MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 1, 2025

The sun hasn’t been shining on Saemapetch Fairtex as of late. But, at ONE Fight Night 31: Kongthoranee vs. Nong-O II, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to return to brighter days. The Thai veteran meets surging Russian striker Abdulla Dayakaev in bantamweight Muay Thai this Friday, May 2, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 1, 2025

Rising Brazilian MMA star Lucas Gabriel has impressed fans throughout his ONE Championship tenure. Now that he’s reached the mainstage, he’s ready to test his skills against Zhang Lipeng. The 25-year-old will have the chance to do just that when he meets the battle-tested Lipeng. This happens under lightweight MMA rules at ONE Fight Night 31: Kongthoranee vs. Nong-O II. Fans can catch the action this Friday, May 2, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 1, 2025

British Muay Thai icon Liam Harrison has joined opinionated fans around the world. In fact, he had his say on who’ll emerge victorious in this weekend’s pivotal flyweight Muay Thai rematch between two Thai stars. There, former ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama battles #3-ranked flyweight contender Kongthoranee Sor Sommai.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2025

Deiveson Figueiredo isn’t worried about his weight ahead of his UFC Des Moines main event against Cory Sandhagen. Figueiredo enters the bout as a sizeable +350 underdog on FanDuel, as he’s coming off a decision loss to Petr Yan back in November. Since the fight, photos went viral of Figueiredo looking out of shape, which he says were months ago, as he says there are no issues with his weight ahead of the bout.

BJ Penn Staff - May 1, 2025

Tom Aspinall is still waiting to fight Jon Jones for the UFC heavyweight title. The long wait hasn’t stopped him from making UFC history. Jones is currently the undisputed UFC heavyweight champion. He claimed the vacant belt in 2023, soon after Francis Ngannou vacated the title, with a quick submission of Ciryl Gane. Unfortunately, Jones has been incredibly choosy with his fights since then. He has fought just once since winning the title, battering a shopworn Stipe Miocic to a third-round TKO win last fall.

BJ Penn Staff - May 1, 2025

Belal Muhammad will make the first defense of his welterweight title in the main event of UFC 315. It’s safe to say he’s feeling confident. UFC 315 goes down on May 10 in Montreal, Canada. Muhammad will be back in action in the main event, when he takes on Australia knockout artist. Just over a week out from the fight, Muhammad took to social media to proclaim that he will “break” his challenger in their fight. In fact, he believes he will do so before the championship rounds even get under way.

BJ Penn Staff - May 1, 2025

Keanu Reeves is in hot water with one of the most accomplished MMA coaches in UFC history. The coach in question Firas Zahabi, who runs things at Tristar in Montreal. Zahabi’s main claim to fame is coaching former two-division UFC champion and bona fide MMA legend Georges St-Pierre throughout his Hall of Fame career. That, and inventing a technique Keanu Reeves used in one of the films in the Jon Wick series, apparently.

BJ Penn Staff - May 1, 2025

Canadian MMA veteran Kultar Gill has pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm after allegedly driving his car into a police station, according to a report from the Langley Advance Times.  The incident in question occurred in Langley, British Columbia in 2023, when Gill is said to have run his vehicle into the front of a local RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) station, dragging a female passenger from an open door. He had reportedly been involved in a crash with an other vehicle just before that. Following the second crash, the female passenger escaped the car. The driver fled the scene on foot. He was located by officers soon after.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 1, 2025

Joaquin Buckley has major aspirations for his UFC career, and it goes beyond winning a title. Buckley has never been closer to the top of the heap at 170 pounds. His last outing took place at the end of 2024, and he pulled off a TKO victory over Colby Covington via doctor’s stoppage. He is scheduled to take on former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman at UFC Atlanta on June 14.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 1, 2025

One UFC veteran believes Colby Covington squandered his chances during the peak of his fighting career. Covington has been known for his brash personality, but the wins haven’t been there for him as of late. In his most recent outing, Covington suffered a TKO loss to Joaquin Buckley via doctor’s stoppage. While “Chaos” insisted he could’ve continued, many felt the fight was all Buckley up to that point.

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2025

PFL star Paul Hughes is confident that a rematch against Usman Nurmagomedov will happen at some point in the near future. When it comes to Irish MMA, there are few bigger names right now than Paul Hughes. Yes, you’ve got Conor McGregor and Ian Machado Garry, but, Paul Hughes is really carving out a name for himself these days in one ways than one. The fight that really helped him get to that next level came against Usman Nurmagomedov, when he took the champion to the limit and came close to claiming the belt.

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2025

UFC commentator Paul Felder has urged Bo Nickal to be more aggressive when he battles Reinier de Ridder at UFC Des Moines. Up to this point in his career, Bo Nickal has faced a lot of interesting challenges. However, in mixed martial arts, you could certainly argue he hasn’t gone against anyone quite like Reinier de Ridder. The former ONE Championship star poses all kinds of interesting challenges for him to try and overcome and given how much he’s spoken about becoming a champion, this is a test that Bo needs to pass.

Harry Kettle - April 30, 2025

UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens has revealed how his return to the promotion came to fruition ahead of Saturday night. After leaving the promotion four years ago, Jeremy Stephens is officially back in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He first left to explore a new venture with PFL but in addition to that, he also opted to test the waters in bare-knuckle boxing. It’s safe to say that his tenure in BKFC was successful, as he secured a 3-0 record with two finishes – including one over Eddie Alvarez.

Cole Shelton - April 30, 2025

Gillian Robertson is set for the biggest fight of her career as he’ll take on Marina Rodriguez at UFC Des Moines on Saturday. Roberton is riding a three-fight winning streak and is now ranked 12th at strawweight. Although she is getting a big fight agaisnt someone ranked above her, she is disappointed she isn’t fighitng a week later at UFC 315 in Montreal, Canada.

Cole Shelton - April 30, 2025

Cory Sandhagen believes he can secure the next title shot with an impressive win against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines. Sandhagen is set to headline the card as he looks to get back into the win column after a decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov back in August. Heading into the bout against Figueiredo, Sandhagen is a sizeable favorite. With that, he expects to get his hand raised and do so impressively.

BJ Penn Staff - April 30, 2025

Tyrone Spong is a legend of the kickboxing ring. If things had gone a little differently, he might have made some waves in the UFC Octagon too. As a kickboxer, Spong won multiple notable titles. The knockout artist also had some commendable success as a boxer, notably winning the the WBC and WBO Latino heavyweight titles in 2018, and nearly fighting current unified champ Oleksandr Usyk the following year.

BJ Penn Staff - April 30, 2025

Dustin Poirier is retiring from MMA at UFC 318 on July 19, and he’s going to leave a big hole in the lightweight division. Poirier, a former interim champ, will go down as one of the best lightweights in MMA history, having been a staple of the division’s top-10 for years. In his retirement fight, he’ll take on fellow legend Max Holloway — with the novelty “BMF” title on the line.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 30, 2025

One rising UFC middleweight contender has trained with both Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, and he has an assessment of a potential fight between the two. Recently, du Plessis shut down rumors of an injury. That leaves the door open for the reigning UFC Middleweight Champion to face Chimaev this year. The general consensus is that Chimaev is the deserving No. 1 contender after he quickly submitted Robert Whittaker last year.