MMA News Feed

by Simon Samano on September 19, 2018 at 3:01 am

Conor McGregor has caused quite the stir ahead of the first press conference to promote UFC 229. […]

by Dan Tom on September 19, 2018 at 1:00 am

MMAjunkie fight analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC Sao Paulo headliner between Thiago “Marreta” Santos and Eryk Anders. […]

by MMAjunkie Staff on September 19, 2018 at 12:15 am

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA rankings inside, including some shifts in the heavyweight division after UFC Moscow. […]

by Blue Corner on September 18, 2018 at 11:45 pm

Check out this edition of PFL’s “Fighting Fit” series with Caroline Pearce. […]

by Parviz Iskenderov on September 19, 2018 at 2:55 pm

Canelo vs. GGG 3 Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez battled out for the second time this past weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The latter took a majority decision win (114-114, 115-113, 115-113) as well as became a new WBA (Super), WBC, and IBO Middleweight champion, while GGG suffered the first defeat in his […] The post Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady Golovkin 3 presumed for May 2019 at MSG, reports appeared first on FIGHTMAG. […]

by Parviz Iskenderov on September 19, 2018 at 5:04 am

El Show De Andy featured on Simply the Best 22 Simply the Best 22 is an upcoming episode of kickboxing series held on September 22 (Sep. 22) in Buenos Aires. The event takes place at club GEI featuring the WKN International Super Light Heavyweight title fight between Argentine Cristian Bosch and Colombian Andres Dussan. Topping […] The post Cintia Alonso makes Simply the Best appearance in Buenos Aires appeared first on FIGHTMAG. […]

by Parviz Iskenderov on September 19, 2018 at 2:24 am

Simply the Best Kickboxing Simply the Best 22 is held at club GEI in Buenos Aires on September 22 (Sep. 23 AWST). The event is the fourth episode produced in Argentina this year, featuring local and international competitors. President of World Kickboxing Network Stephane Cabrera attends the event as a special guest. WKN head has […] The post WKN President Stephane Cabrera on CN23 ahead of Simply the Best 22 appeared first on FIGHTMAG. […]

by Parviz Iskenderov on September 18, 2018 at 3:22 pm

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2 Boxing greats Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0) are expected to square off for the second time this December in Las Vegas. The pair first met in May 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena, where the latter scored a unanimous decision. After that Mayweather similarly defeated Andre Berto and […] The post Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2 in the making for December appeared first on FIGHTMAG. […]

by Lewis Mckeever on September 19, 2018 at 7:00 pm

Conor McGregor says fans will be allowed into Thursday’s UFC 229 press conference if they purchase a bottle of his Irish whiskey at the door. Conor McGregor is up to his usual tricks on social media, this time generating even more interest in Thursday’s UFC 229 pre-fight press conference by extending an invitation to members of the public. The UFC announced that the event would not be open to the public, but ‘The Notorious’ has a special offer for fight fans. Yesterday, just one day after the launch of his branded Irish whiskey, McGregor took to social media to promote Proper No. Twelve ahead of Thursday’s media event in New York. The brash Irishman is offering to sell his whiskey to the public in exchange for tickets to the press conference. The press conference will be open to the public.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 18, 2018 The ticket for entry is a bottle of @ProperWhiskey. 2 bottles and you skip the Q to the top. My soldiers will be outside making sure this rule is strictly adhered to. Radio city Hall. UFC 229 Press conference.— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 19, 2018 Ultimate Fighting Championship will be live-streaming the press conference on ‘the world’s largest TV screen’, Silvercast’s 330-foot Mega-Zilla, between 45th and 46th streets on Broadway, but the fight promotion is unlikely to meet McGregor’s demands. In fact, shortly after McGregor posted his tweets, the UFC released a statement reiterating that the press-conference is not open to the public. “The press conference is not open to the public, it is for media only. We are directing all fans to Times Square where it will be shown for public viewing.” UFC 229, which features Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor as the main event, takes place next month, Oct. 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The pre-fight press conference takes place tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 20. […]

