Tag: MMA Year In Review

JNPO: MMA year in review – The Nate Diaz UFC circus comes to a fitting end

Posted on by Josh Nason

The MMA year in review series on Josh Nason’s Punch-Out continues with a stop in July, August and September — a raucous three months that saw big title changes and a crazy lead-up to UFC 279.

Joining me as always is Wrestling Observer ratings writer and Fight Game Media podcaster Paul Fontaine.

The big story of this three months was the bizarre situation around UFC 279 which originally was set to have Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev in the main event. That was, until Chimaev missed weight and there was a day-long effort to shuffle three fights around that actually made for a better show.

We also talk about one of the feel-good stories of the year when Leon Edwards knocked Kamaru Usman out cold with a head kick at the last minute to both win the welterweight title and end Usman’s epic winning streak.

Over 1200 headlines were scanned for this show, so we hit up plenty of other stories as well.

If you have missed any of this or the pro wrestling year in review series, check out the archives. You can also subscribe to our free show RSS feed and get them in your podcast app of choice.

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JNPO: MMA year in review – The scale knocks a UFC champion out

Posted on by Josh Nason

The second installment in the annual Josh Nason’s Punch-Out MMA year in review series has arrived with a look at April, May and June 2022.

Joining me as always is F4Wonline writer & Fight Game Media podcaster Paul Fontaine. I scanned nearly 1500 headlines to find the top news stories, fight results, rumors and such to find the best of the bunch.

Leading the pack is the controversy around May’s UFC 274 which saw the first-ever UFC champion lose their title on the scale as lightweight kingpin Charles Oliveira missed by half a pound. We discuss what happened, the fallout, and what happened in the fight itself.

That show also featured one of the most boring UFC title fights in UFC history followed by one of the most exciting in company history just a month later.

We also talk about some Bellator headlines, including AJ McKee losing the featherweight title to rival Patricio Pitbull in their rematch.

Hear all that and more on this hour-long episode looking back at the second quarter of MMA in 2022.

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JNPO: MMA year in review – Q3 2021

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: Gary A. Vasquez | USA Today

As always, this is a free show. Just click the red button below to listen.

The annual Josh Nason’s Punch-Out four-part series looking back at the year in MMA continues on with part three covering July through September 2021.

In this three installment, Wrestling Observer/Fight Game Media podcaster and writer Paul Fontaine returns for an hour to cover the following and much more:

  • Dustin Poirier defeated Conor McGregor once again in their trilogy fight that saw McGregor leave with his leg broken
  • Emerging boxing PPV star Jake Paul became a fast-growing thorn in the side of both Dana, the UFC and MMA
  • A new UFC interim heavyweight champion was crowned out of stubborness
  • The return of Nick Diaz
  • Tito Ortiz’s forgettable 2021 ending at the hands of Anderson Silva in a boxing match at a Triller show that had former President Trump on commentary…and more.

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JNPO: The 2020 MMA year in review show, pt. 3

Posted on by Josh Nason

Throughout a very forgettable 2020, the sport of MMA continued to forge ahead with the UFC doing everything within their control to put on shows, finally settling on the APEX in Las Vegas and Fight Island in Abu Dhabi as their home bases for the foreseeable future.

In the third installment of a four part series, Figure Four Online/Fight Game Media writer and podcaster Paul Fontaine and I look at what became a business as usual three month stretch of July, August, and September.

Here’s part one and part two in case you missed them.

Our discussion includes:

  • Jorge Masvidal getting a new contract and a big, short notice opportunity against Kamaru Usman to kick off UFC’s Fight Island debut
  • The Fight Island era kicking off with four shows
  • Dana White and Conor McGregor breaking bro code
  • The UFC’s greatest heavyweight champion of all time being decided
  • Former Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler signing with UFC
  • Israel Adesanya shutting up critics while the unheralded Jan Blachowicz won UFC gold
  • Colby Covington defeating a rival and then starting some controversy with his comments afterward
  • And plenty more.

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JNPO: The 2020 MMA year in review show, pt. 2

Posted on by Josh Nason

As we hurtle toward the end of a pretty terrible 2020, let’s not forget that the sport and spectacle that is MMA gave us plenty to look back on, both good and bad. 

