MMA news

• After Rough Stretch, Ex-UFC Champ Johny Hendricks Says Wife Helped Him Renew Motivation

  23-12-2016 23:05
  
  It wasn’t all that long ago that Johny Hendricks looked like he was going to be a staple atop the UFC’s welterweight division.
  
  Read more

• Fedor Emelianenko Confirms Length of Bellator Deal, Talks Conor vs. Khabib

  23-12-2016 22:32
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG6I4GXHU0sHeavyweight legend (and current Bellator MMA fighter) Fedor Emelianenko has opened up about his return to action in February. Speaking to Lenta.ru earlier this month, Emelianenko confirmed that his deal with Bellator is for four fights, the first of which takes place this February against Matt Mitrione. In regards to his American opponent, Fedor pointed to his high percentage of knockouts - but suggested it didn't concern him.Fedor enters the fight on a
  
  Read more

• Louis Smolka Blasts Sergio Pettis: “He’s A Clown, F*ck Him!” (Exclusive Interview)

  23-12-2016 22:29
  
  In the debut episode of the new MMANews.com podcast, Pony Keg Fights, Tim Thompson and Josh Stephens are here to bring you the most up to date news in MMA along with great fight recaps as well as some great interviews!
  In episode one of the new show, UFC Flyweight contender Louis Smolka joins the guys to talk about his upcoming fight on the UFC 207 pay-per-view main card against Ray Borg. Smolka also discusses what it's like being a fighter right now in Hawaii, his unfiltered thoughts on possibl
  
  Read more

• Video: DISH Releases 15-Minute Preview Special For UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey

  23-12-2016 22:24
  
  https://youtu.be/VSa3zScoz4MWith one week remaining until UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey, the UFC's final pay-per-view offering of 2016, the pre-fight content and hype for next Friday's event is seemingly everywhere.Featured above is the official DISH preview special for UFC 207, "UFC On DISH: UFC 207: Nunes vs Rousey," which is a 15-minute episode that gives fans a closer look at the top fights scheduled for the final UFC PPV of the year.Headlined by Amanda Nunes vs. Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women's
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Dan Hardy expects to learn final verdict about fighting future in early 2017: ‘I’m just trying to be at peace with it’

  23-12-2016 22:00
  
  Dan Hardy found himself unexpectedly in the headlines this week when UFC on FOX 22 co-headliner Mickey Gall called out Hardy live on prime-time television. Gall was hoping to set up a fight with “The Outlaw,” and while that didn’t end up coming to fruition, it did shine a light back onto the 34-year-old former title challenger who has been sidelined for over four years since a diagnosis of Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (WPW) abruptly halted his fighting career.
  WPW
  
  Read more

• Cain Velasquez Shoots Down Injury Rumors, Plans To ‘Beat Werdum’s Ass’

  23-12-2016 21:01
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgvbLzVJS5IFormer Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title holder Cain Velasquez (14-2) is scheduled to compete at UFC 207. His opponent will be Fabricio Werdum in a rematch. Back at UFC 188, Werdum submitted Velasquez in Mexico City to capture the 265-pound gold.Earlier this week, the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) stalwart revealed he will undergo back surgery following his bout on Dec. 30. To deal with the pain, Velasquez has been using Ca
  
  Read more

• Joseph Benavidez: A Third Fight With Mighty Mouse ‘Would Complete Me’

  23-12-2016 20:21
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSMYGBsQdXgIt's been three years since Joseph Benavidez (25-4) received his last flyweight title opportunity at UFC on FOX 9. As seen in the video above, things didn't go his way. The 125-pound king Demetrious Johnson knocked out Benavidez in the first round.Since that bout, the Elevation Fight Team fighter (formerly of Team Alpha Male) has gone on a six-fight winning streak. He earned a split decision win in his last fight against Henry Cejudo at The Ultimate Fig
  
  Read more

• Cain Velasquez addresses back injury drama: 'I'm ready to beat Werdum's ass'

  23-12-2016 20:16
  
  On Thursday, a rumor popped up online stating that Cain Velasquez was out of UFC 207.This came 24 hours after an interview with Velasquez was posted on ESPN.com about his current back injury and upcoming surgery.On Friday, MMAFighting.com spoke to Velasquez about his status for UFC 207 and more. Below is that entire conversation:******
  Ariel Helwani: Are you fighting next Friday?
  Cain Velasquez: I am. I'm fighting at UFC 207 against Fabricio Werdum. I'm in shape, I'm ready to go.Where did all th
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• WATCH: Chael Sonnen Beats Tito Ortiz in 1998 College Wrestling Match

