MMA News
Bob Arum believes Terence Crawford could 'pin' Conor McGregor in an MMA bout
Harry Kettle - January 29, 2020
Boxing promoter Bob Arum has said that he believes Terence Crawford could “pin” Conor McGregor in a mixed martial arts bout. Arum has always been a thorn in the side of MMA fans, many of whom believe he doesn’t really understand the sport in any way, shape or form.
Eduard Folayang still pumped despite a year full of setbacks
BJPENN.COM Staff - January 29, 2020
Things didn’t go exactly as planned for former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang in 2019. The 35-year-old entered the year as a world champion but shortly after succumbed the title to rival Shinya Aoki in ONE Championship’s debut event in Japan.
Mackenzie Dern returns at UFC Lincoln
Tom Taylor - January 29, 2020
Mackenzie Dern will look to rebound from the first loss of her MMA career at UFC Lincoln on April 25, when she takes on Ariane Carnelossi. This bout was first reported by Combate and confirmed thereafter by MMA Fighting. When Dern last fought, at UFC Tampa in October, she experienced her first taste of defeat, giving up a decision to Amanda Ribas. Prior to that setback, she rattled off seven straight victories to begin her pro MMA career. Her main claim to fame, of course, his her massive success on the professional grappling circuit.
Israel Adesanya praises Kobe Bryant: 'Mamba Mentality is worldwide'
Tom Taylor - January 29, 2020
Israel Adesanya is one of many top MMA fighters to pay tribute to NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who passed away in a helicopter crash on Sunday. Adesanya shared his thoughts on Bryant in a video from EMG Access on YouTube.
Valentina Shevchenko says trilogy fight with Amanda Nunes will 'happen sometime in the future'
Cole Shelton - January 28, 2020
Valentina Shevchenko expects to fight Amanda Nunes again. The two first met at UFC 196 where it was Nunes who won by unanimous decision and would go on to win the bantamweight title in her next fight. The rematch then came a year and a half later where Nunes edged out a split-decision to defend her title and beat the Krygyzstan native again.
Daniel Cormier explains why it will take a heavyweight to beat Jon Jones
Cole Shelton - January 28, 2020
Daniel Cormier is confident that no light heavyweight will be able to beat Jon Jones. Jones has been reluctant to move up to heavyweight so far in his career, as he has continued to reign over the light heavyweight division. Still, fans have made it clear they want to see ‘Bones’ at heavyweight. But, there still are fights for him at 205 pounds, as evident by his upcoming title defense against undefeated contender Dominick Reyes.
UFC gets hacked on Instagram, Twitter
Thomas Taylor - January 28, 2020
The official Twitter and Instagram accounts of the UFC have been hacked. A hacking organization identifying itself as OurMine is taking credit for this incident. The original Tweet from the hackers has already been deleted — though it’s not clear if it was deleted by the hackers, the UFC, or by Twitter. Whatever the case, the Internet is forever. See a screenshot below.
Strikeforce, UFC, Bellator veteran Josh Thomson announces his retirement
Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020
Josh Thomson, a veteran of the Strikeforce, PRIDE, UFC and Bellator cages, has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. Thomson, 41, announced his retirement from the sport on his Weighing In podcast on Tuesday.
Teacher by day, fighter by night: The story of Samuel Toscano
Alfredo Zullino - January 28, 2020
Amongst the most hardcore of fight fans, interest is growing in an extremely brutal combat sport: Lethwei. Also called Burmese bare knuckle boxing, Lethwei is far older than other combat sports like MMA, as there are records of matches taking place as far back as the third century in Myanmar. Lethwei, nicknamed “The Art of Nine Limbs” because it includes head-butts, punches, elbows, kicks and knees, is considered one of the most violent sports in the world. Clinches, sweeps, and throws are accepted techniques as well, which makes the sport even more dangerous.
Three potential opponents for Cris Cyborg's first Bellator title defense
Cole Shelton - January 28, 2020
In the main event of Bellator 238, Cris Cyborg was looking to become the Bellator featherweight champion as she was taking on Julia Budd. It was Cyborg’s promotional debut, where a win could be the first fighter to win belts in Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, and Bellator. She did just that as she TKO’d Julia Budd in the fourth round.
John McCarthy shuts down Brendan Schaub’s claim that all the best fighters are in the UFC
Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020
Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub recently claimed that all the best fighters are on the UFC roster. Unsurprisingly, this comment generated a torrent of backlash — including a retort from MMA referee turned Bellator commentator John McCarthy. Hear what McCarthy had to say about Schaub’s claim below (via Twitter):
Bellator 238 medical suspensions: Julia Budd out 45 days
Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020
Bellator 238 was an action-packed card, with violent finishes from the likes of Cris Cyborg, Sergio Pettis and Aaron Pico. As is always the case with highlight-filled cards like this, the result is a long list of medical suspensions — particularly for the Bellator 238 losers.
Danny Kingad determined and motivated to start the new year with a win
BJPENN.COM Staff - January 28, 2020
Danny Kingad unloaded his full arsenal of skills in hopes of defeating the legendary Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Unfortunately, he fell just short of victory in a grueling three-round contest. The unanimous decision loss to Johnson put an end to Kingad’s six-bout win streak. But it did not dampen his spirits to continue his march towards greatness. This Friday night, Kingad joins his Team Lakay brethren at ONE: Fire & Fury, live from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila on 31 January.
Sodiq Yusuff says UFC 246 win over Andre Fili made him a top guy at featherweight
Cole Shelton - January 28, 2020
Sodiq Yusuff is now a perfect 4-0 inside the Octagon, and ranked in the featherweight top-15. At UFC 246, Yusuff competed in the biggest fight of his career when he took on Andre Fili. The Nigerian-American knew it was going to be a tough fight but was confident he would get his hand raised. That is exactly what happened as he edged out a decision victory.
VIDEO | Israel Adesanya links up with comedian Tom Segura to trash talk Yoel Romero
Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has already proved he doesn’t need any help in the trash talking department, but he’s decided to enlist some anyway. Adesanya recently linked up with comedian Tom Segura to direct some trash talk at his UFC 248 opponent Yoel Romero. See it below (via @seguratom on Instagram):
Dustin Poirier still wants Nate Diaz fight — in MMA or boxing
Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020
Dustin Poirier has some history with Nate Diaz, and he wants to settle it in the cage — or the boxing ring. Poirier and Diaz were briefly scheduled to fight in late 2018, but the fight fell through due to reasons the two fighters can’t seem to agree on.
Report | MMA superhero ‘Phoenix Jones’ arrested on drug charges
Harry Kettle - January 28, 2020
The MMA superhero known as ‘Phoenix Jones’, formerly a fighter with the World Series of Fighting, has been arrested on drug charges. ‘Phoenix Jones’ is the pseudonym of Ben Fodor, a 31-year-old mixed martial arts fighter from Texas. Jones made headlines in the 2010s for his vigilante crime patrols in Seattle, before he moved on to MMA where he was able to obtain a 7-3-1 record.
Cris Cyborg says she's happy in Bellator after feeling like a 'slave' in the UFC
Cole Shelton - January 27, 2020
Cris Cyborg is very happy to be fighting for Bellator. Cyborg had a public falling out with the UFC after her knockout loss to Amanda Nunes at The Forum. UFC president, Dana White said Cyborg didn’t want the Nunes rematch while the Brazilian claimed she did.