MMA News

Cole Shelton - January 29, 2020

Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington had a heated rivalry in the lead up to their UFC 245 fight. The two traded shot at one another on social media and in interviews and it appeared any respect between the two was gone. Yet, following UFC 245, where Usman won by fifth-round TKO, the welterweight champion praised Covington. He also said that fight was the first in his career where he had to ask his corner if he was winning the fight.

Christopher Taylor - January 29, 2020

Former UFC lightweight title challenger Nate Diaz believes Joe Rogan and Conor McGregor owe Stephen A Smith an apology. The feud started shortly after McGregor decimated Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC 246, where Smith had some questionable words regarding ‘Cowboys’ performance.

Mike Pendleton - January 29, 2020

For many years, the UFC has given worthy fighters and contributors their rightful place in the UFC Hall Of Fame. The Hall Of Fame has several wings which includes the Pioneer wing, the Modern-era, Contributors, and Fights to honor the very best that have taken place in the promotion’s history. Last year’s Modern-era wing featured Michael Bisping and Rashad Evans as inductees and in 2020, there should be a legendary female added to the wing. Four years after she retired from competition, it’s time for Miesha Tate to get the recognition she deserves and she should be inducted into the 2020 Hall Of Fame.

Natasha Hooper - January 29, 2020

Jorge Masvidal has found a new target for his ‘three-piece and a soda’ antics, Kamaru Usman. At a Radio Row media session in Miami, the welterweights nearly got into a fight before being separated by bystanders. The media day is being held in preparation for this weekend’s Super Bowl LIV event which features the San Francisco 49ers against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2020

Joanna Jedrzejczyk has found herself in hot water after sharing a controversial picture to her Instagram story. The post in question included a promotional image of Jedrzejczyk and her UFC 248 opponent, China’s Weili Zhang. The controversy stemmed from the fact that, in the image, Jedrzejczyk was wearing a gas mask — at a time when Zhang’s homeland is reeling from a deadly Coronavirus outbreak.

Adam Martin - January 29, 2020

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and top contender Jorge Masvidal nearly got into a fight during a media session at Radio Row in Miami. The sports media is gathering in Miami this week in preparation for this weekend’s Super Bowl LIV event featuring the San Francisco 49ers taking on the Kansas City Chiefs. Both Masvidal and Usman are Florida-based fighters and were invited to this week’s media festivities, where they got into a verbal altercation and had to be held back by both of their teams.

Adam Martin - January 29, 2020

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman says that UFC president Dana White wants him to fight superstar Jorge Masvidal for his next title defense. Ever since Usman defended his welterweight strap against Colby Covington at UFC 245, there has been plenty of speculation about who he would fight next. Masvidal has always been at the top of the list, but Conor McGregor entered the discussion when he knocked out Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. Leon Edwards is also a top contender for the belt.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2020

The UFC has released the official posters for two of its upcoming cards: UFC Norfolk, scheduled for February 29 in Norfolk, and UFC 248, scheduled for March 7 in Las Vegas. See these new fight posters below, as revealed by the UFC on Instagram.

Adam Martin - January 29, 2020

UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang has responded to a joke that Joanna Jedrzejczyk made about the coronavirus outbreak in China. Jedrzejczyk posted an Instagram story earlier this week in which she shared a picture of herself and Zhang as the two are set to collide in March at UFC 248 for the women’s strawweight belt. But she included one extra thing in the picture, and that’s a gas mask. It’s clearly poking fun at Zhang for being Chinese, which is where the coronavirus is affecting thousands of people, and where numerous people have died from it.

Tom Taylor - January 29, 2020

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of Saturday’s UFC Raleigh card, and as expected, there have been some interesting changes. The biggest changes, however, do not relate to the card. Instead, the biggest difference you’ll notice in the new UFC rankings is the addition of new men’s and women’s pound-for-pound rankings. To remind, men and women used to be ranked together on the same pound-for-pound list, but now, they’ve been separated.

Cole Shelton - January 29, 2020

Ilir Latifi expects Alexander Gustafsson to fight again soon. Shortly after Gustafsson was submitted by Anthony Smith in the main event of UFC Stockholm he announced his retirement. Yet many thought the Swede would come back and a few months later he revealed he is considering a return.

Natasha Hooper - January 29, 2020

Jessica Penne and Bec Rawlings have found another stream of income, and that is their own subscription accounts on OnlyFans.com. The two athletes have records that encompass the UFC, Invicta and Bellator. Jessica Penne hasn’t fought since 2017 after coming off three back-to-back losses and Bec Rawlings is also coming off 5 consecutive losses, though she’s riding a few big wins in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship ring.

Natasha Hooper - January 29, 2020

Conor McGregor’s return to the Octagon garnered priceless reactions from the MMA community. That included fellow MMA superstar, Israel Adesanya, who reacted to ‘The Notorious” 40-second victory against Donald Cerrone at UFC 246. The current middleweight champion tuned into the blockbuster event with friends in New Zealand. In the main event, the Irishman returned to action for the first time since his 2018 loss to lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov. He delivered unusual shoulder strikes and a head-kick to set up a show-stopping TKO victory against “Cowboy” in the first round.

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.

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.

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.

Cole Shelton - January 28, 2020

Kamaru Usman is not interested in moving up in weight to fight Israel Adesanya or taking on Khabib Nurmagomedov. Usman, who is the current UFC welterweight champion made it very clear he does not want to fight the champions in the weight classes below and above him. He and Nurmagomedov share the same manager and are often seen hanging out with another at events so that is why he doesn’t want to fight the Dagestani native.

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.