MMA News

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2020

Alistair Overeem was the biggest earner for Saturday night’s UFC on ESPN 8 card in Jacksonville, Florida, pocketing a hefty $400,000 for his second-round TKO win over Walt Harris. The next biggest earners on the card were Claudia Gadelha and Krzysztof Jotko, who earned $108,000 each for their defeats of Angela Hill and Eryk Anders respectively.

Adam Martin - May 18, 2020

UFC president Dana White says he hopes the next UFC card will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, but he’s prepared to go to Arizona if that can’t happen. The UFC’s next show is set for May 30, but the location is still up in the air at this point. The event was originally targeted to take place in Jacksonville but White later said the UFC was hoping to put on the event at the Apex in Las Vegas. However, Nevada still hasn’t given White the go-ahead to start running events again, and with the card just two weeks away the UFC is already on Plan B in the event it can’t hold the card in Vegas.

Cole Shelton - May 18, 2020

In the main event of UFC on ESPN 8, Alistair Overeem was looking to get back into the win column when he fought Walt Harris. “The Big Ticket” was making his return to the Octagon after the murder of his stepdaughter Aniah. The emotions were high for this one. But, in the end, it was Overeem who got the job done by second-round TKO. Harris, though, did have success early on as he dropped the Dutchman in the first round but Overeem survived.

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2020

Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Dana White and the UFC were able to promote three events last week in Jacksonville, Florida. White’s decision to promote events during the pandemic generated plenty of controversy, but he repeatedly emphasized the importance the promotion was putting on safety protocols — though some doubters have pointed out that those protocols weren’t followed to the letter.

Natasha Hooper - May 18, 2020

Alistair Overeem wants one more shot at the heavyweight title as he enters the “final phase” of his career. On May 16, Overeem returned to a winning position in the main event of UFC on ESPN 8. He collided against Walt Harris who entered the bout on a two-fight win streak. It was the first time Harris had fought since the tragic death of his stepdaughter in 2019 and he started the fight leading the way. He knocked down Alistair Overeem with a big combo, and followed up with an onslaught of ground and pound. “The Reem” miraculously recovered and managed to turn the tide on the ground. He carried the momentum into the second round and finished Harris by TKO.

Natasha Hooper - May 18, 2020

Jon Jones has been spending his COVID-19 lockdown on Twitter going back and forth with many of his rivals. His latest target is Chael Sonnen. The former middleweight and light heavyweight title contender turned MMA analyst responded to the light heavyweight champion’s insults.

Harry Kettle - May 18, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith isn’t happy with referee Jason Herzog’s apology following his loss to Glover Teixeira. Smith, who was considered to be the favorite heading into his main event fight against Teixeira, was overwhelmed by the veteran in what turned out to be a fairly one-sided beating for the Brazilian.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 18, 2020

Asia’s largest martial arts organization, ONE Championship, without a doubt, has the largest collection of Asian martial arts World Champions who are currently employed on its roster of talent. The list of respected figures is long and consists of some of the most iconic names in combat sports.  The roster includes Japanese MMA stars Shinya Aoki and Yoshihiro Akiyama, as well as Muay Thai legends Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, Sam-A Gaiyanghadao, and Yodsanklai IWE Fairtex. The organization even once held a title defense for former boxing World Champion and pound-for-pound great, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

Former UFC and Bellator light heavyweight Tom DeBlass is coming out of retirement and signing with ONE Championship, he announced on Sunday. The 38-year-old DeBlass is a third-degree black belt under Ricardo Almedia and is considered one of the finest grapplers in the world. Between 2010 and 2013, DeBlass racked up a 9-2 record in MMA. He fought twice in the UFC back in 2012, losing to Cyrille Diabate and Riki Fukuda via decision. He then signed with Bellator and picked up wins over Carlos Brooks and Jason Lambert before stepping away from MMA in 2013 to focus on his love for Brazilian jiu-jitsu and his gym, Ocean County BJJ.

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

Check out videos of the top five submissions from UFC 51 to UFC 60, featuring Matt Hughes submitting Frank Trigg at UFC 52 in a classic fight. In our latest series here at BJPenn.com “Top 5 Submissions” we take a look at the most lethal submissions from the fifth block of UFC events. These submissions all took place from 2005 to 2006, and they feature numerous future UFC Hall of Famers in their early days. Keep in mind there are many other submissions deserving of the list, but we had to choose just five.

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC women’s strawweight contender Carla Esparza told Claudia Gadelha to “leave the grease at home” for a potential rematch between the two rivals. Esparza and Gadelha previously fought at UFC 225 in June 2018, with Gadelha winning a tight split decision in a fight that many believe Esparza deserved to win. Following the fight, Esparza accused Gadelha of greasing, with the Brazilian firing back at the American, saying that she was just making excuses for why she lost the fight.

Adam Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC president Dana White said that as far as he’s aware Rose Namajunas is the lone UFC fighter to not want to fight during the coronavirus pandemic. Namajunas was set to fight Jessica Andrade at the original UFC 249 card but understandably withdrew from the event after several members of her family passed away from COVID-19. The promotion told fighters on the roster during a conference call that no one is forced to fight during the coronavirus pandemic and it wouldn’t be held against any fighter if they choose not to fight.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC bantamweight legend Urijah Faber believes the referee stopped the Dominick Cruz vs. Henry Cejudo fight at UFC 249 too soon. Cejudo dropped Cruz with a knee and then followed it up with a barrage of punches which led to referee Keith Peterson stepping in and waving off the contest. Immediately following the stoppage Cruz protested it, saying that he was fine and that Peterson stopped it too early. After the event, Cruz accused Peterson of using “alcohol and cigarettes” prior to reffing the fight.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC welterweight contender Rafael dos Anjos wonders if the coronavirus pandemic has led to a change in the judging criteria in MMA. UFC Florida featured a number of controversial decisions that left fans, fighters including dos Anjos, and even the media up in arms on social media. The co-main event featured Claudia Gadelha win a controversial split decision over Angela Hill, while elsewhere on the main card Dan Ige won a hotly-contested split decision over Edson Barboza and Song Yadong won a surprising unanimous decision over Marlon Vera. The prelims also featured a close decision between Nate Landwehr and Darren Elkins.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

After finishing his opponent via second-round TKO, UFC heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem embraced his opponent Walt Harris at UFC Florida. Harris came into the fight under difficult circumstances. Last October, Harris’ daughter Aniah Blanchard was kidnapped and murdered in his native Alabama. Her death led to him understandably withdrawing from his previously-scheduled bout against Overeem at UFC Washington, D.C.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

The judges’ scorecards have been released for the hotly-debated featherweight fight at UFC Florida between Dan Ige and Edson Barboza. In his first fight since dropping down to featherweight, Barboza appeared to have done enough to win the first two rounds against Ige and take home a decision, but the judges gave the bout to Ige via split decision instead. It’s the second straight controversial split decision loss in a row for Barboza after dropping another hotly-debated decision to Paul Felder at UFC 242. For Ige, meanwhile, that makes it six straight wins, with Barboza representing the biggest name on his resume thus far.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz reacted to the officiating in the UFC Florida main event of Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris. Harris hurt Overeem badly with punches in the first round, but referee Dan Miragliota let Overeem fight out of it. The veteran then came back to win via TKO in the second round. During the first round, some observers remarked that Miragliotta gave Overeem much more leeway than Cruz was given last weekend against Henry Cejudo at UFC 249.

Adam D Martin - May 17, 2020

UFC welterweight Matt Brown has reacted following his second-round KO loss to Miguel Baeza on the preliminary card at UFC Florida. After a back-and-forth first round where Brown had Baeza hurt badly at several points, the younger Baeza was able to land a big punch in the second that knocked the veteran Brown to the floor, where Baeza finished him off with strikes for the biggest win of his career. Baeza ended up earning a well-deserved $50,000 bonus for “Performance of the Night” for the most impressive victory in his career so far.