MMA News

Tom Taylor - May 10, 2019

On Saturday night, the UFC will return to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the stacked UFC 237 card (learn how to watch it here). This card will be topped by a compelling women’s strawweight title fight, as the champion Rose Namajunas defends her title on enemy soil against Brazil’s Jessica Andrade. Despite being the champion, Namajunas has been pegged as a slight underdog heading into this fight.

Drake Riggs - May 9, 2019

This past Monday night in New York City, a very special event was held in the world of wrestling. It was Beat the Streets 2019 and in the main event, we saw two of the sports’ all-time greatest competitors square off for the very first time. On one side, it was the ‘Funky’ undefeated former Bellator and ONE Championship welterweight champion, Ben Askren who has firmly established himself as one of the greatest wrestlers in MMA history.

Mike Straus - May 9, 2019

Another weekend chock-full of high level mixed martial arts is upon us. The Viacom owned promotion touches down in Chicago for Bellator 221 on Saturday. Bellator will go head to head with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) for the second straight week on Saturday night. While that typically is promotional suicide, Bellator 221 is a solid offering, and dare I say the main card is just as good as UFC 237’s.

Drake Riggs - May 9, 2019

Opponents turned training partners at Team Alpha Male, Clay Guida and Chad Mendes have gotten to know each other quite well over the years. Trading punches and kicks at UFC 164 in 2013 wasn’t enough as eventually, Guida would make his way to Mendes’ longtime gym where the two would begin working together on a regular basis. They even go out and catch some fish together from time to time.

Drake Riggs - May 9, 2019

Travel four hours and 57 minutes north of Los Angeles and 36 minutes northeast of the ever-flowing Monterey Bay, and there lies the city of Gilroy. Every small town or city will usually have its handful of notable citizens that go on to do great things in a certain aspect of life. Gilroy is no different. And it’s not a ‘small’ area per se, but in comparison to your typical ‘name-city’ in California, it’s definitely not the biggest.

Tom Taylor - May 9, 2019

Ever since Donald Cerrone defeated Al Iaquinta in the UFC Ottawa main event last weekend, there’s been renewed interest in a lightweight firefight between the fan favorite gunslinger and former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor. While this Cerrone vs. McGregor fight is still purely hypothetical, the Cerrone side of things is working hard to change that.

Tom Taylor - May 9, 2019

UFC 237 (see how to watch here) will be topped by a dynamite strawweight title fight, as the champion Rose Namajunas defends her title against fearsome challenger Jessica Andrade. Despite the fact that Namajunas is the reigning, defending champion, she’s been identified as a slight underdog against Andrade. Speaking to MMA Junkie ahead of UFC 237, Namajunas took a guess as to why she’s currently the betting underdog against her tough Brazilian opponent.

Tom Taylor - May 9, 2019

With Brock Lesnar’s UFC return reportedly off the table, UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is now booked to defend his title against the very man he won it from, Stipe Miocic. The pair will collide at UFC 241 this August. The first time the two fighters met, Cormier won by first-round knockout, ending Miocic’s reign as the most dominant champion in UFC history. Since then, Cormier has fought once, defeating Derrick Lewis by submission. Miocic has not competed since, adamant instead that he deserved an immediate rematch with Cormier on the basis of his accomplishments as the former champ.

Tom Taylor - May 9, 2019

Paige VanZant is the latest UFC star to be featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, and several of the photos from her spread in the magazine have now been released on the World Wide Web. Paige VanZant shared a few of the highlights on her official Instagram page. The full collection, meanwhile, can be viewed on the official Sports Illustrated Swimsuit site. 

Tom Taylor - May 9, 2019

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s UFC Ottawa card, and as expected, Donald Cerrone has made a big climb on the strength of his rousing decision defeat of Al Iaquinta. The fan favorite, known affectionately as “Cowboy,” now holds the number four spot in the lightweight division. These latest UFC rankings also include some big changes in the women’s bantamweight division, as Macy Chiasson has surged up on the list after a stoppage win over Sarah Moras.

Cole Shelton - May 9, 2019

Diego Ferreira is ready for arguably the biggest fight of his career when he takes on Francisco Trinaldo in the pay-per-view opener of UFC 237. When the Brazilian first heard about the fight he was ecstatic as he knows a win over Trinaldo will most likely put him into the UFC lightweight rankings.

Natasha Hooper - May 9, 2019

Former UFC title challenger and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez (22-7) returns to fight Arnold Allen (14-1) at UFC 239 on July 6. They meet in Vegas! @GilbertMelendez vs @Arnoldbfa is official for #UFC239 pic.twitter.com/uHs8anH1SR

Natasha Hooper - May 9, 2019

UFC reps announced on Wednesday that Sergio Pettis and Ricardo Ramos will be competing in a bantamweight contest at UFC Minneapolis on June 29. The card will also include a newly-announced lightweight bout between Jared Gordon and Dan Moret.  Sergio Pettis is looking to bounce back from two recent losses against Rob Font and BJJ expert Jussier Formiga. Prior to these back-to-back defeats, Pettis demonstrated strong takedown defence and powerful striking in the biggest win of his career, a split decision triumph against former flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez.

Cole Shelton - May 9, 2019

In the main event of UFC 237 on Saturday, strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will look to defend her title in Brazil against the country’s own Jessica Andrade. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Although Andrade is the slight betting favorite, Namajunas is the favorite to win according to the pros.

Natasha Hooper - May 9, 2019

Conor McGregor will always have a problem with Khabib Nurmagomedov, according to Joe Rogan. The UFC commentator and comedian invited Lex Fridman, an AI research scientist, onto his Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Monday to discuss an array of topics including autonomous cars and MMA.

Cole Shelton - May 9, 2019

Ben Askren and Jorge Masvidal will finally settle their feud at UFC 239, during International Fight Week. The two have gone back-and-forth on social media, trash-talking each other . It first started when Askren went to London to pick a fight against the winner of Darren Till vs. Jorge Masvidal. Now that the two are set to fight, the rivalry has only gotten more heated. Masvidal went on the Joe Rogan Experience and explained what he plans to do to Askren.

Natasha Hooper - May 8, 2019

After losing a 5-round battle against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Al Iaquinta has incurred a 6 month medical suspension. MMAJunkie received a list of medical suspensions from the Ontario Office of the Athletics Commissioner, the organization responsible for regulating the UFC Fight Night 151 bout. Usually, medical suspensions can be shortened once the fighter receives medical clearance from a doctor. However, a representative from the Athletic Commission stated the suspension for Iaquinta was set at 180 days.

Cole Shelton - May 8, 2019

Jared Cannonier is set for arguably the biggest fight of his career this Saturday, in the co-main event of UFC 237. The 10th ranked middleweight will be taking on one of the greatest fighters of all time in Anderson Silva. Learn how to watch UFC 237 here. Although Silva is ranked below him, Cannonier still understands how big of a fight this is. And, with fight week now upon us, the work is done and the 35-year-old middleweight is just ready for Saturday.