MMA News

Russell Ess - December 6, 2016

Holly Holm is coming off two losses in a row immediately after winning the biggest fight of her life in devastating fashion. Since beating Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in 2015 to become a UFC champion, Holm lost her first title defense to Miesha Tate at UFC 196 in March and then went on to lose a unanimous decision to Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 20 in July.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

https://youtu.be/MlThAYmkfss Though the MMA community is quite transfixed on Saturday’s UFC 206 card, which will feature big names like Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Matt Brown, this is actually not the most immediate UFC card on the calendar.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

This Saturday, the UFC will return to Toronto for the first time since September of 2013. It will do so with UFC 206, a card that has been rocked by fighter withdrawals but still stands out as a very exciting one.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

Though Jon Jones stands out as one of the best mixed martial artists ever, he’s had an undeniably rough few years. His recent career has been marred by everything from cocaine use to a hit-and-run involving a pregnant woman. Earlier this year, of course, it looked like a matured Jones might finally be getting his life back on track. Though it was far from his best performance, he made a successful return to action, defeating late-replacement Ovince St. Preux to win the UFC interim light heavyweight title. With this win in the books, Jones was then pencilled in for a title unifying rematch with Daniel Cormier, who has been sitting on the divisional throne in his stead. The two were expected to share the main event honors of the landmark UFC 200 in July.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

Since UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 last month to win the lightweight championship, talks of a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match have continued to pick up steam. While McGregor will be sidelined until May with the upcoming birth of his child, talks of a McGregor-Mayweather boxing match currently have combat sports fans in an uproar. While some think a superfight between the two is a great idea for combat sports, others believe that given the fact that the two men compete in different sports, a fight should never take place.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

Hawaiian featherweight Max Holloway is currently on a fantastic, 9-fight winning-streak. The last man he lost to is former featherweight champion and current lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Their fight occurred all the way back in 2013. Since then, Holloway has established himself as one of the best fighters on earth – as evidenced by his upcoming interim featherweight title fight with Anthony Pettis. While Holloway is focused on his upcoming battle with Pettis, he’s made no secret of the fact that he’s keen on a rematch with McGregor – even if that rematch occurs at heavyweight.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

Former Bellator MMA CEO Bjorn Rebney recently found himself making headlines recently when he joined former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, former UFC champions TJ Dillashaw & Cain Velasquez, and top ranked fighters Donald Cerrone & Tim Kennedy in announcing the formation of the MMA Athletes Association. While the association mostly received praise form fighters, many questioned the former Bellator MMA CEO’s motives, with UFC President Dana White stating:

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

Since Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg made her successful UFC debut back in May at UFC 198, the arguable pound for pound women’s champ has been campaigning for the UFC to create a women’s featherweight division. With that being said, many fight fans were shocked to learn this week that when the UFC actually offered Cyborg two women’s UFC featherweight title fights, Cyborg turned both down. UFC President Dana White explained that Cyborg informed he and UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby that she would be unable to make the 145 pound featherweight limit on eight weeks notice due to the difficult weight cut she endured several months ago when cutting to make the catchweight limit of 140 pounds for her ‘UFC Fight Night: Sao Paulo’ headlining scrap with Lina Lansberg.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

This past weekend, in the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter season 24 Finale, coaches Joseph Benavidez & Henry Cejudo squared off in a highly anticipated flyweight showdown. With the possibility of a fight with flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson on the line, both men gave the fight everything they had. Ultimately, the judges scored the fight a split decision for Joseph Benavidez, with Cejudo being deducted a point in the first round likely playing a major part in the decision swinging Benavidez’ way. Despite that, Cejudo, as well as many members of the MMA community, scored the fight in the former Olympian’s favor. Following the fight, Cejudo texted UFC President Dana White, who replied with an apology over the scorecards.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

