Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - October 23, 2019

Kevin Lee believes Georges St-Pierre will return to the Octagon, and that the former welterweight and middleweight champ will do so at lightweight. Lee is now training at the famed Tristar gym in Montreal, Canada. The gym is the long-time home of St-Pierre.

Cole Shelton - October 23, 2019

David Feldman has recently signed several former UFC and Bellator champions or title contenders to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. He also recently signed former boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi, who stepped into the BKFC ring for a fight against Artem Lobov. Feldman believes it’s crucial to BKFC’s continued success to sign these kinds of big-name fighters — fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Hector Lombard, who recently signed on the dotted line. Luckily, Feldman says fighters are now coming to him and wanting to sign with BKFC, which makes his job much easier.

Cole Shelton - October 23, 2019

In the main event of Bellator 232, the welterweight title is on the line, as well as the welterweight grand prix title. The champion, Rory MacDonald rematches Douglas Lima in a very interesting bout. Heading into the scrap, the champion is a +130 underdog while the challenger is a -160 favorite. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The majority are leaning to hearing ‘And New’ but they all agree it is a very close fight.

Alfredo Zullino - October 22, 2019

MMA will finally be legal in France on January 1 of the New Year. It’s going to be a huge step for France and for larger Europe, as a lot of young, talented fighters can finally pursue a professional career as an MMA fighter in their own backyards.

Tom Taylor - October 18, 2019

These days, more and more fighters are using trash talk to promote themselves and their fights. Former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate understands why this happens, but believes fighters should think twice before ramping up the verbal warfare. Speaking to BJPENN.com ahead of last weekend’s ONE: Century card, Tate explained how trash talk and bravado can sometimes end up being more damaging to a fighter’s career than helpful. If a fighter talks a big game and fails to back it up, then their brand can take a huge, often irrecoverable hit.

Cole Shelton - October 17, 2019

Former boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi made his way into the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) ring earlier this year. There, he took on former UFC fighter, Artem Lobov in the main event of BKFC 6. The fight was set to end the rivalry between the two. The two camps have not gotten along since the Conor McGregor-Floyd Mayweather fight, when Malignaggi briefly worked as one of the Irishman’s training partners.

Cole Shelton - October 16, 2019

David Feldman has high hopes for his new promotion, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Although he has already taken over the bare-knuckle market in North America, Feldman hopes BKFC will be considered one of the biggest combat sports promotions on earth by 2021.

Cole Shelton - October 15, 2019

In the main event of UFC Boston, Chris Weidman is moving up to light heavyweight to take on the undefeated Dominick Reyes. Heading into the fight, Reyes is a -170 favorite while the former middleweight champion is a +140 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The majority think Dominick Reyes will win the fight, but some feel it’s very close.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2019

Christian Lee is the ONE lightweight champ, but many fans expected him to lose his short-notice fight with Saygid Guseyn “Dagi” Arslanaliev at ONE: Century – Part 1 in Tokyo on Sunday afternoon. Lee happily silenced his doubters by battering Dagi to a unanimous decision victory.

Tom Taylor - October 11, 2019

ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes is about to fight Kevin Belingon for the fourth time. The pair will collide with the bantamweight title on the line at ONE: Century this Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. Despite the fact that he’s once again preparing for a familiar foe, Fernandes says his focus hasn’t wavered.

Cole Shelton - October 10, 2019

Max Griffin will return to the Octagon on Saturday against Alex Morono at UFC Tampa. He last fought back in April at UFC 236 and edged out a decision over Zelim Imadaev. For Griffin, the hope was to fight much sooner than this. He was scheduled to fight in summer but the UFC could not find him an opponent.

Tom Taylor - October 10, 2019

Eddie Alvarez has had an interesting run in ONE Championship thus far. After losing his promotional debut at the hands of Timofey Nastyukhin in March, he rebounded with a beautiful, come-from-behind submission defeat of the former champion Eduard Folayang in August. Alvarez was then expected to meet Saygid Guseyn “Dagi” Arslanaliev at ONE: Century in Tokyo this weekend, but was unfortunately forced off the card with an injury.

Tom Taylor - October 10, 2019

Former UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa is currently retired, but that doesn’t mean he’s ignoring the happenings of his old division. Manuwa still plays close attention to the UFC light heavyweight division, which is currently ruled by Jon Jones. While Jones has been the picture of dominance throughout his career, Manuwa believes there’s at least one fighter on the UFC light heavyweight roster than can provide the champ with a challenge: Johnny Walker.

Tom Taylor - October 10, 2019

ONE Championship heavyweight contender Arjan Bhullar has known former UFC heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier for more than 15 years. He’s trained with Cormier at American Kickboxing Academy for many of those years. Based on that, watching Cormier lose the UFC heavyweight title to Stipe Miocic at UFC 241 was not easy for him. That being said, Bhullar is still proud of his friend’s performance.

Tom Taylor - October 10, 2019

ONE Championship will soon promote its 100th event. Titled ONE: Century, this landmark event is actually divided into two parts. The first goes down on the morning of Sunday, October 13 in Tokyo (the night of Saturday, October 12 in North America). The second goes down on the night of Sunday, October 13 in Tokyo (the morning of Sunday, October 13 in North America). ONE Championship has stacked these two cards with some of its biggest names. The end result is an event that has fight fans the world over excited — and that includes ONE Championship fighters themselves.

Tom Taylor - October 10, 2019

It’s been a tough year for Angela Lee. After failing to wrest the ONE strawweight title from the waist of Xiong Jing Nan in March, the ONE atomweight champ came up short in another strawweight contest opposite Michelle Nicolini in July.

Alfredo Zullino - October 9, 2019

2019 hasn’t been a great year for MMA in Italy, as most of the Italian fighters signed to the biggest international promotions haven’t been able to bring victories home. Of a total of 22 fights, Italian athletes have only won 6 of them. One of those winners was Mauro Cerilli (13-3; 1-1 ONE 1-1), former Cage Warriors heavyweight title-holder and current ONE Championship heavyweight contender.

Cole Shelton - October 8, 2019

Eryk Anders is back to middleweight following a brief stint at light heavyweight. When he makes his return to 185 pounds at UFC Tampa this Saturday, Gerald Meerschaert will be standing across from him. Although Anders is coming off of a knockout win at light heavyweight last time out, he has a simple reason for moving back to middleweight.