UFC News

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2018

According to manager Ali Abdelaziz, streaking welterweight contender Kamaru Usman will “100%” get the next shot at UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. The fight will apparently occur at UFC 235, which goes down on March 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Abdelaziz made this claim on a Wednesday episode of MMAjunkie Radio.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2018

UFC 232 was originally expected to occur in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 29. When a Jon Jones drug test turned up an “atypical finding,” however, the Nevada Athletic Commission decided not license the former champ for his UFC 232 main event rematch with Alexander Gustafsson. The UFC brass then made the unprecedented decision to move the entire UFC 232 card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles on just 6 days’ notice, as the California Athletic Commission agreed to license Jon Jones for the fight. While the UFC immediately offered refunds to fans who had purchased tickets to see the fights in Las Vegas, this didn’t do much to curb the disappointment of fans who had shelled out hundreds and even thousands of dollars on hotels, flights and other expenses to watch the card in Sin City.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2018

Javier Mendez, who serves as the head coach at American Kickboxing Academy in Fresno, California, has had a huge year. He shepherded Khabib Nurmagomedov to a lightweight title win and a successful title defense against Conor McGregor. He helped Daniel Cormier become one of just two fighters in UFC history to wear UFC belts in two weight classes concurrently. He guided dozens of other fighters to victories on the sport’s biggest stages. In the opinion of the UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, these accomplishments should earn Javier Mendez Coach of the Year honors for the year 2018.

Cole Shelton - December 26, 2018

This Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 232 in Inglewood, California, UFC featherweight champ Cris Cyborg will look to defend her belt when bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes moves up in weight to challenge her. There is no question that this will be one of Cyborg’s toughest tests to date, and because of that, fans are undecided on who will come out on top. Cyborg and Nunes’ fellow fighters, however, seem to be leaning toward the featherweight champ.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2018

UFC featherweight champ Cris Cyborg, who will battle Amanda Nunes in the UFC 232 main event this Saturday, was as surprised as the rest of us when the promotion moved the entire card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. She was also disappointed to learn the news through the media rather than from the UFC directly.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2018

Another Christmas has come and gone. Santa Clause made his yearly trip around the world, presents were opened, gut-busting mountains of food were eaten, and of course, many of the world’s top MMA fighters celebrated with their families. On Tuesday, MMA fighters from top promotions all over the world — from the UFC to Bellator to ONE Championship to Rizin — took to social media to wish their fans a Merry Christmas, and let everyone know how they were celebrating.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2018

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones says he’s still interested in fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar in the future. He considers this fight a win-win for all parties involved. “Fighting Brock Lesnar is aways appealing,” Jones said on the UFC 232 conference call last week (transcript via MMA Fighting). “That’s a win-win situation. That’s a huge money fight and that’s me fighting a guy who’s a hell of a lot bigger than me and everyone wins in that situation.

Christopher Taylor - December 25, 2018

UFC welterweight Alex Oliveira was injured yesterday evening in Brazil after being hit with grenade fragments. The news comes via MMAFighting, who confirmed that “Cowboy” went to buy gasoline for his mother’s car on Christmas Eve, when he saw members of his family involved in an altercation.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

Shortly after it was announced that there had been an ‘atypical finding’ in a Jon Jones drug test, and that the entire UFC 232 card has been moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles as a result, Jones’s opponent Alexander Gustafsson took to Twitter to assure that he didn’t care what was in Jones’s system, and that he’ll beat him no matter the circumstances. https://twitter.com/AlexTheMauler/status/1077064742684880896

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

UFC VP of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky is adamant that moving the entire UFC 232 card from Las Vegas to Los Angeles was the fight move. The UFC exec made his latest comments on the polarizing decision to move the card on Twitter, reiterating that he believes Jon Jones is innocent despite the ‘atypical finding’ on his drug test.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

Add UFC women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes to the growing list of UFC 232 fighters who are frustrated that the card has been moved from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Los Angeles California. While many other fighters on the card have expressed frustrations about having to adjust their travel plans, Nunes’ main gripe is that she’ll have to pay significantly higher taxes in California than she would in Nevada.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

Former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight titleholder Ben Askren has had some pretty heated exchanges with UFC President Dana White in the past. Now that Askren is a member of the UFC welterweight roster, however, many fans believed his relationship with the UFC boss might finally improve. Speaking to MMAjunkie recently, Ben Askren updated on his relationship with Dana White. He admitted that there are still some lingering issues — though those issues could probably be patched up by a good, old-fashioned face-to-face conversation.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

When the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to license Jon Jones for UFC 232, which was scheduled for December 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada, the UFC elected to move the entire fight card to Inglewood, California on the same night. Some UFC 232 fighters have managed to maintain a pretty nonchalant outlook on this whole situation, such as BJ Penn, who is scheduled to fight Ryan Hall at UFC 232.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2018

Last night, we learned that a drug test had picked up a trace amount of the banned substance turinabol in Jon Jones’ system, and that the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to license him for his UFC 232 fight with Alexander Gustafsson as a result. In an effort to ensure the fight happens, the UFC then moved the entire UFC 232 card from Las Vegas to Inglewood, California, as the California State Athletic Commission agreed to license Jones for the fight. In the wake of this news, there’s been massive criticism of both Jon Jones and the UFC. UFC President Dana White has heard these criticisms.

Drake Riggs - December 24, 2018

When it comes to the UFC’s decision to make a last minute moving of UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, it effects a whole lot more than just the person that it was moved for. The reason for the move is because of the event’s headliner, the returning former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones not being granted a license from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). He, however, does have a temporary license from the California State Athletic Commission.

Drake Riggs - December 24, 2018

There never seems to be quite anything like a Jon Jones fight week. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been for good reasons in recent years. After an ‘atypical finding’ in one of Jones’ drug tests ahead of UFC 232, the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to grant Jones his license to compete. Seeing as UFC 232 was to take place in Las Vegas, this was clearly a problem for him and the UFC.

Christopher Taylor - December 23, 2018

Former two-division UFC champion BJ Penn was already in Las Vegas when news broke that the promotion was moving Saturday’s UFC 232 event to Inglewood, California. The UFC felt obligated to move the fight card from Nevada to California after it was announced that main event attraction Jon Jones was denied a license to compete in the state from the NSAC.

Christopher Taylor - December 23, 2018

While news broke that Jon Jones had been denied a license to fight in Nevada, his opponent Alexander Gustafsson was busy enjoying a helicopter ride around the Grand Canyon. That news came from ESPN’s Ariel Helwani on Twitter: