MMA News

Natasha Hooper - July 4, 2019

Thiago Santos has seemingly bulked up in preparation for his UFC 239 bout against Jon Jones. The Brazilian light heavyweight fighter nicknamed “Marreta” looks like he’s packed on some pounds, if a recent Instagram post is any indication. Currently, he is in Las Vegas, the location of his upcoming fight. Santos is taking in some local attractions and sharing his experiences on his Instagram.

Natasha Hooper - July 4, 2019

Tyron Woodley believes a rematch against Kamaru Usman is in the cards for later this year. During the MMA Awards, Woodley shared his thoughts on his next fight in the Octagon.

Natasha Hooper - July 4, 2019

Justin Gaethje believes there are only two opponents out there that can rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, and he is one of them. At the MMA awards last night, Justin Gaethje spoke to Aaron Bronsteter of TSN about the possibility of fighting the current lightweight champion Nurmagomedov. He believes only Tony Ferguson and himself stand in the way of “The Eagle’s” undefeated pro record.

Christopher Taylor - July 4, 2019

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz had some high praise for Dana White at tonight’s World MMA Awards, this after announcing the death of Golden Boy MMA. During an interview with TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter, Tito Ortiz discussed the closure of Golden Boy MMA while comparing the promoting skills of UFC President Dana White against Boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya.

Cole Shelton - July 3, 2019

At Bellator London, Rafael Lovato Jr. shocked many as he defeated Gegard Mousasi by majority decision to become the new middleweight champion. But, the now former champion claims the 36-year-old was on PEDs for the fight. “I should have won this match even with him using PEDs,” Mousasi said on Vechtersbazen Podcast (as transcribed by MMA Junkie).

Adam Martin - July 3, 2019

It looks like UFC Copenhagen has a main event, though perhaps one that’s a bit surprising. It was rumored for a while now that Jack Hermansson would fight Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Denmark on September 28. But according to MMA super agent Malki Kawa, Jared Cannonier has verbally agreed to fight Hermansson instead. Cannonier verbally agrees to fight hermansson in Copenhagen. Excited for this. Good work @LouDiBono

Adam Martin - July 3, 2019

Although most consider Colby Covington to be the No. 1 contender in the UFC welterweight division, it’s possible he gets passed over for the next title shot. Everyone thought Covington would be next in line to fight UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, but Covington was recently booked to fight Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC Newark. Covington hasn’t fought since last June and with Usman out until November, Covington needed to take a fight to stay busy and make some money.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2019

Even from the early vantage point, BKFC 6 stood out as the biggest card yet from the upstart Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. The card, which was topped by a sizzling grudge match between UFC veteran Artem Lobov and former boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi, and featured a slew of UFC veterans and MMA notables, generated quite a bit of buzz throughout the combat sports world, and showed all the early signs of a major success for the promotion.

Mike Pendleton - July 3, 2019

As UFC 239 approaches, Jon Jones is making his final preparations for another light heavyweight title fight; a scene that he is very familiar with. Since he captured the divisional title in 2011 with a TKO of Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Jones has found himself in title fights ever since. The career of Jones inside the Octagon is one that can only be described as remarkable. He grew up before the eyes of UFC fans, taking out the veterans that paved the way for the light heavyweight division like Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans and Vitor Belfort, then taking on a wave of new challengers — most notably his chief rivals Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson.

Cole Shelton - July 3, 2019

In the co-main event of UFC 239, Amanda Nunes is looking to defend her bantamweight title against the former champ Holly Holm. Heading into the fight, the champion is a -380 favorite while the challenger is a +290 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. Most are leaning towards Amanda Nunes defending her title. Some, like coach Mike Winkeljohn, believe Holly Holm will shock the world again.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 3, 2019

For Joe Rogan’s money, Tony Ferguson has proven to be the UFC lightweight division’s worst nightmare. Ferguson has not suffered a defeat since May 2012. Barack Obama was in office serving his first term, the Chicago Cubs still hadn’t won a World Series since 1908, and Benson Henderson was the UFC lightweight champion. Since that loss to Michael Johnson, Ferguson has been on a 12-fight tear. He’s stopped nine of his 12 fallen foes in that span.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 239, light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and challenger Thiago Santos will step into the cage together with gold on the line. Earlier on the same card, former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will make his light heavyweight debut against Jan Blachowicz. If he’s successful, he believes he could be rewarded with a shot at the Jones vs. Santos winner. From the sounds of it, Luke Rockhold considers a Jon Jones win a near certainty. And because Jones’ arch rival Daniel Cormier is tied up at heavyweight, the former middleweight champ believes the path to a fight with Jones is wide open.

Cole Shelton - July 3, 2019

Since Jon Jones has returned from his suspension he has been very active. He will fight for the third time since December when he takes on Thiago Santos this Saturday at UFC 239. The Brazilian will be fighting for UFC gold for the first time in his career and is riding a four-fight winning streak with three wins at light heavyweight, with all coming by TKO/KO.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2019

UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem bothered by the idea of his arch nemesis Conor McGregor attending UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, where he’ll defend his title against Dustin Poirier. That being said, the champ does have a piece of advice for the Irishman.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2019

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last Saturday’s UFC Minneapolis card, and as expected there have been a few changes. Interestingly, headliner Francis Ngannou didn’t move on the strength of his 71-second knockout of Junior dos Santos. Instead, he held steady at number two in the heavyweight division.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2019

In December of 2015, Luke Rockhold handed Chris Weidman his first professional loss, and stole the middleweight belt from him in the process. Given the competitive nature of this title fight, and Weidman’s previous dominance, the pair were then scheduled for an immediate rematch. Thanks to a Weidman injury, however, this rematch never materialized.

Mike Pendleton - July 3, 2019

Long-time UFC bantamweight contender John Lineker will be looking for a new promotion to fight for. According to a report from John Morgan of MMA Junkie, the UFC has released him from his contract. The news comes after months of frustration between Lineker and the UFC as he was vocal about his urgency to get a fight scheduled. John Lineker has been released from the UFC, per multiple sources. His team has declined to comment at this time. Story at @MMAjunkie shortly.

Christopher Taylor - July 2, 2019

Fan favorite Mike Perry will return to the octagon at August’s UFC Uruguay event against surging welterweight contender Vicente Luque. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani confirmed the news following an initial report from MMA Uncensored.