American Top Team (ATT) head honcho Dan Lambert argued this week Amanda Nunes should be able to defend both the bantamweight title and the featherweight championship she grabbed by beating Cris Cyborg at UFC 232. In short, I agree, but the issue is not how thin women’s featherweight is. Rather, it’s about the number of times the UFC can rely on each weight class to rotate over title shot opportunities. You can give a legendary fighter like Nunes this opportunity, but it depends on how much you can rely on women’s flyweight, men’s flyweight and a potential 165-pound division to fill in the slack.Read More →

Jose Aldo faces Renato Moicano in the first UFC on ESPN+ card of 2019, but not in the main event. That role will be filled by Raphael Assuncao vs. Marlon Maroes 2. UFC President Dana White said at UFC 232 that Aldo should be in the main event, but had personally requested not to be. There’s a very good reason for Aldo’s call and it’s a point first raised by Chael Sonnen.Read More →

Floyd Mayweather fought Japanese kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa at Rizin 14 on New Years Eve in an ‘exhibition’ contest. Mayweather demolished Nasukawa, dropping him three times en route to his corner throwing the towel and Nasukawa showing histrionics on national television. I was wrong about a central feature of the contest, but note there is some silver lining in the entire farce. Also, while one can never say for certain, the evidence for the bout being fixed or thrown is thin.Read More →

Jimmy Smith announced on social media the UFC let him go after just a year of commentator and analyst work. This baffled many inside the sport who (like me) regard as the very best the sport has to offer. He is a black belt, former fighter, Bellator and M-1 commentator and more. So, why are they doing it? Because the UFC is prioritizing the use of former and current UFC fighters to fill those rolls, e.g. Daniel Cormier, Dominick Cruz, Paul Felder, Michael Bisping and more. As I argue in this video, that’s a policy that carries good and bad, so it’s worth explaining.Read More →

The first season of the PFL (Professional Fighters League) is over. What didn’t work is that the consumer has yet to really respond to their product. On the other hand, what worked is that Kayla Harrison is ready to be a star. Perhaps more than that, however, is that fighters who deserved a second chance to do something special in MMA got one. They found the right fit and ultimately showcased the best of themselves. That was true for both light heavyweight champion Sean O’Connell and middleweight champion Louis Taylor.Read More →

This anti-doping craze currently affecting mixed martial arts (MMA) starts with the overcorrection to get rid of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) abuse. UFC jumped into the arms of USADA, but that only created a new set of problems: uneven justice, incomplete science, harsh penalties and more. Now with UFC 232 on the horizon and Jon Jones bringing these issues into stark relief, we have to ask ourselves how we move on from this. Read More →

Jon Jones is still set to face Alexander Gustafsson for the UFC light heavyweight title, but now it’ll be in California instead of Nevada. Jones had what the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) call an ‘atypical finding’, meaning a trace amount of turinabol – the same substance for which he had just completed a 15-month suspension – in his system again. Nevada couldn’t or wouldn’t give him a license, California would, so on six-days notice, the show was moved. What do we make of these developments? I’ll share my thoughts and take your questions in this Q&ARead More →

Felix Biederman is not only one of the hosts of the acclaimed podcasts Chapo Trap House, he is helped make the five-part MMA documentary on SB Nation called ‘Fighting in the Age of Loneliness’. In part one of this in-studio interview, we discuss the thematic underpinnings of the documentary, his work on Deadspin on Rich Piana, collaborating with Jon Bois and more.Read More →

After Max Holloway’s win over Brian Ortega at UFC 231, I believe he should stay at featherweight provided the weight cut is manageable. That said, interest in his participation at lightweight is at an all-time high. If he were to go 155lbs, who should he face: Nate Diaz, Conor McGregor, Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov? I discussed this issue on my radio show.Read More →

After MMA media were apparently told not to ask questions about Greg Hardy being on the same card as Rachael Ostovich at the UFC 231 presser, there’s been lots of hand wringing about what the media response should be. The Mixed Martial Arts Journalists Association (MMAJA) did some work in pushing back against the organization, but there’s a broader discussion to be had, namely, why…Read More →

Former NFL All-Pro Greg Hardy will make his UFC debut on January 19th on the UFC’s first card on ESPN+. The problem? It’s on the same card as UFC flyweight Rachael Ostovich, who only weeks ago suffered a horrendous domestic violence event. Whether or not one believes Hardy should get a license or compete in the UFC is one issue, but the optics and message of booking them on the same card is impossibly self defeating and idiotic. In addition, ESPN plays a role of complicity here. This one is impossible to defend. Read More →

After Tyson Fury’s bout with Deontay Wilder on Showtime pay-per-view for the WBC heavyweight championship, one thing is clear: ‘The Gypsy King’ has unparalleled mental strength even in an arena of sports where uncommon mental tenacity is somewhat routine. There were also a series of events that transpired to bring about this magic. I explore them in this video.Read More →

When Rafael dos Anjos moved from lightweight to welterweight, everyone sung the praises of the move. Not only would he be making a healthy decision, but he’d do well in the division. That is mostly true. However, after his second consecutive loss – the last against Kamaru Usman – many of those same people are observing just how undersized he is against true welterweights.Read More →