UFC News

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

We can now add another name to the list of flyweight fighters ostracized by the UFC. As the UFC’s purported closure of the division bears down, UFC flyweight Roberto Sanchez has joined Jared Brooks, Justin Scoggins and Jose Torres among those to be released from the promotion. Roberto Sanchez made this announcement on Instagram, sharing his disappointment but also thanking the UFC for the opportunity they gave him.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Earlier this week, we were hit by the unfortunate news that Saturday’s UFC Denver card has lost one of its best matchups: a flyweight tilt between former title challengers Ray Borg and Joseph Benavidez. Borg withdrew from the matchup with an illness. Mike Perry, who trains under the same roof as Ray Borg at JacksonWink MMA, however, isn’t buying that story. He says that the flyweight is faking his illness.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has brought his wife and children to his last three fights. All three of these fights, of course, wound up being dominant stoppage victories for the two-division champ, which his family, and particularly his children, were very excited about. Apparently, however, Daniel Cormier’s daughter as a tough time watching her Dad beat people up. Speaking on MMAjunkie Radio recently, Cormier divulged that his daughter felt bad for his latest opponent, Derrick Lewis, and had a tough time stomaching the whole scene.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Artem Lobov was originally supposed to fight Zubaira Tukhugov at the UFC’s recent UFC Moncton card. After Tukhugov got involved in the infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl, however, he was removed from this bout. After a brief scramble, the UFC was able to find a replacement opponent for Artem Lobov in former UFC lightweight contender Michael Johnson. Unfortunately, however, Johnson was unable to make weight for this fight, and was forced to cough up 20% of his fight purse, which was then paid to Lobov.

Drake Riggs - November 8, 2018

The secret is out. The UFC really is planning on disbanding their men’s flyweight division which means a batch of fighters will need to find new fighting homes. In the end, surely this is being looked at from a business standpoint by the organization. So rather than getting to the bottom of whether or not it was a right or wrong decision overall or more specifically, morally, how about business-wise?

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Earlier this week, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor released a rather bizarre Tweet that seemed to blame ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong for the UFC’s choice to close down its flyweight division. You must now take all the 125lbers that have been let go, Chatri.You talk all of this Martial Art and respect talk, yet your greed has directly cost more than half a fighting division it’s chance to earn income for their family. Have respect @YODCHATRI. Sign the division.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

At UFC 230 Jared Cannonier stepped in on short notice to face top 10 middleweight David Branch. It would be Cannonier’s toughest fight to date. Making it even harder was the fact that it was Cannonier’s middleweight debut and he was riding a two-fight losing streak. To beat Branch by knockout in the second round and look as good as Cannonier did was impressive, to say the least. Although the win was impressive, it was an important win for Cannonier who did not want to go on a three-fight losing streak.

Drake Riggs - November 8, 2018

Every fight announcement for UFC 233 so far has been an eyebrow raiser and that trend just continues with “The Violence Queen” Ariane Lipski (11-3) getting her new UFC debut. Initially, Lipski was to be making her debut on short notice as the replacement for Veronica Macedo at UFC Argentina against Maryna Moroz. Unfortunately, Moroz would suffer a broken foot that left Lipski without an opponent and led to her removal from the card.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

It appears the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) is still punishing people for the melee that occurred at UFC 229. Right now, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are indefinitely suspended with a hearing on December 10. Well, it appears one of McGregor’s teammates, Dillon Danis and one of Nurmagomedov’s, Zubaira Tukhugov will be facing discipline by the NSAC as well.

James Lynch - November 8, 2018

Now that former UFC champion Jon Jones is scheduled to return to the Octagon on December 29, “Bones” has also found himself in the top spot of the 205-pound rankings. The latest UFC rankings have Jones (22-1) one spot ahead of his UFC 232 foe Alexander Gustafsson and two spots ahead of UFC Moncton main event winner Anthony Smith. The 31-year-old hasn’t fought since a July 2017 no contest against Daniel Cormier at UFC 214 where he failed a pre-fight drug test.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

UFC 230 was a big night for the UFC middleweight division. First, we saw undefeated striking sensation Israel Adesanya burst into the division’s top-10 with a first-round dissection of Derek Brunson. Then, an hour or so later, we saw former Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza surge back into title contention with a jaw-dropping third-round knockout of former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. While Adesanya and Jacare both impressed the MMA community at UFC 230, it turns out that the former did not really impress the latter.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

After the UFC attempted once again to set up Yoel Romero vs Paulo Costa, it fell through and now Romero wants to face Anderson “The Spider” Silva. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC was planning to book Romero vs Costa as the main event of the UFC’s first event on ESPN+ which will take place on January 19 in Brooklyn, New York.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

Donald @CowboyCerrone says #UFCDenver is the last time we'll see him fighting at welterweight. "Going back to '55. I'm gonna go get the belt. ... It's the last thing I gotta do." Read more from 🤠: https://t.co/PimYgNZPqD pic.twitter.com/T1kxuhPrkS

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

WWE star and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will indeed be returning to the Octagon at some point in the future. But he’ll also be staying in the ring. A few months ago Lesnar lost his Universal WWE championship which led us to the confirmation that he would definitely be making his way back to the MMA world.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

Just when you thought that UFC 233 couldn’t be getting a better building start, we get one hell of a bantamweight matchup thrown into the mix. It will have been two years once the end of December rolls around that we’ll have seen the former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz (22-2) compete inside the Octagon.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

It appears that the theory many had is ending up to be true. Demetrious Johnson’s departure isn’t the last of the 125ers that will be leaving the UFC. It started with the talk of current champion Henry Cejudo possibly going up to challenge bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw for his title. Soon after Johnson would head to ONE Championship as part of the first-ever MMA “trade”.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Daniel Cormier’s planned heavyweight title super fight with former UFC heavyweight champ and WWE star Brock Lesnar is unanimously expected to be a box office smash, but not everybody is expecting the fight to be competitive. Instead, it’s common opinion that Cormier, undeniably one of the best fighters ever to compete in MMA, will hand Lesnar a pretty lopsided whooping. Whether that’s accurate or not, former UFC heavyweight and current MMA analyst Brendan Schaub is confident of one thing: Brock Lesnar will be a tougher test for Daniel Cormier than his last opponent Derrick Lewis, who he submitted in the second round in the main event of UFC 230 last weekend.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Daniel Cormier, who currently owns the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight (we think?) belts, is planning to retire from MMA when he turns 40 in March of 2019. That being said, there is plenty that the former Olympian and Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner hopes to accomplish between now and then, from a heavyweight title super fight with Brock Lesnar, to a possible trilogy fight with his arch rival Jon Jones, and even a potential rematch with Stipe Miocic, who he defeated to win the title back in July. Given the length of Daniel Cormier’s to-do list, some fans have worried that he might be encouraged to delay his longstanding retirement plans. While this is certainly possible, UFC President Dana White assures he won’t be the one pressing Cormier to keep fighting.