MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Rory MacDonald is no longer a Bellator fighter, having signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) in 2020. While this promotion change has opened the door to some new and exciting matchups for MacDonald, it has seemingly closed the door on a trilogy fight between MacDonald and reigning Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, who are currently tied 1-1 across two previous bouts. Yet MacDonald doesn’t see it that way.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Last night, Lance Palmer became a two-time Professional Fighters League (PFL) champion, defeating Alex Gilpin by unanimous decision to win the featherweight belt. As usual, Palmer’s father Wayne was in the building to support, and he made a pretty interesting wardrobe choice for his night out. The elder Palmer was visible several times on broadcast. Fans promptly noticed that he was wearing a slightly doctored UFC shirt. Instead of reading Ultimate Fighting Championship, it read Ultimate Farting Championship.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Last night, Hawaii’s Ray Cooper III became a millionaire, winning the PFL’s 2019 welterweight season by defeating David Michaud. While this victory is still fresh, Cooper is already looking ahead to the 2020 PFL season. This upcoming season will be particularly exciting for PFL welterweights given that the promotion recently signed former UFC title challenger and Bellator champ Rory MacDonald.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) closed out its 2019 season on New Years Eve, meaning another group of fighters pocketed $1M prizes. In the card’s main event, Kayla Harrison won the lightweight championship by dominating Larissa Pachecho to a unanimous decision win.

Adam Martin - December 31, 2019

PFL’s CEO says that he expects the tournament-based promotion to make more free-agent signings after recently inking former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. PFL recently signed MacDonald to a lucrative contract and he immediately became the biggest name on the entire PFL roster. He’s by far the biggest free-agent signing the company has made in its two years of existence.

Natasha Hooper - December 31, 2019

Michael Bisping recently down with co-host Luis J Gomez on his podcast to announce the long-awaited results of his Believe You Me 2019 awards. Here are the former middleweight champ’s awards:

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2019

Long-time UFC lightweight contender Edson Barboza has decided to drop down to featherweight in search of greener pastures. This news was first reported by Brazilian publication Combate. Barboza has won just once in his last five fights, sandwiching an impressive TKO victory over Dan Hooker between losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kevin Lee, Justin Gaethje, and most recently, Paul Felder, who he lost to by controversial split decision. This skid was preceded by three-straight victories over Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, and Beneil Dariush.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2019

CB Dollaway’s RIZIN debut, which went down on Tuesday’s action-packed RIZIN 20 card, didn’t go the way he had planned. Instead, the 20-fight UFC veteran was decimated by the promotion’s ferocious light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in the first round. See Prochazka’s crushing knockout victory below (via Kyle Johnson on Twitter).

Harry Kettle - December 31, 2019

The final fight card and lineup of the upcoming UFC 246 event in Las Vegas, Nevada has been confirmed. The highly anticipated fight card is set to go down at T-Mobile Arena on January 18 in what is expected to be the event that plays host to Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon. McGregor, who will compete for the first time since his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in October, 2018, will be going toe-to-toe with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone who will be going in search of the biggest win of his career.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2019

Early on Tuesday morning, RIZIN Fighting Federation promoted its final MMA card of the decade in RIZIN 20, and it was an absolute thriller. Topped by a bantamweight title fight between Kai Asakura, who recently stunned Kyoji Horiguchi, and Manel Kape, it also featured appearances from names like Tenshin Nasukawa, Seo Hee Ham, Rena Kubota, Patricky Freire, Jiri Prochazka, and CB Dollaway.

Natasha Hooper - December 31, 2019

Conor McGregor has high ambitions for 2020, and that could potentially include taking Jorge Masvidal’s “BMF” belt, according to Dana White. During an interview with ESPN, UFC president Dana White revealed that Conor McGregor plans to fight three times in 2020. First up on the agenda is the Irish superstar’s Octagon return against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

According to a new report, top-ranked UFC middleweight contender Paulo Costa was the most-tested athlete on the UFC roster by USADA in 2019. Yahoo! Esportes recently reported that with 14 blood and urine tests, Costa was tested more than any other male fighter on the entire UFC roster by USADA. Women’s strawweight contender Claudia Gadelha tied Costa with 14 USADA tests as the most-tested female fighter on the UFC roster. That means both Costa and Gadelha were tested more than once a month over the last year — and they both passed all of their tests.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

Top contender Yoel Romero asked UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya if he needs a pen to sign a reported fight contract against him. UFC president Dana White recently told ESPN that the UFC is planning on booking a middleweight title fight between Romero and Adesanya. Rumors out there have suggested that the bout could take place at UFC 248, which is set for March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The co-main event is set to be a women’s strawweight title bout between champion Weili Zhang and challenger Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

UFC president Dana White confirmed that the promotion’s matchmakers are speaking to Nick Diaz about a possible comeback to the Octagon. Diaz has not fought since January 2015 when he fought Anderson Silva to a No Contest (originally a decision loss). He hasn’t fought since then but every so often his name comes back up for a possible comeback fight. Diaz recently remarked that he wants to return to the Octagon after five years away from it.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 30, 2019

For the first time since 2015, Aung La N Sang didn’t compete three times, but the reigning ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion still had a banner year in 2019. As we await the announcement of “The Burmese Python’s” first bout of 2020, let’s take a moment to look back at what he accomplished in 2019.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

UFC president Dana White has confirmed the promotion is working on booking UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya against Yoel Romero. For months we have heard rumors that Adesanya could fight Romero but so far nothing has been made official. White said that he didn’t have anything official to announce just yet, but hinted an announcement for Adesanya vs. Romero could come soon.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2019

Former Olympic judoka Kayla Harrison is a little over a day out from a championship clash with Larissa Pachecho. The winner of this bout, which headline the final Professional Fighters League (PFL) event of the year, will pocket a whopping $1M prize. In addition to this $1M prize, which is awarded to the champion of each weight class at the end of each PFL season, Harrison also has a lucrative, long-term contract with the league. She suspects this contract is among the most valuable in all of MMA. At the very least, Harrison believes she is probably the highest paid female fighter in the sport.

Natasha Hooper - December 30, 2019

Tyron Woodley has shut down Leon Edwards’ trash-talking on social media by threatening to withdraw from their anticipated fight. Earlier this month, it was announced that the former champ and No. 1 contender Woodley is being targeted for a fight against Leon Edwards at UFC London in March of 2020.