Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Chris Taylor - November 26, 2017

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping suffered his second stoppage loss in just three weeks at yesterday’s UFC event in Shanghai, China. After being put to sleep by Georges St-Pierre in the main event of UFC 217 on November 4, “The Count” decided to make a quick turnaround and accepted a short-notice fight with Kelvin Gastelum for November 25.

Tom Taylor - November 23, 2017

Earlier this month, in the lead-up to the UFC’s recent show in Sydney, Australia, surging UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington had a run-in with former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. Evidently angered by Covington’s controversial anti-Brazil comments, Werdum got physical with the welterweight, and ultimately threw a novelty boomerang at him. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Mike Perry, who is one of Covington’s arch rivals at welterweight, sounded off on this whole ordeal. He assured that, had he been the one tangling with Werdum and his boomerang, things would have gone very differently.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2017

This December 16, on the main card of the amazingly stacked UFC Winnipeg card, red hot welterweight contender “Platinum” Mike Perry will face the biggest test of his career in the division’s 10th-ranked fighter Santiago Ponzinibbio. If Perry is able to take out Ponzinibbio – which is assuredly no easy task – he’s got a few welterweight stars in mind for his next few fights. The Platinum one broke it down on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2017

Earlier this month, in the main event of the ridiculously stacked UFC 217, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre made his long-awaited return to the Octagon. While St-Pierre’s heyday occured at welterweight, however, his comeback fight occurred at middleweight, where he took on reigning champ Michael Bisping for the title. Despite the length of his layoff and his apparent size disadvantage, St-Pierre dazzled in this fight, battering his foe en route to a third-round submission win – his first stoppage win since 2009.

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2017

Over the last few months, Colby Covington has been sharpening his tools not just as a mixed martial artist, but as a pro wrestler. While it’s no surprise that his experience in MMA is translating well into the pro wrestling world, he’s also finding that his forays into pro-wrestling world could be beneficial to his MMA career. “Just slowing everything down,” Covington said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio when asked about the keys to success in pro wrestling. “When you’re out there, in front of a crowd, and you got a camera right in front of your face, you want to just go, go go. But, that’s not how you do it in the pro wrestling. That’s not how it works in that business. You have to be able to slow things down and really sell it. Like, if you’re doing a move, you know, you got to really sell it. You got to sell the expression and the emotion, so, just slowing things down, you know? And, I think that’s going to really help me out for MMA fighting in general, just to be patient and wait for your moment.”

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2017

While it’s possible that Nate Diaz will jump the line, the race for a shot at Tyron Woodley’s UFC welterweight title seems to come down to a handful of men: Colby Covington, Robbie Lawler, Rafael dos Anjos (Lawler’s upcoming opponent) and Stephen Thompson. In the opinion of Colby Covington, however, it’s pretty easy to chop Lawler and Thompson from that list. “I’m next in line at welterweight,” Covington said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “You know, I’m number three in the world. There’s only two guys ahead of me: Robbie Lawler and Stephen Thompson. Stephen Thompson, [Woodley] already fought twice. So, he’s not getting another shot. Robbie Lawler got knocked out [by Woodley] in under a minute or two minutes, so, you know, they’re not going to do re-do that fight. It doesn’t make sense. [Besides] I’ve already knocked out Robbie enough in the gym.”

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2017

On November 4, in the first of the three title fights on the stacked UFC 217 bill, Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s strawweight title reign came to a crashing halt as she was knocked out by challenger Rose Namajunas in the first round. Since then, Jedrzejczyk has been campaigning relentlessly for an immediate rematch, and the chance to reclaim her title. In fact, she even claims she’ll get that rematch.

Chris Taylor - November 19, 2017

Perennial UFC lightweight contender Al Iaquinta believes “someone should have cold clocked Conor McGregor” at Bellator 187. “The Notorious” had jumped into the cage at Bellator 187 in an attempt to celebrate with teammate Charlie Ward. During the incident McGregor ended up pushing referee Marc Goddard and also slapped a member of the commission.

Chris Taylor - November 19, 2017

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is hoping to secure a fight with former lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz at December’s UFC 219 event in Las Vegas. Earlier this week “The Chosen One” announced that a fight with the younger Diaz brother was fifty-percent complete and only required Nate to stop with his “excuses” and sign on the dotted line.

