MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

20-year-old lightweight Sage Northcutt is known not only as an incredibly talented prospect, but also as an extremely polite young man. Despite his manners, however, Northcutt frequently finds himself on the receiving end of trash talk and call-outs from his fellow fighters. The latest of the call-outs came from 24-year-old welterweight Mickey Gall, who demanded a fight with him after he spoiled the UFC debut of WWE star CM Punk. Apparently, Gall’s call-out worked, as a welterweight scrap between the prospects is now in the works.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Long Island native Al Iaquinta has dreamed of fighting at Madison Square Garden ever since he became a professional mixed martial artist, but it appears ‘Ragin’ Al won’t be fighting Thiago Alves at UFC 205 as originally thought. Iaquinta explained the situation on Monday’s edition of ‘The MMA Hour’, where he dropped two key pieces of information; the first was that the money wasn’t right for him to compete at UFC 205, and the second being he’s now pursing a career in real estate, and actually just recently received his license to do so.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Thiago Alves is back on UFC 205 according to ‘The Pitbull’ himself. Alves tweeted that he had a replacement following Al Iaquinta pulling out after a contract dispute, and sources are saying it’s none other than Jim Miller. MMA insider Dizz followed up on Alves’ tweet on Monday with news of Miller stepping in to face ‘The Pitbull’ at UFC 205.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

This year, Nate Diaz has made millions of dollars of the course of two welterweight bouts with Irish Superstar Conor McGregor. Of course, Diaz didn’t just stumble into these lucrative bouts. He demanded them in a profanity-riddled diatribe after a 2015 decision victory over Michael Johnson. This past weekend, Johnson returned to the win column with a beautiful knockout win over the streaking Dustin Poirier. On the heels of this win, Johnson appeared on The MMA Hour to weigh in on the victory, the state of his career, and perhaps most interestingly, the massive success Diaz achieved after their fight.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

This weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s return to Brasilia, Brazil, Cris “Cyborg” Justino will take on the debuting Lina Lansberg in a 140-pound catchweight bout. Apparently, the Brazilian slugger is having a difficult weight cut – though this news is not much of a surprise. Cyborg discussed her cut to 140 with Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. In her interview with Helwani, Cyborg explained that she began this camp at a whopping 175 pounds. So, the first thing she was offered the fight was consult the calendar to see how much time she had to drop the necessary weight.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Chael Sonnen may have some insider knowledge on if CM Punk will fight again. On Monday’s MMA Hour, ‘The American Gangster’ said he has talked to Punk every day following his UFC 203 loss to Mickey Gall, and believes we may have not seen the last of CM Punk in MMA. “I’ve talked to Punk every day since. He lost that fight on Saturday and was already back in gym that Monday. He wants to fight. This is what he wants to do. He’s got that skill set.”

Russell Ess - September 19, 2016

UFC superstar Ronda Rousey has not fought since losing for the first time in her professional mixed martial arts career, which happened at UFC 193 back in November 2015. Holly Holm shocked the world when she dismantled Rousey in their fight and was able to become the first woman to beat Rousey in MMA, knocking out the once thought invisible women’s UFC bantamweight champion in the second round of their title fight.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

With Chael Sonnen’s new Bellator contract, it definitely won’t pay to fail another drug test. In fact, one failed test under the Bellator banner would leave him without a fight purse as well as a $500,000 fine, according to ‘The American Gangster’ himself. Sonnen discussed his new Bellator contract and went in depth as to what he stands to lose should he fail another drug test:

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

This weekend, the UFC returns to Brasilia, Brazil with an exciting night of fights. The card will be headlined by a 140 lb. catchweight bout between reigning Invicta featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino and debuting Muay Thai specialist, Lina Lansberg. The reason this bout is being contested at a catchweight is simple: Cyborg can’t make the 135 lb. cap of the bantamweight division, which is the heaviest women’s division in the UFC. Of course, we know the cut to 140 is no picnic for her either…

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

One of the first bouts announced for UFC 205, which will mark the UFC’s debut in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, was a lightweight showdown pairing Thiago Alves with New York’s own Al Iaquinta. This was also one of the first UFC 205 bouts to be cancelled. When news broke that Iaquinta vs. Alves was off, it was immediately clear that the responsibility was in Iaquinta’s corner. Why the New Yorker had withdrawn from the bout, however, was a mystery.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Chael Sonnen hasn’t stepped foot into the ring since 2013 when he lost by first round TKO to Rashad Evans back at UFC 167. Now nearly four years later, it’s safe to say that the MMA landscape has changed quite a bit. With Sonnen abruptly signing with Bellator last week, ‘The American Gangster’ says it was ‘pure anger’ at the state of the fight game that caused him to come out of retirement.

Chris Taylor - September 19, 2016

Nate Diaz may be 1-1 with Conor McGregor, but it’s safe to say he took some serious punishment in both fights. During their UFC 202 headlining bout alone, McGregor planted Diaz on his back three separate times with his infamous left hook. However, Diaz says it was all apart of his plan to get Conor to the ground and grapple with him. Brendan Schaub discussed meeting Diaz at a supermarket shortly after UFC 202 on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and Schaub claims Diaz told him he hit the deck on purpose because he knew he couldn’t take McGregor down:

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

While we wait to learn whether Daniel Cormier’s next title defense will be against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson or Jon Jones, the rest of the light heavyweight division is trundling on. Yesterday afternoon, it was announced that two-time light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson will be taking on 40-year-old veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in Brazil this November. Later last night, it began to look like another key light heavyweight matchup could be in the works – at least, that’s what light heavyweight prospect Corey Anderson is hoping.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

In March of this year, Conor McGregor was submitted by the long-unheralded Nate Diaz in one of the year’s biggest upsets. Given that McGregor has long stood out as one of the UFC’s biggest stars, the organization quickly began assembling a Diaz-McGregor rematch with the hopes of giving their Irish cash cow a shot at redemption.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2016

According to a new report from MMA insider @TalkMMA, the UFC has some big plans for December’s UFC 207 event in Las Vegas. Dizz recently tweeted that the promotion is targeting a Ronda Rousey vs. Amanda Nunes women’s bantamweight title fight for their annual New Year’s Eve card in Sin City.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2016

https://youtu.be/KI2f6pcEK9s UFC commentator Joe Rogan discusses the rumored UFC 205 headliner between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez with former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub.

Tom Taylor - September 18, 2016

Just weeks removed from his big win over Jan Blachowicz, Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson has another big fight in the pipe. While his last fight occurred on European soil, however, this one will take him across the world to Sao Paolo, Brazil. The two-time light heavyweight title challenger is now scheduled to take on Brazil’s Antonio Rogerio Nogueira on November 19. The bout will serve as the main event for UFC Fight Night 100. This news comes from reliable Brazilian outlet Globo.

Tom Taylor - September 18, 2016

When Cain Velasquez defeated Junior Dos Santos for the second time in late 2013, the sky looked like the limit. The Mexican-American heavyweight champion had come out on top in one of the greatest rivalries in heavyweight history, and was poised to move on to new and exciting challenges. Unfortunately, Velasquez then spent almost two years on the injury list, slowing the evolution of the heavyweight division he ruled, and forcing the UFC to crown an interim champion in Fabricio Werdum in his absence.