On December 23, 2022, the MMA community was deeply saddened by the tragic news that former UFC light heavyweight contender Stephan Bonnar died at the age of 45.

“Stephan Bonnar was one of the most important fighters to ever compete in the octagon,” commented UFC President Dana White. “His fight with Forrest Griffin changed the sport forever, and he will never be forgotten. The fans loved him, related to him, and he always gave them the best. He will be missed.”

Bonnar made his name known during the UFC’s first-ever airing of The Ultimate Fighter reality show in 2005. And with the help of Forrest Griffin, Bonnar produced one of the greatest fights of all time, a bout that earned him a place in UFC’s Hall of Fame fight wing.

Any UFC fan knows the names of the latest champions, and the fighters who have gone down in the record books. Betting on the UFC lines can be a great and worthwhile pass time if you know who you should be putting your money on. 

One of the names that has been pretty popular in recent years is Charles Oliveira.

Oliveira is a MMA and BJJ practitioner, competing in the lightweight division of the UFC, where he is a former Lightweight UFC champion. 

He has the most submission wins in the history of the organization and this is a major part of what brings him his fame. He has 16 submissions and 19 finishes. 

Back in the late summer of 2022, he was ranked as number one in the lightweight rankings of the UFC, and by October of the same year he ranked as number 7 in the UFC’s men’s pound for pound rankings. 

He is quite the performer, at 5ft10, weighing 155 lbs, his MMA record is impressive. His total overall records include 43 total matches, with 33 of those being wins! He made 9 wins by knockout, 21 wins by submission, and 3 by decision. 

Let’s take a moment to look at his records, and more of what we know about Charles Oliveira. 

Conor McGregor has been putting the hard yards in at the gym as he continues his recovery from a broken leg. But by the looks of things, he is trying something new to strike fear into his rivals.

A video recently surfaced of the Irishman using his unconventional “bow and arrows” technique and he is gearing up for a return to the Octagon later this year. The “bow and arrows” technique seems to be modelled on boxing and McGregor famously took on Floyd Mayweather nearly five years ago in one of the highest-grossing exhibition fights in Las Vegas.

For now, McGregor has been hitting pads with his coach and he will be itching for a return after back-to-back defeats last year in his ongoing feud with Dustin Poirier. While McGregor came under fire from UFC rival Henry Cejudo over his boxing heavy approach, labelling it “unbelievable”, McGregor is sticking to his guns and isn’t moving away from his style.

MMA fans are sure to disagree about who the greatest-ever female fighter is because it does not always come down to statistics. However, there is no doubt that the MMA fighters on this list deserve to be mentioned as some of the best female MMA stars of all time.

Image source: https://unsplash.com/photos/HN_4K2diUWs

Number 5: Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko

The current Women’s Flyweight champion, Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko, is presently considered to be one of the greatest female fighters on the planet, and her reputation is sure to go down in MMA history. The Kyrgyzstani and Peruvian MMA fighter, and former Muay Thai fighter, gives the impression she can carry on winning for years to come. With an impressive 18 wins, no draws, and only three losses, she currently ranks number two in the UFC’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.

If you are in the mood to try some MMA moves yourself, you can play various martial arts games online. The Ninja Magic casino slot game comes particularly recommended. You can play this, and other slot games, at Casumo.com.

After taking a couple of weeks off, UFC will be kicking off 2020 with a return of their biggest star of the decade taking on the most decorated veteran and record holder who has never held a title. UFC 246: McGregor vs Cerrone will be one of those events that doesn’t have a star-studded undercard, and is marketed on the strength of the main event alone.

Conor McGregor will be facing Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at welterweight; and while this is not a particularly meaningful fight from the divisional title perspective and not exactly a ‘Super-Fight’ either, it is an interesting bout which should be competitive and fun for as long as it lasts.  Here, I will be taking a look at the careers of both fighters, the numerous acclaims and records they hold in the UFC, and the stylistic matchup. And if you are into UFC betting, putting some cash on whoever you think will take home the W might make watching this fight even more exciting.

Photo by Justin Ng / The Unsplash License

We’ve recently published an article about three of the greatest unheralded fighters in MMA: Frankie Edgar, Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. While ‘unheralded’ is perhaps an unfair term to use as these fighters are recognized by fans and pundits alike as all-time greats, they are typically not considered in the ‘GOAT’ discussion for various reasons.  Today, we are going to discuss the careers of another five fighters who may have been at one point the best in their weight division – or even the sport of MMA as a whole – but their greatness might not be recognized by fans who have not been following the sport since it’s inception.

