Mma Nation

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Mexico City is almost here! Just a couple more days until the Battle of the Brandons as the promotion heads back to Mexico City for the first time since 2019 when Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens headlined UFC Fight Night 159. The bout would end in a no contest just 15 seconds in due to an accidental eye poke. They would run it back less than a mo…

Ian Garry barely eked out a win over the ultra tough Geoff Neal this past Saturday night, but after all the trash he talked combined with that performance, we’re left wondering if the Irish lightning rod can turn his plight around. The crowd, the fans watching around the world and his fellow fighters spent a fair amount of time roasting him on social media in the aftermath of the contest, and even into the week as the Irishman did the podcast rounds.Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. If you share our mission, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today.One of the biggest problems we see with Garry is his inability to figure out whether he wants to be a face or a heel. The turmoil of this dilemma is almost palpable too. He spoke to Ariel Helwani about his ritual crying session he has before each fight, trying to illustrate the passion and respect he has for the sport, yet his comments and even his actions in the leadup to fight day painted the picture of a man playing the h

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 298 just wrapped up a great night of fights in sunny southern California. The Honda Center saw all manner of action from the athletes, but there were a couple stinkers that didn’t quite pass muster (looking at you, Ian Machado Garry). We’ll get to Ian’s fight in a second but first, let’s bask in the glory that was Ilia Topuria putting Old Man Volkan…

The undercard of UFC 298 is kind of a mixed bag. As Connor Ruebusch put it, “There are a couple gems sprinkled in there but the rest are typical prelims.” We have come to expect “typical prelims” to equate to low-tier, regional level fights, and that is certainly what we’ve got with this event. Fortunately, the matchmaking brass did the rare excellent job stacking the main card with really good fights, so we can sort of excuse the haphazard way they threw together these contests.Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. If you share our mission, please consider becoming a paid subscriber today.The featured prelim seems like whichever way the wind blows would be an expected outcome. Amanda Lemos is dynamite in the standup, especially in the proverbial phone booth, but she’s pretty easy to out-wrestle, out-grapple, what have you. Mackenzie Dern thinks she can strike, but truth be told, her striking has barely improved after several years with the promotion. If this goes her way, we’ll k

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 298 is just a couple days away and with it comes a very stiff test for our featherweight champion. Alexander Volkanovski is coming off another loss to Islam Makhachev, a rushed bout where Volk let the UFC pressure him into replacing an injured Charles Oliveira on short notice. Now, Ilia Topuria looms ahead of him, a stout fireplug of a man with exce…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comSean Strickland had a very eventful week in the leadup to Super Bowl Sunday. It started off right after the Republican caucus in Las Vegas, Nevada where former POTUS Donald Trump was making a speech. Just a few minutes into it, Trump gave Sean an extended shoutout and following the event, stopped in with the former UFC middleweight champion for photo op…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 86 is in the books and with it, we put the middleweights back on the shelf for a while….but wait, we’re not quite done with them just yet. Next week, UFC 297 will feature two contests at the 185lb limit, but fortunately for us, they’re both good fights. But let’s get back to the business of this particular event.Bloody Elbow is fighting for th…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 86 is the most Apex card that ever was…until the next one. They’re all starting to look the same to us. This week’s card is packed with 185-pounders, as if we needed yet another middleweight-led show. And just in case you missed our main card episode, here’s a few facts for you to get started:UFC Vegas 86 Factoids* Ranked fights (meaning both at…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comDid you know that since 2020, more than 50% of all UFC cards have been held at the Apex? And we all know that every time an event is held there, an angel loses its wings. UFC Vegas 86 is no different, as many already know, simply by looking at the name of the event. These days, having “Vegas” in the title is a signal that the matchmakers did their level…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comFor the last two weeks, the sports and entertainment communities have been reeling from the details revealed in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against the WWE, Vince McMahon and other executives and superstars under its umbrella. But before the lawsuit came to see the light of day, two big events occurred the last several months for WWE.Bloody Elbow is fighting …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comThe WWE is in hot water thanks to a lawsuit filed by former employee Janel Grant. The lawsuit alleges Vince McMahon, other officials and even included a former UFC superstar engaged in sex trafficking and/or sexual assault and the suit came with evidence. McMahon resigned from all his positions at WWE and TKO Holdings within hours and the evidence from …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 85 is officially in the books and much like it was on paper, in practice, it was a mixed bag. We ended up with just five finishes out of 13 fights. We had a no contest, a majority decision and six unanimous decisions. The main event was a grueling battle that got to be quite tedious with all the wall and stall that was happening and the Khizri…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 85 is kind of a mixed bag. The main card is solid—not great, but solid. However, the prelims are a whole other story. From the ultra softball match the promotion is giving Molly McCann to the lack of any name value aside from Molly’s, this undercard is a stinker.Bloody Elbow is fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. If you share ou…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC Vegas 85 might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s got several ranked fighters and an important main event, even if it’s not really a fight that will hit the casual fan’s radar. And since it’s at the Apex—where only the cameramen will clap, and the lone heckler that paid a small fortune to sit cageside and shout how the athletes are losers—it happ…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comIn what seems to be the most serendipitous timing in history, TKO Holdings was able to close a monumental deal with Netflix worth $5B to run WWE content over the next ten years. As a matter of fact, the press release announcing the broadcast partnership came just two days ahead of the bombshell exposé the WSJ did on former WWE head and TKO executive boa…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comA pair of unrelated videos surfaced yesterday that grabbed our attention, mainly for the inaccuracies contained in both. The first is a short clip of an interview former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy conducted with Dana White. The second is from the Joe Rogan Experience and features a conversation between Joe and former UFC heavyweight Brendan Sc…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comWe’re barely into the new year and UFC has already left us high and dry just two weeks after returning from a month-long drought. But lucky for you, our terrific trio are here to get you through this week with a re-watch of three godawful title fights. If the Apex were a thing back in the good old days, we’re certain this is where these three fights wou…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 297 was not the best card. As a matter of fact, if I had to rate it on a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 4. On paper, going into the event, we were quick to notice how there were no ranked fighters on the undercard and eight of those fighters were coming off losses. All four of the opening fights were loser vs. loser. The main card wasn’t much better, …

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comConor McGregor is—and has been for years—one of the most enigmatic figures in combat sports. Hell, he’s one of the most enigmatic figures in all of sports. Much like Ronda Rousey, he’s had a transcendent career journey, crossing the threshold between sports and pop culture. And with pop culture actually driving the demand for more events, stars like Con…

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit bloodyelbowpodcast.substack.comUFC 297 is officially in the books, the first PPV of the year and it brought us two brand new champions. The card, as a whole, wasn’t very strong on paper, and in practice, it was a bit underwhelming. The early prelims were great and saw serious action from the jump. But as the event wore on, the fights began slowing down. It was almost as if we were in…