MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

UFC interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya believes that most MMA fans are fickle and disloyal. Speaking to MMA Fighting at the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony last weekend, the interim titleholder looked back on the moment he realized how “wishy-washy” fight fans are.

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.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last Saturday’s UFC 239 card, and as expected, there have been some big changes. Most notably, reigning UFC women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes has taken a big climb up the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings, carried by her head kick induced stoppage of former champ Holly Holm.

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.

Tom Taylor - July 11, 2019

Michael Chiesa picked up a big win at UFC 239, defeating The Ultimate Fighter season one winner Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision. Yet he didn’t escape the Octagon unscathed. Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, Chiesa divulged that Sanchez gave him what fight fans often refer to as an “oil check.”

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.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 10, 2019

Daniel Cormier is riding high going into UFC 241 and he now has one more thing to celebrate. Cormier is set to put his heavyweight gold on the line against Stipe Miocic in a rematch. In their first encounter back in July 2018, Cormier knocked out Miocic in the first round to capture the UFC heavyweight title. They’ll run it back inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on Aug. 17.

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.

Tom Taylor - July 10, 2019

Gilbert Melendez seems to be nearing the end of his career as a professional fighter. Over the weekend, on the undercard of UFC 239, the former Strikeforce lightweight champion and UFC lightweight title challenger gave up a decision to British featherweight Arnold Allen. While Melendez did not retire outright after this loss, he does seem to be preparing to move on to the next phase of his career.

Adam Martin - July 10, 2019

Former UFC featherweight title contender Chad Mendes has officially announced his retirement from mixed martial arts at age 34. Although previously reported to be retired, Mendes did not confirm that he was officially done with the sport until Tuesday. Mendes told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto he has notified the UFC of his retirement, and he has been removed from the USADA testing pool.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 10, 2019

Robert Whittaker has no plans to be goaded into a verbal spat with Israel Adesanya. Whittaker and Adesanya are set to collide in a middleweight title unification bout on Oct. 5. The championship tilt will serve as UFC 243’s main event. While the headliner and event have been announced, a location has not. While many had anticipated Melbourne, UFC president Dana White revealed during the summer press conference 2019 that nothing is a lock yet.