MMA News

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2019

Despite her lengthy absence from the cage, due to an unfortunate series of injures, Paige VanZant remains one of the most visible stars in the UFC flyweight division. Yet while she is likely only a few wins away from a title shot, she doesn’t envision anybody beating the division’s reigning champion, Valentina Shevchenko. Luckily, VanZant doesn’t expect to ever be tasked with solving the Shevchenko puzzle.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2019

Renato Moicano is set to headline his first-ever UFC card this Saturday at UFC Greenville. The Brazilian is taking on Chan Sung Jung, AKA “The Korean Zombie” in a pivotal featherweight bout. Moicano is coming off of a TKO loss to Jose Aldo, which snapped his two-fight winning streak. Although the 30-year-old lost to the former champion, he believes it was a valuable learning experience and will make him better for this fight.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2019

Former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren is scheduled for his second UFC appearance at UFC 239 on July 6, where he’ll battle fellow contender Jorge Masvidal. It’s conceivable that the winner of this clash will get the next crack at UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman — though that would mean Colby Covington would have to be skipped over once again. Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Ben Askren explained that he believes a win over Jorge Masvidal could very easily put him ahead of Covington in the welterweight contendership race.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2019

Montana De La Rosa is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC Greenville. There, she is taking on Andrea Lee in a battle between two ranked flyweights. De La Rosa is 3-0 in the division so far, and she understands just how important this fight is for her career. Lee is on a six-fight winning streak and has shown she is one of the best fighters in the division.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2019

The UFC had a difficult time locking down a main event for UFC San Antonio, which goes down on July 20. Eventually, the promotion landed on a welterweight contender bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Leon Edwards, but before that matchup was booked, several others were in consideration. One was a flyweight title fight between champion Valentina Shevchenko and challenger Liz Carmouche. While this matchup failed to come to fruition for the July 20 card in San Antonio, Shevchenko remains hopeful it will be booked soon. She has history with Carmouche, having experienced the first setback of her career against the American, and is eager for the opportunity to even the score. Particularly given the way their first fight ended.

Mike Pendleton - June 18, 2019

When Deron Winn makes his UFC debut at UFC Greenville next weekend, Daniel Cormier won’t be in his corner, but there’s a good reason for that. “We argue all the time, even when we are coaching high school wrestling, we’ll be arguing throughout the meet.”

Mike Pendleton - June 17, 2019

Former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is currently serving a two-year suspension from USADA for his use of EPO, and recently spoke on his decision to take the banned-substance, but he also discussed more than that in his interview with Chael Sonnen. During his interview on the “You’re Welcome” podcast hosted by Chael Sonnen, Dillashaw discussed the return of his former coach and teammate Urijah Faber who is ending his retirement to take on Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento on July 13, and didn’t hold back in his thoughts on Faber’s return. Faber recently spoke on the possibility of fighting Dillashaw, and it’s a fight that interests him when his former teammate returns from suspension.

Mike Pendleton - June 17, 2019

As the UFC’s lightweight championship picture continues to take shape, the road back to the Octagon for former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor also seems to be taking shape. Back in March while doing a Q&A with fans McGregor said he feels he owes it to Nate Diaz to have a trilogy fight, but that idea was recently shut down by Diaz himself. When Conor McGregor does decide to return his head coach John Kavanagh has a preference as to what opponent he wants his fighter to face first, and it’s the trilogy fight with Nate Diaz. Speaking to Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Kavanagh spoke about his preference wanting Diaz as McGregor’s next opponent, saying it’s something he’s wanted for a while.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 17, 2019

ONE Championship made a successful return to China, with ONE: Legendary Quest selling out the Baoshan Arena in beautiful Shanghai. The biggest winner of the night was no doubt reigning ONE Atomweight Kickboxing and Muay Thai World Champion Stamp Fairtex of Thailand, who successfully defended her Muay Thai crown against a very game challenger in Alma Juniku of Australia.

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2019

This weekend, in the main event of BKFC 6 in Tampa, Florida, former boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi will meet UFC veteran Artem Lobov in bare knuckle fight. Given his accolades in the boxing arena, Malignaggi is expecting an easy night of work against his foe. And he’s thanking the “f**king stupid” MMA fans that support Lobov for helping to set this easy night of work up for him.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 17, 2019

Tournaments and Grand Prix are excellent for martial arts promotions. It hearkens back to the golden days of competition in a variety of combat sports. ONE Championship is capturing that magic with its various ladder-style tournaments. Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev has already secured himself a spot in the lightweight final on the strength of two KO victories over Ev Ting and Amir Khan. Arslanaliev will face the winner of the Timofey Nastyuhkin vs. Honorio Banario semifinal, which takes place in Manila this August.

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2019

Last month, in the main event of UFC Rochester, long-time UFC lightweight contender Kevin Lee made his debut in the welterweight division opposite a fellow former lightweight in Rafael dos Anjos. Unfortunately for Lee, this first welterweight bout didn’t go as planned, as he was submitted by his foe in the fourth round. While Lee didn’t get the result he wanted in this fight, however, he says his preparations went very well.

Mike Pendleton - June 17, 2019

The complicated UFC lightweight title picture is starting to look a little clearer. While Khabib Nurmagomedov is scheduled to defend his title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in September, UFC President Dana White has an idea as to who is likely to get the next title shot thereafter. Following his win over Donald Cerrone at UFC 238, Tony Ferguson extended his winning streak to 12 and once again made a statement that he deserves a title fight. While many fans were left unsatisfied after the Ferguson and Cerrone fight ended by doctor stoppage, Dana White says that he assumes “El Cucuy” is next in line after Nurmagomedov and Poirier battle for the title.

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2019

Aaron Pico has long stood out as one of the hottest prospects on the Bellator MMA roster. Regrettably, the 22-year-old has been brutally knocked out in his two most recent bouts, leaving some real concerns about his future in the sport. Speaking at the Bellator 222 post-fight press conference, shortly after Pico’s knockout loss to Adam Borics, Bellator President Scott Coker discussed the recent rough stretch of this promising prospect.

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2019

UFC President Dana White has recently expressed interest in investing in the purchase of an NFL team with former UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. When asked about this topic on a recent episode of LVSportsBiz Guerrilla Cross Radio, however, the UFC President peppered in another very interesting detail with respect to his career as a titan of the sporting world. He claims he’s signed a brand new 10-year deal with the UFC. That’s right. Another decade of profanity-laced tirades and interim titles courtesy of Uncle Dana.

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2019

Justin Bieber recently made his way into MMA headlines by calling for a fight with Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise and asking the UFC President Dana White to promote it. I wanna challenge Tom Cruise to fight in the octagon. Tom if you dont take this fight your scared and you will never live it down. Who is willing to put on the fight? @danawhite ?

Christopher Taylor - June 16, 2019

Former WBO featherweight boxing champion Heather Hardy suffered a TKO loss to Taylor Turner at this Friday’s Bellator 222 event in New York. The setback dropped Hardy’s career mixed martial arts record to 2-2. The loss also prompted many pundits to call for Heather’s return to boxing.

Tom Taylor - June 16, 2019

UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo is not just a tremendous fighter but also an interesting character. While some members of the MMA community find his personality charming, however, not everybody is on board with it. File former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley into that latter group.