Author: By Mike Straka

It’s Thanksgiving and Edson Barboza ascends the steps from the basement apartment in Toms River, NJ that he shares with his wife Bruna and their one-year-old son Noah to the main residence, where family and friends are gathered for a wonderful feast.In attendance here at Jerry and Debbie Nappi’s home – dubbed “The Tough House” for all the fighters who have come in and out over the years – are UFC fighters Jimy Hettes. former UFC lightweight champion and featherweight contender and future Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar, World Series of Fighting featherweight c … Read the Full Article Here

There must be something in the water on Long Island. It seems like everyone fighting out of the area is making noise in the Octagon these days.From Chris Weidman, Dennis Bermudez and Aljamain Sterling to Al Iaquinta and Gian Villante, these guys are all giving New York City’s redheaded stepchild a good name in the UFC, and welterweight Ryan LaFlare is no different.The welterweight and former Ring of Combat champion faces Mike Pierce at The Ultimate Fighter Finale on December 11 at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.LaFlare made his UFC debut back in April of 2013 and went 4-0 be … Read the Full Article Here

There must be something in the water on Long Island. It seems like everyone fighting out of the area is making noise in the Octagon these days.From Chris Weidman, Dennis Bermudez and Aljamain Sterling to Al Iaquinta and Gian Villante, these guys are all giving New York City’s redheaded stepchild a good name in the UFC, and welterweight Ryan LaFlare is no different.The welterweight and former Ring of Combat champion faces Mike Pierce at The Ultimate Fighter Finale on December 11 at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.LaFlare made his UFC debut back in April of 2013 and went 4-0 be … Read the Full Article Here

When 15th-ranked welterweight Kelvin Gastelum signed on for a November 21 fight with  the number five-ranked Matt Brown, the 24-year-old fighting out of Huntington Beach, California was understandably excited. He had bounced back from a loss at the hands of Tyrone Woodley with a KO victory over Nate “The Great” Marquardt over the summer, and a win over “The Immortal” would have propelled him up the rankings.An injury to Brown in training however, would force a replacement.“100 percent bummed,” Gastelum says of the news.  “I was coming back … Read the Full Article Here

Long Island New York’s Gian Villante is looking forward to going “Down Under” to take on Australia’s own Anthony Perosh at Etihad Stadium on the UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm card this weekend in Melbourne, Australia.The stadium is expected to attract 70,000 fans but Villante is confident they will be cheering for him instead of their fellow countryman.“I’m blessed to be involved and I can’t wait for the crowd because you know how Aussies are with their sports; they’re a vocal crowd and it’s going to be nuts,” he said. “Even though … Read the Full Article Here

If you had told Johnny “Hollywood” Case a few years ago that he would be undefeated in the UFC going into his fourth bout with the world’s number one MMA organization, he might have said “that would be nice.”But such is the case for the Jefferson, Iowa native fighting out of Arizona’s Power MMA as he gets set to face Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace Yan Cabral in Sao Paulo on Saturday night on the UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs Henderson card on FOX Sports 1.“I was really excited when (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva called me and said welcome to the UFC, but it is a … Read the Full Article Here