MMA News

Cole Shelton - July 11, 2019

Lyoto Machida and Gegard Mousasi are set to run it back at Bellator 228 on September 28, Bellator announced. The two fought back at UFC Fight Night 36 in February 2014. There, they were the fight of the night but it was Machida who did enough as he edged out a unanimous decision. Since then, the Brazilian went on to fight for the UFC middleweight title again, but lost and then headed to Bellator after a 3-4 record following the Mousasi fight.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 11, 2019

Jorge Masvidal is seeing green and a fight with Conor McGregor could help him cash in. Masvidal is the talk of the mixed martial arts world following UFC 239. His devastating flying knee knockout over Ben Askren in just five seconds has skyrocketed “Gamebred’s” popularity. With Masvidal on cloud nine, he’s hoping to capitalize on his momentum with a title shot or a “money fight” with a “Notorious” star.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

Paulo Costa has always been a big middleweight. Heading into his UFC 241 showdown with former UFC middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero, he looks absolutely massive. Early on Thursday morning, the Brazilian knockout artist shared a photo to his Instagram account which shows him glazed in sweat, taking what is surely a well-deserved breather. His shoulders and arms look like those of a rhinoceros.

Matheus Costa - July 11, 2019

Brandon Moreno is back in the UFC roster, and thanks in large part to two-division champ Henry Cejudo, there is still a flyweight division for him to return to. The Mexican flyweight, who got cut along with a long list of flyweights when it appeared that the division was being closed back in February, got hired again by the UFC brass.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

Ryan Bader, Bellator‘s resident two-division champ, is now set to defend his heavyweight strap. Bader, who also owns the light heavyweight title, will make this defense opposite fellow UFC veteran Cheick Kongo. The fight will go down at Bellator 226 on September 7 inside the SAP Center in San Jose, California. This card will also mark the beginning of Bellator’s anticipated featherweight Grand Prix.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

Henry Cejudo proudly calls himself a gold digger. Over the course of his illustrious combat sports career, he’s captured an Olympic gold medal, as well as the UFC flyweight and bantamweight titles — both of which he still owns.

Mike Heck - July 11, 2019

With the chaos that is the UFC’s welterweight division, former champion Tyron Woodley seems to have a solution. “The Chosen One” had his over two year title reign come to an end at UFC 235 when he lost a unanimous decision to Kamaru Usman. We haven’t heard much from Woodley following his first defeat since 2014. Woodley was scheduled to face Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC Minneapolis last month, but the 37-year-old was forced to withdraw from the bout with a hand injury.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 11, 2019

Multiple-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion Michelle Nicolini has been waiting for her name to be called since her last bout back in November of 2018. On 12 July, she makes her highly-anticipated return in the co-main event of ONE: Masters of Destiny at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nicolini’s first ONE Championship test for 2019 comes in the form of reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion and former ONE Women’s Strawweight World Title challenger Angela “Unstoppable” Lee of Singapore.

Cole Shelton - July 11, 2019

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday when he takes on Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento. This bout will be Faber’s first since he retired in 2016. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Although the 26-year-old in Simon is a -340 favorite, compared to Faber who is a +260 underdog, many are leaning towards the Hall of Famer getting it done.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov crossed paths at UFC 239, and in a twist that should surprise absolutely nobody, the two long-time rivals promptly had to be separated. UFC President Dana White revealed at the card’s post-fight press conference that the pair had been “talking s**t to each other,” at which point security intervened.

Mike Heck - July 11, 2019

Tyron Woodley had a lot to think about on Saturday night following Jorge Masvidal’s vicious knockout of Ben Askren at UFC 239. For starters, Askren is a teammate and close friend of the former UFC welterweight champion. In addition, Masvidal is a surging contender looking to cut ahead of Woodley in the 170-pound title conversation.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 11, 2019

There will be three different combat sports on display at ONE: Masters of Destiny on 12 July at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but each bout could potentially end in a  knockout. Here is a look at the most prolific knockout artists competing on the ONE Championship card. 

Natasha Hooper - July 11, 2019

UFC 239 was an action-packed fight card that featured legendary moments that will go down in UFC history. This includes the now infamous flying knee from Jorge Masvidal. The event took place last Saturday 6th July at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 11, 2019

Malaysian women’s atomweight contender Jihin Radzuan — known by the nickname “Shadowcat” — will be defending her home country’s pride against the Philippines’ Jomary Torres at ONE: Masters of Destiny this coming Friday, July 12 at the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Apart from an impressive 4-1 professional record, the up-and-coming Malaysian prospect is also the owner of one of the more unique monikers in mixed martial arts, and it is something that has made fellow athletes and fans quite curious.

Christopher Taylor - July 10, 2019

UFC Hall of Famers Ken Shamrock and Mark Coleman will reportedly throw down at the inaugural Valor Bare Knuckle event this September. Earlier this evening Ken Shamrock (28-17-2 MMA) announced that he was launching his own Bare Knuckle Fighting promotion.

Adam Martin - July 10, 2019

Thiago Santos had the biggest fight of his MMA carer this past Saturday against Jon Jones in the main event of UFC 239. Thought he officially lost a split decision, he gained the respect of the entire MMA community for not only giving Jones a tough fight, but for fighting 25 minutes with two severely-damaged knees. Although Santos will be out until mid-2020 after having knee surgery, he told Combate that he isn’t giving up hope of eventually fighting Jones for a second time.

Cole Shelton - July 10, 2019

Forbes has released their 2019 highest-paid celebrity list (money earned from 2018) and there is only one MMA fighter on the list and that is Conor McGregor. The Irishman came in at 65 out of the 100 and earned an estimated $47 million. Forbes lists how he got that money which includes a $30 million payout from his UFC 229 fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov, after his base salary and pay-per-view bonuses. He also collected $5 million from Reebok and his whiskey company, Proper Twelve sold over 200,000 cases. He was also the 21st highest paid athlete for the year according to Forbes, even after fighting just once, and it is the fourth-straight year he is on that athlete-centric list.

Tom Taylor - July 10, 2019

Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker don’t even know where their UFC 243 middleweight title fight will occur yet, but Adesanya is already letting the trash talk fly. Speaking at the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony over the weekend, the interim champion Adesanya shared his thoughts on his first staredown with the undisputed champ Whittaker.