by Nate Wilcox on September 19, 2018 at 6:33 pm

Sorry cry babies! Kid Nate + Eugene S. Robinson are back with another infamous & patented installment of the Care/Don’t Care Preview for UFC Fight Night 137 featuring Thiago Santos vs Eryk Anders....um what? It’s time for another of our infamous and patented Care/Don’t Care Previews with your hosts: Kid Nate Wilcox of Bloody Elbow, creator of the Let It Roll podcast, and Eugene S. Robinson of ozy.com and author of Fight: Everything You Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking. Our newly produced podcasts can be found on the MMA Nation SoundCloud and iTunes, and be sure to subscribe to MMA NATION and our new home at Bloody Elbow Presents on YouTube. And if you enjoy Nate and Eugene, subscribe to Alexei Auld’s new YouTube channel to see If The Shoes Fit, a new non-MMA show featuring Alexei, Eugene and Kid Nate. Follow Eugene on twitter @eugeneSrobinson, Nate @KidNate, and Alexei @AlexeiAuld. Collectively, the MMA Puncholes, who can be found on fb. Here’s a look at the Saturday, September 22nd UFC Fight Night 137 - Sao Paulo card as it stands right now, via UFC.com: FS1 MAIN CARD | 10:30PM/7:30PM ETPTThiago Santos vs Eryk Anders - Alex Oliveira vs Carlo Pedersoli Jr.- Sam Alvey vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira - Renan Barao vs Andre Ewell - Randa Markos vs Marina Rodriguez - FS2 PRELIMS | 8:30PM/5:30PM ETPTCharles Oliveira vs Christos Giagos - Francisco Trinaldo vs Evan Dunham - Luis Henrique vs Ryan Spann - Augusto Sakai vs Chase Sherman - UFC FIGHTPASS EARLY PRELIMS | 8:30PM/5:30PMSergio Moraes vs Ben Saunders - Mayra Bueno Silva vs Gillian Robertson - Thales Leites vs Hector Lombard - Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos vs Luigi Vendramini - Livinha Souza vs Alex Chambers - ENJOY! […]

by Milan Ordoñez on September 19, 2018 at 6:00 pm

American Top Team coach Everton Oliveira is confident that Amanda Nunes will be able to beat Cris Cyborg to become the greatest female fighter of all-time. UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes has pretty much beat every single challenger put in front of her. In December at UFC 232, she will be taking on an entirely different task when she jumps to 145-pounds to challenge Cris Cyborg for the featherweight title. Cyborg is deemed as one of the most (if not the most) dominant female fighters in the game today, but for Nunes’ coach Everton Bittar Oliveira, that reign will end soon. “(Amanda) will become a two-division champion,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “She has been dominating at 135, retired two of the biggest stars at 135, beat Valentina (Shevchenko) twice, so she undoubtedly is the greatest bantamweight in history.” “Cris is the best featherweight in history, so beating Cris automatically puts Amanda’s name as the greatest of all-time.” Nunes currently weighs 165 pounds, with still three months left until fight night. Oliviera is also assured that the jump in weight classes will actually be beneficial for “The Lionness”, particularly in terms of conditioning. “My main goal with Amanda is to control her weight gain and develop a training base to make sure she gets to featherweight as strong as she is at bantamweight,” Oliveira said. “There’s no doubt that Amanda is the strongest fighter at 135, no one hits harder than her, no one has more power than her, but that’s a combination of several factors. At featherweight, it’s 10 pounds more. We will get her ready for five rounds at a high pace. My main goal is to plan her training to make sure she peaks in December.” “(Her conditioning) will probably be even better because she doesn’t have to suffer cutting weight,” he added. “Weight cutting can hurt an athlete’s performance the next day. Some athletes deal with it better than others. Amanda has evolved drastically in both technical and physical terms, so I don’t see any problems with her fighting five rounds at 145.” “She proved in Rio de Janeiro that she can fight at a higher pace for five rounds and finish her opponent in the end.” UFC 232 takes place on December 29th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Another announced fight on the card is the lightweight fight between B.J. Penn and Ryan Hall. […]

