Matthew Kaplowitz
Campbell McLaren: Combate Americas is second best MMA league
Combate Americas spent their Tuesday evening announcing that former WWE superstar Alberto ‘El Presidente’ would become the new president of their promotion, garnering mainstream attention that is a huge boon for them. The promotion’s head honcho in Campbell McLaren was ecstatic to start spreading the word a few days away from their first show in […]
Video: Alberto ‘El Presidente’ on running Combate Americas, CM Punk’s UFC debut
Looks like we have another convert from the world of professional wrestling into the MMA cage, except this time we have a man who has years of experience doing both. Alberto ‘El Presidente’, FKA Alberto Del Rio, was just announced as the new President of Campbell McLaren’s Combate Americas at an event held in New […]
Video: Frank Shamrock: Viacom asked me to become Bellator president
Frank Shamrock has been involved in all sorts of aspects of the fight world. Aside from being a world champion in the UFC and Strikeforce, Frank has also starred in reality series, commentated, and at one point helped push for MMA in NY state. One role that Frank was not quite interested in was being […]
Dave Branch on holding two WSOF titles & philosophy on fighting
Dave Branch is a Jersey boy who trains at Renzo Gracie’s gym in NYC, and is a two-division champ in WSOF. Having the promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles in his possession, he has become a fighter that the UFC and Bellator must be kicking themselves over losing – not only for his fighting skills […]
WSOF bantamweight champ Marlon Moraes is the happiest man in MMA
Marlon Moraes is sitting on top of the WSOF bantamweight division, and if he has his way it will stay that way for a very long time. The Fight Nerd caught up with Marlon during the opening of the World Series of Fighting’s New York City office, with the company planning to make some big […]
Shawn Porter ready to put aside friendship with Keith Thurman to take his belt
Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) is ready to fight his childhood friend Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) on June 25 in Brooklyn for his WBA welterweight title, and has wanted it for a long time. At a press conference in NYC, Porter conducted a media scrum to answer questions from the press. “I want to […]
Watch: WSOF opens NYC office & toasts to future of company
This past Monday afternoon in Manhattan, World Series of Fighting officially opened their New York office and held a small event to christen it. World Series of Fighting CEO Carlos Silva and COO Michael Mersch were on hand to give a speech in front of their board members, a handful of local fighters and a […]
WSOF CEO & COO on MMA in NY, expansion in 2016, Shields, Palhares & More
World Series of Fighting has officially moved to NYC, and we got some time to have an extensive talk with the men in charge. WSOF CEO Carlos Silva and COO Michael Mersch gave us an extensive interview to discuss the big picture for the promotion in 2016 and beyond. In part one, which you can […]
Watch: Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter NYC press conference
WBA Welterweight world champion Keith Thurman (26-0, 22 KOs) and former IBF champion Shawn Porter (26-1-1, 16 KOs) went face-to-face Tuesday afternoon in Manhattan as they held a press conference to discuss their highly anticipated Saturday, June 25 showdown on Showtime Championship Boxing on CBS, presented by Premier Boxing Champions live from Barclays Center in […]
Video: MMA finally legalized in New York
New Yorkers rejoiced this week when the bill to legalize MMA had finally made it onto the Assembly floor, and successfully passed with a vote of 113 in favor to 25 opposed. While we still need a few more steps to complete the process 100%, every element is in place for the first professional MMA […]
Mauro Ranallo: ‘MMA needs a promotion like Bellator’
Bellator MMA is continuing to make a big push in 2016 to become a true superpower in the combat sports world, expanding into kickboxing and taking the show into international waters. “Inside MMA” host, Mauro Ranallo, believes that this year could be a very important one for the promotion, and while he does not like […]
Bas Rutten thinks Jon Jones’ confidence may be a ‘front’
The rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light Heavyweight title will be one of the biggest fights of the year, with fans waiting to see what Jones will do in his first time in the octagon since last January. Since then, he had to deal with being arrested on felony hit-and-run […]
Bas Rutten: Mark Hunt can be UFC champ if he trains seriously
Mark Hunt’s stock continued to rise this weekend when he knocked out Frank Mir at UFC Fight Night 85 in Brisbane, Australia. It seems like Hunt is now on the road towards a shot at the UFC heavyweight title if he can perform just as impressively on a few other fighters, and MMA legend Bas […]
Rutten on Ronda Rousey: Holly Holm rematch is ‘more important’ than UFC title
The longterm future of Ronda Rousey is still up to debate within the MMA world, with no one quite sure who is next for her, and what will happen beyond that. ‘Inside MMA’ host and MMA legend, Bas Rutten, does not believe the naysayers and says that she will be back, and mainly to finish […]
Video: What was Georges St-Pierre doing at UFC 196?
A familiar face in the MMA world popped up at this weekend’s event, and the world wants to know what he was doing there. Former UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre, was spotted watching UFC 196 in Las Vegas on Saturday and making the rounds with reporters. The big question on everyones mind was if […]
Video: Miesha Tate or Nate Diaz, Who had the bigger upset at UFC 196?
