Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - June 20, 2019

Ahead of UFC 235, it was reported Nick Diaz would return to the Octagon to take on Jorge Masvidal. But, the Stockton native said he never signed a contract and the fight never happened.”Gamebred” then fought Darren Till, who he knocked out back in March. Now, at UFC 239, Masvidal is taking on Ben Askren in a fight that could earn the winner a title shot. Although the stakes are high for this one, “Gamebred” is already eyeing a future opponent in Nate Diaz, Nick’s little brother.

Cole Shelton - June 20, 2019

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship returns this Saturday for their biggest card to date. In the card’s main event, Artem Lobov welcomes Paulie Malignaggi into BKFC. Ahead of this fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. And, the majority believe the boxer will get it done, but some think Lobov will be too much for Malignaggi.

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2019

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of UFC 238 in Chicago, Kyrgyzstan’s Valentina Shevchenko defended the UFC flyweight title with a beautiful head kick knockout of challenger Jessica Eye. Shortly after this dazzling victory, she received a congratulatory phone call from Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. This isn’t the first this has happened, but it was still a pretty special moment for the flyweight champ.

Cole Shelton - June 19, 2019

Max Holloway will look to defend his featherweight title against Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 240 in Edmonton this July. That being said, many thought Alex Volkanovski would get the title shot against Holloway after he beat Jose Aldo. In the end, the UFC decided on Edgar which leaves the Aussie on the sidelines awaiting the winner of the fight. But given the stakes of this featherweight title bout, Alex Volkanovski says he plans on being in Edmonton in case anything happens.

Cole Shelton - June 19, 2019

The Octagon heads to South Carolina for UFC Greenville this Saturday. In the main event, Renato Moicano is taking on Chan Sung Jung aka “The Korean Zombie”. There, both fighters are looking to get back into the win column after recent losses. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. In this case, it was almost unanimous, as most believe Korean Zombie will be too much for Moicano.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2019

Eddie Alvarez was widely expected to blow through Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin in his ONE Championship debut, which occurred on the stacked ONE: A New Era card in late March. In the end, however, the former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion was stopped by his unheralded opponent in the waning moments of the first round. Despite this setback, Alvarez remains focused on his ultimate goal: the ONE Lightweight World Title. He came to the Singapore-based promotion eager to add a new belt to his crowded trophy case, and he’s still confident he’ll achieve this goal.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2019

Renato Moicano is set to headline his first-ever UFC card this Saturday at UFC Greenville. The Brazilian is taking on Chan Sung Jung, AKA “The Korean Zombie” in a pivotal featherweight bout. Moicano is coming off of a TKO loss to Jose Aldo, which snapped his two-fight winning streak. Although the 30-year-old lost to the former champion, he believes it was a valuable learning experience and will make him better for this fight.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2019

Montana De La Rosa is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC Greenville. There, she is taking on Andrea Lee in a battle between two ranked flyweights. De La Rosa is 3-0 in the division so far, and she understands just how important this fight is for her career. Lee is on a six-fight winning streak and has shown she is one of the best fighters in the division.

Mike Pendleton - June 18, 2019

When Deron Winn makes his UFC debut at UFC Greenville next weekend, Daniel Cormier won’t be in his corner, but there’s a good reason for that. “We argue all the time, even when we are coaching high school wrestling, we’ll be arguing throughout the meet.”

Thomas Taylor - June 14, 2019

On Saturday night, two of the UFC’s top welterweight contenders will step onto the mats for a charity grappling match as Jorge Masvidal takes on Anthony Pettis. Speaking on soon-to-be-released episode of BJPenn.com Radio, Masvidal broke down this grappling showdown with Pettis. He says accepting a grappling match for a good cause was simply a no brainer. He grapplers in the gym most days anyway.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2019

On Saturday, in the co-main event of ONE: Legendary Quest in Shanghai, China, Agilan Thani will look to spoil the ONE Championship debut of K-1 and UFC veteran Yoshihiro Akiyama — more widely known as “Sexyama.” This massive fight was first offered to Thani in April, at the ONE Elite Retreat, on the sun-soaked beaches of Thailand. At first, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but of course he could not turn the opportunity down.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2019

Yoshihiro Akiyama is feeling the pressure. After almost four years of inactivity, the 44-year-old Japanese-Korean star is just hours away from the first fight of his comeback, and as the clock runs down, the tension is mounting.

Cole Shelton - June 12, 2019

Bellator returns to Madison Square Garden in New York City with the stacked Bellator 222 card this weekend. The card sees two titles on the line and an intriguing light heavyweight matchup between Chael Sonnen and Lyoto Machida. Ahead of the light heavyweight showdown, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions on this light heavyweight matchup. And, the consensus is that Sonnen will use his wrestling and grind out a win.

Cole Shelton - June 11, 2019

At Bellator 222 inside Madison Square Garden, highly touted prospect Aaron Pico will return to the cage to take on Adam Borics. He’ll be looking to rebound from a knockout loss to Henry Corrales. Although Pico is coming off of a loss, he is ready to return and believes he’s taken the perfect amount of time off. With the loss, the highly regarded prospect also decided to take a step back and go back to the drawing board. He even undertook a camp change to JacksonWink MMA.

Cole Shelton - June 10, 2019

Aaron Pico is one of the most highly touted prospects on Bellator’s roster. And, ahead of his upcoming fight at Bellator 222, he changed camps from Team Body Shop to JacksonWink MMA in Albuquerque. The 22-year-old says there is a simple reason for this change.

Drake Riggs - June 9, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsO88Wf8PLA The past month has treated Bellator featherweight, Cris ‘Sunshine’ Lencioni pretty kindly when it comes to the world of combat that he finds himself entrenched in.

Cole Shelton - June 6, 2019

In the main event of UFC 238, the vacant bantamweight title is on this line. Flyweight champion Henry Cejudo is moving up in weight to try and become a two-division champ, while top contender, Marlon Moraes will look to win his first UFC title. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Some believe Moraes’ explosivenesses will be too much, while others think Cejudo’s wrestling will make the difference.

Cole Shelton - June 5, 2019

In the co-main event of UFC 238, this Saturday, Valentina Shevchenko will look to defend her flyweight title against Jessica Eye. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their picks for the title fight. In this case, the majority believe Shevchenko wins. But, some believe we will hear ‘And New’ from Bruce Buffer.