Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2017

“Platinum” Mike Perry is one of the fastest rising contenders in the UFC welterweight division. Since joining the UFC fold in August of 2016, he has knocked out Hyun Gyu Lim, Danny Roberts, Jake Ellenberger, and most recently, Alex Reyes. Though these knockout wins were interspersed by a decision loss to Alan Jouban, they have still been enough to elevate Perry to the number-15 spot in the UFC welterweight rankings. And now that he’s in the top-15, he’s putting all of his peers on notice. One of the latest fighters to find himself in Perry’s crosshairs is two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, who battles Jorge Masvidal at UFC 217 on November 4.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

UFC 217, which goes down on November 4 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, is one hell of a fight card. Topped by a trio of title fights, it could even be the biggest fight card of the year outright.  Given the scale of the card, it should come as no surprise that a great many fighters were eager to shoehorn themselves onto the bill. Fourth-ranked UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal, who battles Stephen Thompson on the main card, is one of the fighters that was lucky enough to succeed in his effort to do so. He couldn’t be happier about this fact.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 116, rising welterweight slugger “Platinum” Mike Perry authored yet another brutal knockout, this time putting down Alex Reyes with a rocket-fuelled knee against the cage. Reyes, of course, was not supposed to be Perry’s opponent. Perry was originally expected to battle former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves on the card. It was only when Alves was forced out of this anticipated booking that Reyes got the call and agreed to step in against Perry on mere days’ notice.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

On November 4, on the main card of the stacked UFC 217, fourth-ranked welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal will take on the division’s number-two fighter, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. This bout will serve as Thompson’s opportunity to rebound from back-to-back failed title bids opposite reigning champion Tyron Woodley – the first being a majority draw, the second being a majority decision. Though Thompson performed admirably in these undeniably competitive fights, he failed to pull the trigger in either battle, opting instead to hang back and wait for opportunities to counter.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2017

On October 28th, on the main card of UFC Fight Night 119 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, red-hot welterweight contender Colby Covington will battle recent title challenger Demian Maia. While Covington has repeatedly shared his confidence in the way he matches up with Maia, he actually has ample respect for the Brazilian grappling specialist. That respect does not extend to UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley – at all. Covington explained why he respects Maia but not Woodley on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

This Saturday night, in the main event of the anticipated UFC 215, 24-year-old flyweight contender Ray Borg will attempt to do the seemingly impossible and derail the historic win-streak of champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Borg, of course, is not the first man to attempt to end Mighty Mouse’s reign. Ten others have tried and failed. When the cage door closes on Saturday, however, he believes he’s got what it takes to defeat the dominating flyweight king.

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

Shortly after his destruction of Zebaztian Kadestam at last weekend’s ONE Championship: Shanghai event, it was announced that Ben Askren’s next fight would be his last. His opponent in this November 24 retirement fight, it was revealed, would be Japanese lightweight veteran Shinya Aoki, who stands out as one of the finest submission players in MMA history. Speaking on BJ Penn Radio, Askren revealed that this awesome matchup was initially a surprise to even him:

Tom Taylor - September 7, 2017

This weekend, in the main event of UFC 215, dominant flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson will attempt to make history with an eleventh-consecutive title defense. The man standing in his way will be the 24-year-old Ray Borg. For all Borg’s talent, he’s being counted out the majority of the MMA community, as Johnson is simply viewed as too dominant a force to stop. Borg himself, however, is pure confidence, and that’s in large part due to what he’s calling a “perfect” training camp for the champ.

Tom Taylor - September 3, 2017

AJ McKee (9-0) and James Gallagher (7-0) are two of the hottest prospects on the Bellator roster, and they happen to compete in the same division. As such, the two rising featherweights have developed a pretty memorable rivalry – one that will inevitably have to be settled in the cage. Speaking on the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio, McKee discussed his beef with Gallagher, explaining that he initially had no interest in a fight with him, but that the Irishman’s disrespect changed his mind.

