MMA News

Dana White, Tom Cruise, Justin Bieber
UFC

Dana White goes off on Hans Molenkamp for BS story on how he became best friends with Rob Dyrdek

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

Dana White was not happy after seeing an Instagram post from Hans Molenkamp who had shared his version of how the UFC President became ‘best friends’ with Rob Dyrdek. MMA community member @mandanicol3 captured the dispute before it was removed from social media.

Anthony-Pettis-Stephen-Thompson
Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson responds to former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis!

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson has responded to former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. “Showtime” had called out “Wonderboy” for a scrap earlier this week posting the following on his official Instagram account.

2018-BJP-Awards
MMA News

The 2018 BJPenn.com MMA Awards

Drake Riggs - January 5, 2019

Another great year in MMA has come and gone. 2018 left us with plenty of great moments. But which were the best? These are the BJPenn.com staff’s picks for the 2018 MMA awards.  

UFC arena - ABC
Videos

VIDEO | Former UFC heavyweight saves woman from assault outside nightclub

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

https://youtu.be/GRGmVodepTw A former UFC heavyweight made headlines this weekend after saving a woman from an assault outside of a nightclub in Saravejo.

Ben Rothwell
Blagoy Ivanov

Breaking! UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell will return to the octagon in March!

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

Perennial UFC heavyweight contender “Big” Ben Rothwell will return to the octagon for the first time in nearly three years in March of 2019. According to Bulgarian MMA website MMA.bg, Ben Rothwell will square off with former Bellator champion Blagoy Ivanov in March.

Conor McGregor
UFC

Conor McGregor celebrates the birth of his second child to kickoff 2019

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

Former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor kicked off the 2019 year by celebrating the birth of his second child. The Irish superstar and his longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin welcomed a baby girl to their family.

TJ Dillashaw
UFC

PHOTO | T.J. Dillashaw reveals his new flyweight physique

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

Current UFC bantamweight kingpin T.J. Dillashaw (16-3 MMA) will be dropping down to flyweight to challenge newly crowned 125-pound champ Henry Cejudo at UFC Fight Night 143 on January 19 in Brooklyn. Dillashaw will enter his title fight with the former Olympic Gold medalist on a four-fight win streak. TJ’s most recent wins came against Cody Garbrandt who he knocked out at both UFC 217 and UFC 227.

charles-oliveira-jim-miller
UFC

UFC on FOX 31 Fighter Salaries: Charles Oliveira tops the list!

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

UFC lightweight fighter Charles Oliveira took home the largest paycheck from last month’s UFC on FOX 31 event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “Do Bronx” avenged his previous loss to Jim Miller at the December 15 event, submitting the New Jersey native in the very first-round with a rear-naked choke.

former ufc champions
Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold sends a message to 'beatable' Jon Jones

Chris Taylor - January 5, 2019

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold is confident that he has the skillset required to dethrone current UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones. Rockhold recently spoke with TMZ Sports where he revealed that his decision to move up to light heavyweight spawned from a desire to “get after” Jon Jones.

ONE Championship

Nong-O Gaiyanghadao goes for gold at ONE: Clash of Legends in Bangkok

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 5, 2019

On 16 February, a ONE Super Series Muay Thai Bantamweight World Champion will be crowned. ONE Championship recently announced that Muay Thai legend Nong-O Gaiyanghadao of Thailand will take on Han Zi Hao of China for the ONE Super Series strap. The bout serves as the main event of ONE: Clash of Legends, set for 16 February at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand.

Anthony-Pettis-Stephen-Thompson
UFC

Anthony Pettis expresses interest in welterweight fight with Stephen Thompson

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2019

When it comes to top strikers in MMA, there are few that are quite as unique as former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and former UFC and WEC lightweight champion Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis. A matchup between the two is something that would only have been thought of as pure fantasy… Prior to today, that is.

Cain-Velasquez
UFC

VIDEO | Cain Velasquez shares what has kept him out of action since UFC 200

Drake Riggs - January 4, 2019

Where has Cain Velasquez (@cainmma) been for the past 2+ years? Allow the former UFC heavyweight champ to explain. #UFCPhoenix https://t.co/xdXxemvPhF pic.twitter.com/81HjKp0JaY — MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 4, 2019

Jon Jones, Anthony Smith, Volkan Oezdemir
Jon Jones

Jon Jones hints at upcoming fight with Anthony Smith: 'This is going to be fun'

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

Having defeated Alexander Gustafsson by third-round TKO in the main event of UFC 232 in late December, Jon Jones is once again the UFC light heavyweight champion. And now that he’s reclaimed the divisional throne, it’s time for himto direct his focus to his next title challenger. From the sounds of it, that challenger could be streaking light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith.

Geje Eustaquio
ONE Championship

Geje Eustaquio looks to end to rivalry with Adriano Moraes in Manila

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 4, 2019

Reigning ONE flyweight king Geje Eustaquio is preparing to end his long-standing rivalry with former champion Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes. Each man has a win over the other, and the two are now scheduled to face off in one of the most anticipated rubber matches in ONE Championship history.  They will collide for a third time in the main event of ONE: Hero’s Ascent, to be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines on January 25. The bout will be for Eustaquio’s flyweight strap. 

TJ Dillashaw
TJ Dillashaw

Henry Cejudo manager doubts TJ Dillashaw will make weight for flyweight title fight

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

On January 19, in the main event of the UFC’s first card on ESPN+, reigning UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will drop down to the flyweight division to battle divisional king Henry Cejudo for his title. First, of course, TJ Dillashaw will have to successfully cut down to the flyweight limit of 125 pounds. Henry Cejudo’s manager Ali Abdelaziz has some serious doubts that that will happen.

Eddie Alvarez, ONE Championship
ONE Championship

First two bouts of ONE Championship Lightweight Grand Prix set

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 4, 2019

The highly-anticipated ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix will be underway beginning January 25 at ONE Championship’s anticipated return to Manila. It was announced earlier by the promotion that Team Lakay veteran Honorio “The Rock” Banario will be taking on undefeated American Lowen Tynanes of Hawaii in the quarterfinal. Two months later, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez takes his first swipe at the tournament against Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE’s first event in Tokyo on March 31.

Joe Rogan
Joe Rogan

VIDEO | Watch Joe Rogan react to Amanda Nunes KOing Cris Cyborg

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

When UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes knocked out UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg in the co-main event of UFC 232, it left pretty much everybody’s jaw on the floor. That includes UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. In the UFC 232 instalment of the UFC’s popular post-fight series The Thrill and the Agony, we get a close-up look of how Joe Rogan reacted to this massive upset win. We also get to see how Dominick Cruz and Jon Anik reacted too — safe to say they were also surprised.

Sean O'Connell, PFL
Professional Fighters League (PFL)

EXCLUSIVE | Sean O'Connell: A regular dude with a gold belt

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

Sean O’Connell has two black eyes and a couple of scrapes criss-crossing his face. For now, The Salt Lake City resident still has the mug of a prizefighter, but as of a few days ago, he isn’t one. O’Connell ended his fighting career on New Years Eve, moments after he thumped Vinny Magalhaes to win the Professional Fighters League (PFL) light heavyweight title and a million-dollar prize.