Chris Taylor - November 19, 2017

Surging UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington has made a lot of headlines in recent weeks. It all started last month in Brazil after Covington scored a unanimous decision over hometown favorite Demian Maia at UFC Fight Night 119.

Tom Taylor - November 19, 2017

On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes admitted that, while she didn’t want to step on the toes of her fellow Brazilian Cris Cyborg, she believed her next opponent should be former champion Holly Holm. “I’m ready to go,” the bantamweight champ said on BJ Penn Radio. “I kind of don’t want to step in front of Cris Cyborg right now, because I know she wants to fight Holly Holm. But I don’t think this fight’s going to happen, and if Holly Holm comes down again, to 135 [pounds], we can do this. I want to defend my belt. I want to defend the 135 belt. Holly Holm is one of the only girls in this division [riding] a win, so I think she’s the one. I think if she’s not going to fight Cyborg, she has to come down and make this happen.”

Tom Taylor - November 16, 2017

Over the last few days, there has been a tidal wave of buzz surrounding a possible welterweight title fight between champ Tyron Woodley and long-time lightweight contender Nate Diaz at UF 219. While this possible showdown has generated a flood of excitement, however, there are plenty of people who believe it’s the wrong choice, as Diaz has hardly earned a welterweight title shot. File surging welterweight contender Colby Covington into that group. “It’s a joke, man,” Colby Covington said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “What’s Nate Diaz’s record at welterweight? He doesn’t even have the 25% win ratio. I mean, he got his shit beat by Dong Hyun Kim. You saw what I did to Dong Hyun Kim. I completely destroyed him and outclassed him. So, Nate’s a small 55-er. He doesn’t belong at 170. You know, whatever. If he gets to fight, good for him, man. I’m still gonna be here. I’m still gonna be the number one contender, and I’m still gonna get my belt next, so… [Tyron] can only run and hide for as long as he can. But, at the end of the day, I’m still gonna be here, and I’m not going anywhere. I am the best, and I cannot be stopped right now.”

Tom Taylor - November 16, 2017

It’s now been many months since Al Iaquinta’s thrilling return to the Octagon, in which he thumped Diego Sanchez to a beautiful, first-round knockout. Fans have been eager to see him back in the cage ever since. For a moment, it sounded as though Iaquinta would be returning to the cage for a fight with Paul Felder at UFC 218 this December 2. Regrettably, this scrap fell through just shortly after it was announced.

Tom Taylor - November 16, 2017

Not long ago, long-time UFC strawweight star Paige VanZant took to Twitter to announce that she would be getting the first crack at the new UFC women’s flyweight champion crowned by the current season of The Ultimate Fighter. Shortly thereafter, top bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko, who has long flirted with a drop to flyweight, challenged this assertion from VanZant, and challenged her to a title eliminator. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Valentina Shevchenko explained her choice to call out Paige VanZant.

Tom Taylor - November 14, 2017

Back in October, established UFC welterweight contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone stepped into the cage with Darren Till, an up-and-coming fighter he knew very little about. After winning this fight via first-round knockout, Till immediately emerged as one of the welterweight division’s hottest contenders. Had Cowboy not accepted this fight with Till, it’s likely that Till would still be out on the fringes of the welterweight top-15, rather than right in the middle of the top-10. James Vick, a lightweight who currently resides on the outside of the lightweight rankings, wishes there more fighters like Cowboy in his division so that he could be given a similar chance.

Tom Taylor - November 13, 2017

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of UFC 217, TJ Dillashaw put months of trash talk to rest, authoring a second-round knockout of his arch rival Cody Garbrandt to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title Despite the massive stakes of this fight, however, Dillashaw does not consider it the biggest of his career. Instead, that honor goes to his first win over Renan Barao.

Chris Taylor - November 9, 2017

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko has issued a challenge to Paige Vanzant! “The Bullet” recently announced her intentions to drop down to the UFC’s new women’s flyweight division, this following her controversial split-decision loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 215 in September.

Tom Taylor - November 9, 2017

This weekend, on the main card of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Norfolk, Virginia, welterweight fan favorite Matt Brown will partake in the final fight of his long career. His dance partner for this swan song will be Diego Sanchez, a fighter of a similar vintage. Given that Sanchez has also been fighting for many years, Brown believes it might be time for him to retire too.