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Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

With as many awesome things that happened at UFC 221, it’s still hard to move on from that absolutely egregious eye gouge that Li Jingliang did to Jake Matthews to get out of a guillotine choke. While Matthews was all class about it after the fact, it hasn’t stopped fans, media and other fighters from scolding Jingliang for the foul. Joe Rogan recently spoke up about it on his recent show and wasn’t happy about what he did in the very least. “I thought it was f-cking bullsh-t. You can’t let a guy get away with that, or he’s going to do it again. […] You don’t do it that way. You tap. It’s straight up cheating; it’s not just shady. It’s cheating. They should tell him, ‘If this ever happens again, if you ever think you’re going to do this again, we’re going to kick you out of the league.’ You can’t do that. You can’t gouge someone’s eye when they’re choking you. It felt like the fingers were in long enough for him to know the fingers were in there. The referee f-cked up. The UFC should do something. Someone should do something.”

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Why are MMA tournaments awesome? #Bellator194 headliner and grand-prix participant @roynelsonmma explains. Full story: https://t.co/sk0ip6v0GN pic.twitter.com/WKmJWvo7fb — MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) February 15, 2018

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Just four days ago, Yoel Romero overcame the drama of a suspenseful weigh-in ordeal and rose to the occasion in the main event of UFC 221. He shut down former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and finished him with an uppercut that looked like it was removed from Mortal Kombat. It’s not surprise that current champion Robert Whittaker was watching this fight and keeping an eye on who could be his next opponent. However, he didn’t just watch it, he absolutely dissected it. “[Yoel Romero] was mentioning a back injury earlier, so we can’t be sure if it was the back injury that’s what prevented him from doing his usual explosive, unorthodox movement patters, or it was a gameplan because it worked so well. He stood at perfect range for [Luke] Rockhold, he predicted all his strikes, all his combos. When Rockhold couldn’t kick – cause he always leads the kick, or tries to, doesn’t really set up his kicks too well – he’d check it. When Rockhold would work with his combos – no more than two or three – he’d block him. Then he’d just explode moving forward, landing punches, not overextending too much.”

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

Such a potty mouth, that @SuperSageNorthcutt! #UFCAustin 😂 A post shared by ufc (@ufc) on Feb 14, 2018 at 8:35am PST

Justin Golightly - February 14, 2018

Joe Rogan comments on beating CM Punk and losing to USADA pic.twitter.com/orNS00Go8B — Bestrafer7 (@Bestrafer7) February 14, 2018

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

History says if a younger fighter beats an older fighter and they rematch, the younger fighter wins again…only easier. #BeyondtheFight pic.twitter.com/vr8LpCzF39 — Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) February 12, 2018

Justin Golightly - February 10, 2018

Not too long ago, Matt Brown was about to call it quits. The questions that plagued his career coupled with some ups and downs seemed overwhelming. No matter the fighter — from Georges St-Pierre or a guy fighting in the regionals — there comes a time where you have to ask yourself if you’re going to keep doing it. When Matt Brown asked himself that question and searched real hard, he found clarity. Hell yeah, he’ll keep doing it. “I just started kind of questioning, ‘What am I doing?’ The first thing I went through was, ‘How do I not make it happen again?’ That gets very exhausting when you just think of, ‘How? How? How?’ Right? And I think through the Diego camp – because I announced retirement very early in the camp, like 12 weeks out – through the camp, everything went so well. I focused more on my own mind, and I started getting back into the, ‘Why?’, and I started bringing clarity to that side of things.”

