MMA News

Russell Ess - July 25, 2017

A Chinese MMA club has sparked controversy after a video featuring the club hit the Internet. The South Morning China Post reports that police in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, have started an investigation after a video featuring two young teens fighting in a cage went viral on the Internet.

Russell Ess - July 25, 2017

Would a fight between Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar not entertain you? Well, at least one of the two former UFC champions is interested in the matchup.

Russell Ess - July 25, 2017

Many coming from the world of boxing are not giving UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor much, or any chance at all against undefeated boxing great, Floyd Mayweather. Mike Tyson has stated that McGregor is going to get “killed” against Mayweather in the boxing ring. Boxing analyst Max Kellerman went as far as to say that “The Notorious” won’t land a single punch on Mayweather during the course of their mega-money match.

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

UFC 216, which is schedule for October 7 inside Las Vegas, Nevada’s T-Mobile Arena, is reported to have grown by one interesting lightweight matchup. This matchup will pit former Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks against Nik Lentz. This news comes from MMAJunkie.com. Though Brooks stood out as one of the finest lightweights in the world at the height of his Bellator reign, his UFC career has been undeniably disappointing. After debuting with a fairly competitive decision win over Ross Pearson, he was pummelled into unconsciousness by third-round punches dealt by an overweight Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira. From there, things went from bad to worse, as he was tapped out by a standing rear-naked choke from former featherweight contender Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira. Despite his recent skid, it appears Brooks will be given an another shot against Lentz.

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

It has now been almost two months since top strawweight contender Claudia Gadelha’s last fight: a first-round submission of another top-ranked fighter in Karolina Kowalkiewicz back at UFC 212. Apparently, she’s getting eager to get back in there. On Monday, Gadelha took to Instagram to call out a fellow Brazilian contender in Jessica Andrade, who recently came up short in a bid to capture Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s well-guarded strawweight title.

bjpenndotcom - July 25, 2017

This past weekend in New York, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman managed to snap a 3-fight losing streak as he picked up an impressive, and much needed, win over Kelvin Gastelum. The win was an impressive one for Weidman, who lost the middleweight title to Luke Rockhold at UFC 194, before then dropping two more KO/TKO losses at the hands of Yoel Romero and Gegard Mousasi. The fight was Weidman’s third in his home-state of New York, however it was the first time he had been able to have his hand raised in front of his home-state fans. Weidman took to social media to reflect on what could potentially be the most memorable win of his career:

bjpenndotcom - July 25, 2017

SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh is widely credited as being a driving force in Irish superstar Conor McGregor‘s journey to the top of the fight game. Kavanagh, who has served as McGregor’s head coach since before McGregor’s UFC run, recently took to social media to reflect on his own journey as a coach: 22yrs ago I was hiring UFC 1 from a local video store. I had no idea what to expect but was hooked immediately. Today I was in the UFC’s new $15million dollar performance institute watching Boxing Hall of Famer Joe Cortez call my fighter into the middle of their boxing ring. A ring which has his own promotional logo on it beside the famous UFC logo, the first time a fighter has ever achieved this. While he gave instructions during another fight simulation preparing for the biggest fight of all time I couldn't help but think this is kinda strange. Thank you @ginger_beard_photos for pic.

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

On June 25, the UFC touched down in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with UFC Fight Night 112. In the main event, Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa went to war in a compelling clash of lightweight contenders. Unfortunately this main event was shrouded in controversy, as Lee locked up a first-round rear-naked choke, but referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the action before Chiesa actually tapped. Since then, Yamasaki has defended his stoppage, while the Oklahoma State Athletic Commission (OSAC) has denied Chiesa’s appeal. Despite this, Chiesa still feels he was shorted, and is harboring quite a bit of resentment against Yamasaki. On Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour, the lightweight even challenged the referee to a September 30 grappling match.

