Report: Renan Barao forced out of UFC 161 interim title defense

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

It looks like UFC 161 is going to need a new main event. According to Brazilian-based Tatame, interim bantamweight champion Renan Barao has been forced to withdraw from a scheduled bout with Eddie Wineland after suffering a foot injury. Tatame reported that Barao injured his right foot and would not have enough time to recover [...]

UFC on FX 8 Results: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

MMA Fighting has UFC on FX 8 results for the Belfort vs. Rockhold fight card May 18, plus live blogs of all the fights and live UFC on FX 8 twitter updates. In the main event, Vitor Belfort will face former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, who will be making his UFC debut. In the [...]

UFC on FX 8 fight card: What’s at stake?

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

With an event of decent if relatively smaller size by UFC standards, there isn’t necessarily a great deal to weigh-in on. I’d simply say the UFC is beginning to explore territories in Brazil beyond the major cities. One would expect to see a decent gate no matter where the UFC goes, but even if this [...]

As visa waiting game continues, both Mark Hunt and potential replacement Roy Nelson are granted licenses to fight

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

Mark Hunt may not have his visa yet, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission granted him a license to fight Junior dos Santos at UFC 160 next weekend. Hunt, who is still stuck in New Zealand awaiting a visa to fly to Las Vegas, told the commission on Friday that he is hopeful his visa [...]

UFC on FX 8 weigh-in results: Tempers flare between Luke Rockhold, Vitor Belfort

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

Mini-fireworks erupted at the conclusion of the weigh-ins in a packed Arena Jaragua in Santa Catarina, Brazil, for Saturday night’s UFC on FX 8 show. After headliners Luke Rockhold and Victor Belfort had made weight, each coming in at 186, Rockhold walked up to Belfort for the stare down. He kept walking, getting close but [...]

Former UFC fighter Paul Kelly convicted of trafficking heroin, faces lengthy jail time

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

Paul Kelly holds a fairly unique distinction in the UFC, having been released after a Fight of the Night performance at UFC 126. His name will fall into further infamy after Friday, when he was convicted of trafficking heroin in his native United Kingdom. According to The Liverpool Echo, jurors returned a unanimous verdict after [...]

Fightweets: T.J. Grant vows to ‘get people’s attention’

Saturday, May 18th, 2013

T.J. Grant heard the critics after the announcement that the winner of his UFC 160 bout with Gray Maynard would get the next shot at Benson Henderson’s lightweight championship. Several observers, including this reporter, questioned whether a title shot for Maynard or Grant was the wisest decision, given the top of the lightweight division still [...]

The MMA Beat on Healy’s punishment, Belfort on TRT, Hunt’s visa issues, Barnett’s future, Diaz promotions, Showtime MMA

Friday, May 17th, 2013

On this week’s episode of “The MMA Beat,” the panel discusses whether Pat Healy’s punishment for testing positive for marijuana was too harsh, the criticism Vitor Belfort receives for being on TRT, Mark Hunt’s visa issues, Josh Barnett’s free-agent status, Nick Diaz starting his own promotion, and the future of MMA on Showtime. Music courtesy [...]

UFC on FX 8 weigh-in video

Friday, May 17th, 2013

At the UFC on FX 8 weigh-ins, all 26 fighters taking part in Saturday night’s UFC on FX 8 fights will step on the scale Friday afternoon, and we’ll have the live video here at MMAFighting.com. In the main event, former UFC champion Vitor Belfort and former Strikeforce champion Luke Rockhold will have to make [...]

Morning Report: Nate Diaz to either be ‘fined, suspended, or cut’ for homophobic slur, manager responds

Friday, May 17th, 2013

It continues to confuse me when professional athletes fail to recognize the weight their words carry on social media. You already know what happened by now. Thursday morning, UFC lightweight Nate Diaz popped open his Twitter account and fired off a pair of tweets in defense of Pat Healy, who, as silly as sounds, recently [...]

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