It’s now been over a year since former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was knocked out by Holly Holm, and we haven’t seen her in action since. In a few short weeks, however, that will change. Rousey is expected to make her long awaited comeback in the main event of UFC 207 on December 30, when she takes on reigning champion Amanda Nunes. In advance of this fight, there has been widespread speculation surrounding Rousey’s headspace and physical condition. A year on the shelf, after all, can have major effects on a fighter both mentally and physically. Many fans and pundits have wondered whether she’s motivated, and whether she’ll be in adequate shape come fight night.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

In 2016, Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg successfully made her UFC debut earlier this year when she successfully defeated Leslie Smith at UFC 198 back in May. Given that Cyborg competes in the women’s featherweight division under the Invicta banner, her fight with Smith was a catchweight fight of 140 pounds. In her second Octagon appearance, Cyborg defeated Swedish striker Lina Lansberg via TKO in the second round of their ‘UFC Fight Night: Sao Paulo’ main event scrap. Despite that, it’s been well documented that Cyborg struggles to make the catchweight limit of 140 pounds. Leading up to both of her scheduled UFC scraps, Cyborg was forced to cut a tremendous amount of weight, to the point that cameras caught the Invicta champ crying while attempting to cut weight. In addition, leading up to her last fight, Cyborg was forced to cut 10 pounds in just 24 hours in order to make 140 pounds.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

  Add former three-weight boxing champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley to the long list of boxers confident they’d dominate UFC star Conor McGregor in the boxing ring.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

Last month, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Mexico, Tony Ferguson earned a unanimous decision victory over former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos. With this win, which was undeniably the biggest of his career, Ferguson extended his win streak to a whopping nine straight. From there, Ferguson seemed ready for a title shot against new lightweight champ Conor McGregor, or at the very least, an interim title fight with the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov. Unfortunately for Ferguson, however, McGregor recently embarked on a hiatus from competition, and Nurmagomedov won’t be ready to fight until the spring.

Russell Ess - December 5, 2016

The main event for UFC 206 took a turn when it was revealed that UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier would not compete on the card due to suffering an injury. Cormier was set to rematch Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in a five-round championship fight.

Russell Ess - December 5, 2016

If you’re familiar with Don Frye, you know the MMA veteran is in the UFC Hall of Fame for good reason. “The Predator” fought in the early days of the UFC, making his professional debut at UFC 8 where he fought three different men in one night in a David vs. Goliath tournament, beating all three of his bigger opponents in the first round. The American’s skill and spirit made him a favorite amongst the fans from the early days of MMA.

Russell Ess - December 5, 2016

UFC superstar Conor McGregor put on a brilliant performance in his historic fight against Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November. With his dominating win, “The Notorious” became the first fighter to ever hold two UFC division titles at the same time, being the champion of the UFC’s 145-pound featherweight and 155-pound lightweight divisions.

bjpenndotcom - December 5, 2016

On this episode of American Animals, Ian and Erik cover the biggest news in all of MMA and preview The Ulitmate Fighter 24 Finale. Also, Tim Kennedy and Cub Swanson join the show to discuss their careers, recent buzz about the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association, and their upcoming fights at UFC 206 in Toronto. Join these two veterans for this episode of American Animals! You can email your questions and comments to info@2americananimals.com and find the show at www.2americananimals.com on the web, on social media at facebook.com/2AmericanAnimals and @2AmericanAnimal on Twitter and @2AmericanAnimals on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2016

When Conor McGregor tapped to a Nate Diaz rear-naked choke in March of this year, it influenced him to make a complete overhaul of his camp. Part of this overhaul was the introduction of BJJ star Dillon Danis to his roster of training partners. Danis would become an instrumental part of McGregor’s training for his rematch with Diaz – a fight he would win with a hard-fought majority decision. In the buildup to this rematch with Diaz, Danis fielded many questions about a possible jump to MMA – especially when he himself exchanged a few words with Diaz. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Danis confirmed with host Ariel Helwani that an MMA career is still very much a part of his plan, and that a fight with Diaz is still a possibility that interests him.