MMA News

Adam Martin - November 6, 2019

UFC middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan has quickly risen up the 185lbs rankings, and he partly credits his quick rise to his manager Ronda Rousey. The 21-year-old Shahbazyan is managed by the UFC Hall of Famer Rousey, the long-time women’s bantamweight champion. The California natie admits that her influence on his career is a big part of why he’s so quickly morphed into a top-10 UFC middleweight.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2019

Josh Barnett finally has a dance partner for his Bellator debut. The former UFC heavyweight champion will make his debut with the Viacom-owned promotion on Friday, December 20 in Hawaii, in the main event of Bellator’s second annual Salute the Troops event. This card will be part of a weekend double-header featuring two Bellator events.

Mike Heck - November 6, 2019

Jorge Masvidal was masterful in the main event of UFC 244 against Nate Diaz and the BMF champion’s head coach Mike Brown believes that a rematch wouldn’t go much differently. “Gamebred” defeated the gritty and tough Diaz via third-round TKO due to the cage side doctor stopping the fight after a huge cut was opened above the right eye of Diaz. Many were disappointed in the ending of the highly anticipated welterweight showdown at MSG, but Masvidal was clearly ahead on the judges’ scorecards and certainly didn’t seem to be slowing down.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2019

Lightweight contender Gregor Gillespie experienced the first loss of his professional MMA career at UFC 244, succumbing to a first-round head-kick courtesy of Kevin Lee. Speaking to MMA Fighting, Gillespie opened up on this first pro setback. Apparently, he’s in good spirits in spite of it.

Mike Heck - November 6, 2019

President Donald Trump attended a UFC event this past weekend — UFC 244 at Madison Square Garden — which seemingly gives the sport of mixed martial arts some added street cred in the world of sports, regardless of your political leanings. Many around the MMA community have reacted to the President’s appearance at MSG. Tito Ortiz, who headlined the first UFC event under the Zuffa banner at UFC 30 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ, knocking out the late Evan Tanner in the main event back in 2001, was one of the latest to chime in.

Natasha Hooper - November 6, 2019

Robert Whittaker believes his next challenge could be new middleweight contender, Darren Till. The former middleweight champion was very impressed by Till’s UFC 244 fight against Kelvin Gastelum. The British fighter rallied through a back and forth slugfest, but ultimately edged his opponent as the split-decision winner.

Harry Kettle - November 6, 2019

UFC light heavyweight contender Corey Anderson has clarified his recent remarks about wanting to be released from the UFC, and has also confirmed his plans for the immediate future. Anderson was able to derail the Johnny Walker hype train at UFC 244 in phenomenal fashion, finishing the eccentric Brazilian via TKO in the first round. The Ultimate Fighter winner’s antics after the fight received quite a lot of attention, as did some of his comments regarding his desire to receive a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship title shot.

Natasha Hooper - November 6, 2019

Dana White says that Alexander Gustafsson plans on coming out of retirement to fight again. The Swedish fighter last fought in June when he was defeated by Anthony Smith via fourth-round submission. Prior to that, “The Mauler” was TKO’d by light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in the third round.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 6, 2019

The ONE: Masters of Fate card is set for November 8 in Manila, Philippines. The event will be punctuated by a ONE Strawweight World Championship bout. Filipino Joshua Pacio will put his title on the line against his countryman Rene Catalan. The event will also see the return of former two-time ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang as he tries to bounce back from consecutive losses.  Folayang will face Mongolia’s next serious mixed martial arts contender in Amarsanaa Tsogookhuu. This is a must-win situation for Folayang. A three-bout losing streak would be disastrous for anyone, but it will be especially damaging to Folayang. 

Harry Kettle - November 6, 2019

UFC middleweight contender Darren Till has revealed how President Donald Trump had a big influence on his fight this past weekend. Till was able to defeat Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event of UFC 244 on Saturday night, solidifying his position as one of the top dogs in the 185-pound division. It marked his first win since defeating Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC Liverpool last year, which gives you a pretty good idea of just how important this triumph was for “The Gorilla”.

Adam Martin - November 5, 2019

Former title challenger Yoel Romero is claiming that current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has backed out of a fight against him. Romero and Adesanya have been rumored to fight for the last week since news broke that No. 1 contender Paulo Costa had to have surgery on his biceps and will be out until the middle of next year. UFC president Dana White suggested that Romero could instead get the title shot against Adesanya, and fans seem to be intrigued by the fight.

Adam Martin - November 5, 2019

The UFC has cut 12 fighters from its roster including former top-15 ranked welterweight Curtis Millender. Nolan King of MMAjunkie.com reported the news of the UFC’s latest roster releases. The 12 fighters who were cut are listed below.

Cole Shelton - November 5, 2019

Mike Perry is looking to make fight week a difficult one for Colby Covington at UFC 245. The two will both fight on the card, and Perry has made it clear that he hopes Kamaru Usman beats Colby Covington in the evenings main event. He has also issued a threat to ‘Chaos’ saying if he sees him, it’s on sight.

Harry Kettle - November 5, 2019

UFC president Dana White has predicted that a big year lies ahead for heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou in 2020. “The Predator” is coming off the back of a strong twelve-month period in which he was able to finish Curtis Blaydes, Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos, all within less than 80 seconds of the first round getting underway. Many fans have been calling for him to get another title shot, with his last attempt at winning the UFC Heavyweight Championship ending in defeat when he lost to Stipe Miocic at UFC 220 in January 2018.

Natasha Hooper - November 5, 2019

This weekend’s upcoming UFC Moscow event takes place across the pond and showcases elite international talent. The UFC Fight Night 163 main event is headlined by Calvin Kattar vs Russian native, Zabit Magomedsharipov. The Dagestani fighter is yet to lose a UFC fight and last fought Jeremy Stephens, beating him via a unanimous decision victory. With a plethora of combat experience, the former ACB featherweight champion, Madomedsharipov is one of the most respected fighters in the featherweight division.

Natasha Hooper - November 5, 2019

Conor McGregor’s opponent has been confirmed and the official announcement of his comeback fight is imminent, according to the Irishman’s manager, Audie Attar. During an episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Attar and Tim Simpson, agents from Paradigm Sports Management, joined the show.

Tom Taylor - November 5, 2019

Jorge Masvidal has spoken a great deal about his new focus on being more aggressive and finishing his fights. His former opponent Stephen Thompson has witnessed that transformation. Thompson defeated Masvidal by decision in late 2017, and after watching Masvidal bludgeon Nate Diaz to stoppage win in the UFC 244 main event, is convinced the Cuban has completely changed since their fight.

Tom Taylor - November 5, 2019

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of Saturday’s UFC 244 card. While main event winner Jorge Masvidal didn’t move up in his division for defeating Nate Diaz, co-main event winner Darren Till has made a massive entrance to the middleweight division for defeating Kelvin Gastelum. Here are the newest UFC rankings, featuring Till, Gastelum, Masvidal, Diaz, another UFC 244 stars.