MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2020

In late February of 2019, Janet Todd battled Stamp Fairtex for the inaugural ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Championship. Todd lost that fight by decision, but in a few short days, she’ll get a second crack at Stamp under slightly different circumstances. This Friday, in the main event of ONE: King of the Jungle, Todd will challenge Stamp for the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship — the other belt in the Thai’s trophy case.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2020

UFC commentator Joe Rogan, like most members of the combat sports community, was very impressed by Tyson Fury’s dominant win over Deontay Wilder last Saturday. During a recent episode of his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Rogan explained to his guest Owen Smith how Fury adjusted his typical fighting style to author such a dominant victory over his rival.

Mike Pendleton - February 26, 2020

Judging has been a very big topic of discussion in the MMA world as of late, and the main event of UFC Auckland, which pitted Paul Felder against Dan Hooker, brought more to that conversation. After Hooker and Felder engaged in a very close fight, the judges gave the victory to Hooker by way of split decision — but not everyone agreed with that verdict.

Alfredo Zullino - February 26, 2020

When Iuri Lapicus stepped foot in ONE Championship’s ring for the first time, back in May of 2019, nobody but the most hardcore fight fans knew who the undefeated Italian-Moldavian athlete was. During that debut fight, Iuri Lapicus (14-0 MMA, 2-0 ONE) was able to bring home the victory with a slick rear-naked choke on Thai veteran Shannon Wiratchai in the third round. But it was earlier this month that he made a huge statement and shocked the entire MMA community, finishing former ONE and M-1 Global featherweight belt-holder Marat Gafurov with Gafurov’s own signature move, the rear-naked choke.

Adam Martin - February 26, 2020

Bellator commentator and veteran MMA official John McCarthy believes that Paul Felder edged out Dan Hooker at UFC Auckland, but admits it was not a robbery. Hooker won a narrow split decision over Felder in the main event of UFC Auckland, with the judges scoring it 48-47, 47-48 and 48-47 in favor of the New Zealander. Fans and media were split on who they thought won the fight, but there was a certain subset of MMA fans who were adamant the decision to award Hooker the fight was a ‘robbery.’

Natasha Hooper - February 26, 2020

Dapper Labs, the company responsible for CryptoKitties, has announced a partnership with the UFC to provide a “new digital experience” for MMA fans around the world. Dapper Labs is a cryptocurrency company, best known for creating CryptoKitties: a blockchain game on Ethereum which allows players to purchase, breed, collect and sell virtual cats.

Adam Martin - February 26, 2020

The sportsbooks have released the opening betting odds for the upcoming main event of UFC 250 between UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo and Jose Aldo. The UFC officially announced this week that Cejudo vs. Aldo will headline UFC 250, which takes place on May 9 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The announcement has been met with plenty of criticism from fans, media and fighters as Aldo is getting a title shot despite being on a two-fight losing streak. But it’s the fight that both Cejudo and Aldo wanted.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2020

The next crack at UFC bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo will go to former UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo. Unfortunately, this matchup is generating quite a bit of controversy, as Aldo lost his only fight in the bantamweight division, and is seen as less deserving of the shot than many of his rivals. Chael Sonnen doesn’t see the issue.

Mike Heck - February 26, 2020

Bryce Mitchell and Charles Rosa have been asking for it, the fans have been in agreement, and it looks like everybody may just get their wish after all.  Sources confirmed to BJPENN.com that a featherweight matchup between Mitchell and Rosa is in the works for UFC on ESPN+ 32. The event takes place May 2 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City and will be headlined by a middleweight bout between former middleweight champion Chris Weidman and Jack Hermansson. 

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2020

UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov is well aware of how tough his upcoming opponent Tony Ferguson is. In fact, he considers Ferguson a tougher test than his other recent opponents like Edson Barboza, Rafael dos Anjos, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Al Iaquinta. Nurmagomedov rated Ferguson against his other recent opponents in a recent interview with TMZ.

Cole Shelton - February 26, 2020

Juan Adams didn’t have much time to develop as a fighter before he got the call to the UFC. Adams made his amateur debut in September of 2016 and quickly turned pro not even a full year later. As a pro, he started his career out 3-0 before getting a shot on the Contender Series and winning and earning a UFC contract.

Cole Shelton - February 26, 2020

Leon Edwards thinks it’s crazy how different he and Darren Till’s careers went in 2019. Last March at UFC London, Till was the main event against Jorge Masvidal while Edwards was the co-main against Gunnar Nelson. Yet, during the press conference, it was the two Englishman going back-and-forth in trash-talking one another. Edwards admits that was the fight he would’ve rather had.

Harry Kettle - February 26, 2020

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is planning to make its debut in Kazakhstan this summer with a Fight Night event in June. As reported by MMA Fighting, the aim is for the promotion to put on a card on June 13 in the Central Asian nation. At this moment in time it’s not yet known as to where exactly the event will be held. The frontrunner is said to be Nur-Sultan, formerly called Astana, which is home to the 30,000-seater Astana Arena.

Harry Kettle - February 26, 2020

Jon Jones and Jan Blachowicz have seemingly confirmed on social media that they’re going to fight for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Ever since Jan Blachowicz dismantled Corey Anderson at UFC Rio Rancho many fans have been calling for the Pole to receive the next shot at Jon Jones’ title. Blachowicz has won seven of his last eight fights with the knockout over Anderson coming just seven months after he also knocked out Luke Rockhold.

Mike Pendleton - February 25, 2020

After the news was announced about a bantamweight title fight between champion Henry Cejudo and former featherweight champion Jose Aldo, who is coming off a loss in his last fight, many bantamweight contenders took exception. One of those bantamweights, Aljamain Sterling, continued to express his frustration with the matchup on Tuesday. During an interview with MMA Tonight on Sirius XM with RJ Clifford and UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith, Sterling discussed why he believes the UFC picked Aldo over him. When asked about the decision, Sterling said he believes the UFC is milking the former champion for his money before his career is over.

Cole Shelton - February 25, 2020

Justin Gaethje is interested in fighting Dublin, Ireland. Gaethje has recently been calling out Conor McGregor and there were reports they are linked to a summertime scrap. Given there is an upcoming card in Dublin, Ireland on August 15, “The Highlight” says he’d love to be featured at the event.

Cole Shelton - February 25, 2020

Stephen A. Smith is not a fan of Deontay Wilder partially blaming his costume for his loss to Tyson Fury. Last Saturday, Deontay Wilder was taking on Tyson Fury in their highly-anticipated rematch. Many thought the “Bronze Bomber” would get the job done but the Englishman ended up getting his hand raised by seventh-round TKO.

Adam Martin - February 25, 2020

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz is denying the rumored matchup between UFC lightweight superstar Conor McGregor and his client Justin Gaethje. On Monday, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that the UFC was in talks about booking a summertime matchup between McGregor and Gaethje. But according to Abdelaziz, that rumor is “absolutely false.”