UFC News

Tyron Woodley makes his thoughts on interim titles very clear
Tom Taylor - February 26, 2019
UFC 236, which goes down on April 13 in Atlanta, will feature not one but two interim title fights, as Max Holloway battles Dustin Poirier for interim gold at lightweight, and Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya fight for the same honor at middleweight. UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, who has seen interim titles created in his division previously, is not a fan of this practice by the UFC. Tyron Woodley shared his thoughts on the UFC’s interim title obsession at a Monday media lunch (transcript via MMAjunkie).

Robert Whittaker shares ideal timeframe for UFC return
Tom Taylor - February 26, 2019
UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker was supposed to defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234 earlier this month, but was unfortunately forced out of the fight on the day of, and rushed to the hospital with a collapsed hernia. Whittaker now faces a tough recovery process that could keep him out of action for some time. To combat his absence, the UFC has booked an interim middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Gastelum for UFC 236 on April 13.

VIDEO | UFC 235 is so stacked it could have its own sitcom
Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vAwz1Z0qpg&feature=youtu.be Las Vegas is set to host yet another jam-packed night of MMA action. From top to bottom, it’s quite the stacked lineup. Headlining the event will be Jon Jones as he looks to make his first successful title defense since reclaiming the title at UFC 232. Looking to spoil the party will be Anthony “Lionheart” Smith as he hopes to make good on his first career UFC title shot.

Coach not ruling out a Georges St-Pierre return at some point
Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019
At UFC 217 in November 2017, Georges St-Pierre made his return to the Octagon for the first time in four years. When doing so, he made the move up to middleweight as he captured the division’s title by finishing the champion, Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping with a third-round rear-naked choke.

Dillon Danis not happy about NSAC suspension, but finds silver lining
Thomas Taylor - February 25, 2019
Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated Conor McGregor in the UFC 229 main event back in October, he scaled the side of the Octagon and attacked McGregor’s long-time training partner Dillon Danis. In the subsequent moments, McGregor got into a brief skirmish with Nurmagomedov training partners Zubaira Tukhugov and Abubakar Nurmagomedov inside the cage. In late January, the Nurmagomedovs, McGregor, and Tukhugov all received suspensions and fines of various levels at a Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) meeting.

Ben Askren on Colby Covington situation: 'Thank god that era is over'
Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019
This Saturday night at UFC 235, the welterweight title will be on the line as the champion Tyron Woodley defends against Kamaru Usman. In Woodley’s last time out, he successfully defended his crown against Darren Till at UFC 228. A fight that many expected to feature the, at the time, interim champion Colby Covington.

Robert Whittaker believes he matches up better against Israel Adesanya over Kelvin Gastelum
Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019
At UFC 234 earlier this month, the UFC went back down under as they touched down in Melbourne, Australia for their first pay-per-view event of the year. In the main event, we were expecting to see a middleweight title bout between the champion, Robert Whittaker and the challenger, Kelvin Gastelum.

Jon Jones proclaims he has 'nothing to prove' against Daniel Cormier
Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019
One of the most compelling UFC matchups available at present is a rematch between reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and reigning UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The pair have a long and turbulent history, having fought twice previously. Jones won their first fight via unanimous decision. The second time around, he was able to knock Daniel Cormier out, though this victory was overturned when he failed a pre-fight drug test.

Referees assigned for UFC 235 title fights
Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019
UFC 235 will feature two dynamite title fights. The first will occur in the welterweight division, where long-time champ Tyron Woodley will look to defend his strap against streaking contender Kamaru Usman. The second — the evening’s main event — will occur in the light heavyweight division, where resurgent champ Jon Jones will look to thwart dangerous finisher Anthony Smith. The referees for this duo of UFC 235 title fights have now been assigned. The news was announced at a Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) hearing on Monday (h/t Jason Floyd).

