MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 17, 2024

Before Superlek Kiatmoo9 challenges Jonathan Haggerty for the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title, he will take on a side quest. The reigning ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion locks horns with Kongthoranee Sor Sommai under Muay Thai rules. This happens at ONE Friday Fights 68, airing live in Asian primetime from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 28.

Curtis Calhoun - May 16, 2024

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones has announced his return before the promotion got a chance to formally share it. Jones hasn’t fought since securing the then-vacant UFC heavyweight title by submitting Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 last year. He was supposed to face Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 in November before suffering a torn pectoral, resulting in his withdrawal.

Cole Shelton - May 16, 2024

The opening odds for the UFC 304 fights announced on Thursday have been released. UFC CEO Dana White announced five marquee fights for UFC 304 in Manchester, England including Leon Edwards defending his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad. The co-main event will be Tom Aspinall defending his interim heavyweight title against Curtis Blaydes.

Curtis Calhoun - May 16, 2024

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev might be on the verge of a ‘red panty night’ against Conor McGregor after his June 1 title defense. Makhachev will defend the UFC lightweight title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in Newark. He returns after knocking out Alexander Volkanovski with a head kick in his most recent title defense in October.

Josh Evanoff - May 16, 2024

Brendan Schaub has responded to former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. As some fans have likely seen, ‘Rowdy’ has been busy doing a press tour for her recently released memoir. Titled ‘Our Fight’, it serves as a sequel to Ronda Rousey’s first book released in 2015. This second memoir follows the second half of her MMA career, as well as her transition to the world of professional wrestling.

Curtis Calhoun - May 16, 2024

UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov’s lust for improvement in MMA hasn’t faltered, according to Islam Makhachev. Nurmagomedov retired from MMA after a successful UFC lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje in 2020. He cited a promise to his mother as the significant reason for his retirement, after his father Abdulmanap tragically passed away.

Cole Shelton - May 16, 2024

Adrian Yanez believes he could be fighting for his job at UFC Vegas 92 on Saturday. Yanez is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Jonathan Martinez and Rob Font and has fallen out of the rankings. It was a tough 2023 for Yanez as he went 0-2, but he says the blame is on himself as he got too comfortable and started to find shortcuts in his preparation.

Cole Shelton - May 16, 2024

Tom Aspinall will be defending his interim heavyweight title at UFC 304 in Manchester against Curtis Blaydes but that wasn’t the original plan. Aspinall will be rematching Blaydes in the co-main event of UFC 304 in an intriguing matchup. Most fans seemed to think that was the fight that made the most sense, but according to Aspinall, Ciryl Gane was originally offered the title fight but he turned it down due to him filming a movie.

Curtis Calhoun - May 16, 2024

UFC welterweight contender Belal Muhammad’s team was the first to tell him of his upcoming Leon Edwards title fight at UFC 304. Muhammad will finally get his shot at UFC gold when he faces the welterweight titleholder Edwards at UFC 304 in Manchester. The July 27 pay-per-view card features Tom Aspinall vs. Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event and the return of Paddy Pimblett against Bobby Green.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 16, 2024

The highly anticipated matchup between Jonathan Di Bella and Prajanchai PK Saenchai will finally happen on June 28. The five-round clash for the vacant ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title headlines ONE Friday Fights 68. It airs live in Asian primetime from the fabled Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Susan Cox - May 16, 2024

Renato Moicano is explaining why he’s rooting for Conor McGregor to defeat ‘fake’ Michael Chandler. UFC 303 will take place on Saturday June 29th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Susan Cox - May 16, 2024

Joe Rogan is calling for the UFC to make changes to its current ruleset. This is not the first time Rogan has suggested changing the rules when it comes to MMA fighting.

Cole Shelton - May 8, 2024

Chase Hooper knows he will have to get Viacheslav Borshchev to the ground if he is going to get his hand raised at UFC St. Louis. Hooper is set for his third fight at lightweight as he’s 2-0 and coming off a submission win over Jordan Leavitt back in November. After the win, he was hoping to get a quick turnaround, but that didn’t happen.

