MMA News

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

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

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.