MMA News

Cole Shelton - March 7, 2019

Colby Covington was expected to fight Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title prior to last weekend’s UFC 235 event. However, Colby’s “promised” title shot went to Kamaru Usman instead, and “The Nigerian Nightmare” went on to dominate Woodley for all five rounds to take home the strap.

Chris Taylor - March 7, 2019

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones successfully defended his title at last weekend’s UFC 235 event, defeating Anthony Smith via unanimous decision. It was another brilliant performance from “Bones”, who seemingly had his way with “Lionheart” for the majority of their five-round championship contest.

Drake Riggs - March 7, 2019

UFC 235 was the biggest event of 2019 to this point and the results showed why. There were many spectacular performances from top to bottom as we kicked things off with a fun back and forth strawweight battle between Hannah Cifers and Poliana Viana before getting devastating knockouts via Macy Chiasson and Edmen Shahbazyan. Those were just the early prelims though!

Cole Shelton - March 7, 2019

Ben Askren made his highly anticipated octagon debut at last weekend’s UFC 235 event in Las Vegas against Robbie Lawler. In the early moments of the fight, Lawler slammed Askren to the canvas and began raining down brutal ground and pound. Somehow, Askren survived and got back up to his feet where he eventually got ahold of Lawler’s back. There, he latched on to a bulldog choke which caused Herb Dean to jump in and stop the fight.  It was a controversial stoppage which many fight fans and analysts believe was a bad stoppage.

Drake Riggs - March 7, 2019

After a successful return to the Octagon in January 2019, Paige VanZant is now going to continue expanding her brand outside of the world of MMA as it was recently announced that she will be appearing in the 2019 issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. In January at UFC Brooklyn, VanZant returned to take on the Invicta FC veteran and season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter contestant, Rachael Ostovich. VanZant would end up scoring the second-round armbar submission victory after a rather one-sided opening round in favor of her opponent.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Retired boxer Paulie Malignaggi has been angling for a fight with Conor McGregor for years. While the verdict is still out on whether Malignaggi will ever get the chance to settle his score with McGregor, he may soon get the chance to fight the Irishman’s close friend and training partner Artem Lobov. According to a report from Helen Yee, Paulie Malignaggi is closing in on a deal with bare knuckle boxing promotion Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC).

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Conor McGregor has recently been traveling across the United States. During his travels, he’s popped into a number of notable gyms — including the home base of former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten. Speaking on Submission Radio recently, Bas Rutten detailed what sounds like a pleasant visit with the international superstar Conor McGregor, and explained how the Irishman comports himself in the rare moments when the cameras aren’t rolling.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

At UFC London, which goes down on March 16, surging light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes will face arguably the toughest test of his career in former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir. In Oezdemir, Reyes will face a clever striker with shocking power in both hands. Given his foe’s strengths, Reyes is prepared to ground the fight if need be.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Over the last few months, the fight world has been abuzz about a potential fight between Donald Cerrone and Conor McGregor. Both fighters seemed to want the fight, UFC President Dana White was on board, and of course, every fight fan with a pulse was eager to see it happen. Unfortunately, it now sounds as though the fight could be off the table.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Kamaru Usman’s unanimous decision defeat of long-time UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was a performance to remember. Unfortunately, the fight will also be remembered for a few controversial calls from referee Marc Goddard — most notably a handful of controversial stand-ups, issued when Usman was in dominant positions, seemingly working hard. After a comment from MMA Fighting’s Luke Thomas on Twitter, referee Marc Goddard issued a lengthy explanation of his calls in this Usman vs. Woodley matchup.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

While nothing is set in stone just yet, it still sounds like UFC heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier could next defend his title against former champ and long-time WWE star Brock Lesnar. Let’s just say Junior dos Santos doesn’t approve of this plan. “This thing where Daniel Cormier wants to fight Brock Lesnar; I know he wants to make money, but it doesn’t make any sense,” Dos Santos told MMA Junkie ahead of his fight with Derrick Lewis. “The only one who wants to see that fight or make that fight is him. Nobody else wants to see that. Of course Brock Lesnar, he’s a very polemic guy so people like to watch him and they pay to watch him, that’s why he wants to fight him. But man, that would be ridiculous to have him back in the sport and have him fighting for the title already.

Cole Shelton - March 7, 2019

The Octagon touches down in Wichita, Kansas for the first time in history this Saturday. In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will be taking on former title challenger Derrick Lewis. Ahead of this heavyweight fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Some believe dos Santos will be too much for Lewis, while others believe Lewis will land a fight-ending blow on dos Santos. Two others can’t decide at all.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king Ben Askren now has his first UFC victory. He snagged that elusive accomplishment at UFC 235 last weekend, when he submitted former UFC champ Robbie Lawler. Unfortunately, Askren’s impressive victory over Lawler came with a side order of controversy. While it initially looked as though the choke that sealed the deal lulled Lawler to sleep, the replay revealed Lawler might not have been out at all — and there was no tap.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Last weekend, in the opening bout of the UFC 235 main card, former UFC bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt experienced his third-straight knockout loss. Justin Buchholz, who used to serve as Garbrandt’s head coach at Team Alpha Male, believes he knows why. Speaking on The TSN MMA Show this week, Buchholz attributed Garbrandt’s latest setback to subpar coaching at the Team Alpha Male.

Drake Riggs - March 6, 2019

When scanning through the history of the lightweight division in MMA, it can’t be viewed without seeing the name ‘Jamie Varner’ pop up at least a handful of times. A former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champion that holds one of MMA’s greatest upsets and multiple fight of the night accolades, Varner was a fighter’s fighter. But bad business arguably steered his career in different directions than it could have been had things been executed in other manners.

Drake Riggs - March 6, 2019

This Saturday night the UFC heads back to Kansas state for UFC Wichita. In the event’s featured attraction, we’ll see two heavyweight knockout artists throw leather. On one side of the Octagon will be former UFC champion, Junior ‘Cigano’ Dos Santos. Standing across from him will be none other than ‘The Black Beast’ Derrick Lewis.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn will return to the cage at UFC 237 on May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he will take on a fellow veteran in Clay Guida. This bout was first reported by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. Penn confirmed this news with his website, BJPenn.com.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

Vitor Belfort is now a ONE Championship fighter. While “The Phenom” can look forward to some exciting MMA bouts under the ONE banner, he’s also keen to take advantage of the fact that organization promotes other martial arts as well — namely boxing. Speaking shortly after he signed with ONE Championship, Belfort expressed interest in a special rules boxing match with the legendary Roy Jones Jr. “One fight that I’d really like, I told Chatri [Sityodtong] I’d really like to put on this fight, is me vs. Roy Jones Jr.,” Belfort said. “So Roy, wherever you are, I want to come challenge you for a boxing match — but with this condition. I’m going to be able to dirty box with you.