MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

This Saturday night, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor was expected to partake in a pay-per-view Q&A in London, England. Regrettably, this event has been nixed. This news comes from Starsport. At the time of this writing, the catalyst for the event’s cancellation is not known.

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

It came as a surprise when ‘The Immortal’ Matt Brown decided he was going to step away from the sport. He announced that his UFC Norfolk fight with Diego Sanchez would be the last time he steps into the Octagon, officially retiring whether he wins or loses. His exciting fights will be missed, but much respect to Matt Brown for getting out when he feels it’s time. He thinks that this moment could be all the more special, if his opponent decided it was time to leave the gloves in the cage as well. “My game plan is not much different than always. I’m going to punch [Diego Sanchez] before he punches me, I’m going to punch him more times than he punches me, and I’m going to punch him harder than he punches me. It’s not that complicated, man. You know what you’re getting when you’re fighting Diego, I think people know what they’re getting when they fight me. I’m going to come forward, he’s going to come forward, we’re going to meet in the middle, we’re going to throw down.”

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

On November 4, in the main event of the absurdly stacked UFC 217, UFC middleweight king Michael Bisping will attempt to defend his title opposite returning former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre. This fight registers as one of the biggest of the year, and from the sounds of it, Bisping could follow it with another massive showdown. Speaking on his podcast, Believe You Me, the ever-dangerous middleweight champ suggested a fight with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier could well be the next move, if UFC 217 goes his way.

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

Back in 2008, when he held the UFC light heavyweight title, Rashad Evans was considered the best light heavyweight fighter on the planet. Even after he lost that title, succumbing to punches dealt by the surging Lyoto Machida, he was still regarded as one of the division’s very best. Unfortunately, Evans eventually began to decline. After failing to reclaim the light heavyweight title from his heated rival Jon Jones, the former champ lost a tepid decision to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, defeated Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen, and then lost decisively to Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira. With this diminishing success, he finally made a long-discussed move down to the middleweight division.

Tom Taylor - September 27, 2017

The August 26 boxing match between undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor was widely expected to topple all previous combat sports records. Unfortunately, it’s fallen short in that regard. First, we learned that the so-called “money fight” failed to break the record for live gate, clocking in at $55,414,865.79, and failing to overtake Mayweather’s lucrative battle with Manny Pacquiao, which did a live gate of $70 million. 

Justin Golightly - September 26, 2017

Poor, Paige VanZant. Her life has been a series of literal ups-and-downs lately. First, she moved up in weight and was feeling like a brand new warrior woman, ready to impress in UFC’s new flyweight division. However, just yesterday she had to drop out of her upcoming fight with Jessica Eye due to a back injury. Turns out, it actually wasn’t that simple. Evidently, VanZant got checked out and discovered her body was like a minefield that just went off. Check out all the stuff that’s going on with PVZ right now.

Justin Golightly - September 26, 2017

A lot of images and feelings come to mind when the name Nick Diaz is brought up. He’s shadow boxed during awkward interviews right into our heart for many years. He could usually be found constantly looking over his shoulder, most likely after ridiculously exciting fights. Lately though, anti-doping violations caused by marijuana has simultaneously nearly ended, and revitalized his career. His suspension has long been up, but he neglects to pay the rest of his fine, instead spending his time making bank off of appearances and many partnerships with cannabis companies. Let’s travel back to a simpler time when Diaz was walking opponents down and pressuring them with his boxing until things inevitably end on the ground. Sep26.2003

Justin Golightly - September 26, 2017

Daniel Cormier is taking a break after a roller coaster ride of chaos after losing to Jon Jones at UFC 214, then getting back his UFC light heavyweight title only a little while later. He’s going to take a much-needed rest for at least six months, before coming back to defend his belt against Alexander Gustafsson or Volkan Oezdemir. Or, who knows? However, it’s another fighter that has just gotten Cormier’s attention again: Former opponent Frank Mir.

Justin Golightly - September 26, 2017

Conor McGregor‘s ties to the biggest money-making industries in the world just keep growing. He’s already a mogul, but througout his career has caught the eyes of a surprising number of people in the industry. He infamously got an embrace from Kanye West after his win over Nate Diaz, but it goes beyond that. Drake introduced him at the Toronto Mayweather/McGregor press conference, The Killers made a music video promoting his last fight, he was at Jennifer Lopez’s freakin’ birthday, and now he’s earned a new fan from a prominent English rock band. “I was first aware of [Conor McGregor] when we were on tour in Ireland.We had a night off, and we went to a pub one night in Cork. The pub was mobbed. If [McGregor]’s on, I’ll watch it the next day on repeat. He’s a dude. He’s an absolute dude. He makes me cry laughing when he’s [trash talking]. I was at Russell Brand’s wedding that day [during Mayweather/McGregor]. Russell kicked us all out at midnight. We came back to London and then as it was going on, I’m thinking, ‘It’s taking him 10 rounds! It’s unbelievable.’”

