MMA As I See It

Before any UFC event, MMA Fans are treated to a behind the scenes chronology of a fighters training camp. It has been a great tool for The UFC to promote the main event and boost its PPV buys. But putting the entertainment value of it aside, fans can learn a great deal about the athletes set to face off. With UFC 191 set to take place on September 7th at The MGM Grand, The UFC showcased the training camp of the all six men closing the show. The usual back and forth trash talk ensued but when one looks past that, they get to see how a fighter is getting ready. While this will not predict who will win, it does help to determine the a way a fight will go....so lets break it down. Johnson vs Dodson: We have seen this fight before. In fact the countdown included both men breaking down the matchup round by round. But what we got to see was John Dodson training to be, if possible more explosive in the fight. That will not be the only talent he will bring that night however, as we saw...

It would seem the MMA gods want fans to wait for the title match up between Robbie Lawler and former interim champion, Carlos Condit. According to reports, a thumb injury is to blame and while there is still no word on the extent of the injury suffered by Lawler in training, the matchup is set to be rescheduled and not cancelled. Meanwhile, The UFC has announced the new main event for UFC 193 will be Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm.  Lawler was very active during his title run and put on great performances against the likes of Josh Koscheck, Matt Brown, and even former champion Johnny Hendricks so its great to see that he was trying to be an active champion. The fight against Condit was set to take place only 4 months after At UFC 189 where MMA fans were treated to one of the best fights in UFC welterweight history. Robbie Lawler defeated Rory MacDonald for the second time cementing himself as the new champion. However Lawler did suffered some damage and was left with a huge ...

One of the biggest fights in the UFC Heavyweight division was Cain Velasquez vs Brock Lesner back in October of 2010 (UFC 121). With that win, Cain changed what it took to become the heavyweight champion, making cardio a huge key for success. That was until he faced Junior Dos Santos and a over the top right hand linked the two in a heavyweight trilogy. After three fights between the two, it would be Cain Velasquez who walked away the better man, and it was then that the division began to suffer. After the third fight between the the two we didn't see Cain Velasquez in action for almost two years due to injuries he suffered during his training camps. Without a champion there is no reason to showcase a division. With very little change is the standings and no one able to earn the chance to face "the baddest man on the planet," one of the UFC's most exciting divisions was left stagnant. Recent changes however, might give MMA fans a reason to regain interest in the di...

Shortly after Ronda Rousey defeated Bethe Correia there was a familiar trend throughout social media. MMA fans seem to have only one fight on their minds, a match between the UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey and the only women left for her to face Cris Cyborg.  In usual manner UFC President Dana White and the champion herself responded to any question at the post fight press conference regarding Cris Cyborg with a simple "she needs to make weight;" referring of course to the fact that Cyborg competes at 145 lbs and has not yet proven she can cut down and compete at bantamweight. Adding fuel to the already burning fire was Tito Ortiz announcing that the UFC had offered Cris Cyborg a fight against Ronda Rousey in Dallas Stadium. Dana White was quick to set the record straight telling Yahoo! Sport: “That was a complete lie,” White said. “It’s 100 percent a lie. First of all, the UFC doesn’t even talk to Tito Ortiz, so let’s start there. But we haven’t ...

Names like Chris Weidman, TJ Dillashaw, and even Conor McGregor were relatively unknown a few years ago, but one fight changed all that for the now UFC champions. TJ Dillashaw defeated Renan Barao in one of the best bantamweight fights in UFC history. Conor McGregor would headline a fight in Dublin letting the world know that the Irish are "not here to take part, they're here to take over" and went on to become the interim featherweight champion; and who could forget Chris Weidman, the man who took down a legend in the sport of MMA? In one night these great athletes rose to the occasions to achieve greatness and Bethe Correia has the opportunity to do the same thing on August 1st at UFC 190. Correia has an opportunity to dethrone the most dominant female athlete. While Correia may not have the most impressive record, she is undefeated and has a skill set Rousey has not faced before. Most of the women Rousey has faced used grappling as a technique falling right in the Ju...

At UFC Fight Night Chicago fight fans will see former Strike Force champion Miesha Tate face fellow top 5 female bantamweight Jessica Eye. With a great performance, the winner of the co-main event is likely to face the winner of the title fight between Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia. But are these the best fights for both Jessica Eye and Bethe Correia? The champion has made it look easy against the top 5 women in the division except for Jessica Eye, so it made sense that Jessica Eye thought she would be getting the next title shot and even threaten to punch someone if she didn't. But she should have instead asked for a fight against Bethe Correia with a title shot on the line. Both women are in the top ten of the division and are coming off victories. Correia demonstrated her punching power against two of The Four Horse Women while Jessica Eye came back from a loss to Alexis Davis and almost knocked off Leslie Smith's ear. Both women however, have not done enough to warrant t...