  23-12-2016 20:03
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4OVc6u0MvM&app=desktopWhile their main event fight at Bellator 170 on January 21st will be the first time that Tito Ortiz and Chael Sonnen face each other in a professional fight, it will not actually be the first time they've competed against each other one on one. On Friday, as a special treat for the holiday weekend, Flo Wrestling uploaded the above video of Sonnen making quick work of Ortiz in a January 23, 1998 collegiate wrestling match. 19 years before
  
  Read more

• Dana White: UFC Focused on Russia; McGregor vs. Nurmagomedov ‘Could Be’ Next Title Bout

  23-12-2016 19:38
  
  The Ultimate Fighting Championship is always looking to break new international ground, and the Las Vegas-based promotion has its sights set on one spot in particular for 2017.
  
  Read more

• Video: Dominick Cruz Breaks Down His Second Win Over Urijah Faber Ahead Of UFC 207

  23-12-2016 19:31
  
  https://youtu.be/NE2YcQ7wQDcAhead of his latest title defense against a Team Alpha Male fighter in Cody "No Love" Garbrandt in the co-main event of next Friday's UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey pay-per-view, UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz is the subject of the latest promotional video released by the UFC for the big event.Featured above is "UFC 207: Dominick Cruz - My Fight at UFC 199," which features the reigning UFC 135-pound champion breaking down his second win over Team Alpha Male leader
  
  Read more

• Video: Ronda Rousey Breaks Down Her KO Of Bethe Correia Ahead Of UFC 207

  23-12-2016 19:24
  
  https://youtu.be/D2YQ_N8mqRoAhead of her long-awaited Octagon return against Amanda Nunes at next Friday's UFC 207 pay-per-view, UFC mega-star Ronda Rousey is featured in the latest promotional video released by the UFC for the big show.Featured above is "UFC 207: Ronda Rousey - My Fight Against Bethe Correia," which features the former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion breaking down her impressive first-round knockout victory of Brazilian Women's Bantamweight contender Bethe Correia back at UFC
  
  Read more

• UFC Names Cub Swanson vs. Dooho Choi As 2016 “Fight Of The Year”

  23-12-2016 19:18
  
  https://youtu.be/Xnghchybhb4On Thursday, UFC unveiled their list of the top ten fights held inside the Octagon this year.Available now at UFC.com is TOP TEN - THE BEST FIGHTS OF 2016, an article by Thomas Gerbasi that looks at the top ten UFC fights of 2016.The UFC's year-end article ranks the top ten bouts that took place this year and although things could always change depending on how the action goes inside the Octagon at next Saturday's UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey event -- the final UFC show
  
  Read more

• Keanu Reeves training jiu-jitsu photos

  23-12-2016 19:00
  
  Actor Keanu Reeves trains jiu-jitsu at 87Eleven Action Design in Los Angeles, Calif. Photos by Scott Hirano.
  
  Read more

• Dana White On UFC Pound-For-Pound Rankings: “How Is Conor McGregor Not #1?”

  23-12-2016 18:47
  
  https://youtu.be/SbwY8nSA488This week, UFC President Dana White appeared as a guest on "The Michael Kay Show" on ESPN New York 98.7 FM to promote both the UFC 207 pay-per-view scheduled for next Saturday in Las Vegas, as well as UFC 208, the first-ever UFC event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.During the interview, the UFC boss touched on a couple of topics related to "The Notorious" Conor McGregor. Among other topics he discussed about the Irish mega-star, White questioned how he i
  
  Read more

• Dana White Indicates Cyborg/USADA Reports Explain Her Turning Down UFC Title Fights

  23-12-2016 18:09
  
  https://youtu.be/EcqO3GVVWrsHe's never been one to hold back, folks!TMZ Sports recently caught up with Dana White, where the celebrity-gossip website got the UFC President's unfiltered reaction to the recent Cris Cyborg/USADA reports.When discussing the fact that USADA notified the Invicta FC Featherweight (145-pound) Champion of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation on Thursday, the longtime UFC boss brought up her recent surprising call to turn down offers from the UFC to fight in the first
  
