MMA News

Thomas Taylor - September 16, 2019

Ben Askren and Conor McGregor recently had a brief skirmish on social media. Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, Askren continued with this war of words by sending a scathing message to the former two-division UFC champion. By Askren’s estimation, McGregor needs to take a fight — perhaps with Dustin Poirier, who recently called him out. If McGregor is unwilling to do that, Askren believes he needs to keep quiet.

Cole Shelton - September 16, 2019

Cheick Kongo was fighting for the heavyweight title against Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 226. It was a chance for the 44-year-old Frenchman to win a major MMA title, something that has eluded him thus far in his career. Unfortunately for Kongo and his team, things didn’t go as planned. Instead, the fight was ruled a no-contest after an accidental eye poke from Bader. The champion has since gone on social media posting videos saying there was no eye poke. Kongo, however, says he was poked in the eye, and the nose.

Tom Taylor - September 16, 2019

Former UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley is planning to move up to middleweight, but no quite yet. Speaking at fan Q&A ahead of last weekend’s UFC Vancouver card, Woodley divulged that he first plans on fighting his welterweight nemesis Colby Covington, as well as the man who ended his reign as welterweight champ, Kamaru Usman — twice. From there, he plans to head north to the 185-pound middleweight division.

Tom Taylor - September 16, 2019

Shortly after Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier fought at UFC 242, they exchanged Reebok t-shirts. Nurmagomedov subsequently announced his intention to auction off Poirier’s shirt and donate the proceeds to Poirier’s charity, The Good Fight, which is currently working in conjunction with Justin Wren’s charity, Fight for the Forgotten. In the end, Nurmagomedov was able to auction Poirier’s shirt off for a hefty $100,000, which will now be donated to the aforementioned causes. Poirier shared this exciting news with MMA Junkie on Monday.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 16, 2019

Michael Bisping believes those hoping for a heated buildup to Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal will be disappointed. On Nov. 2, Diaz and Masvidal will do battle for the one-time only BMF championship. The welterweight clash is set to headline UFC 244 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. The seeds for this bout were planted when Diaz called Masvidal out following his successful return at UFC 241.

Mike Heck - September 16, 2019

Michel Pereira suffered his first UFC loss on Saturday to newcomer Tristan Connelly at UFC Vancouver, but he suffered a lot prior to the fight as well, according to a recent statement. “Demolidor” brings a charismatic and exciting style to the cage that has been rarely, if ever, seen in the UFC Octagon. Pereira also missed the welterweight limit by a pound prior to Saturday’s disappointing defeat.

Tom Taylor - September 16, 2019

Agilan Thani entered the year 2019 on shaky ground. The Malaysian welterweight had been stopped in his last two fights of 2018, first succumbing to Zebaztian Kadestam’s strikes, then, then tapping to a Kiamrian Abbasov rear-naked choke. Despite this rough patch, Thani’s first contest of the year was a big one. In June, he was tasked with welcoming Japanese MMA legend Yoshihiro Akiyama to the ONE Championship cage.

Cole Shelton - September 16, 2019

Justin Gaethje took on Donald Cerrone in the main event of UFC Vancouver. It was a critical fight in the lightweight division, and one with the potential to propel the winner to the cusp of a title shot. In the end, it was Gaethje who got it done. The former World Series of Fighting champ knocked out Cowboy in the first round to extend his winning streak to three. It also puts Cerrone on a two-fight losing streak and makes him 2-2 at lightweight since dropping back down to the division earlier this year.

Tom Taylor - September 16, 2019

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been campaigning for a fight with former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre for quite awhile. Nurmagomedov’s manager has even claimed St-Pierre is the next opponent in line for Nurmagomedov. Given that streaking UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson has irrefutably earned a lightweight title shot, talk of a potential Nurmagomedov vs. St-Pierre fight has been met with quite a bit of backlash. The good news for fans who want to see Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson next, however, is that St-Pierre himself believes this is the way it should happen.

BJPENN.COM Staff - September 16, 2019

Danny Kingad will be dealing with a lot of pressure when he goes head-to-head with Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Final at ONE: CENTURY PART I this coming 13 October in Tokyo, Japan.  The 23-year old Filipino flyweight prodigy out of the famed Team Lakay Gym in La Trinidad, Benguet Province, Philippines will have the hopes of an entire nation pinned on him as he looks to take down a pound-for-pound great in the United States’ Johnson with a shot at glory on the line. 

Cole Shelton - September 16, 2019

Paulo Costa will be in attendance at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia. But, he will not be there as a backup fighter to weigh-in. Instead, he will be there to watch the main event and see who he is fighting next. Of course, the main event of the card is the middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya. According to Paulo Costa, UFC President Dana White has promised him the next title shot.

Tom Taylor - September 16, 2019

Over the weekend, in the main event of UFC Vancouver, Donald Cerrone was knocked out by lightweight finisher Justin Gaethje. With this outcome, Cerrone has now lost six of his last 10 fights, but the fan favorite is still focused on his lofty goals. One of those goals is to win 50 MMA fights. Cerrone is currently at 36 wins, which means he’s got some work to do, but with the busy schedule he keeps, it’s certainly doable.

Natasha Hooper - September 16, 2019

Dillon Danis didn’t hold back on social media yesterday. The New Jersey native trashed Tyron Woodley and his budding singing career in a Twitter post. He added the caption, “You know you hit rock bottom when you go to a Tyron Woodley concert.” Danis shared footage of Woodley performing in (what appears to be) a club. He is rapping to fans who are filming the event. Everyone in attendance was impressed, but Dillon Danis certainly was not.

Natasha Hooper - September 16, 2019

Fan’s have been long awaiting for Conor McGregor to ‘send me location’, and it seems the Irish fighter has finally set a date for his UFC return. ‘Notorious’ hasn’t fought since October 2018 when he entered the octagon to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. Despite his endless confidence and trash-talking, McGregor was submitted by ‘The Eagle’ via neck crank in the fourth round.

Natasha Hooper - September 15, 2019

‘The Korean Zombie’ responds to Brian Ortega’s call out for a featherweight fight this year. The pair are targeted for a throw down at UFC 244 or UFC 245. Brian Ortega is ready to return to the Octagon and vindicate his last loss. He fought featherweight champion Max Holloway at UFC 231 in 2018 but lost during the fourth round.

Adam D Martin - September 15, 2019

Justin Gaethje picked up arguably the biggest win of his MMA career on Saturday night when he defeated Donald Cerrone via first-round TKO at UFC Vancouver. Following the fight, the media spoke to Gaethje and asked for his thoughts on a number of topics, including a potential title match against UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The reporters asked Gaethje who would win in a fight between him and Nurmagomedov, and “The Highlight”‘s answer might surprise you.

Adam D Martin - September 15, 2019

UFC president Dana White was not in attendance for Saturday night’s UFC Vancouver event. However, top executive David Shaw was, and he believes the main event between Justin Gaethje and Donald Cerrone was stopped too late by referee Jerin Valel. Shaw was asked by the media post-event what he thought about the stoppage. Both Gaethje and Cerrone complained about when the referee stopped the fight. For Gaethje, he believes the referee waited too long, and for Cerrone he believes it was stopped too early. If you ask Shaw his opinion on the matter, he believes the referee stopped the fight too late.

Adam D Martin - September 15, 2019

UFC fans always wanted to see a superfight between Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, but it’s a fight that never happened. With GSP now retired and Silva nearing the end of his own Hall of Fame career, the chances of ever seeing the fight are slim to none. However, on Saturday both men were in Las Vegas promoting Limitless, a new line of health and fitness products, and it was a rare chance for both of them to square off.