Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - February 6, 2019

The UFC’s first pay-per-view of 2019 will go down in Melbourne, Australia and be topped by a middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum. However, arguably the fight most fans are looking forward to is the co-main event where rising superstar Israel Adesanya will take on former champion Anderson Silva. Ahead of this fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Most believe Adesanya will be too much for Silva, while one fighter is undecided on who will win.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2019

Isaac Vallie-Flagg was driving across the mesa outside Rio Rancho, New Mexico when the lights of a police cruiser started flickering in his rear-view mirror. The former UFC and Strikeforce fighter was pulled over for driving with tags that didn’t match his vehicle, and minutes later, was arrested for a number of far more serious charges. That was on January 18, 2018. Now, just over a year removed from that fateful day on the mesa, Vallie-Flagg feels as though he might not be alive had he not been arrested, as it was this arrest that drove him to make his latest and hopefully final attempt to stop using heroin, meth, and pretty much anything else he could get his hands on.

Cole Shelton - February 5, 2019

Joanna Jedrzejczyk used to be the UFC strawweight champ, and for a long period of time, it didn’t look like anyone could beat her. However, Rose Namajunas eventually came along and beat Jedrzejczyk in back-to-back fights, putting an end to the Polish star’s reign. Once Jedrzejczyk was no longer the strawweight champion, some fans began to wonder if she might move up to the new UFC women’s flyweight division. At first, she decided to stay at strawweight for her next fight, in which she defeated Tecia Torres by decision. Then, an opportunity came up for Jedrzejczyk to fight for the flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 231. But unfortunately for Jedrzejczyk and her fans, Shevchenko won this fight via unanimous decision.

Cole Shelton - February 4, 2019

Ever since moving up to lightweight in 2015, Dustin Poirier has been unstoppable. He is 8-1 with one no-contest, with the majority of his wins coming by way of stoppage and in main event spots. However, while his resume looks impressive, Poirier has still yet to fight for the UFC lightweight title. Instead, he has had to keep on fighting top contenders, until finally he said he’d only be accepting title fights or money fights henceforth.

Cole Shelton - January 31, 2019

Brad Pickett is a mixed martial arts legend, no question about it. The 40-year-old has fought 39 times as a professional and 18 of those fights occurred under the WEC or UFC banner. Pickett announced his retirement from the sport following his loss to Marlon Vera in March 2017. Now, however, he is set to return on March 30 in London, England — but it will not be an MMA fight. Rather, Pickett will be making his bare knuckle boxing debut, and for a BKB title belt no less.

Mike Pendleton - January 30, 2019

For Justin Willis, fighting isn’t a sport, it’s not just a paycheck, it’s life and it’s something he was made for. Fighting is in his blood, it’s what he grew up on, and it’s made him exactly who he is today; a rising contender in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Holding a professional record of 8-1 in his career, Willis is coming off a big unanimous decision victory over Mark Hunt in his most recent fight back in December 2018.

Cole Shelton - January 30, 2019

In February of 2018 at UFC on FOX 28, fan favorite welterweight Mike Perry fought Max Griffin. Many expected Perry to beat Griffin, however, that was not the case. Griffin ended up surprising many by defeating Perry by unanimous decision in Perry’s hometown of Orlando. However, since this fight, Perry has gotten the bigger fights, not Griffin.

Cole Shelton - January 30, 2019

Anthony Hernandez has been waiting for this. Hernandez will be making his UFC debut at UFC Fortaleza in just a few days. The undefeated middleweight knew this day would come and now it is rapidly approaching. However, Hernandez should have already made his debut. He was scheduled to fight Markus Perez at UFC 233, but the card ended up getting canceled. Even though the fight was delayed two weeks, it actually helps Hernandez out.

