MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2016

Earlier this month, in the main event of Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground 2, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones submitted former two-division Pride champion Dan Henderson with an arm-triangle choke. With this win in Sonnen’s grappling promotion, Jones is now fielding callouts from BJJ blackbelts of all descriptions and origins, all of whom are eager for the chance to take him on in a grappling match.

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.

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

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.

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

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 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.

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

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.