MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 17, 2019

Former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio Banario has a few realizations as the year comes to a close.  The 30-year-old competed thrice this year but unfortunately, he came up short in all three bouts. Banario, a seasoned veteran, took these losses as lessons that would help him reclaim victory the next time he enters the ring.

Cole Shelton - December 16, 2019

Odds for a potential welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal have been released and the champion is a big favorite. After Usman TKO’d Colby Covington in the fifth round to defend his welterweight title for the first time many wondered what would be next for him. Leon Edwards has said he deserves the next shot yet Dana White believes Masvidal deserves it and that the fight would be massive.

Cole Shelton - December 16, 2019

Urijah Faber came up short against Petr Yan last weekend but he enjoyed every second of the fight. To open the UFC 245 pay-per-view main card, Faber was looking to be the first person to hand the Russian a loss inside the Octagon. Yet, that did not happen as Yan knocked Faber out with a head kick in the third round. The UFC Hall of Famer was also dropped numerous times in the fight.

Christopher Taylor - December 16, 2019

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson was presented the ‘NMF Belt’ earlier today, this while serving as guest on The Helwani Show. The ‘Nicest Mother F*cker’ belt (seen below), was gifted to ‘Wonderboy’ by Ariel Helwani and Paradigm Sports Management.

Natasha Hooper - December 16, 2019

Number 4 ranked welterweight fighter, Leon Edwards was not impressed with Kamaru Usman’s performance at UFC 245. The welterweight champion, Usman, squared off with his bitter rival Colby Covington in the main event of UFC 245 on Saturday December 14th. The elite wrestler’s utilized a different part of their MMA skillset, battling it out in a striking war for the better part of five rounds. Both fighters delivered impressive performances, but Usman used his striking accuracy and power to overthrow his opponent. He finished Covington by TKO in the final minute of round five and successfully defended his welterweight title for the first time with the win.

Natasha Hooper - December 16, 2019

Kamaru Usman has some words of warning for Conor McGregor. “The Nigerian Nightmare” Usman collided with his arch-nemesis Colby Covington last weekend in the main event of UFC 245. The welterweight champion used his striking to chip away at “Chaos” until he finally sealed the deal with a fifth-round knockdown and followup ground strikes, successfully defending his title for the first time.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2019

Kamaru Usman held onto the UFC welterweight title at UFC 245, knocking his challenger Colby Covington out in the fifth round. With this victory in the rear-view, the champion can now look ahead to his next challenge. He believes England’s Leon Edwards is the fighter most deserving of an opportunity.

Fernando Quiles - December 16, 2019

Chael Sonnen believes that one could make a case for booking a rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington. Usman successfully defended his UFC welterweight gold against Covington this past Saturday night (Dec. 14) in the main event of UFC 245. “The Nigerian Nightmare” and “Chaos” had a back-and-forth battle. Usman scored the fifth-round TKO victory.

Harry Kettle - December 16, 2019

Max Holloway has stated that he felt like he did enough to get the win over Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245. The two men went head-to-head for the UFC Featherweight Championship in Las Vegas this past weekend, with the Australian challenger taking the title away from “Blessed” to bring his reign of dominance in the division to an abrupt end.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2019

“The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung is slated to return to the cage in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Busan, South Korea this weekend. While he’s been forced to deal with a last-minute opponent change for this UFC Busan card — Frankie Edgar has stepped in to replace the injured Brian Ortega — it doesn’t seemed to have joggled his preparation. As a recent Instagram post proves, the Korean Zombie is in phenomenal shape ahead of the card.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2019

Tyson Fury has made a big change to his inner circle ahead of his anticipated February 22 rematch with “The Bronze Bomber” Deontay Wilder. According to a report from ESPN, Fury has parted ways with his head trainer Ben Davison. The Gypsy King is shaking things up 👀@Tyson_Fury splits from head trainer Ben Davison just months before his Feb. 22 match-up with Deontay Wilder (via @DanRafaelESPN) pic.twitter.com/8WZ12GqDGR

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2019

Kamaru Usman got the win he sought at UFC 245, weathering some early adversity to stop his ferocious challenger Colby Covington in the fifth round. According to the newly retired Ben Askren, however, Usman made one key blunder at UFC 245: He fibbed to the fans in his post-fight interview. Early on in his interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Usman claimed that he was too mentally tough to be phased by Covington’s pre-fight trash talk. Shortly thereafter, he attributed his early blunders in the fight to being too emotional due to Covington’s pre-fight trash talk.

Natasha Hooper - December 16, 2019

Joseph Benavidez slammed Henry Cejudo for ducking a potential flyweight title fight and calling out new bantamweight contender Jose Aldo instead. Last weekend at UFC 245, Jose Aldo proved naysayers wrong by fighting on top form against Marlon Moraes— despite a significant weight cut to make the bantamweight limit.

Cole Shelton - December 16, 2019

In the main event of UFC 245, the final UFC pay-per-view of the decade, welterweight champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington finally settled their differences. The co-main attractions of the card saw Max Holloway put up his featherweight title against Alexander Volkanovski and Amanda Nunes defend her bantamweight title against Germaine de Randamie. In the end, only one title changed hands as Volkanovski dethroned Holloway by decision. Usman TKO’d Covington in the fifth and Nunes dominated de Randamie for a decision win.

Natasha Hooper - December 16, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 245, Colby Covington challenged the welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. “Chaos” and “The Nigerian Nightmare” battled it out for almost five whole rounds in a riveting affair. Both men landed plenty of meaningful offense, with Usman even breaking Covington’s jaw mid-way through the fight, but the both maintained their composure and fought on.

Harry Kettle - December 16, 2019

Jose Aldo has taken the time to react to his disappointing bantamweight defeat at the hands of Marlon Moraes. The two Brazilians went toe to toe at UFC 245 this past weekend in what was one of the most anticipated bouts of the night – mainly so fans could get an idea of what Aldo was going to look like at his new weight class. In the end, though, he wound up losing an incredibly close split decision to the dismay of the fans in attendance.

Cole Shelton - December 15, 2019

Henry Cejudo wants to defend his bantamweight title against Jose Aldo next. Cejudo has been calling out several fighters, but following UFC 245 he confirmed he wants to battle the Brazilian as he believes Aldo beat Moraes. Not only that but, Cejudo, who calls himself “The King of Rio” wants the scrap to be in Aldo’s home city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Chris Taylor - December 15, 2019

Referee Marc Goddard had the responsibility of overseeing last night’s UFC 245 main event between welterweights Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman. The highly anticipated scrap lived up to expectations as ‘Chaos’ and ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ proceeded to go to war right from the opening bell.