MMA News

Tom Taylor - March 14, 2019

Earlier this week, Conor McGregor was arrested in Miami after allegedly smashing a fan’s phone. The UFC star was briefly jailed, but released after posting bond. TMZ has now acquired video of this incident. The clip is undeniably short, but it indeed seems to show McGregor stomping on a phone, and the purported victim pleading to get his phone back amid a swarm of security. See it below:

Tom Taylor - March 14, 2019

Press release: ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced that it will be an exclusive partner of Japanese martial arts organization Pancrase. Following a similar partnership announced in January with Shooto, this partnership will likewise see ONE Championship work together with Pancrase to provide Pancrase athletes the opportunity to showcase their martial arts talents and further develop their skills on a global platform. Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “Following our partnership with Shooto, ONE Championship is excited to offer the same opportunity to Pancrase athletes and World Champions to compete on the world’s largest stage for martial arts. We are fully committed to developing Japan’s martial arts ecosystem from the amateur up to the professional level. Our partnership with Pancrase once again marks the world’s top martial arts organizations coming together to create a new era of martial arts in Japan.”

Tom Taylor - March 14, 2019

Today, Francis Ngannou is one of the most successful heavyweights in the UFC. Not all that long ago, however, he was struggling to get by in a remote corner of Cameroon. Fuelled by his unshakable ambition, Ngannou ultimately decided to leave Cameroon. After stopping for a time in Morocco, he ultimately wound up in France. But when he left his village, he had no idea where he was going to end up. He couldn’t even give his family a proper goodbye.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 14, 2019

Being a 12-time UFC champ, Demetrious Johnson is considered one of the all time greats. When ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced late last year that Johnson would be joining the promotion, one of the American’s deciding factors in joining was hearing Sityodtong’s take on martial arts as a whole.

Drake Riggs - March 13, 2019

The strawweight division is better than it’s ever been in the UFC right now. With plenty of new and talented faces making their presences felt, none have done so arguably quite as well as Tatiana Suarez has. After winning season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, Suarez has done nothing but continue to impress with her unstoppable wrestling abilities.

Drake Riggs - March 13, 2019

The welterweight division is about as deep of an MMA division as one could ask for. Currently, there happen to be three top 15 UFC welterweights with winning streaks within the organization that consists of seven straight wins or more. One of those streaks belongs to Argentina’s own, Santiago Ponzinibbio. For the Argentinian, his last bout came in a home game when he put on a show for the Argentina faithful in his main event with Neil Magny. Notoriously hard to finish, Ponzinibbio would make things look easy as he dissected the perennial top 15er over the course of four rounds before landing the knockout blow.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Ben Askren finally has a UFC win on his resume — unfortunately it came with a side order of controversy. The win, which occurred at UFC 235, came when he locked up a bulldog choke on Robbie Lawler. For a moment, it looked like the choke had lulled Lawler unconcious. The instant replay, however, revealed that Lawler seemed to be wide awake, and still capable of fighting. Whatever the case, Ben Askren seems to have moved on, and is now focusing on his next challenge in the UFC’s Octagon. While nothing is official just yet, it sounds like Askren’s next challenge will pit him against the winner of this weekend’s Jorge Masvidal vs. Darren Till fight.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Earlier this week, former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor arrested and briefly jailed after breaking the cellphone of a man in Miami. Mahamad Abdirzak, the father of McGregor’s alleged victim, says this is precisely the kind of behaviour he expects from the Irish MMA superstar — which is why he supports McGregor’s rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. “What McGregor did is exactly in his character,” Mahamad Abdirzak told the Daily Mail. “He’s an angry man. I’m not a fan of his at all. I prefer Khabib (Nurmagomedov). He’s the fighter I like to watch, not McGregor.”

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Artem Lobov, a chief training partner and good friend of Conor McGregor, recently signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC). Not long thereafter, BKFC inked a deal with former boxer Paulie Malignaggi, one of McGregor’s key enemies. To say Artem Lobov and Paulie Malignaggi are on a collision course would be an understatement. In fact, the trash talk between them has already reached a fever pitch.

Mike Pendleton - March 13, 2019

Now that the UFC is on ESPN, there will be increasing occurrences of the main ESPN personalities giving their opinion on big UFC headlines. The recent arrest of Conor McGregor is a prime example of this, as the main talking heads of ESPN had an opportunity to share their opinion about the controversial former two-weight UFC champion. On Tuesday’s edition of First Take, Stephen A. Smith offered his opinion on McGregor’s latest run-in with the law:

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

Derrick Lewis came up short in his UFC Wichita showdown with Junior dos Santos. That being said, the former heavyweight title challenger performed admirably — especially considering he was dealing with some pretty severe knee troubles heading into the fight. “He wasn’t gonna pull [from the fight] anyway,” Lewis’ coach Bob Perez told MMA Fighting, detailing Lewis’ pre-fight injuries. “That being said, training for this camp was really bad. He couldn’t do anything, honestly.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2019

According to a report from MMAjunkie, former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes is suing his brother Mark over the ownership of a tractor. No monetary damages have been listed, Hughes merely hopes that a judge will will decide who owns the John Deere 8410 tractor in question. This suit is relevant, as this tractor played a pivotal role in the restraining order that Mark Hughes recently filed against Matt Hughes.

Drake Riggs - March 12, 2019

After weeks of speculation and expecting an official announcement, it was just a matter of when we would end up getting one. Monday would be that day. UFC 238 in Chicago, Illinois on June 8 will host the next flyweight title bout as the new champion, Valentina ‘Bullet’ Shevchenko will look to make a successful first defense against the 10-fight UFC veteran, Jessica Eye.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2019

UFC Star Conor McGregor was attested in Miami after allegedly stealing then smashing Ahmed Abdirzak’s cell phone. The former two-division UFC champion, McGregor, was arrested for strong-armed robbery and criminal mischief.

Thomas Taylor - March 12, 2019

Kamaru Usman was the picture of dominance in his welterweight title-winning defeat of Tyron Woodley at UFC 235. That being said, he didn’t leave the Octagon unscathed. During the fight, he injured his knee, and on Tuesday, went under the knife to repair this injury. Moments after coming out of surgery, a still dazed Kamaru Usman took to his Instagram story, where he greeted his ever-expanding fan base and promised he’d be back in action soon.

Cole Shelton - March 12, 2019

At UFC 229, Conor McGregor took on Khabib Nurmagomedov in what would be the biggest pay-per-view in UFC history. Leading up to the bout, fighters and fans were torn on who would win. Some thought Nurmagomedov would be able to maul McGregor, while others thought Conor would emerge victorious by way of knockout.

BJPENN.COM Staff - March 12, 2019

Undisputed ONE Bantamweight World Champion Kevin Belingon is ready to settle the score with Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes on March 31 at ONE: A NEW ERA at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan. The two athletes are tied in their series with a win each. The pair first met back in January 2016 when Fernandes was able to successfully defend his ONE Bantamweight World Title against the Filipino by way of submission in the first round. The loss motivated Belingon to pursue another title shot and he won six straight matches after that on his climb back up the ladder.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2019

Tony Ferguson is one of the most interesting and eccentric characters in MMA. So much so that, within the MMA community, fans have something of a running joke about him. The format is simple: “Tony Ferguson is the type of guy ______.” You simply finish the sentence yourself.