MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Daniel Cormier, who currently owns the UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight (we think?) belts, is planning to retire from MMA when he turns 40 in March of 2019. That being said, there is plenty that the former Olympian and Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner hopes to accomplish between now and then, from a heavyweight title super fight with Brock Lesnar, to a possible trilogy fight with his arch rival Jon Jones, and even a potential rematch with Stipe Miocic, who he defeated to win the title back in July. Given the length of Daniel Cormier’s to-do list, some fans have worried that he might be encouraged to delay his longstanding retirement plans. While this is certainly possible, UFC President Dana White assures he won’t be the one pressing Cormier to keep fighting.

Drake Riggs - November 6, 2018

“What are you stepping to me for?”@SarJnCharge confronted @Benaskren at MSG on Saturday. Full: https://t.co/uo1C71zuhH pic.twitter.com/XBcam07D2Y

Drake Riggs - November 6, 2018

The already great UFC 232 card at the end of the year looks to be getting even greater with the addition of a big-time featherweight clash On December 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there are already two pivotal matchups taking place in the 145-pound weight class. But now we get our first in the men’s division as Chad “Money” Mendes (18-4) looks to put a winning streak together in his second fight after suspension as he’ll take on one of Australia’s finest in Alexander Volkanovski (18-1).

Cole Shelton - November 6, 2018

Sage Northcutt, a current free agent and once highly touted prospect will be heading to Singapore to take in the festivities at ONE Championship: Heart of the Lion this Friday night. Along with Northcutt, former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and longtime UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson will also be attending the event.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

The next man to fight undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather will not be Conor McGregor or Khabib Nurmagomedov or even Manny Pacquiao. Instead, Mayweather will be welcomed back to the ring by 20-year-old kickboxing wunderkind Tenshin Nasukawa, who he’s expected to battle at RIZIN 14 on New Years Eve in Tokyo, as first reported by BJPENN.COM.  This news, in a rather unsurprising twist, generated a reaction from Mayweather’s former opponent Conor McGregor. The former UFC lightweight and featherweight champ did not seem to be impressed.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Last Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 230, former Strikeforce middleweight champ and long-time UFC middleweight contender Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza authored an epic knockout victory in a thrilling, short-notice fight with former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman. With this win, Jacare rebounded from a razor-close split decision loss to Kelvin Gastelum, who is set to battle reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker for gold at UFC 234 in the New Year. Having done so, Jacare now feels that he’s probably the next man in line for the Whittaker vs. Gastelum winner. In fact, the 38-year-old now plans to wait for a fight with the winner.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Riding high on a fourth-round submission defeat of Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov has never been more popular. In fact, he’s become so popular that his manager Ali Abdelaziz now feels that he’s deserving of a $50-$100 million payday in his next fight.  “Ben Askren, [UFC welterweight champion Tyron] Woodley, none of these guys can touch Khabib,” Abdelaziz said in a recent interview with TMZ Sports. “Especially if they’re scared to get tired and these guys, they get tired. Now, I’m not even worried about Tyron or Ben Askren, I’m worrying about somebody bringing $50 million to $100 million to the table and none of these guys can bring $200,000 to the table.”

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Reigning ONE bantamweight champion Bibiano Fernandes and former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson are two of the biggest stars on the ONE Championship roster. That being said, we’ll never see the pair fight, as they’re long-time friends and training partners under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration in Kirkland, Washington. While Bibiano Fernandes and Demetrious Johnson will never share the ONE cage, it sounds like we will see a bit of friendly competition between them going forward. Speaking on the latest episode of BJPENN.COM Radio, Fernandes divulged that he plans to best Johnson’s record of 11-straight title defenses.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Shaq Takes The Octagon!

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Dustin Poirier was briefly scheduled to battle Nate Diaz in the co-main event of last weekend’s UFC 230 card. Unfortunately, however, Poirier was forced out of this fight with an injury. Speaking to MMAjunkie Radio this week, Dustin Poirier announced that he’ll soon be able to return to training, and that he’s hoping to get back into the cage as soon as possible.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

At ONE: HEART OF THE LION, which goes down on November 9 in Singapore, five-time EBI Grappling Champion Garry Tonon will look to improve to 3-0 in the mixed martial arts arena as he takes on South Korea’s Sung Jong Lee. Tonon, as always, has done his research heading in to this fight. And having reviewed Lee’s tape, he feels there’s a good chance the South Korean will actually try to drag the fight to the mat — something that many other fighters would likely to find unthinkable, given Tonon’s incredible submission ability. Lee has submitted three of his six opponents (all with heel hooks), and Tonon believes he might look to do the same in Singapore.

Christopher Taylor - November 5, 2018

Conor McGregor was put on blast by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz during today’s episode of The Helwani Show. The brash fighter manager, Ali, has had a long standing beef with the Irish superstar. If you recall, Conor McGregor went off on Abdelaziz at the UFC 229 pre-fight press conference, calling Ali a “mad rat” and a “terrorist snitch“.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

If you haven’t heard, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is back, and welcoming him back will be his old Swedish rival, ‘The Mauler’ Alexander Gustafsson. The two iconic light heavyweight staples will meet for the second time on December 29 in the main event of UFC 232 as they fight over the vacant title.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson’s retirement in April 2017 came as quite the surprise to the MMA community. But like most things, it may not last forever. Since his retirement, Rumble has gotten into bodybuilding and started his own marijuana business.

Cole Shelton - November 5, 2018

After UFC 230, Chris Weidman has more questions than answers. Weidman looked like his old-self through the first two rounds, with two judges having him up 20-18 on the scorecards. However, Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza knocked out the ‘All-American’ in the third round. Everything came crashing down for Weidman in his own backyard.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 5, 2018

Brazilian grappling dynamo and reigning ONE bantamweight world champion Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes is easily one of the best to ever set foot inside a ONE Championship cage or ring. On November 9 at ONE: HEART OF THE LION in Singapore, Fernandes faces another tough challenge in reigning ONE interim bantamweight world champion Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon in a ONE bantamweight world championship unification matchup.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

The welterweight division has always been one of the most stacked divisions in all of MMA. In 2018, Vicente Luque continues to help show why. At UFC 229 on October 6, Luque added yet another highlight to his already very impressive highlight reel with a first-round knockout of Jalin Turner.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

The out of nowhere announcement of all out of nowhere announcements was announced last night as Floyd Mayweather vs Tenshin Nasukawa will take place at Rizin 14 on New Year’s Eve. Every year since their existence, Rizin Fighting Federation has held their biggest events on New Year’s Eve. And after two already incredible shows with Rizin 11 and Rizin 13, it was going to take something massive to top those for the end of 2018.