Cole Shelton - May 7, 2024

Diego Ferreira will end his nearly year-long layoff at UFC St. Louis when he takes on Mateusz Rebecki. Ferreira hasn’t fought since May 20th of last year when he knocked out Michael Johnson. After the fight, Ferreira welcomed a baby girl into the world and also had to focus on his gym which kept him out of action.

Cole Shelton - May 2, 2024

Tristan Hamm made quick work in his boxing debut and now he wants to see how far he can take it. Hamm, also known as Mr. Adventure on social media with over two million Instagram followers, had his boxing debut in January on the Misfits card. He scored a quick knockout win, and although he’s only been boxing for six months, Hamm says being part of the influencer boxing was something he had been interested in.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

In the main event of UFC 301, the flyweight title is up for grabs as Alexandre Pantoja looks to defend his belt against Steve Erceg. Heading into the fight, Pantoja is a -200 favorite while the challenger is a +154 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the flyweight title fight. The pros are unanimous in thinking Pantoja will remain the flyweight champ as they believe this is too big of a step up in competition for Erceg.

Cole Shelton - April 24, 2024

Austen Lane wasn’t surprised when he got offered to fight Jhonata Diniz at UFC Vegas 91. Lane is coming off a knockout loss to Justin Tafa back in September at UFC 293, this after their no-contest result. Following the loss, Lane wanted to return much sooner as he wanted to be as active as possible.

Cole Shelton - April 12, 2024

Cody Brundage wanted to fight Bo Nickal and he was hoping he’d get the fight at UFC 300. Brundage is on a two-fight winning streak and after his last win, he thought it made sense for him to be Nickal’s next opponent. To no surprise, when his coach called with a fight offer, it was Nickal at UFC 300 which he jumped at.

Cole Shelton - April 11, 2024

On the main card of UFC 300, former lightweight champion Charles Oliveira takes on Arman Tsarukyan in a potential No. 1 contender fight. Heading into the fight, Oliveira is a +176 underdog while the Armenian is a -230 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the lightweight fight. The pros are actually going with the underdog in Oliveira as they feel like he is getting overlooked.

Cole Shelton - April 11, 2024

On the main card of UFC 300, Justin Gaethje looks to defend his BMF title for the first time as he takes on Max Holloway. Heading into the fight, Gaethje is a -178 favorite while the Hawaiian is a +138 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the BMF title fight. The pros are expecting Gaethje to get his hand raised in a highly-anticipated fight, as they think the size will play a factor.

Cole Shelton - April 10, 2024

In the co-main event of UFC 300, the strawweight title is on the line as Zhang Weili looks to defend her strap against Yan Xiaonan. Heading into the fight, Weili is a sizeable -500 favorite while the challenger is a +340 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the strawweight title fight. To no surprise, the pros believe Zhang Weili will be too much for Yan Xiaonan as she will defend her title with ease.

Cole Shelton - April 9, 2024

Jim Miller got his wish of fighting on UFC 300. Miller competed at UFC 100 and 200 and for the past couple of years, he has been campaigning to be on UFC 300. Originally the plan was for Miller to retire at UFC 300, but that is no longer the goal, so he says that has taken a bit away from the spectacle of the event.

Cole Shelton - April 9, 2024

Alex Morono, the head coach of Ricky Turcios says the UFC took care of the bantamweight after his canceled fight against Raul Rosas Jr. at UFC Mexico City. Just minutes before Turcios was set to make the walk, it was revealed Rosas Jr. was sick and the fight was off. It was disappointing news for Morono and Turcios, who liked the style matchup against the 19-year-old.

Cole Shelton - April 6, 2024

Kyle Nelson has won his third straight fight as the betting underdog. Nelson scored a first-round TKO win over Bill Algeo on the main card of UFC Atlantic City. The Canadian started strong as he landed a massive shot that wobbled Algeo and he kept landing punches that forced the ref to jump in and stop the fight.