Lewis Thompson

1 week ago | talksport.com | Lewis Thompson

The UFC's first-ever venue is now a car park. With a capacity of 16,000, the McNichols Sports Arena was completed in 1975 at a cost of £12.6million ($16m). The indoor sports arena in Denver, Colorado, witnessed eight of the world's deadliest fighters locked horns in a never-before-seen mixed martial arts tournament. MMA pioneers like Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock competed at the November 1993 event when all fights were no-holds barred.

1 week ago | talksport.com | Lewis Thompson

Sean O'Malley is looking sharp ahead of his bantamweight title fight against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in June. O'Malley's coach, Tim Welch, released footage of his fighter hitting pads with an array of strikes on Wednesday. But several UFC fans are hoping that 'Suga' has made improvements in a different area for his main event bout with Dvalishvili. O'Malley is a former bantamweight champion, but he dropped the 135lb title to current king Dvalishvili at UFC 306 in September.

1 week ago | talksport.com | Lewis Thompson

Swedish MMA fighter Andreas Gustafsson will make history when he makes his UFC debut in Las Vegas on Saturday. Gustafsson will become the first fighter in the promotion's history to wear a UFC Debut Patch when he fights American Trevin Giles at UFC Fight Night. This follows a partnership between the UFC and collectible cards company Topps. Topps revealed the partnership on Wednesday, saying UFC newbies will now wear a 'Debut Patch on their gear for their first fight in the promotion.

1 week ago | talksport.com | Lewis Thompson

Darren Till thinks his fellow scouser Paddy Pimblett would stop UFC veteran Justin Gaethje in a potential 'brilliant' fight. Liverpool's MMA star Pimblett is just one fight away from his first title shot in the UFC, having made easy work of Michael Chandler in his latest bout last month. He is undefeated in seven successive UFC fights now as the promotion's No. 8 ranked lightweight and wants his next appearance in the Octagon to set up his first shot at gold in Dana White's promotion.

1 week ago | talksport.com | Lewis Thompson

Roy Jones Jr. believes he could 'make a lot of difference' as Ilia Topuria's trainer for UFC 317. Topuria gets his first shot at the UFC lightweight title in a matter of weeks now when he faces former champion Charles Oliveira in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both men will lock horns for the vacant strap at 155 lbs after No. 1 pound-for-pound (P4P) king Islam Makhachev announced he would be dropping the title to move up and fight at welterweight.