MMA News
Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw is official for UFC 217, Garbrandt issues quick threat
Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017
It’s official. UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt the very first defense of his bantamweight title at UFC 217, this November 4 in New York City, New York. His opponent will be his arch rival, former champion TJ DIllashaw. Though this bout has long been expected to occur at this November card, which goes down inside Madison Square Garden, it was only just set in stone by the UFC. The promotion announced the fight on UFC Tonight, then on social media. It’s finally coming down!!! @Cody_NoLove vs @TJDillashaw at #UFC217 🎟🎟 Sept. 15
Breaking! Anderson Silva returns to the octagon on November 25 in Shanghai
Chris Taylor - August 16, 2017
Former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva will throw down with perennial division contender Kelvin Gastelum on November 25 in Shanghai, China. Kelvin Gastelum just took to Instagram where he announced the fight as official.
Diego Sanchez returns to welterweight on November 11 against "The Immortal"
Chris Taylor - August 16, 2017
Former UFC lightweight title challenger Diego Sanchez will return to welterweight on November 11 when he meets “The Immortal” Matt Brown at UFC Fight Night 120 in Norfolk, Virginia. UFC officials just announced the scrap.
McGregor Tells Malignaggi to Shut His Mouth and Get in Line to Fight Him
Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017
Conor McGregor pre-fight conference calls have always been a must-listen, so of course you can’t miss the audio from today’s May/Mac call. In less than two weeks, McGregor will step into the ring and box Floyd Mayweather. However, it’s that other boxer that keeps creeping into the conversation. After ‘knocking down’ Paul Malignaggi in sparring and Dana White leaking the footage out of spite, he’s so pissed off he actually wants to box McGregor for real. Would McGregor be down for that? Ariel Helwani asked the (potentially multi) million dollar question to McGregor on the media call, of course his answer wasn’t surprising.
BJPENN.COM Radio Ep. 46 // Misha Circunov | Richard Perez
Jason Kindschy - August 16, 2017
BJPENN Radio is back tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you crave! 8:15PM ET- Kicking off the show tonight we are joined by 9th ranked light-heavyweight, Misha Cirkunov. Following the announcement that Misha will be facing off against Glover Texeira at UFC Fight Night 119 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, we’ll be previewing the matchup with Misha and getting his thoughts on Glover as an opponent. As both men focus on getting back in the win column and back to potential contender status, we’ll hear from Misha on the importance of this fight and what a big win could do for his career.
Dan Hardy Breaks Down the Stances and Approaches of Mayweather vs. McGregor
Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017
Last week, Dan Hardy got brought into the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fray and he quickly proved his worth breaking down the glove issue. The former UFC welterweight title challenger is back this week, analyzing the vast difference between the type of stance each fighter is going to come out with. We all know how uncanny Mayweather is, but is McGregor’s wide, Karate stance something that could actually frustrate Floyd? It seems silly, but Hardy doubles down that it can. For all the talk of reach/unorthodox, @danhardymma is alone is pointing this out 👇🏻 Full column here https://t.co/LqTEWmlRqd pic.twitter.com/3y5tdGJ620
Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager states the only fight options Khabib will accept
Russell Ess - August 16, 2017
News erupted on Tuesday when UFC President Dana White announced that Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee will be fighting for the UFC interim lightweight title at UFC 216. Many were wondering what happened to the #1 UFC ranked lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov. White addressed the question regarding “The Eagle” when he revealed the fight between Ferguson and Lee and said that Nurmagomedov simply isn’t ready to return to competition yet.
Boxing referee analyzes Conor McGregor's knockdown of Paulie Malignaggi
Russell Ess - August 16, 2017
The fight that could break all the records and be the richest fight in all of combat sports is less than two weeks away as Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor are busy preparing for their mega-money fight. With the news of the Nevada Athletic Commission approving the glove size going down to 8 ounces instead of their standard rule of 10-ounce gloves for the 154-pound bout, more fuel was added to the fire hyping up the bout. Although big news for the fight, perhaps the biggest hype surrounding the fight is coming from the two sparring sessions between Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi.
Mayweather's Ridiculous Stats From His Past 10 Fights Prove McGregor Has Little Chance
Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017
While a constant double-edged sword, the internet is a wonderful tool. Since the announcement of Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather, the gears have been turning and steam blowing out of everyone’s hard drives. You could waste an entire year of your life perusing through all the hot takes involving this freak show boxing bout. Anyone can waste their time debating a faceless avatar on Twitter on the nuances of upcoming fight, but some put their time to good use. An R/MMA user on Reddit named Trap_City_Bitch analyzed the stats through the last 10 of Mayweather’s fights, resulting in some simply intimidating numbers.
