MMA News

Cole Shelton - March 5, 2020

Joanna Jedrzejczyk doesn’t think Jessica Andrade was completely healthy going into her title defense against Weili Zhang. Andrade was coming off a second-round knockout win over Rose Namajunas to win the strawweight title. In her first title defense at UFC Shenzhen, she had to go into enemy territory to battle Zhang who was just 3-0 in the UFC at the time.

Tom Taylor - March 5, 2020

Emil Meek is one of just a few fighters to experience the methods of Diego Sanchez’s controversial coach Joshua Fabia first-hand. He opened up on those methods in a recent interview with South China Morning Post.

Cole Shelton - March 5, 2020

In the co-main event of UFC 248, Weili Zhang is looking for her first strawweight title defense when she battles former champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Heading into the fight, Zhang is a -150 favorite while the challenger is a +120 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros are split on this one, but the majority think this goes the distance.

Harry Kettle - March 5, 2020

Footage has been released of Israel Adesanya breaking down in tears following his first win in the UFC back in February 2018. It’s been a little over two years since we first saw “The Last Stylebender” make his way into the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and ever since then, he’s been unstoppable. The 30-year-old has dismantled the middleweight division, going on a sensational 7-0 unbeaten run to claim the title.

Natasha Hooper - March 5, 2020

Former referee Big John McCarthy believes Dana White owes him a thank you — maybe even some butt-kissing. McCarthy has been instrumental in overseeing MMA fights since the sport’s early days. He made his officiating debut in the UFC at the promotion’s second show, all the way back 1994. Since then, he has gone on to referee iconic bouts including Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, the shortest title bout in UFC history.

Natasha Hooper - March 5, 2020

UFC 248 on Saturday, March 7 promises to be a night of high-level action. At the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, rising star Israel Adesanya will seek to defend his middleweight belt for the first time against feared contender Yoel Romero. The UFC’s first Chinese champion will also defend her strawweight belt for the first time against the former champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event.

Christopher Taylor - March 4, 2020

Yoel Romero will get another opportunity to capture UFC gold when he takes on Israel Adesanya for the middleweight championship Saturday night in Las Vegas. The highly anticipated matchup will serve as the main event of UFC 248, which takes place live on pay-per-view from T-Mobile Arena.

Cole Shelton - March 4, 2020

Joseph Benavidez believes the headbutt in his fight against Deiveson Figueiredo was the reason behind his loss. At UFC Norfolk, Benavidez was fighting Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight title. Yet, the Brazilian missed weight leaving the American as the only one who could win the title.

Cole Shelton - March 4, 2020

Max Griffin was excited when he got the contract offer to fight Alex Oliveira, at UFC 248. Griffin has been looking to fight big names since he defeated Mike Perry back in 2018. Since then, he admits the matchups haven’t excited him that much, but on Saturday against ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira that is a different story.

Natasha Hooper - March 4, 2020

Former UFC lightweight interim champion Dustin Poirier is expected to face the divisions surging contender, Dan Hooker in a 155-pound blockbuster showdown. According to  MMA Junkie, “The Diamond” is expected to fight Hooker in the main event of UFC San Diego on May 16th, but contracts are yet to be signed. The sources have requested anonymity due to the fact that the UFC has yet to make an official announcement.

Adam Martin - March 4, 2020

Bellator featherweight prospect AJ McKee tore his LCL in his last fight and is questionable to continue in the Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix. McKee defeated Derek Campos via third-round armbar in the quarterfinals of the tournament in his last bout. And he did so despite suffering a complete tear of his LCL within the first 30 seconds of the fight. In a new report from Josh Gross of The Atheltic, McKee said he suffered a complete tear of his LCL, and his continued participation in the Tourmalet is questionable. Check out what Gross wrote on Twitter.

Adam Martin - March 4, 2020

UFC president Dana White praised bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley, saying that he’s an “exciting fighter” and that “people love him.” O’Malley returns from a two-year layoff after numerous issues with USADA when he takes on Jose Quinonez this weekend at UFC 248. Prior to his USADA-induced layoff, O’Malley was quickly emerging as a superstar for the UFC. He had a tremendous performance on the Contender Series and then two wins in the Octagon before taking a long absence.

Adam Martin - March 4, 2020

UFC president Dana White threw some shade at Joanna Jedrzejczyk, saying she’s been at the beaching soaking up the sun while Weili Zhang has been training. Jedrzejczyk meets Zhang this weekend at UFC 248 in the co-main event of the evening with the UFC women’s strawweight title up for grabs. The two rivals do not like each other and have been looking for months to get into the cage and settle their differences. Jedrzejczyk threw more fire on the rivalry when she joked about the coronavirus, and Zhang is sure to want to avenge those comments for the Chinese people.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2020

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last weekend’s UFC Norfolk card, and there have been some interesting changes. Most notably, Deiveson Figueiredo has swiped the No. 1 spot at flyweight after stopping Joseph Benavidez in the main event. Had Figueiredo made weight for the fight, he could now call himself the UFC flyweight champ, but his scale fail made him ineligible to win the division’s vacant title.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2020

Judging is a hot-button issue in MMA of late, and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has a suggestion that he believes could help mitigate the problem. MMA is scored using the 10 point must system. The winner of each round receives 10 points—unless there’s a point deduction—while the user receives 9 or less. That said, we really see a disparity greater than 10-9. 10-8 rounds are a real rarity. A 10-7 round is unheard of.

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2020

UFC President Dana White believes the novel coronavirus outbreak that’s currently sweeping the globe is “a serious problem” and assures that the promotion has been working diligently to determine how best to conduct business under the strain of this health crisis. “Everybody is fighting with the coronavirus,” White said during a media scrum ahead of UFC 248. “This thing started as a Chinese problem and it’s turned into a global problem. It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out through the rest of this year. This isn’t really a Chinese problem, it’s a global problem.

Adam Martin - March 4, 2020

UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang admits she’s still irritated by Joanna Jedrzejczyk making fun of the coronavirus on social media. Jedrzejczyk made a joke about the coronavirus on her Instagram in January which ruffled the feathers of Zhang — not to mention those in the MMA community who felt like joking about the coronavirus was an error to do considering how many people around the world have died from the outbreak.

Cole Shelton - March 4, 2020

In the main event of UFC 248, Israel Adesanya is looking to defend his middleweight title for the first time when he battles Yoel Romero. Heading into the fight, the champion is a -275 favorite while the challenger is a +215 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their predictions for the scrap. There, the majority are leaning towards Adesanya but they know Romero only needs one punch to end it.