MMA News

bjpenndotcom - April 23, 2016

Yair Rodriguez with one of the greatest knockouts ever. #UFC197https://t.co/4iXmE8EQPz — OddsShark (@OddsShark) April 24, 2016

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A featherweight tilt between Yair Rodriguez (7-1 MMA) and Andre Fili (15-4 MMA) kicked off the pay-per-view portion of tonight’s UFC 197 event in Las Vegas. Round one begins Rodriguez lands a solid leg kick. Good spinning back kick to the body from Yair. Nice quick combination from Fili. Andre with a good punch but Yair lands a big kick to the body and scores a takedown. Rodriguez working from full guard and lands two big elbows. Nice axe kick from the bottom by Fili. Yair is looking for a heel hook but he gives it up works some hammer fists fro, full guard. Rodriguez moves to half guard and lands some nice left hands. Fili attempts to sweep but Yair winds up in side control. Andre scrambles and gets back to his feet. Big leg kick from Yair drops Fili. Nice left hands from Fili drops Yair. Rodriguez bounces back up. Fili with a brief takedown and round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A flyweight bout between Sergio Pettis (14-2 MMA) and Chris Kelades (9-3 MMA) served as the main attraction of tonight’s UFC 197 prelims in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Pettis lands a right jab to start. The flyweight fighters exchange left hands. Sergio with a good jab. Chris Kelades with a front kick that misses. Pettis with a nice left jab and then a leg kick. He lands another hard leg kick on Kelades. Pettis with another good left jab and then another. He lands hard leg kick on the Canadian. Kelades shoots in for a takedown attempt. Pettis stuffs it and gets pressed against the cage. Chris with a nice knee to the body. The fighters break. Pettis lands another good left jab. Kelades shoots in for a takedown but it is not there. Sergio lands a trip kick and winds up in top position on Chris. Pettis is working from full guard but decides to stand back up. Kelades charges forward and eats a jab for his effort. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A welterweight tilt between Danny Roberts (13-1 MMA) and Dominique Steele (14-7 MMA) took place during tonight’s UFC 197 prelims in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Roberts opens up with a kick to the body. Steele responds with a huge shot that drops Roberts. Steele rushes in and begins landing shots from the top. He lifts Roberts up and slams him back down. Big punches and elbows from Steele. Roberts lands a good shot from the bottom. Danny fights his way back to full guard and then gets up to his feet. Steele pushes Roberts against the fence. Danny lands a good knee to the body and the fighters break. Roberts with a good kick to the body of Steele. He follows that up with a leg kick and then a left hand that lands flush. Steele rushes in for a takedown but it is not there. They clinch and the fighters exchange knees to the body. Steele drops down for a double leg. He lifts Roberts up and takes him down. Steele working from full guard now. He lands a couple of good shots from the top position. Roberts gets back to his feet and the fighters clinch. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A lightweight bout between Glaico Franca (13-4 MMA) and James Vick (9-0 MMA) kicked off the UFC 197 prelims on FS1 tonight in Las Vegas. Franca opens up with a leg kick and then a big right hand that lands flush on Vick. Glaico shoots in and scores a takedown. Vick works his way to the fence and stands back up. Franca battles with Vick in the clinch and eventually drags him back down to the floor. Some decent sots from the top by Franca who moves to half guard. He lands a good shot before Vick fights his way back to the full guard position. Good butterfly guard displayed here by Vick. James gets his back against the fence and stands back up. Franca still has a hold of Vick and begins working some knees. The referee forces the fighters to break. Good leg kick from Vick but Franca lands a stiff job. Nice right hand from Vick who may have just poked Franca in the eye a few seconds ago. Nice shots to the body and then two to the head from Vick. Glaico shoots in and scores another takedown to finish round one.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A heavyweight bout between Walt Harris (8-4 MMA) and Cody East (12-2 MMA) served as the final bout of the UFC 197 fight pass prelims. Round one begins and East opens up with a front kick to the body. Big leg kick from Walt Harris. Nice jab lands for Harris. He goes for a high kick but misses. East switches stances and lands an uppercut. Good jab from Walt. Both fighters miss with hooks. Excellent kick to the body of Harris by East. Walt pumps the jab but eats a right hand. A good combo and then a right hand scores for East. Cody catches Walt with a kick to the groin and action is stopped. Harris gets his bearings and we continue. East and Harris both land leg kicks. East with a big combo, Harris returns fire in what has turned in to a brawl. Super man punch from East. Harris comes forward and lands a kick to the body. Huge shot lands for Harris and drops East. Walt follows him to the ground and starts landing some brutal shots. The referee jumps in and stops the fight.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A light heavyweight bout between Clint Hester (11-6 MMA)and Marcos Rogerio de Lima (14-3-1 MMA) took place on the UFC 197 fight pass prelims. Big leg kick from de Lima to start things off. Hester looks for a huge overhand right but misses and gets clipped by de Lima in the process. Clint hits the deck and Marcos jumps on him. He begins working from half guard but Hester is defending well and getting a chance to recover. Marcos with two big shots from the top and moves to the mount position. He has Hester flattened out and begins landing shots from the top. Hester moves back to half guard but is eating shots. Clint gets back to full guard but still has not come close to returning to his feet. Big shots from the top by de Lima. Huge elbows from the top, he moves to a arm-triangle choke and it is deep. Clinton taps out and this one is over.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

