MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 24, 2017

On Saturday night, the UFC debuted in Long Island, New York with UFC on Fox 25. This 14-fight card was an exciting one for fans, as we witnessed impressive finishes, brilliant comebacks, and back-and-forth wars. Unfortunately, the card was an absolute dud from a viewership perspective. In fact, it brought in the lowest overnight viewership ratings in UFC on Fox history. According to MMAFighting.com, this Fox card did 1.64 million viewers overnight. This number puts the card in the lowest-ever spot, surpassing the last UFC on Fox show, which was headlined by a flyweight title fight between Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Wilson Reis, and held the previous overnight low at 1.7 million.

Tom Taylor - July 24, 2017

This Saturday, the UFC will touch down in Anaheim, California with UFC 214. This massive card will be anchored by three anticipated title fights. The first of these three title fights will occur in the women’s featherweight division, where destructive Brazilian striker Cris “Cyborg” Justino will battle Tonya Evinger for the vacant throne. With this anticipated fight now less than a week away, Cyborg has concluded the most physical parts of her camp. On Sunday afternoon, the Brazilian star shared footage of her final sparring session to YouTube, and if this footage is to believed, she’s deadlier than ever. See Cyborg’s final sparring session in the video at the top of this post.

Tom Taylor - July 24, 2017

Earlier this month, in the main event of UFC 213, Cuba’s Yoel Romero stepped into the cage with Robert Whittaker in an interim middleweight title fight. Despite a strong start, Romero lost this fight by unanimous decision, thereby losing his chance a a title-unifying showdown with undisputed champ Michael Bisping. While Romero understands he’s lost this chance for the moment, however, he still wants to fight Bisping as soon as possible – whether it’s for the belt or not. This desire stems in large part from Bisping’s controversial ripping up of a Cuban flag during Romero’s fight with Whittaker.

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2017

Last night, in the second fight of the UFC Long Island main card, light heavyweight wrestler Patrick Cummins stepped into the cage with dangerous New Yorker Gian Villante. After three fun rounds of action, Cummins was awarded a split decision win. While Cummins will leave Long Island a winner, he certainly didn’t look the part post-fight. Shortly after having his hand-raised, the badly bruised light heavyweight was carted off to the hospital, where he was examined for any serious damage. Along the way, Cummins shared an “ambulance selfie” on Twitter, which only served to illustrate how much punishment he absorbed en route to his split win over Villante. See this photo of the black and blue Cummins below:

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2017

Last night, in the first bout of the UFC Long Island main card, streaking bantamweight contender Jimmie Rivera stepped into the cage with venomous Brazilian striker Thomas Almeida. After three fun rounds of fighting, Rivera was awarded a unanimous decision win. With this outcome, he improved to an incredible 21-1, and further cemented himself as one of the bantamweight division’s premier contenders. With this win in the rear-view, Rivera set his sights on either TJ Dillashaw, who was scheduled for a UFC 213 title fight with reigning champ Cody Garbrandt until Garbrandt withdrew with an injury, and former champion Dominick Cruz.

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2017

Roger Gracie venceu Buchecha. #GraciePro pic.twitter.com/PRZxiJjJrQ — Bruno (@Bminasi) July 23, 2017

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2017

Over the weekend, we learned that the UFC’s September 16 return to Pittsburgh, PA, will be headlined by a middleweight clash between former Strikeforce and UFC champ Luke Rockhold and former two-division World Series of Fighting champ David Branch. Since then, the promotion has confirmed five more fights for this anticipated UFC Pittsburgh card. The most high profile of these newly announced matchups will occur at middleweight, just like the main event. This fight will pit flashy striking specialist Uriah Hall against Polish powerhouse Krzysztof Jotko.

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2017

Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather’s August 26 mega fight has fans split down the middle. There are those who believe wholeheartedly that Mayweather will be too much for the inexperienced Irishman in the boxing ring, and others that are confident that McGregor can defy the odds and prove his doubters wrong once again. For the most part, interactions between these two factions of fight fans have been pretty civil, limited to social media debates and the like. Some fans, however, are getting a little bit too heated in the buildup to this massive showdown.

Tom Taylor - July 23, 2017

Jorge Masvidal doesn’t like UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. When Bisping ripped up a Cuban flag during Yoel Romero’s UFC 213 fight with Robert Whittaker – a flag Masvidal also calls his own – Masvidal’s dislike for the middleweight king ballooned even bigger. Apparently, however, his distaste for the champ is older than most fans would guess. Jorge Masvidal recounted his longstanding dislike for Bisping on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will look to take back the title he never actually lost when he squares off with current division title holder Daniel Cormier at next weekend’s UFC 214 event in Anaheim, California. The bitter rivals, Cormier and Jones, first met at UFC 182 in January of 2015 with “Bones” emerging victorious by way of unanimous decision.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman snapped his three-fight losing skid last night in New York, defeating surging contender Kelvin Gastelum via third-round submission (arm triangle choke) in the main event of UFC on FOX 25. The 25-year-old, Gastelum, did have his moments in the fight including a first-round knockdown of the “All American” after he caught Weidman with a beautiful left hand.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

UFC on FOX 25 took place last night live from Long Island, New York. In the events headliner, former UFC middleweight champion of the world Chris Weidman defeated surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum via third-round submission (arm triangle choke).

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman picked up a much needed win in the main event of last night’s UFC on FOX 25 event on Long Island, submitting surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum in the third-round. The victory snapped a three-fight losing skid for the “All American”, as Weidman had previously suffered knockout losses to Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi respectively.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Kelvin Gastelum (13-3, 1 no-contest) suffered a third-round submission loss to former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC on FOX 25 last night on Long Island, New York. The setback snapped Gastelum’s impressive three-fight win streak, which had seen Kelvin score TKO victories over Tim Kennedy and Vitor Belfort, as well as a decision win over former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

The highly anticipated rematch between former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and current division title holder Daniel Cormier will go down at UFC 214 in Anaheim, California. The bitter rivals, Jones and Cormier, joined UFC on FOX commentator Brian Stann during last night’s broadcast to discuss their upcoming fight, check it out.

Chris Taylor - July 23, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman scored his first win since May of 2015 at last night’s UFC on FOX 25 event. The “All American” submitted surging division contender Kelvin Gastelum via arm triangle choke in the third-round of their main event fight from Long Island, New York.

Chris Taylor - July 22, 2017

A key middleweight scrap between former division champion Chris Weidman and surging contender Kelvin Gastelum served as the main event of tonight’s UFC on FOX 25 fight card from Long Island, New York. Round one begins and Weidman looks absolutely huge compared to Kelvin. Gastelum takes the center of the octagon. Weidman throws a high kick but it is blocked with ease by Kelvin. A straight right hand finds a home for Weidman. He follows that up with a front kick to the body. Gastelum with a left hook that misses and Weidman scores a nice right hand. Chris shoots in and scores an easy takedown. He works a couple of short shots before Kelvin stands back up. Weidman drags Kelvin back to the floor and winds up in side control. Weidman begins working for a kimura but when he tries to extend the arm Kelvin is able to scramble back up to his feet. Kelvin partially lands a head kick. He seems to have gained some confidence now. He lands a right hook and then a straight left that floors Weidman. He hops on him with ground and pound before the horn sounds to end round one.

Chris Taylor - July 22, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will make his highly anticipated return to the octagon this September when he meets David Branch in the main event of UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh. UFC officials just broke the news during tonight’s UFC on FOX 25 broadcast.