MMA News

Christopher Taylor - July 18, 2019

Jorge Masvidal is looking to secure a title shot and is willing to send in his good friend Yoel Romero in order to sway negotiations. The surging UFC welterweight contender, Masvidal, is coming of back to back knockout victories over opponents Darren Till and Ben Askren.

Cole Shelton - July 18, 2019

Former UFC interim lightweight title challenger Kevin Lee is on a two-fight losing streak and has thus decided to change up camps. After dropping his last fight to Rafael dos Anjos, in a bout that served as his welterweight debut, “The Motown Phenom” is now set to train at TriStar with Georges St-Pierre for his next fight.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 18, 2019

Max Holloway believes he’s the gold standard of mixed martial arts in Canada. Holloway is proud to hail from Hawaii, but he’s expressed his love for Canada as well. He often refers to the country as the “10th Island.” He’ll put his featherweight gold on the line against Frankie Edgar in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on July 27. The bout will headline UFC 240.

Cole Shelton - July 18, 2019

At UFC 241, Nate Diaz will return to the Octagon after a near three-year hiatus when he takes on Anthony Pettis. The Stockton native last fought back in 2016, where he lost to Conor McGregor at UFC 202 via a controversial majority decision. For Pettis, he last fought back in March where he knocked out Stephen Thompson in his welterweight debut. Now, ahead of the fight, “Wonderboy” broke down the Diaz vs Pettis matchup and is leaning towards his most recent opponent getting his hand raised for a number of reasons.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2019

These days, it seems like the majority of UFC fighters are trash talkers. Whether it’s to build interest in a fight or get under their opponent’s skin, many fighters seem to have embraced this verbal side of the game. UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, however, has not. Speaking on a recent episode of Submission Radio, Whittaker gave his take on all the trash talk in MMA. In his eyes, the time and energy fighters spend trash talking would be well spent elsewhere — like in the gym.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2019

Back in January, controversial former NFL star Greg Hardy made his UFC debut opposite Allen Crowder. This debut ended in chaos, as Hardy was disqualified after bombing Crowder with an illegal knee. Despite this blunder, Hardy was given a second shot in the UFC’s Octagon. This sophomore outing occurred back in April. This time around, he got the win he was seeking, pelting the outmatched Dmitrii Smoliakov to a decisive first-round TKO win.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2019

This weekend, on the main card of UFC San Antonio, Alexander Hernandez will look to rebound from a tough loss to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone against long-time Brazilian contender Francisco Trinaldo. Looking back on his fight with Cerrone, Hernandez still believes he is the overall better fighter, but acknowledges that he didn’t give his foe’s experience and composure enough respect.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 18, 2019

Bellator president Scott Coker appears to be taking things slow with Aaron Pico. While Pico has been hailed as one of the greatest prospects in MMA, he was thrown to the wolves rather quickly. At the age of 22, Pico has a record of 4-3 and he’s been stopped in all of his losses. In his last two outings, Pico was brutally knocked out by Henry Corrales and Adam Borics.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2019

After Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October, there was some discussion about him potentially crossing over to boxing to battle Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring— just as McGregor did in 2017. Since then, however, talk of a Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match has almost completely fizzled out. Yet Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz claims that Mayweather is still begging for the matchup.

Cole Shelton - July 18, 2019

The Octagon returns to Texas this Saturday for UFC San Antonio. In the main event, top welterweights collide as Rafael dos Anjos takes on Leon Edwards. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Although Edwards is a slight favorite at -130, while dos Anjos is the underdog at +100, most are favoring the Brazilian to get it done.

Cole Shelton - July 18, 2019

Germaine de Randamie headlined her second UFC card on Saturday, taking on the undefeated Aspen Ladd in the main event of UFC Sacramento. But, fans were not happy with the ending of the fight as the former featherweight champion knocked out the 24-year-old in just 16 seconds with one punch. As soon as the fight was over, boos came down from the crowd, who evidently thought the referee intervened early. De Randamie had no idea if it was an early stoppage during the fight. But, now looking back on it, the Dutch fighter believes it was a good stoppage and wonders why fans want to see fighters take more damage than necessary.

Mike Heck - July 18, 2019

Kevin Lee certainly doesn’t see a scenario where a matchup with Ben Askren would be all that competitive. Now that “The Motown Phenom” has had a taste of the welterweight division — and with plans to stay at 170-pounds — a fight between him and Askren is something that could be on the table. With both fighters coming off of a loss, the matchup certainly makes sense. Sprinkle in some back-and-forth at the UFC 236 seasonal press conference and you have a storyline to build off of.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 18, 2019

For years now, the Philippines and ONE Championship, the top martial arts organization in Asia, have put on some fantastic events. The next event to be staged in Manila is ONE: Dawn of Heroes on 2 August. The stakes are high as the card is packed with title bouts and essential matches in several weight classes. Here are five athletes with the most to lose at ONE: Dawn of Heroes.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2019

Greg Hardy is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday on the main card of UFC San Antonio, where he will take on heavyweight prospect Juan Adams in what is likely his toughest challenge to date. Ahead of this fight, Adams has been vocal about his distaste for Hardy, but apparently, Hardy is unfazed.

Natasha Hooper - July 18, 2019

Yesterday, Donald Cerrone announced on Instagram he would be taking a short-notice fight at UFC Vancouver. It has now been revealed his opponent is none other than Justin Gaethje. Dana White confirmed the match-up for UFC Vancouver on September 14. The fearless fighters will go head to head at the Rogers Arena and it will be streamed exclusively on ESPN+.

Cole Shelton - July 17, 2019

Dustin Poirier believes his upcoming fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov is very similar to Rocky IV. There, Rocky Balboa went to Russia to take on Ivan Drago, the heavyweight Russian. In Poirier’s case, he is going to Abu Dhabi to take on undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov where the Russian will have the Muslim crowd behind him. “This is real, I’m a world champion,” Poirier said to ESPN. “As is he. This is a super fight to me. That’s how I feel, that’s what this feels like to me. We’re going to a sold-out arena they’re building as we speak in Abu Dhabi, the middle of the desert, and princes and sheiks will be there. It’s crazy. It’s a Rocky movie.”

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 17, 2019

Michael Bisping wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Urijah Faber jump the line in the UFC bantamweight division. Back in Dec. 2016, Faber ended his professional mixed martial arts career. He walked off on his terms, defeating Brad Pickett via unanimous decision in Sacramento. Faber was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. For Faber, however, the itch to compete didn’t go away.

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2019

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz likes his chances in a prospective showdown with the promotion’s reigning light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. In fact, he believes he’d perform better against Jones than Daniel Cormier did.