by Dayne Fox on September 19, 2018 at 5:00 pm

Get the scoop on the early action at UFC Sao Paulo, including an exciting contest between Ben Saunders and Sergio Moraes. Plus, Thales Leites’ retirement bout against Hector Lombard. The theme of UFC Sao Paulo (other than injuries) would appear to be beginnings and endings. Several fighters are making their debuts while several more have declared to be fighting their last fight. The Fight Pass prelims are no exception. Livia Renata Souza, one of the most exciting strawweights, is making her long-awaited debut. On the other end of the spectrum, Thales Leites, a former title challenger, has declared he’s calling it a career after his contest with Hector Lombard is over. Leites may not be an all-time great, but he’s had several notable moments and competed with some of the best of his era. A class act throughout his career, he will be missed. The Fight Pass prelims begin at 6:30 PM ET/3:30 PM PT on Saturday. Sergio Moraes (13-3-1) vs. Ben Saunders (22-9-2), Welterweight After many years of fighting some of the top competition in the sport, Saunders no longer possesses the durability to survive the type of wars he loves dragging his opponent into…at least on a consistent basis. Despite his waning chin, Saunders is still a dangerous opponent. His Thai clinch is still among the best in the game and few possess a more dangerous guard thanks to proficient knowledge of how to put his long limbs to good use. It’s the other areas of Saunders game that are incomplete. Saunders has always had a bad habit of leaving his chin high – in part due to his 6’2” frame – which has played a big part in his declining durability. Moraes may prove to be one of the few who not only would jump into the guard of Saunders, it would probably be recommended he does so. The former world champion BJJ grappler hasn’t always been able to get the fight to the ground as he’s never had a formal wrestling background, relying on his plentiful athletic skills to muscle his opponents to the ground. Against Saunders, that might work. Moraes has also fallen in love with the KO, having secured an impressive one over Omari Akhmedov a few years ago and wanting another one since. However, there’s often no rhyme or reason to Moraes’ strategy on the feet. It’s rare that Saunders makes it to the final bell. Given Moraes’ defense is about as porous as Saunders’, it’ll be a real shock if they make it to the end. For all the talk about how skilled Moraes is on the ground, Saunders has never been subbed in his career. A difficult contest to predict, I’m going with Bloody Elbow’s home boy in this one. Lets! Saunders via TKO, RD2 Mayra Bueno Silva (5-0) vs. Gillian Robertson (5-2), Women’s Flyweight Nobody thought much of Robertson when she was signed to TUF to participate in the tournament to crown the inaugural women’s flyweight champion. No one thought much of her after she was eliminated in her opening fight against Barb Honchak. However, since crossing over to the UFC, Robertson has turned more than a few heads. Showing a vastly improved grappling and wrestling game, Robertson has scored a pair of submission wins in two attempts. She’s made progress on the feet too, even if the results haven’t been as immediate. At 23, Robertson has plenty of time to make herself into something special. Silva is a bit of an unknown quantity, making her way into the organization through the Contender Series: Brazil, securing a standing brabo choke on her opponent. It doesn’t appear the submission was a fluke either as she has scored a few other impressive subs in her career. On the feet, Silva is either throwing kicks from the outside or knees and elbows in the clinch without much of a middle ground. Robertson caught Emily Whitmire by surprise when she secured the armbar from the guard and completely outclassed Molly McCann on the ground. She won’t be able to do so against Silva. Robertson isn’t easy to submit either, so I wouldn’t count on a finish from Silva either. What Silva does have is a size advantage on Robertson and a physical style that the Canadian has struggled with. Though I’m hardly confident in my pick, I’m taking the Brazilian. Silva via decision Thales Leites (27-9) vs. Hector Lombard (34-9-1, 2 NC), Middleweight Lombard is probably one of the few who is happy the Fertittas sold to WME-IMG as he would have been cut a long time ago under the Zuffa banner. His last win came in March of 2014, a span of five consecutive losses. The heavy hitting Cuban is now 40 years old and unable to take the beatings he could in his younger days. That doesn’t mean he’s lost his power. After all, he did KO CB Dollaway in his last contest. It’s just too bad it occurred after the bell sounded to signal the end of the round, resulting in a DQ loss. It was more recent that Leites was hanging around the top of the division than it was for Lombard. Regardless, he’s appeared more shopworn of the two in recent contests. Leites will start out competitive, only to gas when he can’t secure a submission, no longer appearing to trust his striking. Though he doesn’t appear to have lost anything off his vaunted grappling attack, opponents are prepared to defend against him at all costs. When Leites gasses, it leaves the door wide open for his opposition to escape and/or put the beatdown on him over the remaining time in the contest. The only way Leites stands a chance is if he regains confidence in his striking. At one point, his attack of low kicks and heavy hooks were key to making him relevant near the top of the division. Lombard’s takedown defense has always been solid and it hasn’t slipped at all. Leites’ declining confidence and durability make it likely his career ends on a sour note. Lombard via TKO, RD2 Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (19-5) vs. Luigi Vendramini (7-0), Welterweight From an action standpoint, this very well may have been the best fight on the card before Belal Muhammad was forced to pull out due to injury. His replacement, Vendramini, is a natural lightweight who appears to be an opportunity for dos Santos to showcase his skills. Dos Santos is exactly the type of fighter the UFC wants its fighters to be. On a five-fight win streak, he’s secured a FOTN bonus in three of those contests in addition to one of the most badass KO’s of 2018 when he took out Sean Strickland. Despite that, the UFC seems to have no interest in promoting the exciting striker. Why else would they bury him this deep in the card? Dos Santos came into the organization with the reputation of a kicker with an affinity for spinning techniques. His boxing has proven better than expected and he’s added the ability to hit the occasional well-timed takedown to his arsenal from time to time. His defense leaves much to be desired, but his chin has held up well so far. Vendramini is incredibly young at 22. Though all his contests have been taking place in Brazil, the youngster has been training at Team Alpha Male, meaning there should be some significant improvement to his wrestling. However, he has also fought as low as featherweight and hasn’t faced a high level of competition in the two-and-a-half years he’s been a pro. There is raw talent to work with, but it appears to be too much, too soon for the Brazilian native. Dos Santos isn’t among the divisional elite, but he’s proven to be a tough, durable, and dangerous veteran…the type of fighter that feasts upon youngsters like Vendramini. It’ll be a good learning experience for Vendramini, but it’ll be an upset of epic proportions if he finds a way to overthrow dos Santos. Dos Santos via TKO, RD2 Livia Renata Souza (11-1) vs. Alex Chambers (5-4), Women’s Strawweight Wait…Chambers is still on the roster? No disrespect to the Australian, but she has fought just once since 2015 and has a 1-3 UFC record. Her one victory saw her losing well into the final round before securing an armbar from the guard. Chambers hasn’t been very good. That one victory did put her toughness and submission skills on display, but she’s too tentative on the feet and lacks a functional wrestling game to get the fight where she is strongest. Perhaps what is even worse news for Chambers is Souza’s prowess on the ground. A legit black belt in BJJ, Souza could very well become the best grappler in the division the moment she makes her UFC debut. She’s technically sound, yet is still capable of pulling off a maneuver that leaves your jaw hanging in disbelief. Souza’s standup is still developing, though she has shown enough improvement that two of her last three victories came from her securing stoppages with her kicks and punches on the feet. Like everyone else, I love me some Astro Girl. I just don’t think she has any business in the UFC at this point. All she’s doing is providing an opponent for Souza to showcase on. Expect Souza to make a statement in her UFC debut. Souza via submission, RD1 […]