A lightweight scrap between Efrain Escudero (24-11 MMA) and Kevin Lee (12-2 MMA) kicked off tonight’s UFC 197 fight pass prelims in Las Vegas. Escudero opens up the fight with a jab. Kevin returns fire with a good jab and then a leg kick. Another leg kick and jab combo finds a home for Lee. Efrain misses with a high kick. Lee is circling and throws a kick that is partially blocked. Nice jabs from Kevin Lee. Escudero tries to clinch but it’s not there. Good counter jab lands from Efrain who works for a takedown. It is not there. Kevin separates and lands a jab. Good left hook scores for Lee. Esfrain picks him up and gets him down but Lee scrambles and returns the favor to Escudero. Good right hand and then a uppercut from Efrain. He shoots in a takes Lee down. Kevin gets back to his feet but Efrain cracks him with a jab. Efrain pushes Lee in to the fence and round one ends.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

Former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione (9-5 MMA) will make his Bellator debut at June’s “Bellator Dynamite 2” event in St. Louis, Missouri. “Meathead” will meet Carl Seumanutafa in the event’s co-main event slot.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

It is no secret that current UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA) and top contender Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA) do not like each other.

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

During Friday’s UFC 200 press conference, UFC president Dana White was asked to comment on top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov’s recent statement that he was offered a fight with Georges St. Pierre for July’s UFC 200 event in Las Vegas. The UFC president seemed rather shocked by the question, which prompted him to respond with the following:

Chris Taylor - April 23, 2016

Former UFC title challenger Rory MacDonald is preparing to fight the last bout of his current UFC contract when he headlines June’s UFC Fight Night 89 event in Ottawa opposite fellow top contender Stephen Thompson. According to reports, MacDonald and the UFC have not come close to reaching a new deal or contract extension.

bjpenndotcom - April 23, 2016

Former UFC champion Benson Henderson is just 7 months away from turning 33, an age that will see the former champ step away from MMA. Prior to his Bellator 153 welterweight title fight against Andrey Koreshkov, which Henderson lost in convincing fashion on Friday night, the former UFC champ spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour:

Russell Ess - April 23, 2016

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and UFC veteran Nate Diaz were in Las Vegas for the UFC 200 IFW Launch Event to promote UFC 200. Edgar is set to fight former featherweight champion Jose Aldo in an interim featherweight championship match while it is unknown if Diaz will still be fighting on the marquee card.

Russell Ess - April 23, 2016

giving back tonight because why not @MightyMouseUFC pic.twitter.com/th9GYCLlet — destiny.johnson (@MightyWife) April 23, 2016

Russell Ess - April 23, 2016

What would you do in a situation where a violent customer starts fighting with a store clerk?

bjpenndotcom - April 23, 2016

Conor McGregor’s ongoing standoff with the UFC took another interesting turn yesterday as UFC President Dana White explained that the door is now closed for McGregor to fight at UFC 200.

bjpenndotcom - April 23, 2016

UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson is one of the most respected fighters both inside and outside the Octagon. Johnson, who has a pretty strong case for pound for pound kingpin, is not only the only flyweight champion in UFC history, but has also earned the respect of fans for being extremely classy.