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

Earlier this year, in the main event of UFC 208, Germaine de Randamie claimed the UFC women’s featherweight title with a decision defeat of Holly Holm. Unfortunately, her title reign hit a snag when she refused to fight long-time contender Cris “Cyborg” Justino on the basis of Cyborg’s previous failed drug test. Unwilling to promote a champion who refused to fight top contenders, the UFC slammed down the gavel and stripped de Randamie of her title. While this was an undeniably unfortunate twist for the Dutch striking specialist, she explained on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that the comments she received from her critics were far more stressful than the actual loss of her title.

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

Not long ago, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones Tweeted that he had received a surprise phone call from middleweight legend Anderson Silva. During yesterday’s UFC 214 conference call, Jones elaborated that Silva’s call surrounded Jones’ UFC 214 title fight with Daniel Cormier. Apparently, Silva wanted to assure the former champ that Cormier has “fear in his heart” – which makes him a beatable opponent for Jones. Jones paraphrased Anderson’s Silva’s words (h/t MMAFighting.com).

Tom Taylor - July 25, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, light heavyweight rivals Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones spoke on the official UFC 214 media conference call. One of the more interesting moments of this call occurred after Cormier once again suggested Jones had abused steroids throughout his title reign. Though Jones initially ignored this comment, he later went off on Cormier for attacking his character, and claimed that, deep down, Cormier knows he never did steroids. “This whole thing that we’re going through, it has become an attack on my character,” Jones said (h/t MMAFighting.com). “That’s all this thing is, is an attack on my character. When people ask Daniel what he thinks about me inside the Octagon, he has sh*t to say about me.

Chris Taylor - July 24, 2017

UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes was involved in a horrific accident on June 16 when his pickup truck was struck by an oncoming train in Raymond, Illinois. Hughes was airlifted to a nearby hospital immediately following the accident and it was later revealed that the former UFC welterweight champion of the world was in a coma.

Chris Taylor - July 24, 2017

Boxing legend Mike Tyson is not giving current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor a snowballs chance in hell of beating Floyd Mayweather in next month’s boxing match in Las Vegas. In a recent interview with the “Pardon My Take” podcast, Tyson stated that that the Irish MMA star is “going to get killed” when he squares off with the undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather in Sin City.

Chris Taylor - July 24, 2017

Undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will not be fighting Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas. TSN Sports Aaron Bronsteter tweeted out the following information earlier today explaining that the Russian sensation was offered an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, but ultimately turned it down so that he could have more time to prepare.

Russell Ess - July 24, 2017

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has tasted defeat just three times in his 29-fight pro career. With coming off a UFC featherweight title fight loss to Max Holloway at UFC 212, “Scarface” knows that he has to earn his way back to another chance at fighting for the title once again.

Russell Ess - July 24, 2017

Dwayne Johnson, who some may know better as “The Rock,” has been a long time fan of mixed martial arts and has even been one to show his backing and support for our very own BJ Penn. Now one of the biggest actors in Hollywood, Johnson revealed on a recent episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast that he was once considering a career in mixed martial arts.

Tom Taylor - July 24, 2017

For a time, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley did not see eye-to-eye with the UFC. He and company president Dana White exchanged negative remarks in the media on more than one occasion, and their relationship appeared to be somewhat strained. More recently, however, Woodley, the UFC and White seemed to be getting along swimmingly. Woodley even attended White’s son’s birthday party. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, the welterweight champ confirmed that things have indeed improved between himself and the promotion, and explained what led to this improved relationship.

Tom Taylor - July 24, 2017

Back in February, Dutch striking specialist Germaine de Randamie defeated Holly Holm by decision to become the first-ever UFC women’s featherweight champion. Though hers was a somewhat controversial win, it was a definite feel-good moment for the Dutchwoman and her fans. Unfortunately, her reign took a rather unfortunate turn several months later, when she refused to defend her title against top contender Cris “Cyborg” Justino, citing Cyborg’s previous failed drug test as a reason. Given that Cyborg has proven herself to be a clean fighter and a deserving title challenger, De Randamie was stripped of the title by the UFC. Cyborg will now battle Tonya Evinger for the vacant throne at UFC 214 this Saturday. On the latest edition of The MMA Hour, the former champion De Randamie recounted the process that led to the UFC stripping her of the title.