MMA News

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

Aside from the announcement of Khabib Nurmagomedov fighting Edson Barboza at UFC 219, news has been quiet for the supposed end-of-the-year super card. If Raquel Pennington hadn’t of broken her leg, we would have already had the card’s first title fight booked. The plan was to have Amanda Nunes defend her belt against fourth-ranked Pennington. Her management team has moved on, stating Nunes will take the rest of the year off and citing a lack of logical challengers. However, Nunes may have her eye on sixth-ranked Cat Zingano after she comes back and grabs a win. I would really like a rematch with you… I feel one more win would put you there

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

UFC 217 is one of those cards where every single fight will be a battle for a spotlight. The second fight on the television prelims features Ovince Saint Preux, if that gives you any indication of the scope we’re talking about. Not to be buried beneath the three title fights on the card, Stephen Thompson will throwdown with Jorge Masvidal right before Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends her title against Rose Namajunas. After fighting welterweight champ Tyron Woodley twice, Thompson seems pumped about a refreshing match-up with Masvidal.   “This fight has fireworks written all over it. I’ve been training for Tyron Woodley for almost a year now and this [fight with Jorge Masvidal] gives me somebody different to break down, somebody different to get ready for. The media obligations aren’t there. When I was fighting Tyron, especially with it being a title fight, it was kind of crazy. With this, I can just sit back and focus on the fight, train, train when I want to train and not have to go all over the place to do the media. It’s nice to be able to sit back and just think about the fight. I’m excited, I’m energized, I can relax a little bit more. The energy level is truly up.”

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

Meet Jon Jones. No, not former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, but the video game developer Jon Jones.

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

Conor McGregor fans are surely curious as to who and when the current UFC lightweight champion will be fighting next. With Dana White saying that newly crowned UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is the next match to make for McGregor, the UFC President is hoping for “The Notorious” to return to the Octagon before the end of the year. However, it all likely comes down to what Conor McGregor wants to do.

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

Fans that were hoping to see the exciting UFC 218 lightweight matchup between Al Iaquinta and Paul Felder will be let down to hear the news that the bout has been canceled. On Tuesday, MMA Fighting reported that Iaquinta, who is currently ranked no. 11 in the UFC lightweight rankings was removed from the scheduled bout with Felder due to suffering an injury. The report went on to state that Charles Oliveira was looking to be the targeted replacement to face Felder. MMA Junkie later confirmed with multiple sources that Oliveira has stepped in. However, that matchup has not been announced by the UFC yet.

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

This weekend, Joanna Jedrzejczyk will once again strut into Madison Square Garden just under the co-main event to defend her UFC strawweight title. Rose Namajunas stands a violent and crafty challenger who is not intimidated, but consensus is she’ll be just another person who falls short against her overwhelming dominance. It’s a performance so consistent, that she’s beginning to have familiar questions aimed at her, the same questions given to Demetrious Johnson: When are you moving up in weight for a new challenge? Joanna Jedrzejczyk recognizes the challenge and it’s something she thinks about. “Definitely the flyweight division is something I think about, but if I move up, it’s going to be the biggest challenge in my fighting career. I will see. […] I make my dreams and goals come true. When I seem backed up and I’m tired, I think of my dreams and goal. My dream and goal is to be undefeated. My dream right now is to tie Ronday Rousey’s record, break the record of seven title [defenses] in the UFC for a female fighter, retire undefeated in the future and go for the second belt.”

Russell Ess - October 31, 2017

The bad blood continues to boil between former UFC fighter Norman Parke and his KSW rival Mateusz Gamrot. The two met in the cage for the first time in May at KSW 39 where they fought for the promotion’s lightweight title. Gamrot ended up taking a unanimous decision victory. However, the fight did not go without controversy as Gamrot can be seen biting Parke’s fingers during a grappling exchange in the fight.

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

When Andre Fili bested his training partner Artem Lobov at UFC Gdansk, most of the eyes were on Conor McGregor screaming his voice out cageside. However, even more attention was drawn towards  the champ champ after the fight was over. BT Sport and UFC Europe both deleted video of McGregor walking Lobov back to the locker rooms using some questionable language, but the internet is forever. Neither organizations have commented on the slur, but McGregor recently issued an apology on RTE’s The Late Late Show. “I had to put my hands up there. I was watching [Artem Lobov] — a sparring partner, training partner, a friend, a brother — of mine who has given his health — his body health, his brain health, everything — to help me prepare for fights. To give my brain health and my body health to entertain the public. So, that’s the fighter I was going to watch and support. I witnessed him lose a potential career defining or career ending fight, in manner where the opponent was stalling and running away and I was upset.”

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

Even before Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor boxed, Nate Diaz was the clear choice for the champ champ’s UFC return. Slowly, as Diaz haunts the division out of sight, the front-runner became Tony Ferguson. Dan Hardy has said Tony Ferguson is the fight, Eddie Bravo wants his protege to have the shot, even Dillon Danis wants McGregor to fight T-Ferg. None of their opinions though, mean quite as much as this one. Both Conor McGregor and Tony Ferguson’s manager Audie Attar says their fight will definitely happen, he just didn’t reveal if it’s next or not. “The sport is one where they’re going to compete. If you have clients in the same weight class, and they’re the top of the division, they’re going to meet. With Tony [Ferguson] and Conor [McGregor], it’s inevitable. You have the lightweight champ and the interim lightweight champ, so that’s a fight that’s naturally going to happen. I can’t say [who McGregor will fight next]. Here’s what I will tell you: Tony earned a shot at the belt. He won the interim lightweight title.”

