MMA News

Russell Ess - December 20, 2016

Ramsay, Tyson, Eubank, Steve Austin, DeNiro, Pacino, Pesci, Trump & McGregor chat to Wanderlei Silva ahead of #bellator169 #bamma27 pic.twitter.com/morQ6DtpQ2 — Al Foran Comedy (@ImpressionistAL) December 16, 2016

Russell Ess - December 20, 2016

Both Nick and Nate Diaz are known for their never-ending offense and their iron chins that many fighters can’t seem to figure out. While appearing as a guest on The Jasta Show recently, Nick talked about his younger brother Nate’s durability as well as his own.

Russell Ess - December 20, 2016

Many people tend to get a little bit bolder when they have some liquid courage in them. We’ve seen countless videos on the Internet of drunken everyday folks test who want to test their combat skills against bouncers and sometimes trained fighters who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Russell Ess - December 20, 2016

https://youtu.be/IV2LGYlvU_4 Five-time World’s Strongest Man champion Mariusz Pudzianowski has found a new home in the sport of mixed martial arts. After winning the World’s Strongest Man competition numerous times, the intimidating Polish athlete found a new passion for competition in combat sports.

Russell Ess - December 20, 2016

Northen California natives Urijah Faber, Nick and Nate Diaz were a part of the mixed martial arts scene in the early days helping to open the eyes of many to the sport we love today.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

When the UFC was purchased by WME-IMG earlier this year, there followed a wave of controversial layoffs, as everyone from Tom Wright to social media specialist Shanda Maloney lost their jobs. The latest high-profile UFC employees on the chopping block were UFC Hall of Famers Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell, who were given desk jobs with the company when they hung up their gloves. Interestingly, however, fellow Hall of Famer Forrest Griffin, who was given a similar position when he retired from fighting, was not canned by the company.

bjpenndotcom - December 20, 2016

Just last month, UFC superstar Conor McGregor made the move to lightweight to fight Eddie Alvarez in the main event of the UFC’s historic inaugural event at the Madison Square Garden. McGregor made quick work of Alvarez, securing himself a dominant second round TKO win after dropping the MMA veteran just moments into the fight. The win not only marked a successful UFC lightweight debut for McGregor, but saw him crowned as the first ever simultaneous two-division UFC champion. Following the fight, McGregor revealed that he would be taking some time off from fighting, due to the upcoming birth of his firstborn child. UFC President Dana White followed up McGregor’s announcement by revealing several weeks later that the Irish superstar would be on the sidelines for 10 months.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

Last weekend, the UFC touched down in Sacramento, California with UFC on Fox 22. In the card’s main event, 22-year-old strawweight prospect Paige VanZant had the opportunity to score a huge win in front of her adopted hometown as she took on former Invicta atomweight champion Michelle Waterson. Regrettably for VanZant and her fans in attendance, she was quickly put to sleep by a Waterson rear-naked choke, coming up short for the third time in three fights.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

Earlier this month, the UFC touched down in Albany New York with UFC Fight Night 102. In the main event, rising heavyweight Derrick Lewis took on Dagestani prospect Shamil Abdurakhimov. Though Lewis didn’t exactly dazzle in this fight, he was ultimately able to put Abdurakhimov away with a fourth-round TKO. In the wake of this win, Lewis was incredibly critical of his own performance, telling Octagon-side commentator Jon Anik that it was one of the “terriblest” fights of his career. When asked by Anik who he would like to fight next, Lewis explained that he had plans to call out Travis Browne or Mark Hunt, but wasn’t sure if this was the right move given his less-than-stellar performance.

bjpenndotcom - December 20, 2016

In just under two weeks, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will step into the Octagon against undefeated Team Alpha Male prospect Cody Garbrandt for a highly anticipated fight for Cruz’ bantamweight title. With less than two weeks to go until fight night, the trash talk between the pair has certainly continued to increase, however the pair have been going back and forth in the media for quite some time. During the UFC on FOX 22 broadcast this past weekend, the pair were both in attendance, however they were separated for a video interview, which resulted in quite a bit of trash talk, most of which ended up being censored by the FOX broadcasting team.

