MMA Universe

As UFC legends BJ Penn and Matt Hughes prepare for their third time in the octagon together this November at UFC 123, the MMA community is anxious to see if the UFC’s most famous farmboy will be able to overcome the skilled Hawaiian. Here is a quick little look: In their first two matchups, Penn [...]

MMA striker Robbie Lawler will meet 13-year veteran Matt Lindland during a Strikeforce event on Dec. 5 on Showtime live in St. Louis.  Strikeforce’s second trip to St. Louis in 2010 shows the organization’s growing trust in the midwest MMA fight scene — and rewarded the city with a return to the Scottrade Center. Both [...]

Even though it was the shortest fight of the entire card, the Mike Brown vs. Cole Province fight wasn’t shown on Versus due to arena football. Versus has offered the fight available online for free: Former featherweight champion Brown dropped Province, and then proceeded to jump on top and reign down ground and pound. I [...]

Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem reached the finals of the K-1 World Grand Prix after completely demolishing Ben Edwards. Here is video from the K-1 fight in Seoul, Korea: After enduring an early onslaught from Edwards that yielded little damage, Overeem quickly went to work.

As we prepare for WEC 51 tomorrow night from Broomfield, Colorado, here is a Heavy.com WEC 51 open workout video. The show will be live on VERSUS and features a main event fight between WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and #1 contender Manny Gamburyan. The open workout includes footage from Miguel Torres, Gamburyan, Aldo, Jamie [...]

Aaron Simpson and Mark Muñoz may be long-time friends, but both fighters will put that aside when they face off in Auburn Hills, Michigan on November 20th at UFC 123. “I’ve known him since I was a senior in college. I wrestled him in college my senior year at Oklahoma State,” Simpson recalled. (This was [...]

UFC 119 – Live Chat

Bellator’s bantamweight tournament got quite interesting last night. Apex MMA’s Ed “Wild” West looked phenomenal in his fight against wrestler Jose Vega. Although West was never able to sink a submission, it wasn’t for lack of trying. He worked submission attempt after submission attempt, going for triangle chokes, armbars, a kimura and a rear naked [...]

The second episode of Season 12′s TUF begins with the spotlight on Jeff Lentz (who apparently is into smoking and drinking), and tall tale teller Alex Caceres (aka Bruce Leeroy). An interesting team strategy emerges when GSP and coach Greg Jackson decide to put together a fake list of fighters they want to pick, with [...]

In case you missed some KSW 14 action last night, here is the Eric “Butterbean” Esch vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski video. As you can see in the video above, Butterbean was able to hit Pudzianowski with some shots he clearly didn’t enjoy. However, a quick take down and move into side control quickly led to a [...]

MMA veteran Ricardo Arona is one step away from a debut in the UFC octagon after fighting for PRIDE and RINGS the majority of his career. After speaking with UFC President Dana White, Arona said he’ll have one more fight just to shake off the ring rust before entering the octagon. The BJJ fighter could [...]

The September 2010 Men’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com. Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to [...]

… I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I kid, I kid.  Here is the former UFC LHW champion Tito Ortiz briefly discussing a few different topics. Anyway, Ortiz discusses recovery from injury, thoughts on former UFC LHW champion Chuck Liddell — and his desire to still fight the aging superstar, despite being friends [...]

With only a few days to go until the UFC gives us yet another Ultimate Fight Night, it’s amazing to think that this will be the twenty second offering from the incredibly popular franchise. Ultimate Fight Night: Marquardt vs. Palhares takes place on 15th September and will be covered live here on MMAHQ. There have also been Ultimate [...]

Strikeforce lightweight contender Josh Thomson is still nursing a rib injury, but could be back in the cage on Oct. 9. The MMA event early next month will take place at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., Strikeforce’s home base. “There is a lot of talk right now about Oct. 9,” Thomson told MMAWeekly [...]

Fading MMA legend Jens Pulver, best known for his heavy hands and his once-feared stand-and-bang style, has stumbled on rough times as of late. He wants to continue his famed professional MMA career at a time when many are calling for him to retire. It’s a turbulent time that is being expressed in a new [...]

UFC 118: Live Chat

The August 2010 Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple MMA web sites, as well as www.IndependentWorldMMARankings.com. The members of the voting panel for the Women’s Independent World MMA Rankings are, in alphabetical order: Nicholas Bailey [...]

Saturday night, the MMAHQ team is proud to present live play-by-play of UFC 118, which takes place live from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Log on to mmahq.com at 9 P.M sharp as we discuss the preliminary card live on spike followed by the main card airing on pay-per-view.

Wrestling is seen as one of the most important disciplines in modern mixed martial arts, with all fighters working to defend their wrestling and grappling.

It seems like an ironic twist that NCAA wrestling has seen a decline in attendance even though student athletes can enter MMA as fighters, coaches, and analysts.

This is an important time because NCAA wrestling and MMA both benefit if wrestling is well supported by school districts and colleges. Casual MMA fans may not appreciate the skill and ability of high-level wrestlers, such as Jon Fitch and Gray Maynard, but their grappling abilities allow them to win fights.

Even though D-I wrestling teams are facing problems, amateur U.S. wrestling remains a strong sport, supporters note. Division II, Division III and NAIA schools have seen an increase in athletes, along with continued success for high school wrestling.

“Our vital signs are very strong at every level other than NCAA Division I,” said Mike Moyer, National Wrestling Coaches Association executive director, in an interview with Josh Gross. “That goes back to focused excellence and the down sizing trend at athletic departments across the country at non-enrollment-conscious schools.”

It’s obvious that struggling at the most important level of amateur wrestling, NCAA D-I, isn’t a good thing — but it’s a problem that can be resolved. It’s great to hear DII, DIII, NAIA and high school wrestling are thriving.

A new generation of wrestlers who grew up watching MMA instead of WWE will hopefully help keep younger generations interested in wrestling.