MMA News

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

Top contender Yoel Romero asked UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya if he needs a pen to sign a reported fight contract against him. UFC president Dana White recently told ESPN that the UFC is planning on booking a middleweight title fight between Romero and Adesanya. Rumors out there have suggested that the bout could take place at UFC 248, which is set for March 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The co-main event is set to be a women’s strawweight title bout between champion Weili Zhang and challenger Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

UFC president Dana White confirmed that the promotion’s matchmakers are speaking to Nick Diaz about a possible comeback to the Octagon. Diaz has not fought since January 2015 when he fought Anderson Silva to a No Contest (originally a decision loss). He hasn’t fought since then but every so often his name comes back up for a possible comeback fight. Diaz recently remarked that he wants to return to the Octagon after five years away from it.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 30, 2019

For the first time since 2015, Aung La N Sang didn’t compete three times, but the reigning ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion still had a banner year in 2019. As we await the announcement of “The Burmese Python’s” first bout of 2020, let’s take a moment to look back at what he accomplished in 2019.

Adam Martin - December 30, 2019

UFC president Dana White has confirmed the promotion is working on booking UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya against Yoel Romero. For months we have heard rumors that Adesanya could fight Romero but so far nothing has been made official. White said that he didn’t have anything official to announce just yet, but hinted an announcement for Adesanya vs. Romero could come soon.

Tom Taylor - December 30, 2019

Former Olympic judoka Kayla Harrison is a little over a day out from a championship clash with Larissa Pachecho. The winner of this bout, which headline the final Professional Fighters League (PFL) event of the year, will pocket a whopping $1M prize. In addition to this $1M prize, which is awarded to the champion of each weight class at the end of each PFL season, Harrison also has a lucrative, long-term contract with the league. She suspects this contract is among the most valuable in all of MMA. At the very least, Harrison believes she is probably the highest paid female fighter in the sport.

Natasha Hooper - December 30, 2019

Tyron Woodley has shut down Leon Edwards’ trash-talking on social media by threatening to withdraw from their anticipated fight. Earlier this month, it was announced that the former champ and No. 1 contender Woodley is being targeted for a fight against Leon Edwards at UFC London in March of 2020.

Cole Shelton - December 30, 2019

After Petr Yan beat Urijah Faber at UFC 245, Faber’s teammate, Cody Garbrandt, accosted the Russian backstage. According to Yan, nothing really happened backstage other than Garbrandt being all talk and not backing up his words.

Harry Kettle - December 30, 2019

Over the weekend, Bellator made its debut in Japan with an action-packed card. This Bellator Japan card produced some memorable moments, but unfortunately, many of those moments didn’t make it onto our screens, as some segments of the card were not aired outside of Japan.  That included the Bellator Japan postlims. Thankfully, the beauty of the Internet ensured that fans were able to watch the highlights of the postlims from a retrospective point of view.

Natasha Hooper - December 30, 2019

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Cristiano Ronaldo recently partnered up to fulfil the dream of a young boy born without legs. The UFC champ and football legend took time out during the holidays to surprise the 12-year old Ali Turganbekov.

Thomas Taylor - December 29, 2019

Last week, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones took to Twitter to bash his UFC 247 opponent Dominick Reyes. “Dominic watching your interviews, it’s obvious you think you’re better than me,” Jones wrote. “You never struggled with substance abuse, you have your big degrees, was always team captain at everything. We get it.

Thomas Taylor - December 29, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of Bellator MMA’s debut in Japan, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rampage Jackson was knocked out by fellow PRIDE legend Fedor Emelianenko. The fight-ending punch occurred at the 2:44 mark of round one, and admittedly didn’t look like it made all that severe of an impact. The nature of the punch caused some of MMA’s more suspicious fans to suggest that Rampage had intentionally taken a fall in the fight.

Thomas Taylor - December 29, 2019

Former UFC fighter Daron Cruickshank has found himself under fire after racist comments he made during an April visit to Japan have come to light. Cruickshank, who previously competed in the UFC lightweight division, has spent the last few years of his career fighting for Japan’s RIZIN Fighting Federation. During an April visit to Japan, the former UFC fighter made some controversial comments, suggesting that Japanese people eat dogs.

Adam Martin - December 29, 2019

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman says he’s open to a rematch against former rival Luke Rockhold but isn’t interested in fighting Anderson Silva again. Weidman was knocked out by Dominick Reyes in his UFC light heavyweight debut his last time out, and overall he has lost five of his last six fights. But he has no plans on hanging up his gloves anytime soon and instead is looking towards his next fight.

Adam Martin - December 29, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker says that Fedor Emelianenko could get a heavyweight title shot against champion Ryan Bader, but a fight against Josh Barnett is more likely. Emelianenko had one of his most impressive performances in years when he knocked out Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the main event of Bellator Japan. The Russian legend looked fast and powerful in the fight, bouncing back from a first-round knockout loss to Ryan Bader earlier this year in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.

Adam D Martin - December 29, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker said that welterweight contender Lorenz Larkin will get a pass for missing weight at Bellator Japan and could get a title shot next. Larkin weighed in at 173.5lbs for his fight against fellow UFC alum Keita Nakamura on the main card. Larkin went on to dominate the bout en route to winning a lopsided unanimous decision, but the fact he missed weight made some believe he would be knocked down the title shot pecking order for Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima’s belt.

Adam D Martin - December 29, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker said that Fedor Emelianenko reaffirmed his status as the MMA GOAT with his win at Bellator Japan. Emelianenko knocked out fellow legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the first round with punches in what is likely the last time he will fight at the storied Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, where the Russian starred for many years as the PRIDE heavyweight champion.

Adam D Martin - December 29, 2019

Before UFC 246 takes place next month featuring a welterweight main event between Conor McGregor and Donald Cerrone, check out this fan-made promo video. The YouTuber Youssef Hannoun created the following promo video for UFC 246: McGregor vs. Cerrone. Check it out below.

Adam D Martin - December 29, 2019

Michael “Venom” Page responded to the critics calling him a can crusher following his second-round KO win over Shinsho Anzai at Bellator Japan. Since getting knocked out by Douglas Lima back in June, Page has defeated little-known opponents in Anzai, Giovanni Melillo and Richard Kiely in his last three fights. As impressive as he looked in those victories, the fact they were such a big step down in competition has led critics to call Page a “can crusher.”