Exclusive MMA Interviews News
Jon Jones will be "one of the scariest guys" at heavyweight, says former teammate Rashad Evans
Cole Shelton - February 9, 2022
Rashad Evans believes his former teammate Jon Jones will eventually make the move to heavyweight and will have success. Ever since Jones vacated his light heavyweight title he said he would be moving up to heavyweight. However, it has been two years and he has yet to do it but for Evans, he believes ‘Bones’ will move up and will have a ton of success at the weight class.
UFC 271 | Pro fighters make their picks for Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2 title fight
Cole Shelton - February 9, 2022
In the main event of UFC 271, Israel Adesanya is set to defend his middleweight belt as he rematches Robert Whittaker. Heading into the fight, Adesanya is a -280 favorite while the former champ is a +225 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros are unanimous in thinking Adesanya has Whittaker’s number and will defend his belt again and continue his reign atop the middleweight division.
Renato Moicano says he no longer cares about rankings, only focused on making money ahead of UFC 271: "This is sad but this is true"
Cole Shelton - February 8, 2022
Renato Moicano says he no longer cares about fighting ranked opponents as all he cares about is making money. Moicano is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 271 against Alexander Hernandez in a really intriguing fight that he’s looking forward to.
Robert Whittaker believes "no one expects me to win" but says Israel Adesanya "looks beatable" ahead of UFC 271
Cole Shelton - February 8, 2022
Robert Whittaker says the pressure is off him for his UFC 271 main event title rematch against Israel Adesanya. Whittaker and Adesanya are set to run it back after “The Last Stylebender” scored a second-round TKO win back in 2019 to become the new champ. Since then, Whittaker has won three fights to earn the rematch and for him, he’s glad he had the chance to fight multiple times before running it back with Adesanya.
Rashad Evans unsure if he'll fight again after Eagle FC win: "I got the win I have been so desperate to get"
Cole Shelton - February 7, 2022
Rashad Evans always wanted to end his career on a win and he may have just done that. Evans ended his near four-year retirement to return at Eagle FC 44 where he fought Gabriel Checco. He entered the fight on a five-fight losing streak but he says the pandemic is a key reason as to why he even wanted to fight again.
Bryan Battle doesn't view Tresean Gore fight as real TUF finale, confident he'll finish him: "He's going to melt mentally and physically"
Cole Shelton - February 4, 2022
Bryan Battle doesn’t think his UFC Vegas 47 fight against Tresean Gore is the real TUF 29 finale. Battle and Gore were supposed to fight in the finals, but Gore suffered an injury and “Pooh Bear” ended up facing Gilbert Urbina instead. Battle won the fight to win TUF, but now as he finally faces Gore, he says this is just another fight.
Jack Hermansson praises "special" Khamzat Chimaev, wants to face him in grappling: "It will be a different story"
Cole Shelton - February 4, 2022
Jack Hermansson didn’t expect Khamzat Chimaev to be so strong. Back in November, Hermansson and Chimaev had a freestyle wrestling match which ‘Borz’ won. The two have trained together in the past and even though Hermansson fights a weight class higher, he says his fellow Swede was just as big and strong as him.
Jack Hermansson explains why he's "the biggest threat" to Israel Adesanya: "I'm the person that is going to dethrone him"
Cole Shelton - February 4, 2022
Jack Hermansson believes he is the biggest threat to Israel Adesanya at middleweight. Adesanya is the current middleweight champion and has been seemingly unbeatable at 185lbs. However, for Hermansson, he believes his grappling is the main reason as to why he poses the biggest threat to the champ.
Pro fighters make their picks for Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland
Cole Shelton - February 3, 2022
In the main event of UFC Vegas 47, a battle of top-10 middleweights go down as Jack Hermansson takes on Sean Strickland. Heading into the fight, Strickland is a -210 favorite while the Swede is a +175 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros believe Strickland will be able to keep it standing and either get a late finish or a clear decision win.
Julian Erosa wants to be the first person to finish Steven Peterson in the UFC: "I don't want to risk half my paycheck on three judges"
Cole Shelton - February 2, 2022
Julian Erosa called out Steven Peterson and is glad he’s getting the fight. Erosa will face Peterson at UFC Vegas 47 in a very fun featherweight scrap. For Erosa, he says he called out Peterson to get a fight, but after the Fortis MMA product didn’t respond, he got mad and wanted to fight him even more.