Russell Ess - August 17, 2017

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko are scheduled to fight once again at UFC 215. Nunes and Shevchenko first met in the Octagon in March of last year at UFC 196 where Nunes won a unanimous decision after Shevchenko turned things up in the third round. The two were set to fight in the main event of UFC 213 in July, however, Nunes pulled out of the bout the day of the scheduled fight after feeling ill.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

On August 26, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor will step into the boxing ring with undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. In the buildup to this fight, many members of the combat sports community have offered insights, expectations and predictions for it. One of the latest to do so is Richard Perez, who serves as the boxing coach for Nick and Nate Diaz – the latter of whom stands out as McGregor’s fiercest rival. Perez discussed this upcoming boxing match on the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio. In his opinion, McGregor has a few dangerous weapons at his disposal, but they probably won’t be enough.

Tom Taylor - August 17, 2017

In the buildup to his August 26 boxing match with Floyd Mayweather Jr., many pundits have argued that Conor McGregor’s only chance at a victory is a puncher’s chance. In the opinion of Richard Perez, who serves as the boxing coach for McGregor’s arch-rival Nate Diaz, McGregor doesn’t even have that. Richard Perez also believes McGregor’s cardio issues – which plagued him in his fights with Diaz – will be a problem against Mayweather, and that the Irishman might resort to shady tactics to combat this problem. “No, he doesn’t have a punchers chance – and he gasses out,” Perez said on Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio. “I don’t care how hard he trains. They’ve got to watch out for him, because he’s probably going to take the substance that he did when he [fought] with Nathan, that woke him up. I know they’re taking tests, but they’ve got to be careful with that because he will do it. There’s no way he’s going to do this without taking any substances, and be strong in boxing, because boxing is a lot of stamina.”

Tom Taylor - August 10, 2017

Over the last few months, Colby Covington and his friend and training partner Jorge Masvidal have made repeated callouts of fellow welterweight contenders Rafael Dos Anjos and Neil Magny. Unfortunately, Magny and Dos Anjos didn’t oblige those callouts. So, you can imagine Covington and Masvidal’s frustration when a Magny and Dos Anjos were booked to fight each other at UFC 216. On the latest edition of BJ Penn Radio, Covington went off on Magny and Dos Anjos in a scathing rant. Check out what he had to say below:

Tom Taylor - August 8, 2017

Last weekend, during the UFC Fight Night 114 broadcast, former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis made an interesting callout of fellow contender Dustin Poirier. It did not take Poirier long to respond. “I’m down,” he said matter-of-factly on Twitter. 

Tom Taylor - August 8, 2017

Back in May, UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier very nearly picked up the biggest win of his career, as he had former lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez on spaghetti legs during their UFC 211 undercard scrap. Regrettably, Poirier was then cracked with a salvo of illegal knees. When he was unable to continue, the bout was ruled a no contest. Unsurprisingly, Poirier then set his sights on a rematch with Alvarez, and for a time, it looked like he’d get one. Ultimately, however, the UFC opted to pit Alvarez against breakthrough star Justin Gaethje, leaving Poirier without a dance partner

Chris Taylor - August 6, 2017

Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson (22-9 MMA) has gone 2-1 since joining Scott Coker and Bellator MMA in August of 2015. The American Kickboxing Academy staple scored a third-round submission finish (arm-triangle choke) over Mike Bronzoulis in his Bellator debut in September of 2015.

Tom Taylor - August 3, 2017

On September 16, when the UFC touches down in Pittsburgh, PA, ever entertaining welterweight “Platinum” Mike Perry will step onto the canvas with former welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves. Alves, of course, has long stood out as one of the welterweight division’s most exciting – and dangerous  – fighters. The one knock against the Brazilian star, however, is that he’s had some real difficulty making weight in the past. To recount, Alves has missed weight for welterweight fights with Matt Hughes and Jon Fitch, and for his lone attempt at making lightweight, when he tipped the scales at 162 pounds rather than the mandated 155. And while he seemed to have his weight under control for his last fight – an exciting decision defeat of Patrick Cote – there seems to be an ever-present possibility that he misses again.

Tom Taylor - August 3, 2017

On September 16, all-action welterweight “Platinum” Mike Perry will step into the Octagon with former title challenger Thiago Alves. While Perry has endured pretty difficult weight cuts in the past, he expects his cut for this battle with Alves to be quite easy. This is in part due to intense training and clean eating, but also due to a wild accident wherein Perry swallowed a piece of metal and got violently ill. The fan favorite welterweight shared this story on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio: