MMA News

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2017

On the latest edition of his podcast, You’re Welcome, three-time UFC title challenger and current Bellator MMA star Chael Sonnen shared a pretty intense story about UFC lightweight champ and combat sports superstar Conor McGregor. Apparently, he and the Irish champ nearly came to blows a few years back. According to Sonnen, the trouble began when he asked McGregor the name of his fiancee, Dee Devlin, and McGregor misheard what he said. See a transcription of Sonnen’s account below:

Justin Golightly - August 31, 2017

Things have changed. It’s the era of the superfight and Tyron Woodley is looking for a greater challenge that will earn him larger profits. Last week, he talked about there is a shortage of contenders and he’s ready to jump up to middleweight to earn a second belt. This isn’t the first time, he wanted to arrange a fight with Michael Bisping at the very beginning of this year. Since then, he’s beat Stephen Thompson again and took out the most dangerous grappler in the division, Demian Maia. At this point, Tyron Woodley feels like the only thing separating him from being the best welterweight of all time, is beating Georges St-Pierre. In a comprehensive and in-depth interview by Mike Dyce from Sports Illustrated, Woodley made sure people knew he’s serious about this. “I wanted to go out here and beat [Demian Maia] and I wanted to fight Georges-St Pierre in November in New York City. This would’ve been the greatest year competitively and after I beat Georges, there is no question that I’ll be Fighter of the Year. I fight five title fights in 18 months and beat the greatest welterweight of all time, nobody has done anything like that in our sport. God does things on his time. He wanted me to sit down and wanted me to get some other aspects of my life back in order.”

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2017

This Saturday (September 2), the UFC will return to our screens for the first time in several weeks with UFC Fight Night 115: Struve vs. Volkov. Though UFC fight cards typically occur on Saturday evenings, this one will go down in the morning, as it broadcasts live from beautiful Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Start time is 11:30 AM ET / 8:30 AM PT for the undercard, and 3:00 PM ET /12:00 PM PT for the main card. The entire card airs on UFC Fight Pass.

Justin Golightly - August 31, 2017

Kevin Lee has quietly stacked up five straight wins, finishing four of those opponents. Fingers crossed that the card stays together, UFC 216 will push Lee into his highest profile bout yet. He’s going to headline the card against Tony Fergusonin a fight for the interim UFC lightweight title. Ferguson has already been vocal about what he’s going to do to Kevin Lee, mainly choke him until he slowly fades away into darkness. No kidding, he really said that. Of course, Lee disagreed and doubled down with the guys over at Submission Radio that he’s going to destroy Ferguson like a former Pride and UFC veteran, Quinton Jackson. “I mean, [Tony Ferguson] tries to finish everybody with that weak-ass D’arce choke. I mean, apparently the man believes in it, but he ain’t never faced nobody like me. He’s never faced a wrestler like me. He’s never faced somebody with the movement that I’ve had, especially a weak-ass D’arce choke. And look, if he gonna go for that D’arce, I’m gonna pick him up over my head and I’m gonna Rampage his ass.”

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2017

For a long time, UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson was the king of the pound-for-pound list. Then Jon Jones, the former pound-for-pound king, returned to action, knocked out Daniel Cormier to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title, and stole the top spot back. Unfortunately, Jones once again found himself in boiling hot water when news broke that he’d failed a drug test on the eve of his UFC 214 battle with Cormier. In the wake of this news, his status as pound-for-pound king was once again called into question.

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2017

Attempting an armed robbery is always a bad idea. Attempting an armed robbery on an MMA gym with the words “Fighters Made Here” emblazoned on the door ranks among the dumbest decisions a person can make. Yet that’s just what somebody did on Tuesday night, in Burbank, California. The would-be robber’s target was Defiant MMA and Fitness. He entered the gym with a handgun, which he pointed at instructors and students. Unfortunately, he then encountered Jacobe Powell, an instructor and pro fighter. Powell is reported to have knocked the gun out of the robber’s hand  – though the blood visible on said Robber’s face in the video above suggests that’s not where Powell’s work ended.

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2017

Though Conor McGregor lost his Saturday night boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., succumbing to 10th-round punches, the fight itself was a resounding success for him. Not only did he he dazzle his doubters by performing far better than expected, but he’s also likely to pocket far north of $100 million once his portion of the fight’s 6-million-plus pay-per-view sales are factored in. Yes, even in defeat, McGregor’s battle with Mayweather pushed him to new and unprecedented heights. As such, it’s going to take a special, special opponent to coax him back into the UFC’s Octagon. Former World Series of Fighting lightweight champ and current UFC standout Justin Gaethje plans to establish himself as that special opponent the only way he knows how: with extreme violence.

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2017

With the exception of his post-fight media blitz, UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor has been relatively silent since he came up short in the boxing ring opposite Floyd Mayweather last Saturday. That has now changed. Early on Thursday morning, the Irish champ took to Instagram with a lengthy statement that addressed everything from his training, to his cardio issues, to his fighting future, and even Floyd Mayweather’s chances in MMA. See McGregor’s statement in full below!

Justin Golightly - August 30, 2017

It’s finally over. Conor McGregor did his boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. Sure, he lost but everyone involved in that mega fight all came out as winners. McGregor walked away with just a black eye and $30 million just for his fight purse. He still stands to earn much more from sponsors and PPV numbers. While he won’t be able to take that extreme of a pay day back to the UFC with him, he could be able to use his new skills to improve his MMA game. That’s what Kenny Florian thinks at least. Florian spoke about what he expects from McGregor for his UFC return and who he thinks that Conor will fight. “I think Conor [McGregor] is going to learn so much from this. He’s going to come back to mixed martial arts I think even sharper, even stronger mentally, stronger physically. He’s going to be an absolute beast because there’s so many lessons that you can take away from fighting a composed and clean fighter like Mayweather.”