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

Yesterday afternoon American Top Team co-founder Ricardo Liborio took to Instagram with a post that announced his departure from the gym, and also condemned the recent anti-Brazil comments of ATT staple Colby Covington. I feel that I must make a statement in light of the comments made by Colby Convigton along with the amount of messages sent to me from Brazil, the United States, and from all over the world. I’m here to state that I am no longer with American Top Team. Also, I absolutely do not condone any behavior that instigates hate, prejudice, or bullying of any kind. It upsets me to see the sport taking this direction of blatant disrespect. It’s unsportsmanlike, but it also fosters and promotes a culture of cruelty towards others. Combat Sports should always represent the qualities of humility, empathy, and respect. I dedicated my life to the Martial arts, and to the formation and growth of this team. I can not discuss at this time the reasons for my departure from ATT. At some point, I will. For the time being, I want the members of ATT to know that they will always be in my heart❤

Justin Golightly - October 31, 2017

No tragic curve ball has derailed any of the three title fights stacked up top for UFC 217, that means we’re only four days away from huge fights with even bigger implications. The cherry perched atop the violence smorgasbord is Georges St-Pierre challenging Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title. The UFC and St-Pierre have gone on record saying if he wins, he’ll defend against interim middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, but Tyron Woodley has other ideas. “I think my next opponent is going to be the winner of Bisping and Georges St-Pierre. I think that’s my next fight. Victorious in that fight, I think you see me move up to a different weight class. At one point in time, you look at 1, 2 and 3, and I beat them. I beat 1, 2, 3, 5. Kelvin Gastelum and Johny Hendricks were in the mix, I beat them as well. Tarec Saffiedine, who just got bumped out [of the top 15], Dong Hyun Kim, who just got bumped out. “People have short term memories on what my resume is, and my finishing ability. Out of 17, 18 victories, 11 of those were finishes, 9 of those in the first round.”

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

Earlier this week, long-time Team Alpha Male coach Justin Buchholz announced that he’d been dealt something of a demotion by team founder Urijah Faber. Speaking on the Stud Show podcast, a frustrated sounding Buchholz explained that he’ll no longer be serving as the team’s head coach, but as a striking coach. According to Faber himself, however, Buchholz’s frustration might be a bit unfounded.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

A little pumpkin practice 🎃 for Halloween ! 👻 happy holidays everyone. Enjoy the candy. Tune in too @ufconfox December 16th to watch the fight of the year between me and the #10 ranked welterweight in the world ! #PumpkinsAreHarderThanIThought #BestFightOfTheYear #AndItsBeenAGreatYearForFighting #StylesMakeFights #PlatinumPandaStyle 🐼 #HardWork #Dedication #Follow @platinumprincessofficial A post shared by Platinum Mike Perry (@platinummikeperry) on Oct 30, 2017 at 5:50pm PDT

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

The province of Western Australia has finally lifted its cage ban, which means that the UFC now has a wide open road to the city of Perth. On Tuesday, the promotion announced that it will debut in the city on February 11. It will make this debut not with a Fight Night card, but with a full-on pay-per-view card in UFC 221. More exciting still is the news that the promotion’s tentative plan is to to top the UFC 221 bill with a middleweight title unifying showdown between interim champion Robert Whittaker, and the winner of Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre’s UFC 217 middleweight title fight.

Tom Taylor - October 31, 2017

Colby Covington had a wild time in Brazil. Moments after his unanimous decision win over Demian Maia was announced, the red-hot welterweight went off on the country, calling it a “a dump” and referring to its citizens as “filthy animals.” Unsurprisingly, the people of Brazil weren’t happy with Covington’s remarks. The UFC, meanwhile immediately feared for his safety. As such, he was apparently put on “lockdown” from the moment these comments left his mouth until he reached the airport.

Russell Ess - October 30, 2017

Colby Covington made sure to get people to pay attention to him following his win over Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 119. Following a unanimous decision win in Sao Paulo over the former UFC middleweight and welterweight title challenger, Covington degraded Brazil and Brazilian fans in his post-fight Octagon interview. Covington referred to the fans in Brazil as “filthy animals” and called Brazil “a dump,” in which he later gave his reasoning for.

Tom Taylor - October 30, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s action-packed return to Sao Paulo, Brazil, surging UFC welterweight Colby Covington picked up the biggest win of his career thus far, defeating Demian Maia with a dominant unanimous decision. As impressive as Covington’s win was, however, it has been somewhat overshadowed by his headline-dominating his post-fight speech. In this speech, Covington referred to Brazil as “a dump,” and its residents as “filthy animals.” What followed was a wave of controversy. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Covington’s friend and training partner Jorge Masvidal jumped to his defense, assuring that there’s no reason to be upset about this post-fight speech.

Russell Ess - October 30, 2017

UFC Fight Night 119 took place over the weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil with some great performances displayed in the Octagon. The event was headlined by Derek Brunson and Lyoto Machida where Brunson earned a first-round KO over the former UFC light heavyweight champion. In the co-main event, Colby Covington took a unanimous decision win over Demian Maia.