UFC News

Cole Shelton - November 9, 2018

Just a few weeks ago, the UFC and ONE Championship did something no one thought was possible. They agreed to a trade that sent Demetrious Johnson to ONE and Ben Askren to the UFC. However, before that trade happened, ONE Championship reached out to Bellator to see if they would co-promote with them in a deal that would see Askren back in his old home of Bellator. Bellator president Scott Coker was speaking on The Fight Guys podcast where he revealed the news.

James Lynch - November 9, 2018

According to former UFC flyweight Justin Scoggins, he was slated to fight this Saturday on short notice against Mark De La Rosa at UFC Denver. The match-up was slated to take place in the bantamweight division. De La Rosa was initially set to face Jordan Espinosa before an injury forced the Contender Series winner off the card. https://twitter.com/combatcobain/status/1060543685367095296

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier has accomplished incredible things in the UFC. He’s one of just two fighters to wear titles in two divisions concurrently, and is the only fighter in UFC history to actively defend two separate titles. Earlier this week, Daniel Cormier showed off the fruits of his labor, flaunting his many UFC belts in a photo he posted to social media.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

We can now add another name to the list of flyweight fighters ostracized by the UFC. As the UFC’s purported closure of the division bears down, UFC flyweight Roberto Sanchez has joined Jared Brooks, Justin Scoggins and Jose Torres among those to be released from the promotion. Roberto Sanchez made this announcement on Instagram, sharing his disappointment but also thanking the UFC for the opportunity they gave him.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has brought his wife and children to his last three fights. All three of these fights, of course, wound up being dominant stoppage victories for the two-division champ, which his family, and particularly his children, were very excited about. Apparently, however, Daniel Cormier’s daughter as a tough time watching her Dad beat people up. Speaking on MMAjunkie Radio recently, Cormier divulged that his daughter felt bad for his latest opponent, Derrick Lewis, and had a tough time stomaching the whole scene.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

Artem Lobov was originally supposed to fight Zubaira Tukhugov at the UFC’s recent UFC Moncton card. After Tukhugov got involved in the infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl, however, he was removed from this bout. After a brief scramble, the UFC was able to find a replacement opponent for Artem Lobov in former UFC lightweight contender Michael Johnson. Unfortunately, however, Johnson was unable to make weight for this fight, and was forced to cough up 20% of his fight purse, which was then paid to Lobov.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

The first pay-per-view of the year may have its headliner. According to MMAFighting, Henry Cejudo vs. TJ Dillashaw is targeted for the card in Anaheim, California on January 26. What weight class that the bout will be at is unknown right now. However, it seems to make the most sense to have the fight at bantamweight given the fact it is reported that the UFC is closing the flyweight division.

Drake Riggs - November 8, 2018

The secret is out. The UFC really is planning on disbanding their men’s flyweight division which means a batch of fighters will need to find new fighting homes. In the end, surely this is being looked at from a business standpoint by the organization. So rather than getting to the bottom of whether or not it was a right or wrong decision overall or more specifically, morally, how about business-wise?

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

At UFC 230 Jared Cannonier stepped in on short notice to face top 10 middleweight David Branch. It would be Cannonier’s toughest fight to date. Making it even harder was the fact that it was Cannonier’s middleweight debut and he was riding a two-fight losing streak. To beat Branch by knockout in the second round and look as good as Cannonier did was impressive, to say the least. Although the win was impressive, it was an important win for Cannonier who did not want to go on a three-fight losing streak.

Drake Riggs - November 8, 2018

Every fight announcement for UFC 233 so far has been an eyebrow raiser and that trend just continues with “The Violence Queen” Ariane Lipski (11-3) getting her new UFC debut. Initially, Lipski was to be making her debut on short notice as the replacement for Veronica Macedo at UFC Argentina against Maryna Moroz. Unfortunately, Moroz would suffer a broken foot that left Lipski without an opponent and led to her removal from the card.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

Ever since Demetrious Johnson was traded to ONE Championship there was talk that the UFC would soon be closing the flyweight division. Reports came out yesterday that that was indeed the case. Several flyweights have tweeted that they have been cut and Jarred Brooks was one of them as he told BJPENN.com. Several fighters are now out of a job and Conor McGregor knows someone who should sign them all.

Cole Shelton - November 8, 2018

It appears the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) is still punishing people for the melee that occurred at UFC 229. Right now, Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are indefinitely suspended with a hearing on December 10. Well, it appears one of McGregor’s teammates, Dillon Danis and one of Nurmagomedov’s, Zubaira Tukhugov will be facing discipline by the NSAC as well.

Tom Taylor - November 8, 2018

UFC 230 was a big night for the UFC middleweight division. First, we saw undefeated striking sensation Israel Adesanya burst into the division’s top-10 with a first-round dissection of Derek Brunson. Then, an hour or so later, we saw former Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza surge back into title contention with a jaw-dropping third-round knockout of former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman. While Adesanya and Jacare both impressed the MMA community at UFC 230, it turns out that the former did not really impress the latter.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

After the UFC attempted once again to set up Yoel Romero vs Paulo Costa, it fell through and now Romero wants to face Anderson “The Spider” Silva. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC was planning to book Romero vs Costa as the main event of the UFC’s first event on ESPN+ which will take place on January 19 in Brooklyn, New York.

Cole Shelton - November 7, 2018

Jarred Brooks and many other UFC flyweights got the call today. That call would be that their services would no longer be needed in the UFC. The promotion is going about shutting down the division. It is a tough pill to swallow and now leaves about 25 fighters or so out of a job. “Nobody called me from the UFC, they let my manager know,” Brooks told BJPENN.com when discussing the news, “I was just working out and actually, my coach called me. My coach and my manager are really tight, he said ‘yeah news is they are cutting the 125-pound division’ and Justin Scoggins and I were getting cut.”

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMAjunkie/status/1060270140405637121?s=19 “This is my last fight at 170 [pounds]. This is it. Going back to [1]55. I’m going to get the belt, it’s time. It’s time. It’s the last thing I gotta do. It’s time.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

Just when you thought that UFC 233 couldn’t be getting a better building start, we get one hell of a bantamweight matchup thrown into the mix. It will have been two years once the end of December rolls around that we’ll have seen the former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz (22-2) compete inside the Octagon.

Drake Riggs - November 7, 2018

It appears that the theory many had is ending up to be true. Demetrious Johnson’s departure isn’t the last of the 125ers that will be leaving the UFC. It started with the talk of current champion Henry Cejudo possibly going up to challenge bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw for his title. Soon after Johnson would head to ONE Championship as part of the first-ever MMA “trade”.