MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2017

Last night, in the main event of UFC 215 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes put her belt on the line opposite perhaps her fiercest rival: Kyrgyzstani striker Valentina Shevchenko. The fight registered as an incredibly competitive one, and after five close rounds, pretty much every onlooker was happy not to be a judge. In the end, though, the victory went to Nunes via split decision, which means the belt will remain around her waist.

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

It’s finally here. Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko finally meet for the second time. We were supposed to get this fight at UFC 213, but unfortunately Amanda Nunes’ severe sinusitis flared up and she pulled out. After going through the build-up three times, Nunes and Shevchenko wasted no time getting after each other tonight at UFC 215. Arguably two of the best women fighters on the planet threw down to see who improved since UFC 196. @BulletValentina just dislocated her finger… Then had it popped back into place in her corner. She didn't even flinch. #savage

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

Just on their names alone, the fight between Neil Magny and Rafael dos Anjos could have been a main event if this was a UFC on FOX card and not a pay-per-view event. With an intimidating record, Magny was at number six in the welterweight division as he welcomed dos Anjos into the weight class for his second fight. A win over Magny would be a huge statement for dos Anjos to make after moving up in weight, so that’s exactly what he went out there and did. https://twitter.com/Jonnyboy_6969/status/906729105982464001

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

Henry Cejudo is undefeated in the UFC except for losing to nearly-perfect UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, and the perpetual second-in-command, Joseph Benavidez. His opponent Wilson Reis was on a three-fight win streak until also running into mini-boss Mighty Mouse. Their clash tonight was a battle between two of the top flyweights in the world and who can step closer to getting another shot at that seemingly unreachable belt. Immediately, it was clear Cejudo has drastically improved and may have been watching some Conor McGregor tape. https://twitter.com/SecretMovesMMA/status/906720553981136897

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

There’s not much to talk about during this fight. Not because Sarah Moras or Ashlee Evans-Smith put on a boring fight, but because the fight didn’t even last half of a full round. Moras hasn’t fought since July 2015 and leaped into this fight like she wanted to make up all that time. She locked up Evans-Smith’s arm and torques the hell out of it. Unfortunately, it looks like it was dislocated and it’s hard to watch if the submission wasn’t so sweet. https://twitter.com/Jonnyboy_6969/status/906688790076555265

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

Rick Glenn got an overwhelming chorus of boos at UFC 215 and it must have charged him up. He ran at Gavin Tucker like a man possessed in the very beginning of the first round and nearly got the low-percentage standing choke. Tucker caught on to Glenn’s wild moveset of spinning backfists and jerky movements, resulting in him tying him up with clinch and staying close peppering with shots. https://twitter.com/Jonnyboy_6969/status/906678130504499200

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

It started off normal enough. Mitch Clarke and Alex White exchanged kicks almost like a turn-based role playing game. There was a clinch battle and some knees, then back to more front kicks by Clarke and leg kicks by White. The fight was a rinse and repeat of violence chess. For mostly two whole rounds, both fighters kept doing exactly the same thing. It was almost gentlemanly, if it wasn’t two guys beating each other for money in the Octagon. Alex White delivers a beatdown in a big win over Mitch Clarke to get UFC 215 prelims started! https://t.co/usjTrVeG4e

Justin Golightly - September 9, 2017

We lost the main event, but the card still keeps trucking. Tonight is UFC 215 making Edmonton face the pain in Canada. Demetrious Johnson can’t break his record, but Amanda Nunes will still defend her UFC bantamweight title against Valentina Shevchenko. This is one of the best fights a promotion can make in any women’s division on Earth right now. That’s not all, Rafael dos Anjos makes his second venture at welterweight against lanky and dangerous Neil Magny. Seeing an RDA who isn’t drained anymore by a weight cut is interesting, especially against such a strong fighter. A win here definitely shows that Dos Anjos is seriously dangerous in a higher weight class, after winning his previous fight at welterweight against Tarec Saffiedine. Also a couple of cracking fights between Henry Cejudo and Wilson Reis, as well as Gilbert Melendez’s featherweight debut against “Who the Fook is Dat Guy” Jeremy Stephens.

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Although Demetrious Johnson’s quest for MMA history will be postponed, Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are good to go this time. It’s a rematch between two of the top women in the sport right now, with the UFC bantamweight title on the line. Another former UFC champ, Holly Holm, knows exactly what it’s like to be in Nunes’ position. In July of last year, Holm tested Shevchenko’s toughness and lost a decision to the Polish striker. It’s one of the reasons she is picking Shevchenko over Nunes tomorrow at UFC 215. “I think Amanda Nunes is a very tough girl; Valentina [Shevchenko] is far more technical. I think everyone knows Amanda likes power shots, and Shevchenko is a lot more technical. I think Shevchenko can take the belt away. Anything can happen in a fight. Don’t get me wrong, but I think Shevchenko can do it.” — Holly Holm speaking to MMA Junkie.

Russell Ess - September 8, 2017

Both Kevin Lee and Georges St-Pierre have big fights coming up in the UFC. Lee will be fighting for the UFC interim lightweight title against Tony Ferguson in the main event of UFC 216 in October. St-Pierre will be making his return to the Octagon after stepping away from competition nearly four years ago and will jump up a weight class to take on Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title at UFC 217 in November.

Russell Ess - September 8, 2017

Another UFC main event has been canceled just days away from the scheduled date. This time it was for the UFC 215 flyweight title fight featuring Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg. Borg, the challenger was forced to withdraw from the title fight due to being ill and was deemed unfit to compete by medical doctors. Members of the MMA community reacted to the disappointing news as the UFC released a statement on Borg’s illness and the process of UFC 215 ticket refunds.

