Exclusive MMA Interviews News
Anthony Pettis recalls his favorite career moments in the UFC
Cole Shelton - August 4, 2022
Anthony Pettis is a former UFC champion and has fought the who’s who of the sport but two moments stick out to him over the rest. The big moment for Pettis, of course, is when he won the UFC lightweight title in his hometown of Milwaukee. Although winning the belt is something Pettis will always remember the other moment that sticks out to him is when he knocked out Stephen Thompson in Nashville.
Anthony Pettis says it's "pretty amazing" to see what Charles Oliveira has accomplished since they fought: "Oliveira will clear out the division after this one"
Cole Shelton - August 4, 2022
Anthony Pettis is pretty amazed by what Charles Oliveira has accomplished. Pettis and Oliveira fought in 2016 at featherweight and ‘Showtime’ ended up winning by submission. After the fight, Pettis said Oliveria’s striking was getting better but he didn’t think the Brazilian would turn his career around and eventually become the UFC lightweight champion.
Pro fighters make their picks for Thiago Santos vs. Jamahal Hill
Cole Shelton - August 4, 2022
In the main event of UFC Vegas 59, a battle of top-10 light heavyweights goes down as Thiago Santos takes on Jamahal Hill. Heading into the fight, Santos is a +230 underdog while the American contender is a -310 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros believe Hill’s youth and power will be the difference as many think Santos isn’t the same fighter since he had his knee surgeries.
Terrance McKinney plans to "shut the haters up" with stoppage win over Erick Gonzalez: "I guarantee I hit harder than Jim Miller"
Cole Shelton - August 3, 2022
Terrance McKinney wanted to return much sooner than this Saturday night. McKinney is coming off a TKO loss to Drew Dober in a fight where he nearly earned what would have been his sixth straight finish. Although he lost, he says that fight was a win-win as he learned what he needed to improve on.
Geoff Neal plans to "throw down" with Vicente Luque at UFC Vegas 59: "I do think I can knock him out"
Cole Shelton - August 3, 2022
Geoff Neal is excited for his UFC Vegas 59 co-main event fight against Vicente Luque. Both Neal and Luque are fan-favorites and are known to stand-and-trade with their opponents. With that, Neal always thought he would end up fighting Luque, however, he says he did want to fight Sean Brady.
Vicente Luque looking to create "a lot of chaos and a lot of violence" against Geoff Neal: "It's going to be a banger"
Cole Shelton - August 2, 2022
Vicente Luque is expecting a war when he faces Geoff Neal in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 59. Luque is coming off a five-round decision loss to Belal Muhammad and after the setback, he wasn’t quite sure what would be next. Yet, when he got the call to face Neal he was excited as he knows this is a very fun fight for the fans and one he expects will result in a lot of violence.
Anthony Pettis on last year of PFL contract, believes winning lightweight title will cement him as “one of the best of all time"
Cole Shelton - August 2, 2022
Anthony Pettis is glad to be rematching Stevie Ray. Pettis and Ray fought at PFL 5 in June and heading into the fight it was an odd one for ‘Showtime’ given that he already had his playoff spot booked. With that, he says the plan going into that fight was to play it safe and not get hurt which ended up costing him as Ray got the second-round submission win.
Jonathan Pearce says he "really wanted to hurt" Makwan Amirkhani at UFC London after he "disrespected” him before the fight: "All week this guy was bullying me and pushing me around"
Cole Shelton - August 1, 2022
Jonathan Pearce couldn’t wait to fight and beat up Makwan Amirkhani at UFC London. Throughout fight week, Pearce says he saw Amirkhani multiple times and when he did, the Fin would bully Pearce and not let him pass or size him up. After Amirkhani did it over and over again, Pearce says he couldn’t wait to share the Octagon with him and really hurt him.
Orion Cosce wanted to "rebook" Blood Diamond fight, plans to "take him down and get the sub or ground and pound" finish at UFC 277
Cole Shelton - July 28, 2022
Orion Cosce wanted to rebook the Blood Diamond fight after the Kiwi being forced out of their scheduled contest at UFC 275. Cosce and Diamond were booked to fight at UFC 271 but ‘Galaxy’ was forced out of the fight due to COVID-19. Diamond ended up facing Jeremiah Wells and lost by submission.
