Anthony Pettis vs. Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson Is Set

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Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis is reportedly set to face Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in late March at welterweight (170 pounds). Why would the former lightweight champion want to jump up a weight class against a natural welterweight who is still ranked at the top of the division? And why would Thompson risk a catastrophic loss against someone not in line for a title shot in his division? There are good reasons, actually. While I don’t necessarily love this fight, I do like it and in this video, I explain why.Read More →

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Was 2018 the year the UFC and its president Dana White stopped caring what we think? According to an article by Ben Fowlkes at MMAJunkie, it just might be. From moving UFC 232 last minute to accommodate Jon Jones’s situation to placing domestic abuser Greg Hardy on the same card as domestic abuse victim Rachael Ostovich, UFC took both of those issues in stride despite blowback from fans or media or both. Was 2018 the year they stopped caring about criticism? Read More →

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Tyron Woodley will be facing Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 (not Colby Covington!) and there’s something worth considering when taking into consideration both the fight and the challenge ahead of Woodley. First, the fight could have stalemates at various point and second, those stalemates – and the ones he’s previously had in other fights – are a function of the fact that no other welterweight champion has had to face elite fighters this uniquely and consecutively as difficult as Woodley. Georges St-Pierre is still the best welterweight of all time, but no three or four stretch of opponents are as unique from the previous opponents at the championship level as what Woodley has had to face.Read More →

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A great channel named MixedMollyWhoppery confirmed an aspect of the recent Jon Jones case before the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Namely, that other substances where WADA and other anti-doping organizations got excretion windows for various substances wrong – like meldonium and marijuana – there was deeply insufficient science around oral turinabol. In MixedMollyWhoppery’s video…Read More →

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According to reports, Jon Jones will face Anthony Smith to defend his light heavyweight belt at UFC 235 on March 2nd. That will serve as that event’s headlining bout. The co-main event, however, will by Tyron Woodley defending his strap against Kamaru Usman. Former interim champion Colby Covington is healthy and ready to compete, but apparently UFC brass have soured on him and decided to reward the surging Usman. What does all of this mean? Here are four takeaways.Read More →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →