MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2019

Given the recent issues Jon Jones had has with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), it should come as no surprise that he’s recently been undergoing a plethora of drug tests. In a recent interview with MMAJunkie, the reigning UFC lightweight champion revealed just how often the anti-doping agency comes knocking at his door.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2019

UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker recently shared his belief that, between Kelvin Gastelum and Israel Adesanya, who battle for the interim belt at UFC 236, Adesanya the easier matchup. Speaking on a recent edition of The MMA Hour, Israel Adesanya made a similar comment, explaining that he considers Whittaker a tougher fight than Gastelum.

Cole Shelton - February 26, 2019

UFC 235 is set to go down on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card is already in the lead for Card of the Year as it is absolutely stacked. On the card, and making his UFC debut, is former ONE and Bellator champ Ben Askren, who is taking on former UFC champion Robbie Lawler. Ahead of this fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several fighters to get their predictions for the fight.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2019

Dustin Poirier and Nate Diaz were supposed to fight at UFC 230 in November. Unfortunately, Poirier ultimately withdrew from the fight with an injured hip — although he recently divulged there may have been more to the story. Speaking with ESPN on Monday, Dustin Poirier was asked what he’d say to Nate Diaz if given the opportunity. The top lightweight contender, who battles Max Holloway for interim gold at UFC 236 on April 13, did not hold back.

Tom Taylor - February 26, 2019

UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker was supposed to defend his title against Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC 234 earlier this month, but was unfortunately forced out of the fight on the day of, and rushed to the hospital with a collapsed hernia. Whittaker now faces a tough recovery process that could keep him out of action for some time. To combat his absence, the UFC has booked an interim middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Gastelum for UFC 236 on April 13.

Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vAwz1Z0qpg&feature=youtu.be Las Vegas is set to host yet another jam-packed night of MMA action. From top to bottom, it’s quite the stacked lineup. Headlining the event will be Jon Jones as he looks to make his first successful title defense since reclaiming the title at UFC 232. Looking to spoil the party will be Anthony “Lionheart” Smith as he hopes to make good on his first career UFC title shot.

Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019

At UFC 217 in November 2017, Georges St-Pierre made his return to the Octagon for the first time in four years. When doing so, he made the move up to middleweight as he captured the division’s title by finishing the champion, Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping with a third-round rear-naked choke.

Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019

Being a tough person is one thing, but being a fighter is another. Being tough in a general sense and being tough as a fighter is practically an entirely different thing, however. But that doesn’t make a fight any less human than the average tough human in another regard. For UFC veteran Jeremy Stephens, he’s been known throughout his career as one of the toughest fighters in the sport and he’ll admit it himself.

Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019

This Saturday night at UFC 235, the welterweight title will be on the line as the champion Tyron Woodley defends against Kamaru Usman. In Woodley’s last time out, he successfully defended his crown against Darren Till at UFC 228. A fight that many expected to feature the, at the time, interim champion Colby Covington.

Drake Riggs - February 25, 2019

At UFC 234 earlier this month, the UFC went back down under as they touched down in Melbourne, Australia for their first pay-per-view event of the year. In the main event, we were expecting to see a middleweight title bout between the champion, Robert Whittaker and the challenger, Kelvin Gastelum.

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019

The UFC now has some company on ESPN, as the Professional Fighters League (PFL) has inked a two-year deal with the network. This news was first reported by Farah Hannoun on Twitter and subsequently confirmed by PFL CEO Peter Murray on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday afternoon.

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019

One of the most compelling UFC matchups available at present is a rematch between reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and reigning UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. The pair have a long and turbulent history, having fought twice previously. Jones won their first fight via unanimous decision. The second time around, he was able to knock Daniel Cormier out, though this victory was overturned when he failed a pre-fight drug test.

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019

UFC 235 will feature two dynamite title fights. The first will occur in the welterweight division, where long-time champ Tyron Woodley will look to defend his strap against streaking contender Kamaru Usman. The second — the evening’s main event — will occur in the light heavyweight division, where resurgent champ Jon Jones will look to thwart dangerous finisher Anthony Smith. The referees for this duo of UFC 235 title fights have now been assigned. The news was announced at a Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) hearing on Monday (h/t Jason Floyd).

Mike Straus - February 25, 2019

The Octagon’s first trip to the Czech Republic is officially in the books. All and all, this UFC Prague card delivered, and it didn’t hurt that the final contest had ended in North America by dinner time. With 13 fights in total on the night, seven of which ended via stoppage of some sort, let’s take a look at the fighters that helped themselves the most on the card.

James Lynch - February 25, 2019

Stephen Thompson was surprised when former training partner and friend Georges St-Pierre retired last week. “Wonderboy”, who last spoke to St-Pierre before his rematch against Tyron Woodley at UFC 209, says he expected the French Canadian superstar to compete a few more times in the Octagon.

BJPENN.COM Staff - February 25, 2019

Undefeated ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee is going to grace the Ryokogu Kokugikan on March 31 as part of a heavily-stacked main card at ONE: A New Era, and she couldn’t be more excited. For the first time ever, ONE Championship has put together four World Title bouts on a single evening. This in addition to promotional debuts for Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez. To say that ONE’s first foray on Japanese soil is going to be epic would be a massive understatement.

Tom Taylor - February 25, 2019

At UFC 237, on May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Jessica Andrade will have a second opportunity to claim the UFC strawweight strap — this time against reigning champion Rose Namajunas. Heading into this fight, it’s clear that Jessica Andrade will need a strong strategy to unseat the talented champion. Speaking to MMA Fighting, she boldly revealed that strategy. Apparently, she will look to impose pressure, close the distance, and tire Namajunas out.

Cole Shelton - February 25, 2019

Jon Jones is set to defend his light heavyweight championship at UFC 235 this Saturday against Anthony Smith. There is no question Jones is the huge favorite, but that doesn’t mean Jones isn’t worried. After all, this is a fight and anything can happen. Furthermore, Jones claims he took Alexander Gustafsson lightly in their 2013 fight, and nearly lost the title as a result. Thus, Jones and his head coach Mike Winkeljohn know they can’t make that mistake again.