MMA News

Russell Ess - August 25, 2017

We are just one day away from being able to end the debate on who will win the money fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor. Tons of fans, pundits, and even some fighters are claiming who they undoubtedly feel will win the boxing match and will either look like to validate their predictions or face being called out for being wrong by the opposing side.

Russell Ess - August 25, 2017

What many expect to be the richest fight in the history of combat sports is taking place on Saturday night as Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor are set to meet in the boxing ring. The fight for the “Money Belt” will generate millions of dollars from the live event and pay-per-view sales. While Mayweather and McGregor will be makings their millions for their time spent in the boxing ring, ticket brokers who were expecting to make a killing based on the expectations and hype of the event on the secondary ticket sales market are apparently in a deep hole that will surely take some time to get out of.

Russell Ess - August 25, 2017

Former UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie has been forced to pull out of her bout on the UFC Fight Night 115 card, which is scheduled to take place on September 2. De Randamie was scheduled to fight Marion Reneau in the co-main event at Ahoy Rotterdam in the Netherlands prior to the main event featuring heavyweights Stefan Struve and Alexander Volkov. MMA Junkie confirmed with UFC officials that de Randamie was forced to pull out of the contest due to suffering an injury.

Justin Golightly - August 25, 2017

Tyron Woodley just quietly tried to steal the fire from Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather for fight week. He is fresh off his UFC 214 win where he shut down Demian Maia, who has just been choking anyone he wanted until then. Before that, he derailed the Stephen Thompson hype train not once, but twice, and he was being groomed to become the next exciting UFC welterweight champion. So, who’s next for Woodley? That’s a harder question than you think. Besides a rematch with Robbie Lawler who he took the belt from via a startling first round KO, or fighting the guy who just got beat by Maia, there isn’t much left for Tyron Woodley. That’s why he just told Ariel Helwani that his future may be in the next weight division. The champ @TWooodley is here. #themmahour https://t.co/1p8tiduAag pic.twitter.com/EutXpUk0gx

Justin Golightly - August 25, 2017

Conor McGregor hasn’t stepped through the ropes of the boxing ring yet to box Floyd Mayweather and we’re already talking about his next fight. However, this is all par of the course when a guy like McGregor has a bout coming up. Paul Malignaggi managed to get wrapped up in the fight build-up and eventually made it known he intended on fighting McGregor. Artem Lobov was quick to silence that, of course it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Back in the UFC, McGregor dropped hints that his next fight would be with Nate Diaz to finish out the trilogy. We know with Conor, nothing can be that simple though, so do the bookeepers. Betway just dropped the odds on who the Champ Champ could fight next.

Justin Golightly - August 25, 2017

Conor McGregor has already dropped some major hints at his next fight. He’s put his foot down time and time again saying he fully intends to fight in the UFC at the end of the year, where all signs point to a trilogy fight with none other than Nate Diaz. Both his previous fights with Diaz weren’t for a belt, nor were they even in McGregor’s weight class, they were prizefights for money and pride. That’s all well and good for McGregor, but not good for Tony Ferguson. El Cucuy is scheduled to fight Kevin Lee at UFC 216 for the interim UFC lightweight title, since Khabib Nurmagomedov is perpetually inconsistent and McGregor is off ‘playing grab ass’ in a boxing ring. Needless to say, Tony Ferguson isn’t happy when he talked to media about the buzz that McGregor will come back to fight Diaz instead of him. Strong words from @TonyFergusonXT in a message for @TheNotoriousMMA after he's done "playing grab-ass" in boxing: Fight the right Mexican. pic.twitter.com/YZUc68vuCg

Justin Golightly - August 25, 2017

Ever since Conor McGregor’s little 8lb 14oz at t baby has been born, the Champ Champ has been carrying him around like a football wherever he goes. Conor Jack McGregor Jr. even has his own Instagram account with over 75K followers. McGregor seems like a dutiful father who intends on letting his little one see all the lights and splendor of the life he’s earned through his unprecedented 4-year run in the UFC and now his fight with Floyd Mayweather. He even put his baby into a “tree” piece suit, just like dear old dad. The pictures, of course, are both adorable and hilarious. Im dying pic.twitter.com/WJ0vtppOb5

