UFC News

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2018

Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 232, Valentina Shevchenko captured the vacant UFC women’s flyweight title with a dominant decision defeat of former UFC strawweight Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Speaking on The MMA Hour with Luke Thomas on Monday, the new champion broke down this victory.

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2018

Jon Jones has officially been removed from the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspension list, clearing him to fight Alexander Gustafsson for the vacant UFC light heavyweight title in the main event of UFC 232 this December 29 in Las Vegas. Jones received this positive news at a CSAC hearing on Tuesday afternoon.

Cole Shelton - December 11, 2018

UFC 233, the first pay-per-view of 2019, is just over a month away and it still doesn’t have a main event. That was not initially the case, as a flyweight title fight between TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo was originally supposed to headline the card. However, when that fight was moved up a week to headline the first ESPN card in Brooklyn, UFC 233 was left without a main event. Now, with the majority of champions booked, injured or recovering from recent fights, the UFC finds itself in a tough situation. There are not a lot of viable options left available for the UFC 233 main event — especially if the promotion wants to compete with Bellator 214, which will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader, and airs the same night.

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2018

Surging UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier was expected to return to the cage opposite Nate Diaz at UFC 230 in early November. Regrettably, the New Orleans native was forced out of this fight with an injury and sidelined for several weeks. Now back in fighting shape, Dustin Poirier is getting antsy. He wants to fight, and fight soon. But with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor both tied up with imminent Nevada State Athletic Commission punishments, he’s low on viable options.

Tom Taylor - December 11, 2018

UFC President Dana White has once taken a shot at UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, this time scolding the champ of turning down a fight in the main event of UFC 233 on January 26, and accusing him of avoiding fights. “When is Woodley ready to fight anybody, ever? Tell me when,” White said at the UFC 231 post-fight press conference (transcript via Sherdog). “Yeah [he just fought three months ago], and it took us forever to get him to fight that fight. He never wants to fight. You want to be a world champion, but you don’t want to fight anybody. That’s a problem.

Christopher Taylor - December 10, 2018

Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar was expected to challenge Max Holloway for the promotions featherweight title at UFC 222. Unfortunately for fight fans, that contest failed to come to fruition after “Blessed” suffered an injury in training.

Christopher Taylor - December 10, 2018

Former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones will return to the octagon at UFC 232 on December 29, where he will rematch Alexander Gustafsson for the promotions interim 205-pound title. “Bones” has not stepped foot inside the cage since defeating Daniel Cormier via third-round knockout in the main event of UFC 214 in July of 2017.

Thomas Taylor - December 10, 2018

Reigning UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champion Conor McGregor were expected to appear in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) today to face the music for their infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl. Unfortunately, both fighters were granted continuances, meaning they will not be disciplined until at least January 29. In other words, neither man is going to be fighting for quite some time. For top lightweight contenders like Dustin Poirier and Tony Ferguson, this is understandably frustrating new. Luckily, Poirier has a solution that the fans will surely love.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2018

Last Saturday night, on the undercard of UFC 231 in Toronto, Eryk Anders got his long-awaited fight with Canada’s Elias Theodorou. While Anders had Theodorou visibly hurt in the second round — perhaps even enough to justify a 10-8 score — Theodorou was ultimately awarded a split decision win on the basis of his success his success in the first and third frames. While Eryk Anders has been classy in the wake of this loss, he recently announced his intention to fight in America for his next few fights, where he’s less likely to face any sort of judging bias.

Cole Shelton - December 10, 2018

After a long career as a WEC and UFC bantamweight contender, Brad Pickett retired in 2017 and is now focusing on coaching and managing fighters. Picket always knew he would get into coaching. While he was a UFC fighter he loved helping out the younger fighters improve and show them what it takes to make it to the UFC. Although he was helping the fighters back then, he says it’s been different to focus exclusively on coaching.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2018

SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh isn’t sure if his star pupil Conor McGregor will fight again. If the Irish MMA superstar does elect to fight again, however, Kavanagh will have to be convinced to train him for the bout. John Kavanagh explained why he feels this way in a recent interview with The Irish Independent.

Tom Taylor - December 10, 2018

There are plenty of interesting options on the table for the next fight of former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ Conor McGregor. In the opinion of UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, however, there is one matchup that stands out from the rest: A trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. McGregor and Diaz have met twice previously, earning a win apiece, and Rogan believes the timing couldn’t be better for a tie-breaking trilogy fight.