UFC News

Drake Riggs - March 13, 2019

The welterweight division is about as deep of an MMA division as one could ask for. Currently, there happen to be three top 15 UFC welterweights with winning streaks within the organization that consists of seven straight wins or more. One of those streaks belongs to Argentina’s own, Santiago Ponzinibbio. For the Argentinian, his last bout came in a home game when he put on a show for the Argentina faithful in his main event with Neil Magny. Notoriously hard to finish, Ponzinibbio would make things look easy as he dissected the perennial top 15er over the course of four rounds before landing the knockout blow.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Ben Askren finally has a UFC win on his resume — unfortunately it came with a side order of controversy. The win, which occurred at UFC 235, came when he locked up a bulldog choke on Robbie Lawler. For a moment, it looked like the choke had lulled Lawler unconcious. The instant replay, however, revealed that Lawler seemed to be wide awake, and still capable of fighting. Whatever the case, Ben Askren seems to have moved on, and is now focusing on his next challenge in the UFC’s Octagon. While nothing is official just yet, it sounds like Askren’s next challenge will pit him against the winner of this weekend’s Jorge Masvidal vs. Darren Till fight.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Earlier this week, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor arrested and briefly jailed after breaking the cellphone of a man in Miami. Mahamad Abdirzak, the father of McGregor’s alleged victim, says this is precisely the kind of behaviour he expects from the Irish MMA superstar — which is why he supports McGregor’s rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. “What McGregor did is exactly in his character,” Mahamad Abdirzak told the Daily Mail. “He’s an angry man. I’m not a fan of his at all. I prefer Khabib (Nurmagomedov). He’s the fighter I like to watch, not McGregor.”

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s UFC Wichita card, and as expected, there have been some big changes. Most notably, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos has surged up the list at heavyweight on the strength of his stoppage victory over Derrick Lewis. Elsewhere, fighters like Yana Kunitskaya and Blagoy Ivanov have made more minor climbs, while Anthony Rocco Martin has replaced Vicente Luque in the welterweight rankings.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Derrick Lewis came up short in his UFC Wichita showdown with Junior dos Santos. That being said, the former heavyweight title challenger performed admirably — especially considering he was dealing with some pretty severe knee troubles heading into the fight. “He wasn’t gonna pull [from the fight] anyway,” Lewis’ coach Bob Perez told MMA Fighting, detailing Lewis’ pre-fight injuries. “That being said, training for this camp was really bad. He couldn’t do anything, honestly.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

According to a report from MMAjunkie, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes is suing his brother Mark over the ownership of a tractor. No monetary damages have been listed, Hughes merely hopes that a judge will will decide who owns the John Deere 8410 tractor in question. This suit is relevant, as this tractor played a pivotal role in the restraining order that Mark Hughes recently filed against Matt Hughes.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

The oddsmakers expected Mickey Gall to defeat the veteran Diego Sanchez at UFC 235 earlier this month, but in the end, that’s not what happened. Instead, Gall was taken down and walloped to a TKO loss by his crafty foe. Speaking on The MMA Hour this week, Mickey Gall revealed that he entered this fight with a bevy of health issues — including some serious kidney troubles.

Drake Riggs - March 12, 2019

After weeks of speculation and expecting an official announcement, it was just a matter of when we would end up getting one. Monday would be that day. UFC 238 in Chicago, Illinois on June 8 will host the next flyweight title bout as the new champion, Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko will look to make a successful first defense against the 10-fight UFC veteran, Jessica Eye.

Thomas Taylor - March 12, 2019

Kamaru Usman was the picture of dominance in his welterweight title-winning defeat of Tyron Woodley at UFC 235. That being said, he didn’t leave the Octagon unscathed. During the fight, he injured his knee, and on Tuesday, went under the knife to repair this injury. Moments after coming out of surgery, a still dazed Kamaru Usman took to his Instagram story, where he greeted his ever-expanding fan base and promised he’d be back in action soon.

Cole Shelton - March 12, 2019

At UFC 229, Conor McGregor took on Khabib Nurmagomedov in what would be the biggest pay-per-view in UFC history. Leading up to the bout, fighters and fans were torn on who would win. Some thought Nurmagomedov would be able to maul McGregor, while others thought Conor would emerge victorious by way of knockout.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

On March 23, at UFC Nashville, dangerous heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes will look to distance himself from a tough loss to Francis Ngannou as he takes Justin Willis. Heading into this matchup, the wrestling specialist Blaydes expects Willis to be well-prepared, as he trains at American Kickboxing Academy alongside top heavyweight wrestlers like Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

Tony Ferguson is one of the most interesting and eccentric characters in MMA. So much so that, within the MMA community, fans have something of a running joke about him. The format is simple: “Tony Ferguson is the type of guy ______.” You simply finish the sentence yourself.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

Two-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson has recently expressed interest in a showdown with reigning champ Jon Jones — but not at light heavyweight. Instead, Johnson has been campaigning for a lucrative heavyweight showdown with the light heavyweight king.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov have had plenty to say about each other on social media over the last few years. Early on Tuesday morning, the trend continued, as Diaz took a shot at the dedicated Sambo practitioner on Twitter. https://twitter.com/NateDiaz209/status/1105392661689643010 “Sambo?” Diaz wrote in a post that included a classic picture of Nurmagomedov shoehorned into a tiny tub with several of his training partners (h/t Asian Persuasion MMA)

Mike Pendleton - March 12, 2019

Two former UFC light heavyweight title challengers will go head-to-head in the main event at UFC Stockholm on June 1, when Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson will fight Anthony Smith. “The Mauler” spoke to Luke Thomas on The MMA Hour about his matchup against Smith and made it known that if he doesn’t come out with a victory then he will be re-considering his future in fighting.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

For a period, middleweight destroyers Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa were expected to collide this spring. In a surprising twist, however, Romero was then matched up with Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, leaving Costa without an opponent. Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, Romero stated that he heard Paulo Costa had been flagged for a potential United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation — the reason he’s apparently been pulled from this fight.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

On Monday evening, the Miami Herald reported that former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ Conor McGregor had been arrested in Miami after an incident involving a fan and a cell phone. The Irish star was charged with “strong-armed robbery and misdemeanor criminal mischief” after allegedly smashing the fan’s phone.

Drake Riggs - March 11, 2019

It has been over a year since we last saw former UFC middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, competing inside the Octagon. For the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) product, that most recent appearance, unfortunately, came in a devastating loss to Yoel Romero in the headliner of UFC 221 in Perth, Australia.