MMA News

Adam Martin - June 21, 2019

Count the co-owner of the UFC among the parties interested in a potential celebrity showdown between Justin Bieber and Tom Cruise. According to a report from TMZ, Ari Emanuel ‚ the co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor — is very interested in booking a fight between Bieber and Cruise. According to the report, Emanuel allegedly called Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun last week and added UFC President Dana White into the call. Emanuel reportedly told Bieber’s camp that he believes Bieber vs. Cruise would be an “epic fight that needed to happen” and TMZ reports that White agreed with him and is on board with the potential showdown.

Cole Shelton - June 21, 2019

After Kamaru Usman beat Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 to become the new welterweight champion, the expectation was that he would soon defend the title against Colby Covington. But there has been little to no talk of the fight since Usman’s big win. Covington expressed interest in fighting during International Fight Week in July, or on the UFC’s August pay-per-view, but those cards are now booked. So, if this fight is going to happen it will be later this year. If the fight finally does happen, UFC welterweight contender and long-time Colby Covington training partner Jorge Masvidal believes “Chaos” will get his hand raised as he is a little better at everything than Usman.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2019

Tomorrow night, the UFC will return to our screens with the interesting looking UFC Greenville card. The card will be topped by a featherweight contender bout between undead star “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung, and Brazilian finisher Renato Moicano. Both men will be looking to rebound from recent stoppage losses, as The Korean Zombie was snuffed by Yair Rodriguez in his last outing, and Moicano was taken out by the former champ Jose Aldo.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 21, 2019

It was a tough night at the office for Filipino mixed martial arts veteran Eric Kelly at ONE: LEGENDARY QUEST. The former ONE World Title contender came up short against Sanda specialist, Niu Kang Kang last 15 June in Shanghai, China’s Baoshan Arena. Kelly admitted that even before event night, a few things began to go awry. The 37-year old suffered an injury in training, getting a cut from an accidental headbutt.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2019

We’re now just a little over 24 hours out from Artem Lobov and Paulie Malignaggi’s anticipated bare knuckle grudge match, which will headline BKFC 6 in Tampa, Florida, this Saturday night. In this eleventh hour, both men have found chances to squeeze in final bits of pre-fight trash talk. “No one respects this guy,” Lobov said at Thursday’s BKFC 6 press conference (via MMA Junkie). “How could you respect this guy? I guarantee you his own parents are watching him at home going, ‘Where did it all go wrong? How did we not bring this guy up the right way? What is wrong with our son?’ I guarantee it happens like this. And they’re asking the same question: ‘Son, what is wrong with you? Seriously, look at what you’re doing.’

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2019

Alex Volkanovski will be watching Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar’s upcoming featherweight title fight very closely, as he’s more than likely to fight the winner sometime later this year. Speaking on a recent episode of BJPenn.com Radio, Volkanovski divulged that he envisions Edgar giving the champion Holloway some problems in this fight. That being said, Volkanovski believes he’s an even more dangerous test for Holloway than Edgar is.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 21, 2019

ONE: Legendary Quest was another successful martial events for ONE Championship as the promotion brought its brand of action to Shanghai once more. In the main event, 21-year-old two-sport world champion Stamp Fairtex successfully defended her ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship against 18-year-old Alma Juniku. The challenger made an excellent account of herself, but in the end, she didn’t have the power or experience necessary to dethrone Stamp.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2019

On June 29, in the main event of UFC Minneapolis, top heavyweight contenders Junior dos Santos and Francis Ngannou would collide in a fight that should earn the winner a title shot. Ahead of this fight, it’s clear that both men possess impressive striking and fight-altering power. The grappling edge, meanwhile, would seem to rest firmly in the corner of dos Santos.

Christopher Taylor - June 20, 2019

Former three-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen retired from the sport of mixed martial arts this past weekend following a knockout loss to Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222. The setback served as Sonnen’s second in a row, as he was previously defeated by MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in the semifinals of the Bellator heavyweight grand prix.

Christopher Taylor - June 20, 2019

Current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will return to the octagon at next month’s UFC 239 event against dangerous knockout artist Thiago Santos. ‘Bones’ was most recently seen in action in the headliner of UFC 235, where he defeated Anthony Smith via unanimous decision to retain his 205-pound strap.