bjpenndotcom - December 20, 2016

This past weekend, in the co-main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Sacramento’, UFC prospects Sage Northcutt & Mickey Gall stepped into the Octagon for a highly anticipated showdown. Although Northcutt went into the fight with quite a bit more experience, it was the grappling of Gall that proved to be the difference maker.

bjpenndotcom - December 20, 2016

This past weekend, fight fans tuned in to UFC on FOX 22, also known as ‘UFC Fight Night: Sacramento’ for an action packed night of fights. While the preliminary card was certainly an exciting one, it was the main card on ‘Big Fox’ that left fight fans talking. To kick off the main card, undefeated welterweight prospect Mike Perry stepped into the Octagon to fight Alan Jouban. The two men went to war, as Jouban used his precise striking to pick apart, and drop Perry several times throughout the fight, ultimately earning himself a unanimous decision win.

bjpenndotcom - December 20, 2016

Shortly following the news of the UFC being sold to WME-IMG, it was revealed that the promotion was looking to replace the ‘hype master’ style of commentating provided by Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan in order to potentially strike a new TV deal. This was followed by Eddie Bravo potentially slipping up on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience when he asked who would be replacing Mike Goldberg in the commentary booth. Bravo’s question was met by a period of awkward silence from Joe Rogan and Brendan Schaub, before the duo attempted to pretend the comment was a misunderstanding.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

Over the last few years, the UFC has tapped into a veritable gold mine of talent in Russia. The most notable Russian fighter on the UFC roster, of course, is Dagestan’s Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is currently banging on the door of lightweight champ Conor McGregor with both hands. In addition to Nurmagomedov, the UFC is now home to Russian talents like Rustam Khabilov, Ruslan Magomedov, Ali Bagautinov, Albert Tumenov, Oleksiy Oliynyk, Omari Akhmedov, Alexander Volkov, Rashid Magomedov, Alexander Yakovlev, Shamil Abdurakhimov, and others. The list is always growing.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

https://twitter.com/foxsportslive/status/811053291945664512 The next UFC event on the calendar–and also the last of the year–will be UFC 207, which will emanate from Las Vegas, Nevada on December 30. The main event of this card will see Ronda Rousey make her long-awaited comeback against reigning women’s bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes. The co-main event, meanwhile, will occur in the men’s bantamweight division, as champion Dominick Cruz attempts to defend his title against undefeated challenger Cody Garbrandt.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

In November of last year, Holly Holm shocked the world by ending the seemingly unshakeable reign of long-time women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. She did so with a highlight reel, second-round head-kick knockout. It was far and away the biggest moment of her career. Unfortunately, things have not gone well for Holm since then. In her first defense as champion, she gave up an early lead to surrender to a fifth-round rear-naked choke applied by Miesha Tate. In her next bout thereafter, Holm failed to get back on track, giving up a unanimous decision to Valentina Shevchenko in a fairly forgettable fight. These two losses have deflated most of the mystique she gained by knocking out Rousey.

Russell Ess - December 19, 2016

Renown kickboxing and Muay Thai fighter Tiffany van Soest made history recently by becoming the first-ever female champion in the Glory kickboxing promotion. Van Soest fought twice on December 10 in the Women’s Super-Bantamweight Grand Prix to claim the title. Van Soest first met Jessica Gladstone in the semifinal, taking a unanimous decision win and then picked up another unanimous decision win over Amel Dehby in the tournament final to become the division’s champion.

Russell Ess - December 19, 2016

Straight Blast Gym head coach John Kavanagh, who has led UFC superstar Conor McGregor to the top of the fight game is putting the safety of his fighters ahead of anything else for 2017. Kavanagh, who runs SBG Ireland where Conor McGregor has trained from a young age before making his way into the UFC, has gained a lot of attention with the massive success of the current UFC lightweight champion.