MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

Former UFC and Invicta FC champion Cris Cyborg squares off with Julia Budd for the Bellator women’s featherweight title this evening in Inglewood, California. Cyborg (21-2 MMA) was last seen in action at July’s UFC 240 event, where she earned a unanimous decision victory over Felicia Spencer. Prior to the victory, Cris Cyborg was coming off a first round knockout loss to Amanda Nunes at UFC 232, where she lost the promotions featherweight championship.

Cole Shelton - January 25, 2020

Ryan Bader will look to defend his light heavyweight title for the first time since November of 2017. On the Bellator 238 broadcast, Bader announced he will battle Vadim Nemkov on May 9 in San Jose, California at Bellator 243. The champ-champ recently revealed he was going to defend the light heavyweight title on social media.

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos squared off with Michael Chiesa in a welterweight bout at tonight’s UFC Raleigh event. Dos Anjos (29-12 MMA) was coming off a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in his most recent Octagon appearance. Prior to that setback, ‘RDA’ had scored a submission victory Kevin Lee.

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

Tonight’s UFC Fight Night 166 event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between Junior Dos Santos and Curtis Blaydes. The former UFC heavyweight champion, Dos Santos (21-6 MMA), entered tonight’s main event looking to rebound, this after suffering a TKO loss to Francis Ngannou in June.

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

Former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor has responded to the recent video released by ESPN commentator Stephen A Smith. Earlier this evening, Smith shared a video on Twitter where he addressed the recent criticism from UFC commentator Joe Rogan over his remarks about last weekend’s Cerrone vs. McGregor UFC 246 main event.a

Chris Taylor - January 25, 2020

In tonight’s UFC Raleigh co-headliner, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos will square off with Michael Chiesa in a welterweight bout. Dos Anjos (29-12 MMA) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards in his most recent Octagon appearance. Prior to the setback, ‘RDA’ had scored a submission victory Kevin Lee.

Natasha Hooper - January 25, 2020

ESPN’s sports commentator, Stephen A Smith has responded to criticism from UFC commentator Joe Rogan following last weekend’s Conor McGregor vs Donald Cerrone bout. During the UFC 246 main event on Saturday 18th December 2020, McGregor starched his opponent with some unorthodox shoulder strikes. He then followed up with a killer leg kick and strikes to seal the TKO victory over Cerrone in just 40 seconds of the first round. The rapid defeat didn’t go unnoticed by Smith who criticised ‘Cowboy’s’ performance:

Cole Shelton - January 25, 2020

Bellator MMA is in Inglewood, California tonight for Bellator 238 which features the women’s featherweight title on the line as Julia Budd battles Cris Cyborg in the main event. Budd (13-2) is looking to defend her belt for the fourth time and extend her winning streak to 12. She won the inaugural featherweight title back at Bellator 174 with a TKO win over Marloes Coenen. The Canadian has not lost since her fourth professional fight back in 2011 where she was submitted by Ronda Rousey. Her other loss came at the hands of Amanda Nunes.

Cole Shelton - January 24, 2020

Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira will headline the UFC’s upcoming trip to Lincoln, Nebraska in April. The promotion announced on Friday that the two will headline UFC Lincoln on April 25. The two have both been vocal about fighting one another, and sources told BJPENN.com the matchup was originally targeted for UFC Brasilia but Smith did not want to fight in Brazil. Instead, he will get his wish of fighting in the United States.

Thomas Taylor - January 24, 2020

ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has been getting roasted by fight fans all week. The latest member of the MMA community to join the pile-on is UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The cause of the widespread attack on Smith, for those who have been living under rocks, is twofold.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

In September of 2019, Dustin Poirier challenged the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC lightweight belt. Unfortunately for Poirier and his fans, the mission didn’t go as planned, as he was submitted by the champion in the third round. Despite this loss, Poirier is still determined to be become the undisputed UFC lightweight champion in the future. His brief reign as the interim lightweight champ, he says, just doesn’t cut it as far as his legacy is concerned.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Paige VanZant was out of action for almost all of 2019 due to a series of severe arm injuries. She was then booked for a return against Amanda Ribas at the upcoming UFC Brasilia card. Unfortunately, that planned comeback was fight was foiled by yet another arm injury. Speaking on Instagram, VanZant opened up on this new injury and promised that it will not keep her out of action for too long. She says she’ll fight again in May.

Cole Shelton - January 24, 2020

Curtis Millender is entering his fight at Bellator 238 fight against Moses Murrietta with a chip on his shoulder. Millender, who was recently released from the UFC, immediately reached out to Bellator to try and sign back with the promotion after fighting for them in 2015 and 2017.

Adam Martin - January 24, 2020

The UFC Raleigh weigh-ins took place Friday morning and all 24 fighters on the card made weight for this Saturday night’s event. In the main event, heavyweight Curtis Blaydes tipped the scales at 248lbs. His opponent, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, stepped onto the scales at 247lbs. Both men were well below the heavyweight non-title limit of 265lbs.

Adam Martin - January 24, 2020

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards says he is promised a welterweight title shot with a win over Tyron Woodley at UFC London. Edwards is set to take on Woodley in a potential No. 1 contender’s fight at UFC London in March. UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman does not have an opponent booked yet, although Jorge Masvidal appears to have the fast track to the next title shot. According to Edwards himself, however, it could be he who ends up fighting Usman next.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, both former UFC middleweight champions, went 2-0 across two entertaining grudge matches. In the first fight, Rockhold came out on top via submission. In the second, Bisping won via first-round knockout, winning the middleweight belt in the process. During an appearance on the UFC Unfiltered podcast to promote his new book Quitters Never Win: My Life in UFC, Bisping divulged that he was actually injured before his first fight with Rockhold.

Tom Taylor - January 24, 2020

Shortly after Conor McGregor stopped Donald Cerrone in the welterweight main event of UFC 246, he proudly proclaimed himself the first UFC fighter to pick up knockout wins at welterweight, lightweight and featherweight. McGregor’s arch rival Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to remind him of another multi-divisional feat. Using an image posted to Twitter, Nurmagomedov not-so-subtly reminded fight fans that McGregor has also been submitted in three weight classes. The Irishman tapped out to Nate Diaz at welterweight, to Nurmagomedov at lightweight, and to Joe Duffy at featherweight.

Cole Shelton - January 24, 2020

In the main event of Bellator 238, Julia Budd is looking to defend her featherweight title against Cris Cyborg who’s making her promotional debut. Heading into the fight, Budd is a +325 underdog while the Brazilian is a -450 favorite. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros believe this is a closer fight than the odds suggest but the majority are leaning towards Cyborg becoming the new champion.