UFC News

Tom Taylor - April 25, 2019

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson is now firmly embedded as a member of the Bellator roster. In fact, he’s set to return to the cage at Bellator 220 this weekend, where he’ll take on Adam Piccolotti in a lightweight contender bout. As he prepares for this imminent challenge, Benson Henderson is happy to have put some distance between himself and the drama that is currently plaguing the UFC lightweight division. He’s witnessed the heat between reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor, and the difficulty top contenders like Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson have had getting title shots, and he’s thanking the Lord that he’s no longer in the thick of it.

Tom Taylor - April 25, 2019

According to a report from the Irish Times, Proper No. Twelve, the Irish whiskey recently launched by former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ Conor McGregor, has already become a massive fiscal success. According to this report, Proper No. Twelve “sold out a six-month allocation in its first 10 days and has now shipped about 200,000 nine-litre cases since its launch.”

James Lynch - April 25, 2019

Tony Ferguson and Conor McGregor are no longer represented by the same management group. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Ferguson has left Paradigm Sports Management to sign with Ballangee Group. The 35-year-old had been with Paradigm for the last seven years and joins a group that represents former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, Vitor Belfort and Aljamain Sterling.

Tom Taylor - April 25, 2019

Johnny Walker is arguably the most compelling young contender in the UFC light heavyweight division at present. In fact, he seems to be on a collision course with dominating light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. In a recent interview with The Body Lock, Johnny Walker discussed a potential matchup with Jones, expressing his long-time admiration for the champion, and his confidence that he would beat him in a fight.

Mike Straus - April 25, 2019

The UFC is right back at it again. Next up is UFC Fort Lauderdale. While the main event of UFC Fort Lauderdale has seen a revolving door of fighters coming and go, the rest of the card has largely stayed intact. On paper, the card looks to have something for every type of fight fan.

Drake Riggs - April 24, 2019

After taking one of the longer paths to the top, ‘The Diamond,’ Dustin Poirier has stamped his ticket to an undisputed UFC lightweight title fight. At UFC 236 earlier this month, Poirier did so by claiming the interim lightweight title by picking up his second career win over the current featherweight champion, Max Holloway. The two went to war for a full 25 minutes and Poirier would be the one to walk away with the unanimous decision victory.

Drake Riggs - April 24, 2019

UFC Nashville was headlined by a pretty unique match-up, to say the least. The main event of the promotion’s return to the state of Tennessee saw former WEC and UFC lightweight champion, as well as former featherweight hopeful, Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis make his 170-pound welterweight debut. His opponent would be none other than the perennial top five contender, two-time welterweight title challenger, ‘Wonderboy,’ Stephen Thompson. Shockingly, after a pretty dominant showing from Thompson, Pettis would be the one to connect late in the second round to score the massive knockout win. It was the Karate specialist’s first time losing via knockout and Pettis’ first time winning via strikes since January 2013 when he TKO’d Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone with a body kick.

Cole Shelton - April 24, 2019

Marlon Moraes is getting a shot at the vacant UFC bantamweight title, this after T.J. Dillashaw relinquished his belt due to a two-year suspension from USADA. Dillashaw had tested positive for the banned substance EPO in the lead up to his fight with Flyweight champ Henry Cejudo. Although some fighters claim that they always knew TJ Dillashaw was using drugs, Marlon Moraes was still still shocked and disappointed by the news.

James Lynch - April 24, 2019

“The Eagle” will be landing in the UK this June. Khabib Nurmagomedov posted on his Instagram account that UFC fans will have the opportunity to meet him from June 11-16. The 30-year-old will be stopping in London, Manchester, and Midlands. This is an independent tour and not one run by the UFC. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv4qw3Cg0Hm/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=z91vvc5fzdpd “I am really excited to be coming to the UK and meeting my fans,” Nurmagomedov said in a press release. “I appreciate the support I have received from this country and I want to give something back.”

Jordy McElroy - April 24, 2019

There is nothing flashy about Justin Gaethje’s style of fighting—no fancy footwork or slick striking techniques. The former World Series of Fighting lightweight champion is more of a bite down on a mouthpiece, march forward relentlessly and shove his fists in your face kind of fighter. Couple that with a criminally underrated ground game, and you have the recipe for big problems for reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Gaethje implied that he would be the “toughest out” for Nurmagomedov out of all the other title contenders, including Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2019

Back at UFC 236, UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway made his debut in the UFC lightweight division, taking on Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight strap. Unfortunately for the Hawaiian and his ever-growing fanbase, this move to lightweight didn’t go as planned, as he lost a unanimous decision to Poirier and saw his 13-fight win-streak disintegrate in the process. Speaking to MMA Junkie recently, Yancy Medeiros, one of Holloway’s chief training partners, gave his take on Holloway’s lightweight debut.

Tom Taylor - April 24, 2019

If you were hoping to see undefeated middleweight knockout artist Paulo Costa back in the cage soon, well, you might have some waiting to do. According to UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky, Paulo Costa is still being investigated by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after being fined $9,333.33 by the New York State Athletic Commission for an unknown violation.

Drake Riggs - April 24, 2019

Yesterday, USADA announced that four fighters had recently accepted sixth-month suspensions for their positive testings due to ostarine usage. All of which were the result of tainted supplements. One of those fighters happened to be the inaugural UFC flyweight champion, Nicco Montano. Montano has been out of action since she won the title in December 2017 dealing with a severe foot injury. Once she was finally ready to return in September 2018 to defend her title, things still didn’t go as planned as The Ultimate Fighter 26 winner would end up hospitalized during her weight cut. Thus, obviously, canceling her fight and then leading to her being stripped of her title.

Drake Riggs - April 23, 2019

It has been an absolute rollercoaster ride of a career to this point for the inaugural UFC flyweight champion, Nicco Montano. Entering The Ultimate Fighter season 26 as a bright prospect yet consensus underdog, Montano would go on to win the whole show and become the champion as she defeated some of the division’s best. Her crowning moment came on December 1, 2017.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

Like pretty much everybody else inside the MMA bubble, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman has enjoyed watching new interim middleweight champ Israel Adesanya compete inside the Octagon. That being said, he believes he possesses the physical tools and the skills to give the Nigerian-born Kiwi fits inside the cage. Weidman explains why he feels this way on the latest episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

UFC President Dana White has previously claimed that he plans to venture into the world of boxing promotion. “I had a meeting in LA yesterday. We are continuing to move forward, and we will absolutely, positively be in the boxing business,” White told ESPN last year. “If you know how I run my business and what I like, yes I want all the best boxers in the world,” he added. “I want them all to fight each other and find out who the real champ is. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

UFC heavyweight Walt Harris has accepted a four-month sanction from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for the anabolic agent LGD-4033. In addition, Harris’ UFC 232 split decision victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski has been overturned to a no-contest. USADA announced this news in a release, explaining that Harris’ violation was the result of his use of a tainted supplement:

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2019

Santiago Ponzinibbio is looking for a fight, and from the sounds of it, he’s got an opponent in mind. Speaking on Instagram on Monday, the Argentine welterweight contender called for a fight with former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis. He asserted that Pettis got lucky in his last outing, in which he knocked out former welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, and promised that the American will have no such luck in this prospective matchup.