Features

The mercurial Frank Mir has had one of the most extraordinary rides of any mixed martial artist. Currently the consensus number three ranked heavyweight in the world, the Las Vegas born fighter has reached stunning highs and endured desperate lows. And he is still just 30-years-old. Mir’s strong suit has always been his submission ability and his prowess on the...

Tito Ortiz’s performance at UFC 106 painfully illustrated that the sport he helped put on the map may have once and for all outgrown him.  Although the cognoscenti have known this for a very long time, Ortiz’s final round showing (where he essentially acted as a haggard punch bag for Forrest Griffin to practice on) would have been hard to take even...

Billboards, giant screens and websites the world over have been frantically changed to adjust for the recent spate of injuries causing headaches for UFC matchmakers. Some fighters are revelling in a first main event as their fights move to the top of the card. The afflicted however will become frustrated at delayed opportunities and the possibility of long term...

Gegard ‘The Dreamcatcher’ Mousasi is fast becoming one of the most dangerous and respected fighters in MMA. Just 24-years-old, the Dutch-Armenian athlete has already fought in a variety of weight classes - for a variety of fight organisations around the world - amassing an impressive 27-2-1 record and becoming one of the most complete of all MMA fighters....

Were weaknesses in Fedor Emelianenko exposed on Saturday night at Strikeforce? Not at all, argues Matt Hyde. The peerless record and resume of Fedor Emelianenko means that his performances are scrutinised more than any other MMA fighter.Saturday was no different. Although the Russian - outweighed by more than 30Ibs and fighting for the first time in a cage - scored a...

Curiously, for an established sport, MMA has yet to have a universal set of rules and regulations that are practiced the world over. Depending on country, organisation or even region of a country, a fight can be dramatically different. Tactics like knees to the head, kicks on the ground, foot stomps and elbows are allowed in some MMA bouts and not in others. Arguably...

The Brazilian fighter Ricardo Arona remains perhaps the most eligible free agent in MMA. After the collapse of PRIDE several years ago many of the world’s top fighters, who had been applying their trade in the legendary Japanese organisation, were eagerly snapped up by other organisations. Arona though, once one of the most feared fighters in the sport, seemed...

We are now into the Fall (or autumn, for our European readers) and during the next few weeks two of the biggest names in the sport will put their stellar records on the line. One has never lost and the other is all but undefeated. Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida will put his perfect 15-0 haul and UFC Light Heavyweight belt on the line against fellow Brazilian,...

Coach Kearns uses this workout to develop strength using resistance bands When I started in the business 23 years ago in this fitness business, bands had just started to hit the market. Today everyone uses some form of band to perform strength training. On the road they are a great go to for exercising when time and equipment is limited. Personally I give them to all...

Unless your first name is Randy and your last happens to be Couture, father time is more often than not the toughest opponent legendary sports figures come up against. This notion seems especially magnified in combat sports. Luminous boxing names such as Ali, Louis, Duran and Tyson to name a few, have kept fighting well past their primes and somewhat tarnished their...