MMA News

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2016

A middleweight tilt between Antonio Carlos Junior and Marvin Vettori took place during tonight’s UFC 207 prelims on FS1. Round one begins and Vettori charges forward with a combination. Carlos Junior accidently catches him with an eye poke and the referee quickly steps in to let Marvin recover. We restart and Carlos Junior lands a right hand. Vettori comes forward and lands a nice kick to the body. He follows that strike up with a left jab and then another. Antonio replies with a jab to the body. Marvin circles away and then comes forward with another body kick. Again Carlos Junior catches him with an eye poke. After a short break we restart. Marvin charges forward with a combination. This time he catches Antonio with an accidental eye poke and so we break again. Carlos Junior says he is ok and we get back to action. Vettori lands a low kick. Antonio replies with a hard leg kick of his own and then another. He shoots in for a single leg but Vettori defends the shot. Antonio has Marvin presses up against the cage and is working hard for a takedown. Very good defense being shown here by Marvin. He lands a knee to the thigh of his opponent. He switches to some short shots. Antonio replies with a nice right hand from the clinch. Carlos Junior drops down and scores a nice takedown. Marvin is quick to scramble back to his feet. Antonio is looking for a guillotine choke but cannot secure the hold before round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2016

A welterweight scrap between Mike Pyle and Alex Garcia took place during tonight’s UFC 207 prelims on FS1. Round one begins and Garcia presses forward while pumping his jab. Pyle circles out and tries to find his range. Garcia lands a big kick to the body and then shoots in and scores an easy takedown. Alex begins working from full guard and then promptly moves to side control. He works some short elbows to the body of Pyle. Alex switch to some knees to the body but Pyle is able to scramble and get back to his feet. Mike lands a right hand. Garcia replies with a jab of his own. Alex charges forward with a big overhand right that misses. Pyle lands a nice knee to the body. Garcia presses forward with a combo. Pyle attempts a leg kick but Garcia counters him with a thunderous right hand that sends Mike crashing to the canvas. This one is all over. What a brutal knockout from Garcia.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2016

A welterweight tilt between Niko Price and Brandon Thatch kicked off tonight’s UFC 207 prelims on FS1. Round one begins and the fighters trade leg kicks to start. Thatch comes forward and lands another hard low kick. Niko quickly replies with one of his own. The fighters clinch and exchange knees inside. They break and Thatch charges forward with a combination. Price returns fire with a low kick and then shoots in for a takedown attempt. Thatch defends and lands a hard knee inside. Niko continues to work for a takedown and gets it. Price begins working from full guard. He lands an elbow and then advances to the half guard position. Thatch quickly scrambles back to full guard. He begins working for a kimura attempt from the bottom. Niko scrambles and breaks free of the kimura hold and winds up in half guard. Niko looks to working towards and arm triangle submission. Thatch explodes but is unable to shake Niko. Price again locks in the arm triangle choke and it is tight. Thatch has no choice but to tapout.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2016

A welterweight tilt between Alex Oliveira and Tim Means kicked off tonight’s UFC 207 event in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Means immediately attacks the legs of Alex with two hard kicks. Oliveira circles away and then shoots in for a takedown. Means reverses the position and winds up on top. Means with a couple of short strikes but Alex is able to scramble back to his feet. Alex lands a nice combination. He follows that up with a spinning back kick to the body that drops Means. Tim pops back to his feet but Oliveira charges after him. Alex grabs a hold of Means and scores a takedown. He looks to take Tim’s back but Means scrambles and gets back to his feet. The fighters jockey for position against the cage. Means eventually gets the better position and scores a double leg takedown. Good strikes from Means here. He throws a knee to the head of Alex and then another but Oliveira appears to be down. The referee steps in to allow Oliveira to recover from the illegal blows. Oliveira is really hurt bad from those strikes. Unlikely that he doctors will allow him to continue. They don’t and this fight is over. The ruling will be a no-contest.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

Later tonight, on the main card of UFC 207, former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will take on streaking contender John Lineker. The winner of this compelling scrap is likely to be the next man in line for the winner of the card’s co-main event: a bantamweight title showdown between champion Dominick Cruz and challenger Cody Garbrandt. If Garbrandt springs the upset and becomes the division’s new champion, don’t expect him to be especially worried about his first challenge. In advance of his fight with Cruz, he’s referred to both Dillashaw and Lineker as “easy fights.”

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

We are now mere hours away from the long awaited return of MMA superstar Ronda Rousey. The former women’s bantamweight champion will return in the main event of tonight’s UFC 207, where she will challenge the division’s reigning queen, Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgy As the hours between us and the stacked UFC 207 continue to melt away, the UFC has released the fifth instalment of its popular Embedded series for the card.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw is the owner of one of the most unique fighting styles in MMA. As such, he is an extremely difficult opponent to prepare for. Tailoring a game plan for his specialized blend of footwork, head movement, and takedowns is an undeniably stark challenge. Dillashaw’s UFC 207 opponent John Lineker, however, is not particularly panicked about this challenge. In a recent interview with MMAJunkie.com, he shed some light on his very simple strategy for Dillashaw. In his last fight, which saw him narrowly defeat John Dodson, Lineker said he spent too much time chasing his opponent. Against Dillashaw, he plans to avoid doing this, thereby forcing Dillashaw to come to him. From there, he can get to work with his absurd punching power.

