MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

This Saturday night, former UFC light heavyweight champions Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will battle for a third time. While some members of the MMA community have been critical of this fight between the two UFC Hall of Famers, who are 48 and 43 years old respectively, their fellow UFC legend Randy Couture is happy for them. Randy Couture gave his take on this Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz rematch on a recent episode of Submission Radio.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

Francis Ngannou began the year 2018 as arguably the most hyped fighter on the UFC roster. Unfortunately, the year hasn’t gone quite the way he planned. Currently riding back-to-back losses to Stipe Miocic and Derrick Lewis, the hulking Cameroonian-French knockout artist will enter his Saturday, UFC Beijing rematch with Curtis Blaydes in a must-win scenario. From the sounds of it, however, he’s in a good place mentally as this crucial contest bears down.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

Floyd Mayweather isn’t the only combat sports superstar to receive lucrative offers to partake in exhibition fights with kickboxers overseas. Apparently, his former opponent Conor McGregor received a very similar proposition, as he was recently offered $5 million to battle a Chinese kickboxer in a three-round contest. “I’ll give you a funny one,” McGregor’s head coach John Kavanagh said during a recent appearance on The True Geordie Podcast (transcript via Express). “I had a guy message me just a few days ago – a Chinese kickboxer [who] wanted to do three rounds with Conor for $5 million.”

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

The story of Floyd Mayweather and Tenshin Nasukawa’s New Years Eve showdown has been a strange one. The contest was first announced earlier this month, but the excitement was promptly stomped out by Floyd Mayweather, who claimed he’d been ‘blindsided’ by the bout’s promoter, Rizin Fighting Federation.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

During a recent event from Ascendancy Fighting Championship (AFC), in Des Moines, Iowa, UFC and Bellator veteran Josh Neer was involved in a backstage with fellow fighter Brian Green. The pair reportedly collided while the card’s Cory Simpson vs. Jonathan Thomson main event was unfolding.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

Former pro wrestler CM Punk has now fought twice in the UFC’s Octagon, but neither fight has worked out the way he planned. While he showed immeasurable heart in both contests, it was clear that his ability was not quite up to snuff, as he was first stopped by Mickey Gall, and then thumped to a decision by Mike Jackson. All the same, CM Punk says he is still under contract with the UFC, and that he is still undergoing testing through the promotion’s anti-doping partner the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2018

This Saturday, former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell will return to the cage for a high-stakes trilogy fight with one of the key rivals of his career, Tito Ortiz. The pair will meet in the main event of the first MMA card promoted by long-time boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya. Heading into this fight, Chuck Liddell has frequently been noncommittal when asked if there could be other fights in his future. As the bout has drawn closer, however, he’s admitted that he will probably want to fight again if he’s victorious.

Chris Taylor - November 21, 2018

WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Jake “The Snake” Roberts joined UFC commentator Joe Rogan in studio for this week’s episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. During their fascinating conversation on the JRE Podcast, Jake Roberts brought up Rogan’s fighting past and questioned how many teeth the UFC commentator had lost during his battles.

Drake Riggs - November 21, 2018

Making her debut at UFC 233 on January 26 will be the former KSW champion, the ‘Violence Queen’ Ariane Lipski. Welcoming her to the Octagon will be none other than Scotland’s finest, Joanne ‘JoJo’ Calderwood. For Calderwood, she has officially turned the page on her career in her opinion as she is now ‘JoJo 2.0’ after returning to the flyweight division under the tutelage of John Wood at Syndicate MMA.

Thomas Taylor - November 21, 2018

Conor McGregor is more than just a fantastic fighter. The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ is also a tremendous self-promoter, as evidenced by his many record-breaking paydays. Given McGregor’s gift for self promotion, many sports fans have wondered how he might fare in the world of pro wrestling — namely in the WWE ring.

Thomas Taylor - November 21, 2018

Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC Argentina, long-time UFC featherweight contender Ricardo Lamas scored a late TKO stoppage of the famously durable Darren Elkins. Apparently, however, he was dealing with a fairly serious health issue in the fight. Ricardo Lamas shared the story on his official Instagram account:

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 21, 2018

Amir Khan dubbed it the “most satisfying performance” of his career. A heavy underdog in his last bout against Honorio “The Rock” Banario, Khan prevailed — and in style. It was a victory of epic proportions for the 24-year-old Singaporean, who bashed down the door for a shot at the vacant ONE Lightweight World Title.

Tom Taylor - November 21, 2018

This Saturday, long-time boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya will promote his first MMA show under the Golden Boy MMA banner. The card will be topped by a rematch between UFC Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz (watch it here). Initially, Oscar De La Hoya was noncommittal on his future as an MMA promoter. More recently, however, his tune seems to be changing.

Tom Taylor - November 21, 2018

Ahead of his anticipated, Saturday night trilogy fight with Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz has hinted that he is interested in becoming a fight promoter in the near future. Speaking to MMA Fighting after the final pre-fight press conference for his rematch with Liddell, Ortiz explained why he’s interested in trying his hand at fight promotion.

Tom Taylor - November 21, 2018

There was a time not all that long ago when former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was considered not only the best female mixed martial artist on the planet, but one of the best fighters alive outright. Unfortunately, her legendary reign crumbled rather abruptly when she was stopped in back-to-back fights with Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes. Today, Ronda Rousey is enjoying tremendous success as a pro wrestler in WWE. Unfortunately, many MMA fans are still critical of the former UFC champion for the way she handled the two losses that ended her time in the UFC.

Tom Taylor - November 21, 2018

On Saturday night, UFC Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz will collide for a third time (watch here). They will do so as part of the first MMA event promoted by Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions. Speaking at the final pre-fight press conference for this event, Chuck Liddell referred to this fight with Tito Ortiz as a “gamble.” Just as Ortiz has stated ahead of this trilogy fight, Liddell admitted that he will not be receiving a very big guaranteed purse, and that he only stands to earn a big payday if the pay-per-view performs well.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 21, 2018

He hasn’t been inside the ONE Championship cage for almost two years, but Brandon Vera insists he is faster and stronger than ever as he bids to defend his ONE Heavyweight World Title against Cage Warriors champion Mauro Cerilli at ONE: Conquest of Champions this Friday, November 23 in Manila, The Philippines.  “Everybody’s worried that it’s been nearly two years, but it doesn’t feel like that to me,” the Filipino-American Brandon Vera said. “I’ve been doing action stuff, and I’ve been training on my days off. I’ve really been just working.

Tom Taylor - November 21, 2018

Back in July, in the main event of UFC 226, Daniel Cormier claimed the UFC heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of dominant champion Stipe Miocic. Since then, Miocic has been adamant that his previous accomplishments should earn him an immediate rematch with Cormier. Miocic continued on his mission to goad Cormier into a rematch on Twitter this week.