MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 8, 2017

Prior to last month’s UFC 207 event, top UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson told BJPENN.com that Ronda Rousey was “going up against a monster” in Amanda Nunes. “Wonderboy’s” theory certainly proved true, as “The Lioness” battered Rousey with punches on route to a 48-second TKO victory.

Chris Taylor - January 8, 2017

Yoel Romero became the UFC’s top middleweight contender at UFC 205 this past November in New York after scoring a brutal flying-knee knockout victory over former division title holder Chris Weidman.

Chris Taylor - January 8, 2017

A scrap between two of the UFC’s top ten light heavyweights will take place at UFC Fight Night London on March 18. Flocombat’s Jim Edwards was first to report the news announcing that feared 205-pound striker Jimi Manuwa would be taking on Corey Anderson at the event.

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2017

Kelvin Gastelum is one of the best welterweights on the planet, but there’s a definite asterisk attached to that statement. The young contender has missed the division’s 170-pound weight limit three times, most recently in November, when he was so far over weight for a planned bout with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone that he didn’t even bother stepping onto the scale. After this massive weigh in miss, Gastelum was sent packing to the middleweight division, where he recently scored a huge win over an elite foe in Tim Kennedy. In the wake of this win, Gastelum has now been pencilled in for a bout with Vitor Belfort in Brazil. If he wins it, he’ll find himself firmly embedded in the UFC middleweight top-15 – but don’t expect that to keep him in the division.

Scott Hernandez - January 7, 2017

In February, MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko will step into the Bellator MMA cage to square off with former UFC heavyweight contender Matt Mitrione in a highly anticipated heavyweight showdown. Ahead of the fight, it has now been confirmed by TASS.ru from Bellator MMA CEO Scott Coker that ‘The Last Emperor’ will indeed be drug tested in the time between now and the fight. Coker explained that “doping tests will be carried out by the athletic commission.”

Scott Hernandez - January 7, 2017

UFC lightweight #1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has been eagerly attempting to secure a fight for early 2017 before he takes a month off in observance of Ramadan. Unfortunately for ‘The Eagle’, while he was looking to secure an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, Ferguson revealed several weeks ago that he planned to hold out for more money from the UFC. While reports continued to surface tying Nurmagomedov to an interim lightweight title fight with various potential opponents, according to Nurmagomedov’s manager, ‘The Eagle’ is willing to fight anyone at 155 pounds.

Scott Hernandez - January 7, 2017

While many members of the MMA community believe that it is time for former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey to retire following lopsided back to back losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones believes that it would be good to see Rousey return to the Octagon to defend her legacy.

Chris Taylor - January 7, 2017

Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey made her highly anticipated return at December’s UFC 207 event where she squared off with Amanda Nunes for the promotions women’s bantamweight championship. Unfortunately for fans of “Rowdy”, the fight did not go at all her way, as she was finished by “The Lioness” in just 48-seconds by way of TKO.

Scott Hernandez - January 7, 2017

In addition to being the final scrap of the year, UFC 207’s main event scrap between Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes was one of the most highly anticipated showdowns of the year. Unfortunately for Rousey, while she was hoping to make a successful return to the Octagon following her UFC 193 loss to Holly Holm in November of 2015, it took just 48 seconds for Amanda Nunes to out-strike Rousey and force referee Herb Dean to stop the fight due to TKO.

Scott Hernandez - January 7, 2017

Following the first professional loss of Ronda Rousey’s career at UFC 193 to Holly Holm in 2015, Ronda Rousey‘s coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, was the subject of much criticism. While Rousey lost the fight, many blamed Tarverdyan for giving Rousey a false sense of confidence in her striking prior to stepping into the Octagon with an elite level striker such as Holm. When Rousey returned to the Octagon at UFC 207, many were wondering whether the former champ would step into the Octagon and showcase a new striking skillset. When Rousey ultimately stepped into the Octagon with women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, it took just 48 seconds for Nunes to stop the former champ via strikes. Following the loss to Nunes, Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan once again shouldered the majority of the criticism for the loss as numerous members of the MMA community continued to bash the Glendale Fighting Club head coach.