Justin Golightly - August 25, 2017

As we reported earlier in the week, this Jon Jones news and subsequent fallout will result in a domino effect that will touch many different things. One big domino in the middle of all this is former UFC light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier. Coming off his devastating loss, the man already had enough to deal already. Now, it’s all shoved back into his face again. While he is still on a cruise ship vacationing with his family, he took the time out for UFC on FOX to talk about Jon Jones at length. “Well, I was just getting to Hawaii. I was in the van heading to the hotel when I received a phone call, and the reaction was disbelief. It was crazy, man. You don’t expect to get that type of call any time, much less when you’re on your way to a vacation with you family. Very difficult [to digest this loss. You just want to have everything be right. I know when I walked away from that fight, I knew that he was better. You know, he had beat me again.”

Justin Golightly - August 24, 2017

Everyone has weighed-in on Jon Jones and the results of his drug test: Dana White, Daniel Cormier, Anthony Johnson, and hoards of others on the internet. The opinions have been just as diverse as the current (and still) UFC light heavyweight champion’s combat arsenal. His manager has gone on record supporting his client’s innocence and even went so far as to say it may be a set-up. What makes Demetrious Johnson’s two cents different, is that he details how he himself avoids “tainted supplements” or popping unexpectedly. “It’s unfortunate you know. its very hard to fail a drug test. I don’t take any supplements. I don’t take any ibuprofen, Tylenol, I don’t take nothing. I just got swimmer’s ear. The first thing I did was text the UFC’s doctor, I call Jeff Novinsky, I say ‘I got swmmer’s ear, I need to get antibiotics,’ because you never know what will show up for the tests.”

Justin Golightly - August 24, 2017

It was Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff’s first big day on the job. He was representing William Hill Betting on their podcast and the interview he had booked for the day was too good to be true. Actually, it really was too good to be true, because his guest never showed up. Instead of interviewing the notorious Conor McGregor, host Robbie Savage set Flintoff up with Al Foran. If you haven’t seen his videos, he’s a talented impersonator who voices just about anyone you could think of, but he blew up as soon as he started emulating the UFC champ champ. The former England cricketer had no idea what to expect when the interview starting going south really quick. “Hook, line and sinker.” https://t.co/Y4v85q1H5p

Justin Golightly - August 24, 2017

It happens every fight. We all have done it. He’s too fast, we say. The ground game will be his downfall. This guy will finally be the guy who beats Conor McGregor, the media writes. It’s happened through Dustin Poirier, Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Eddie Alvarez, and now Floyd Mayweather. This is different though, this isn’t MMA. It’s a boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. While McGregor has enjoyed being a giant fish in a very small pond, he’s been released into the Atlantic Ocean now. It’s very hard to see how McGregor can pull this one off, but nothing has dented his confidence. That’s why we’ve compiled some brief footage (against better judgment) to show three methods where this cocky Irishman can prove us wrong one more time. The Straight Left

Russell Ess - August 24, 2017

The MMA community is still buzzing over the fact that Jon Jones was flagged for the second time in his career for a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation. What makes the news even more shocking is how Jones just recently came off a one-year suspension for testing positive for banned substances last year in July. To add to the drama, Jones just won the UFC light heavyweight title back in a devastating fashion by being the first competitor to knock out and finish Daniel Cormier.

Tom Taylor - August 24, 2017

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor‘s upcoming boxing showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. is quite unprecedented. That said, it can be compared to a few other fights in the long and violent history of unarmed combat. One fight it is often compared to is Muhammed Ali’s 1976 battle with pro wrestler Antonio Inoki. Another it is compared to is boxer James Toney’s lone and disastrous mixed martial arts bout, which saw him abruptly tapped out by Randy Couture. In the opinion of UFC President Dana White, it’s also somewhat similar to former UFC light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell’s sojourn into the PRIDE FC ring – unfamiliar territory for a fighter who’d cut his teeth in the cage.

