MMA News

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2020

Wanderlei Silva has reportedly been offered $10M for a potential bare-knuckle fight with Mike Tyson—an opportunity he says he accepted “right away.” Tyson, a 53-year-old boxing legend, is plotting a comeback, and is being aggressively courted by upstart bare-knuckle organization BKFC. The promotion is reported to have offered Tyson more than $20M to compete sans gloves, and has named Silva as his potential dance partner (should the boxer accept the offer).

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2020

UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman is extremely confident he’d come out on top in a potential fight with Conor McGregor. There’s been plenty of buzz about a superfight between Usman and McGregor, who previously held the UFC lightweight and featherweight titles, over the last few days. The buzz reached a fever pitch when Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, suggested they would be willing to give McGregor a title shot—with some unique conditions.

Jason Kindschy - May 25, 2020

EKIC or Extreme Kumite International Championships is an all-new and innovative promotion focused on bringing authentic martial arts competition to combat sports fans around the globe. Revolutionary in their approach, the founders of EKIC aim to give combat sports athletes every opportunity available to them all under one roof, while also prioritizing fair pay to those under contract. The EKIC brand will bring three different rulesets of combat to international viewers. Freestyle Kumite, which will be modeled after some aspects of MMA but eliminates the cage and gloves. Bareknuckle Boxing under The London Rules rather than Marquess of Queensberry Rules, and finally traditional boxing as it’s seen today. All three rulesets from one promotion. The founders of EKIC joined us to announce the official launch of the brand and discuss their goals for the company. President Ed Simpson, Vice President Mark Goldstein, and fellow VP Jeff Arcio gave BJPENN Radio exclusive insight on EKIC from it’s inception to where they see the company in five years. With an advisory board and brand ambassadors that include the likes of Hector Camacho Jr., Cung Le, and Stephan Bonnar, the EKIC team is ready to take the combat sports world by storm. Having already been bombarded by athletes interested in competing for the brand, it’s only a matter of time before EKIC grows from fledgling promotion to pugilistic powerhouse.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2020

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov recently took a moment to reflect on his jaw-droppingly dominant victory over Abel Trujillo, which occurred seven years ago today, at UFC 160. Nurmagomedov defeated Trujillo by unanimous decision, landing a record-shattering 21 of his 28 attempted takedowns in the process. Interestingly, the lightweight champ says he entered this fight with a debilitating injury, which was part of the reason he exercised such a grappling-heavy game plan.

Adam Martin - May 25, 2020

The sportsbooks have released the opening betting odds for a potential fight between superstar Conor McGregor and UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. There have been rumblings in the last few days about McGregor potentially getting the next title shot against Usman at 170lbs, particularly if Jorge Masvidal fights Nate Diaz in a rematch instead. Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has made it clear their camp is interested in a McGregor fight, so as crazy as it seems that McGregor could get a title shot at welterweight, there is a possibility that’s the case.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2020

UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic has shared his thoughts on a potential super fight between light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and top heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou. According to Miocic, Jones could win this prospective showdown with the right gameplan, but Ngannou’s infamous knockout power would make the contest interesting from beginning to end.

Harry Kettle - May 25, 2020

UFC veteran Bryan Caraway has set up a GoFundMe page in order to try and raise money for his mother’s funeral expenses. Caraway, who had a 6-4 record in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, broke the news on social media in a heartfelt message to his fans. The 35-year-old last fought for Battlefield FC in July 2019 in a winning effort in Macau, China.

Adam Martin - May 25, 2020

Andre Pederneiras, the coach of Jose Aldo and several other top MMA fighters in Brazil, has tested positive for COVID-19. The 53-year-old Pederneiras is now isolated in his own home away from his wife and children. Combate was the first to reveal the positive test for “Dede,” who is considered one of the pioneers of MMA coaching.

Harry Kettle - May 25, 2020

A new travel exemption in the United States could mean that the proposed Fight Island idea will no longer be required by the UFC. For weeks now we’ve been waiting to see whether or not UFC president Dana White would give the green light for Fight Island to take place, with a recent report indicating that it could happen as soon as July.

Natasha Hooper - May 25, 2020

Conor McGregor has explained why he doesn’t consider the lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, to be one of the GOATs of MMA. Last week, the Irish superstar ranked top MMA fighters, past and present, in a Greatest Of All Time list. He posted his GOAT list to social media.

Christopher Taylor - May 25, 2020

UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones has responded to Nate Diaz after the Stockton native suggested that no one is going to remember his fights. The online feud began shortly after Conor McGregor had released his current MMA Goat rankings on social media. Although both Jones and Diaz took issue with the Irishman’s  greatest of all time list, ‘Bones’ was also not happy with Nate claiming to be the pound-for-pound baddest mother f*cker in MMA history.

Christopher Taylor - May 24, 2020

When Conor McGregor shared his current MMA GOAT rankings many fans and pundits questioned why the name Demetrious Johnson was not on the list. McGregor had ranked former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva in the top spot for current MMA GOAT, this while listing himself as a very close second.

Adam Martin - May 24, 2020

Former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo has officially been removed from the UFC rankings and his 135lbs is now listed as vacant. Cejudo shocked the MMA world when he abruptly retired following a second-round TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. Following the victory, Cejudo took the microphone and said that he was hanging up his gloves. It was a move that surprised most fans, fighters, and fellow media, though UFC president Dana White said that the UFC already knew about Cejudo’s intentions to retire long ago.

Adam Martin - May 24, 2020

Four fights have been added to upcoming UFC Fight Night cards in June, including the return of exciting featherweight contender Andre Fili. Check out the four new fight announcements below, which were confirmed by MMAjunkie.com. All of the events mentioned are scheduled to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, though that’s subject to change at this point.

Adam Martin - May 24, 2020

UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz claims that the team of boxing legend Mike Tyson has contacted him for a potential fight and that he’s down to do it. Ortiz recently suggested that he was interested in fighting Tyson, and now he’s saying that Tyson’s team is the one who contacted him first about a potential fight. Check out what Ortiz told TMZ Sports about a potential fight between two legends of combat sports.

Adam D Martin - May 24, 2020

UFC middleweight Darren Till issued a scathing response to Mike Perry after “Platinum” brought up the Brit’s mother in a recent social media post. Perry and Till have had a feud dating back a few years now and occasionally both men have brought up the prospect of fighting each other. With Perry struggling at 170lbs and Till surging at 185lbs, this is unlikely to be a matchup MMA fans see anytime soon, but both men are definitely planting seeds for this fight to take place someday.

Adam D Martin - May 24, 2020

UFC featherweight contender Dan Ige says he will grant a rematch to Edson Barboza after their controversial split decision at UFC Florida. Ige won a split decision with scores of 29-28, 28-29, and 29-28 in his favor in a decision that the majority of media and fans disagreed with. UFC president Dana White also said that he thought Barboza deserved to win the decision, but officially it starts as a loss for the Brazilian. While he’s usually quite reserved, Barboza has taken it upon himself to demand the UFC pay him his win bonus despite losing on the judges’ cards.

Adam D Martin - May 24, 2020

UFC welterweight Mike Perry said that he learned his “Mike Tyson style” of fighting from female boxing legend Christy Martin. Perry is a mixed martial artist but as anyone who has watched his fights knows, he’s an extremely aggressive striker who relies primarily on his punching power. Obviously, Perry is in a different league from a guy like Tyson, but it’s still cool to see him giving the boxing legend some love. It’s equally nice to see Perry showing some admiration for Martin, one of the greatest female boxers of all time.