Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Mike Straus - January 6, 2019

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) seasonal format offers a unique alternative to the matchmaking style used by other major promotions like the UFC and Bellator. Season one middleweight champ Louis Taylor took full advantage of this format. The inaugural season of the PFL concluded on New Year’s Eve with the promotion handing out six million-dollar checks. It was the picture perfect way for Taylor to close out the best year of his career.

Tom Taylor - January 6, 2019

On New Years Eve, Sean O’Connell thumped Vinny Magalhaes to a corner stoppage, winning the Professional Fighters League (PFL) light heavyweight belt and a $1,000,000 prize in the process. In the moments after this life-changing win, the ever-entertaining veteran announced his retirement from MMA competition. At the end of his incredible fighting career, which unfurled in the UFC and PFL cages and carried him all over the world, Sean O’Connell has plenty of advice for the next generation of fighters.

Cole Shelton - January 5, 2019

Zak Cummings is a veteran of the sport. He is 34-years-old and has 28 professional fights to his credit. When he joined the UFC ranks in 2013, Zak Cummings spent his entire time at welterweight so that he could be bigger than everyone else. However, after struggling with hard weight cuts for years, Cummings eventually had enough and decided to move up to middleweight.

Cole Shelton - January 5, 2019

Javy Ayala took on former UFC heavyweight champion and mixed martial arts legend Frank Mir at December’s Bellator Hawaii: Salute The Troops event. Many fans and analysts expected that Mir would emerge victorious when his bout with Ayala was first announced.

Mike Straus - January 3, 2019

Cortney Casey was originally supposed to be fighting Cynthia Calvillo at the now-canceled UFC 233 card in Anaheim, California on January 26. Instead, Casey will throw down with Calvillo when the UFC makes its debut on ESPN on February 17. “Even though we had that little change with the venues I was already on schedule for the California card,” Casey told BJPenn.com in a recent interview. “Having the fight pushed back actually gave me more time to relax and enjoy the Holidays.”

Cole Shelton - January 2, 2019

Lyman Good will face his toughest test in the UFC when he takes on Demian Maia in Brazil on February 2. Good used to be the Bellator welterweight champion and CFFC’s interim welterweight champion before signing with the UFC. Since then, Good has has gone 2-1 in the UFC, most recently knocking out Ben Saunders at UFC 230. That win earned him the biggest fight of his career against Maia.

Drake Riggs - January 1, 2019

The Ultimate Fighter reality show has been running since 2005 and just recently wrapped up its 28th season in November. And it’s fair to say that the season may have been the most criticized season yet. The two divisions that were featured on TUF 28 were the heavyweight and women’s featherweight divisions. This was the first time that the heavyweights were showcased on TUF since the iconic season 10 which was only the second other time that they have been on the show (excluding TUF: Brazil 3).

Mike Pendleton - December 29, 2018

If anyone knows Amanda Nunes, it’s her friend Din Thomas, who coaches at American Top Team. Din Thomas isn’t afraid to be honest with his fighters and he doesn’t sugarcoat things when breaking down and evaluating their matchups and opponents. As Amanda Nunes prepares to face women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, a woman that has been labeled unbeatable throughout her recent career, she finds herself in a role that Thomas says fits her best. That role, as an underdog, is the same one she filled when she headlined UFC 200 against Miesha Tate, when she became champion, and again when she faced UFC Hall Of Famer Ronda Rousey, who Nunes put away in the first minute at UFC 207.

Cole Shelton - December 27, 2018

In the main event of UFC 232 this Saturday, former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon — though not in the setting we originally expected. His opponent in this return to action will be Alexander Gustafsson, the Swedish star who gave him his toughest challenge to date back in 2013. Ahead of this massive UFC 232 rematch between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson, BJPENN.com reached out to a number of pro fighters to get their predictions for the bout.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2018

20-year-old Japanese kickboxing wunderkind Tenshin Nasukawa is currently gearing up for the experience of a lifetime: a three-round exhibition boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. The bout will top the stacked RIZIN 14 card, which goes down inside the hallowed Saitaima Super Arena, just outside Tokyo, Japan, on New Years Eve. Given that Tenshin Nasukawa and Floyd Mayweather come from two different sports — one that allows kicks, one that doesn’t — it should come as no surprise that the negotiations for this anticipated exhibition match were difficult. The two parties had to agree on a rule-set that would satisfy Mayweather, but also maintain some level of competitive legitimacy.

Cole Shelton - December 26, 2018

Kay Hansen did what many believed was impossible. At Invicta 33, Hansen, who is just 19-years-old, took a short-notice fight against Sharon Jacobson, a very tough opponent. When Hansen took the fight on short notice, she believed Jacobson would fight aggressively. However, that is not what happened. Jacobson switched her gameplan which threw Hansen for a loop.

Cole Shelton - December 26, 2018

This Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 232 in Inglewood, California, UFC featherweight champ Cris Cyborg will look to defend her belt when bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes moves up in weight to challenge her. There is no question that this will be one of Cyborg’s toughest tests to date, and because of that, fans are undecided on who will come out on top. Cyborg and Nunes’ fellow fighters, however, seem to be leaning toward the featherweight champ.

Cole Shelton - December 23, 2018

Canadian Kyle Nelson will indeed be a UFC fighter for the foreseeable future. Nelson stepped in on short notice to fight Diego Ferreira at UFC 231. However, he lost the fight in the second round by TKO. Even though he lost the fight, Nelson was satisfied with his performance.

Cole Shelton - December 22, 2018

Matt Brown has been fighting in the UFC since 2008. During that time, Brown developed into a perennial contender in the UFC’s stacked welterweight division. Ultimately, however, Brown fell just short in his bid to fight for UFC gold. Nonetheless, Matt was fighting some of the top names in the sport, in the likes of Robbie Lawler, Stephen Thompson, Johnny Hendricks, Donald Cerrone, Demian Maia, among others. There is no question that Matt Brown has seen a lot in his storied career. Even with that, ‘The Immortal’ doesn’t really reflect on who he has fought in his career, because for him, it is just a fight no matter who the opponent is.

Drake Riggs - December 21, 2018

Becoming a champion is never an easy thing to achieve no matter the sport. In MMA however, it may be even harder than most as the fighters are simply relying on themselves to get their jobs done.

Mike Straus - December 21, 2018

Fresh off his UFC Milwaukee victory, “Slow” Mike Rodriguez is taking some time to enjoy the holidays before it’s right back to work in 2019. Rodriguez first burst onto the scene last summer when he earned his UFC contract on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. Since then Rodriguez’s life has changed a bit.

Cole Shelton - December 20, 2018

UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will battle arguably her toughest opponent to date when UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes moves up in weight to challenge her in the co-main event of UFC 232 on December 29. Cyborg has been the UFC’s featherweight champion since 2017 and hasn’t lost since her very first pro fight in 2005. She has been a seemingly unstoppable force for more than a decade, but many fans believe Nunes could be the woman to finally defeat her.

Tom Taylor - December 19, 2018

It took the UFC a long time to find a main event for UFC 230, which went down on November 3 in New York City. One of the options that was on the table before the promotion landed on the card’s eventual Daniel Cormier vs. Derrick Lewis headliner was a welterweight scrap between Colby Covington and Nick Diaz. Unfortunately for the fans, however, this fight never came to fruition.