MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

With former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Jon “Bones” Jones currently serving a year-long suspension, MMA’s pound-for-pound debate has typically come down to one man: Flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. When Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title in November, however, he made a strong case for a spot atop the pound-for-pound list, as he was already the champion at featherweight, and he had recently won a fight at welterweight against Nate Diaz. In the opinion of UFC President Dana White, McGregor’s recent multi-weight accomplishments make it impossible to deny his status as MMA’s pound-for-pound king. White explained this feeling in an interview on The Michael Kay Show (via MMAFighting.com).

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

In one weeks’ time, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will make the first defense of her title. She will do so against former champion Ronda Rousey, who has not been seen in action since she was knocked out by a Holly Holm head kick in November of 2015. In advance of this fight, fans, pundits and fellow fighters are divided on who they think will come out on top. Some picture Rousey reclaiming the throne with a vintage victory. Others imagine Nunes mauling the long absent Rousey to retain the title. Others are unwilling to make a prediction one way or the other.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/812066749688385536 2016 has been a banner year for fun fights. The year gave us Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit. It gave us Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi. It gave us Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2, Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva, Marco Polo Reyes vs. Dong Hyun Kim, Steve Bossé vs. Sean O’Connell, and so many other unforgettable wars. Yet there’s a whole lot more to remember about the year 2016 than the violence it provided alone.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

https://twitter.com/foxsportslive/status/812125442689773570 On December 30, former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will make her first steps into the Octagon since she was knocked out cold by a Holly Holm head kick in November of 2015. She will do so in the main event of UFC 207, when she takes on the division’s current champion Amanda Nunes.

Russell Ess - December 22, 2016

Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN has announced that Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Gabi Garcia will be facing a new opponent on the New Year’s Eve card scheduled to take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Garcia’s originally scheduled opponent, 52-year-old Japanese judoka, pro wrestler, and MMA fighter Shinobu Kandori was forced out of the bout due to an injury.

Russell Ess - December 22, 2016

UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt are just a short time away from settling their feud in the Octagon. The two scrappers are set to fight in a five-round title fight in the co-main event of UFC 207 where Ronda Rousey makes her long-awaited return to challenge UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Russell Ess - December 22, 2016

The MMA community has been buzzing with the news of Cris Cyborg’s potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on December 5, 2016.

Russell Ess - December 22, 2016

Big news hit the MMA community on Thursday when the UFC released a statement that they were notified that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) informed Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on December 5, 2016. Cyborg gave a short statement to MMA Fighting following the news of the potential Anti-Doping Policy violation.

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

While a controversial split decision loss to John Lineker may have halted John Dodson’s hopes of making a statement in the bantamweight division in 2016, ‘The Magician’ is currently struggling to find a 135 pound fighter who is willing to fight him!

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

Back in October, two of the most exciting fighters in the UFC’s lighter weight divisions stepped into the Octagon in the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Portland’. Former flyweight title challenger John Dodson was looking to pick up his second straight win since returning to bantamweight, while John Lineker was looking to continue his reign of terror in the bantamweight division after being forced to move up from flyweight at the end of 2015.

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

Unfortunate news surfaced this week that UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson had injured his knee earlier this year during his 5-round war against Tim Elliot. In the opening round, Johnson was nearly submitted by the ‘TUF: Tournament of Champions’ winner, however over the course of the next four rounds, Johnson used his wrestling to dictate where the fight went, repeatedly taking Elliot down and controlling him on the ground, while looking for numerous submission attempts. Ultimately, after five hard-fought rounds, Johnson was awarded the unanimous decision win.

Russell Ess - December 22, 2016

It looks like Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt is a done deal as the UFC has announced the bout on their UFC 209 website. The heavyweight bout is the first fight to be announced by the promotion for the UFC 209 event taking place on March 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

In just over a week, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will step into the Octagon against undefeated bantamweight prospect Cody Garbrandt in a highly anticipated showdown for the bantamweight title.

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

On December 30th, in the main event of UFC 207, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will look to make her first successful title defense as she steps into the Octagon for a highly anticipated showdown with Ronda Rousey. While Nunes will be riding a 4-fight win streak into the bout, Ronda Rousey will be returning to the Octagon after suffering the first loss of her career at the hands of Holly Holm back in November of 2015 at UFC 193.

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

In an effort to once again switch things up once again, it appears as though the UFC will be making the next season of The Ultimate Fighter an all-star season, rather than bringing in a new group of contestants to compete on the show. MMAJunkie broke the news, revealing that the promotion is targeting an ‘all-star- welterweight lineup for the 25th season. The past season of the show was certainly a different one, and in the eyes of many, was the change fans were hoping for. In this past season the promotion brought in flyweight champions from various other MMA promotions, with the winner getting a fight with UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson. Ultimately, UFC vet Tim Elliot earned his way back into the promotion as he won the season.

bjpenndotcom - December 21, 2016

With just nine days to go until UFC 207, where former heavyweight champions Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum are set to have a highly anticipated rematch for the heavyweight #1 contender spot, many fans will likely be shocked to hear that Velasquez is dealing with a pretty significant injury. During his training camp for the fight, Velasquez revealed that he was already scheduled to undergo back surgery just five days after the fight. With that being said, no one could have guessed the severity of the situation.

bjpenndotcom - December 21, 2016

UFC superstar Nate Diaz has been absent from the Octagon since his UFC 202 main event scrap with Conor McGregor back in August. Following the fight, Diaz revealed that the only way he would return to the Octagon would be for a massive payday. Since then, there has been no further word on when Diaz will be returning to the Octagon, however following the recent news of Conor McGregor being granted his boxing license in California, Diaz revealed his intentions to leave MMA to pursue professional boxing:

Russell Ess - December 21, 2016

The media battle between current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather has been going on for some time now ever since the rumor came up about a potential fight, which Mayweather claims to have started himself.