MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

UFC 205, which will mark the UFC’s long awaited debut in New York City, is now just days away. As this mammoth card draws ever closer, fans, media members, fighters, and other MMA personalities have begun to offer up their predictions on the main event: a lightweight title fight between divisional king Eddie Alvarez and featherweight champ Conor McGregor. One of the latest MMA notables to offer up a prediction on this massive title fight is McGregor’s head coach, John Kavanagh.

Russell Ess - November 7, 2016

News broke on Monday that former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was given a one-year suspension term by USADA following an arbitration hearing. Jones was flagged for a potential anti-doping violation in July, which resulted in him being pulled from the UFC 200 light heavyweight title fight against champion Daniel Cormier. It was later revealed that Jones tested positive for the banned substances clomiphene and letrozole.

Russell Ess - November 7, 2016

UFC interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was given his sanction from USADA on Monday after testing positive for the banned substances clomiphene and letrozole, which were from the test results of a June 16 out-of-competition sample. The failed test results had him pulled from UFC 200’s scheduled UFC light heavyweight championship fight against champion Daniel Cormier in July. Jones was the first UFC fighter to take his USADA case to arbitration, which was heard by three arbitrators from McLaren Global Sports Solutions. After the arbitration was complete, a decision was made to give Jones his full sanction of a one-year suspension.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

On this week’s episode of The MMA Hour, three-time UFC title challenger and recent Bellator MMA signee Chael Sonnen made an impromptu call-in to break a bit of combat sports news. Speaking to host Ariel Helwani, the legendary MMA mouthpiece announced the main and co-main events of a Submission Underground show scheduled for December 11. The co-main event of this show, Sonnen announced, will pit top-ranked female bantamweight Miesha Tate against a former opponent in Jessica “Evil” Eye. The co-main event, meanwhile, will pit troubled light heavyweight GOAT Jon Jones with recently retired MMA legend Dan Henderson. These eight-minute grappling matches will occur under Eddie Bravo Invitational Rules.  The event will occur at the Roseland Theatre in Portland, Oregon, and stream live on FloCombat.com.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

Conor McGregor, who is poised to challenge Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight strap at this Saturday’s UFC 205, is the biggest star in MMA. As such, he’s floated as a potential opponent for pretty much every fighter in MMA. If you’re a fighter, and you reside anywhere near the welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight divisions, chances are you’ll be asked how you think you’d fare against the Irish superstar.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

This Saturday, on the main card of the universally anticipated UFC 205, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will look to move to 4-0 as a welterweight with a win over highly-regarded contender Kelvin Gastelum. The fight stands out as one of the most anticipated features of the event. Gastelum is not, however, the man Cowboy was originally supposed to face. Instead, Cowboy was initially expected to mix it up with a fellow fan favorite in Robbie Lawler in a fight that seemed like a surefire recipe for ultraviolence. Unfortunately, Lawler was forced to withdraw from this fight just days after it was announced in a grim twist that left fight fans wiping tears from their eyes. The former welterweight champ called Cowboy to break the bad news personally.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

This Saturday, UFC lightweight titleholder Eddie Alvarez will defend his belt against a fellow champion in featherweight king Conor McGregor. The two champs will share the main event spot of UFC 205, a card that marks the UFC’s first steps into New York City – one of the final frontiers for mixed martial arts.

Tom Taylor - November 7, 2016

https://youtu.be/kccEJf-qfi8 In less than one weeks’ time, UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will attempt to make the first defense of his title against reigning featherweight champ Conor McGregor. In this fight, Alvarez will attempt to squash McGregor’s history-making ambition to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes simultaneously. The two champions will share the main event honors of UFC 205, which will mark the organization’s long awaited debut in New York City, New York –one of the final frontiers for MMA.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2016

Last month, it was announced that former women’s bantamweight champ and transcendent star Ronda Rousey would be returning to action for the first time since she was levelled by a Holly Holm head kick almost a year ago. The former champ will be making this return against current champion Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 207 this December 30. Shortly after this news broke, Rousey made an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and made the somewhat surprising announcement that, no matter the outcome of her looming bout with Nunes, it will likely be one of her last.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2016

https://youtu.be/3tqnIUTCfV4 In mixed martial arts, we occasionally witness contests between fighters of starkly different sizes. The majority of these David vs. Goliath style fights occurred during the height of Japan’s obsession with MMA, and during the early days of the UFC. That said, we’ve also seen some pretty incredible size differences in the UFC’s modern era as well. One modern example of this type of fight is Benson Henderson’s 2015 battle with the much larger Brandon Thatch. Irish superstar Conor McGregor would also have us believe his two unforgettable bouts with Nate Diaz fall into this category, though these claims have been the subject of much debate.

Chris Taylor - November 6, 2016

Current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will attempt to make his first title defense at next month’s UFC 205 event in New York when he squares off with top contender Stephen Thompson. “Wonderboy” is a very unique fighter and his karate style has been able to frustrate many of his past opponents.

Chris Taylor - November 6, 2016

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is coming off of a hard-fought decision victory over bitter rival Dan Henderson, which “The Count” earned in the main event of UFC 204 last month in Manchester, England. Bisping was hoping to make a quick turnaround and fight at UFC 206 this December in Toronto against former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, however, “Rush” was not able to reach a deal with the new UFC ownership group and the fight unfortunately fell through.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2016

Kid Kash went from pro wrestling to #MMA at #ValorFights38. It didn't end well. pic.twitter.com/EJSEsVgU4f

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2016

On November 19, the UFC will promote its 100th Fight Night card. This card will emanate from the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in beautiful Sao Paolo, Brazil. Initially, the card was expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between Swedish contender Alexander Gustafsson and Brazilian veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. When Gustafsson withdrew from the bout with a lingering back injury, however, Nogueira was reassigned to a bout with long-time contender Ryan Bader.

Chris Taylor - November 6, 2016

UFC Fight Night 98 took place last night in Mexico City, Mexico. The event delivered in a big way for fight fans as it showcased a bunch of solid finishes as well as a wildly entertaining main event war between lightweights Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos.

Chris Taylor - November 6, 2016

On last night’s UFC Fight Night 98 main card in Mexico City, former featherweight title challenger Ricardo Lamas picked up a second-round submission victory over Charles Oliveira. Lamas was cheered on not only by the fans in attendance, but most of his fellow fighters and fans watching around the world, this after Charles Oliveira had unprofessionally missed weight by a whopping 10-pounds.

Chris Taylor - November 6, 2016

Tony Ferguson scored the biggest win of his mixed martial arts career last night in Mexico City, as he defeated former division title holder Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC Fight Night 98 via unanimous decision. The five-round main event tilt was nothing short of thrilling, but in the end it was clear that Ferguson had done enough to outpoint “RDA” on the judges scorecards.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2016

Having reportedly made something in the area of $15 million for his August rematch with Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor is far and away the highest paid fighter in UFC history. The Irish star makes no secret of his massive financial success, as he whips around Las Vegas in luxury vehicles, decks himself out in absurdly expensive custom suits, and uses his unprecedented paydays as a way to diminish the success of his opponents and rivals.