MMA News

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2020

The sports streaming service DAZN is now home to Bellator MMA, Combate Americas, and boxing action featuring superstars like Canelo Alvarez and Anthony Joshua. Fans can access all of that combat sports content for $19.99 a month, or $99.99 for an annual membership. Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn would like to see that rate increase — by a lot. Hearn, who promotes Anthony Joshua, has witnessed DAZN’s recent growth, and believes the service is becoming a must-have for fight fans, particularly those that follow boxing.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2020

Jafari Vanier, the head coach behind Donald Cerrone, doesn’t view Conor McGregor as a particularly versatile fighter. The coach gave his take on McGregor, who Cerrone will fight in the main event of UFC 246 on January 18, in in Cerrone’s documentary ‘More than a Cowboy.’

Adam Martin - January 2, 2020

The Korean Zombie wants a title shot against new UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski next, but he has three other opponents in mind as well. The Korean Zombie recently knocked out Frankie Edgar in the first round at UFC Busan, upping his record to 3-1 since returning to MMA in 2017 after a four-year mandatory military service layoff. He also has knockout wins over Renato Moicano and Dennis Bermudez and a KO loss to Yair Rodriguez since his return.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2020

Chael Sonnen has a hunch that Georges St-Pierre will fight again in 2020. St-Pierre, a former two-division UFC champion, is currently retired, but Sonnen doubts that retirement will stick.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2020

Back in November, Jorge Masvidal captured the UFC’s one-off BMF belt with a win over Nate Diaz. While this BMF belt win represented a nice feather in Masvidal’s cap, it was not considered by many fans as a legitimate championship accomplishment. Chael Sonnen begs to differ. Sonnen, an analyst for both the UFC and Bellator, believes Masvidal is an absolutely legitimate MMA champion — even if that fact bothers people. Sonnen points to Conor McGregor’s interest in a BMF title fight with Masvidal as proof of this reality.

Tom Taylor - January 2, 2020

Conor McGregor has always been known for his bold fashion choices. Perhaps the best example of this was in 2016 when, ahead of a scheduled lightweight title fight with Rafael dos Anjos, the Irishman donned the attire of infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán, better know as “El Chapo.” Speaking on on a recent episode of his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, UFC commentator Joe Rogan looked back on this fabled Conor McGregor moment. He could not contain his enjoyment of it.

Harry Kettle - January 2, 2020

The UFC is currently going through a bit of a break, but the promotion’s jam-packed 2020 calendar will soon be underway, starting with events like UFC 246 and UFC Raleigh.  While UFC 246 is generating more attention than any other upcoming UFC card, due to the return of Conor McGregor, UFC Raleigh is definitely a card to keep an eye on. 

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 2, 2020

Growing up, Stamp Fairtex was constantly pestered by bullies. Stamp described herself as a “tiny” child. Growing up in Rayong, Thailand. Her size made her an easy target for her classmates. This pushed the now two-sport champ to find solace in Muay Thai and ultimately paved her way to ONE Championship.

Chris Taylor - January 1, 2020

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will return to the Octagon at April’s UFC 249 event for a highly anticipated fight with Tony Ferguson. The lightweight title fight will headlined the April 18 pay-per-view event in Brooklyn, New York.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

John Kavanagh, the head coach behind former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor, says the MMA star is better than ever ahead of his UFC 246 welterweight scrap with Donald Cerrone. Kavanagh sung McGregor’s praises on Twitter shortly after the Irish star’s last hard sparring session in Ireland. He admitted that he wasn’t sure how McGregor would look when this comeback plan was first mounted, but says fans are in for a “real treat.”

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Fight fans have been dying to see UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones move up to heavyweight for years. According to UFC President Dana White, however, it may never happen. White shared his thoughts on Jones moving up a weight class in a recent interview with ESPN. He believes Jones is quite comfortable at light heavyweight, and emphasized that before any potential move up to heavyweight is discussed, Jones needs to get by Dominick Reyes at UFC 247.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Rory MacDonald is no longer a Bellator fighter, having signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) in 2020. While this promotion change has opened the door to some new and exciting matchups for MacDonald, it has seemingly closed the door on a trilogy fight between MacDonald and reigning Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, who are currently tied 1-1 across two previous bouts. Yet MacDonald doesn’t see it that way.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Last night, Hawaii’s Ray Cooper III became a millionaire, winning the PFL’s 2019 welterweight season by defeating David Michaud. While this victory is still fresh, Cooper is already looking ahead to the 2020 PFL season. This upcoming season will be particularly exciting for PFL welterweights given that the promotion recently signed former UFC title challenger and Bellator champ Rory MacDonald.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) closed out its 2019 season on New Years Eve, meaning another group of fighters pocketed $1M prizes. In the card’s main event, Kayla Harrison won the lightweight championship by dominating Larissa Pachecho to a unanimous decision win.

Tom Taylor - January 1, 2020

Rampage Jackson tipped the scales at 265 pounds for his Bellator Japan-headlining showdown with fellow MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko. While that’s certainly not an unheard of weight for the heavyweight division, it was quite heavy for Rampage, who previously ruled the UFC’s 205-pound light heavyweight division. To make matters worse, Rampage lost this fight by first-round knockout, so the extra mass did little to benefit him.

Adam Martin - December 31, 2019

PFL’s CEO says that he expects the tournament-based promotion to make more free-agent signings after recently inking former Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald. PFL recently signed MacDonald to a lucrative contract and he immediately became the biggest name on the entire PFL roster. He’s by far the biggest free-agent signing the company has made in its two years of existence.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2019

Long-time UFC lightweight contender Edson Barboza has decided to drop down to featherweight in search of greener pastures. This news was first reported by Brazilian publication Combate. Barboza has won just once in his last five fights, sandwiching an impressive TKO victory over Dan Hooker between losses to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kevin Lee, Justin Gaethje, and most recently, Paul Felder, who he lost to by controversial split decision. This skid was preceded by three-straight victories over Anthony Pettis, Gilbert Melendez, and Beneil Dariush.

Tom Taylor - December 31, 2019

CB Dollaway’s RIZIN debut, which went down on Tuesday’s action-packed RIZIN 20 card, didn’t go the way he had planned. Instead, the 20-fight UFC veteran was decimated by the promotion’s ferocious light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka in the first round. See Prochazka’s crushing knockout victory below (via Kyle Johnson on Twitter).