MMA News

Justin Golightly - August 18, 2017

The former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman is in a sort of limbo right now. He broke his losing streak by beating Kelvin Gastelum and you’d think he’d be on his way back towards that title, but his path isn’t that clear. He’s keeping his eye on a rematch with Luke Rockhold, but keeping a move to light heavyweight in his back pocket in case it’s a shorter line to the title. Meanwhile, on the outer fringes of the sport, Weidman thinks that Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather’s paths are much clearer. Not only that, but Weidman believes we’ve not seen the last of them by a long shot. “Yeah, I mean I think I have [McGregor] winning now. I think he’s gonna win. That’s my last prediction. Third-round knockout. It’s just a gut feeling, just I’m feeling it. I think it’s gonna happen and then they’re going to have a second fight, Mayweather’s gonna win that and then next thing you know they got a Conor verses Floyd trilogy, and everybody’s spent 300 bucks, which means 500 million for each of them.” — Chris Weidman via Submission Radio.

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

By now, you’ve probably watched Conor Mcgregor’s Schrödinger’s knockdown on Paul Malignaggi at least a hundred times. You’ve analyzed it, dissected it, maybe even seen it in slo-mo or frame-by-frame in GIF format. Ever since Dana White “leaked” the footage, the world has gone crazy. For some, it answered the questions they had, others weren’t so satisfied. Either way, people still want the full, unedited footage. That will never happen, but fans and media alike expected some new glimpses of the infamous sparring session to end up on Showtime’s All Access special on Mayweather vs. McGregor. According to Dana White, Showtime rejected the footage and didn’t want it to air, but that turns out to be fake news. Stephen Espinoza, executive vice president and general manager of Showtime Sports, says it was actually Conor McGregor who decided the footage would not be shown.

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

  It may not compare to last year’s UFC debut at Madison Square Garden, but UFC 217 is definitely stacked. According to Jorge Masvidal, after a little bit of social media trash talk, the huge event just got more violent. On his Twitter, Gamebred announced that he and “Wonderbread” Stephen Thompson will fight each other to see who can get back in the title contention. Holy crap, it’s going to be Miami backyard brawlin’ going toe-to-head with down South Karate.

Russell Ess - August 17, 2017

Former two-weight boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi has been a common name seen in the media headlines recently. The reasons being Malignaggi’s boxing career tethered to his controversial experience in Conor McGregor’s training camp for his mega-million dollar fight against Floyd Mayweather. Malignaggi is no longer helping with McGregor’s training camp as he removed himself after they had a fallout when less than flattering photos of Malignaggi were released from their sparring session. However, Malignaggi’s insight of what he experienced during the training camp is something the media and fans can’t get enough of.

Russell Ess - August 17, 2017

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are scheduled to fight once again at UFC 215. Nunes and Shevchenko first met in the Octagon in March of last year at UFC 196 where Nunes won a unanimous decision after Shevchenko turned things up in the third round. The two were set to fight in the main event of UFC 213 in July, however, Nunes pulled out of the bout the day of the scheduled fight after feeling ill.

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

Isn’t it annoying  when you’re the biggest Conor McGregor fan on the planet and you get a text from someone that you don’t even know? Now, you can send that guy an audio clip of your favorite fighter asking, ‘who the fook’ he is. Maybe you’re a kid and your mom is hassling you to do your chores, just say no, whip out your iPhone and have McGregor tell her that she’ll do “nootin.” Hell, ask your boss for a raise and if he refuses, let the Champ Champ scream that without you, this whole f-ckin’ ship sinks! There are many, many more uses for this glorified Yak Bak that McGregor has just came out with called MacTalk. They call it smack talk, I call it MacTalk! Download the official @MacTalkApp today! Available NOW!https://t.co/5alzUewac2. pic.twitter.com/6fuuEumoED

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

On August 26, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will step into the boxing ring with undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. In the buildup to this fight, many members of the combat sports community have offered insights, expectations and predictions for it. One of the latest to do so is Richard Perez, who serves as the boxing coach for Nick and Nate Diaz – the latter of whom stands out as McGregor’s fiercest rival. Perez discussed this upcoming boxing match on the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio. In his opinion, McGregor has a few dangerous weapons at his disposal, but they probably won’t be enough.

Russell Ess - August 17, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum is reportedly making an October return to the Octagon at UFC 216. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani tweeted on Thursday that the UFC was targeting Werdum, the current #2 UFC ranked heavyweight, to take on #7 ranked heavyweight Derrick Lewis on October 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

In the buildup to his August 26 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., many pundits have argued that Conor McGregor’s only chance at a victory is a puncher’s chance. In the opinion of Richard Perez, who serves as the boxing coach for McGregor’s arch-rival Nate Diaz, McGregor doesn’t even have that. Richard Perez also believes McGregor’s cardio issues – which plagued him in his fights with Diaz – will be a problem against Mayweather, and that the Irishman might resort to shady tactics to combat this problem. “No, he doesn’t have a punchers chance – and he gasses out,” Perez said on Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio. “I don’t care how hard he trains. They’ve got to watch out for him, because he’s probably going to take the substance that he did when he [fought] with Nathan, that woke him up. I know they’re taking tests, but they’ve got to be careful with that because he will do it. There’s no way he’s going to do this without taking any substances, and be strong in boxing, because boxing is a lot of stamina.”

