MMA News

Jared Cannonier, Kelvin Gastelum
Jared Cannonier

Pro fighters make their picks for Jared Cannonier vs. Kelvin Gastelum

Cole Shelton - August 19, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 34, top-10 middleweights collide as Jared Cannonier takes on Kelvin Gastelum. Ahead of the fight, Cannonier is a -150 favorite while Gastelum is a +130 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority believe Gastelum will pull off the upset and get back in the win column.

Anthony Smith, UFC Vegas 8
Conor McGregor

Anthony Smith explains how Conor McGregor has gone "way too far" with his social media antics

Adam D Martin - August 19, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith explained how superstar Conor McGregor has gone “way too far” with his social media antics. McGregor has been taking to his social media as of late to make numerous vulgar comments about the likes of Dustin Poirier, Daniel Cormier, and Michael Bisping, plus of course all the things he said about Khabib Nurmagomedov in the past. It’s gotten to the point where his UFC peers, like Smith, are getting tired of his antics. Speaking to LowKickMMA’s James Lynch, Smith explained why McGregor has gone “way too far.”

Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington
Jake Paul

Jorge Masvidal predicts Tyron Woodley will knock out Jake Paul in boxing

Adam D Martin - August 19, 2021

UFC welterweight superstar Jorge Masvidal is predicting that Tyron Woodley will knock out Jake Paul in their boxing match later this month. Woodley meets Paul in a high-profile boxing match on August 29 in Paul’s native Cleveland, Ohio. It’s the fourth professional boxing match for Paul, who is 3-0 including a TKO win over Woodley’s longtime friend and training partner Ben Askren in his last outing, while for Woodley this marks the beginning of his boxing journey. It is expected to be a big-selling pay-per-view and the fight has also seen a lot of betting action on it from fans. Currently, Paul is favored at the sportsbooks to get the win but Woodley is only a moderate underdog.

Nina-Nunes
Nina Nunes

Nina Nunes returns to the Octagon in December against rising contender Amanda Lemos

Adam D Martin - August 19, 2021

UFC women’s strawweight contender Nina Nunes returns to the Octagon in December when she faces off against rising contender Amanda Lemos. Combate’s Raphael Marinho was the first to report that Nunes — the No. 7 ranked fighter in the UFC women’s strawweight division — will square off with the No. 13 ranked Lemos at a UFC event set for December 18. There are no other details currently available about this event, but the addition of Nunes vs. Lemos is certainly a nice start to building up the card.

Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley
Dustin Poirier

Colby Covington says he would verbally submit Dustin Poirier: "It wouldn't be competitive"

Adam D Martin - August 19, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington says he would verbally submit Dustin Poirier in a fight, suggesting “it wouldn’t be competitive.” Covington and Poirier are former teammates at American Top Team who are now heated rivals. Poirier is one of the best lightweights in the world, while Covington has established himself as a welterweight contender, so a fight on paper doesn’t seem like one that would happen anytime soon. But “The Diamond” has mentioned in the past that he would be interested in moving up to 170lbs, and if that’s the case, then Covington would welcome it.

Shogun Rua, UFC rankings
UFC

Mauricio Rua names the three toughest opponents he ever fought in the UFC

Adam D Martin - August 19, 2021

Mixed martial arts legend Mauricio Rua aka “Shogun” named the three toughest opponents he ever fought in the UFC in a recent interview. Rua is one of the most legendary MMA fighters of all time, having been a former PRIDE and UFC champion. Now 39 years old, Shoun has spoken openly about retiring in the next year or two. He is coming off of a brutal TKO loss to Paul Craig in his last outing and considering he turns 40 years of age later this year, the future UFC Hall of Famer knows that his time in the sport is nearing its end. Although he still has another fight or two in him, it’s starting to become the time where Shogun is looking back at his MMA career and reminiscing on it.

Bigfoot-Silva
bare knuckle boxing

Jorge Masvidal books Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva to headline Gamebred Fighting Championship 2 event

Harry Kettle - August 19, 2021

Jorge Masvidal has announced that Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will headline the second Gamebred Fighting Championship event. In recent months Masvidal, who is coming off the back of consecutive defeats to Kamaru Usman, has opted to kickstart his own bare-knuckle promotion to run alongside his mixed martial arts career. Bare-knuckle is where “Gamebred” first cut his teeth in the combat sports realm and now, he wants to give fighters a chance to do the same.

UFC Octagon,
UFC

Tresean Gore forced to withdraw from TUF 29 finale fight with Bryan Battle

Harry Kettle - August 19, 2021

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Tresean Gore has been ruled out of his Ultimate Fighter 29 finale fight against Bryan Battle due to an unfortunate knee injury. Gore was tipped to be the big star coming out of the 29th edition of the show and had managed to make it all the way through to the final of the middleweight bracket. Alas, such is the unpredictable nature of mixed martial arts, we will now not see him go up against the last pick Bryan Battle for the right to win the contract.

Francis-Ngannou-Fernand-Lopez
Francis Ngannou

Francis Ngannou says old coach 'wants to be famous,' feels disrespected by UFC

Drake Riggs - August 18, 2021

Francis Ngannou has already had a unique title reign despite its youth. The undisputed UFC heavyweight champion captured the crown in his rematch with Stipe Miocic in March at UFC 260. Knocking the Ohio native out cold in the second round, Ngannou seemed destined for a mega-fight with former light heavyweight titleholder and all-time great, Jon Jones.

