MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

In mid 2015, the UFC partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Commission (USADA) in an effort to crack down on performance enhancing drug use and clean up the sport. So far, the agency’s efforts to do so have been quite fruitful. It seems that every week, a new fighter is notified of a potential violation, and many of these fighters have been extremely high profile. Unfortunately, USADA has to go to pretty intense lengths to ensure no PED-user slips through their nets, often showing up at fighters’ homes unannounced and at inconvenient hours. While these efforts are undoubtedly for the best in the long run, it should come as no surprise that they can occasionally get a little uncomfortable, too.

Russell Ess - October 25, 2016

https://youtu.be/KzXQGMqY8_E The entertainment that the Internet brings is seemingly endless.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPXpvEWDGBA This time last year, Ronda Rousey was still regarded by many as an unbeatable champion. At that stage, she’d simply given us very little reason to believe she could be defeated.

Russell Ess - October 25, 2016

We have not seen UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt compete in the Octagon since his UFC 200 competition against Brock Lesnar back in July where Lesnar became the first fighter in the UFC to receive a shortened window of USADA testing from the UFC. Following their fight where Lesnar was given a “one-off” opportunity from the WWE to compete in the UFC again, the “Beast Incarnate” tested positive for banned substances.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

Last week, the UFC’s highly anticipated November 19 return to Belfast, Northern Ireland was dealt a fairly severe blow. Just weeks out from fight night, it lost its main event, as Iceland’s honorary Irishman Gunnar Nelson was forced out of his headlining welterweight bout with South Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim. Luckily for the fans in Belfast, the UFC was able to scramble and create a new and compelling main event. The evening’s headliner will now see top middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi attempt to avenge a shocking 2015 loss to Urijah Hall.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is certainly one of the most polarizing figures in MMA. Bisping, who has been on a tear of the UFC’s middleweight division in 2016, is never one to shy away from speaking his mind. Earlier this month, Bisping stepped into the Octagon in the main event of UFC 204 in Manchester, England, for a highly anticipated rematch with MMA legend Dan Henderson, who was stepping into the Octagon to fight for the final time. The fight was an extremely exciting one, with Henderson coming out of the gate strong, dropping Bisping in both the first and seconds rounds. Throughout the remainder of the fight, the champ continued to land an incredible volume of strikes, ultimately winning the fight via unanimous decision. The scoring for the fight was rather controversial, with many fighters scoring the bout in Henderson’s favor given that he dropped Bisping in both the first and second rounds. Following the fight, both men were praised for what many considered to be one of the best title fights of the year.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

On this week’s episode of The MMA Hour, long-time bantamweight contender Urijah Faber made the somewhat surprising announcement that his recently announced bout with England’s Brad Pickett will be the last of his career. This Faber swan song will occur on December 17 in Sacremento, California – the home of his renowned gym, Team Alpha Male. “I’ve been kind of waiting for this,” Faber said to host Ariel Helwani on the show. “This is actually going to be my last fight. And it just feels right to do it in [Sacramento] in this new arena. It just feels like the right time and the right place. I’ve been waiting for this new arena to be built, I was waiting for that Dominick Cruz opportunity, and I feel like this is going to be an epic event and I can’t wait to do it in front of the people I love.”

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is currently gearing up for what may very well be the biggest fight of his UFC career when he steps into the Octagon to square off against Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 on Novemeber 12th. Not only is the fight slated to headline what is expected to be the biggest UFC card in the history of the promotion, it also could see McGregor crowned as the first fighter to ever simultaneously hold two title belts in two weight classes. With that being said, UFC President Dana White has remained adamant that should McGregor emerge from the fight victorious, he will be forced to vacate one of the belts. Initially, McGregor remained quite open about the fact that he had no intentions of relinquishing one of the belts, stating that it would take an army for the UFC brass to take one of his titles away. Lately however, he appears to have been softening his stance on the matter, stating that before he relinquishes a title, he wants to get photos of the historic moment when he wins two title belts.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones may currently be suspended by the NAC throughout the course of his appeal process, however Jones’ legal team caught quite the big break this week when it was announced that they were able to pinpoint the exact supplement Jones took which was tainted, resulting in the failure of a June out-of-competition drug test that saw Jones pulled from his headlining UFC 200 scrap just 48 hours before fight night. Jones, who was set to have a rematch with Daniel Cormier, this time in a title unification fight, has maintained his innocence since it was announced that he failed a drug test back in July.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

Back in 2005, actor Wesley Snipes apparently found himself in a tight spot with a near-empty bank account and the IRS circling like sharks. Eager to escape this treacherous situation, Snipes and his team allegedly approached the UFC about the possibility of his partaking in a fight in the Octagon – against none other than long-time UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. Rogan discussed this briefly planned bout on the latest episode of his Fight Companion podcast with MMA veteran Yves Edwards and kickboxer Joe Schilling.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

Yesterday afternoon, a long-rumored bantamweight title bout between champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Cody Garbrandt was made official. This hotly-anticipated showdown will serve as the main event of UFC 207, which will occur on December 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garbrandt, of course, was not the only choice for the next crack at Cruz’s title. It could easily be argued that former champ TJ Dillashaw, Jimmie Rivera, Bryan Caraway or John Lineker deserved the shot instead.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

Earlier this week, it was announced that the next crack at Dominick Cruz’s UFC bantamweight title would go to undefeated contender Cody Garbrandt. This bantamweight championship bout will fill the co-main event spot of a stacked UFC 207 on December 30. Given the way Cruz and Garbrandt match up on paper, and the fact that they’ve built up a pretty compelling rivalry over the last few months, the announcement of this matchup was pretty well-received.

bjpenndotcom - October 24, 2016

New York native Lyman Good is no longer set to compete on the UFC’s first-ever event in the Empire State. The former Bellator 170 pound champion and current UFC welterweight was flagged for a USADA violation according to the UFC’s website.

bjpenndotcom - October 24, 2016

Legendary wrestler and all time fan favorite Bill Goldberg gives his only in depth interview to Erik and Ian , fresh off his appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw, his first appearance in a wrestling ring, in 12 years. Bill opens up in a way we may have never seen before, about his past, and his future. 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.

Chris Taylor - October 24, 2016

Earlier today the UFC officially announced that current UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz would be defending his title in the co-main event of UFC 207 against surging division contender Cody Garbrandt. Shortly following the announcement, “No Love” took to Twitter where he sent out the following bold message.

Chris Taylor - October 24, 2016

Fans of Jon “Bones” Jones received some good news earlier today. Jones’ attorney Howard Jacobs revealed to MMAFighting’s Luke Thomas some positive information regarding Jon’s failed drug tests at UFC 200:

Russell Ess - October 24, 2016

With the UFC being recently sold for a jaw-dropping $4 billion, it laid out the value of the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world and screamed it’s legitimacy of Dana White and the Fertitta’s goal of building one of the biggest sports in the world. Forbes came out with their “Forbes Fab 40: The World’s Most Valuable Sports Brands” list on Monday and the UFC ranked high up on their list coming in at number 7.

Chris Taylor - October 24, 2016

UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (22-1 MMA) will return to action at UFC 207 this December in Las Vegas. “The Dominator” will defend his title against Cody Garbrandt at the December 30 pay-per-view event.