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Michael Bisping has been known to ruffle feathers wherever he goes. Ol’ Left Hook Larry always says what’s on his mind, whether it offends you or not usually is of no concern. However, it wasn’t bad behavior that got Bisping banned from Reddit. Matter of fact, it just a misunderstanding due to so many nefarious fiends looking to pose as someone they are not online. What made it so funny, is that the MMA subreddit wanted Bisping to get his son (and frequent R/MMA contributor) to verify his father’s identity. Needless to say, Bisping didn’t really want to have to give his son Callum the authority and vowed to talk about this on the next episode of his show. …And he did. “I was looking for something to read and I thought, I’ll go to Redidt. I went to Reddit and you got to sign up, so I put in my username — I think it was mikethecountbisping — and I started enjoying Reddit. There’s lots of topics on there and I was like, this isn’t bad actually. Then when I went back, I had some private messages: ‘You have been banned from Reddit. Parody accounts are not allowed.’ They just assumed I was not Michael Bisping and banned me from Reddit. I messaged them back like, oh my god, are you serious? I am Michael Bisping. Now, I feel like a d-ckhead going hey, I am Michael Bisping, but I’m just trying to get un-banned from Reddit. Then they say — this is the kicker — ‘Well, if you are Michael Bisping, get your son to send us a message. We know him.'” — Michael Bisping on his Believe You Me podcast.

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

The MMA gods are about to bless us with violence again. Last year, Doo Ho Choi earned a UFC ‘Fight of the Night’ bonus, as well as ESPN’s ‘Fight of the Year’ award, for his war with Cub Swanson. He lost to the top featherweight contender, but it was his first loss since 2010 and it was to a seriously elite fighter. Choi isn’t slowing down anytime soon, after nursing some injuries he’s ready to return to action and wants Jose Aldo. “I have almost recovered from my injuries and I’m back training. I got a shoulder injury as a result of excessive strength training and I want to apologize firstly to my fans and secondly my opponent, Andre Fili. I think Andre Fili is a great fighter, but I see he has a fight now with another opponent so I’m open to fighting someone else.There are no fighters who I really want to fight, but I want a ranked fighter next. I’m interested in a fight with Jose Aldo and I want to fight him.”

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Once again, a UFC card this year has been disrupted at the last minute. Ray Borg had to pull out of his fight with Demetrious Johnson, the original main event is gone and Amanda Nunes gets bumped up to headline. The world is a strange place, readers. There is a pattern that emerges when you go back and look at Canada and Amanda Nunes. Stick with us, we know it sounds weird, but not as weird as these stats. The folks at MMA Junkie looked back at UFC events in Canada and found nine instances where the main event had to be changed: UFC 215 in Edmonton, UFC Fight Night 105 in Halifax, UFC 206 in Toronto, UFC 186 in Montreal, UFC 161 in Winnipeg, UFC 152 in Toronto, UFC 149 in Calgary, UFC 131 in Vancouver, and UFC 115 in Vancouver. That’s all just a little eerie, but another thing that is interesting is that Georges St-Pierre never had a problem in all his trips to Canada.

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

Ovince Saint Preux is about to gear up and fight Mauricio “Shogun” Rua  in Japan, but there is another fight still in the back of his mind. Back at UFC 197, Saint Preux jumped in to replace Daniel Cormier and fought Jon Jones for an interim UFC light heavyweight title. Losing the bout and suffering a broken arm in the process, OSP took the loss hard but moved on. However, the recent controversy over Jon Jones’ drug test has all of the feelings rushing back. Was Jones’ allegedly on performance enhancing drugs during their fight as well? Saint Preux wants to know the answers. “I mean, I did an article a while back saying, I just wanted [Jon Jones] to tell the truth. But at the end of the day, with me, I just wanted to know. But at the end of the day, what can I do about it? It’s a situation where I’ve learned, especially like my fight when I fought Volkan. You know, I walked in the locker room and I caught myself screaming, and I was like, why am I mad for? I mean, I did everything I did, I poured my heart out in the fight, you know, I trained hard, I felt like I won the fight.”

Justin Golightly - September 8, 2017

  The “Fertitta Era” is over. Billionaires Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta bought the UFC in 2001 and have been running it ever since. After a long and arduous road losing money and dealing with the legal complications of trying to monopolize the bloodsport industry, the Fertitta’s made the UFC extremely profitable and eventually sold most of their ownership last year. Forbes reports in an exclusive that they have sold their remaining shares, pushing the evaluation of the UFC even higher and leaving the business totally.

Russell Ess - September 7, 2017

The UFC 215 main event featuring Demetrious Johnson and Ray Borg has been canceled just days before the event is set to take place in Edmonton, Canada. Late Thursday, Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported that Borg was forced out of the UFC flyweight title fight against Johnson due to illness. According to the report, Borg was fighting the illness this week and doctors deemed the UFC title challenger unfit to compete.

Justin Golightly - September 7, 2017

Back for the first time since 2015, the UFC will return to Winnipeg to bring the fights to Canada on December 16th. The free card on big FOX doesn’t have much scheduled yet, but it just got a some heat in a flyweight bout. Wildman Tim Elliott will square off with Justin Scoggins in a fight that is sure to cause sparks, rain dogs and probably contain backflips. https://twitter.com/ScogginsFlow/status/901948099756679168