The biggest winners from UFC Prague
Mike Straus - February 25, 2019
The Octagon’s first trip to the Czech Republic is officially in the books. All and all, this UFC Prague card delivered, and it didn’t hurt that the final contest had ended in North America by dinner time. With 13 fights in total on the night, seven of which ended via stoppage of some sort, let’s take a look at the fighters that helped themselves the most on the card.

Stephen Thompson expected Georges St-Pierre to take 'one or two' other fights
James Lynch - February 25, 2019
Stephen Thompson was surprised when former training partner and friend Georges St-Pierre retired last week. “Wonderboy”, who last spoke to St-Pierre before his rematch against Tyron Woodley at UFC 209, says he expected the French Canadian superstar to compete a few more times in the Octagon.

Kamaru Usman doubtful Tyron Woodley is taking UFC 235 fight seriously
Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019
At UFC 235, Kamaru Usman will look to wrest the UFC welterweight belt from the waist of long-time champion Tyron Woodley. Heading into this fight, the pair have exchanged quite a bit of trash talk — most notably at the recent UFC 235 pre-fight press conference. At this event, they engaged in a lengthy back-and-forth, throughout which Woodley seemed entirely free of worry, cracking jokes and comparing Usman to rapper LL Cool J.

EXCLUSIVE | Mike Winkeljohn says Jon Jones has learned 'new things,' and it's scary
Cole Shelton - February 25, 2019
Jon Jones is set to defend his light heavyweight championship at UFC 235 this Saturday against Anthony Smith. There is no question Jones is the huge favorite, but that doesn’t mean Jones isn’t worried. After all, this is a fight and anything can happen. Furthermore, Jones claims he took Alexander Gustafsson lightly in their 2013 fight, and nearly lost the title as a result. Thus, Jones and his head coach Mike Winkeljohn know they can’t make that mistake again.

Michael Bisping says young fighters should follow GSP's example
Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019
Michael Bisping had plenty to say about Canadian MMA legend Georges St-Pierre before their 2017 middleweight title fight, but now that St-Pierre has retired, Bisping has nothing but high praise for him. Speaking on his Believe You Me podcast, Michael Bisping explained that his pre-fight trash talk of St-Pierre was only a means of hyping up their fight, and applauded the Canadian for his approach to the game.

Colby Covington claps back at Anthony Smith in classic fashion
Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019
Former UFC interim welterweight champ Colby Covington has recently been engaged in a war of words with upcoming UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Smith. One of the latest salvos in this verbal conflict came from Smith, who claimed he encountered Covington at a Chicago gym, and that Covington said nothing to him. More specifically, he referred to the welterweight as a “scared cat.”

Ali Abdelaziz goes off on 'broken man' Conor McGregor, claims Khabib rematch has not been discussed
Tom Taylor - February 24, 2019
Ever since Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov fought for the UFC lightweight title at the record-breaking UFC 229 pay-per-view in October, there’s been talk of a rematch between them. According to Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, however, Conor McGregor has not even asked for a rematch — because he’s a broken man and he doesn’t want it.

Misha Cirkunov discusses wife's battle with breast cancer ahead of UFC 235
James Lynch - February 24, 2019
Misha Cirkunov will have more than just Johnny Walker on his mind at UFC 235 this Saturday. Cirkunov’s wife, model Brittany Churchill, has been diagnosed with breast cancer as she revealed on Instagram.

Miesha Tate gives eloquent take on the career of Georges St-Pierre
Tom Taylor - February 24, 2019
In the days since he officially announced his retirement on Thursday morning, former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre has been praised by dozens of his fellow fighters. It’s arguable that none of them have summed up his incredible career better than former UFC bantamweight champ Miesha Tate. "People don't realize how difficult it is to be flawless in a fight…and I think that @GeorgesStPierre is the closest to perfect in a fight that I've ever witnessed." @MieshaTate reflects on the career and legacy of GSP with @RyanMcKinnell #Rush #GOAT pic.twitter.com/Lh4RQVBMlC