In this second installment of a four part series, I am joined by Figure Four Online/Fight Game Media writer and podcaster Paul Fontaine to sift through the last 12 months, one quarter a time.

After working through January through March, Paul and I arrive at April, May and June, aka the UFC’s strange new reality in attempting to put on shows in a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.

Our discussion includes:

  • The UFC’s aborted attempt at running events at Tachi Palace in Lemoore, CA, that got California governor Gavin Newsom involved
  • The cancellation and revival of UFC 249 which resulted in one of the most entertaining main cards of the year
  • The birth of Fight Island and the accidental birth of the name
  • Florida being Florida, the Jacksonville era and what happened when Jacare Souza tested positive
  • Teeth falling out, a referee accused of smelling like booze and cigarettes, and Jon Jones being Jon Jones.

All that and more awaits your click and listen below:

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JNPO: 2019 MMA year in review, pt. 4

Posted on by Josh Nason

In the finale of the 2019 MMA year in review series, Josh Nason and guest Paul Fontaine run through the final three months of 2019. 

A taste of what we cover:

  • Israel Adesanya’s UFC middleweight title unification win and whether it was the start of something big for the company
  • An eventful UFC Boston show that featured a new light heavyweight title contender, a great co-main event, and InhalerGate
  • A fantastic UFC return to Madison Square Garden headlined by a BMF title fight…that ended in a doctor’s stoppage
  • The bizarre Nick Diaz/Ariel Helwani interview
  • The official announcement for the return of Conor McGregor
  • Colby Covington finally got a UFC title shot and came away with a hashtag instead
  • Max Holloway’s long UFC featherweight title reign ended
  • Rory MacDonald loses his Bellator welterweight title and then surprisingly signs with the PFL
  • Some surprising UFC releases…and more.

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JNPO: 2019 MMA year in review, part 1

Posted on by Josh Nason

It’s December. You know what that means.

I kick off our four-part journey through the MMA year that was in 2019 with our good friend and website writer Paul Fontaine, aka The King of Winnipeg.

On the docket for our look through January, February, and March:

  • UFC’s debut on ESPN and the 32-second main event win to kick off the ESPN+ era
  • Ryan Bader becoming a Bellator champ-champ with a 35-second knockout of Fedor Emelianenko
  • Colby Covington’s non-stop petitioning for a UFC title shot and his verbal assault against Dana White
  • Cain Velasquez return and then exit from MMA after meeting Francis Ngannou’s hands
  • The fall of T.J. Dillashaw
  • March’s UFC 235 which featured the return of Jon Jones, Ben Askren’s memorable debut, and a new welterweight champion
  • The kickoff to Jorge Masvidal’s big 2019 with his knockout of Darren Till 
  • The constant will they/won’t they regarding Donald Cerrone and Conor McGregor
  • ESPN taking over the distribution of UFC’s pay-per-views…and tons more

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JNPO: MMA Year In Review, January-March

Posted on by Josh Nason

With a few weeks left to go before the end of the year, that means it’s time to begin our annual look back at the MMA year that was, broken up into four parts.

This 90-minute edition of Josh Nason’s Punch-Out covers the first three months of the year and features WrestlingObserver.com and MMADraws.com writer Paul Fontaine, returning for his third straight year of kicking off the series.

Just a few of the items on our topic board:

  • Mayweather vs. McGregor started moving from ‘no way’ to ‘it looks like there’s a chance’
  • GSP officially announced his return and was booked in a middleweight title fight with no date or location
  • The fallout from Ronda Rousey’s late-December loss
  • USADA suspended Brock Lesnar in January and then he retired in February
  • Meryl Streep takes a dig at MMA during her Oscars speech and the MMA world goes nuts
  • Tyron Woodley made news by feuding with Dana White, teasing a fight vs. Michael Bisping and having a boring rematch against Stephen Thompson
  • Everyone wanted to box. EVERYONE.
  • Tito Ortiz retired, Matt Mitrione had kidney stones, and Bellator announced their return to PPV
  • Germaine de Randamie won the UFC women’s featherweight title and turned everyone against her in the process
  • Our Tom Lawlor got suspended by USADA
  • A dream fight of Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov was canceled at the last minute due to a bad weight cut, causing all of us to cry
  • Bellator signed a slew of free agents, changing up the game
  • And plenty more!

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