MMA News

Tom Taylor - May 15, 2020

UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang has finally emerged from a lengthy period of quarantine in her native China, and she’s already plotting her next challenge in the Octagon. After she defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk in one of the greatest fights of all time back in March, Zhang got stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. When she finally made it back to China, she was forced to endure a two-week period of isolation as a precaution.

Natasha Hooper - May 15, 2020

Daniel Cormier called out the mistakes made by Anthony Smith’s corner during his fight against Glover Teixeira at UFC Jacksonville. Wednesday’s UFC Jacksonville card featured a number of compelling matchups including the main event clash between light heavyweight contenders Smith and Teixeira.

Tom Taylor - May 15, 2020

On Saturday night, the UFC will return to our screens for a third time in eight days with the surprisingly stacked UFC on ESPN 8 card. The card will be headlined by a heavyweight showdown between former DREAM, Strikeforce and K-1 heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, and Walt Harris, who returns to the cage after the tragic death of his daughter, Aniah Blanchard.

Harry Kettle - May 15, 2020

Cub Swanson has teased the idea of a huge jump up in weight in order to fight Marvin Vettori this weekend. Vettori was set to square off with Karl Roberson on Wednesday night, but after Roberson dropped out due to reported issues with his weight cut, Vettori unleashed on him in the fighter hotel on the day of the event.

Natasha Hooper - May 15, 2020

Giga Chikadze will face a new opponent after a short notice shakeup surrounding this Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 8 event in Jacksonville. Mike Davis has withdrawn from his UFC featherweight debut against Chikadze over medical issues not relating to COVID-19. This news was first reported by Giorgi Kokiashvili of Adjara Sport. 

Christopher Taylor - May 14, 2020

Conor McGregor took to Twitter earlier tonight to thank Mike Tyson, this after ‘Iron Mike’ praised ‘Notorious’ for his efforts against Floyd Mayweather. Although McGregor ultimately went on to lose his first career boxing match to Mayweather in their blockbuster fight in August of 2017, Tyson still had nothing but praise for the Irishman.

Christopher Taylor - May 14, 2020

Newly crowned UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje thinks it is ironic that Conor McGregor is now clamoring for a fight. ‘The Highlight’ captured the promotions interim 155lbs title this past Saturday at UFC 249, this after scoring a fifth-round TKO victory over Tony Ferguson.

Cole Shelton - May 14, 2020

Francis Ngannou seems interested in potentially fighting Jon Jones. For years now, many fans have clamored for Jones to move up to heavyweight. His coach, Mike Winkeljohn told BJPENN.com it was time for “Bones” to move up in weight. If he does move up, many assumed it would be for the belt. Yet, recently, many fans brought up Ngannou’s name and Jones seems interested.

Cole Shelton - May 14, 2020

Chael Sonnen is furious with Marc Montoya and Anthony Smith’s entire corner for not throwing in the towel at UFC Jacksonville. Smith was making his return after nearly a full year away from the Octagon due to injuries to take on Glover Teixeira. Early on, “Lionheart” was having a ton of success but after the first round, the tides shifted. The Brazilian dominated the rest of the fight, dropping Smith and landing vicious ground and pound shots to eventually earn a fifth-round TKO win.

Adam Martin - May 14, 2020

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz says that Justin Gaethje will not fight Conor McGregor next, and instead, he will take on Khabib Nurmagomedov as expected. Gaethje took home the UFC interim lightweight belt last weekend at UFC 249 when he defeated Tony Ferguson via fifth-round TKO. Taking home the interim belt also means that Gaethje is next in line to take on Nurmagomedov in a title unification bout. UFC president Dana White this week said the promotion is targeting Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje to take place in September.

Cole Shelton - May 14, 2020

The salaries have been released for UFC Jacksonville, which took place on Wednesday night, and heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell took home the top earnings. According to the salaries obtained by reporter Jed I. Goodman from the Florida State Boxing Commission, Andrei Arlovski made the most banking $325,000. The next closest was heavyweight contender Ben Rothwell pocketing $260,000.

Cole Shelton - May 14, 2020

In the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card in Jacksonville, Florida, Walt Harris battles longtime heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem. Heading into the fight Harris is a -165 favorite, while the Dutchman is a +135 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros have a slight lean towards Harris to get it done by stoppage, as he’ll be motivated following the tragic murder of his stepdaughter.

Adam Martin - May 14, 2020

UFC president Dana White said he doesn’t “give a f*ck” about the criticism of the UFC’s coronavirus protocol from the New York Times. The NYT obtained the coronavirus protocol that was supposed to be upheld by everyone connected to the UFC Jacksonville events, but not everything was. For example, White was supposed to wear a mask at all times and he didn’t. As well, post-fight interviews in the Octagon at UFC 249 were supposed to be conducted at a distance, but UFC commentator Joe Rogan was close to the fighters when he conducted them.

Adam Martin - May 14, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Glover Teixeira explained why he apologized to Anthony Smith mid-fight at UFC Jacksonville—an exchange that caught the ears of viewers and quickly went viral on social media. The 40-year-old Brazilian Teixeira absolutely pulverized Smith for nearly five rounds in one of the most lopsided beatdowns in recent memory. The referee and corner of Smith refused to stop the fight until late in the fifth round despite Smith admitting after the fourth round that he had lost two of his teeth during the match. The refusal to stop the fight after Smith said he lost his teeth led to fans and media criticizing the ref for not calling a TKO sooner and Smith’s coach Marc Montoya for not throwing in the towel.

Tom Taylor - May 14, 2020

Mike Tyson once tried to start a fight with NBA legend Michael Jordan, according to the boxer’s former manager Rory Holloway. Holloway claims the two sports icons nearly came to blows at a 1988 birthday party for Chicago Bears player Richard Dent. Boxing promoter Don King and Bears coach Mike Ditka were also in attendance.

Tom Taylor - May 14, 2020

Justin Gaethje is expected to fight UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov in the coming months, but that hasn’t stopped him from wishing the champ well during a period of personal turmoil. Earlier this week, several Russian media outlets that Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap was in a medically-induced coma in a Moscow hospital. While Abdulmanap has reportedly woken from this coma, he is still said to be in serious condition.

Tom Taylor - May 14, 2020

UFC middleweight contender Jacare Souza has issued a statement after he was pulled from a UFC 249 fight with Uriah Hall due to testing positive for COVID-19. Jacare made his statement—his first since the fight fell through—on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - May 14, 2020

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the father of undisputed UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, has reportedly awoken from a medically-induced coma. On Wednesday, several Russian media outlets reported that the elder Nurmagomedov had been flown from his native Dagestan to Moscow, where he was put into a medically-induced coma and was in “critical condition.”