  Read more

• Several UFC Fighters React To Cris Cyborg/USADA Reports

  23-12-2016 17:59
  
  Needless to say, when the news regarding Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino (Cris Cyborg) being notified by USADA of a potential UFC Anti-Doping Policy violation on Thursday, the MMA community and social media worlds were buzzing about the story.Having just turned down the opportunity that most felt she had been waiting on for years when she rejected offers from the UFC to fight Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie in the first-ever UFC Women's Featherweight Championship bout at the UFC 208 pay-per-view
  
  Read more

• Photo: UFC Goes “Old School” With UFC On FOX 23: Shevchenko vs. Pena Poster

  23-12-2016 17:47
  
  With only one major UFC event remaining on the 2016 calendar, MMA's largest promotion begins to look ahead to the new year.On their Twitter page, UFC unveiled the official promotional poster for their first "Big FOX" fight card of the new year, UFC On FOX 23, which features a Women's Bantamweight contender bout as the main event.Pictured below is the official UFC On FOX 23 poster, which as UFC noted in their tweet, features an "old school" look for the event headlined by Valentina Shevchenko vs.
  
  Read more

• Video: Ohio Born, Team Alpha Male Made Cody Garbrandt Prepares For UFC 207 Title Shot

  23-12-2016 17:15
  
  https://youtu.be/Gr410G_e5SQAhead of the biggest fight of his career at next Saturday's UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey pay-per-view event, Cody "No Love" Garbrandt is the subject of the latest promotional video for the event released by the UFC.Featured above is "UFC 207: Cody Garbrandt - Ohio Born, Alpha Male Made," which takes a look at Garbrandt, the latest member of MMA legend Urijah Faber's "Team Alpha Male" fight camp to try and dethrone UFC 135-pound champion Dominick Cruz.Garbrandt challenges
  
  Read more

• Top MMA storylines of 2016: 9. UFC 200 fiasco

  23-12-2016 17:00
  
  UFC 200 was a moment to remember for the UFC and its fans. But also, in many cases, one to try and forget.
  So much happened before, during and after UFC 200 fight week that it’s hard to remember the original planned main event for the card was Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor 2. McGregor, though, refused to fly to the United States for a press tour in April and was yanked from the event.Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
  The situation set off a chain reaction of oddities having to do with the historic c
  
  Read more

• Pony Keg Fights Podcast (Ep. 1): Special Guest – UFC Flyweight Contender Louis Smolka

  23-12-2016 16:56
  
  In the debut episode of the new MMANews.com show, Pony Keg Fights Podcast, hosts Tim Thompson and Josh Stephens kick-off the new program with the latest news and views from the world of mixed-martial-arts.Featured as the special guest of Pony Keg Fights Podcast Episode 1 is none other than current UFC Flyweight contender Louis Smolka. Hear Smolka discuss his upcoming fight against Ray Borg, which was recently bumped up to the opening match slot on the pay-per-view broadcast at next Saturday's ye
  
  Read more

• Amanda Nunes UFC 207 media lunch scrum

  23-12-2016 16:00
  
  In a media lunch before UFC 207, UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes discusses facing former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, if she's upset that she's doing more media work than Rousey, what she thought of their staredown, and much more.
  
  Read more

• Gabi Garcia Has New Opponent For Rizin New Year’s Show

  23-12-2016 15:43
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz5v2Afwp0sGabrielle Garcia's fight against 52 year old Shinobu Kandori, a Japanese politician and former pro-wrestler, is off. That hasn't, however, changed the controversial nature of the bout. The hulking Garcia will now face 49 year old Yumiko Hotta at the New Year's Eve show hosted at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.Hotta, herself a former pro wrestler with an MMA record of 5-4, has not won a fight since 1998. She last competed against Amanda Lucas,
  
  Read more

• Amanda Nunes says the UFC is coddling Ronda Rousey ahead of return fight

  23-12-2016 15:00
  
  LOS ANGELES — The majority of the promos and commercials for UFC 207 are about 95 percent Ronda Rousey with perhaps a little Amanda Nunes sprinkled in. Nunes might be the women’s bantamweight champion, but Rousey, after all, is the huge mainstream star.
  The discrepancy in attention has not gone unnoticed, though. Even by UFC employees. Longtime color commentate Joe Rogan made note of it on Twitter recently, calling it “extremely bizarre.”
  I find it extremely bizarre that
  
