MMA News

James Lynch - April 11, 2019

Joseph Benavidez didn’t get to face Henry Cejudo next but will get to face familiar foe instead. UFC officials confirmed Wednesday that former title challenger Benavidez will face Jussier Formiga at UFC Minneapolis on June 29.  These two first fought at UFC Fight Night 28 in Sept. 2013, with Benavidez earning a first-round TKO finish. Benavidez (27-5) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Dustin Ortiz at UFC Brooklyn in January which gave him back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 2016. Prior to that, the Xtreme Couture product earned his first stoppage victory since Apr. 2014 when he finished Alex Perez in the first round via TKO. The two-time UFC title challenger has gone 8-1 in his last nine fights, including a split decision nod over current flyweight kingpin Henry Cejudo. Benavidez made his UFC debut in Mar. 2011 and holds wins over John Moraga, Tim Elliott and the aforementioned champ Cejudo.

Cole Shelton - April 11, 2019

In the co-main event of UFC 236 this Saturday, Israel Adesanya is set to take on Kelvin Gastelum for the UFC’s interim middleweight title. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Although many think Adesanya will win, some just can’t count out Gastelum.

Nolan King - April 10, 2019

Conor McGregor’s recent surge of tweets continued Wednesday evening, as the former UFC Champ Champ replied to dozens of comments on Twitter. One Twitter user asked McGregor why his footwork appeared to be so flatfooted in his last fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Nolan King - April 10, 2019

Wednesday afternoon, the Miami Herald released a full surveillance video of the recent incident involving Conor McGregor, a fan, and a phone. The incident occurred outside of the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The video shows McGregor and his entourage come into the shot, with multiple individuals walking near him, filming him.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2019

Though UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway closed out the year 2018 on a high note, defeating Brian Ortega in December, the rest of the year was not particularly kind to him. The Hawaiian star was forced to deal with a procession of cancelled fights, injuries, and some struggles with depression. Max Holloway opened up on his rough 2018 — including his fight with depression — in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2019

At UFC Philadelphia, Josh Emmett delivered an undeniable Knockout of the Year contender, flattening Michael Johnson in the third round of their featherweight contest. Surprisingly, however, his jaw-dropping knockout victory didn’t earn him a post-fight bonus. Like many fans, he’s still scratching his head about that.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2019

ONE Championship has announced the full lineup for its upcoming ONE: For Honor card, which will go down on May 3 inside Jakarta, Indonesia’s Istora Senayan. As previously announced, the card will be topped by a ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title bout between Thai champion Sam-A Gaiyanghadao and English challenger Jonathan Haggerty.

James Lynch - April 10, 2019

Bellator’s two division champion is staying put. To no one’s surprise, Bellator light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Ryan Bader has re-signed with the promotion. According to MMAFighting it’s an exclusive, multi-year deal with the promotion. Bader (27-5) has yet to lose a fight under the Bellator banner. After years of coming up short for a UFC title shot, Bader captured the Bellator light heavyweight title in his promotional debut in 2017, defeating Phil Davis in a rematch at Bellator NYC. Following a stoppage victory over Linton Vassell at Bellator 186, the 35-year-old would step up a weight class and compete in the Heavyweight Grand Prix. From there, the Power MMA and Fitness product would stop Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal at Bellator 199 and dominate Matt Mitrione at Bellator 207 on route to a unanimous decision victory.

Mike Pendleton - April 10, 2019

If there was ever a fighter who embodied the true definition of a martial artist, where the beauty is in the way the fighter fights, the way the fighter carries themselves, and the message they fight for, Michelle Waterson is that fighter. In fact, while the ‘Karate Hottie’ sees her fanbase grow with every dance-off, every fight, and every social media interaction she has, Waterson looks to inspire on a much deeper level.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2019

Former Strikeforce, DREAM and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has been fighting for a very long time. And despite his long history in the rings and cages of the world’s top promotions, he’s still a force to be reckoned with, ranked as one of the top contenders in the perilous UFC heavyweight division. Speaking on The MMA Hour recently, Alistair Overeem explained that a big key to his longevity has been his frequent camp changes. For example, after his recent loss to Curtis Blaydes, he migrated to Elevation Fight Team to train alongside Blaydes.

Tom Taylor - April 10, 2019

Yesterday afternoon, former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw was hit with a two-year suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), a substance that can only be injected, and is therefor not taken accidentally. Speaking on Instagram, Duane Ludwig, the long-time handler of TJ Dillashaw, issued a quick statement on the situation. He referred to Dillashaw’s EPO use as “inexcusable” but vowed to stand by his student.

Christopher Taylor - April 9, 2019

The nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach of TJ Dillashaw has released a statement on the former Bantamweight champs positive drug test results. The coach, Sam Calavitta, released the following statement (via ESPN’s Brett Okamoto) shortly following today’s news that TJ Dillashaw had been suspended two years for using EPO.

Drake Riggs - April 9, 2019

Last month it was announced that perennial top UFC middleweight contender, Yoel Romero would be rematching with Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza in the main event of UFC Fort Lauderdale on April 27. That is opposed to Romero fighting Paulo Costa who he was originally expected to face. Costa and Romero have been linked to fights with one another on two separate occasions now. The first of which was targeted for UFC 230 in November 2018. The reason for the fight not coming to fruition was due to Romero still recovering from a broken orbital bone.

Chris Taylor - April 9, 2019

Conor McGregor recently took to Twitter where he shared his reaction to the two-year suspension handed down on TJ Dillashaw by USADA. Earlier this afternoon, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported that TJ Dillashaw’s positive test, which forced him to vacate his bantamweight title, was a result of the banned substance EPO. Consequently, Dillashaw has received a two-year suspension as a result. This suspension is dated retroactively to January 18, 2019.

Nolan King - April 9, 2019

LFA champion Brendan Allen (11-3) and surging Canadian Aaron Jeffery (6-1) are potentially one fight away from a UFC contract. The two middleweights will be squaring off on the July 16 episode of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, multiple sources confirm to BJPenn.com Allen, 23, is highly regarded as one of the best unsigned middleweight prospects in North America. Competing against tough competition for the entirety of his stint in MMA, has suffered three career losses. All three men that beat Allen went on to make it to the UFC — Anthony Hernandez, Eryk Anders, and Trevin Giles.

Drake Riggs - April 9, 2019

Former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw has officially been suspended for two years due to a USADA drug test failure. But the test that did him in wasn’t his first time testing positive. It was revealed on Tuesday that Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), which is a substance that is not found in contaminated supplements as it can only be used via injection and boosts an athlete’s cardiovascular performance.

Mike Pendleton - April 9, 2019

The UFC’s strawweight division has seen a fair share of new title contenders rise to the top of the division ever since Rose Namajunas dethroned former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in November 2017. While names like Tatiana Suarez, Nina Ansaroff, and Weili Zhang rising up the ranks and inching towards title contention, a veteran, Michelle Waterson, coming off the biggest win of her career, feels she deserves the next title shot and believes the timing is perfect for it.

Drake Riggs - April 9, 2019

The Summertime is always a big time of the year for the UFC as evidenced by the big events they put on with all of them culminating at the end of International Fight Week. This year, the end event of that will be UFC 239 on July 6. But before we get there, the promotion has to head through Chicago, Illinois for UFC 238. And with plenty of fantastic bouts already on the bill, it continues to get more as finalization looms.