MMA News

Josh Evanoff - February 19, 2025

Hard-hitting featherweight star Aaron Pico never wants to fight for the PFL again. The 28-year-old is hitting his prime right now, having won nine of his last ten bouts. He was last seen in the cage at the PFL vs. Bellator event last February, scoring a first-round knockout win over Henry Corrales. While Aaron Pico hoped to book a title fight against Patricio Pitbull next, that bout never came to fruition.

Josh Evanoff - February 19, 2025

Anthony Smith was just as shocked as everyone else to learn his final UFC opponent. ‘Lionheart’ has been out of the cage since a clash with Dominick Reyes in December. Anthony Smith entered UFC 310 with a heavy heart, fighting just weeks after the passing of his coach, Scott Morton. Sadly for the former title challenger, he was dominated and handed a second-round stoppage loss by ‘The Devastator’.

Josh Evanoff - February 19, 2025

UFC middleweight contender Caio Borralho wants a fight with Nassourdine Imavov next. ‘The Natural’ is quickly rising up the UFC’s 185-pound rankings. Last August, the hard-hitting Brazilian received the biggest test of his career, in the form of a Fight Night main event against Jared Cannonier. There, Caio Borralho passed the test with flying colors, hurting ‘Killa Gorilla’ several times en route to a unanimous decision win.

Josh Evanoff - February 19, 2025

Undefeated flyweight contender Muhammad Mokaev is still focused on a return to the UFC. ‘The Punisher’ became one of the UFC’s most-hyped prospects at 125 pounds starting in 2022. Holding an undefeated 6-0 record, Muhammad Mokaev quickly notched wins over the likes of Charles Johnson, Tim Elliott, and Alex Perez. His winning streak earned him a crack at fellow contender Manel Kape last summer at UFC 304 in Manchester.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 19, 2025

Caio Borralho has weighed in on the Sean Strickland situation with his coach Eric Nicksick. Many fans were surprised by how critical Nicksick was of Strickland during a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. The Xtreme Couture head coach clearly felt Strickland’s effort in his rematch against Dricus du Plessis at UFC 312 was uninspired. Nicksick went as far as to say he trains world champions and Strickland needs to decide what he wants to do going forward.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 19, 2025

When it comes to fighting under bare knuckle rules, you can count one UFC veteran out. The bare-knuckle boxing scene has exploded in recent times. BKFC President David Feldman can take a bulk of the credit thanks to how he’s promoted the sport and his company. Recently, BKFC KnuckleMania V drew 17,762 fans inside the Wells Fargo Center. This set a record for the most attended combat sports event in Philadelphia.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 19, 2025

Michael Bisping has an interesting prediction for Alexander Volkanovski’s next fight. Volkanovski was last seen in the Octagon back in February 2024. Volkanovski lost the UFC Featherweight Championship to Ilia Topuria via second-round knockout. It was the second KO loss for Volkanovski in the span of four months. Fight fans are happy to see that “The Great” has taken a year off to regroup.

Harry Kettle - February 19, 2025

UFC flyweight contender Steve Erceg has explained why he’s so excited to battle it out with Brandon Moreno in his next fight. Since arriving in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Steve Erceg has been on quite the rollercoaster ride. Following a 3-0 start, he managed to vault himself into a title fight against Alexandre Pantoja. The two battled it out at UFC 301, and unfortunately for Steve, he came up on the wrong side of a unanimous decision defeat.

Harry Kettle - February 19, 2025

Paige VanZant has reacted to her husband Austin Vanderford taking a short notice fight against Nikolay Veretennikov at UFC Seattle. For many years, Austin Vanderford has enjoyed a solid mixed martial arts career outside of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He even managed to work his way up to a Bellator title shot against Gegard Mousasi, although he was unable to capture the gold. Still, he’s had a great run in his own right, with a lot of people recognizing him for his own abilities as opposed to him just being married to Paige VanZant.

Harry Kettle - February 19, 2025

UFC commentator Daniel Cormier has defended Jon Jones after the latter was involved in a strange Instagram video recently. We all know that Jon Jones is the definition of a wild card. He constantly says and does things that confuse the masses, with the majority of fans often questioning whether or not all of his actions over the years have severely tainted his legacy. Either way, though, he’s still considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time.

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2025

Anthony Hernandez is ready to prove he’s the best middleweight on the roster. Hernandez is set to take on Brendan Allen in the co-main event of UFC Seattle on Saturday. It serves as a rematch of their 2018 fight in LFA which Hernandez won by decision to win the LFA middleweight title. Given he has fought Allen before, Hernandez

BJPENN.COM Staff - February 18, 2025

Martial arts doesn’t end at ONE 171: Qatar for former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Bibiano Fernandes.    He competes in the all-encompassing sport for the final time this Thursday, February 20, inside Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar, against longtime rival and former divisional king Kevin Belingon.   

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2025

Stephen Thompson is looking to welcome back Donald Cerrone to the UFC. Cerrone recently came out and said he’s looking to return after re-joining the testing pool. With ‘Cowboy’ planning a comeback, Thompson thinks he is a logical opponent for the fan-favorite.

Josh Evanoff - February 18, 2025

Former Bellator middleweight title challenger Austin Vanderford is now a member of the UFC. ‘The Gentleman’ has found a way to make a name for himself outside of MMA’s leading promotion. Debuting in 2017, the former collegiate wrestler quickly found success. In the summer of 2018, Austin Vanderford found himself on the Dana White Contender Series. Despite scoring a decision win over Angelo Trevino, he wasn’t signed by the UFC.

Josh Evanoff - February 18, 2025

Eric Nicksick has some regrets about how he handled Sean Strickland’s UFC 312 title loss. ‘Tarzan’ is fresh off his return to the octagon earlier this month in Australia. In the main event of UFC 312, Sean Strickland met Dricus du Plessis in a rematch of their classic last January. While their first meeting was a back-and-forth war, their second clash was incredibly lopsided. ‘Stillknocks’ dominated Strickland across five rounds, handing the former champion a lopsided decision loss.

Josh Evanoff - February 18, 2025

UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis isn’t worried about Belal Muhammad. ‘Stillknocks’ is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC 312 earlier this month. Back for the first time since submitting Israel Adesanya last fall, Dricus du Plessis again met Sean Strickland. While their bout last January was a barnburner that ended in a split-decision, the second outing couldn’t be more different. Du Plessis dominated ‘Tarzan’ across five rounds, ultimately earning a lopsided decision win.

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2025

Gregory Rodrigues wonders how his UFC Vegas 102 main event would have played out if he was healthy. Rodrigues entered his first main event as the betting favorite, and early on he had success. He dropped Jared Cannonier twice in the first round, but he couldn’t put Cannonier away. Cannonier then rallied and stopped Rodrigues early in the fourth round.

BJ Penn Staff - February 18, 2025

UFC lightweight King Green is going to bat for Anthony Smith following some harsh criticism from former bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. During a 2024 appearance on the JAXXON podcast, Dillashaw questioned “Lionheart” Smith’s heart, claiming he “gives up” in his fights.