“Wonderboy” returned to form in the face of the fast-rising Vicente Luque, who gave Thompson all that he could handle. In the first round, it looked like Luque was going to find a finish as he rocked Thompson a couple of times with short hooks. However, Thompson found his distance, led the dance and struck
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Instead, Gillespie chose MMA, and he may be hitting his physical prime as he closes out his 2019 campaign this weekend. It’s been a good run thus far, but he admits that it doesn’t feel like three years since he started wearing gloves with the UFC letters on them. “No, it doesn’t,” he said. “I
“Don’t get me wrong, when you suffer something like this, where you don’t want this break, you don’t want to be out, you don’t want to be injured, and you have no choice…it was frustrating at times. Especially coming off a loss. I think it would have been much easier to deal with had I
“Everybody knows this is my second title defense,” said Covington, the former interim champion who brought his own UFC title belt to the festivities. “My last title defense was against the most dangerous guy in the division, Robbie Lawler, and you saw what I did on his face. I landed a strike record on his
If there is better yet to come, Saturday is a fine time for Amirkhani to show it, as after proving he’s deserving of a step up in competition through his first six Octagon appearances, he gets one in the form of the Team Tiger Schulmann standout Burgos. Like Amirkhani, “Hurricane Shane” has gone 5-1 through
While there’s a certain level of disappointment that comes with a title shot that is yet to manifest itself, Chookagian isn’t letting that impact her view of the fight ahead of her. “I can sit here now and say, ‘Yeah, it’s all worked out,’” Chookagian said. “Definitely had a little temper tantrum, and definitely had
Thompson said the prospect of fighting Luque is “very fun” and called it a classic battle of a Dutch kickboxer versus a karate practitioner. He stylistically compared Luque to main-event fighter Jorge Masvidal, whom Thompson beat via unanimous decision the last time he fought in New York City. Always eager to laugh at himself, Thompson
On Thursday, October 24, Aniah Blanchard, the stepdaughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris, was reported missing in her home state of Alabama. The 19-year-old Southern Union College Student has still not been located, and the UFC family is asking that anyone who has any information on her whereabouts to please contact authorities. Please also spread
“Without money, without (speaking) English, without a house, (I’m) like homeless, I kept training, kept doing my best,” Walker said. “Running on the beach in the cold because Scotland is cold. My coach helped me to survive there.” In spite of those difficult circumstances, Walker won his first fight in London in February 2018. The
But every once in a while, somebody comes up with a move that they’ve perfected over the years, and even when an opponent knows it’s coming, they still can’t escape. Think of Ovince Saint Preux and the Von Flue (or Von Preux) choke as an example. Well, a couple years before OSP started pulling off
First, heavyweight Derrick Lewis calls in ahead of his huge fight against Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 244 this weekend. He offers some relationship counseling for Matt, then talks about the state of the heavyweight division, Greg Hardy’s “pillow hands” comment and his massive social media following. Then, Vicente Luque calls in to talk about his
While Diaz has been a main event fixture and a major fan favorite throughout his UFC career, Masvidal has been more of an indie darling — a fighter who has been respected by both his peers and the hardcore set, but who has never had that mainstream, crossover appeal. Until now. “The purists have been
“They obviously are both memorable, but one of which I would love to forget,” Askren said of his bouts against Masvidal and Robbie Lawler, which ended in a controversial stoppage win for the former Olympian, who has seen opinions of him shift from being a legitimate title threat to people pegging him as a bust
The debated tap came in the second round of the fight. After Thomas, a UFC veteran by that point, controlled much of the action on the ground for the first minute, Stephens got loose before the end of the frame. The bout stayed standing for the first half of the second round, but soon after
The battle to determine the best grappler in MMA started off as a standup showdown, with both Demian Maia and Ben Askren having their moments. But, as expected, the fight really heated up once the two welterweights hit the canvas. Scrambles and submissions were a spectacle and much to the delight of the fight fans
“Sometimes people just need to hear somebody else’s story to give them a little boost in what they’re dealing with, whether it’s a tragedy or some dark space in their mind or their life,” she continues. “I’m glad to be able to do that, and if it’s only helping one person, I feel like I’ve
UFC is an industry-leader in anti-doping and we continuously strive and advocate for an effective and fair program for our sport and athletes. From January of 2019, UFC and USADA, along with independent experts and consultants, have been reviewing the UFC Anti-Doping Policy to ensure it remains a reliable and effective tool to combat doping
USADA announced today that Istela Iane Nunes Souza, of São Paulo, Brazil, has accepted a two-year sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance. Nunes Souza, 27, tested positive for multiple stanozolol metabolites, 16β-hydroxystanozolol and 3′-hydroxystanozolol as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample she provided on