Cole Shelton - January 29, 2019

At UFC Fortaleza, the main and co-main events will feature fights between two Brazilians. However, the main event spot between Raphael Assuncao and Marlon Moraes is a rematch of fight at UFC 212 in 2017. Since then, Assuncao has gone 2-0 and is most likely the number one contender given Dominick Cruz is hurt and Cody Garbrandt has already lost twice to TJ Dillashaw.

Cole Shelton - January 28, 2019

UFC Fortaleza is just days away, and the card is looking like a good one. On the card will be former UFC welterweight title challenger, Thiago Alves taking on Max Griffin. For Griffin, this is the kind of fight he wants after losing his last fight to Curtis Millender.

Cole Shelton - January 27, 2019

Renato Moicano is a rising star in the UFC’s featherweight division. He’s been with the UFC since 2014 and has gone 5-1 during that time with his only loss coming against Brian Ortega. Since the loss to Ortega, Moicano defeated Calvin Kattar and Cub Swanson to then become the backup fighter for the UFC 231 main event. Moicano ended up not having to fight as Max Holloway and Ortega both made weight. However, being the backup fighter showed he was the number one contender at featherweight, and he has to prove that when he takes on Jose Aldo at UFC Fortaleza.

Cole Shelton - January 26, 2019

ONE Championship made some major moves in 2018 with the additions of Eddie Alvarez, Demetrious Johnson, and Sage Northcutt among others. In addition to those big names, ONE Championship also signed atomweight Bi Nguyen, a JacksonWink MMA product and a contestant on the last season of the hit reality TV series Survivor. Unfortunately for Nguyen, she suffered a knee injury which forced her to pull out of the popular TV show. Although the doctors said she could still compete, Nguyen didn’t want to risk suffering further damager to her knee.

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2019

The lighter weight divisions are some of Bellator’s deepest. And one of the fighters that helps make that case is the 21-1 ‘Spaniard’ Juan Archuleta. Hesperia, California’s finest has been on an absolute tear as of late and continues to force Bellator’s hand when it comes to giving him a title shot. Something that both Archuleta and his opponent Ricky Bandejas expect to come with a potential win on Saturday at Bellator 214.

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2019

There will be two big MMA debuts going down at Bellator 214. One of which takes place in the heavyweight division as former WWE star, ‘Jack Swagger’ aka, Jake Hager, will make his debut. Standing in his way will be JW Kiser. After his last win, the Kansas City resident and Glory MMA product was granted the opportunity of a lifetime.

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2019

Along with the deciding of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix winner at Bellator 214, we’ll be treated to two intriguing MMA debuts. One of which belongs to the Florida born grappling ace, AJ Agazarm who takes on Jesse Roberts this Saturday night.

Drake Riggs - January 24, 2019

At Bellator 204 in August 2018, top Bellator bantamweight prospect Ricky Bandejas silenced the brash Irishman, James Gallagher. Thus catapulting himself up the 135-pound ranks. On Saturday night at Bellator 214, he has now found himself ready for his toughest test to date in the 21-1 Juan Archuleta.

Cole Shelton - January 24, 2019

Bellator is about to wrap up their heavyweight grand prix on Saturday. The main event will see Ryan Bader, Bellator’s light heavyweight champion take on MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. If Bader is to come out on top he will be the first ever two-division champ in Bellator. Meanwhile, if Emelianenko wins, he cements his legacy even more and may very well be considered the greatest heavyweight of all-time.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2019

Jon Jones is once again the UFC light heavyweight champion, but his work is far from over. Having reclaimed the title, he can now look forward to fights with a new wave of ferocious contenders like Anthony Smith, Jan Blachowicz, Thiago Santos, Corey Anderson, and perhaps the most dangerous fighter of the bunch, Dominick Reyes. While Dominick Reyes is currently booked for a high-stakes UFC London fight with Volkan Oezdemir, he has long had his crosshairs set on a fight with Jon Jones. And while he recognizes that the seemingly unbeatable Jones would be an incredibly difficult test, he’s confident he’s got the goods to defeat him.