MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

Tomorrow night, Bellator will promote its second show of the weekend in Bellator 216. This card will be headlined a welterweight grudge match between British knockout artists Paul Daley and Michael “Venom” Page. This grudge match serves as the penultimate quarterfinal bout of the promotion’s exciting welterweight Grand Prix, with the winner advancing to battle former champ Douglas Lima in the second round.

Cole Shelton - February 15, 2019

The UFC’s first ever event on ESPN is upon us. In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will be making his long awaited return to the Octagon to take on Francis Ngannou. Ahead of this heavyweight fight, which could have title implications, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. And, for the first time in the history of this series, the fighters were unanimous in their answers.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

This Sunday, in the main event of the UFC’s debut card on ESPN, former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez will step into the Octagon for the first time in almost three years, where he’ll look to return to heavyweight prominence with the win over the fearsome Francis Ngannou. While Velasquez is determined to make the most of this comeback, it sounds like this could be his last walk to the cage if things don’t go as planned.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

Jon Jones is once again the UFC light heavyweight champion, having claimed the vacant title with a third-round TKO of Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 232 in late December. Having reclaimed the title, Jones has been hard at work sharpening his tools so that he’ll be able to keep it. And from the sounds of it, his diligence is paying off.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

This Saturday, at Bellator 216, Roy Nelson and Mirk Cro Cop will collide for a second time. This time around, Nelson expects Cro Cop to be a different fight than he was at the time of their first meeting, which occurred at UFC 137 in 2011.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2019

Over the last year, Bellator MMA has had Grand Prix fever, promoting action-packed tournaments in its heavyweight and welterweight divisions. According to Bellator president Scott Coker, this exciting trend is likely to continue. In fact, he says Bellator is likely to start hosting one Grand Prix a year.

Drake Riggs - February 14, 2019

UFC 236 is the UFC’s next big event that has… Well, literally nothing known about it yet! With the exception of when it’s happening, that is. The event will go down on April 13. Live from where? We do not know yet. Who will be fighting? Outside of the bantamweight bout between Boston Salmon and Khalid Taha, that also remains a mystery.

Drake Riggs - February 14, 2019

The UFC’s female flyweight division crowned its second-ever champion late last year when Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 231. And after a longer layoff than she would have preferred on the road to her title shot, she now looks to be an active fighting champion.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

Tomorrow night, Bellator MMA will return to our screens with Bellator 215 — the first of two cards from the promotion this weekend. This card will be headlined by a fan friendly heavyweight showdown between UFC veteran Matt Mitrione and PRIDE veteran Sergei Kharitonov.

Mike Straus - February 14, 2019

This Sunday, the Octagon touches down in the desert, as Cain Velasquez will make his return against Francis Ngannou in the headlining bout of UFC on ESPN 1 in Phoenix. Sure, many fans are going to be tuning in on Sunday to see if Cain Velasquez can return to his former form, but in all honesty, all 13 fights slated for the event are solid. Case in point: former bantamweight champion Renan Barão is competing in the second fight of the night.

Mike Pendleton - February 14, 2019

When you start your professional MMA career with two incredible first-round victories, it’s hard to imagine how things could get any more impressive. Yet for Connecticut’s Mike Kimbel, who earned a highlight-reel slam finish in his first fight and a six-second knockout in his second, things are just getting started. Kimbel has had both of his professional fights come under the Bellator banner in his home state of Connecticut, and his third will be no different.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

This Sunday, in Phoenix, Arizona, former UFC heavyweight title challenger Francis Ngannou will face the monumental task of welcoming former champion Cain Velasquez back to the cage. The bout will serve as the headliner of the UFC’s first-ever card on ESPN. Heading into this fight, each fighter seems to have a clear set of advantages. Ngannou is believed to posses a major advantage in the power department (it’s been said that he hits as hard as a Ford Escort, though Velasquez doesn’t seem worried). Cain Velasquez, on the other hand, seems like a clear frontrunner in the wrestling department.

James Lynch - February 14, 2019

CM Punk appears to still be on the UFC roster. That’s according to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter who noted that Punk (real name Phil Brooks) is still in the USADA testing pool.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

On Saturday afternoon — mere hours before his scheduled fight with Kelvin Gastelum — UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker was rushed to the hospital for surgery as the result of a collapsed hernia. The champ is now facing a potentially lengthy recovery. Bad news for Gastelum, who is still waiting for his title shot, and surging contender Israel Adesanya, who also deserves a shot at gold. Luckily, Robert Whittaker has a suggestion for these two contenders, should they get bored while he recovers: fight Yoel Romero.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

Years ago, under the Strikeforce banner, Paul Daley and Nick Diaz engaged in one of the greatest one-round fights in MMA history. The two welterweight stars swapped heavy artillery from the opening bell, badly rocking one another until finally, Diaz landed with enough impact to force a permanent end to the mayhem. Today, Paul Daley is gearing up for one of the biggest fights of his career: a Welterweight Grand Prix showdown with his nemesis Michael Page under the Bellator banner.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2019

In July of 2018, Daniel Cormier ended the record-breaking UFC heavyweight title reign of Stipe Miocic, stealing the champ’s belt with a strafing of first-round punches. Now more than six months later, Stipe Miocic still hasn’t returned to the cage, instead demanding an immediate rematch with the new champion.

Chris Taylor - February 13, 2019

Former Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren will make his highly anticipated octagon debut at next month’s UFC 235 event against Robbie Lawler. Askren was most recently seen in action in November of 2017, where he defeated mixed martial arts legend Shinya Aoki via first-round TKO under the ONE Championship banner.

Drake Riggs - February 13, 2019

UFC 234 was looking to be a perfect event on the Friday night prior to. All fighters had weighed in and hit their respective marks in their divisions. Everything was good to go. That was until fight day.