UFC News

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2019

Three years ago today, UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor hiked up the welterweight division for a compelling showdown with the veteran Nate Diaz. Diaz had stepped in to fight McGregor on a mere 11 days’ notice, replacing the injured Rafael dos Anjos, and was not given much of a chance against the seemingly unstoppable Irish knockout artist. Early on in the fight, it looked like Nate Diaz would be the latest recipient of a Conor McGregor striking clinic. The Stockton based fan favorite absorbed quite a bit of punishment from his Irish foe, and seemed to be in for a tough night.

Mike Pendleton - March 5, 2019

As current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway prepares to move up to lightweight and challenge Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight title at UFC 236, the featherweight title picture has become a bit uncertain. Holloway’s most recent featherweight title defense came at UFC 231 when he beat top contender Brian Ortega by TKO (doctor stoppage), handing “T-City” his first professional loss. Before his fight against Holloway, Ortega had defeated the likes of Frankie Edgar, Cub Swanson, and Renato Carneiro to stake his claim to a title shot in the featherweight division.

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2019

UFC 235 was a memorable card, packed to the edges with wild scraps and thrilling stoppages. An unfortunate side-effect of this kind of card, of course, is a prevalence of lengthy medical suspensions. MMAjunkie has obtained a list of UFC 235 medical suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

Cole Shelton - March 5, 2019

Blagoy Ivanov is ready to fight again. The Bulgarian heavyweight was considered a big signing for the UFC after he dominated in the now defunct World Series of Fighting organization, capturing heavyweight gold. The UFC had so much confidence in Ivanov that his UFC debut was a main event spot against former champion Junior dos Santos. He ended up losing the fight by unanimous decision, but for Ivanov it was a great learning experience.

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2019

Shortly after UFC 235, former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington had a heated run-in with new welterweight king Kamaru Usman and his manager Ali Abdelaziz. This altercation, which went down in a crowd of innocent bystanders at the Palms casino in Las Vegas, ultimately got violent, as Abdelaziz actually threw a punch at Covington (see the video here). Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, Colby Covington detailed his side of the story.

Christopher Taylor - March 4, 2019

The UFC rankings have seen some major changes following the conclusion of this past weekend’s UFC 235 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas. Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman soared into the pound for pound ranks to #9 (via UFC.ca), this following his dominant decision victory over Tyron Woodley.

Drake Riggs - March 4, 2019

At UFC 235, we were treated to awesome performances aplenty. Two of which were brought to us by light heavyweights. While one of those belonged to the division’s champion, Jon Jones, the other was the rising star from Brazil, the 6-foot-6 highlight machine, Johnny Walker.

Christopher Taylor - March 4, 2019

Jon Jones successfully defended his UFC light heavyweight title in the headliner of UFC 235 defeating Anthony Smith by unanimous decision. Jon Jones earned a disclosed $500,000 on Saturday night, while Anthony Smith took home $350,000 for his efforts.

Cole Shelton - March 4, 2019

Ben Askren made his highly anticipated UFC debut on Saturday night against Robbie Lawler. He beat Lawler by submission — although in controversial fashion. Following his fight, Askren planned to walk out and corner his teammate Tyron Woodley in his title fight with Kamaru Usman. The UFC initially approved of Askren serving as a cornerman. However, after his fight, the UFC wouldn’t allow it.

Drake Riggs - March 4, 2019

There were several big winners at UFC 235, but physically as well as figuratively, there may have been no bigger than Brazil’s Johnny Walker. Three UFC fights, three first round knockouts, and three performance of the night bonuses. Walker has not come to play around in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Well… That’s until after his fights are over, of course.

Drake Riggs - March 4, 2019

From top to bottom, this past Saturday’s UFC 235 event was a memorable one with great names, fights, and finishes from the opening bell. In the preliminary card’s featured attraction, we saw the return of ‘Lil Heathen’ Jeremy Stephens as he made his 30th career walk to the UFC Octagon.

Drake Riggs - March 4, 2019

When it comes to the best divisions in the UFC right now, there are several that one could name and argue as the very best. And when having that discussion, it would be wrong to not at the very least mention the 145-pound featherweight class. For many years, the division was locked down by a single Brazilian king. That being none other than the once nicknamed “Scarface” Jose Aldo.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2019

Trying to knock Bryan Barberena out is kind of like trying to chop down a tree with a golf club — it’s possible, but it’s absurdly difficult. Vicente Luque learned this the hard way when he met Barberena at UFC on ESPN 1 last month. Over the course of two and half rounds, Luque bombarded his sturdy foe with the kind of skull-rattling strikes that would have left many other fighters snoozing. But Barberena just kept coming — and firing back.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2019

Shortly after UFC 235, Colby Covington had a heated run-in with new UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and his manager Ali Abdelaziz. This run-in actually ended up getting violent, as Abdelaziz could be seen throwing a punch at Covington in video of the event (see it here). Apparently, however, that’s not where the craziness ended.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2019

Jon Jones was simply too much for Anthony Smith. The light heavyweight champion soundly outfought his lionhearted challenger over five lopsided rounds at UFC 235 on Saturday night, and can now look forward to his next challenge in the Octagon. That being said, it’s not abundantly clear who is next opponent will be. While Thiago Santos — nicknamed “Marreta” — seems to be the frontrunner, the allure of heavyweight fights with Daniel Cormier and Brock Lesnar are difficult to ignore.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2019

Toward the end of his UFC 235 title fight with Anthony Smith, UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones clobbered his grounded foe with an illegal knee. The referee paused the action, the cage-side physician entered the cage to examine Smith, and Jon Jones had a “nerve-wracking” flashback to his infamous disqualification loss to Matt Hamill. ”It was nerve wracking. It was nerve wracking, really,” Jones said at the UFC 235 post-fight press conference (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I just started to pray. I was just hoping that it wouldn’t go down like that. I had flashbacks of the Matt Hamill fight and I was just thinking, oh my goodness, please, tell me this isn’t going down like this. I was just looking at Anthony and I felt like we locked eyes at one moment and I kind of gave him one of these, like, ‘you’re alright, get your a** up’ [laughs]. Sure enough, he showed the heart of a lion.

Cole Shelton - March 4, 2019

Montana De La Rosa is one of the more promising flyweight prospects in the UFC. The 24-year-old is undefeated in the Octagon, not counting exhibition bouts on The Ultimate Fighter. De La Rosa is coming off of an impressive submission win over the formerly undefeated Nadia Kassem at UFC 234. For De La Rosa, that fight went as good as it could have.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2019

On Saturday night, on the undercard of UFC 235, Mickey Gall returned to the Octagon to battle one of the most experienced fighters in UFC history, The Ultimate Fighter Season One winner Diego Sanchez. Despite being labelled as the betting favorite heading into this fight, Mickey Gall was soundly walloped by his exponentially more experienced foe, and ultimately wilted under a storm of second-round ground strikes. It was Sanchez’s first stoppage victory since 2008.