One of the biggest under dog stories and most exciting fights of 2014 took place at UFC 173. In the main event we saw TJ Dillashaw defeat Renan Barao, who many believed was one of the best pound for pound fighters in MMA by putting on one of the best performances in Bantamweight history. The five round match showcased what TJ Dillishaw was able to do under the tutelage of Duane Ludwig. But even with that great performance, MMA fans wanted to see a rematch between the newly crowned champion and a man who had not been defeated since 2005 before entering the octagon at UFC 173. The UFC would not make fight fans wait long as the rematch was originally scheduled as the main event of UFC 177 just 3 month after their first fight. But MMA fans would not be so lucky, as Renan Barao was forced to step down from the fight due to complications with his weight cut. The former champion would become hospitalized days before the fight after passing out in his hotel bathroom. Dillashaw would go on to...

We are just over two weeks away from one of the most anticipated fights in the UFC but MMA fans might have to wait longer than that to see Jose Aldo face Connor McGregor for the UFC Featherweight Championship. According to reports, Jose Aldo may have fractured his ribs during training. There is no word from the UFC on whether Aldo is officially out of the main event, but with an injury of that nature they might just be scrambling to find a replacement before an official announcement.

With the addition of the Women's Strawweight division in the UFC we have seen a new group of female fighters take center stage; the latest of which is the current division champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. For the first time in UFC history there was a title fight in Berlin, Germany as Jedrzejczyk defended her title against former Invicta Champion Jessica Penne. At the weigh-ins for the UFC Fight Night event Jedrzejczyk said the main event would be a war and she delivered. Joanna Jedrzejczyk won the title fight with conviction and sent a clear message to any would be contender that no one would be taking the belt away from her anytime soon. The other female champion with the similar ability to make it look easy is the one and only Ronda Rousey. The difference between the two fights the Strawweight champion has had, and any title defense by Rousey, is that Joanna goes to war in the octagon. She made it look easy against Carla Esparza to win the title and left Jessica Penne a bloody mess...

There is a lot happening in the UFC women's bantamweight weight division in 2015. The undisputed champion Ronda Rousey will defend her title outside of the United States for the first time against Bethe Correia at UFC 190 while Miesha Tate will face Jessica Eye at UFC Fight Night Chicago. But what about the #1 contender? Cat Zingano was thought to be the female fighter that would be a threat to Ronda Rousey. After Zingano beat Miesha Tate in a great women's bantamweight match, Zingano was set to coach against Rousey and get a title shot. But a knee injury would result in Tate getting that shot. After returning from her injury and moving past the loss of her husband, Zingano defeated Amanda Nunes to earn her the number one contender spot. Her match against Rousey for the title would last a mere 14 seconds. Zingano started the match by rushing towards the champion and would end up in a horrible position and give up her arm to Rousey. Zingano was disappointed and immediately ask...

At UFC 188 we will see the return of the Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. The main event title fight is being dubbed a "Champion vs. Champion" affair as his opponent Fabricio Werdum is currently the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Werdum won the title when he defeated Mark Hunt at UFC 180, the event that would have seen Velasquez and Werdum headline if it weren't for a right knee injury suffered by Velasquez. Since the interim title fight we have not seen much from either champion but MMA will be treated to a Heavyweight fight that might not be a quick knock out but rather a fight where we will see wrestling vs jiu-jitsu on display. Regardless of the outcome however, it will create an opportunity for some interesting match-ups and fights to look for. 1. Junior Dos Santos vs. Alister Overeem With a victory at UFC 188, Fabricio Werdum would be the new heavyweight champion but would not necessarily be undisputed. On his road to the title he has suffered two defe...

The new Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier has already called out who might be his next opponent. Before Jon Jones was stripped of his title, Daniel Cormier was set to fight Ryan Bader at UFC 188. But in order to save the title fight for UFC 187, Cormier took the fight against Anthony Johnson and won the title in the third round by submission. During the post fight press conference, Cormier said that during his training camp for his title fight against Johnson, Ryan Bader was calling him out via Twitter and that his next ass kicking would be for him. Bader, who was in the back of the room was held back from the stage by UFC personal but had no problem accusing DC of pulling out of their fight. Ryan Bader is currently ranked in the top five in the light heavyweight division, which might be enough to justify a title shot. The bad blood between the two would make yet another emotional fight for Daniel Cormier in the division which seems to be his modus operandi since dropping to ...

