MMA News

Harry Kettle - December 27, 2019

Chan Sung Jung, AKA “The Korean Zombie”, isn’t happy with the current state of the UFC featherweight rankings.  The popular Korean star is coming off of a huge first round win over Frankie Edgar at UFC Busan. Jung was scheduled to go one on one with Brian Ortega, only for an injury to force “T-City” out of the running and give Edgar a chance to get back in the win column.

Natasha Hooper - December 27, 2019

Drake has had his fair share of beef with A-list celebrities. One that takes centre stage is Drake’s ongoing beef with rapper and Kanye West’s homie, Pusha T. Their feud culminated in a diss track called The Story of Adidon, released by Pusha T in 2018. The song took aim at the Canadian rapper’s behaviour and claimed that he has a secret love child. In an interview with Rap Radar, Drake reflected on that “checkmate” at the hands of Pusha T, and even compared his loss to the career of UFC star Nate Diaz.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2019

UFC President Dana White recently took to social media to proudly claim that 2019 has been the biggest year ever for the company. https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/1209275582627774464

Natasha Hooper - December 27, 2019

All Darren Till wants for Christmas is the middleweight belt. On Christmas Day, the recent addition to the middleweight division sent an Instagram DM to the 185-pound champion. He wished Israel Adesanya a Merry Christmas, but on the condition that he hands over the middleweight gold. The king of memes (and the division) responded with a meme from The Anchorman film, egging Till on.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019

On January 18, former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon for a welterweight fight with Donald Cerrone. Ahead of this fight, UFC President Dana White has stated that, if McGregor wins this welterweight battle, he could get the next shot at lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. This possibility has troubled some members of the MMA community for a number of reasons. First, McGregor’s fight with Cerrone is at welterweight, not lightweight. Additionally, McGregor experienced a decisive loss to Nurmagomedov just over a year ago. Lastly and perhaps most controversially, lightweight contender Justin Gaethje is on a three-fight win-streak, and is arguably far more deserving a title shot than McGregor, at least in terms of rankings.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019

Henry Cejudo has been stripped of the UFC flyweight title, clearing the way for top flyweight contenders Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo to battle for the vacant belt in the main event of UFC Norfolk on February 29. This is an opportunity Benavidez has been chasing for years.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has decided the light heavyweight division is not for him. After losing a controversial and frankly forgettable decision to Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut this fall, Jacare has elected to return to his native middleweight division. The Brazilian is now scheduled to meet Uriah Hall in a middleweight bout at UFC 249, which is scheduled for April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. ESPN, the official broadcast partner of the UFC, was first to report this matchup. MMA Fighting subsequently confirmed that report.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is viewed by many fans as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. If you ask the man himself, however, that lofty title belongs to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Nurmagomedov, a friend and training partner of Jones’ arch rival Daniel Cormier, was asked who he considers the sport’s pound-for-pound king at a recent press conference in Russia.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019

Here’s your Christmas present from the UFC, fight fans: a whopping five fights were announced on Christmas Day, including appearances from stars like Rachel Ostovich, Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos and Kai Kara-France. Here’s a rundown of the new UFC fights announced on Christmas Day, via Marcel Dorff on Twitter.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently had the opportunity to sit down for a brief meeting with President Barack Obama, the former President of the United States. Sityodtong discussed his meeting with Obama, which centered around business in Asia, in a recent post to his official Facebook page.

Christopher Taylor - December 25, 2019

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley got in the Christmas spirit this evening by accepting a challenge from Leon Edwards. The Birmingham native, Edwards, had challenged Woodley to a showdown at March’s UFC event in London.

Adam Martin - December 24, 2019

Check out BJPenn.com‘s list of the top-10 MMA fighters of the decade, featuring the likes of Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey, Demetrious Johnson and Cris Cyborg. The first thing to note is that this is a very subjective and difficult list to come up with. There were so many fighters who could be included in the discussion, but ultimately we had to leave many of them off since it’s just a top-10. But before we do that, here’s a list of some honorable mentions that just missed the list.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2019

UFC President Dana White says 2019 was the “biggest year in the company’s history.” A jubilant White made this claim in a Tuesday afternoon Instagram post. See it below:

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2019

Undefeated UFC bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley has announced that he’ll be taking on Jose Alberto Quinones at UFC 247 on February 8 in Houston, Texas. O’Malley made this exciting announcement in a Tuesday afternoon Instagram post.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2019

When you really think about it, watching Khabib Nurmagomedov effortlessly dominate all of his opposition in the cage is not all that different from watching Mario stomp Goombas Piranha Plants in a classic Nintendo game. Need more proof of the similarities between the Russian UFC champ and the princess-saving Italian plumber? Check out the video below: a Super Mario-inspired tribute to Nurmagomedov from the folks at RT.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2019

Aleksandar Rakic had the opportunity to take a big step up the light heavyweight rankings at UFC Busan when he took on former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. While Rakic had plenty of success in this fight, Oezdemir ultimately left the cage with a controversial split decision win on his record. Speaking on Instagram on Sunday, Rakic issued a brief statement on this setback. He included a photo of himself moments after a previous win, and assured he feels just as victorious after his fight with Oezdemir.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 24, 2019

A mature athlete and person understands and is realistic about their limitations. They also know that there are multiple definitions of greatness. Sage Northcutt is displaying such maturity and spirit of conscientiousness in his recent career decision.  After falling short in his ONE Championship debut against experienced Brazilian striker Cosmo Alexandre at welterweight, Northcutt has decided to return to his original weight class at 155 pounds.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2019

Weili Zhang is gearing up to defend her UFC strawweight title against the former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 this March. While Zhang’s camp for Jedrzejczyk is just getting underway, she says this a fight she’s been preparing for for years. “I have known about Joanna for a very long time, even before I was in the UFC,” Zhang told Mathew Scott of the South China Morning Post. “I have been preparing for her, and for this fight, for a long time. I know how she moves and how she fights. I always knew that one day we would meet inside the Octagon. I am preparing everything. I am ready.”