Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - July 9, 2019

Jorge Masvidal made very short work of his nemesis Ben Askren, flattening the former ONE and Bellator champ with a flying knee just five seconds into their UFC 239 fight. While this decisive outcome initially looked like it would put an end to the beef between Masvidal and Askren, it’s become clear that there’s still some bad blood between them.

Cole Shelton - July 9, 2019

Ricky Simon did not expect to get the offer to fight UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber. Simon believed the UFC would give Urijah Faber a winnable fight in his return to action, and assures that he is not that. The 26-year-old is 15-1 as a pro and undefeated in the UFC. He is coming off of a decision win over Rani Yahya at UFC 234, which cemented him as a top-15 bantamweight. While he was waiting for his next fight contract, he was in the midst of planning a wedding and honeymoon, which he had to cancel the latter when the call to fight Faber came.

Cole Shelton - July 9, 2019

Colby Covington will return to the Octagon in the main event of UFC Newark. On this card former interim champion will not be fighting for the welterweight title, as many expected. Instead, he is set to take on the former welterweight champion, Robbie Lawler. It will no doubt be an exciting fight, which “Chaos” admits, but he also wanted this fight for another reason. He believes a win over “Ruthless” will improve his legacy even more, and make him the greatest welterweight of all time.

Tom Taylor - July 9, 2019

After his record-breaking, five-second knockout of Ben Askren, surging UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal is on the hunt for big fights and big paydays. In fact, he met with some higher-ups at the UFC to discuss just those topics on Monday evening.

Tom Taylor - July 4, 2019

Gianni Subba was less than a day out from a fight when he received the news. The talented ONE Championship flyweight contender was informed by the promotion’s medical team that he had an arachnoid cyst — a congenital cyst, present at birth — and was pulled from his scheduled bout as a precaution. It was the day before his birthday.

Cole Shelton - July 4, 2019

In the main event of UFC 239, Jon Jones will be looking to defend his light heavyweight title when he takes on Thiago Santos. Heading into the fight, “Bones” is a -700 favorite, while the challenger is a hefty +450 underdog. Ahead of the title fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. To no surprise most are picking the champ. But, one fighter believes it will be Santos’ day and he will be able to shock the world.

Cole Shelton - July 3, 2019

In the co-main event of UFC 239, Amanda Nunes is looking to defend her bantamweight title against the former champ Holly Holm. Heading into the fight, the champion is a -380 favorite while the challenger is a +290 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Most are leaning towards Amanda Nunes defending her title. Some, like coach Mike Winkeljohn, believe Holly Holm will shock the world again.

Cole Shelton - July 3, 2019

Since Jon Jones has returned from his suspension he has been very active. He will fight for the third time since December when he takes on Thiago Santos this Saturday at UFC 239. The Brazilian will be fighting for UFC gold for the first time in his career and is riding a four-fight winning streak with three wins at light heavyweight, with all coming by TKO/KO.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2019

Colby Covington is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, and actually got some face time in with the man in 2018, shortly after he defeated Rafael dos Anjos to win the interim welterweight title. Since his meeting with Donald Trump, Covington has also met the President’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who he visited at Trump Tower.

Cole Shelton - July 2, 2019

UFC 239 is set to go down from Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday. The card is headlined by two title fights, and also on the card is an intriguing welterweight fight between Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal, where the winner could very well get the next title shot. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Although Askren is a -250 favorite, while Masvidal being the +195 underdog, the majority of the pros are leaning towards Masvidal giving Askren his first professional loss.

Cole Shelton - July 1, 2019

Diego Sanchez has rejuvenated his career as of late. The 37-year-old has been fighting professionally since 2002 and in the UFC since 2005. And, throughout his career, he has beaten some of the top names in the sport and even fought for the UFC title against B.J. Penn at UFC 107. Now, the veteran is on a two-fight winning streak and is set to take on Michael Chiesa at UFC 239. If he wins, he could very well have a number beside his name in the welterweight rankings.

Cole Shelton - July 1, 2019

Don’t call it a legend tour. Michael Chiesa is set to fight longtime veteran of the sport, Diego Sanchez at UFC 239. And, after beating another veteran in Carlos Condit last time out, many are saying he is fighting legends of the sport. But, the 31-year-old makes it very clear, Sanchez is not a washed-up legend like fans are making him out to be.

Cole Shelton - June 28, 2019

Junior dos Santos is set to take on Francis Ngannou in the main event of UFC Minneapolis. The expectation is that the winner will fight for the heavyweight title next. According to American Top Team owner, Dan Lambert, this is a tough fight for dos Santos, but he says no one should count out the former heavyweight champion.

Tom Taylor - June 28, 2019

ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee recently had her first taste of defeat. This unappetizing dish was served up at ONE: A New Era in Tokyo in March when, after a four frenetic rounds of action, she was stopped by a volley of fifth-round strikes from ONE Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan. Lee does not plan on having a second serving.

Tom Taylor - June 27, 2019

Colby Covington was widely expected to get the first crack at new UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but after a series of twists and turns, he ultimately found himself booked for a crucial welterweight contender bout with the former champion Robbie Lawler instead. Surprisingly, Covington seems to be just fine with this matchup. He gave his take on how it all came to be on the latest episode of BJPenn.com Radio. 

Cole Shelton - June 27, 2019

Jorge Masvidal is not a big fan of trash talk. The welterweight contender prefers to do his talking in the Octagon. But there is one person who Masvidal can get behind in terms of trash talking, and that is Henry Cejudo. He likes the Olympic gold medalist’s talk because the champ-champ backs it up.

Cole Shelton - June 26, 2019

After Alex Volkanovski beat Jose Aldo at UFC 237, he along with many others expected he would the next title shot. Yet, that was not the case. Instead, the Aussie was passed over as Frankie Edgar will next face Max Holloway at UFC 240 for the featherweight title. Obviously, this was disappointing news for the 30-year-old, but he says he will make the trip to Edmonton, Alberta to be on hand for the fight.

Cole Shelton - June 26, 2019

Alonzo Menifield did not want to be on the UFC Minneapolis card on Saturday. He was hoping to fight sooner. The light heavyweight last fought back in January, when he knocked out Vinicius Moreira at UFC Brooklyn. Since then, he has been wanting to fight, but this was the first offer that came. Now, the 31-year-old is looking to go 2-0 in the UFC and he believes he knows exactly how it will happen.