Exclusive MMA Interviews News
Adrian Yanez eyes first-round KO over Gustavo Lopez to put the bantamweight division on notice
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
Adrian Yanez knows his entrance to UFC fans couldn’t have gone any better. Yanez earned his UFC contract with a 39-second KO over Brady Huang on the Contender Series. He followed that up with a first-round KO over Victor Rodriguez in October. Although he has two excellent finishes, he knows he still has work to do and that begins at UFC Vegas 22 against Gustavo Lopez who is an opponent Yanez has wanted for quite some time.
JP Buys eager to corner and share card with wife Cheyanne, expects to finish Bruno Silva to earn a "statement" win
Cole Shelton - March 19, 2021
JP Buys will get to make his UFC debut alongside his wife, Cheyanne. On the prelims of UFC Vegas 22, JP Buys will face Bruno Silva while on the main card Cheyanne will face Montserrat Ruiz. They will also be looking to make history as the first married couple to both win UFC fights on the same card. Not only are they competing on the same card, but they will also corner one another.
Grant Dawson expects to submit BJJ black belt Leonardo Santos, plans to call out Clay Guida
Cole Shelton - March 18, 2021
Grant Dawson is finally making the move to lightweight. After Dawson missed the featherweight mark by 3.5 pounds against Darrick Minner and barely made weight for a 150-pound catchweight against Nad Narimani in July, he knew he needed to move up to 155lbs. The goal for Dawson was to make a quick turnaround but that was not the case. Finally, at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 22 event, Dawson will make his official UFC lightweight debut against Leonardo Santos.
Jan Blachowicz knows he is better everywhere than Glover Teixeira, eyes heavyweight move after two or three more title defenses
Cole Shelton - March 18, 2021
Jan Blachowicz knows his next opponent will be Glover Teixeira. After Blachowicz beat Israel Adesanya at UFC 259 to defend his belt for the first time, he knew that Teixeira would be his next opponent. Blachowicz knows the Brazilian deserves the next title shot based on the strength of his five straight wins in the UFC, but when the two rivals do meet, the champ is confident he will be better everywhere than Teixeira.
Jan Blachowicz says Jon Jones still needs to fight him, plans to knock him out
Cole Shelton - March 17, 2021
Jan Blachowicz says he and Jon Jones still have unfinished business. After Blachowicz knocked out Corey Anderson last year in New Mexico, Jones promised Blachowicz a fight. However, “Bones” couldn’t come to terms with the UFC and he vacated the light heavyweight title with eyes on a move to heavyweight. Since then, Blachowicz became the new 205lbs champ with a TKO win over Dominick Reyes and he defended his belt against Israel Adesanya.
Antonio Carlos Junior "happy" to sign with PFL after surprise UFC release, expects to submit Tom Lawlor
Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021
Antonio Carlos Junior didn’t think he was fighting for his job at UFC 257. Carlos Junior was making his return to the Octagon after over a year away against Brad Tavares. In the fight, the Brazilian was looking to get the fight to the ground but Tavares managed to keep the contest on the feet and outstrike him to win a decision. After the fight, it was revealed Carlos Junior was released which caught him by surprise.
Jan Blachowicz happy he "destroyed" UFC's plans, reveals what Israel Adesanya needs to do to get a rematch
Cole Shelton - March 16, 2021
Jan Blachowicz knew the UFC had big plans for Israel Adesanya if he became a champ-champ at UFC 259. Entering the fight, Blachowicz said he would try to wrestle Adesanya early and stand with him late. However, the fight played out completely opposite as he stood and traded with Adesanya and in the championship rounds went to his wrestling to secure the win.
Jason Witt admits he never heard of Matthew Semelsberger, expects to earn second-round TKO
Cole Shelton - March 12, 2021
Jason Witt didn’t know who he would be fighting next but didn’t expect it to be Matthew Semelsberger. After Witt dominated Cole Williams to get his first UFC win, he was looking to return quickly. Although it is now five months later, Witt was just excited to get back in there despite not knowing who his opponent was.