  Read more

• Morning Report: Dana White calls Conor McGregor the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA

  23-12-2016 14:00
  
  UFC President Dana White calls out the MMA media for not having Conor McGregor as the top pound-for-pound fighter after becoming a two-weight world champion. Over the years, UFC President Dana White has anointed several different fighters as the best pound-for-pound guy in the sport. Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones, Anthony Pettis, Renan Barao, and Demetrious Johnson have all, at one point or another, been bestowed with that illustrious moniker. Now we can add one more to that hallo
  
  Read more

• UFC Unfiltered: Johny Hendricks & Tim Means

  23-12-2016 07:00 via ufc.com
  
  Former Welterweight champion Johny Hendricks joins the show to discuss his UFC 207 bout against Neil Magny, running through the motions in the past and being fired up again going into this fight, weight cutting issues, and a possible trilogy fight with Robbie Lawler. Later, Tim Means calls in to talk about his UFC Fight Pass main event bout against Cowboy Oliveira on December 30, his USADA test failure, his experiences in prison, mixed martial arts saving his life, and being in a good place now
  
  Read more

• Top 10 - The best fighters of 2016

  23-12-2016 07:00 via ufc.com
  
  In a year of incredible fights, KO's and more, these fighters are the ones who delivered most. These are the best UFC fighters of 2016.Best of 2016: Fighter of the year | Best newcomers | Biggest upsets | Top submissions | Greatest KO's | Memorable fights1 - Michael Bisping British veteran Michael Bisping beat the greatest fighter of all-time - Anderson Silva – to begin the year. Then he took a short-notice fight against a champion who had submitted
  
  Read more

• She said it: Ronda Rousey in her own words

  23-12-2016 07:00 via ufc.com
  
  Few athletes have had the impact Ronda Rousey has had, and as she prepares to challenge Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight title on Dec. 30, things are going to ramp up significantly once more. But before that UFC 207 main event in Las Vegas, here’s a sampling of Rousey’s thoughts on her career and life in the eye of the hurricane.EARLY DAYS (2011)“When I was 16, I went on a sports show with my coach, and they were asking everybody questions and they came to me
  
  Read more

• Cody Garbrandt vs. Takeya Mizugaki full fight video

  23-12-2016 04:00
  
  At UFC 202, Cody Garbrandt faced MMA veteran Takeya Mizugaki. That night, Garbrandt delivered an impressive performance by stopping the veteran in just seconds of the first round.Now, the undefeated fighter is getting ready to challenge for gold as he takes on bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in the co-main event of UFC 207. This card will take place on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas, and it will be headlined by the return of Ronda Rousey, as she challenges champion Amanda Nunes for the women’s
  
  Read more

• Cris Cyborg & Boyfriend Ray Elbe React To USADA Anti-Doping Policy Notification

  23-12-2016 02:18
  
  As noted earlier today, Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino was flagged by USADA for a potential UFC Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition drug test administered to her on December 5th.In addition to the statement USADA issued regarding the matter earlier today, Cyborg herself also spoke with MMA website MMAFighting.com to address the situation."What I can say now is that they are talking to my doctor, and I'm calm," Cyborg told the MMA media outlet. "Everybody knows I'm sick,
  
  Read more

• Video: UFC 207 Countdown Trailer For PPV Headlined By Nunes vs. Rousey

  23-12-2016 01:59
  
  https://youtu.be/DTcNIVEje40On Thursday, UFC released a quick promo video to hype up the premiere of the "Countdown" special for next Saturday's UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey event.Featured above is the UFC 207 Countdown promo video that hypes the event featuring the long-awaited Octagon return of Ronda Rousey against UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Amanda Nunes, as well as the grudge match for the UFC Bantamweight Championship between reigning title-holder Dominick Cruz and dangerous challenger C
  
  Read more

• Cris Cyborg tested positive for diuretic, facing one-year USADA suspension

  23-12-2016 00:27
  
  Cris Cyborg did not test positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
  The top UFC female fighter said in a statement Thursday on Facebook that her failed USADA drug test was due to a diuretic called spironolactone. USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden confirmed that Cyborg did indeed test positive for that drug, which is banned in- and out-of-competition under the UFC’s anti-doping policy and the WADA Code.I have been notified today by USADA of a potential violation stemming from an Out of Competi
  
  Read more

Follow @NewsMMAUSA on Twitter!