MCGRATH: The inspiration that is Jared Gordon
I got the opportunity to talk to Jared Gordon in December, for about 30 minutes for a story I was working on. I knew Jared’s story; but I was not sure that everybody else did. […]
MCGRATH’S TAKE
MCGRATH: In-person thoughts from Bellator 222
Bellator felt big! This Bellator card felt like the biggest card in the history of the promotion. Everybody who is anybody in the MMA media was there to cover the event. Which is not typical […]
MCGRATH: Sunday MMA musings, UFC 238 thoughts
Sunday thoughts From the world of MMA A title shot for Ferguson? Dana White is non-committal on Tony Ferguson getting the next title shot after Khabib-Poirier. Part of me thinks that if Khabib has a […]
MCGRATH-Sunday thoughts from the week in MMA: Gustafsson retires, Anthony Smith’s next fight, McGregor, Andy Ruiz, more
News and notes from the week in combat sports Gustaffson retires. Alexander Gustaffson allegedly retired from MMA yesterday after another defeat in front of his home country. Gus should reset and look for greener pastures. […]
MCGRATH: The last chance for Alexander Gustafsson
Imagine you had one amazing day on your job. Imagine you’re on a sales team, and your team went up against the best team in the country. You hung in there, you were scrappy, hell […]
MCGRATH: MMA-Military connection runs deep
There are two things in this world that I love outside of my friends and family: mixed martial arts and the men and women of the United States Military. Being a huge MMA fan through […]
MCGRATH: 10 things I learned this weekend in MMA (and boxing)
It’s interesting to note that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammates who were involved in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl are going in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission next week. Khabib has said a million times […]
MCGRATH: 12 things I learned this weekend in MMA
UFC 237 and Bellator 221 were much hyped and rightly so. Both cards delivered for the most part and the knockouts especially for Bellator were spectacular. Let’s dig in on 12 storylines from the weekend […]
MCGRATH: ‘Cowboy’ refuses to ride off into the sunset
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and his outright refusal to ride into the sunset is the best story in all of MMA right now. Cerrone parading his son around the octagon after yet another impressive win was […]
MCGRATH: How Dustin Poirier will upset Max Holloway at UFC 236
Perhaps nobody in MMA is hotter than Max Holloway right now. The Hawaiian reigning, defending featherweight champion has won 13 (Thirteen!) Fights in a row. Nobody has more mojo than Dustin Poirier. The Cajun born […]
MCGRATH: How Kelvin Gastelum will get it done at UFC 236
To say that it is a good time to be a fan of mixed martial arts would be like saying Dana White has a problem with Ariel Helwani. It’s a little obvious. We have another […]
MCGRATH: You can’t spell ‘dope’ without EPO
I caught myself dreaming on it a little bit too. Max Holloway was ringside in Brooklyn. It was the debut of the UFC on ESPN. The once niche sport had gone Broadway, literally. Holloway was […]
MCGRATH: The table is set for Cormier-Lesnar, but is that the true money match?
Brock Lesnar was defeated at Wrestlemania 35 Sunday night. The loss signalled the end of Lesnar’s latest WWE championship run. It’s interesting to note that Lesnar’s advocate/attorney/mouthpiece or whatever, Paul Heyman got on the mic […]
MCGRATH: Conor-Khabib feud has gotten out of hand but, in the end, business will win out
Conor McGregor is not acting like a man who is retired. There are no pictures of him watering the grass or building model airplanes with his son. McGregor, the Irish megastar is not acting very […]
MCGRATH: No Conor, No problem for UFC
The current deal the UFC just finalized with the biggest sports network in history ESPN has got the UFC what it has always wanted. UFC president Dana White claims his company is now one of […]
MCGRATH: The rise and stumble of Darren Till
Darren Till is an easy guy to root for. He comes across as an intelligent guy, he seems sincere and most importantly this day an age: he is a great Twitter follow. It is really […]
MCGRATH: Ranking the top ten pound for pound fighters in MMA
1. Jon Jones (UFC light heavyweight champion) Jones is back and in as dominant form as he has ever been. Since returning from suspension, Jones has dominated Alexander Gustafson and Anthony Smith and looked virtuous […]
MCGRATH: Like Tom Brady and Michael Jordan, Jon Jones is the surest bet in sports
Everybody loses. I have said that at often, and I truly believe in that theme. I never get too up and too down when a fighter wins and loses. It’s the natural cycle of life […]
MCGRATH: Ranking the top ten strawweights in MMA
1. Rose Namajuanas (UFC champion) The champion is coming off back to back impressive victories. She’s been off for almost a year and has the biggest test of her career coming up in Brazil at […]
MCGRATH: Ranking the top ten female flyweights in MMA
1. Valentina Shevchenko (UFC champion) I get the feeling Valentina could dominate the 125-pound division for as long as she wants. Does Amanda Nunes move down? After a dominating performance over Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Amanda Nunes […]
MCGRATH: Ranking the top ten female bantamweights in MMA
1. Amanda Nunes (UFC Champion) Nunes is the greatest Bantamweight of all time, the champion has had a dominant run of defeating Cris Cyborg, Valentina Shevchenko twice, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey all in a […]
MCGRATH: Making sense of the Khabib-Conor Nevada Commission hearings
October 6, 2019, and April 6, 2019. Mark those dates down on the calendar. Those are very important dates in Mixed Martial Arts world as Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov respectively end their NSAC suspensions […]
MCGRATH: Don’t be so quick to jump off the Aaron Pico bandwagon
The MMA gods don’t care about your hype. Never has this been more evident than Saturday night at Bellator 214. Aaron Pico, featherweight prospect du jour hit another roadblock in his destiny to be the […]
MCGRATH: Ranking the top ten male flyweights in MMA
1. Henry Cejudo Cejudo has already done more for the flyweight division than Demetrius Johnson ever did. Beating TJ Dillashaw the way he did catapulted Cejudo into potentially top five pound for pound status. We shall […]
MCGRATH: 8 things I learned attending UFC Brooklyn
Sights and a few things I learned from UFC Brooklyn Admit it. You thought TJ Dillashaw was the superior talent. The superior martial artist, hell maybe you just straight up undervalued what Henry Cejudo is. […]