Justin Golightly - February 10, 2018

Here’s our interview with @LukeRockhold, and he’s clearly feeling some type of way about @YoelRomeroMMA missing weight… #UFC221 https://t.co/G5aQ44nScp — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) February 10, 2018

Justin Golightly - February 9, 2018

As the middleweight division spins effortlessly back into chaos again, two men will try to set it back on its axis tomorrow. Luke Rockhold will fight Yoel Romero at the main event of UFC 221 for an interim middleweight title, created in response to newly-awarded undisputed champ Robert Whittaker’s triple threat health bomb. Romero and Rockhold have been on a collision course for years and now they finally get to scrap. He thinks he’s better everywhere and his coaches believe him too. It’s hard to say [who is the worse match-up for Luke Rockhold] because they both have different strengths. Yoel [Romero] is very explosive, great wrestling, but [Robert] Whittaker is good everywhere and a very dangerous striker. They’re both different, but the thing is with Luke, Luke’s good everywhere. So Luke can finish those guys in every department, where they can’t. They can’t finish Luke everywhere, they can’t finish Luke on the ground, they can’t do this with Luke. Luke can do that to anybody.”

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

All of the UFC fights are basically just a countdown to Daniel Cormier’s epic encounter against UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. The same title shot that Fabricio Werdum has been clawing back to. You have to have a college degree in MMA match to figure out this one, it’s more than just any light heavyweight moving up to fight a bigger opponent. The former champ himself knows full well what it’s like to be in the cage with Miocic, who took the title away from him back at UFC 198. Despite having nothing but respect for Cormier and his skills, he thinks Stipe Miocic will walk away with the strap still on his waist. “I want to see this fight [between Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic], too. Of course I want to go first, but for the business UFC, for fans this is much better. I understand this part, too. For sure I was sad before, but after talking to Dana White, I understand for the company, business is much better. I hope I’m the next one after my fight.”

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

Demetrious Johnson versus TJ Dillashaw. The UFC flyweight champion fighting the UFC bantamweight champion in an ultra high level MMA double title fight. It’s a match-up that everyone has been clamoring for, but still some people aren’t in favor of it. Although, it’s easy to see why Dominick Cruz isn’t keen on the idea. If you count the WEC bantamweight title which the UFC absorbed, Cruz was the bantamweight king from 2010 until he was stripped due to injuries in 2014. A title he nearly immediately got back upon his return from Dillashaw himself. The very same title he wants back. “I think [the bantamweight championship] should be my next fight, but they play weird games where they want to give TJ Dillashaw an easier fight because he doesn’t want to fight somebody hard right after he won the title. He wants an easy fight. So, he wants to fight somebody that he knows he can keep the belt a little longer before he knows he gets a really hard fight, whereas I went TJ Dillashaw, Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt and then I lose the belt. Let’s go TJ. I beat you. Don’t you want to get that back? Stop going down and looking for little baby boys at 125. Silly Dilly, that’s what I call him.”

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

Everyone loves a stylish fighter. Anthony Pettis will forever be remembered from walking up the cage at WEC and flying across the canvas to kick Benson Henderson in the face. You could flip the channel on your TV right now and chances are you may find a highlight of Anderson Silva putting Forrest Griffin in the Matrix. Israel Adesanya will look to turn heads with another knockout worthy of his reel this Saturday in his UFC debut. He believes it’s his destiny as a ‘Style Bender’. “F-ck that. I gave myself the nickname [Style Bender]. People say, ‘Oh, you can’t give yourself a nickname.’ But I was like, why? I make my own destiny. I don’t want my destiny to be in someone else’s hands. It made sense to me, because Aang the Avatar had to realize his potential of being the Avatar by mastering all the elements, which is water, fire, earth and air. And I have to realize my destiny of master all the elements of martial arts to be here [in the UFC].”

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

Mark Hunt is making his return to the Octagon after going through a series of tests to make sure it was safe for him to be fighting, but Hunt thinks this is all just hypocritical based on his former opponents and what Dana White has just said about Brock Lesnar. Last night, White seemed all about Lesnar returning to the UFC and as you can imagine, that didn’t sit well with Super Samoan. “[Brock Lesnar] shouldn’t be fighting. He’s just a cheater. There should be a show for steroid users like him and you can’t tell me any different. He didn’t deserve to be there. He took the short cuts. It just goes to show [the UFC’s] credibility when they say a guy like Brock Lesnar is coming back. So, it’s all about money and you don’t really care about the fighters at all? Some of you said to me, “Oh Mark, you gotta go and do your tests because we’re worried about you.’ You’re lying? Yeah, I thought so.” 

