MMA News

Mike Straus - January 8, 2019

Few fighters entered the inaugural season of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) with better name recognition than Lance Palmer. Palmer, a former Team Alpha Male fighter, has been a champion before. ‘The Party’ is a former two-time World Series of Fighting (WSOF) featherweight champion, Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) 145-pound king, and now the PFL season one champ is a million dollars richer.

Drake Riggs - January 8, 2019

In every sport around the world, there are humans that will perform day in and day out to the best of their athletic capabilities. Of all the incredibly talented individuals, some will be more recognizable than others, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all be as equally impressive as the next just because they’re more well known.

Drake Riggs - January 8, 2019

UFC 232 took place on December 29. However, it almost didn’t due to some pre-fight shenanigans. A week prior to the event date, it was announced that one half of the event’s main event in Jon ‘Bones’ Jones had an ‘atypical finding‘ in one of his pre-fight drug tests. Because of this, UFC 232 was moved from its original location of Las Vegas, Nevada to Los Angeles, California.

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2019

When we talk about the busiest fighters in MMA, we usually mention names like Donald Cerrone, Neil Magny and Thiago Santos — and rightly so. These fighters keep tremendously busy schedules, oftentimes shoehorning four or five bouts into a single year. Yet no discussion about busy fighters is complete without mention of ONE Championship featherweight Anthony Engelen. Over the last few months, the 33-year-old Dutch-Indonesian talent has kept a timetable that would make the average fighter’s head spin. Engelen’s hyperactivity began at ONE: Heart of the Lion in mid-November when, after a brief hiatus, he made his anticipated return to the ONE Championship cage for a short-notice fight with Cambodia’s Meas Meul.

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2019

During a recent Ask Me Anything session on the official Tristar YouTube channel, renowned MMA coach Firas Zahabi was asked for his thoughts on a rematch between former UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway. When the pair first met in 2013, McGregor walked away with a unanimous decision victory. If the pair were to rematch in the year 2019, however, Zahabi says he’d pick Holloway to come out on top — potentially even by stoppage.

Cole Shelton - January 8, 2019

Jon Jones is once again the light heavyweight champion. He defeated Alexander Gustafsson by third-round TKO at UFC 232 to reclaim the belt. Following the fight, Jones called out Daniel Cormier to fight him at light heavyweight — though he was subsequently booked to fight Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on March 2.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 8, 2019

At just 20 years of age, Christian Lee owns a compendium of impressive performances. He has proven time and again why he is one of the top contenders for the ONE Championship featherweight title. In his most recent match last November at ONE: Heart of the Lion, Lee was able to secure a scintillating finish over Japanese veteran Kazuki Tokudome just a little over the first three minutes of the bout. He unleashed a barrage of elbows and punches on the former Pancrase Lightweight Champion before the referee intervened and stopped the match.

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2019

Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald is going to have a busy 2019. The champion is a combatant in the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix, and his title will be up for grabs in every one of his Grand Prix matchups, starting with his upcoming first-round showdown with Jon Fitch. If all goes according to plan, of course, MacDonald will make it to the tournament finale, and emerge unscathed with the belt still slung over his shoulder.

James Lynch - January 8, 2019

There was understandable pushback when Greg Hardy was booked on the same UFC event as Rachael Ostovich. Hardy is slated to make his UFC debut against Allen Crowder at UFC on ESPN+1 on Jan. 19. The former NFL star has a checkered past that includes a domestic violence dispute, the same thing Rachael Ostovich was a victim of late last year. But don’t count the TUF 26 star as one of his critics.

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2019

According to a report from CNN, a karate instructor has taken justice into his own hands and dispatched a would-be kidnapper to the hospital on a stretcher. Here’s how the instructor himself, Charlotte, North Carolina’s Randall Ephraim, explains the ordeal:

Tom Taylor - January 8, 2019

At UFC 235 on March 2, streaking light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith will get his shot at the UFC light heavyweight title, which is once again owned by the seemingly unstoppable Jon Jones. Heading into this fight, fans are not giving Anthony Smith much of a chance. For all his talent and ferocity, Jones has proven himself to be on another level entirely from most of his opposition.

Drake Riggs - January 7, 2019

The champ is back! The last time we saw the current strawweight queen Rose Namajunas (8-3) in action was in April 2018 at UFC 223 when she fended off Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the second straight time.

Drake Riggs - January 7, 2019

Having to fight through adversity in her life and career is nothing new for UFC bantamweight contender Cat Zingano. At UFC 232 on December 29, Zingano made her featherweight debut when she took on Megan Anderson. Unfortunately for the former bantamweight title challenger, 61 seconds would be all it took for her to suffer an unusual loss.

Thomas Taylor - January 7, 2019

Speaking on Instagram on Monday afternoon, three-time UFC light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson called for a UFC London fight with streaking contender Corey Anderson. Both men, to remind, fought at UFC 232, with Gustafsson coming up short to Jon Jones, and Anderson picking up an impressive win over Gustafsson’s training partner Ilir Latifi.

Thomas Taylor - January 7, 2019

Norman Parke, a veteran of the UFC, KSW, BAMMA and Brave CF cages, has decided to call it a career — at least tentatively. Parke announced his retirement from MMA on Twitter, explaining that he’s become “sick of how this game works.” That being said, he added that he does plan to partake in a bareknuckle bout in the United Kingdom later this year, and could end his retirement from MMA should the right offer come across his desk.

Drake Riggs - January 7, 2019

The second half of 2018 and beginning of 2019 isn’t looking to be going the way that top UFC welterweight Colby Covington was hoping it would. In June 2018 at UFC 225, Covington won the interim welterweight title by defeating Rafael Dos Anjos via unanimous decision. Thus, presumably, setting him up for a guaranteed clash with the undisputed champion Tyron Woodley. You know… As interim titles generally do.

Drake Riggs - January 7, 2019

The UFC’s heavyweight division is looking more and more interesting with each and every month that passes. Now, another great matchup is set to go down in early 2019. On March 9, the UFC’s fourth ESPN+ event will take place in Wichita, Kansas. In the event’s main event, we will be treated to a sure-fire slugfest between the likes of recent title challenger Derrick Lewis (21-6) and former heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos (20-5), confirms MMAJunkie.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2019

Speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Ali Abdelaziz claimed that streaking lightweight contender Tony Ferguson would “100%” not be the next opponent for his star client, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. “The biggest money fight he can make [is what we’re looking for],” Abdelaziz said. “At the end of the day, Khabib doesn’t need to fight anybody else for his legacy. He’s done what he’s done. He’s 27-0, he’s 12-0 in the UFC, he’s never been dropped, he’s never been caught, he’s never been knocked down. Let’s talk about a GOAT. No PEDs. We talk about the greatest of all-time, I think that he should be on top of the list, because he never lost to anybody. He’s never lost, he’s never been dropped, he’s never been stitched, nothing.