YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Cagewriter
    • Considering Fallon Fox won her first two fights in the first round, it was expected for the first openly trans fighter to walk through her next opponent, Allanna Jones at Championship Fighting Alliance on Friday. In her first nationally televised bout, Fox won with a submission in the third round, but it was not the overwhelming win that oddsmakers were expecting.

      You can watch the full fight in the video above. Fox and Jones both made mistakes like keeping their hands too low and holding their chin out too far throughout the bout. They looked like two inexperienced fighters because that's what they are.

      Much of the controversy that surrounded Fox was the perception that since she was born a man, she would have clear advantage over her opponents. As Sherdog's Jordan Breen pointed out, "So, did anyone watch that and think, 'Wow, what an insurmountable advantage Fallon Fox has, no one could ever beat her!'?" She beat a 2-1 fighter, but not soundly. When she goes up in level of competition, as she will do in the next round of the CFA tournament, she will have a hard time.

      Read More »from Trans fighter Fallon Fox wins unimpressively (Video)
    • During the UFC 160 weigh-ins, Khabib Nurmagomedov blew weight, wore a wig, started a fight and made Mike Tyson laugh. He had a full day.

      Nurmagomedov weighed in at 158.5 for his lightweight bout with Abel Trujilo. He will forfeit 20 percent of his purse, so maybe that's why he was angry when he faced off with Trujilo. He got in his opponent's face, first bumping Trujilo's head and then pushing him back. He was quickly escorted off stage by the UFC's Burt Watson.

      The best part of the scuffle? Mike Tyson was on stage and loved every minute of it. Look in the upper right-hand corner of the video to see his reaction.

      Related coverage on Yahoo! Sports:
      Antonio Silva eager to prove he's a cut above in UFC 160 rematch with Cain Velasquez
      Yahoo! writers, readers make their UFC 160 picks
      Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160

      Read More »from Khabib Nurmagomedov and Abel Trujilo scuffled at the UFC 160 weigh-ins, and Mike Tyson loved it
    • (Getty)As another week of MMA comes to a close, let's take a look at what was hot and what was not so hot.

      Hot -- Bryan Pedersen: Many legislators have talked about the economic benefits of MMA when the sport is legalized. Few have gone the extra mile to find out what it feels like to be in a cage to fight. Pedersen will do that in Cheyenne, Wyo., this weekend. No matter the result, it's admirable that he has even gone the distance to train and join the first fights to take place in Wyoming's capitol.

      Not -- Renan Barao: The interim bantamweight men's champ was injured and had to pull out of his main event bout with Eddie Wineland at UFC 161. Dan Henderson and Rashad Evans' fight is now the main event, and Roy Nelson vs. Stipe Miocic was added.

      Hot -- John Cholish: After losing to Gleison Tibau at UFC on FX 8, Cholish decided to hang up his fighting gloves. Before he left, he decided to give his fight purse to Oklahoma tornado survivors.

      Kudos to Cholish.

      Not -- Brett Atchley: The manager who specializes in female fighters has been accused of bad behavior by several fighters separately. His alleged improprieties include accosting fighters, telling them he would "blackball them" from Invicta though president Shannon Knapp has denied anyone has the power to do this, and sharing the confidential details of a client's contract. His response?

      "It's really easy for women to play the victim, especially when they make their mind up that they're going to do it. Because everyone will believe them," Atchley said to MMA Junkie.

      Stereotyping women is not a smart thing to do, particularly by someone who makes his living off of them.

      Still taking temperature -- Cain Velasquez: He lost the UFC heavyweight championship belt once, and managed to get it back. Will he defend it on Saturday night against Antonio Silva at UFC 160?

      Thanks for reading Cagewriter this week. Check us out on Twitter and Facebook for bonus UFC 160 coverage.

      Read More »from Renan Barao, John Cholish and Cain Velasquez: See where they fell on Cagewriter’s Hot or Not list
    • (Getty)

      UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is in Russia this weekend. He met retired great Fedor Emelianenko and tried a McDonald's that was apparently of a higher quality than ones in the U.S. He also found time to go back and forth with a possible future opponent.

      Ouch! But it's not worries about their images that will keep this pair out of the cage. The dislocated toe Jones suffered during his fight with former middleweight Chael Sonnen is causing some problems. UFC president Dana White talked it about on Thursday.

      "He says he feels great, the toe's healing good, but the problem is that ligament," he said. "That ligament popped. Anytime you tear a ligament, blood flow helps repair the thing and heal, and you don't get a lot of blood flow to the toe. Who knows? This thing could be six weeks, it could be six months."

      Still, if these two are already pestering each other, the build up to a potential fight could be lots of fun.

      Read More »from Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson spar online
    • (Getty)With UFC 160 in less than two days, it's time to make picks. Thank you to all the Cagereaders who made picks and voted in polls on Cagewriter's Facebook page. If you want to join in the fun, check out Cagewriter on Facebook here.