Jonathan Martinez expects a "good fight" for the fans against Davey Grant, wants ranked opponent with a win
Cole Shelton - March 11, 2021
Jonathan Martinez is confident he will extend his winning streak to three on Saturday night. At UFC Vegas 21, Martinez is set to fight Davey Grant, in a fight that was a surprise to many. Martinez is coming off a decision win over Thomas Almeida on short notice. After the win, Martinez and many fans thought he would’ve gotten a ranked opponent next.
Pro fighters make their picks for Leon Edwards vs Belal Muhammad
Cole Shelton - March 11, 2021
In the main event of UFC Vegas 21, Leon Edwards is making his return to the Octagon as he takes on Belal Muhammad. Heading into the fight, Edwards is a -275 favorite while the Palestinian-American is a +215 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. To no surprise, the majority of pros have Edwards extending his winning streak to nine.
Eryk Anders expects to "swing leather" with Darren Stewart until one of them falls
Cole Shelton - March 10, 2021
Eryk Anders is expecting a highly entertaining fight for the fans on Saturday night To open up the UFC Vegas 21 main card, Anders is set to face Darren Stewart. In the lead-up to the fight, Anders, the former D-1 football star at Alabama, left home to go to Arizona and train at Fight Ready. For Anders, he says he needed a change in order to improve.
Tim Elliott "not happy" with his UFC 259 performance, wants Kai Kara-France next
Cole Shelton - March 10, 2021
Tim Elliott dominated Jordan Espinosa for 15 minutes, but he still wasn’t happy with his performance. On the prelims of the card, Elliott and Espinosa were finally set to meet after the fight was rumored to take place for months. Throughout the fight, Elliott used his wrestling to take Espinosa down and control him. However, although he clearly won all three rounds, Elliott wasn’t happy with his performance.
Ray Rodriguez expects to KO Rani Yahya to prove he's "one of the best bantamweights in the world"
Cole Shelton - March 8, 2021
Ray Rodriguez is confident he will get his first UFC win. At UFC Vegas 21, Rodriguez is set to return to the Octagon against Rani Yahya. Rodriguez made his UFC debut last September and suffered a 39-second submission loss to Brian Kelleher on short notice. It was a disappointing result for Rodriguez but he knew he’d get another well-known name and he gets his wish against former WEC bantamweight title challenger in Yahya.
Valeriu Mircea opens up on journey from Moldova to Italy, loss of his brother
Alfredo Zullino - March 8, 2021
Every person has a story. Some stories, though, are deeper than others and need to be told, like that of mixed martial artist Valeriu Mircea. Mircea has born in 1993 in Satul Topala, a 2000-person rural village in Moldova, situated in the district of Cimișlia. His family was not wealthy, to put it mildly. His mother, though, did everything she could to give her sons what they needed.
Kyler Phillips confident he will "one-up" Song Yadong en route to a stoppage win at UFC 259
Cole Shelton - March 5, 2021
Kyler Phillips was surprised the UFC booked him against Song Yadong but is eager for the fight to happen. Both Phillips and Yadong are considered two of the top prospects at bantamweight so Phillips didn’t think the UFC would match them up against one another. However, when the fight was offered, it was an immediate yes from Phillips.
Tim Elliott says he bet a "significant amount of money" on himself against Jordan Espinosa, believes loser gets cut
Cole Shelton - March 5, 2021
Tim Elliott always wanted to fight Jordan Espinosa. Elliott and Espinosa have been linked to one another for quite some time and at UFC 259 the two will finally share the Octagon. They were supposed to fight on January 16, but it was pushed back to March 6, which Elliott is fine with as long as he got the chance to fight Espinosa.
Drew Dober knows he will get taken down by Islam Makhachev but confident he will "find his chin"
Cole Shelton - March 4, 2021
Drew Dober always had his eye on Islam Makhachev. On the main card of Saturday’s stacked UFC 259 event, Dober is set to return against Makhachev. Although not many were interested in fighting the Russian, Dober was the one who asked for this fight.
Petr Yan wants "cheater" TJ Dillashaw next because it will be a "punishment" for him
Cole Shelton - March 4, 2021
Petr Yan is hoping to be active in 2021. In 2020, Yan only got to step foot in the Octagon once, but he made good of that one time as he scored a fifth-round TKO win over Jose Aldo to become the new bantamweight champion. After the fight, it was clear Aljamain Sterling would be next in line, and months later the fight has been made.