MMA News

James Lynch - November 3, 2018

Israel Adesnaya looks build off his impressive win over Brad Tavares in July as he’s set to face Derek Brunson at UFC 230 tonight. Being a young, outspoken, undefeated middleweight, “The Last Stylebender” often finds himself compared to former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. While many fans are quick to make these comparisons, Adesanya’s UFC 230 opponent isn’t one of them.

Chris Taylor - November 2, 2018

Undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (27-0 MMA) is reportedly planning to no show his hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission this December. The hearing, which takes place December 10, is expected to produce Khabib’s official punishment for his post-fight actions at UFC 229.

Drake Riggs - November 2, 2018

“There’s contract negotiations going on that I’m not privileged to know. But I do know that other organizations are interested in buying Cain [Velasquez’s] contract. It’s for sale, I do know that because I was told that from somebody that’s in the know. That they were offered money to buy Cain’s contract but what’s going on, I don’t know.

Drake Riggs - November 2, 2018

We knew that the next middleweight title fight would see the champion Robert Whittaker defending against Kelvin Gastelum, we just didn’t know when. That is no longer the case as ESPN has confirmed with UFC president Dana White that the middleweight title will be on the line at UFC 234 on Whittaker’s home turf in Melbourne, Australia. The event is expected to take place on February 9.

Christopher Taylor - November 2, 2018

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan believes former Bellator and ONE Championship title holder Ben Askren will be giving a lot of fighters problems in the UFC. Askren (18-0 MMA) was recently dealt from ONE Championship to the UFC in return for former flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson.

Drake Riggs - November 2, 2018

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1058475123638906881 https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1058474562482925568

Cole Shelton - November 2, 2018

At UFC 230 this Saturday, Daniel Cormier will look to defend his heavyweight belt against Derrick Lewis. In December, at UFC 232, Cormier’s arch rival Jon Jones will make his return to the Octagon opposite Alexander Gustafsson. The winner of this fight will be crowned the new UFC light heavyweight champion — a title that Cormier currently owns. Interestingly, Daniel Cormier has said that if he loses at UFC 230 this weekend, he might be compelled to drop back down to light heavyweight and defend his title, which would throw a wrench in the UFC’s plans to crown the Jones vs. Gustafsson winner the new light heavyweight champion.

Cole Shelton - November 2, 2018

The UFC recently traded away arguably the greatest fighter to ever step foot in the Octagon in Demetrious Johnson. In the UFC, Johnson always struggled to catch on with fight fans, as has the flyweight division he ruled for so long. Like many others, current UFC flyweight Jose Torres sees Demetrious Johnson’s departure as a bad sign for the flyweight division, and isn’t sure what the future holds. “The UFC flyweight division, honestly, hasn’t been very notable, and [Johnson] was the best thing we had to offer,” Torres said on his YouTube channel. “When we look at the bigger picture here, we had the best pound-for-pound champion in the UFC’s history, and even then Dana White wanted to close – or at least threatened to close – the division. What’s it mean for us now that he’s gone?”

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2018

Provided UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier gets by Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC 230 this Saturday night in New York, there would seem to be two primary options for his next fight. One is a long-discussed heavyweight title defense opposite former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar. The other is a grudge match with the only man he’s ever lost to, former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones. While Daniel Cormier is interested in both of these fights, he considers the Jon Jones matchup the more important of the two for his legacy.

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2018

The UFC is headed back to London, England’s O2 Arena on Saturday, March 16. The promotion announced this news on Thursday. “Ever since our first event in London in 2002, the city has always been a special location for the UFC. The fans here are some of the most passionate in the world and always turn up in their numbers to show their support,” UFC Senior Vice President, International and Content, David Shaw said in an official release (via MMA Mania). “The UK is home to many of our world class mixed martial artists and its fantastic to see the sport continue to go from strength to strength here. It’s going to be a great night of action.”

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2018

For a fleeting moment, Sijara Eubanks was expected to battle Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC women’s flyweight title in the main event of UFC 230, which goes down in New York City this Saturday night. After a wave of fan backlash, however, the UFC backtracked on this plan, and booked a heavyweight title fight between Daniel Cormier and Derrick Lewis to headline the card. As you can probably imagine, this change didn’t go over well with Eubanks. Luckily, the UFC was able to keep her on the card, relocating her to an undercard scrap with Roxanne Modafferi.

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2018

On Saturday night, the UFC will touch down in New York City’s hallowed Madison Square Garden for a third time. This time around, the promotion’s offering to the people of The Big Apple is UFC 230, a card that, though nearly unrecognizable from its original version, still packs quite a punch. The card will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between decorated champion Daniel Cormier and fan favorite contender Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis. Although this fight was thrown together on short-notice, the stakes have become incredibly high. 

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2018

UFC 229, which was headlined by a lightweight title fight between undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor, was far and away the biggest pay-per-view the UFC has ever promoted. The card sold north of 2.4 million pay-per-views, blasting past the previous record of roughly 1.6 million. Speaking to the media in Russia this week, Khabib Nurmagomedov was asked about the card’s massive pay-per-view sales, and surprisingly, admitted that credit should be given to Conor McGregor.

BJPENN.COM Staff - November 2, 2018

ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee believes that having the hometown advantage will play a huge factor when she tries to become the first two-division women’s world champion in history this November. Lee is scheduled to challenge ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion “The Panda” Xiong Jing Nan for the strawweight strap in the main event of ONE: HEART OF THE LION at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 9 November.

Tom Taylor - November 2, 2018

Earlier this week, we learned that UFC 230 heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis had signed a sponsorship deal with fried chicken giant Popeyes. Lewis’ deal with the fast food giant stems from an incident earlier this year, when he claimed to defend the restaurant’s honor after heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier shared a funny video of himself dancing with pieces of fried chicken in his hands. While the full terms of Lewis’ deal with Popeyes are unknown, we do know that he’ll be receiving free chicken for life at a franchise in his hometown, and can assume there’s probably plenty more on the table. Whatever the case, Daniel Cormier is bummed out that he wasn’t the one to get the sponsorship deal with the chicken chain.

Christopher Taylor - November 2, 2018

Current UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo believes the writing is on the wall for the promotion to close down its men’s 125-pound division. Cejudo, who claimed the UFC flyweight strap by defeating long-time flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson via split-decision at UFC 227, recently sat down the UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

Christopher Taylor - November 1, 2018

Former TUF, UFC and Bellator veteran Bubba McDaniel (30-10 MMA) was arrested over the weekend and charged with making terroristic threats. According to a report from Texomas, a police affidavit stated that McDaniel heard some additional information about the recent death of his 2- year old son, and became inconsolable.

Cole Shelton - November 1, 2018

Jon Jones will be back fighting in the UFC in 2018. However, he is not returning to action on the card Dana White was hoping for. When Jones was cleared to fight again many suspected he would headline the UFC 230 card at Madison Square Garden this weekend — something that obviously didn’t come to fruition. Headlining the card instead will be Jon Jones’ arch-nemesis Daniel Cormier, who is looking to defend his heavyweight belt against Derrick Lewis.