MMA fighters need to exhibit not only skill and strength but also persistence and resilience. They put their all into what they do and deserve the recognition that comes with success. Each of these fighters below has shown the true spirit of an MMA warrior and came out on top, showing that strength and brawn are not the only things necessary to achieve greatness. Each one has their unique methods and strategies, and they have carved a name for themselves as the some of the fighters to compete in the young sport that is Mixed Martial Arts.

These fighters have made watching MMA fights worth while. But who will be the next best MMA fighter? If you want to impress your friends with all of your MMA knowledge, betting sites can offer another way that fans can stay up to date on UFC fighters’ actions: offering advanced statistics, trends, and tips on which fighters are likely to come out on top. That way, you’ll know the picks for the next best-of list before it even comes out.

Many sports fans have witnessed intense matches in the brief history of MMA fighting. Through the years, various MMA organizations orchestrated many different fights between some of the best athletes in the sport. There are fighters like Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, Georges St Pierre, Ronda Rousey just to name a few, who are rightfully and universally recognized as the greatest athletes to participate in MMA. However there are some great fighters whose careers might have fell through the cracks of history for various reasons, and they may not be held in as high of a regard compared to their peers or according to their accomplishments in the combat arena. This article looks at a few athletes who brought fame and glory to MMA, and contributed a lot to history of the sport itself – but may not be as recognizable to the casual fan. Keep reading to learn more about them:

Cristiane Justino

Also known as Cyborg, Justino is usually considered as the female counterpart of Wanderlei Silva when it comes to women’s featherweight division. Justino always perseveres whenever opportunities come her way and will usually run straight at her opponents. As blood oozes out and enters her sharp senses, she will come forward and bestow a series of strong punches that can be unavoidable for anyone who can’t dodge such quick attacks. The aggression she shows inside the cage is unparalleled. It even made it hard for MMA promoters to seek an opponent who is willing to face Cyborg, without the fear of being beaten to shreds. With the way she’s been running through almost all competition, even the haters eventually turned into her fans. Mostly, bettors are also expecting her to
perform well in every matchup. If you are an aspiring bettor, it’s now possible to bet on live MMA fights using your mobile or desktop computer, so put your money where your mouth is by placing a bet on your favorite MMA competitor! Cyborg’s upcoming Bellator debut could be your next chance to test your MMA prognostication mettle.

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Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone has been competing as a professional MMA fighter for over 20 years, and in the UFC Octagon since 2011. While he’s never held a UFC belt (not even an interim one), coming up short in his only title shot against then lightweight king Raphael dos Anjos in 2015, Cerrone has remained among the MMA elite for his entire career. He has consistently been ranked in the Top 20 fighters in the world at lightweight or welterweight since his third UFC fight, a first round stoppage over Charles Oliveira, and has reached as high as #2 at 155 lbs and #5 at 170. He is also the winningest and the most active fighter in UFC history.

Last year, we published an article musing on who will be the first UFC fighter to achieve 30 fights in the promotion, and did a follow-up piece a few months later. Since then, Cowboy went from 27 UFC bouts at the time of the first article, to the current record of 32. So despite a disappointing loss to Tony Ferguson at UFC 238, Cerrone remains a legend of the Octagon and a future lock for the UFC hall of fame.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at Donald’s accomplishments (striking statistics courtesy of UFCStats.com).

Top flight athletes are always looking at what to do after their current career comes to a conclusion. But for gold medal Olympic wrestler Jordan Burroughs, will he give the fans what they want and make the jump to Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)?  Bonusbets.com reports on the subject.

Jordan Burroughs himself isn’t saying much yet about any potential move, though he knows the lure of the octagon having witnessed many other wrestlers make the same jump.

“I’ve arrived at a place too where I’m seeing all of these guys that I once trained alongside become champions—and this is not a shot at any of those dudes—but if these guys can become champion, then I know I can become a champion because I possess all the same qualities that these guys possess.

It’s exciting, it’s exciting. It’s something that I’d definitely consider. If I do consider fighting, it won’t be until after the Olympic games in 2020, and then from there I’ll reevaluate, see if it’s something that would be a realistic option for me.”

Speaking on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting) Burroughs was asked about a potential future in MMA and had this to say: