MMA News

Cole Shelton - September 22, 2020

The 11th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC 253. We’re first joined by third-ranked light heavyweight and one-half of the vacant title fight, Jan Blachowicz (2:34). Next, seventh-ranked flyweight, Kai Kara-France (15:52) comes on. 13th ranked bantamweight, Sijara Eubanks (40:27) then joins the program. Finally, 10th ranked flyweight, Brandon Royval (51:47) closes out the show.

Tom Taylor - September 22, 2020

Stephan Bonnar recently shared a pretty wild story involving Diego Sanchez, the mountains of Albuquerque, some psychedelics, and apparently, UFOs. Sanchez and Bonnar got to know each other on season one of The Ultimate Fighter, but the pair have recently reconnected, and Bonnar will actually corner Sanchez in his UFC 253 undercard fight with Jake Matthews.

Harry Kettle - September 22, 2020

UFC bantamweight Sean O’Malley was tapped out by Robert Degle in the finals of a recent jiu-jitsu tournament. O’Malley is coming off the back of a devastating defeat at the hands of Marlon “Chito” Vera, and as he continues to wait for an opportunity to get back to winning ways inside the Octagon, he is using the time away to compete in a different martial arts competition.

Harry Kettle - September 22, 2020

UFC middleweight Markus Perez has challenged Khamzat Chimaev to step up and replace Rodolfo Vieira for a proposed fight on October 10 after Vieira withdrew. The rise of Chimaev has been fascinating thus far, and this past weekend, his legend rose even further as he knocked Gerald Meerschaert out cold to take his UFC record to 3-0 and his mixed martial arts record to 9-0.

Adam Martin - September 21, 2020

UFC welterweight Colby Covington fired back at his critics, claiming that NBA superstar LeBron James “wouldn’t last 10 seconds” with him. Covington took a shot at James, the LA Lakers superstar, following his fifth-round TKO win over Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 this past Saturday night. In his post-fight interview, Covington thanked all the first responders in the United States for their service and bashed “woke athletes” and “spineless cowards,” naming James.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2020

Daniel Cormier has high expectations for Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev made his UFC debut back in July and took the MMA world by storm after he dominated John Philipps en route to a second round submission win at middleweight. He then fought again 10 days later where he beat Rhys McKee by TKO at welterweight.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2020

Diego Sanchez is no longer worried about becoming a UFC champion. Sanchez, who won the first season of The Ultimate Fighter at middleweight in 2005 was poised to be a UFC champion one day. Yet, that never came to fruition. Sanchez went 0-1 in title fights and now at 38-years-old isn’t worried about fighting for gold again.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2020

Colby Covington is open to fighting Nick Diaz next time out. Covington returned to the win column at UFC Vegas 11 with a fifth-round TKO win over Tyron Woodley. After the fight, he called for a rematch with Kamaru Usman or friends turned enemy fight with Jorge Masvidal.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2020

In the main event of UFC Vegas 11, Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley finally had their grudge match after years of trying to make the fight happen. Covington was fighting for the first time since suffering a TKO loss to Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title. Woodley, meanwhile, was on a two-fight losing skid and looking to get back into the win column.

Adam Martin - September 21, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker says he is interested in fighting former title challenger Anthony Smith next. Walker defeated Ryan Spann via first-round TKO in a crazy back-and-forth brawl at UFC Vegas 11. It was a much-needed win for Walker, who had lost back-to-back fights to Corey Anderson and Nikita Krylov heading into this fight. Following the win over Spann, Walker now has a 4-2 overall record in the UFC with four knockout wins.

Adam Martin - September 21, 2020

UFC president Dana White recently provided an update about where talks are with former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. Lesnar recently became a free agent when his WWE contract expired, and naturally, fans and media immediately began speculation about a return to the Octagon. As soon as the news broke that Lesnar was a free agent again, fighters such as Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic raised their hands and said they would like to take the Lesnar fight.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2020

Former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Anthony Johnson is looking absolutely lethal ahead of his planned return to the Octagon. Johnson has not fought since April of 2017, when he was submitted in his second attempt at swiping the UFC light heavyweight title from Daniel Cormier. Despite his lengthy hiatus, he does not seem to have lost a step in training.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2020

NBA legend LeBron James has responded to his haters just days after a highly-publicized callout by UFC welterweight standout Colby Covington. Covington picked up a lopsided TKO win over Tyron Woodley, a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, at UFC Vegas 11 over the weekend. In his post-fight interview with Jon Anik, Covington set his sights on James, another champion for the BLM movement.

Adam Martin - September 21, 2020

UFC president Dana White says the UFC “has looked at” alternative MMA gloves to curb eye pokes, one of the sport’s biggest problems. On nearly every fight card we have instances of a fighter being poked in the eye. Most of the time the fighter is able to recover somewhat and continue fighting, albeit at a disadvantage in some cases, such as in the Stipe Miocic vs. Daniel Cormier rematch. In some instances, the eye pokes are so bad that the fight is called off completely, such as in the first meeting between Jeremy Stephens and Yair Rodriguez.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2020

UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier isn’t giving up on his previously rumored matchup with Tony Ferguson. For many weeks, Poirier and Ferguson were expected to fight at UFC 254 on Fight Island. Regrettably, the matchup fell through when Poirier was unable to agree to terms with the UFC.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2020

UFC President Dana White had quite a setup waiting for him when he arrived on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi for UFC 253 this week. UFC 253 goes down this Saturday and will mark the first event of the promotion’s second stint on the highly publicized Fight Island—Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. The promotion held it’s first four events on Fight Island during a three-week period in July. This time around, the promotion will be on the island for a five-week span, featuring five events, and it looks like White will be very comfortable for the duration of his visit.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2020

Michael Chandler has signed with the UFC and has already been tapped as the back-up fighter for the UFC 254 main event. UFC 254 goes down on October 24 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, and will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between undefeated champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Justin Gaethje. Chandler, the former Bellator lightweight champion, will be on-call in Abu Dhabi, and ready to step in should either man fail to make it to the cage on fight night.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2020

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has provided an update on his injuries after his UFC Vegas 11 loss to his arch rival Colby Covington. Woodley was soundly beaten by Covington through the first four rounds of their fight, and ultimately stopped in the fifth round after he seemed to sustain some kind of rib injury.