UFC News

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2018

The estimate for the pay-per-view buys of the recent UFC 231 card has been released. Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the card, which was headlined by a featherweight title fight between champ Max Holloway and formerly undefeated challenger Brian Ortega, did roughly 240,000 – 300,000 pay-per-view buys. From WON, the current estimates for #UFC231 is 240k-300k buys. #UFC

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2018

On December 29, in the co-main event of UFC 232, dominant UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is expected to defend her title against women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes — that is, if a recent fall hasn’t derailed that plan. Cyborg recently attempted the In My Feelings challenge, a dance challenge inspired by the Drake song of the same name. Cyborg incorporated a shopping cart into her attempt at the dance challenge, and ultimately took a brutal fall as she exited the shopping cart.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2018

After keeping his mouth shut through throughout his recent United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) suspension, former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones says he will no longer be allowing negative comments to go unchallenged — particularly from his arch rival Daniel Cormier. “The only reason I brought up the name of Daniel Cormier is that he brought up my name,” Jones said on the UFC 232 pre-fight conference call (transcript via MMA Fighting). “And I just figured, when I was in trouble, I just stepped back, all summer long, and let everybody talk as much sh*t as they want, and just talk blindly, knowing no facts. I watched everybody that I beat in the past say ‘ohh, he was on steroids when he fought me the first time, that’s why he beat me.’ I just sat back and let everybody have at it.”

Drake Riggs - December 20, 2018

The UFC’s women’s flyweight division is finally able to get moving forward again as a new champion has been crowned. So that means the rest of the division must vie for their positions. Unfortunately for the top 15 contenders in Andrea Lee (9-2) and Ashlee Evans-Smith (6-3), they just recently lost out on their fights due to opponents dropping out.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2018

UFC President Dana White and former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor have made a lot of money together. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have their issues. Speaking recently on the Barstool Sports podcast, the UFC boss opened up on his biggest issue with Conor McGregor. As you might have guessed if you’ve ever watched a Conor McGregor press conference, White’s biggest gripe has to do with the Irishman’s frequent tardiness.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2018

In 2017, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor released a feature-length documentary called Conor McGregor: Notorious, which traced his rise from a poor kid in Dublin, Ireland to a UFC Megastar. This documentary was very well received among fans, and from the sounds of it, it won’t be the last documentary the Irish MMA star puts out. Replying to a fan on Twitter, McGregor recently hinted that there is a sequel to this film in the works.

Cole Shelton - December 20, 2018

UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will battle arguably her toughest opponent to date when UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes moves up in weight to challenge her in the co-main event of UFC 232 on December 29. Cyborg has been the UFC’s featherweight champion since 2017 and hasn’t lost since her very first pro fight in 2005. She has been a seemingly unstoppable force for more than a decade, but many fans believe Nunes could be the woman to finally defeat her.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2018

Former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is heading to light heavyweight. After teasing the move for months, Rockhold committed to it on a recent episode of Submission Radio.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2018

Last month, UFC flyweight Rachael Ostovich was allegedly attacked by her husband, fellow fighter Arnold Berdon. This attack left Ostovich with a broken orbital bone, and cast doubt on her scheduled January 19 fight with Paige VanZant, which will serve as part of the UFC’s first card on ESPN+. In the end, however, a courageous and determined Rachael Ostovich decided she would stick with this fight with Paige VanZant — and VanZant is very impressed by that decision.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2018

On December 29, in the co-main event of UFC 232, UFC women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes will move up to the featherweight division to battle seeming unstoppable featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. In the eyes of Valentina Shevchenko, who recently captured the UFC women’s flyweight belt, Nunes is probably in for a tough night in this UFC 232 fight. Valentina Shevchenko made her prediction for this fight on a recent episode of MMAjunkie Radio.

Christopher Taylor - December 19, 2018

Former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones will rematch Alexander Gustafsson in the headliner of next weekend’s highly anticipated UFC 232 event in Las Vegas. Jon Jones and “The Mauler” first met at UFC 165 in September of 2013 and produced arguably the greatest fight in the history of the light heavyweight division.

Christopher Taylor - December 19, 2018

Former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva will return to the octagon at February’s UFC 234 event against surging division contender Israel Adesanya. “The Spider” recently completed a suspension from USADA, which stemmed from a failed drug test in the lead up to his scheduled fight with Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Shanghai.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

At a hearing earlier this month, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC), advised former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones to enroll in VADA drug testing in addition to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) drug testing that he’s subject to as a UFC fighter. This extra testing was not mandatory, merely encouraged. “I, for one, would like to put the doubts to sleep and to put them away once and for all,” commissioner Martha Shen-Urquidez told Jones at the hearing. “And for people to believe you, that you are that talented and that you are the greatest, and that you can win a fight just clean, and that this is Jon Jones, and to put those doubts away once and for all.”

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

It took the UFC a long time to find a main event for UFC 230, which went down on November 3 in New York City. One of the options that was on the table before the promotion landed on the card’s eventual Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis headliner was a welterweight scrap between Colby Covington and Nick Diaz. Unfortunately for the fans, however, this fight never came to fruition.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s UFC Milwaukee card, and as expected, Al Iaquinta has surged up the list at lightweight after springing the upset on Kevin Lee in the card’s main event. With his decision defeat of Kevin Lee, Al Iaquinta has usurped the number five spot in the lightweight rankings. Interestingly, this move actually forced Edson Barboza out of the top-5, despite his destruction of Dan Hooker in the UFC Milwaukee co-main event.

Cole Shelton - December 19, 2018

Matt Brown has been in the UFC since 2008. He has also fought at least once a year every year since 2005. However, in 2018 that streak ended when Brown, unfortunately, was dealing with some injuries that kept him from competing inside the Octagon. He tore his ACL earlier this year when he was preparing for a fight against Carlos Condit.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

On December 29, in the main event of the stacked UFC 232 card in Las Vegas, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will step back into the cage with the fiercest opponent of his career: Sweden’s Alexander Gustafsson. Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson first met in the main event of UFC 165, in 2013 in Toronto. On that night, Jones walked away with a unanimous decision win, though many fans felt Gustafsson should have been awarded the decision. Whatever the case, the bout is widely regarded as one of the best in UFC history.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

On February 9, at UFC 234 in Melbourne, Australia, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will battle red-hot contender Israel Adesanya. Heading into this matchup, many fans have suggested that Silva and Adesanya are quite similar. Some have even suggested that the latter is a newer, younger version of the former.