By John Moody UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar, is deep into his training camp for the trilogy fight with Gray Maynard in May.  Part of that training includes tutelage from John Danaher, one of the best Jiu Jitsu coaches and strategists in the game based at Renzo Gracie's gym in New York City. Recently, Edgar took time to talk with Fighters.com about training with Danaher, fighting Gilbert Melendez in the future, his new T-shirt, Ricardo Almeida's retirement, and if he has decided the walk out music for his third consecutive title-fight defense. Click through to watch the interview. ...

By John Moody Rain, rain, rain.  Something about rain that is conducive for writing.  Creates a pensive mood here on Broadway and 77^th in the Big Apple. *My first MMA interview was with Kalib Starnes at UFC 71 in Las Vegas.  Starnes beat Chris Leben at that event, the under card of Chuck Liddell v. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.  Oh how Starnes and Leben’s careers have gone in different directions.  Starnes recently lost to Patrick Cote at RingSide MMA 10 in Montreal.  Leben will be in a featured fight against Wanderlei Silva at UFC 132. ...

By John Moody Earlier this year, Fighters.com alerted you to the emergence of Chris Weidman, before he was signed by the UFC, as one to watch in MMA.  Now, we highlight a veteran of the sport who is in the midst of a career resurgence and may be one or two wins away from the big call up to UFC/Strikeforce.  New Jersey's Chris Liguori is a fighter we have highlighted before on Fighters.com and tonight the Ring Of Combat Lightweight Champion looks for his fourth win in a row and sixth out of seven fights against M-1 Challenge veteran Mikhail Malyutin in Atlantic City. As Liguori notes in this video interview, he believes he is on par, skill-wise, with the best in the world and ready for the move to the highest level.  He also remarks, in fun, about his day job ... working on the railroad. Watch this video interview as he spars with his longtime training mate, Frankie Edgar. Click through to watch video. And if you are in Atlantic City tonight - Check out Liguori at Ring Of Combat! ...

By John Moody Kris McCray was favored by many to win the Ultimate Fighter 11 final against Court McGee, yet fell short in the second round.  With a loss in his first official Octagon fight at UFC 122 to Carlos Rocha, McCray is now itching to get back in the win column against John Hathaway at UFC Fight Night 24, in Seattle this Saturday. McCray will be in good hands with UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar, in his corner as he goes against Hathaway, a former hot commodity until his upset loss to Mike Pyle at UFC 120. McCray took some time to sit down with Fighters.com recently to talk about his upcoming fight, thoughts on the UFC/Strikeforce deal, and the always hot-topic of foot stomps in the cage. Click through to watch. ...

By John Moody UFC Lightweight Champion, Frankie Edgar, has a huge trilogy fight with Gray Maynard looming in May. But first, he is helping a host of Team Almeida fighters prepare for their big night.  Edgar will be in the corner for Ricardo Almeida's fight at UFC 128 Saturday against Mike Pyle. Then, his close training partner, Chris Liguori, fights in Ring Of Combat on April 8th. While helping his buddies peak for their fights, he is ramping up his own camp for another title defense against Gray Maynard at UFC 130. I spoke with Edgar yesterday on these topics and more. Click through to watch the video. ...

As the highly anticipated trilogy pitting current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar against Gray Maynard comeds to a head this May, UFC officials have since confirmed the main-card for the event. UFC 130 takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 28, with a stellar card that fans won't want to miss. Heading into their rubber match, both Edgar and Gray have a lot to prove, as the two men produced firework's in their last meeting, earning both "Fight of the Night" honors, despite the bout being ruled a split-draw. While most draw's are highly unpopular in the sport of mixed martial arts, it was not panned, and was rather viewed as a just call on all accounts. Both men will meet once again in order to prove who truly is the number one lightweight fighter in the world, and take home the coveted UFC title. ...

By John Moody Chris Liguori’s MMA career has been a wild ride -- from early wars against Pete Sell in Ring of Combat to a quick call up to the UFC in 2003 to a return to ROC mixed with a marquee win in Elite XC along the way.  As part of the Ricardo Almeida Fight Team he trains weekly with Frankie Edgar, Almeida, Nick Catone, Eddie Alvarez, Renzo Gracie and an on-going cast of visiting MMA stars.  Now on a three fight win streak and facing an April 8^th fight in the Ring of Combat, Liguori is an evolved fighter, but it seems opportunities from the top organizations are still held hostage by the scars of his very early career losses, before he took the sport and training as seriously as he does today. At 28, now fighting at lightweight, Liguori has seen it all in MMA and believes he is competing on par with the best in the sport and ready to return to the UFC. As one of Edgar’s primary training partners and corner men, he is not in awe of the flash and bright lights of the big stage and plans to keep winning fights wherever they happen until the call from UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, comes in. Liguori, a New Jersey native, recently took time to review his career and the future ahead with Fighters.com. ...

For UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, he still has a lot of proving to do inside the octagon. It wasn't enough that he took home the belt originally when he defeated arguably the greatest 155-pounder of all time in BJ Penn last April. But, the Toms River native had to repeat the gritty performance just four-months later in his first title defense. Instead, Edgar thoroughly dominated the Hawaiian and solidified his spot as not only the number one lightweight in the world, but as the undisputed UFC champion. However now, after ending an early "Fight of the Year" candidate bout with rival Gray Maynard in an anti-climatic draw at UFC 125 at the beginning of this month, he will have to challenge the Xtreme Couture product for a third time and solidify his standings as the best. But how does Edgar welcome the challenge? With open arms. ...

Current number one contender and World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight champion Anthony Pettis is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Risk your status as the next man to challenge for the worlds most prestigious title by taking a fight to bide the time, or wait on the wings for close to a year for a trilogy to play out before you see the goods? For the 23-year-old, Pettis doesn't think it's in his best interest to wait while a grudge is settled. Instead, the Milwaukee native could be returning to the cage as early as May, serving under a main event pitting his two possible future opponents in title challenger Gray Maynard and current UFC champ Frankei Edgar. ...

After an instant classic turned in last weekend, current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is expected to tangle with rival Gray Maynard once again, a little bit later this year. Both Edgar and Maynard were last inside the octagon just last weekend where both lightweight competitors turned in an early candidate for "Fight of the Year" (though both men will have to settle for just "Fight of the Night" at the UFC 125 pay-per-view event) as they battled it out for an exciting 25-minute affair at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Now, both men have been rumored to return to the same venue, same city, to determine who is the best 155-pound fighter in the world. ...

Frankie Edgar has had to do a lot of proving in recent years. Arguably the UFC's most undersized lightweight fighter, Edgar has done the impossible, twice in defeating former division king BJ Penn en route to his current position as the organization's 155-pound champion. Now, the only man to defeat Frankie in his professional mixed martial arts career is on deck next for "The Answer", and while the Toms River, New Jersey native has done everything to prove his contention as the best in the world, not nearly enough people are giving him the respect that he deserves, namely other professional fighters. ...

UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has had to do a lot of "proving" instead of receiving a lot of "praise" as he very well should be. After defeating the likes of Tyson Griffin, Hermes Franca, and Sean Sherk, Edgar eventually worked his way to a coeveted title shot against legend and dual champ BJ Penn. At UFC 112, Edgar shocked the world when he defeated the manic Hawaiian over the course of a five-round war, which saw him edge Penn only slightly. The two men rematched just a few months later at UFC 118 in August, and if there was any doubt whether or not Frankie won their previous affair, it was all laid to rest following the bouts conclusion, where Edgar thoroughly dominated the legend en route to another unanimous decision win. Now, Edgar will take on the only man to claim a victory over the New Jersey native during his 5-year career as a professional mixed martial artist in Gray Maynard at UFC 125 which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Jan. 1 in Las Vegas. ...

As the MMA world begins to detox from Pettis head kick euphoria, it is staring at a lightweight title fight at UFC 125, which will generate “Showtime’s” first UFC opponent.  Champion, Frankie Edgar, takes center stage for the third time in nine months as he eyes his second title defense facing the only man to beat him in his career, Gray Maynard.   After Edgar’s last five rounds of destruction over BJ Penn, his evolution as a multi-dimensional fighter is stark and clear.  The question in this rematch is … how much has Maynard evolved, if at all?  Against Kenny Florian, Maynard was dominant, yet predictable, using his wrestling to control the fight.  But Edgar’s own mat skills should blunt “The Bully’s” wrestling tool kit and Maynard has not shown to be nearly as deft in the standup game as “The Answer.”  So, this should be a far different affair than the first dance, which allowed Maynard to use his size difference to keep Edgar on his back. If Edgar shows with the same confusing, stunting boxing discipline he used to humble Penn and Sean Sherk, this could be a long night for Maynard. Here are the three keys to an Edgar victory at UFC 125. ...

Kru Phil Nurse, the founder of the 'The Wat' gym in Manhattan and thriving Muay Thai coach to the biggest names in the UFC sat down to talk with Fighters.com recently at the MMA World Expo.  Nurse comments on his training with George St. Pierre ahead of the Josh Koscheck fight, his on-going work with Frankie Edgar and how he applies his knowledge of Muay Thai for the ever-evolving world of MMA. Click through to watch the video. ...

