MMA News

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

Current UFC interim featherweight champion Max Holloway has been wanting his rematch against UFC superstar Conor McGregor for quite some time. The two met in the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 26 back in August of 2013 where McGregor ended up taking a unanimous decision over Holloway. Since then, McGregor was been able to win the UFC featherweight title and most recently won the UFC lightweight title, becoming the first fighter in history to be a concurrent two-weight UFC champion. Holloway also picked up a world title as well, winning the UFC interim featherweight belt after the UFC announced that “The Notorious” relinquished the featherweight title shortly after winning the lightweight belt.

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.

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.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2016

Earlier this month, on the main card of UFC 206, Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi collided in a fight that had long been considered a frontrunner for Fight of the Night. In the end, the two featherweights surpassed all expectation, delivering a scrap that was not only a shoo in for Fight of the Night honors, but a clear-cut contender for Fight of the Year. The fight, which was contested almost entirely on the feet, saw the two stone-fisted fighters pummel each other to the brink of consciousness, with Swanson ultimately emerging the victor with a unanimous decision.

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

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

https://youtu.be/l7hJ1cS87NQ Last Saturday, in the first fight of UFC on Fox 22, fan favorite welterweight Alan Jouban handed “Platinum” Mike Perry the first loss of his career with a lopsided unanimous decision win. With this victory, Jouban extended his win-streak to three, and his UFC record to a strong 6-2. Three of those UFC wins have come by way of first-round knockout, and three earned him Fight of the Night honors.

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.

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

Former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber retired from the sport of mixed martials arts last night, this following his dominant UFC on FOX 22 victory over Brad Pickett, which took place in front of Faber`s hometown crowd in Sacramento, California. Shortly after earning the decisive victory, Faber`s former teammate and protégé TJ Dillashaw reached out to his former coach and mentor with the following message.

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

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.