Chris Weidman is not known for showing emotion before a fight, but at the weigh-ins for UFC 187 he decided not to hold his tongue on the subject of Belfort's testosterone levels. The two exchanged words and Belfort was visually upset at Weidman's allegations. When asked by Joe Rogan what he said to Belfort, Weidman had this to say: "You know I left him alone with this whole drug test thing, but then we just found out during camp that he had a 1200 testosterone score. I'm 10 years younger than him and he has a way higher testosterone level. This guy is still cheating I'm going to make him pay for it tomorrow night."

The current UFC Middleweight Champion has an opportunity to silence critics that believe he is not a worthy champion. Chris Weidmen shocked the world when he beat the greatest MMA fighter of all time by knock out at UFC 167 to become the champion. But there are MMA fans out there that believe Anderson Silva lost the fight more so than Weidman won the fight. But nevertheless, the current champion has successfully defended the title twice against two of the best Brazilians in the division. And now, after 18 months of waiting, MMA fans will get to see Weidman defend his title against the hardest hitting Brazilian in the division as he steps into the octagon with Victor Belfort at UFC 187. There are several things that Weidman will have to do to have Bruce Buffer say "And Still!" at the end of the co-main event. For starters, the explosive power of Vitor Belfort will have to be respected. Weidman has to keep Belfort moving backwards and keep pressure on him the same way he did...

In a recent interview with The Jim Rome Show, Dana White discussed the return of the now former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones. "He comes right back and he fights for the title. He hasn't had the time that Anderson Silva's had, but he is the most dominant champion. If you look at the murderer's row of the 205-pound division that he went through, and he just went through it like a hot knife through butter, I mean, he's the man. So whenever he gets his stuff together, he'd come right back and fight for the title." With no timeline for when the former champ would return, and assuming he can get his personal life in order, it might be safe to say MMA fans have not seen the last of the man known as "Bones."  This makes the 205-pound division one to keep your eye on regardless of the winner at UFC 187.

For years now it seemed as though the UFC Light Heavyweight title would not be changing hands. But for the first time since March of 2011, the winner of the main event title fight at UFC 187 will be someone other than Jon Jones. Jones, who is arguably one of the best pound for pound fighters was stripped of his title 3 weeks before the UFC event for his actions outside of the octagon. The UFC moved quickly however to salvage the title fight. MMA fans will now see Daniel Cormier get a second shot at the title as he faces the number one light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson. Anthony "Rumble" Johnson was more than half way into his training camp when he was told that he would no longer be facing Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title, but would instead be meeting Daniel Cormier for the now vacant Light Heavyweight Title. Rumble Johnson still enters this fight as the underdog be it by the slightest of odds. But Johnson has shocked MMA audiences as the underdog be...

UFC fans are going to be treated to somewhat of a "Super Fight" when former UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar takes on former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber at UFC Fight Night-Manila (Morning for us here in that States.) After the two former champions meet in what is sure to be a fast paced fight, the question is what happens afterwards? The fight will be taking place in the featherweight division, so with a great performance the winner is likely to get a shot against the winner of Aldo/McGregor. But even with a loss both fighters will have an opportunity at a title shot, just not at the division they'll be fighting in on Saturday morning. Urijah Faber fought and lost to Renan Barao for the bantamweight title before TJ Dillishaw became the new champ at 135 lbs while Frankie Edgar has made no secret that he has considered dropping to the bantamweight division and making a run at the title. With both fight capable of dropping the necessary 10 lbs to make weig...

Booking two title fights on the same card is great for fans. It makes the PPV event hard to pass up and more enticing to pay for. But lately it seems to be the savior of the event all together. The latest reports in the Jon Jones "Hit and Run" saga have seen the charges against Jones escalate from misdemeanor to felony. These charges could see Jones facing up to 3 years of jail time. With these new developments it would seem those who speculated that the main event at UFC 187 would not be taking place may be right. With a month to go before the fight between Jon Jones and Anthony Johnson the UFC might have to take advantage of the phrase "fight card subject to change." The obvious move would be to bump the middleweight title fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort to the main event spot. But the fate of Jon Jones is still unknown so the UFC must decide whether it wants to delay the fight or have an interim title fight. With the charges against Jones havin...