Steven Peterson expects to KO Julian Erosa in violent fashion: "You shouldn't have called me out, you should have kept your mouth shut"
Cole Shelton - February 2, 2022
Steven Peterson has violent intentions for Julian Erosa after he was called out by his fellow featherweight. Before Erosa’s fight against Charles Jourdain, he told BJPENN.com he wanted to fight Peterson and after the win, he said the same thing in the post-fight interview. After hearing that, Peterson assumed that would be his next fight and now they will meet at UFC Vegas 47.
Jack Hermansson expects to get an "early finish" against Sean Strickland and earn a title shot: "Just go in there and dominate"
Cole Shelton - February 1, 2022
Jack Hermansson wanted to fight someone ranked above him but is excited for the challenge of fighting Sean Strickland. Hermansson is coming off a decision win over Edmen Shahbazyan and will now headline UFC Vegas 47 against Strickland. ‘The Joker’ says he is glad the UFC is giving him an opportunity to headline another card.
Vanessa Demopoulos says $50K bonus is massive after quitting job as a stripper, planned on jumping in Joe Rogan's arms after the fight
Cole Shelton - January 27, 2022
Vanesa Demopoulos had an interesting UFC 270 fight, to say the least. Demopoulos was facing Silvana Juarez Gomez in her second fight and got dropped early and was nearly finished with ground and pound. However, once on the ground, she started to use her jiu-jitsu and got ahold of an arm, and got the tap to pick up her first UFC win.
Darrion Caldwell expects to "break" Enrique Barzola and finish him in the first, confident he will get his belt back soon
Cole Shelton - January 26, 2022
Darrion Caldwell is eager to finally fight again. Caldwell last fought in May of 2021, suffering a split decision loss to Leandro Higo. It was his second defeat in a row and after the loss he said he wanted a quick turnaround, but that never happened.
Angela Lee responds to opponent Stamp Fairtex's 'idol' comments
Andrew Whitelaw - January 26, 2022
Angela Lee will defend her atomweight title against Stamp Fairtex at ONE: ‘X’ on March 26th. The Thai earned her shot at the champ by winning the ONE Women’s Atomweight world Grand Prix in December. The former ONE Muay Thai and kickboxing champion pulled off a big surprise when she submitted Ritu Phogat in the final. Currently 9-2, that was only Stamp’s second submission victory. She only had her first pro MMA fight in 2018 and her skillset has evolved rapidly. Like Stamp, Angela Lee won her first world title in ONE when she was still just a teenager. She took the atomweight crown with a unanimous decision win against Mei Yamaguchi when she was just 19.
Benson Henderson plans to test Islam Mamedov's durability at Bellator 273, says he's been promised a title shot with a win
Cole Shelton - January 25, 2022
Benson Henderson knows people are counting him out but he’s eager for the challenge of facing Islam Mamedov at Bellator 273. Henderson is set to fight Mamedov in the co-main event, and even though the former UFC champion is on a three-fight losing skid, he’s fighting the presumed number one contender. Although many were surprised by the fight booking, Henderson says he asked for the fight as he wants to get back in the title picture.
Brandon Royval believes Rogerio Bontorin tapped at UFC Vegas 46, wants the loser of Moreno-Figueiredo 3
Cole Shelton - January 21, 2022
Brandon Royval thinks Rogerio Bontorin tapped in their fight at UFC Vegas 46. Royval was entering the fight on a two-fight losing streak and looking to get back into the win column in a big way. In the fight against Bontorin, it was a back-and-forth fight but in the third round, Royval had Bontorin in an armbar it appeared the Brazilian tapped.
Matt Frevola plans to finish Genaro Valdez at UFC 270 "to remind the world who I am"
Cole Shelton - January 20, 2022
Matt Frevola is planning to remind the world just how good he is at UFC 270. Frevola had a rough 2021 as he went 0-2, losing a decision to Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 257 and suffering a seven-second KO loss to Terrance McKinney at UFC 263. However, he fought Tsarukyan on a days’ notice and took the McKinney fight on a couple of days’ notice as well.