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

After suffering three straight losses to the top of the division’s heap, Chris Weidman finally secured a win over Kelvin Gastelum. The luck of the All-American may be looking up, but the outlook of the UFC’s middlweight division he calls home is still murky. Georges St-Pierre swooped down like some MMA super hero and cut everybody in line to fight Michael Bisping. With an already arduous path back to title contention, Weidman is getting together a contingency plan and thinks he found a short cut to another UFC belt by moving up. That’s right, Weidman could move up to light heavyweight. “Yeah, definitely there has to be a clear picture. Like I said, my goal is to be the champ and there’s no way of me getting to have the belt for two years or more just based on other people taking their time with taking fights. It’s a weird place to be, it’s not interesting. I mean, if 185 doesn’t like, things don’t change, I want to maybe think about possibly going to 205. So we’ll see.”

Justin Golightly - August 17, 2017

It’s time for a quick survey: Are you caught up on Japanese pro wrestling? Do you like to spend your days covered in grease, tinkering with badass American muscle cars? On a Friday night, are you more likely to be drinking from a goblet and playing Magic the Gathering than out at a club? Have you ever powerbombed someone? If you asked yes to any of the above questions, you came to the right place. If you answered yes to all of these questions, you’re probably Josh Barnett. Former UFC champion and battle-proven Warmaster, Barnett is a notorious metal head. When he’s not running commentary for New Japan Pro Wrestling or doing a million other things, you could see him at your favorite band’s show sacrificing people off the stage to the writhing mosh pit below. Thanks to the wonders of technology, Barnett has painstakingly put together “The World’s Most Metal Playlist” on Spotify and made it public.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

Pretty much very everybody has a prediction for the upcoming boxing mega fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor. That includes pop sensation Justin Bieber. Bieber made his prediction during a recent chat with TMZ, explaining that while he is “team Mayweather”, he doesn’t expect the undefeated pugilist to win by knockout.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

Last night, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor appeared on the Conan O’Brien show to discuss his August 26 boxing match with the undefeated Floyd Mayweather. As always, McGregor was pure confidence and bravado. “I said [I’d win inside] four [rounds], but that’s me being humble,” the champ told Conan O’Brien (h/t MMAFighting.com). “I don’t believe he will even exit the first round, but I’m trying to be humble on national TV. So I say four — inside four.”

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

Mid-way through 2016, the UFC was sold to WME-IMG for upward of $4 billion. Needless to say, those that had a stake in the company at the time pocketed a pretty penny. One of the most significant owners at the time of the sale was Frank Fertitta, brother of Lorenzo Fertitta. Together, the brothers owned 81% of the mixed martial arts promotion. It is estimated that, with the sale of the UFC, Frank Fertitta pocketed about $800 million, which in turn elevated his net worth to something in the area of $2 billion. In other words, he’s loaded. According to New York Post columnist Jennifer Gould Keil, the absurdly wealthy Fertitta recently made a pretty extravagant purchase, buying a Manhattan penthouse with a price tag of $70 million.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, who also contended for the title at middleweight, has not been seen in the cage since June of 2015, when he was smashed to a third-round TKO by the ever-dangerous Yoel Romero. The reason for the former champ’s prolonged absence is an unfortunate USADA-administered suspension stemming from his admitted but inadvertent use of the banned substance 7-Keto-DHEA. Luckily, Machida’s 18-month sit has almost reached its expiration date, and as such, his return is reportedly in the works. According to a report from Combate, a bout between Machida and fellow middleweight contender Derek Brunson is in the works for an October 28 Fight Night card in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The report also says that, if signed, the fight would serve as the main event.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

It’s official. UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt the very first defense of his bantamweight title at UFC 217, this November 4 in New York City, New York. His opponent will be his arch rival, former champion TJ DIllashaw. Though this bout has long been expected to occur at this November card, which goes down inside Madison Square Garden, it was only just set in stone by the UFC. The promotion announced the fight on UFC Tonight, then on social media. It’s finally coming down!!! @Cody_NoLove vs @TJDillashaw at #UFC217 🎟🎟 Sept. 15

Chris Taylor - August 16, 2017

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez will return to welterweight on November 11 when he meets “The Immortal” Matt Brown at UFC Fight Night 120 in Norfolk, Virginia. UFC officials just announced the scrap.

Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017

  Conor McGregor pre-fight conference calls have always been a must-listen, so of course you can’t miss the audio from today’s May/Mac call. In less than two weeks, McGregor will step into the ring and box Floyd Mayweather. However, it’s that other boxer that keeps creeping into the conversation. After ‘knocking down’ Paul Malignaggi in sparring and Dana White leaking the footage out of spite, he’s so pissed off he actually wants to box McGregor for real. Would McGregor be down for that? Ariel Helwani asked the (potentially multi) million dollar question to McGregor on the media call, of course his answer wasn’t surprising.