As WEC 53 looms a bit closer, headliner's Anthony Pettis and reigning, defending champion Ben Henderson have just gotten word that they'll be moving to "the big show" following their lightweight tilt in December. While the prospects of a WEC championship is big in of itself, a little bit more has been added to the allure of victory. The winner between Anthony Pettis and Ben Henderson will not only move into the UFC following the WEC's last event in December due to the merger, however, the winner will also go on to unify the WEC title with the UFC's. ...

Renzo Gracie spoke his mind in part two of our exclusive Fighters.com video interview.  The MMA legend looks back to his fight vs. Matt Hughes in Abu Dhabi, expands on why Frankie Edgar has blown up, who will win Edgar/Maynard 2, why Matt Serra disregarded his Jiu Jitsu against Chris Lytle, and if he ever plans to fight again.  Click through to watch the video. ...

Along with the excitement announcement of today's UFC/WEC merger, a lot of implications were made as to how the whole scheme of things would pan out for each respective champion. Frankie Edgar, currently recognized as the UFC's lightweight champion will be defending his title on January 1 at UFC 125 against rival Gray Maynard. Meanwhile, WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson will look to defend his title for a second time when he squares up with the ultra-talented Anthony "Showtime" Pettis at WEC 53 in December. So, what does it mean when you have two champions being absolved into one weight class? Well, they would have to fight, of course. ...

Once again, I sympathize with UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.   On paper, Tom Lawlor vs. Patrick Cote at UFC 121 had all the ingredients for fireworks.  Yet, as we see more and more, when you combine a pure puncher with a native wrestler … who is committed to only wrestling, the potential for a sleeper is always close at hand. In baseball it goes ... "good pitching beats good hitting." In MMA should it go ... "good wrestling beats good standup?" ...

MMA legend Renzo Gracie took some time this week to speak on-camera with Fighters.com in New York City. In this clip, Gracie shares his thoughts and predictions on all the main card fights at UFC 121. Find out why he is picking Jake Shields over Martin Kampmann plus his thoughts on Brock Lesnar v. Cain Velasquez. Stay tuned to Fighters.com for Part 2 of our video interview where we talk about Matt Hughes, Ricardo Almeida, and the upcoming Frankie Edgar v. Gray Maynard lightweight title fight.  Coming soon. Click through to watch the video. ...

As the worlds largest mixed martial art's organization tries to ring in the new year, additional bouts have been added to a stacked card. Next New Year's, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the UFC will return to Nevada with a lightweight title fight pitting current champion Frankie Edgar, who is riding on a 5-fight win streak (which included two back-to-back victories over former champion BJ Penn) will look to exact revenge when he defends his title against the only man to defeat him, undefeated UFC lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard. Also in action, former Interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin is coming back to action after succumbing to his first defeat as a professional at UFC 116 when he tangles with the former IFL heavyweight champion and season 10 winner of "The Ultimate Fighter", Roy Nelson. ...

As previously anticipated, a lightweight title showdown between champion Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard will go on as scheduled for January 1st, serving headliner duties for ufc 125, in Las Vegas, Nev. Edgar recently has successfully defended his title against BJ Penn at UFC 118, dominating the former dual champion en route to a unanimous decision victory, with a clean sweep of scores with 50-45 across the board, between all three judges. Maynard, the only man to defeat Edgar to date, is coming off of arguably the biggest win of his career, when he defeated former title challenger Kenny Florian, at UFC 118. In Maynard fashion, he used his dominant wrestling prowess to control the Boston native on the ground, and won a clear-cut and otherwise uninspired unanimous decision. The bout was for number one contender spot and allowed him his chance to challenge for the title, for the first time, in his undefeated career. ...

Shinya Aoki is probably one of the most reserved fighters in the sport. Although his in-ring antics against Mizuto Hirota at "Dynamite!! 2009" would inidicate otherwise, the grappling ace usually keeps to himself and refrains from doing a lot of outlandish things. Maybe that's why the Japanese have embraced him as their leading man in the world of mixed martial arts. However, most recently, the famed Judoka has stepped out of his shell and lit the MMA world abuzz once again, with his almost brutal honesty, on how he views the Western MMA scene (um...us) and how they can benefit by tuning into DREAM, once in a while. ...