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

While Dana White is talking about still making a rematch between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt, Dillashaw’s trainer Duane Ludwig is still pushing for the Demetrious Johnson superfight. It makes sense considering Johnson himself has said they’re in negotiations for co-main event of UFC 226 with Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier. As with most things, it’s probably both fighters wanting the money they deserve that is stalling things, but Ludwig says that no matter what the obstacles, this fight needs to happen for the future of MMA. “[TJ Dillashaw]’s a ninja. That’s why he’s the champion and that’s why he’s going to fight Demetrious [Johnson]. Demetrious, where you at buddy? C’mon, Demetrious. Let’s make this happen. Whether I’m TJ’s trainer, or friend, or instructor, or Sensei or not, right? For me, just as a martial art enthusiast, I want to see that fight happen to see who truly is the best mixed martial artist.”

Tom Taylor - February 8, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is hoping his next fight will be with long-time lightweight contender Nate Diaz. And while there have been some positive signs that this fight could actually happen, it certainly doesn’t seem like it’s close to being made official.

Justin Golightly - February 7, 2018

A lot of talk gets thrown around about the trilogies in MMA. There have been plenty of them, with more sure to come. But what about quadrilogies? That’s right, four fights with the same rival. If Quinton Jackson had his way, he’d get another fight with legend Wanderlei Silva. The Axe Murderer took out Rampage twice with knees, before Jackson got his payback. Evidently it wasn’t enough though, because Jackson claims he still owes him an ass whooping. “I owe Wanderlei [Silva] another ass whooping, I’ll tell you that. I know he’s not a heavyweight. The last time I fought him I knocked him out of the weight class. But he beat me twice. I only beat him once. I think I owe him another ass whooping. I probably could get down to 205, but I don’t know. I’m walking around at 250, 260. That’s a big one. If I had my way [it’d be at heavyweight] but like I said, Wanderlei is not a heavyweight. I probably could get down to 205 now that I’ve got my nutritionist. My motivation is still the heavyweight belt. Even if I’m out of the tournament, whoever wins that belt I’m gonna challenge him right away.” — Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson speaking on The MMA Hour.

Justin Golightly - February 6, 2018

You may be lucky enough to already know about ‘Style Bender’ Israel Adesanya, but most tuning into the UFC 221 card in Perth this weekend probably won’t. …But they most likely will be trying to learn how to pronounce his name soon after he steps into the Octagon for the first time. This 28-year old prospect has all the ingredients to make a breakout UFC star if he brings it altogether in his debut. Although, to call Adesanya a ‘prospect’ may seem to the uninitiated that he hasn’t been tested or he’s an amateur. This is absolutely not the case. “I look forward to this moment in time. It’s easy to sit on your ass and type. Only a chosen few on this planet have the balls (and ovaries) to say what they wanna do, put everything on the line in front of millions, and do it despite what others think. It’s been a long road to get here, man. In 2005, you couldn’t pay me enough to hop in a cage and fight another trained killer. F-cking plot twist, huh? They laughed at me when I said Imma’ be in the UFC one day. Where are they now? Point being, their opinion is none of your business. Let them hate. They hate us cause they anus.” — Israel Adesanya via his official Instagram.

Justin Golightly - February 6, 2018

As the UFC and combat sports in general rockets into the future. It’s more important than ever to preserve the history of these fights so they aren’t lost in time. New fans are constantly pouring in an cycled through generations, then separated into eras. There are the group of people who became fans after the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, then there are fans who were drawn to the sport like moths from the bright lights of Ronda Rousey and Conor McGregor. No matter when someone got into the chaotic spectacle of MMA, researching everything they can about Anderson Silva is a mandatory homework assignment. The build up going into this fight appeared to be animosity free. But that quickly changed at the weigh ins.