Conor McGregor and Coach React to Boxing Floyd Mayweather in 8oz Gloves
Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017
The mission has been accomplished. Floyd Mayweather played the system to get the gloves changed to a smaller size to push the betting lines, since he’s betting on himself. Conor McGregor gets the 8oz gloves to push the lore of his mystical and mutant power. All parties are happy, even McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh. In a statement released to The Mac Life, McGregor celebrates the change as his coach takes to Twitter with an excellent GIF choice. pic.twitter.com/l1TUV175Sm
Floyd Mayweather Talks Bets With Jimmy Kimmel and Teases MMA Fight with Conor McGregor
Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017
As the spectacle of Conor McGregor boxing Floyd Mayweather draws near, the media parade heats up. Mayweather is fresh from his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to talk about the fight and said some interesting things. Despite talks of the fight not selling as well as people thought, Mayweather says it’s on track to beat the numbers his fight with Manny Pacquiao generated. As far as McGregor, Mayweather is so confident he will win that he guaranteed Kimmel he would pay back his bet if he lost. It will be interesting to see where the lines shift with the announcement of their fight’s glove change. “Whatever you bet [on me], and if you don’t win, I’l give it back to you. You’ve got my word.”
VIDEO | Khabib Nurmagomedov looks pretty healthy for a guy who is too hurt to fight at UFC 216
Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017
The reason Dana White gave for Ferguson vs. Lee was that Nurmagomedov wasn’t ready. This was him yesterday. #UFC216 https://t.co/lQQbSVoNyJ pic.twitter.com/j5u3ODg5r6 — Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) August 16, 2017
BREAKING | Glove Size for Mayweather vs. McGregor Will Be 8oz Gloves
Justin Golightly - August 16, 2017
Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor is a circus show with many rides and many moving pieces. The latest merry-go-round is the contested glove size. Originally, the glove size was set at 10oz because all boxing bouts contested at 154lbs wear that size. Floyd Mayweather, whose last six fights were fought wearing the smaller gloves, brought up the exception to box McGregor with 8 gloves on social media. There was a long debate on every aspect of the glove change. However, in the end the rules or previous boxing history didn’t matter. The commissioner of the NAC, even though he was pissed off about feeling this was the center of a ploy to garner sales, finally decided he would allow a one-time use of 8oz gloves. Marnell: I do not like the NSAC being used as a pawn in a social media battle. It pisses me off.
BREAKING | Referee and judges announced for Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather
Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017
The Nevada State Athletic Commission is currently in session, as it irons out a few of the most important details for Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s blockbuster August 26 boxing match. Just minutes ago, the commission announced both the referee and judges for this massive boxing match.
Conor McGregor explains why he's not impressed by Canelo or GGG
Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017
On August 26, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will step into the boxing ring with undefeated pugilist Floyd Mayweather in a contest being hailed as “the biggest fight in combat sports history.” In the eyes of many boxing purists, though, it’s more of a freak show. In their eyes, the real super fight occurs on September 16, when Kazakh juggernaut Gennady Golovkin will step through the ropes to battle Mexican destroyer Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. While this latter fight is the one that’s got diehard boxing fans most excited, however, it doesn’t really do much for McGregor. In fact, the Irish star finds both Canelo and ‘GGG’ pretty underwhelming.
Boxer Tony Bellew says he'd fight Michael Bisping but not Jon Jones – and Bisping responds
Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017
The trend of mixed martial artists chasing fights with boxers – and vice versa – doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. In a recent interview with SkySports, former WBC cruiserweight titleholder Tony Bellew was asked which, if any, MMA stars he’d be willing to fight. While he quickly shut down the idea of a fight with light heavyweight powerhouse Jon Jones, he did express some interest in a fight with middleweight champ Michael Bisping. “I can wrestle, I can grapple, I punch hard, I can kick and I’ve got some kickboxing experience,” Bellew said. “You can forget about me getting in the cage with Jon Jones – not a chance. But if you’re asking if I would get in the cage with a puncher in the UFC? Mike Bisping is a guy who is predominantly known as a puncher and he’s a very strong wrestler as well. I think I could get down to 185 [lbs]. If the money is right, then Tony Bellew would happily enter a cage or a ring. Maybe let’s do one of them each. I’m a Michael Bisping fan, but if the money was right then the fan stuff goes out the window.”
Dana White: Paulie Malignaggi left Conor McGregor camp "for his health"
Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017
Paulie Malignaggi’s time as a part of Conor McGregor‘s training camp for Floyd Mayweather was brief. Just days into his work with McGregor, the former two-division boxing champ began feeling that he was being poorly portrayed by the Irish star and his entourage, and stormed out. At least, that’s the story Malignaggi has given. UFC President Dana White, who released some now infamous footage of McGregor dropping Malignaggi in a sparring session, offers a different telling of things. In his opinion, Malignaggi left team McGregor with his health in mind. In other words, he was being pieced up so badly in sparring that he left to spare himself from further punishment.
Michael Bisping: GSP is in 'position of power' over UFC, doesn't have to fight Whittaker
Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017
On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre explained that, if he beats Michael Bisping to capture UFC middleweight gold at UFC 217 this November, he’ll then have to defend the title – probably against interim champion Robert Whittaker. “I have to defend my title. It’s written in my contract that I have to defend my title if I win, and also I think it’s [Robert] Whittaker that’s going to be the other guy that has the fight. When I beat Bisping, he’s going to be the guy that I’m going to fight next.