Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Check out the history of weigh-in misses in the UFC in 2023 and fights canceled due to weight management issues.
The old adage is that the fight before the fight in MMA is the one with the scale.
Weight-cutting struggles and eventual weight misses are a regular part of the sport. Throughout 2023, we updated this story each time there was an infraction on the UFC scale – or fights that were scrapped because of issues with a fighter’s weight.
Here’s the final list. Fighters listed are in chronological order of their scheduled bouts.
(List updated after UFC 296 weigh-ins in Las Vegas, Dec. 15, 2023.)
Jamahal Hill and Glover Teixeira went to war at UFC 283 in MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month for January.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best fights from January 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Fight of the Month award for January.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting on your choice.
Gabriel Bonfim wins MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month after his older brother claimed KO of the Month honors.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best submissions from January 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Submission of the Month award for January.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from January 2023.
With another action-packed month of MMA in the books, MMA Junkie looks at the best knockouts from January 2023: Here are the five nominees, listed in chronological order, and winner of MMA Junkie’s Knockout of the Month award for January.
At the bottom of the post, let us know if we got it right by voting for your choice.
Check out the latest episode of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze.”
Thursday’s edition of MMA Junkie Radio with “Gorgeous” George and “Goze” is here.
On Episode 3,328, the guys welcome in UFC Hall of Famer Diego Sanchez, discuss Francis Ngannou addressing his UFC exit, preview UFC 283, and more. Tune in!
Stream or download this and all episodes of MMA Junkie Radio over at OmnyStudio. You can also catch it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. A new episode of the podcast is released every Monday and Thursday.
The first event of 2023 caused some movement in this week’s rankings, including the debut of Umar Nurmagomedov among the top 15 at bantamweight.
The first UFC event of 2023 is in the books, and it produced the year’s first rankings shuffle across a few divisions.
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 217, [autotag]Sean Strickland[/autotag] defeated Nassourdine Imavov by decision in a short-notice bout. Strickland remains at No. 8 in this week’s update, but fights elsewhere on the card caused divisional movement.
Former title challenger [autotag]Raquel Pennington[/autotag] improved her current win streak to five with a win over Ketlen Vieira. It’s an impressive streak that has her knocking on the door of another title opportunity, and caused her to jump from No. 6 to No. 4, taking Vieira’s old slot at women’s bantamweight.
The men’s bantamweight division has a new face in the top 15. [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] emerged from the honorable mentions to claim the No. 13 spot after a vicious knockout finish of Raoni Barcelos.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
The UFC returned to action this past Saturday for its first event of the year, and first in a month after a holiday break. Who stood out?
The UFC returned to action this past Saturday for its first event of the year, and first in a month after a holiday break.
UFC Fight Night 217 in Las Vegas featured a mix of great finishes, as well as some dominant decisions. Sean Strickland (26-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) outworked Nassourdine Imavov (12-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on just five days’ notice for a big win in the main event. Dan Ige (16-6 MMA, 8-5 UFC) starched Damon Jackson (22-5-1 MMA, 5-3-1 UFC) with a second-round knockout in the co-feature.
Raquel Pennington (15-9 MMA, 12-5 UFC) beat Ketlen Vieira (13-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) and called for a women’s bantamweight title shot. Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) knocked out Raoni Barcelos (17-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) to stay unbeaten. Roman Kopylov (10-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) beat Punahele Soriano (9-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) with a second-round TKO.
But who made the biggest impact at UFC Fight Night 217?
Our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Farah Hannoun and Nolan King dove into that topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia. You can watch their discussion in the video above. And don’t miss this week’s full episode below.
“Spinning Back Clique” is released each Monday LIVE on MMA Junkie’s YouTube channel.
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Mateusz Rebecki dominated Nick Fiore on the scorecards at UFC Fight Night 217, but wasn’t happy he left Las Vegas without a knockout.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Mateusz Rebecki[/autotag] beat Nick Fiore with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 217 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Rebecki, who won for the 14th straight time.
Javid Basharat had a nice win over Mateus Mendonca at UFC Fight Night 217 in Las Vegas, but is pining for a ranked opponent next.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Javid Basharat[/autotag] beat Mateus Mendonca with a unanimous decision Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 217 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Basharat, who stayed unbeaten and handed Mendonca the first loss of his career.
UFC Fight Night 217 winners and losers react on social media outlets such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Since the early days when the sport was anything but a mainstream endeavor, the MMA industry has thrived and survived through various websites, forums, and – perhaps most importantly – social-media platforms.
Fighters interact with fans, each other and many more through the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, which helps outsiders get a deeper look into the minds of the athletes.
Following Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 217 in Las Vegas, several of the winning and losing fighters, along with their coaches, training partners or family members, took to social media to react to the event or share a message with supporters.
Check out some of those reactions.
