MMA News

Drake Riggs - April 16, 2019

Nick Newell (14-2) has captured the hearts of MMA fans around the world with his great fighting skills and story of perseverance. The one-armed Newell is a former World Series of Fighting standout whose lone loss in the organization came in a title fight against the then reigning king, Justin Gaethje. A loss that no one can hang their hat on.

Drake Riggs - April 16, 2019

The last time we saw Leslie Smith compete in MMA was in July 2017. She would pick up a second-round TKO over Amanda Lemos to extend her 135-pound winning streak to three straight. Following the Lemos bout, Smith was lined up to face the undefeated top prospect, Aspen Ladd at UFC Atlantic City in April 2018. The fight was the last on Smith’s contract and unfortunately, Ladd would end up missing weight which led to some negotiating to work things out.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2019

Shortly after Aung La N Sang defended his ONE Championship Middleweight World Title with a knockout of Ken Hasegawa at ONE: A New Era in March, he was joined in the cage by ONE Heavyweight Champion Brandon Vera and ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. It was announced right then and there, in front of throngs of Japanese fans, that Aung La would defend his other World Title — the ONE light heavyweight belt — against the heavyweight champ Vera.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2019

UFC 236 was a card to remember. The card was topped by a pair of interim title fights — both of which registered as instant classics in the eyes of pretty much everybody who tuned in.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2019

Having won the UFC interim middleweight championship with a thrilling decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event of UFC 236 this past Saturday, Israel Adesanya can now look forward to a title-unifying collision with undisputed middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. This clash between New Zealand’s Adesanya and Australia’s Whittaker will likely go down in Australia late this year, per UFC President Dana White.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2019

Over the weekend, in the co-main event of UFC 236, undefeated UFC middleweight contender Israel Adesanya became the interim champion with a dazzling decision defeat of the dangerous Kelvin Gastelum. Adesanya’s thrilling victory over Gastelum caught the attention of pretty much every member of the MMA community. That includes former middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero, who sent the new interim champion a quick message post fight.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2019

Dustin Poirier is now the UFC interim lightweight champion. He won this title with a riveting decision defeat of reigning UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway in the UFC 236 main event. With a UFC belt now wrapped round his waist, Dustin Poirier can look forward to a title unifying showdown with undisputed champion Khabib Nurmagomedov — perhaps as soon as September.

James Lynch - April 16, 2019

Kevin Lee wanted to make history with Rafael Dos Anjos. The 26-year-old asked the UFC if his matchup with Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Rochester could be the first fight in the promotion’s history at 165-pounds. Instead the “Motown Phenom” has to settle for a welterweight contest instead, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t make a statement about the weight class on May 18. Lee thought about the idea of showing up five pounds less for the welterweight contest to make a statement.

BJPENN.COM Staff - April 16, 2019

In a massive bid to bring amateur mixed martial arts to the Olympics, ONE Championship and Global Association of Mixed Martial Arts (GAMMA) have announced a partnership, in a clear push to develop the sport at the grassroots level. GAMMA is the independent governing body for the sport of mixed martial arts worldwide.

Tom Taylor - April 16, 2019

UFC 236, which went down last Saturday in Atlanta, Georgia, featured a bevy of impressive finishes and back-and-forth wars. Unfortunately, that means it also produced some significant medical suspensions. Max Holloway, who lost a decision to Dustin Poirier in an interim lightweight title fight in the main event, has been sidelined indefinitely. So too has Kelvin Gastelum, who came up short to Israel Adesanya in an interim middleweight title fight in the UFC 236 co-main event.

BJPENN.COM Staff - April 16, 2019

The highly-stacked ONE: A NEW ERA card in Tokyo last March 31st was by far the most prolific ONE Championship event in the company’s near eight-year history. Loaded with four World Championship bouts and 23 martial arts World Champions featured on the card, the Singapore-based promotion’s maiden show in Japan was dubbed as the biggest martial arts event in history.

Drake Riggs - April 15, 2019

When it comes to the UFC’s vastly expanding 155-pound lightweight division, there are arguably too many exciting fighters to count. But standing tall among the very top of them all is currently the “violence king,” Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier. The MMA community came to the agreement ahead of the thrilling December 2017 clash between Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez at UFC 218 that the fight was to determine the MMA champion of violence. And if that fight was anything to show for it, that was quite a reasonable choice of a match-up to be labeled as such.

Cole Shelton - April 15, 2019

Israel Adesanya became the interim middleweight champion after beating Kelvin Gastelum by unanimous decision at UFC 236. Now, the plan is for Adesanya to unify his belt with current champion, Robert Whittaker, potentially in a stadium in Australia. Although ‘The Last Stylebender’ is undefeated, Whittaker believes it is an easy matchup for him, this after seeing Adesanya get exposed against Gastelum.

Drake Riggs - April 15, 2019

When it comes to the two greatest bantamweight fighters of all time, the two that will come to mind first will surely be former two-time UFC champions, Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw. The former WEC kingpin, Cruz was, of course, the division’s inaugural UFC champion. Since his Octagon debut in 2011, he would go on to defend the title a total of three times across two reigns. For his second reign, he would earn back the belt that he originally lost due to injury by defeating Dillashaw.

Drake Riggs - April 15, 2019

The undefeated Nigerian kickboxing sensation, Israel Adesanya had a star like quality to him that was evident as soon as he made his Octagon debut in February 2018. Five fights later and he’s now the interim champion of the middleweight division. To earn that label, ‘The Last Stylebender’ defeated Kelvin Gastelum in a thrilling fight of the year candidate in UFC 236’s co-main event this past Saturday.

Christopher Taylor - April 15, 2019

Max Holloway and Israel Adesanya each took home an event-high $350,000 for their efforts at last Saturday’s UFC 236 event in Atlanta. Israel Adesanya went to war with Kelvin Gastelum in Saturday’s co-main attraction. ‘Stylebender’ was forced to battle through adversity for the first time in his UFC career this weekend, this after being dropped by Gastelum in the opening round.

Tom Taylor - April 15, 2019

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz has not fought since December of 2016, when he surrendered the title to then-undefeated challenger Cody Garbrandt. Absences of this kind, of course, are unfortunately nothing new for Dominick Cruz. The former champion has fought just five times since 2011.

Tom Taylor - April 15, 2019

UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has been angling for a super fight with former heavyweight champ and long-time WWE star Brock Lesnar for some time. Not everybody, however, is a fan of this potential matchup. In fact, some fans outright hate the idea, adamant that Brock Lesnar doesn’t deserve a title shot, and that Daniel Cormier should instead defend his title against a more legitimate heavyweight contender.