MMA News

Adam Martin - August 5, 2020

UFC president Dana White explained why he is giving light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby a second chance to fight in the Octagon. Jacoby defeated Ty Flores via lopsided unanimous decision in the main event of Tuesday night’s Contender Series, winning the fight with scores of 30-26, 29-27, and 29-27. White usually only hands out contracts to fighters on the show who get the finish, so it was perhaps a bit of a surprise when he announced that Jacoby would be given a contract. Along with Jacoby, lightweight prospects Jordan Leavitt and Uros Medic also earned deals.

Harry Kettle - August 5, 2020

UFC featherweight Charles Rosa has offered to fight Zabit Magomedsharipov in the wake of Yair Rodriguez withdrawing from their August 29 main event. Fans have been waiting a long time to see Magomedsharipov go head to head with Rodriguez, but now, they’ll be forced to wait a little bit longer after Rodriguez withdrew from the bout due to an ankle injury, as reported by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

Cole Shelton - August 5, 2020

In the main event of Bellator 243, Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson are having a rematch nearly four years in the making. The first fight took place in 2016 where Chandler won a split decision. Heading into the rematch, Chandler is a -235 favorite while the former UFC champion is a +185 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros believe the three-time Bellator lightweight champion in Chandler will get his hand raised again.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Jorge Masvidal and Cody Henderson had an interesting staredown ahead of their Cornhole League showdown, which goes down tonight on ESPN 2. See the pair come face-to-face—with a guest appearance from Masvidal’s son—below.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now firmly embedded as a member of the ONE Championship roster, but he’s still routinely called out by UFC fighters. Most recently, Johnson was called out by Deiveson Figueiredo, who captured the vacant UFC flyweight title with a win over Joseph Benavidez in July.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren says he “probably would” fight again, but the circumstances would have to be right. Askren retired in 2019, after sustaining back-to-back losses to Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia—a knockout and a submission respectively. In his retirement announcement, he cited a need for a hip replacement.

Natasha Hooper - August 5, 2020

Ed Herman is ready to punch Kevin Holland in the face for his comments regarding their possible last-minute fight. The middleweight veteran Ed Herman could’ve fought Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 5 last weekend after Holland’s opponent, Trevin Giles, fainted and the bout was called off. Likewise, Herman’s fight against Gerald Meerschaert was canceled because his opponent tested positive for COVID-19. Despite the apparent possibility of a matchup, “Short Fuse” revealed that he was told by that they couldn’t find a replacement.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) will bring the action closer to fans once again with the release of a brand-new OTT platform. The premium content service—which will be free—was announced by the promotion on Tuesday, providing fight fans around the world with hundreds of hours of viewing from the first organization to offer MMA through a regular season, playoff and championship format.

Adam Martin - August 4, 2020

UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar has offered to step in on short notice and fight Zabit Magomedsharipov later this month. Magomedsharipov was expected to fight Yair Rodriguez in a potential No. 1 contender fight in the UFC featherweight division in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event on August 29. Unfortunately, this fight seems cursed. The UFC has tried to book it in the past but for one reason or another, it hasn’t come to fruition, and it won’t this time, either. On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White revealed that Rodriguez is injured and out of the fight.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Yair Rodriguez and Zabit Magomedsharipov will have to wait a little longer to fight one another. The two have been linked to fighting one another for quite some time, and on Aug. 29 in the main event, they were expected to finally meet. Yet, on Tuesday evening, Mexican outlet Milenio, reported Rodriguez is out of the fight. Dana White later confirmed at the post-fight press conference following the Contender Series.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Conor McGregor is not a fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s strategy for his upcoming bout against Justin Gaethje. Nurmagomedov is returning to the Octagon at UFC 254 on October 24 to take on the Gaethje. It is a fascinating fight where many believe “The Highlight” poses a big threat to the undefeated Dagestani champion.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Daniel Cormier makes it clear he is not trying to poke Stipe Miocic in the eye on purpose. In their first fight, Cormier got the KO win shortly after a break due to an eye poke. And, in the second bout, there was a couple of eye pokes as well. So, many fans have called him a dirty fighter and Miocic already said he will tell the ref to watch out for them.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Beneil Dariush was looking to be fighting a ranked opponent but unfortunately did not get his wish. Dariush, who is currently ranked 14th at lightweight, is riding a four-fight winning streak and coming off a spectacular KO win over Drakkar Klose at UFC 248. It was a phenomenal finish. Looking back at it, the timing of that fight couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Adam Martin - August 4, 2020

UFC president Dana White is unsure who will be the next opponent for welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev and he isn’t sure it will be a top-15 fighter. Chimaev defeated John Phillips and Rhys McKee in dominant fashion on Fight Island, setting a record for the fewest time (10 days) to collect two wins in the modern UFC era. Chimaev took no damage in both fights and has told White and the UFC that he hopes to fight against in August, potentially at UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

Red-hot UFC welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev has a bold prediction for a potential fight with long-time contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Speaking to Chael Sonnen in a video posted to YouTube, Chimaev opened up on a potential fight with Cerrone. While he admitted there’s been no discussions about this matchup, he’s confident he’d win it in the first or second round if it happened.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s UFC on ESPN+ 31 card, and as always, there have been some significant changes. Most notably, long-time UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson has taken a nice climb up his division’s rankings after springing the upset on the formerly unbeaten Edmen Shahbazyan in the card’s main event.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

UFC flyweight contender Tim Elliott has issued a statement after testing positive for marijuana on an in-competition for his May 30 fight with Brandon Royval. On Monday, ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reported that both Tim Elliott and Jamahal Hill tested positive for marijuana, and are facing discipline from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Both have been handed temporary suspensions by the commission, and could ultimately be hit with nine-month suspensions. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), could also issue suspensions, but has not yet decided if it will take action.

Adam Martin - August 4, 2020

UFC president Dana White says his promotion is planning on having five more weeks of events on Fight Island. The UFC just finished its first foray on Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi during the month of July and it was a huge success. The UFC held a total of four events within a two-week span, including a massive pay-per-view in UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal that did 1.3 million buys. White had been saying for months leading into it that Fight Island would be big for his company, but it was even bigger than anyone could have expected.