MMA News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 1, 2019

Robbie Lawler has no ill will towards American Top Team. Lawler was a standout at the Florida-based gym, which has housed many notable competitors over the years such as Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Yoel Romero, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and many more. His departure from ATT raised some eyebrows.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2019

New Zealand’s Dan Hooker recently campaigned for a fight with Al Iaquinta, suggesting the meeting occur at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia, but ultimately moved on and accused Iaquinta of ducking him. “He keeps saying he wants it; I said that’s the fight to make,” Hooker told MMA Junkie recently. “If I’m lying, the fight would be booked already.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2019

Michael Bisping believes former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor is probably ‘hoping and praying’ that Dustin Poirier dethrones UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242 this September. McGregor and Nurmagomedov fought in October of 2018. Nurmagomedov won the fight via fourth-round submission, and McGregor has been campaigning for a do-over ever since. Yet Bisping believes McGregor would probably prefer to see Poirier win, as the Irishman holds a victory over “The Diamond” and could conceivably earn a title fight with him based on that.

BJPENN.COM Staff - August 1, 2019

Former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje Eustaquio will seek redemption on 2 August when he faces Japan’s Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu at ONE: Dawn of Heroes at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines. Eustaquio attempted to defend the title against Adriano Moraes at ONE: Hero’s Ascent but surrendered the belt when all the judges scored the bout in favor of the Brazilian. Although the Filipino athlete was able to land a plethora of decent strikes throughout the contest, it was a prolonged knee-bar from “Mikinho” which became the deciding factor of the match. 

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2019

Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal are the two top contenders in the UFC welterweight division. Both are seemingly right on the cusp of a shot at reigning champ Kamaru Usman, and could conceivably be fighting each other for the title in the near future. The problem is, they’re good friends and training partners; a dynamic duo like Batman and Robin, according to Covington.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 1, 2019

Chael Sonnen is critical of how Jon Jones handles questions on his game. Jones is hailed as the pound-for-pound best mixed martial arts fighter in the world, but Sonnen has been on “Bones'” case for his drawing ability. While Sonnen has ripped into Jones as he believes the UFC light heavyweight champion fails to capitalize on opportunities, Sonnen feels the complete opposite about Max Holloway.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2019

Yesterday, Cris Cyborg released a video of a backstage encounter with UFC President Dana White. Former UFC bantamweight champ and current ONE Championship executive Miesha Tate has some questions about that video. During this encounter, she told the UFC boss to ‘stop lying’ about her willingness to rematch Amanda Nunes. According to the videos subtitles, White ultimately responded by saying ‘And listen, when you hear me saying stuff, I’m not saying… the truth.’

Cole Shelton - August 1, 2019

In the main event of UFC Newark, former interim welterweight champion,Colby Covington returns after over a year off to take on former undisputed champ Robbie Lawler. Heading into the fight, “Chaos” is a -235 favorite, while the former champ Lawler is a +185 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros are split on this one, despite Covington being a big favorite.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2019

Chael Sonnen has fought three of the greatest fighters of all time in Anderson Silva (twice), Jon Jones, and Fedor Emelianenko. He’s also trained with Georges St-Pierre. Given his history, he has a unique perspective in MMA’s Greatest of All Time (GOAT) debate. In his eyes, the sport’s true GOAT is St-Pierre.

Christopher Taylor - July 31, 2019

Donald Trump Jr will in fact be cageside to support Colby Covington at this weekend’s UFC event in Newark. ‘Chaos’ will be squaring off with former welterweight title holder Robbie Lawler in Saturday night’s main event.

Jason Kindschy - July 31, 2019

Valentina Shevchenko joins us to preview her upcoming title defense on August 10th in Uruguay against Liz Carmouche. Following her sensational KO victory against Jessica Eye at UFC 238, Shevchenko hopes to keep that momentum and deliver another finish for the South American fans. We’ll get Valentina’s thoughts on Liz as an opponent, and the importance of nullifying a doctor stoppage TKO loss to Carmouche from earlier in their respective careers. A fight in which Shevchenko was dominating until the unfortunate ending. We’ll also hear Shevchenko’s assessment of the division, potential contenders, and her enthusiasm to help the UFC break into yet another new market.

Cole Shelton - July 31, 2019

Israel Adesanya is set to fight Robert Whittaker in the main event of UFC 243 this October in Australia. Yet, in the lead up to the fight, a lot of the talk has been about the budding rivalry between Jon Jones and Israel Adesanya. It even got the point where “Bones” and Whittaker were talking about training with one another for this title fight.

Thomas Taylor - July 31, 2019

UFC President Dana White has had plenty to say about Cris Cyborg of late, primarily with respect to a potential rematch between Cyborg and Amanda Nunes. Despite the fact that Cyborg has been vocal about her desire for this rematch, White claims she doesn’t actually want the fight. In response, Cyborg has repeatedly called White a liar in the media.

Jordy McElroy - July 31, 2019

Cris Cyborg emerged from her UFC 240 co-main event bout with Felicia Spencer on Saturday night bloodied but unbroken. A single gash in the middle of her forehead from an elbow strike will leave a scar to tell the story of the night she shoved countless fists in Spencer’s face, and none of it mattered. The rematch with Amanda Nunes isn’t any closer to happening, and her fractured relationship with UFC President Dana White isn’t any closer to mending. Even diehard skeptics can admit it was demoralizing watching one of the greatest fighters in MMA history reduced to campaigning for a rematch she already deserved before the fight with Spencer. A fighter that spent most of her career with the byline as the baddest woman on the planet wore a custom-made t-shirt advocating for a fight with Nunes, hell-bent on proving she wasn’t ducking a rematch with the reigning two-division champion.

Tom Taylor - July 31, 2019

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley recently posed for a photo with his former American Top Team training partner Jorge Masvidal, which ruffled some feathers in the MMA community, given that Masvidal just knocked out Woodley’s friend Ben Askren. One of the people to chime in on this issue is Bellator MMA star Dillon Danis. In fact, Danis has spent the better part of a week chastising Woodley on Twitter.

Tom Taylor - July 31, 2019

Jon Jones has found himself in quite a bit of trouble outside the cage over the years — most recently for an incident involving a waitress at a strip club. According to former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley however, Jones does not behave any worse than Conor McGregor, who Woodley believes is treated with much more understanding when he errs. In fact, Woodley believes McGregor is even glorified for his troubles outside the cage.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 31, 2019

Khabib Nurmagomedov dealt with distractions ahead of his massive bout with Conor McGregor, but things are different preparing for Dustin Poirier. On Sept. 7, Nurmagomedov and Poirier will collide in a lightweight title unification bout. “The Eagle” holds UFC lightweight gold, while “The Diamond” is the interim title holder. Nurmagomedov vs. Poirier is set to headline UFC 242 (see info on how to watch here) in Abu Dhabi.

Natasha Hooper - July 31, 2019

Despite a shaky start to his Octagon career, former NFL player Greg Hardy has been making moves in the heavyweight division. He has bounced back from a disqualification loss in his UFC debut in his two subsequent bouts, securing two first-round TKOs. Needless to say, he’s powerful.