MMA News

Cole Shelton - September 2, 2019

Cheick Kongo will soon have a chance to become a heavyweight champion in a major promotion for the first time in his career. The 44-year-old Frenchman will take on Ryan Bader in the main event of Bellator 226 this Saturday. The training camp preparing for Bader has not been an easy one for Kongo. He knows the Bellator champion is an elite wrestler so in preparation he brought in world class, Olympic-level wrestlers to help him for this camp.

Cole Shelton - September 2, 2019

Jessica Andrade was looking for her first title defense when she took on Weili Zhang in the main event of UFC Shenzhen. It was an important fight in the strawweight division that would no doubt change the landscape of 115-pounds. In the end, it was Zhang who surprised many as she knocked out Andrade in just 42 seconds to win the strawweight title. Following the fight, here is what we think should be next for the two of them.

Tom Taylor - September 2, 2019

Frankie Edgar has been angling for a fight with Conor McGregor for some time, but so far, it hasn’t come to fruition. That being said, McGregor recently named Edgar as a potential opponent for his return to action. “Who else is top of the list? Frankie Edgar is also up there on the list because he has similarities to Khabib,” McGregor said of Edgar in an interview with ESPN. “He runs on the back foot and shoots on the single leg. I want these sort of similar bouts. And also, Frankie has been very respectful. He’s always respectful. He said, ‘I want to tell my his grandkids I fought Conor McGregor’, one day.

Tom Taylor - September 2, 2019

Jessica Andrade is no longer the UFC strawweight champ. The Brazilian, who captured the title earlier this year with a slam-induced knockout of Rose Namajunas, surrendered the belt to China’s Weili Zhang at UFC Shenzhen over the weekend. Her TKO loss occurred just 42 seconds into the first round.

Natasha Hooper - September 2, 2019

Nate Diaz is seemingly back to business. In a recent Instagram post, Diaz showed that he is already back in the gym, grinding for his next challenge.

Natasha Hooper - September 2, 2019

Documents unearthed in the anti-trust lawsuit against the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa LLC, have revealed that Pride CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara was paid $10 million to leave the MMA business for seven years (via Jason Cruz on Twitter). If you are interested in following Friday's #UFCHearings, check out @heynottheface and @MMAanalytics timeline. I'm sure you are already. Also, I'm compiling expert reports and other filings on my Scribd: https://t.co/jyBzH9KKOu

BJPENN.COM Staff - September 2, 2019

Each and every time Bi Nguyen steps inside the ring the goal is the same: deliver as much punishment as possible. Nguyen will look to do just that — and honor her family — when she makes her ONE Super Series debut in Vietnam on Friday, 6 September at ONE: Immortal Triumph against Puja Tomar in a Muay Thai contest. The event takes place inside the Phu Tho Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thomas Taylor - September 1, 2019

UFC men’s flyweight and bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo has recently made joking callouts of several female UFC stars: flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko, bantamweight and featherweight champ Amanda Nunes, and top bantamweight contender Germaine de Randamie. Shortly after Weili Zhang captured the UFC strawweight belt at UFC Shenzhen, she was asked how she’d respond if she became the latest woman to be called out by Cejudo.

Cole Shelton - September 1, 2019

Dustin Poirier knows what a win over Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 would do for his career. Poirier, who is the current interim lightweight champion, will look to hand Nurmagomedov his first career loss. If he does just that, the American says it is the best run in lightweight history.

Chris Taylor - September 1, 2019

Colby Covington believes he should be a 3-1 betting favorite in his upcoming title fight with current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. ‘Chaos’ is expected to meet ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden on November 2 at UFC 244.

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo is in Abu Dhabi ahead of this coming weekend’s UFC 242 megacard. The card is headlined by a lightweight title bout between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier, and Cejudo will be in attendance for the festivities.

Chris Taylor - September 1, 2019

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping (30-9 MMA) had some major rivalries during his UFC career, but there is one that tops his list. ‘The Count’ had fierce rivalries with opponents such as Vitor Belfort, Jorge Rivera, Jason Miller, Luke Rockhold, Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva, but his biggest beef was apparently with the public.

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

Dustin Poirier’s coach is confident that “The Diamond” will finish Khabib Nurmagomedov when they meet next Saturday in Abu Dhabi at UFC 242. Phil Daru, the strength and conditioning coach at American Top Team, recently appeared on an episode of the Pull No Punches podcast with Kajan Johnson and Shakiel Mahjouri. Daru believes Poirier is going to earn an upset stoppage win over Nurmagomedov, and he believes that Poirier’s conditioning will be the difference in the outcome (h/t Bloody Elbow).

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

Frank Mir is scheduled to fight his friend Roy Nelson in a rematch this October in Bellator, and he admits that fans may not find the fight to be entertaining. The former UFC heavyweight champion Mir previously fought Nelson at UFC 130 in 2011, and he now rematches his fellow Las Vegas native in the main event of Bellator 231 this October. Mir says that stylistically this isn’t going to be a fight that excites fans, and he didn’t want Bellator to book this fight.

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov says that he only has a few fights left in his career before he retires from MMA. “The Eagle” was recently on a conference call promoting UFC 242 and was asked how many fights left he has in his career. He says he doesn’t plan on hanging up his gloves just yet, but admits the time is coming soon.

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov says he wants teammate Daniel Cormier to fight once more before calling it quits in his MMA career. “The Eagle” was recently on a conference call promoting UFC 242 and said that he wants to see DC, his teammate at American Kickboxing Academy, to fight Stipe Miocic in a trilogy fight for the final fight of his incredible career.

Adam D Martin - September 1, 2019

Women’s MMA trailblazer Ronda Rousey offered praise for the performance of new UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang in the main event of UFC China. The long-time UFC women’s bantamweight champion took to her Instagram to post a congratulatory message to Zhang, who needed just 42 seconds to finish Jessica Andrade and become the new champ at 115lbs.

Christopher Taylor - August 31, 2019

UFC standouts Jon Jones and Colby Covington have butted heads in recent years, but they used to be friends and roommates in college. Since bunking together in school, both ‘Bones’ and ‘Chaos’ have gone on to have extremely succesful mixed martial arts careers.