Author: mmafighting
Tyron Woodley is “The Chosen One” for a reason. When it was announced that the former UFC welterweight champion was set to box Jake Paul in August 2021, it was a pretty decent surprise for the combat sports world. Paul was heading into his fourth pro match after knocking out Woodley’s fellow former MMA welterweight champion Ben Askren. Meanwhile, Woodley had recently left the UFC after a four-fight losing streak. In the end, Paul defeated Woodley twice consecutively, first by split decision before a devastating sixth-round knockout at the end of that year. Paul, 27, has fought four times since…
John Dodson makes his return to bare-knuckle action to defend his flyweight title against Dagoberto Aguero at the upcoming BKFC 59 card at the Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, N.M. on March 29. Since debuting with BKFC in 2022, Dodson has put together a perfect 3-0 record and he’s delivered first round knockouts in each of his performances. He took out fellow UFC veteran Ryan Benoit in his debut and followed that up with a similar performance against Jarod Grant. This past August, Dodson cemented himself as the first ever BKFC flyweight champion with another stunning first-round knockout over J.R. Ridge.…
Andy Foster hopes to finally solve the grounded fighter dilemma. For the past several years, one of the biggest headaches in MMA has been the rule declaring knees to the head of a grounded fighter illegal. The rule has gone through a few changes over the years in regards to what being a “grounded fighter” actually entails, and is still not universally adopted in all jurisdictions, leading to rampant confusion in bouts as the UFC travels to different locations. Most recently, the issue popped back up again at UFC 297, when Arnold Allen delivered a series of questionable knees to…
Holly Holm is excited to welcome Kayla Harrison to the bantamweight division. And she means bantamweight. Much of the conversation around Holm’s upcoming bout with Harrison scheduled for UFC 300 on April 13 has swirled around whether Harrison can make the cut down to 135 pounds. The two-time PFL champion’s tournament titles were both won competing in the 155-pound division and she has weighed in at the 145-pound limit just once. Holm, a former UFC bantamweight champion, speculated on how a difficult cut could affect Harrison and whether she will still take the fight if her opponent misses weight. “I…
It was an off week for major MMA this past weekend so not a lot of pressing matters to discuss. Given that, the questions this week cover a whole range of topics, including the looming specter of UFC 300. Let’s talk about it, Road House, and ONE Championship’s latest fiasco. ONE Championship Snafu How did you feel about John Lineker sliding in for Sage Northcutt against Shinya Aoki last night? Ha ha ha, what a story, Mark.— Jay Pettry (@jaypettry) January 28, 2024 In case you missed it, ONE Championship held ONE 165 on Saturday evening in Tokyo, which was…
Takeru’s leg may never be the same. The Japanese kickboxing star lost a brutal five-round battle to ONE Championship bantamweight titleholder Superlek in the headlining bout of the promotion’s event in Tokyo this past Sunday, and afterward the impact of Superlek’s vicious leg kicks could still be seen on Takeru’s left leg. Takeru shared an image of his discolored flesh on social media, which you can see below. It’s unclear if Takeru suffered any significant injury, but on a superficial level it looks like his leg was smashed repeatedly by a meat tenderizer. And considering he went 25 minutes with…
Luke Rockhold’s early impressions of fellow former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland were not very good, as he recounts Strickland walking into his home gym on sparring day. “He’s just that guy that doesn’t care,” Rockhold said on the JAXXON Podcast. “He’ll try to kill you. Sean Strickland walked into RVCA one time and he was such a loud mouth idiot, I was like, ‘Who the f*** is this guy?’ I was so hungover, so annoyed, I was like, ‘F***, I’m going to get in a spar with this guy, I can’t even take it.’ “But I had seen him……
The long wait for Michael Chandler to compete is likely coming to an end when he meets Conor McGregor in a showdown more than a year in the making. When Chandler signed on to coach opposite McGregor on The Ultimate Fighter 31, he and just about everyone else in the world assumed their fight would take place a few months later. That didn’t happen, but there was still hope the fight could take place before the end of 2023. That time came and went, as well, as McGregor delayed his return to the UFC’s anti-doping program, which required six months…
The Mixed Martial Arts Hour is back in your life! Below is a rundown of Monday’s show, which begins at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT / 6 p.m. UK time. 1 p.m. ET: Recapping the weekend of combat sports. 1:05 p.m.: UFC middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis returns to talk about his UFC 297 title win and more. 1:35 p.m.: California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster talks about potential rule changes coming to MMA and more. 2:00 p.m.: Former UFC champ Holly Holm previews her UFC 300 fight with Kayla Harrison. 2:30 p.m.: UFC APEX 85…
It’s an interesting time atop the UFC middleweight division. The 185-pound title has become somewhat of a hot potato after a recent rotation of champions. Over the past two years, longtime title holder Israel Adesanya lost the belt to Alex Pereira, won it back then dropped it again, the second time to Sean Strickland. The new titlist Strickland wasn’t able to hang on to it either, however, as he lost a split decision to Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 two weekends ago. Now, it’s a matter of where the division goes next. Du Plessis is open to returning relatively…