tide turned in favor of his opponent “Drago” midway through round two.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

Current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor put on an incredible performance in his boxing debut last weekend in Las Vegas against Floyd Mayweather. The Irish superstar was eventually stopped in the tenth round by the legendary undefeated boxer, but still McGregor’s stock did nothing but rise in defeat.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is looking massive in preparation for his UFC 217 title fight with current middleweight champion Michael Bisping. The Canadian superstar, “GSP, recently took to Twitter where he shared the following picture showing off his size as a middleweight.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

Today’s ‘UFC Fight Night 115’ event in Rotterdam, Netherlands delivered with some memorable fights and solid finishes. With that said, the UFC handed out three “Performance of the night” awards at this afternoon’s UFC Fight Night 115 post-fight press conference.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

A heavyweight scrap between perennial division contenders Stefan Struve and Alexander Volkov served as the main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 115 fight card in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Round one begins and Struve lands a right hand early. Both fighters fire off low kicks. Volkov lands another. He goes to the body with a right hand. Struve responds with a hard jab. He lands a flying knee and then misses with an uppercut. Struve circles and then lands a low kick. Volkov presses forward and lands an uppercut. Struve gets off of the fence and takes the center of the cage. He fires off a pair of left jabs. Struve with a head kick. Volkov catches the strike and lands a takedown. Struve is back to his feet and scores with a massive uppercut. He lands another. Volkov appears to be stunned. He retreats and then lands a nice kick to the body of Stefan. Struve returns fire with a body kick of his own. He attempts a knee. Volkov looks frustrated now. Struve with another big uppercut. The fighters clinch and Volkov lands a nice knee inside. They break and Struve just misses with a head kick. He leaps in with a knee that cuts Volkov. Alexander scores a takedown and winds up in half guard. He begins raining down some serious ground and pound. The horn sounds to end round one.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

A middleweight scrap between Siyar Bahadurzada and Rob Wilkinson served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 115 fight card in Rotterdam. Round one begins and Wilkinson lands a low kick to start things off. Rob is walking forward early here. He lands a push kick to the body and then another. Siyar needs to find a way inside. Wilkinson misses with a head kick and Bahadurzada lands a nice right hand. They break and Wilkinson misses with another head kick attempt. He paws with his left jab and then throws a kick to the body of Siyar. Bahadurzada circles and then lands a right hand over the top. Wilkinson shoots in and unloads a knee. Siyar is pressed up against the cage but fires off a knee from the position. Wilkinson scores a takedown. Siyar scrambles right back to his feet. They battle against the cage exchanging knees. Siyar lands a nice left hook as they break. Ninety seconds remain. Siyar with a huge switch kick to the body. That hurt Wilkinson. Siyar attempts a d’arce choke. It is tight. Wilkinson scrambles and breaks free. We are back to standing and Wilkinson presses Siyar against the cage. He lands another big takedown. Siyar immediately scrambles back up to his feet. A good knee lands for Rob. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

A women’s bantamweight scrap between Talita Bernardo and Marion Reneau kicked off today’s UFC Fight Night 115 main card in Rotterdam. Round one begins and Reneau starts off quickly. She fires off a combination followed by a hard low kick. Marion utilizing some serious forward pressure early. She throws another low kick but Talita catches it and scores a takedown. She immediately attempts to pass the guard of Reneau. Marion is not having that. Bernardo with some punches from the top. Marion scrambles and attempts to sweep the Brazilian. She winds up on top but Talita drops for a heel hook. Marion escapes the submission and then rolls for an armbar. She transitions to a triangle choke. It looks deep. Talita remains calm and eventually escapes. She stays in top position to close out round one.

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

After Conor McGregor lost to Floyd Mayweather, you sure couldn’t say he appeared defeated just by looking at him. He was all smiles, his new brand of whiskey in hand, addressing the media at the podium like a man who just closed the business deal of a lifetime. In a way, that’s exactly what happened. Back in October of 2016, McGregor’s net winnings so far in his career topped $22 million, according to Forbes. Conor McGregor made more than that just walking in the door of the T-Mobile arena to box ‘Money’ Mayweather. Numbers started to roll in and the urge to brag was much too great. On Twitter, Mayweather posted a photo comparing his fight with McGregor to a world record-breaking bank heist. Not to be outdone, McGregor wants whom it may concern to know that he got out with more than his fair share as well. Today he slapped a picture of himself on the internet mid-jaw stretch, complete with a caption ripe with metaphor.

Chris Taylor - September 2, 2017

UFC lightweight standout Mairbek Taisumov just scored another highlight reel finish, this time over Felipe Silva at UFC Rottterdam. Taisumov was able to catch Silva with a beautifully timed right hand that sent Felipe crashing face first to the canvas.

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

Thanks to Thibault Goulti, UFC Rotterdam just kicked off a couple of hours ago in exciting fashion. Don’t blink yet though, the thrills aren’t stopping anytime soon. This guy Zabit Magomedsharipov made his UFC debut against Mike Santiago and stole the show. Sure, it was only the third fight of the card and there are a lot more face-punching to be had, but we think you’ll agree after you see these highlights. Zabit is an absolute madmad. Exhibit A: The Showtime Kick 

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

It’s Labor Day weekend and someone must have clued the UFC matchmakers in on it. Instead of forcing people to cancel their social obligations on Saturday night, we were delivered UFC Rotterdam  just before lunch (11:45AM on the East coast) or right during breakfast (8:45AM PT). So, whether you’re nursing a hangover with some greasy sausage for brunch, or pouring a big salad bowl full of cereal, there’s a UFC card going on. The action didn’t wait for early viewers to wipe the crust out of their eyes either, Thibault Gouti took it to Andrew Holbrook and finished him in a single round. https://twitter.com/Jonnyboy_6969/status/904011562758934529

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

Francis Ngannou is a guy that no one seems to want to fight. He was supposed to fight Junior dos Santos at the upcoming UFC 215 card, but JDS was pulled due to an unfortunate potential anti-doping violation by USADA. Since then, he’s called out Alistair Overeem and even UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic himself. Neither accepted the fight. It looks like it was just bad timing though, because Overeem just announced at a recent Q & A that he’s down to fight Ngannou. Not only that, but they could square off in the Octagon at UFC 217 or UFC 219. https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/901165201273126912

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

Ben Askren retains his title, tells @awawisconsin to get ready to get back to work on Tuesday. @FloWrestling #ONEShanghai pic.twitter.com/Hca3VTkJTY — FloCombat (@FloCombat) September 2, 2017

Justin Golightly - September 2, 2017

In November, Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping will fight for the middleweight title at Madison Square Garden while others in the division wait. With two wins in Chris Weidman’s last five fights, combined with his division’s title picture, Weidman is looking for other options. Weidman mentioned last month that he was thinking about a move to light heavyweight, but yesterday he talked more about the potential jump. It looks like this is something he’s seriously considering. “If 185’s not somewhere I’m going to fight for the title in the next two years or a year and a a half… who knows? If I do everything right, that’s just crazy to me. Who knows… 205 [pounds], we’ll see. I mean I’m open. I just want the belt. I would definitely consider it. I think I would be good at 205, but it would have to be the right thing. It would have to be where I know to find my way to the title. I’m not looking to fight just to fight. I want the belt. If there’s a clear path at 205, then that’s where I’ll head.”