MMA News

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.

Russell Ess - December 19, 2016

UFC interim featherweight champion Max Holloway is already building up the expected fight with the undisputed featherweight champion Jose Aldo. With his humorous #WheresJoseWaldo campaign launched upon winning the interim title in the five-round fight against Anthony Pettis, the young and active Hawaiian is making his case for what is behind his UFC title.

Russell Ess - December 19, 2016

Sage Northcutt was handed his second loss in his professional mixed martial arts record on Saturday’s UFC on FOX 22 event that took place in Sacramento, California. Northcutt met Mickey Gall who is another rising star in the Octagon and jumped up from lightweight to welterweight for the bout. Gall called Northcutt out for the challenge in his post-fight Octagon interview after he beat former WWE supserstar CM Punk at UFC 203.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

One of the highlights of last weekend’s UFC on Fox 22 broadcast was an interview facilitated by Jon Anik, featuring bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and his UFC 207 challenger Cody Garbrandt. Yet while the two fighters delivered a fairly memorable exchange, they were not actually side by side. Though they were both on site at the arena, they participated in this interview from different locations. During an appearance on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Garbrandt explained to host Ariel Helwani that this was not supposed to be the way things unfolded. Instead, he was told that he and the champion would be face to face. He believes the plans were changed because Cruz got scared.

Russell Ess - December 19, 2016

An unlikely trio was seen together backstage at the UFC on FOX 22 event that was held over the weekend in Sacramento, California. Stockton, California bad boys Nick and Nate Diaz were seen talking with Sage Northcutt backstage and Nick apparently posted a photo together along with fellow-UFC fighter Leslie Smith on his Snapchat account.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC on Fox 22, former Invicta Fighting Championship atomweight queen Michelle Waterson scored a huge win over highly regarded prospect Paige VanZant. Waterson earned this win by putting VanZant to sleep with a first-round rear-naked choke. In victory, the former Invicta champ continues her march up the UFC strawweight rankings, where a plethora of exciting matchups await. Though the UFC’s matchmaking team has a long list of potential matchup options to consider when booking Waterson’s next fight, a recent callout from one of the division’s top fighters might have made their job a lot easier. That fighter is Rose Namajunas, a former title challenger who currently holds the number-four spot in the divisional rankings.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

The curtains have now closed on the hall of fame worthy career of Urijah Faber. The former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champ partook in the final fight of his career on the main card of Saturday’s UFC on Fox 22, where he defeated England’s Brad Pickett by unanimous decision. Though Faber has plenty on the go with which to support himself in his post-fighting life, he was compensated quite well for the final fight of his career. He will not go hungry any time soon, having earned more than any other fighter on the UFC on Fox 22 bill with a payday of $320,000.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

The next UFC event on the horizon is UFC 207, which will go down on December 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This card will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Amanda Nunes, and once-dominant former champion Ronda Rousey.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

Later this month, Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation will close out 2016 with an epic openweight grand Prix. The quarterfinal round of this tournament will occur on December 29, while the semifinals and finals will occur on December 31. To the elation of fans everywhere, Rizin stacked this tournament with big names, as Pride legends Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Wanderlei Silva and even retired former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin were pencilled into the brackets. Unfortunately, several of these names have been forced to withdraw from the rapidly approaching tournament.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

https://twitter.com/MightyMouseUFC/status/810666842540756992?s=09 In 2015, the UFC partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in an effort to clean up the sport. Since then, the organization has made a seemingly endless list of PED busts, many of which involved high profile fighters like Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar.

Chris Taylor - December 18, 2016

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will make her long awaited octagon return in less than two weeks when she challenges Amanada Nunes for the women’s 135-pound title in the main event of UFC 207 on December 30 in Las Vegas. Rousey has not competed since her shocking knockout loss to Holly Holm, which occurred in the main event of UFC 193 in November of 2015.

Chris Taylor - December 18, 2016

https://youtu.be/rvvvrFFczY8 Current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor was recently interview by RTE where he discussed a number of topics including the news that the UFC had stripped him of his featherweight title.

Chris Taylor - December 18, 2016

UFC welterweight prospect Mickey Gall was able to score another submission victory at UFC on FOX 22 last night in Sacramento, this after he forced fellow prospect Sage Northcutt to tapout to a rear-naked choke hold in the evenings co-main event. Following the victory, Gall revealed that he plans on moving down to the UFC lightweight division and then proceeded to callout former welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy who has been rumored to be making a comeback.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2016

https://twitter.com/thesportsjunky1/status/810357025372860416 Urijah Faber wasn’t the only combat sports legend to retire this weekend. On Saturday night, 51-year-old boxing legend Bernard Hopkins also competed in the final fight of his career. He did so in his first fight in 15 months, against a hand-picked opponent in the 27-year-old Joe Smith.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2016

One of the most anticipated features of Saturday’s UFC on Fox 22 lineup was a welterweight showdown between scrappy fan favorites Mike Perry and Alan Jouban. Given the pair’s proven propensity for violence, the possibility of a knockout in this fight seemed high. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a knockout. In fact, we didn’t even get an especially competitive fight. Instead, Jouban soundly out-struck Perry for three rounds, battering him with a diversified Muay Thai attack and staying out of the way of his crippling power punches. The end result, then, was a clear-cut decision win for Jouban.

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2016

Shortly after he spoiled the MMA debut of pro wrestling star CM Punk earlier this year, Mickey Gall took the opportunity to call out fellow prospect Sage Northcutt. Not long after this callout was issued, it was announced that Gall would get his wish, as he and Northcutt were pencilled in as the co-main event of UFC on Fox 22. On Saturday night, after months of trash talk, Gall and Northcutt’s UFC on Fox 22 showdown finally occurred. Though Northcutt entered the fight with 3 times the professional experience of his foe, he wound up being submitted in the second round, when Gall was able to lock up a rear-naked choke for the win.

Chris Taylor - December 18, 2016

Former WEC champion and multiple time UFC title challenger Urijah Faber competed inside the octagon for the final time at last night’s UFC on FOX 22 event in his hometown of Sacramento, California, where he earned a dominant decision victory over Brad Pickett.

Chris Taylor - December 18, 2016

UFC welterweight prospect Mickey Gall scored another submission victory at last night’s UFC on FOX 22 fight card in Sacramento defeating fellow prospect Sage Northcutt in the second-round of their co-main event contest.