Russell Ess - September 26, 2017

CFC: Silmar Sombra vencia o Paturi por Finalização, quando o octógono foi invadido por um membro da equipe do Paturi e agrediu Sombra pic.twitter.com/QuZBvKOcJw — PANCADANTE (@pancadante) September 25, 2017

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2017

On November 4, in the main event of the absurdly stacked UFC 217, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will defend his title against returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. The expectation is that the winner of this fight will then battle interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to unify the titles. In the opinion of Luke Rockhold, however, that’s just not going to happen. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Rockhold shared his worry that, no matter the outcome of UFC 217’s main event, the winner won’t fight Whittaker – or any other top middleweight contenders for that matter.

Russell Ess - September 26, 2017

A fighter’s UFC career has been put on hold after the promotion was notified of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation. Undefeated Russian MMA fighter Azamat Murzakanov was flagged for a potential violation and will now have to go through the due process.

Russell Ess - September 26, 2017

There will be a quite a few new experiences for Georges St-Pierre when he makes his return to the Octagon after being away from mixed martial arts competition for nearly four years. It will be the first time the former UFC welterweight champion will compete at 185 pounds as he challenges UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping for his title. “Rush” will likely also have a new coach added to his corner for the fight taking place at UFC 217 in November as famed boxing coach Freddie Roach explained recently to Fight Hub.

Justin Golightly - September 26, 2017

The fight triangle between the elite heavyweight beasts is still ongoing. Francis Ngannou was robbed of a giant clash with Junior dos Santos that assuredly would have propelled his career to the top if he managed to come out with a win against the former UFC heavyweight champ. Ever since then, he’s been very vocal about fights with both Alistair Overeem and belt holder Stipe Miocic. He’s up for either one still, but of course he’d rather fight the man with the strap. Not only does he like his chances to win, but Francis Ngannou thinks he could knock out Miocic. “I already know everything [Stipe Miocic and Alistair Overeem] are able to do. Everyone knows all of their skills. They don’t know mine. They’re still discovering mine. I’m bringing a surprise in every fight. I’ve never had the opportunity to show my whole game yet. I knock Stipe out when we fight. I think under three rounds, I knock him out.”

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2017

Last Friday, the UFC made a triumphant return to Japan with an exciting night of fights. Now that the card is in the rear-view, the promotion’s official rankings have been updated. The biggest changes to the UFC rankings occured in the strawweight division, where Jessica Andrade rocketed up the list after a thrilling win over Claudia Gadelha. There was also a change at flyweight, where Dustin Ortiz overtook Tim Elliot and Jon Moraga on the list. The only other division to experience change with the latest rankings update was welterweight, where Kamaru Usman pulled ahead of Gunnar Nelson to steal the number 11 spot.

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of the stacked Bellator 183, long-time lightweight contender Patricky Freire picked up an impressive – albeit controversial – win over former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson. Shortly after this win, which registers as one of the best of his career, Freire called for a shot at reigning lightweight champ Brent Primus. “I want the champion,” he said. “I want Brent Primus. Tonight I took down another former champion and I want my shot at that belt. He keeps running from me but now it’s time. I want that belt and after tonight I earned my shot at it. Benson Henderson is a good, tough fighter, but I’ve got my mind on the division title now. You can’t keep running Primus.”

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2017

Floyd Mayweather’s blockbuster battle with UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is now soundly in the rear-view. That said, the boxer is still surrounding himself with mementos of his showdown with the Irishman. On Monday night, the undefeated boxing star shared a photo to Twitter, which shows side-by-side paintings of himself and McGregor, hanging in his Beverly Hills mansion. See it below.

Tom Taylor - September 26, 2017

Last weekend, on the main card of the UFC’s latest trip to Japan, kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki made his anticipated UFC debut. His opponent was Brazilian light heavyweight Henrique da Silva. Though Saki ultimately managed to put da Silva down with a crashing left hook in the first round, his win was not without flaws. The most glaring issue with his performance was that his cardio seemed to fade just minutes into the fight, at which point da Silva actually managed to start landing significant shots on him.