Cole Shelton - June 20, 2019

At UFC 238, the vacant bantamweight title was on the line as top contender Marlon Moraes was taking on flyweight champion Henry Cejudo. After a solid first round, the Brazilian started to fade and Cejudo TKO’d him in the third. After the fight, the Olympic gold medalist mentioned how he wanted to defend both titles. However, that won’t happen this year as Henry Cejudo is out until early 2020 due to shoulder surgery. With that, Petr Yan wants an interim title fight against Aljamain Sterling, who both won their respective bouts at UFC 238.

Cole Shelton - June 20, 2019

After Chael Sonnen lost to Lyoto Machida at Bellator 222, “The American Gangster” announced his retirement from MMA. The 42-year-old never reached his goal of capturing a major MMA title, which he considers to be a failure, but he was one of the major draws in the sport. The Oregon native, Chael Sonnen, fought the top names in the sport and knew how to sell a fight with his mouth. The lead up to his title fights with Anderson Silva and his scrap against Tito Ortiz were among the best. And, according to UFC President, Dana White, that made Sonnen stay relevant as he could sell a fight and piss off other fighters.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2019

Irish Bellator star James Gallagher has never shied away from a little pre-fight trash talk, and at the recent Bellator 223 press conference in London, he wound up swapping plenty of that with a teammate of his opponent, Jeremiah Labiano. The drama began during the press conference, when one of Labiano’s teammates began heckling Gallagher from the crowd. Gallagher responded with a firm lecture for his heckler, who he believed was one of his foe’s coaches.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2019

UFC flyweight star Paige VanZant will explore free agency after her next fight, which will mark the final obligation on her current UFC contract. “I am, yeah,” VanZant said when asked about free agency on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via Bloody Elbow). “You know, it’s more for me, I want to prove my worth. And obviously, with my arm injuries I’ve had three surgeries in a row now. Even though I’m so popular, I guess… I’ve been doing amazing things outside the UFC—Sports Illustrated, Dancing with the Stars, all these amazing things. I want to show, ‘Hey, I’m a huge player in this division. I’m a huge player in the UFC.’ And I think it’s going to take one more fight to do that.”

Cole Shelton - June 20, 2019

Ahead of UFC 235, it was reported Nick Diaz would return to the Octagon to take on Jorge Masvidal. But, the Stockton native said he never signed a contract and the fight never happened.”Gamebred” then fought Darren Till, who he knocked out back in March. Now, at UFC 239, Masvidal is taking on Ben Askren in a fight that could earn the winner a title shot. Although the stakes are high for this one, “Gamebred” is already eyeing a future opponent in Nate Diaz, Nick’s little brother.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2019

Robert Whittaker captured the UFC interim middleweight title with a July, 2017 defeat of Yoel Romero. He was then promoted to undisputed champion when Georges St-Pierre vacated the undisputed title in late 2017. Current interim champ Israel Adesanya, who fights Robert Whittaker at UFC 243 in October, believes Whittaker’s unconventional road to middleweight gold casts doubt on his status as a legitimate champion.

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2019

BKFC President Dave Feldman has apparently invited former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor to BKFC 6 in Tampa to watch his good friend Artem Lobov battle his nemesis Paulie Malignaggi. While Feldman has not yet gotten confirmation from McGregor’s camp, he’s confident the Irishman could be in attendance. “They won’t give confirmation yet but if I’m a betting man, I’m betting he’s coming,” Feldman told MMA Fighting. “They’re not going to give confirmation and if they are, they’re not going to tell us so we put it out there ‘hey Conor McGregor’s coming to the fight’ and then he’s mobbed. So it’s not going to happen like that but from the conversations I’m having, if I was going to bet on it, he’ll be there but who knows.”

Tom Taylor - June 20, 2019

Henry Cejudo, now the UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, could be out of action for quite some time. After a busy start to 2019, he’s gone under the knife to repair a torn subscapularis muscle, and his recovery could keep him out of action for the remainder of the year. This according to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. Cejudo sustained this shoulder injury in his UFC 238 bantamweight title fight with Marlon Moraes. After a rough opening round, Cejudo gradually took control of the fight, and ultimately finished his dangerous Brazilian foe in the third round, winning the vacant bantamweight belt.