Scott Hernandez - January 7, 2017

Prior to UFC 207, it was reported that longtime UFC commentator Mike Goldberg would be calling his last UFC event at the highly anticipated event. Throughout the course of the broadcast, there was no mention of the event being Goldberg’s last. Throughout the course of the event however, members of the MMA community continued to Tweet Goldberg, thanking him for the years he dedicated to calling fights over the course of his career. With that being said however, Goldberg’s son took to Twitter immediately following the event to express his dissatisfaction with the promotion for not acknowledging the event as Goldberg’s last:

Scott Hernandez - January 6, 2017

Since Ronda Rousey’s UFC 207 loss to Amanda Nunes last week to close out 2016, the MMA community has been torn between supporting Ronda Rousey at a low point, and criticizing the former champ for being ill prepared for her scrap with Amanda Nunes. While there has been a tremendous outpouring of support for Rousey in the time since the fight, which included Floyd Mayweather Sr. and his brother Jeff Mayweather offering to train Rousey, her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan has been the subject of much criticism.

Scott Hernandez - January 6, 2017

Leading up to UFC 207, the feud between former Team Alpha Male teammates Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw was reignited as the two men, who were both fighting on the UFC 207 card, took to social media to rekindle an old feud just hours before their scheduled scraps on pay-per view. Dillashaw took to social media to take some verbal jabs at the challenger, mocking him by saying that he made ‘No Love’ cry during practice when they were teammates. Despite the fact that he had the biggest fight of his life coming up in just a few hours, Garbrandt was quick to fire back, stating that his coach Justin Buchholz had footage of Garbrandt knocking out Dillashaw in training.

Scott Hernandez - January 6, 2017

To close out 2016, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey made her highly anticipated return to the Octagon to fight Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 207. While Rousey was the focus of the promotional videos leading up to the fight, when the pair stepped in the Octagon, it was UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes who left a lasting impact on fight fans as she secured a 48 second KO win over Rousey.

Scott Hernandez - January 6, 2017

In one of the most surprising MMA stories in recent memories, news has now surfaced that during her training camp leading up to UFC 207, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey actually had training partner and fellow women’s bantamweight Raquel Pennington sign a non-disclosure agreement. Essentially, what this means is that while Rousey and Pennington trained together for Rousey’s highly anticipated UFC 207 return to the Octagon against Amanda Nunes, Pennington can’t legally speak about the nature of the training sessions, or anything that occurred in them.

Scott Hernandez - January 6, 2017

On this episode of American Animals, Erik and Ian return from the holiday break with plenty of things to discuss. We get their take on the fallout from UFC 207, the future of Ronda Rousey, and the Rizin Fighting Federation’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza. And, Chael Sonnen joins the show to fill us in on what will go down in 2017. Start the new year off the right way with this episode of American Animals! You can email your questions and comments to info@2americananimals.com and find the show at www.2americananimals.com on the web, on social media at facebook.com/2AmericanAnimals and @2AmericanAnimal on Twitter and @2AmericanAnimals on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - January 6, 2017

In November of 2016, the UFC’s number-one ranked welterweight Stephen Thompson fought divisional king Tyron Woodley to a majority draw. With this result, Woodley held on to the welterweight belt, while Wonderboy seemed to have guaranteed himself another shot at the champ. Apparently, however, Thompson’s being given an immediate rematch with Woodley is far from a sure thing. In late December, our very own Chris Taylor reported that Nick Diaz had been offered a fight with Woodley and turned the opportunity down.

Russell Ess - January 6, 2017

Ronaldo Jacare Souza is apparently set to return to competition. According to Mark La Monica of Newsday, Jacare will return to the Octagon at UFC 208 in Brooklyn to face Tim Boetsch.