Antonio McKee, if anything else, is a dominant fighter. He hasn't put together the most exciting fights in his career, which is made evident by his 18 decision victories in his 25 wins as a professional, but his wrestling base has been something that has carried him through a 13-fight win streak (with 1 draw in the 14 fight stretch). However, since turning a corner in his career, finally at the ripe old age of 40, McKee is now on the heels of a two-fight finishing streak, most recently dispatching notable veteran Luiz Azevedo in defense of his MFC lightweight title. The 7 years Azevedo has competed as a professional mixed martial artist, he has defeated some of the sports best, including Rodrigo Damm, Din Thomas, and currently holds a victory over WEC featherweight champion Jose Aldo--the Novia Uniao product's only career defeat. Making a promise to himself in an effort to finish fights as a last "hoorah" to the big time, McKee has finally reached the pinnacle of his career when he was recently acquired by the worlds largest organization: the UFC. ...

As the year is coming closer to an end, the now annual World MMA Awards, which is hosted by Fighters Only Magazine, has recently announced their finalists for the December 1st event, which will take place once again in Las Vegas, Nev., which has become a hot bed for all things fighting related. The 2009 event opened up to a large audience, and has become a propellant in the mixed martial arts world, opening up the eyes to a mainstream audience, by the community taking leaps and bounds in order to legitimize itself as not only a legitimate sport, but one that deserves that same sort of recognition that most others receive, here in these United States. ...

BJ Penn has been the most frustrating fighter above all others in the UFC. Limitless potential, incredible skill, and the Hawaiian still hasn't figured out the right recipe in order to become a dominant champion. His prowess is obvious, as he still remains a prodigy before his time, earning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt within just a few years into the game, winning tournaments, transitioning into mixed martial arts and holding both titles in the lightweight and welterweight divisions, BJ Penn will be remembered for some time. However, after succumbing to his second consecutive loss to current lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, in an uninspired performance which saw the former champion drop a land slide of a decision to the New Jersey native, BJ Penn should have the right motivation when he steps into the cage in November to face rival Matt Hughes. ...

Jim Miller is admittedly just outside the top 5 or 6 ranked UFC lightweights, but all that could change with a convincing victory over Gleison Tibau on September 15th in Austin Texas at UFC Fight Night 22.  Miller is on a powerful four fight win streak and has only one loss in the UFC ... to title contender Gray Maynard.  Miller took some time to speak with Fighters.com recently about his upcoming fight and Frankie Edgar's recent victory over BJ Penn at UFC 118.  Click through to listen! ...

The former ufc welterweight and lightweight champion, BJ Penn, has seen better days. When he claimed the 170-pound title from then pound-for-pound great Matt Hughes, it was the pinnacle of his career at that point. After an disappointing run in the UFC's 155 pound division, Penn moved to the welterweight division and immediately challenged Hughes for the title. Little gave Penn a chance to win, but win he did. He submitted the grappling ace with a rear-naked choke inside of the first round and claimed immediate celebrity amongst his peers in the MMA community. The glory days weren't all that long ago. After moving back down to 155, "The Prodigy" claimed the ever elusive title at UFC 80 against perennial contender Joe Stevenson, before going on to defend the title against the likes of Sean Sherk, Kenny Florian, and Diego Sanchez (respectively). Then, he met Frankie Edgar. ...

With the titles changing hands in several of the UFC's more prominent and popular divisions, I felt it was necessary to pay close attention to the change of the guard that is looming our way. Circa the Chuck Liddell era, the light heavyweight title always had a steady stream of challengers, but none who were able to match "The Iceman" on the feet or find the way to take him down. Then came Quinton Jackson...then Forrest for Quinton...then Rashad for Forrest, and so on and so on. ...

This question came to me while watching the UFC 118 countdown show on Spike TV.  One specific quote jumped out ... as out of character for BJ Penn and not something I expected to hear from one of the greatest lightweight fighters of all time.  While Penn has said numerous boastful statements such as “I can’t wait to finish him” but it was the following Penn soundbite that possibly gave us a glimpse into the fears of BJ Penn. “If things go bad in the future and if I lose to Frankie, or I lost to any other people, I will be number one to myself. It will always be good here.” ...

As if the upcoming UFC 118 fight between top-ranked Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard didn’t have enough riding on  it already, UFC President Dana White recently stated in a radio interview that the winner of the fight would most likely receive a shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship. This makes a whole lot of sense since, even though Frank Edgar did the seemingly-impossible and defeated BJ Penn at UFC 112, the Lightweight division is still recuperating from BJ Penn’s reign of dominance as UFC Lightweight Champion. I was already looking forward to Florian/Maynard for several reasons, but now I can’t wait to see this fight because I think that all four title fights that could possibly be made each possess some very interesting stories. So here’s what I think about the individual match-ups: Penn vs. Florian 2, Edgar vs. Florian, Edgar vs. Maynard 2, and Penn vs. Maynard. ...