      Kevin Iole: Cain Velasquez TKO3 Big Foot Silva -- I believe Silva will be more competitive and won't make the mistake he made last time. But as the fight goes on, it swings even more in Velasquez's favor, given his vastly superior cardio. I expect him to slowly wear Silva down and stop him around the fight's midpoint.

      Maggie Hendricks: Cain Velasquez W5 Antonio Silva --Velasquez has better wrestling and better cardio than Silva, and it will pay off as he defends his belt.

      Cagereader: 92 percent of Cagereaders said Cain Velasquez will win.
      Cain has to much heart unless you knock him out he's not going! And Big Foot doesn't deserve another shot yet anyway!! -- Michael Gabbard

      Read More »from Check out UFC 160 picks from Kevin Iole, Maggie Hendricks and Cagereaders like you
    • (Getty)UFC 160 is just days away. What questions will be answered by Saturday's fights?

      Who is the greatest heavyweight in all of the land? Cain Velasquez dominated Antonio Silva in their first bout, but that was a Silva who had just lost to Daniel Cormier. Now, coming off the shocking knockout of Alistair Overeem, will we see an improved Silva or will Velasquez hold onto his belt?

      Will Benson Henderson's next opponent impress? The winner of T.J. Grant's bout with Gray Maynard is supposed to get a title bout with Benson Henderson. But as we know from experience, title shots can be taken away if Maynard and Grant don't deliver on Saturday night.

      Can Donald Cerrone get past the mental problems he has had in the cage? There's no questioning Cerrone's talent. He has the skill to be a force in the cage, but then why did he lose to Anthony Pettis? He visited a sports psychologist after that January loss.

      "It's trying to figure out, what do I do in the cage that I don't do in training?" Cerrone said to MMA Junkie. "Because in training, I don't lose a round."

      Since he trains at Jackson's MMA, this is no small feat. Can he translate that training into performance in the cage against Strikeforce import K.J. Noons?

      Which up-and-coming lightweight will win? Khabib Nurmagomedov is 19-0 and needed just two minutes to take out Thiago Tavares in January. Abel Trujillo is 10-4, but won his last five fights. His TKO of Marcu Levesseur was one of the more memorable finishes of late last year. Which of these lightweight up-and-comers will come out with a win?

      Read More »from Four questions that will be answered by UFC 160
    • When interviewing UFC president Dana White after fights, media usually want to know about title fight opportunities, implications of wins or losses, and where the UFC is headed next. Press conferences rarely present opportunities to get White to talk about who would win in a fight between him and UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta or White's music preferences. On "UFC Tonight," Kenny Florian and Chael Sonnen asked White those very questions. They even got him to sing on what White called "the most embarrassing interview ever."

    • (Getty)

      In an interview with Newsday, former UFC champ Matt Serra said he is walking away from fighting. He wouldn't quite say the retirement word, but his last fight was in September of 2010. Blood clots have affected his health, and he doesn't want to be an aging fighter.

      "An aging fighter?" Serra said. "You know, it's like an aging stripper, but not as funny. Not a lot of people want to see that."

      He should also consider walking away from interviews after delivering that choice line. How will he ever top it? His candor in interviews always made Serra a fun person to cover.

      Serra finishes with a record of 11-7, but will be most remembered for being one of the two men who beat UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. At UFC 69, Serra fought the perfect fight against GSP. He was aggressive and won with a TKO in the first round. Serra surrendered the belt back to GSP in their next bout, but his legacy was set. He had taken out the king.

      Outside of his own fight career, Serra has touched the MMA world by being one of its teachers and advocates. He has two BJJ schools on Long Island, and has coached several UFC fighters, including UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman.

      Thanks for the memories, Matt.

      Read More »from Former UFC champ Matt Serra says he’s walking away from life as a fighter
    • (WESH)Early Wednesday morning, an FBI agent shot and killed someone they were questioning for his connections with the Boston Marathon bombers. Ibragim Todashev, the suspect, was an MMA fighter with a 1-0 professional record.

      Todashev, who was reportedly a friend of deceased bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, fought in July of 2012. He submitted Bradford May with a guillotine in the first round of their bout at Real Fighting Championships in Florida.

      Khusen Taramov, a friend of Todashev's, said that Tsarnaev and Todashev trained together in Boston. Tsarnaev trained and competed as a boxer.

      "He used to talk on the phone with him (Tsarnaev)," said Taramov. "They talked last time a month ago. After the bombing, I couldn't believe it."

      Todashev was reportedly being questioned about a triple-murder in Massachusetts in September of 2011. The FBI said in a statement Todashev posed an imminent threat to the agent.

      Read More »from Suspect killed by the FBI was an MMA fighter
    • Romance isn't normally what you think of when you think of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but it happened for Justin Saikaley, a BJJ student in Canada. He was grappling with his girlfriend when he found the perfect time to pop the question with the help of some friends. Most men don't propose from the triangle choke, but it clearly works for these two. Best wishes to them both.

      Thanks, MMA Fighting.

      Read More »from Watch a marriage proposal from a triangle choke

    Pagination

    (7,101 Stories)