MMA News

Harry Kettle - February 21, 2020

Michael Chiesa has issued a response after claims from Diego Sanchez’s coach Joshua Fabia that they had plans for a ‘death choke’ at UFC 239. Chiesa and Sanchez went toe to toe during International Fight Week back in July 2019 with the former coming out on top in a fairly lopsided unanimous decision victory. Alas, even though Chiesa has gone on to also beat Rafael dos Anjos, there’s a whole lot more attention on Sanchez right now following his controversial DQ win at UFC Rio Rancho last weekend.

Natasha Hooper - February 21, 2020

Diego Sanchez has become a hot topic of conversation recently, but MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has the welterweight’s back. In 2019, “The Nightmare” announced he would be leaving his training home of JacksonWink MMA to try an unorthodox training approach with self-awareness coach Joshua Fabia. His new training strategy was once again put to the test when Sanchez faced Michel Pereira at UFC Rio Rancho this month. By all accounts, his opponent was leading the fight before delivering a clear illegal knee to Sanchez in the third round. Sanchez had the option to continue the fight, but he decided to refrain and ultimately claimed the disqualification victory.

Adam Martin - February 20, 2020

UFC president Dana White spoke on Thursday evening at a political rally in Colorado in support of United States President Donald Trump. White and Trump are good friends going back two decades now, with Trump being instrumental to the rise of MMA in the early days of the UFC. When White had the chance to speak at Thursday’s rally, he praised Trump and spoke glowingly about the president. Below is the video and a written transcript of what White said at the podium.

Cole Shelton - February 20, 2020

Joshua Fabia, the coach, trainer, and manager of Diego Sanchez is firing back at his critics. He says his pupil has some of the best defense in MMA and isn’t sure why he is getting made fun of. Back at UFC 239, Sanchez had a public falling out with JacksonWink. There, he dropped them on fight week and only used one cornerman in Fabia. Since that fight and Sanchez’s most recent scrap at UFC Rio Rancho, Fabia was critiqued by the way he communicated and the movements he shows.

Adam Martin - February 20, 2020

The trilogy fight between light heavyweight legends Shogun Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been added to UFC 250. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported that the UFC has added the third fight between the PRIDE veterans to UFC 250, which takes place on May 9 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil. UFC president Dana White confirmed the bout is official. The main event of the card sees UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo taking on Jose Aldo.

Adam Martin - February 20, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Jan Blachowicz has proposed a four-man tournament to determine the pecking order for Jon Jones’ 205lbs title. Blachowicz is proposing he gets the next title shot against Jones while suggesting top contenders Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos fight each other to determine who will fight the winner of Jones vs. Blachowicz for the next title shot after that.

Cole Shelton - February 20, 2020

Ed Ruth will headline his first Bellator show at Bellator 239 when he takes on Yaroslav Amosov, who is 22-0. Ruth, 8-1 and on a two-fight winning streak, had his eye on the Ukrainian after seeing him steamroll over his three Bellator opponents.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2020

ESPN SportsCenter has released the complete Conor McGregor vs. Donald Cerrone fight, which headlined the UFC 246 card back in January. The fight was over and done with in 40 seconds, so it won’t take much time out of your day to relive. Watch it below:

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2020

After a short stint in the light heavyweight division, Chris Weidman is headed back to middleweight. According to a report from ESPN, the official broadcast partner of the UFC, a middleweight fight between Weidman and Jack Hermansson is being targeted for the main event of Fight Night card in Oklahoma City on May 2.

Harry Kettle - February 20, 2020

It’s time to take a look at the official fight card for UFC Auckland this weekend as the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to New Zealand. While most of the card may be flying a little bit under the radar there are more than a few gems to be found from top to bottom. Of course, while that may be the case, the big highlight for many fans comes in the form of the mouth-watering lightweight main event between Paul Felder and Dan Hooker.

Cole Shelton - February 20, 2020

Myles Jury is set for his second Bellator fight in the co-main event of Bellator 239 when he battles Brandon Girtz. In his promotional debut, he was the main event of Bellator 227 where he dropped a decision to Benson Henderson. Although he lost the fight, he was pleased with his performance.

Cole Shelton - February 20, 2020

In the main event of UFC Auckland, Paul Felder is heading to Dan Hooker’s backyard for a very intriguing lightweight scrap. Heading into the fight Felder is a +120 underdog while the Kiwi is a -150 favorite. 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 all agree it will be a fantastic fight.

Adam Martin - February 20, 2020

UFC welterweight Emil Meek says Diego Sanchez’s coach Joshua Fabia ran after him with a sharp knife during a “crazy” training session. Fabia has come under fire for his unique training and coaching methods in the wake of Sanchez’s DQ win over Michel Pereira at UFC Rio Rancho. There are many in the MMA media and even fans who don’t believe Fabia’s training methods work for mixed martial arts. You can count Meek among the doubters, though he is adamant he doesn’t want to badmouth Sanchez.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2020

ONE Championship announced Thursday that it will be launching a spinoff of the popular reality television show The Apprentice, under license from MGM Television. Per a press release from the promotion, The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition “will feature 16 contestants handpicked from around the world in a high-stakes game of business competitions and physical challenges where the winner will receive a US$250,000 job offer to work for a year directly under Chatri Sityodtong as his protege at the ONE Championship Global Headquarters in Singapore.

Adam Martin - February 20, 2020

Bellator has signed former Cage Warriors welterweight champion and European star Ross Houston to a new contract. Houston recently became a free agent when he agreed to a mutual release from Cage Warriors. He immediately began negotiating with other MMA promotions, and it appears that Bellator was the organization that won the Houston sweepstakes.

Mike Pendleton - February 20, 2020

As streaming services continue to take over the combat sports industry, there are more and more events being broadcast on platforms like ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass, DAZN and YouTube. BJPENN.Com’s Streaming this Weekend series keeps fans up to date on the best combat sports action across the industry’s major streaming platforms.

Natasha Hooper - February 20, 2020

Once a fighter, always a fighter. That statement rings true for lightweight veteran Evan Dunham, who will be returning from his short-lived retirement to fight Michael Johnson. In 2018, Dunham announced his retirement plans following his UFC Sao Paulo bout against Francisco Trinaldo. He shared the news on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2020

ONE Championship has announced multiple title fights for the upcoming ONE: Infinity 1 and 2 events. The second event will also feature the return of former UFC and Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez. ONE: Infinity 1 goes down on April 10 in Jakarta, Indonesia. As we already know, the card will feature a flyweight title fight between challenger Demetrious Johnson and champion Adriano Moraes.