With an impressive victory at UFC on Fox 15, Luke Rockhold not only took down one of the greatest mixed martial artist in the UFC(Lyoto Machida), he also did enough to take #1 contender spot. But the man who had that spot going into the Fight Night event in New Jersey also put on quite a performance. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, who was set to fight Yoel Romero before Romero suffered a knee injury made short work of Chris Camozzi for the second time in his mma career with a first round verbal tap out. So based on their performance at UFC on Fox 15, which man deserves the title shot against the winner of the title fight between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort at UFC 187? Ronaldo Souza had only 6 days to train for a second fight with Chris Camozzi after an injured Yoel Romero was forced to pull out of the fight. Camozzi had been released from the UFC when he received a call asking him to take Romero's place in the co-main event. Eager to avenge his loss to Souza, he agreed t...

Dana White came out to a crowd of 3000 Irish fans while wearing an Irish shirt. The event started in traditional fashion with a closer look at the two men in the main event at UFC 189, then the home town hero came out. Connor McGregor came out to a deafening roar of the crowd while the UFC Featherweight Champion was met with a sea of boos. But that wasn't the loudest moment of the press conference. McGregor threw respect of the champ out the window (again) and grabbed the championship belt away from José Aldo and that sent the crowd into a complete frenzy. It took more than Dana White to separate the two featherweights and Aldo made sure he got his belt out of his challengers hands before he sat back down. There was a young man that asked Connor McGregor to respect the champion because it was going to rile him up and turn Aldo into an animal, but McGregor brushed off the advise and continued to send verbal assaults on the champ even making a prediction on the fight saying "o...

The UFC's Women's Bantamweight Champion added another platform to her portfolio. She not only attended Wrestle Mania 31, she became part of the show. Rousey joined The Rock and began to throw members of the WWE Universe around. This had many mma fans asking "Why is Ronda Rousey on WWE?" This is nothing new for the WWE. There have been plenty of times they used star athletes to create a buzz around their biggest event of the year. Mike Tyson served as a special enforcer at Wrestle Mania 14 while Floyd "Money" Mayweather had a match against The Big Show at Wrestle Mania 24. This has served as a great way to create more awareness of the big event...and it worked. The MMA world has heard all about Rousey's appearance in professional wrestling which has brought names like Brock Lesnar and more recently Phillip Brooks(CM Punk) to the UFC. Ronda Rousey has grown in popularity since taking the throne as "The Baddest Female on The Planet." Her app...

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone made short work of his latest sparing partner. If he can do this against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 187 he can be sure he will be next in line to take on Rafael Dos Anjos. Click here to see Cowboys Knock out his sparing partner

Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino has signed a deal with Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC and has wasted no time in calling out the Women's Bantamweight Champion. Cyborg took to social media and released the following statement aimed at the undefeated champ. “Your excuses to not fight me are going down as fast as you will when I catch you in the Octagon. Stop irresponsibly accusing me of using anabolic steroids. I am clean! You know that I’ve passed several tests, a lot of them surprise ones. Let’s do Olympic testing, like Pacquiao and Mayweather , and then you’ll have one less excuse to hide behind. Lorenzo hired me, I’m back and I’m coming after you. After we fight, you will either retire and go make movies or you’re going to run to the flyweight division, like you ran away from me at featherweight. You’re never going to be the best until you face the best. Show up, it takes two to make a fight. Don’t be scared. Fans see me out her...

During training on Monday, TJ Dillashaw sustained a fractured rib that will force him out of his rematch with # 1 contender Renan Barao in Montreal on April 25. Dana White made the announcement on a L.A Radio station. There is no date for the rematch as of yet. This is the second time the rematch has been rescheduled. The last rematch did not take place because of weight cut issues by Barao.

Damian Maia started the fight in typical fashion. He was able to get a takedown early in the first round and do what he does best. Maia passed the guard of LaFlare with and flatten his undefeated challenger. But LaFlare was able to survive a number of strikes by Maia to make it to the second round. The second round was much the same. Maia was able to finish a take down early in the round and continue to dominate on the ground. But LaFlare did demonstrate good defense and survived another round but extorted  a lot of energy. It was in the beginning of the third round that LaFlare was able to stuff a take down by Maia. Another attempt by the Brazilian resulted in LaFlare taking top position. It wasn't long before the black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was able to reverse the position and end up on top. In-between the third and fourth round, LaFlare's corner told him "you're a wrestler, don't let him take you down." In the fourth round LaFlare was able to ...