by By Vinícius Giglio on September 18, 2018 at 5:00 am

“In the next few years Marlon Moraes is gonna mean what Anderson Silva and what Vitor Belfort meant to Brazil. Thanks to all his hard work and effort, he will become a reference to Brazlian mixed martial arts.Moraes’ jiu-jitsu coach, Ricardo Almeida, has high expectations for the 21-5-1 fighter. Almeida views the Brazilian bantamweight as one of the top fighters in a talent-rich division.Almeida isn’t the only person who sees this type of potential in Moraes. Nearly all of those who work with the 30-year-old on a daily basis at RA BJJ/ Iron Army in New Jersey, see Moraes as a ... Read the Full Article Her […]

by By Thomas Gerbasi on September 18, 2018 at 5:00 am

Fighting courageously until the end, one of Japan’s greatest and most exciting mixed martial artists, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, passed away Tuesday after a battle with cancer.He was 41.A decorated wrestler, Yamamoto may have earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law, but there was always the feeling that fighting would be the path for the Kanagawa native.“I’ve always been a fighter,” he said in 2011. “I thought about becoming a lawyer, but didn’t have to think too much.”It was a video tape given to him by his sister that pushed him over the ed ... Read the Full Article Her […]

by By Thomas Gerbasi on September 18, 2018 at 5:00 am

As a former Invicta FC strawweight champion who has won 11 of her 12 pro bouts, Livinha Souza is expected to be in the running for a world title in the UFC as soon as she steps foot in the Octagon to face Alex Chambers this Saturday in Sao Paulo. But Souza is not making such bold proclamations. Not yet.“I think that you only can be considered a future world champion after I beat a top five (contender) and win well,” said Souza through a translator. “Until then, I keep my mentality that I am only at the beginning and I will keep proving to myself and to everybody else that the ... Read the Full Article Her […]

by By Thomas Gerbasi on September 18, 2018 at 5:00 am

      View this post on Instagram A post shared by Carlo “Semento” Pedersoli Jr (@carlopedersolijr) on Aug 18, 2018 at 6:09am PDT After taking a short notice UFC bout and winning a decision over Octagon vet Brad Scott in May, you might assume that Carlo Pedersoli Jr. would be content to get the victory in whatever way he could, be happy with that, get out of England and gear up for the next fight.Not so fast.“I’m sure I won that fight by unanimous decision, but sometimes judges makes mistakes,” he said. “It’s part of t ... Read the Full Article Her […]