UFC 277 | Pro fighters make their picks for Brandon Moreno vs. Kai Kara-France 2 interim title fight
Cole Shelton - July 28, 2022
In the co-main event of UFC 277, Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France are set to rematch for the interim flyweight title. Heading into the fight, Moreno is a -235 favorite while the Kiwi is a +180 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros are unanimous in thinking Moreno will win the rematch and become the new interim flyweight champion.
Drakkar Klose knew Diego Ferreira would pull out of UFC 277, vows to "beat up" Rafa Garcia
Cole Shelton - July 27, 2022
Drakkar Klose had a feeling Diego Ferreira wouldn’t be fighting him at UFC 277. When Klose was booked to fight Ferreira, the Brazilian was in the lightweight rankings, despite being on a three-fight losing skid. Yet, he recently got dropped from the rankings and just two weeks from the event, Ferreira pulled out which didn’t surprise Klose.
UFC 277 | Pro fighters make their picks for Julianna Pena vs. Amanda Nunes 2 title fight
Cole Shelton - July 27, 2022
In the main event of UFC 277, Julianna Pena is looking to defend her bantamweight title for the first time as she rematches Amanda Nunes. Heading into the fight, Pena is a +230 underdog while the challenger is a -310 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros actually believe Pena will defend her belt as they think she has Nunes’ number and can outlast the Brazilian to get another finish.
Maycee Barber entered Jessica Eye fight with a rib injury, wants Andrea Lee next
Cole Shelton - July 26, 2022
Maycee Barber was pleased with her UFC 276 win over Jessica Eye. Barber stepped up on short notice to take the fight against Eye after beating Montana De La Rosa by decision. However, she entered the De La Rosa fight, and subsequently the fight after with Eye dealing with a rib injury. Although she entered the fight with some issues, Maycee says she came out of her UFC 276 fight against Eye relatively healthy.
Jimi Manuwa believes he will end retirement to fight again after watching UFC London: "It gives me more enthusiasm to get up and train and come back"
Cole Shelton - July 25, 2022
Jimi Manuwa believes he will fight again. Manuwa retired from MMA following his KO loss to Aleksandar Rakic at UFC Stockholm in June of 2019. That setback had marked his fourth in a row and prompted ‘The Poster Boy’ to hang up his gloves. However, since announcing his retirement, Jimi has always flirted with the idea of making a comeback.
Jimi Manuwa disagrees with Daniel Cormier, other fighters telling Alexander Gustafsson to retire after UFC London: "I don't think other fighters or fans should be telling fighters to retire"
Cole Shelton - July 25, 2022
Jimi Manuwa doesn’t think anyone should be telling Alexander Gustafsson to retire following UFC London. Gustafsson made his return to the sport and the light heavyweight division on the main card of UFC London as he took on Nikita Krylov. The Swede was on a three-fight losing skid, with all three losses coming by stoppage, and unfortunately for Gustafsson, he suffered another setback on Saturday.
Jimi Manuwa explains why he slapped "disrespectful" Aleksandar Rakic at UFC London: "I had to give him what he deserves for acting like a troll"
Cole Shelton - July 24, 2022
Jimi Manuwa wants to make it clear that he did not sucker-punch Aleksandar Rakic, but slapped him over some comments the Austrian made. Back in June of 2019 at UFC Stockholm, Manuwa and Rakic fought and it was the Austrian who won by head kick KO in just 42-seconds. Since the loss, Manuwa says Rakic has been disrespectful as he has been DM’ing him asking if the Brit needs money given Rakic earned 50k for his KO win.
Kyle Nelson expects to perform better at lightweight, confident he'll put Jai Herbert "to sleep early" at UFC London
Cole Shelton - July 21, 2022
Kyle Nelson knew he had to move up to lightweight after his last fight. Nelson hasn’t fought since September of 2020 when he suffered a KO loss to Billy Quarantillo. The loss dropped him to 1-3 in the UFC and he wasn’t sure if the UFC was going to re-sign him, but even if they didn’t, his next fight was going to be at lightweight.
Jonathan Pearce confident he'll finish Makwan Amirkhani at UFC London: "He doesn't have the will to win like I do"
Cole Shelton - July 21, 2022
Jonathan Pearce was excited when he got the call about fighting Makwan Amirkhani at UFC London. Pearce is 3-1 in the UFC but is 3-0 at 145lbs after losing to Joe Lauzon in his promotional debut. He will now get another big-name opponent in Amirkhani, who Pearce is excited to fight.