At UFC Fight Night Maia vs LaFlare, Erick Silva came in as the heavy favorite over Josh Koscheck who took this fight just three weeks after losing to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 184. In his first fight in Brazil, Koscheck moved forward with a hard right hand that backed Silva up against the cage where the grappling game began. Referee Mario Yamasaki did not see enough action and broke it up. Both fighters then looked for a huge punch but Silva was the first to get it. A hard right hand knocked Koscheck to the ground, but after only a sort time there Koscheck was able to get back on his feet. Silva continued to push forward and was able to land hard punches that hurt the veteran. With Koscheck up against the cage and taking damage, he attempted a single that left his neck exposed and gave Silva the opportunity to wrap up a tight guillotine choke. At 4:21 of the first round, Koscheck had no option but to tap.

During the UFC 189 World Tour Press conference we learned that UFC 190 will be held in Brazil. The main event on that card will feature Ronda Rousey defending her Women's Bantamweight Championship against Brazil's own Bethe Correia. In typical pioneer fashion, Rousey will be the first American champion to defend a title in Brazil. According to Dana White, Rousey asked for the fight against Correia and wanted the fight to take place in Corriea's backyard. Both female fighters will be entering this contest with an undefeated record adding an extra element to the fight. But this fight goes beyond records for Rousey. Correia has had dominant victories against Rousey's team dubbed "The Four Horse Women" and after every victory Correia put four fingers up and collapsed a single digit for every member of the team that she has defeated. This does not sit well with the champion, making this fight personal. When asked at the press event at Rio about the challengers ta...

The name Mike Tyson is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the UFC Women's Bantamweight Division. But that name gets thrown around a lot after a dominant victory by the champion Ronda Rousey. With four of her last five title defenses ending in the first round, and her latest ending in 14 seconds its no wonder why she's compared to "The Baddest Man on the Planet." But there is another name that we hear after a successful title defense by the undefeated champion and that is Cris Cyborg. With an impressive record of her own, Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino seems to be the Pacquiao to Rousey's Mayweather (or Mayweather to her Pacquiao....however you see it.) Fight fans on both corners of the octagon want to see this fight and find out who the "Baddest WOMAN on the Planet" is. But for now, this fight will not be taking place and its all over 10 lbs as Cyborg is the Invicta World Featherweight Champion(145 lbs) while R...

The UFC heavyweight division has had no shortage of stars. When you can put a guy to sleep with a single punch, there's no denying fight fans will want to see you do it again and again. Junior Dos Santos and Alister Overeem are two of those guys. The question is: why haven't these two guys crossed paths? Junior Dos Santos used an overhand right to become the UFC's heavyweight champ during the first UFC on Fox. After a defense of his title to Frank Mir he would go on to have two more fights with Cain Velasquez.  A total of 50 minutes of fighting at UFC 155 & 166 proved that while not the champion, Junior Dos Santos would be standing in the way of anyone trying to become UFC heavyweight champion.  His last fight took place at UFC fight night in Phoenix, AZ with Stipe Mioci c . JDS would once again go five rounds with a top 10 heavyweight, walking away with a decision victory. Another force to be reckoned with in the Heavyweight division is for Strike Force and F1 divisi...

After his performance at UFC 185, Johnny Hendricks continues to live on top of the welterweight division with a decision win over Matt Brown in a 3 round fight.  It was Robbie Lawler's decision victory over Matt Brown that earned him a title shot against Johnny Hendricks . The question on a lot of people's mind is, was Hendrick's decision win over the same Matt Brown enough to warrant a title shot? Hendricks was dominant throughout the 3 round fight, displaying the great takedown and ground game he is know for. Even when Matt Brown held on to the cage, Hendricks was able to take Brown to the mat and stay on top. While he did defend against several of Brown's attempt, wearing out his opponent in the process, Hendricks simply did not do enough to leave it out of the judges hands. When asked by Joe Rogan during his post fight interview if he was proud of his performance, Hendricks said he should have been able to finish this fight which is what most people were lo...

Even with no signs of GSP's return, the welterweight division is still one of the most exciting in the UFC. In recent years we have seen the division be not only a main event but a co main event on multiple cards. On July 11th we will see a rematch between the champion Robbie Lawler and #2 ranked Rory Macdonald that is sure to keep audiences on their feet. But who else should the UFC put together to keep the division exciting? 1. Johnny Hendricks vs. Tyron Woodley Both Hendricks and Woodley are coming off second-rate performances followed by an unexciting victory. Woodley lost to Rory Macdonald by decision in a 3 round fight at UCF 174 but he followed it up with a KO victory over Dong Hyun Kim and a decision victory over an over weight and sluggish Kelvin Gastelum. Former welterweight champion Johnny Hendricks lost the decision and his belt to Robbie Lawler in their rematch at UFC 181 but won a 3 round decision to Matt Brown at UFC 185. While both fighters have bounced back from a...