Justin Golightly - August 24, 2017

Old wounds can become new again when something catastrophic happens. UFC 214 came and went and we all moved on from Daniel Cormier’s defeat and his emotional interview that Joe Rogan later regretted. It might be hard to tell Cormier, but it isn’t bad being the second best light heavyweight in the world and top 10 pound-for-pound. We lifted Jon Jones back up as the UFC champ and the GOAT candidate. However, now that Jones allegedly popped for steroids, all those feelings come rushing back. Big John McCarthy recently revealed that Daniel Cormier didn’t realize he even fought Jones in a recent comprehensive interview for RT Sport. “He looked at me and he never even realized the fight started. He is sitting on the stool, he’s been knocked out and he is saying, ‘John what are they doing with my belt, we haven’t even fought yet. Why are they giving it to him?’ This is what occurs, this is the reality of fighting. And in the situation with Daniel Cormier, Dan doesn’t remember any of that. His brain doesn’t observe that information and put it in the memory because he got concussed. And this is part of our sport, and people need to understand what’s going on with it.”

Russell Ess - August 24, 2017

If you heard that Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor were fighting for the WBC “Money Belt” a month ago, you probably would have thought it was a joke. However, on Tuesday during the last press conference held for the mega-million dollar boxing match, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman showcased the diamond and jewel encrusted belt to be given to the winner on Saturday night. “The perfect title for this is a ‘money belt,’” Sulaiman told MMA Fighting. “We’re just proud to have a little bit of history for this event.”

Justin Golightly - August 24, 2017

Between the controversial sparring bouts, the photos, the video leaked by Dana White, and their altercation at media day, it’s looks like Conor McGregor is fighting Paul Malignaggi on Saturday instead of Floyd Mayweather. Of course, if Malignaggi gets his way, they could fight next year on St. Patrick’s day. Although, McGregor’s right hand (or is it left hand?) man, Artem Lobov, isn’t convinced that fight will happen. He recently spoke to Submission Radio to put this Malignaggi situation to rest. “Everybody always talks about Conor, says this and the other, but he truly is a man that likes a challenge. I mean, he is doing this fight [with Floyd Mayweather], why? Because no one before him was able to beat Floyd Mayweather. That’s why Conor is here to prove, that yes, it can be done. But Malignaggi doesn’t present any kind of a challenge. Conor doesn’t fight just for the money. You know, the money is the last thing on his mind – well, maybe not the last thing on his mind. Of course, you know, it plays a big part, but he needs a challenge. It needs to be someone that will truly push him to the next level. Malignaggi is not one of those guys, so I really doubt it’s gonna be him.”

Justin Golightly - August 24, 2017

Dealing with Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather boxing each other the same week that Jon Jones allegedly popped for steroids (Hey, he still has his day in court), is like trying to juggle water. If it’s hard for normal folks and MMA media, you can imagine how hard it is for Dana White. Sure, he’s not perfect and we all get pissed off at him more than on occasion, but he’s going through a hard time right now. White joined Shannon Sharpe on Undisputed to talk about the Jon Jones situation and actually dish out some praise. “It’s crazy, but the thing that’s sad is when you start saying, ‘should we question everything that Jon [Jones] has ever done?’ He’s the best to ever do it. He didn’t need those drugs. But guess what, guys don’t need cocaine, guys don’t need this, they don’t need that, but they do it anyway. They do it for whatever reasons they do it. Jon Jones is one of the most gifted fighters I’ve ever met, maybe the most gifted fighter that I’ve ever met.”

Tom Taylor - August 24, 2017

This Saturday, UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor will step into the boxing ring to tangle with Floyd Mayweather Jr., an undefeated defensive mastermind and one of the best-ever in the long and bloody history of pugilism. For all of McGregor’s talent as a martial artist, he’s being given little chance against Mayweather under the boxing ruleset. There are however, some members of the combat sports community that believe the Irishman can pull it off. His fiercest rival, Nate Diaz, is a part of that group. Diaz shared his surprising believe in McGregor during an appearance on Against All Odds Podcast with Cousin Sal (via MMAUno.com).