MMA News

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

If reigning UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and reigning UFC heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier fight for a third time, the former will enter the cage as a significant betting favorite. The online sportsbook Bovada has updated the odds for this potential trilogy fight after Jones’ UFC 232 defeat of Alexander Gustafsson, and Jones has been pegged as a -265 betting favorite over his arch rival. This means that a successful bet of $265 on Jones would win you $100. Cormier, meanwhile, is now a +205 underdog, meaning a successful $100 bet on him would earn you $205.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier has long planned to retire in March of 2019, when he turns 40. From the sounds of it, however, the champ might just delay his retirement plans as fights Jon Jones, Brock Lesnar, and Stipe Miocic all loom on the horizon. UFC President Dana White recently said that he’d like to see Daniel Cormier delay his retirement plans to allow time for some of these fights. According to Cormier’s long-time coach Javier Mendez, it’s very possible that the UFC boss gets his way.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

Rising PFL star Kayla Harrison is often compared to fellow Olympic judoka Ronda Rousey. Yet she says one of the main differences between her and Rousey is that she actually wants to fight Cris Cyborg. “That’s always been the difference between me and Ronda Rousey,” Harrison told ESPN recently. “She never wanted to fight Cyborg. I was always like, ‘I can’t wait to fight Cyborg.’

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

UFC bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes didn’t just beat featherweight champ Cris Cyborg at UFC 232, she knocked her out in 51 seconds. The moment the fight was waved on, Nunes charged forward, wading through Cyborg’s offense to land power shots of her own. And suddenly, Cyborg was down.

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2019

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xriSHgdEb8 “Would I move up to 145 [pounds]? Absolutely, man,” TJ Dillashaw said on a recent Instagram live video. “I would love to. I’m a professional. I train hard. Making ’25s has been a process in its own… To get my body down there and do it the right way. ’45s would have to be the same thing, it would be a lot of work.

Drake Riggs - January 3, 2019

We haven’t see the former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum in action since March 2018 when he lost to Russia’s Alexander Volkov in the UFC London main event. Werdum was hoping to return at UFC Moscow in September, but unfortunately, he failed a USADA test just days prior to his fight’s announcement. Thus leading to a two-year suspension.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2019

Speaking on a recent episode of his Below the Belt podcast, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub shared his belief that the Floyd Mayweather vs. Tenshin Nasukawa exhibition bout that topped the RIZIN 14 card on New Years eve was fixed. “I’ve seen better acting in pornos,” Schaub said bluntly on his show (transcript via BoxingScene.com). “Floyd’s just doing his thing, he’s the aggressor, so it’s not as hard to fake it. But Tenshin needs acting skills. They should have got someone to work with him on falling down, getting hit in the face, and all that.

Mike Straus - January 3, 2019

Cortney Casey was originally supposed to be fighting Cynthia Calvillo at the now-canceled UFC 233 card in Anaheim, California on January 26. Instead, Casey will throw down with Calvillo when the UFC makes its debut on ESPN on February 17. “Even though we had that little change with the venues I was already on schedule for the California card,” Casey told BJPenn.com in a recent interview. “Having the fight pushed back actually gave me more time to relax and enjoy the Holidays.”