Scott Hernandez - December 30, 2016

Tonight in Las Vegas, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will be stepping into the Octagon after over a year away from the sport. When she returns, she will be facing UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, who is fresh off a 1st round submission win over Miesha Tate to claim the women’s bantamweight championship back in July.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

In November of 2015, Ronda Rousey‘s dominant reign as UFC women’s bantamweight champion came to a crashing halt when she was put down by a second round Holly Holm head kick. Over a year later, she still hasn’t stepped back into the Octagon. Thankfully for Rousey and her throngs of fans, that will all change in a matter of hours, as she’s poised for a highly anticipated comeback fight in the main event of tonight’s UFC 207. In that main event, she’ll take on the women’s bantamweight division’s reigning champion, Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

Tonight, in the main event of the massively hyped UFC 207, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will attempt to defend her title against returning former champion and MMA megastar Ronda Rousey. In advance of this fight, Nunes is perceived to be the stronger woman on the feet, while Rousey is believed to have the edge on the mat. In a recent interview with UFC on Fox, however, Nunes assured she’s the more dangerous woman in both departments, and that she’s confident she can submit Rousey if the fight hits the ground.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2016

Former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks is currently in the midst of a rough stretch. First, he lost his belt in a competitive fight with Robbie Lawler. Though he was able to rebound with a nice win over Matt Brown in his next fight, his next fight thereafter saw him succumb to a first round TKO dealt by Stephen Thompson. From there, things got even worse for the former champ, as he failed to make weight for a UFC 200 bout with Kelvin Gastelum, and ultimately lost that bout by decision.

Chris Taylor - December 29, 2016

Earlier this afternoon top UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov took to his Instagram where he posted a photo along with a message directed at the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the promotions current lightweight champion Conor McGregor. This message to @UFC : It is clear to everyone that you hiding Conor from me. But stop lying to your fans like I don't want fight with Aldo, I'm ready to fight with anyone in my division. Give me relevant fight, so you won't be able to hide the belt from me after. But not the fight, where people say after my victory: he is too small, Khabib too big for him etc. I'm asking you for match that whole world is waiting for, give me Tony. You have never matched up two guys with 9 and 8 win streak in UFC, NEVER IN UFC HISTORY. #telltruthtopeople Хочу обратиться к @UFC : Всему миру понятно что вы прячете от меня Конора, но не надо рассказывать свои сказки фанатам, перестаньте врать типо я не хочу боя с Альдо, я готов драться с любым бойцом в моем весе. Дайте мне конкурентный бой, после которого вы не сможете прятать от меня пояс. А не тот бой, чтоб люди говорили после моей победы: Он же маленький, Хабиб слишком большой для него и т д. Сейчас я у вас прошу бой, которого ждёт весь бойцовский мир, дайте мне Тони. Вы в своей истории не проводили бой между двумя бойцами у одного из которых 9 побед подряд в рамках UFC а у другого 8 побед. #говорителюдямправду #юфсишныеигрыопятьвтеме

Russell Ess - December 29, 2016

You have to be a pretty brave soul to play tricks on some of the most talented mixed martial arts athletes in the world.

Scott Hernandez - December 29, 2016

The champ @Amanda_Leoa battles former champ @RondaRousey THIS FRIDAY at #UFC207! @Reebok pic.twitter.com/hKiO2NzDtC — #UFC207 (@ufc) December 29, 2016

Scott Hernandez - December 29, 2016

Yessss!!!! @DominickCruz & @Cody_NoLove compete for the bantamweight strap THIS FRIDAY at #UFC207! @Reebok pic.twitter.com/ryniFIuPUP — #UFC207 (@ufc) December 29, 2016

Scott Hernandez - December 29, 2016

Thursday morning during the UFC 207 early weigh-ins, UFC bantamweight title challenger Cody Garbrandt, and UFC featherweight Jeremy Stephens, who is a teammate of Garbrandt’s opponent Dominick Cruz, were involved in a bit of an altercation backstage. While there has been no video of the altercation, footage of security guards quickly darting backstage to handle the situation while UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes hit the scales, quickly surfaced.

Scott Hernandez - December 29, 2016

Ahead of UFC 207 on Saturday, two fighters missed weight for their scheduled scraps. The first was UFC flyweight Ray Borg, who is scheduled to fight Louis Smolka on the first PPV bout of the night. Borg missed the flyweight non-title fight limit by three pounds when he stepped onto the scales this morning in Las Vegas.