Justin Golightly - August 30, 2017

> Derrick Lewis isn’t called The Black Beast for nothing. Ever since UFC 192, he tore through the heavyweight division and even beat the likes of Roy Nelson and Travis Browne, before eventually losing to Mark Hunt. His next fight will be a high-profile bout against Fabricio Werdum, but it’s not the fight that everyone is talking about. Instead, the Lewis news that’s going around everywhere is his valiant efforts to help with the severe flooding in Texas. “First of all, me and my wife was watching the news and we heard that the officers are not going to be going out. The only way that they’re going to be going out is life or death situations. I seen that and I really didn’t like that so I went out and tried to help as many people as I can.”

Russell Ess - August 30, 2017

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has been busy working on his boxing training in California with world champion boxing trainer Robert Garcia. Garcia is a former world champion boxer himself and is the older brother of WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia. We’ve seen Aldo sparring at Garcia’s gym with Mexican Olympian boxer Lindolfo Delgado and impress Robert and other gym members. Now, ES News recently published footage of Jose Aldo and Mikey Garcia sparring with things looking very competitive between the two combat sports stars.

Russell Ess - August 30, 2017

Floyd Mayweather has made his fight walkouts something to talk about. From his days of having Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, and even the Burger King mascot walk out with him to the ring, Mayweather has made it a point to make his entrance to the ring a spectacle. For what has been talked about as the richest fight in the history of combat sports, Mayweather gave the viewers something to talk about as he walked out dressed in black attire with a black ski mask on.

Justin Golightly - August 30, 2017

Sometimes the MMA gods smile upon us, other times they curse us. Jon Jones allegedly popped for performance enhancing drugs and is now entitled to his due process. If the worst of the worst happens, a domino effect of consequences crashes down upon himself, the UFC, and the light heavyweight division. Jon Jones could be suspended for as long as four years. This leaves Daniel Cormier in a bad position and he may run out of time before he gets to fight Jones one last time in the Octagon. That being said, Cormier may have thought up a clever way to still fight him. Episode 5: we discuss Jones test results, Money vs Mac, movies and Dennis large pizza fetish. Listen on iTunes or https://t.co/I7SOOWnvrq pic.twitter.com/JMr89mB3sO

Tom Taylor - August 30, 2017

While Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor‘s battle raged in the the desert town of Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night, former UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and her beau, UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, tied the knot in Hawaii. From the looks of it, it was a gorgeous wedding. Unsurprisingly, this wedding was a pretty exclusive affair. That said, a well-known trio of Rousey training partners in Jessamyn Duke, Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir were obviously on site for the festivities. At some point in the night, Rousey and the three women, who together compose a quartet nicknamed The Four Horsewomen, posed for an awesome photo. See it below:

Justin Golightly - August 30, 2017

When Conor McGregor sashayed noodle-armed into the first presser with Floyd Mayweather in a suit that was pinstriped with expletives, McGregor knew a lot of people would want their own. That’s why he partnered with creator David August to make it available. Granted not everyone could own it, between the $6.5K price tag and the limited availability, a lot of would-be fashion statements never got to walk the streets. That’s why Conor McGregor and August have teamed up to release their own clothing line that’s slightly more affordable. August x McGregor and Beats by Dre! A match made in style heaven! @AugustMcGregor @beatsbydre pic.twitter.com/xMwYVB4ONi

Russell Ess - August 30, 2017

Many believed that Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor would be the richest fight in the history of combat sports by breaking the 2015 records that Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio set in 2015. Although not a sellout for the attendance at the event, Floyd Mayweather said during the post-fight press conference that they did break the record for the gate and also the pay-per-view record he and Pacquiao set in their fight. “We did break the record tonight for the biggest gate,” Mayweather stated at the post-fight press conference via MMA Weekly. “Me and Pacquiao done $72 million. I think we done somewhere over $80 million in the live gate (with McGregor).”

Justin Golightly - August 30, 2017

Conor McGregor creates his own path. The biggest dig against McGregor is that he’s never defended a title, but it’s simply because he’s not forced to. Back in the day when Georges St-Pierre was knocking off contender after contender, the UFC and MMA as a whole was different. St-Pierre may have had the opportunity to change the game by fighting Anderson Silva, but it never happened. As soon as McGregor got one title against the #1 pound-for-pound in Jose Aldo, he never looked back and used it for leverage to only compete in the biggest fights possible. Unlike GSP in his prime, McGregor is just a fighter with different goals that may not align with your ideal version of a champion. However, there is good news to the purists who want him to defend a title, but it may not happen the way you think.

Tom Taylor - August 30, 2017

Former boxing champion Paulie Malignaggi is no fan of UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor. After joining the Irishman’s camp to help him prepare for Floyd Mayweather Jr., he abruptly stormed out, feeling that he’d been unfairly represented by the champ and his team. Since then, Malignaggi has repeatedly berated McGregor in interviews and on social media. He’s also clashed with a significant portion of the MMA community, battling fans, media members, and even other fighters on Twitter. The opposition in his latest skirmish? UFC featherweight king Max Holloway. The exchange began when Malignaggi debated the prevalence of body shots in MMA with reporter Damon Martin.