MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2016

With lightweight champion Conor McGregor currently on a hiatus from competition, during which he will father his first child with girlfriend Dee Devlin, the lightweight limelight is shining on two men: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to deny either of these two dynamic contenders a lightweight title shot. With McGregor currently on the shelf, however, Nurmagomedov and Ferguson are faced with two options: wait for McGregor to return, and hope they win the sweepstakes to become his next opponent, or take another fight in the meantime.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2016

https://youtu.be/2QuQes4-KPo On Saturday, December 30, the UFC will return to Las Vegas with the stacked UFC 207. The undeniable highlight of the card will be the long-awaited return of former women’s bantamweight queen and transcendent MMA superstar Ronda Rousey, who has not been seen since she was knocked out by a Holly Holm head kick in November of 2015.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2016

Today, the UFC heavyweight division is ruled by Croatian-American destroyer Stipe Miocic. Miocic won the title back in May, when he flatlined an overaggressive Fabricio Werdum with a brilliantly placed punch. The heavyweight king then made a successful defense of his title in September, when he delivered his third straight first-round KO against decorated veteran Alistair Overeem. In the wake of his knockout of Overeem, Miocic has elected to take a bit of time off to recharge his batteries. While he does so, the heavyweight division’s highest ranked contenders, Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez, will battle for a shot at him when he’s ready to return.

Tom Taylor - December 13, 2016

The next two UFC cards will be headlined by two of the biggest names in women’s MMA. The first, which will go down this Saturday and air on Fox, will see strawweight superstar Paige VanZant take on a stark test in “The Karate Hottie” Michelle Waterson. The second, which will occur the following weekend and air on pay-per-view, will see MMA icon Ronda Rousey return from more than a year on the shelf to a bantamweight title fight with reigning champ Amanda Nunes.

Chris Taylor - December 12, 2016

Two massive welterweight rematches are apparently in the works for March’s UFC 209 event in Las Vegas. Last month following his UFC 205 majority decision draw against welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, top 170-pound contender Stephen Thompson revealed to BJPENN.com that a rematch between himself and “The Chosen One’ was already in the works for February or March of 2017.

Russell Ess - December 12, 2016

Cub Swanson and Doo Ho Choi put on a performance in an insane Fight of the Year candidate at UFC 206 over the weekend. The crowd in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto got what they paid for as Swanson and Choi were just one of the many thrilling fights on the card as Donald Cowboy Cerrone knocked out Matt Brown and Max Holloway became the UFC interim featherweight champion by becoming the first man to stop former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis on the main card.

Russell Ess - December 12, 2016

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate recently retired from the sport of mixed martial arts following her unanimous decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 last month. However, that hasn’t eliminated “Cupcake” from all competition as she just participated in the Submission Underground 2 event that took place over the weekend.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2016

Back in October, UFC featherweight Cole Miller expected to take a flight to Manila to duke it out with Mizuto Hirota. Unfortunately, the organization cancelled this Manila card at the last minute, leaving many of the fighters on the card without their expected paydays. Miller was one of these fighters. Having undertaken an expensive training camp, Miller approached the UFC about getting more than the small amount of compensation he was offered in the wake of this cancelled card. When they wouldn’t play ball, the disgruntled featherweight aired his grievances in an interview with Sherdog.com.

Russell Ess - December 12, 2016

Jon Jones and Dan Henderson’s grappling match at the Submission Underground 2 event that took place over the weekend may have just started something very interesting. Jones was able to secure an arm-triangle choke on the recently retired MMA legend and forced “Hendo” to submit at 6:39 of the competition.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2016

Way back in the year 2012, light heavyweight legends Jon “Bones” Jones and Dan Henderson were expected to fight for the UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 151. Unfortunately, “Hendo” was forced out of this proposed bout with an injury, which ultimately resulted in the cancellation of the entire card. In the years since then, its been hard not to wonder what might have happened if the two light heavyweight legends had fought as planned. On Sunday night, we got our answer – sort of.

Russell Ess - December 12, 2016

Recently promoted UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo says he is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 208, which takes place in Brooklyn, New York on February 11. Aldo told the media in Brazil on Monday that he will fight Max Holloway in a UFC featherweight title unification bout as Holloway just won the UFC interim featherweight title by beating Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 over the weekend.

Russell Ess - December 12, 2016

Being a referee in combat sports can sometimes be a dangerous job as the ref is the only one in the cage or ring with the two combatants. Sometimes accidents happen where the official is caught by a punch or kick on accident, trying to break up an exchange with the round ending or calling an end to a fight.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2016

https://youtu.be/8S7BTdWaJL4 The latest example of Conor McGregor’s transcendent superstardom occurred this weekend, when he was impersonated in a skit on an episode of Saturday Night Live.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2016

One year ago today, Ireland’s Conor McGregor backed up months of trash talk and bravado to knock out Jose Aldo and win the UFC featherweight title. The knockout occurred just 13 seconds into the fight’s first frame, and marked the end of Aldo’s decade-long unbeaten streak.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2016

https://youtu.be/CpHFDc0_R8Y This Saturday (December 17), the UFC will return to sunny Sacramento, California with UFC on Fox 22.

Tom Taylor - December 12, 2016

Last month, in the main event of UFC 205, Irish superstar Conor McGregor knocked out Eddie Alvarez to become the UFC lightweight champion. Following the win, the Irishman reaffirmed his intention to take some time off to start a family with long-time girlfriend Dee Devlin. McGregor’s hiatus from competition, of course, leaves the lightweight division’s many contenders in a bit of an undesirable spot, without a champion to gun for. The champ’s absence is undoubtedly most frustrating for Tony Ferguson, who is currently on a nine-fight win-streak, and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who boasts a flawless, 24-0 record. Both men have done pretty much all their is to do to earn a lightweight title shot, but without an active champ, neither can have one.

Chris Taylor - December 11, 2016

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones squared off with MMA legend Dan Henderson in the headlining match of tonight’s Submission Underground 2 event in Portland, Oregon. “Bones” was able to mount “Hendo” and then proceeded to secure an arm-triangle choke which forced the former dual-division PRIDE champion to tapout.

Chris Taylor - December 11, 2016

https://youtu.be/Xnghchybhb4 Cub Swanson and Dooho Choi delivered one of the best fights of all-time at last night’s UFC 206 pay-per-view event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.