Author: By Mike Straka

UFC bantamweight Jessamyn Duke wears her heart on her sleeve. She shows it in all of her fights, win or lose.So when she faces Elizabeth Phillips once again at UFC on FOX on July 25 (Duke won their first bout via guillotine choke when the two were still fighting in the amateur ranks), she knows how much she has improved since that 2012 bout, but expects nothing less from Phillips. Plus, there’s likely a little something extra for her opponent this time around.“Just speaking for myself, when I’ve lost a fight to someone and I got a rematch, I came back with a vengeance and with a … Read the Full Article Here

UFC Fight Night San Diego’s Sam Sicilia has a message for late replacement opponent Yaotzin Meza regarding their meeting on July 15th.“If I don’t knock him out even better than I did Akira Corassani I will be disappointed,” he said. “I’m going to knock this guy out. He’s stepping in on short notice with a tough opponent. I’m going to roll right through him.”Meza is stepping in after original opponent Doo Ho Choi had to pull out due to injury just two weeks before the fight. Sicilia had just been visited at the Spokane gym he trains at wit … Read the Full Article Here

When Josh Thomson’s UFC Fight Night San Diego opponent Tony Ferguson tweeted that he should get off Twitter and get back to training, Thomson looked at it as yet another puzzling development in the sport he helped build.A fifteen-year veteran, Thomson has been one of the world’s best lightweights since 2000, in multiple promotions. He’s fought the best fighters, has traveled the world, and now he’s even starring in movies.But the war of words on Twitter that has permeated the fight game?“I’ve outgrown that,” said Thomson, whose nickname “The Pu … Read the Full Article Here

After setting up camp in Phuket, Thailand for the past two years, Mike “Quick” Swick has seen his health and training improve to the point where a return to the Octagon was not only a possibility, but something he felt he owed himself to do.“The best thing I ever did was move on from fighting and not have the stress related with being a fighter,” he said. “I moved to Phuket, Thailand and started to build AKA Thailand, and I was just training fighters, eating clean and getting my weight back. I was walking around at over 200 pounds, which I never reached even whe … Read the Full Article Here

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida isn’t feeling any extra pressure coming into his main event bout with the hard-hitting former Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero this Saturday in Hollywood, Florida.“I only focus on what it is I’m going to do in the Octagon,” Machida said. “There is always excitement to put on a good show for the fans, but I’ve been in this situation many times before in my career, and I just go out and perform my best. I like pressure, but there’s not much for me.”There’s no secret what both these fighters bring into this … Read the Full Article Here

Two weeks before making his third Octagon appearance at UFC 188 in Mexico City, Mexico, featherweight “Cassius” Clay Collard was driving three and a half hours from Orem, Utah – where he trains at The Pit Elevated – to Wyoming, where his mother lives.“My mom is going to miss my fight so I’m visiting her,” Collard said, his mother in the background chiming in with “It’s the first match I’m going to miss. Ever.”Collard, just 22 years old, faces wily veteran Gabriel Benitez, and will likely face a hostile crowd at Mexico City Are … Read the Full Article Here