MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2018

The UFC debut of former NFL player Greg Hardy was always going to be controversial, given his history of domestic violence. Yet it’s hard to imagine the UFC making a more controversial choice than scheduling Hardy’s debut for UFC on ESPN+, which will also include Rachael Ostovich, who was the victim of domestic violence mere weeks ago. On this January 19 card, the former football player Greg Hardy is expected to battle Allen Crowder, who recently lost his UFC debut to Justin Willis. Like many members of the MMA community, Crowder has a hard time comprehending the UFC’s choice to put Hardy on the same card as Ostovich.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2018

Max Holloway and Brian Ortega are two of the most dangerous and versatile young fighters in MMA, and this Saturday, in the main event of UFC 231, they’ll fight. Heading into this fight, which will see Holloway attempt to defend his featherweight title against Ortega, fans are divided in their predictions.

Christopher Taylor - December 5, 2018

Mixed martial arts legend Mirko Cro Cop will make make his Bellator debut on February 16 in Uncasville, Connecticut against Roy Nelson. This according to ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani, who recently shared the report on social media.

Christopher Taylor - December 5, 2018

Long time UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes it would be a great idea for the UFC to implement a new men’s 165-pound division. This past Saturday, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson revealed that the UFC is planning to introduce a new men’s 165-pound weight class in 2019.

Drake Riggs - December 5, 2018

It’s been no secret that top UFC flyweight contender Sijara Eubanks has had her struggles with the scale since entering the division. That, however, will no longer be a likely issue as ESPN has confirmed that she will be moving back up to her old home of 135-pounds. The BJJ black belt Eubanks made her MMA debut in Invicta FC as a bantamweight before she quickly decided to try her hand at flyweight. After losing her debut at 125-pounds, Eubanks would return to 135 as well as the win column.

Cole Shelton - December 5, 2018

UFC 233 will no longer be headlined by TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, that fight has been moved to January 19 to headline ESPN+ in Brooklyn, New York. The UFC was hoping to start off the ESPN-era with a great card but struggled to find an adequate main attraction. After weeks of searching, they inevitably decided to move the Dillashaw vs. Cejudo Flyweight title fight to the January 19 fight card.

Cole Shelton - December 5, 2018

The Ultimate Fighter 28 featured men’s heavyweights and women’s featherweights, arguably the two weakest divisions in the UFC. The hope was it would add fighters to the respective divisions and possible title contenders. It appears the UFC may have gotten that in Macy Chiasson. Inside the house, Chiasson had a noticeable height and weight advantage. Chiasson is a natural featherweight while most of the other girls competing on the show were natural bantamweights. That was a big help to Chiasson during the fights.

Cole Shelton - December 5, 2018

“I’m going to go out there and knock out Colby Covington. That right now is the fight. The UFC just called and they offered us that fight, they said Colby Covington in January. You know what I am going to do, of course, I have accepted. For the fifth time, I have accepted the fight. Right now we are just waiting on him.”

Mike Straus - December 5, 2018

The UFC returns to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a stacked two-title fight UFC 231 card this Saturday. Pragmatists, as always, we have four reasons why you should tune in this weekend. The Scotiabank Arena will host the evening’s festivities that feature 13 fights in total. Two championship title fights will headline the night and plenty of top 10 talent across multiple divisions will be on display throughout the night.

Cole Shelton - December 5, 2018

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will finally make his long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 233. The promotion made the bout official on Twitter on Wednesday. Cruz is back!@DominickCruz returns to face 'Hands of Stone' @JohnLineker at #UFC233 in Anaheim on Jan. 26! pic.twitter.com/SunaIvoev9

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 5, 2018

ONE Championship welterweight Agilan Thani has the chance to end 2018 on a high note when he competes this Friday at ONE: DESTINY OF CHAMPIONS, inside the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Thani will take on Kyrgyzstan’s Kiamrian Abbasov in the evening’s co-main event, and while the Malaysian athlete is aware of the danger Abbasov poses, the 23-year-old is backing himself to get the win in front of his home crowd.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2018

If things had gone according to plan, Canadian lightweight Jesse Ronson would have battled Carlos Diego Ferreira at this weekend’s UFC 231 card in Toronto. Unfortunately, it now sounds as though the Canadian fighter will never fight in the UFC again.

Mike Pendleton - December 5, 2018

When Eryk Anders steps into the Octagon at UFC 231 against Elias Theodorou — a fight that he’s been chasing for some time — he’s looking to make a statement to the entire middleweight division. Coming off a loss to Thiago Santos, which he took on short-notice and in the unfamiliar light heavyweight division, Anders is looking to use lessons learned to help propel him in the middleweight division. In an interview with BJPenn.com, Eryk Anders opened up about what he’s looking to do against Theodorou, why he’s happy this fight is finally happening, and what he learned from his fight against Thiago Santos.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2018

Yesterday, Combate Americas announced two changes to the lineup for its much-anticipated, biggest event of the year – the “COPA COMBATE” one-night, eight-man, $100,000 grand prize Mixed Martial Arts featherweight (145 pounds) showdown – as well as the tournament brackets for the event that takes place at Save Mart Center on Friday, Dec. 7. The second annual “COPA COMBATE” extravaganza airs live in its entirety in English in the U.S. and Canada on DAZN (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT), and live on television in Spanish in the U.S. on both Univision (12 a.m. ET/PT) and Univision Deportes Network (UDN) (12 a.m. ET/9 p.m. PT).

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2018

If Brian Ortega defeats UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 231 this Saturday in Toronto, don’t expect him to defend his new title right away. He’ll be busy with other things for a few months. Speaking at a UFC 231 media lunch in Los Angeles this week, the undefeated featherweight title challenger announced that he’ll soon be appearing in an action film — in the lead role.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2018

Last night, ESPN reported that former NFL star Greg Hardy is likely to make his long-discussed UFC debut on January 19 in Brooklyn, New York, when the UFC makes its first appearance on ESPN+. Hardy’s seemingly inevitable move to the UFC has always been the subject of controversy, as he was previously found guilty on two charges of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend (though those charges were later dropped when his victim did not appear in court). That said, it’s hard to imagine the UFC handling the controversial former NFL’s debut any worse.

Mike Pendleton - December 4, 2018

Heavyweight prospect and former NFL star Greg Hardy (3-0) has his official UFC debut close to set. According to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, Dana White has said that the UFC is close to finalizing a fight between Hardy and Allen Crowder (9-3) for their first ESPN+ card that is scheduled to take place on January 19 in Brooklyn, New York.

Christopher Taylor - December 4, 2018

Artem Lobov is looking for a fight and has extended UFC President Dana White an interesting offer in hopes of securing another octagon appearance. “The Russian Hammer” recently took to Twitter where he offered to donate half of his fight purse to a children’s charity, this if the UFC grants him another opportunity to compete.