If you made your bets for the underdogs at UFC 196, you certainly made a heck of a profit as any plans the UFC once had for the future of Conor McGregor and a rematch between Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey for the title are out the window. This weekend, we witnessed Miesha Tate finally […]
Video: UFC vet & son survived an armed robbery, here’s how you can help
The MMA world owes much to the pioneers of this sport, whether they held a championship belt or not. Today, us fans have a chance to give something back to one of these fighters. UFC veteran, Mikey Burnett, and his son, Freddie, were leaving a local gym in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when two teenagers asked if […]
Jim Ross: Ronda Rousey’s future is still very bright, but no one is unbeatable
I was lucky enough to get 30 minutes with the legendary Jim Ross, and I can easily say this will be one of my favorite interviews I have ever conducted. While the main topic of our conversation was pro wrestling – specifically his arrival as new commentator alongside Josh Barnett on “New Japan Pro Wrestling […]
Video: Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping, who really won?
At UFC Fight Night 84 in London, England, “The Count” Michael Bisping faced off against “The Spider” Anderson Silva in a five-round super fight inside the O2 Arena. Bisping had wanted this fight for years and was excited to finally get it, but even better to actually win it in his home country. Along the […]
Deontay Wilder to Tyson Fury – ‘You will face me in 2016 once and for all’
This year looks to be a bright one for heavyweight boxing, especially with champions like Deontay Wilder being vocal about his quest to bring all of the boxing titles together and follow in the footsteps of his inspiration, Muhammad Ali, to make the division exciting once again. At a press conference held in midtown Manhattan […]
VIDEO: Wilder ‘plans to unify Heavyweight titles’, Szpilka ready to make an upset
The Edison Ballroom was the penultimate stop before this Saturday night’s epic doubleheader on Showtime as the main event fighters hit the stage before the weigh-in’s to address the media and get one last chance to tell their stories. “I’m so happy to be here in the ‘Big Apple,” Wilder explained. “It’s been over 115 […]
HBO Boxing: Lundy tells Crawford ‘I’m gonna beat your ass, it’s gonna be bad’
HBO Boxing held their first press conference of the new year to hype their double-header on February 27 at Madison Square Garden, featuring WBO Latino lightweight champ Felix Verdejo taking on William Silva, and undefeated Terence Crawford meeting “Hammerin'” Hank Lundy for the WBO Junior Welterweight title. The press conference was your typical one, and […]
Showtime Boxing: Watch WBC champ Deontay Wilder’s open workout heading into title fight
On Saturday, January 16 at The Barclays Center, WBC Heavyweight World Champion Deontay Wilder will make the third defense of his title against Polish bruiser Artur Szpilka while unbeaten heavyweights Charles Martin and Vyacheslav Glazkov battle for the vacant IBF Heavyweight World Championship, the first two heavyweight world title fights in Brooklyn in 115 years. […]
Tony Danza talks boxing: I was a club fighter, I wanted to be heavyweight champ
We may never know who the boss truly was, but we do know that without boxing, Tony Danza may have never launched his acting career. During a session at the Broadway Teachers Workshop, Danza was asked about his origins in drama, and surprisingly they went hand-in-hands with his dreams of being a pro fighter. “I […]
New York Open Judo Team Tournament 2015 – VIDEOS
Across the street from Central Park on a sunny albeit cold Spring day, the NY Athletic Club once again hosted the New York Open Team Judo Tournament yesterday. Featuring male and female teams representing the United States of America, France, Germany, and Poland, this event was historic for being the first one in the US […]
Interview: Josh Barnett says ‘MMA in Japan is not dead’
If there is one American fighter with his pulse on the Japanese combat sports beat, it would be Josh Barnett. I spoke with “The Warmaster” recently to discuss his new role as an english-speaking commentator alongside Mauro Ranallo on AXS TV’s “New Japan Pro Wrestling” show, which debuts January 16, and the topic quickly went […]
Royce Gracie talks CM Punk, ‘Rampage’ Jackson & Old School UFC
Royce Gracie is one of the men that built MMA, and has a very zen-like approach when it comes to discussing the sport. In the second part of this two-part interview (the first installment being where Royce said “acting is harder than fighting”), Gracie talks about some current events in the sport, as well as […]
Interview: Josh Barnett talks Werdum vs. Velasquez, Jon Jones cocaine story
While interviewing Josh Barnett to promote his role as commentator alongside Mauro Ranallo on the “New Japan Pro Wrestling” show for AXS TV (that premieres on January 16), the topic of MMA was bound to come up eventually. Barnett did not have much to say in terms of news when it came to what is […]
Royce Gracie: ‘Acting is harder than fighting’
MMA & BJJ legend Royce Gracie is back in action, but not inside an octagon or on the mats. This time, he is wearing body armor and carrying a sword. In the first installment of this two-part interview, we spoke to Royce about his role as Aangar in the new movie, “The Scorpion King 4: […]
Mauro Ranallo ‘frustrated’ with Jon Jones & drug use in MMA
Mauro Ranallo has been present first-hand for some of the greatest times in MMA and continues to be a top commentator and analyst in the sport. However, that does not mean that someone so deeply immersed in the professional side of the sport can not be as angry and confused like us fans are when […]