Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2018

In December of 2015, in the co-main event of UFC 194, Luke Rockhold stepped into the cage with Chris Weidman in hopes of capturing the UFC middleweight title. On that night, Rockhold succeeded on his mission, defeating Weidman by fourth round TKO. On November 3 of this year, on the main card of UFC 230 in New York City, Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman will fight again. This time around, there will be no title on the line, but the winner will be within sprinting distance of a middleweight title shot.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2018

On October 6, on the main card of the blockbuster UFC 229 card, surging light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes will take on the biggest test of his career in former interim title challenge Ovince Saint Preux. While Dominick Reyes harbors no ill will against his opponent, he’s hoping to make a real statement in this fight and propel himself into the uppermost reaches of the light heavyweight rankings.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2018

By now you’ve surely heard that UFC welterweight contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has parted ways with his former gym, JacksonWink MMA. Cerrone announced his departure from the gym — which has been anything but amicable — on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show. He cited a growing distaste for JacksonWink coach Mike Winkeljohn and the gym’s choice to train his upcoming opponent Mike Perry as reasons. Speaking on the latest episode of BJPENN.COM Radio, long-time JacksonWink fighter Leonard Garcia, who also happens to be a close friend of Donald Cerrone, gave his take on this very public falling out.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2018

Last week, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones stated that he hopes to fight his arch rival Daniel Cormier twice more before they both hang up the gloves for good. In the opinion of Daniel Cormier’s head coach Javier Mendez, however, Cormier does not need to fight Jones again. Having captured the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles, his legacy is already secure — even without settling his score with Jones.

Tom Taylor - September 4, 2018

Curtis Blaydes has earned a shot at UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. His recent dominations of Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem make that pretty much undeniable. Unfortunately for Blaydes, the UFC has opted to give the next heavyweight title shot to Brock Lesnar, who has not legitimately won a fight since he choked out Shane Carwin in 2010. When it was first announced that Lesnar would get the next heavyweight title shot, Curtis Blaydes was not happy. He did not hide his disappointment either, venting frequently on social media. 

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2018

As the home of current and former champions like Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Cain Velasquez and Luke Rockhold, American Kickboxing Academy is one of the very best MMA gyms in the world. It might even be the best in the world outright. If there has ever been a reason to knock the gym, however, it’s that, for a time, their fighters just couldn’t seem to stay healthy. On multiple occasions in the past, AKA’s top stars have been forced out of massive fights with injuries — oftentimes at the very last minute. This trend, unsurprisingly, did not go over well with fight fans, who understandably wanted to see AKA’s top dogs in action.

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2018

For many years, Luke Rockhold was one of the most visible and successful fighters training out of American Kickboxing Academy, and a crucial training partner to both Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez. Over the last year or so, however, Rockhold has done much of his training elsewhere. The former middleweight champion even did some training at Combat Club in Florida at a time when Volkan Oezdemir was using the gym to prepare for a fight with Cormier. All the same, you will not be hearing of any drama between Luke Rockhold and American Kickboxing Academy.

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2018

On the main card of UFC 229, which goes down on October 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada, surging UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes will take on the biggest test of his impressive career thus far as he battles former interim title challenger Ovince Saint Preux. Later on the same card, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor will make his long-awaited return to the cage as he attempts to reclaim the lightweight belt from reigning champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. If there is one thing Conor McGregor is known for, it’s his thunderous left hand. The Irish MMA star has put countless men down with this punch, and will seek to do the same against Nurmagomedov.

Chris Taylor - September 1, 2018

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson was not happy to learn that his most recent opponent Darren Till was receiving a title shot against reigning UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. “Wonderboy” suffered a controversial decision loss to the “Gorilla” this past May in Till’s hometown of Liverpool.

Chris Taylor - September 1, 2018

UFC welterweight standout Stephen Thompson is in the midst of recovering from recent knee surgery. The former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger was recently rumored to be fighting former division champion Robbie Lawler this January on ESPN. However, according to “Wonderboy” a fight with “Ruthless” is far from a done deal.

Chris Taylor - September 1, 2018

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson has been eyeing a fight with former division champion Robbie Lawler for quite some time. Unfortunately for “Wonderboy” and fight fans alike, the promotion has yet to book a scrap between himself and the “Ruthless One”.

Chris Taylor - September 1, 2018

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson suffered a controversial decision loss to Darren Till this past May in Liverpool. The loss did not sit well with “Wonderboy”, especially due to the fact that Darren Till missed weight by a large margin (3.5 pounds) for their marquee fight.

Tom Taylor - August 23, 2018

On September 8, in the main event of UFC 228, UFC welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley will attempt to defend his title against surging British contender Darren “The Gorilla” Till. As somebody who has sparred with Darren Till, and done a bit of training with Tyron Woodley, “Platinum” Mike Perry has a particularly interesting perspective on this matchup. Mike Perry made his prediction for the UFC 228 main event on the latest episode of BJPENN.COM Radio. 

Tom Taylor - August 23, 2018

For a time, it looked as though Mike Perry and Darren Till would become arch rivals in the UFC welterweight division. After their initial trash talk and callouts, however, the pair developed a mutual respect for one another. In the buildup to UFC 227 in early August, both Mike Perry and Darren Till were in Los Angeles for the UFC’s 25th Anniversary press conference. While in Los Angeles, the two welterweights were able to get some face time in. It was during this time that Perry famously asked Till to spar. Till initially agreed, thinking that Perry had invited him to the spa, but was no less on board when he realized that Perry had actually invited him to a sparring session.

Drake Riggs - August 22, 2018

When two fighters train under the same roof are set to fight each other, there can often be some drama to follow. And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen that.

Drake Riggs - August 14, 2018

Feeling good feels good. So when proper recognition is received, especially in a solo sport such as fighting, it feels even better.

Tom Taylor - August 14, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will attempt his next title defense in the main event of UFC 228 on September 8, when he takes on undefeated British striker Darren Till. Originally, of course, it was expected that Woodley’s next title defense would pit him against current interim welterweight champion Colby Covington. Yet the UFC wanted to book the fight for UFC 228, and when Covington wasn’t able to accept that date, the promotion gave the shot to Till. Colby Covington believes that was a serious error on the UFC’s part. By his estimation, UFC 228 is doomed to be a pay-per-view disaster.

Tom Taylor - August 13, 2018

Despite the fact that he recently captured the UFC interim welterweight title, Colby Covington will not get the next crack at undisputed welterweight champ Tyron Woodley. Instead, that opportunity will go to Darren Till. The pair meet at UFC 228 on September 8. While Covington is keen to fight the Woodley-Till winner as soon as possible, he’d also be interested in taking another fight in the meantime — such as a showdown with former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who has recently been linked to a potential return at UFC 231 in Toronto in December.