Anthony Smith, UFC 235, Jon Jones
Jiri Prochazka

Anthony Smith "would love" to fight Jiri Prochazka: "It just looks like it’s so much fun"

Cole Shelton - August 18, 2021

Anthony Smith thinks fighting Jiri Prochazka would be a ton of fun. Prochazka is the former RIZIN light heavyweight champion and has made good so far in his UFC career. In his debut, he knocked out Volkan Oezdemir and followed that up with a highlight-reel KO over Dominick Reyes. He will now serve as the backup for the title fight, but Smith says that is a fight he would like to have.

Kevin Lee, UFC Rochester
Mike Perry

Kevin Lee blasts Mike Perry for turning him down: "I lost a lot of respect for the man"

Cole Shelton - August 18, 2021

Kevin Lee doesn’t understand why Mike Perry turned him down. After Sean Brady was forced out of his August 28 fight against Kevin Lee, “The Motown Phenom” said to BJPENN.com he wanted to remain on the card and that is the case. Lee will now face a short-notice replacement, Daniel Rodriguez.

Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Joe Rogan
Dustin Poirier

Dustin Poirier won't wait for Conor McGregor but not ruling out a fourth fight: "If it makes sense, we’ll do it again"

Cole Shelton - August 18, 2021

Dustin Poirier wouldn’t be surprised if he faces Conor McGregor again. At UFC 264 in July, Poirier and McGregor had their highly-anticipated trilogy and Poirier won the fight after the Irishman broke his leg at the end of the first round. It was a disappointing ending and for Poirier, he says the second fight back at UFC 257 was much better for him as it was a definitive ending.

Nate Diaz
UFC

Nate Diaz says he is "defending in December"

Adam D Martin - August 18, 2021

UFC welterweight superstar Nate Diaz took to his social media on Wednesday to tell his fans that he is “defending in December.” Diaz and Dustin Poirier have been going back-and-forth on social media as of late, leading to speculation of a possible fight between the two stars. Poirier has a title shot locked up at 155lbs against UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira, but there have been suggestions that he could pass up the title shot in order to take a money fight against Diaz. After all, Poirier just passed up fighting Oliveira for the vacant belt at UFC 262 in order to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 264 in what was one of the biggest UFC PPV fights of all time.

Vinc Pichel, UFC
UFC

Vinc Pichel plans to "whoop" Austin Hubbard after changing camps to Factory X: "I'm looking to end it pretty quick"

Cole Shelton - August 18, 2021

Vinc Pichel is excited to show off how much better he has gotten since changing camps to Factory X. Pichel has been training in California for years now, but he recently decided to move to Colorado and train at Factory X. For Pichel, he says he immediately clicked with head coach, Marc Montoya and the team.

Brian Kelleher
Exclusive MMA Interviews

Brian Kelleher expects to finish Domingo Pilarte and call for a spot on the MSG card, eyes Sean O'Malley as future opponent

Cole Shelton - August 18, 2021

BBrian Kelleher wasn’t too surprised he is fighting Domingo Pilarte at UFC Vegas 34. After Kelleher lost a decision to Ricky Simon at UFC 258, he knew he would have to fight someone below him in the rankings. That is exactly what is happening as he is facing Pilarte, which is a rebooking as the two were supposed to fight one another at UFC 230 back in 2018.

Anderson-Silva-Vitor-Belfort
Boxing News

Vitor Belfort wants rematch with Anderson Silva in boxing a decade after infamous front kick KO

Adam D Martin - August 18, 2021

Vitor Belfort wants a rematch with former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in boxing a decade after the infamous front kick KO. In the main event of UFC 126 in February 2011, Silva landed one of the most incredible knockouts in MMA history when he landed a front kick to the jaw of Belfort and put him out cold with punches. It was an amazing finish by “The Spider” and for years, Belfort has talked about wanting to have a rematch with his Brazilian rival, but it hasn’t happened yet.

Kenny-Florian-Jose-Aldo
Kenny Florian

Kenny Florian praises "master of mixed martial arts" Jose Aldo for UFC career revival: "He will go down as one of the GOATs"

Adam D Martin - August 18, 2021

Kenny Florian praised his former opponent Jose Aldo, calling him a “master of mixed martial arts” for his UFC career resurgence at age 34. A year ago at this time, Aldo was riding a three-fight losing skid to Marlon Moraes, Alexander Volkanovski, and Petr Yan. It made some observers of the sport feel as though he was in a huge decline, especially after seeing him get brutally stopped by Yan at UFC 251. However, since that three-fight losing skid, Aldo has looked better than ever. Now established as a bantamweight, the former UFC featherweight champion has won his last two fights against top contenders Marlon Vera and Pedro Munhoz. He looks better than ever at 34 and recently called out TJ Dillashaw for a No. 1 contender fight at 135lbs.

TJ-Dillashaw
TJ Dillashaw

TJ Dillashaw "would like to fight Jose Aldo" but wants UFC bantamweight title shot first

Adam D Martin - August 18, 2021

TJ Dillashaw “would like to fight Jose Aldo” but wants the former champion wants a crack at the UFC bantamweight title shot first. Dillashaw recently made his return to the Octagon after over two years away, and he defeated Cory Sandhagen via split decision to once again emerge as a top contender for the 135lbs title. The next bantamweight title fight takes place at UFC 267 in October when Aljamain Sterling defends his belts against Petr Yan in a rematch, and Dillashaw is hoping that he gets to fight the winner of that title match. However, the former featherweight champ Aldo called out Dillashaw after his latest win over Pedro Munhoz, and now fans are excited about the prospect of two former UFC champions going at it down at 135lbs.