MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

UFC President Dana White has previously hinted that he hopes to get into the boxing business. That being said, we’ve yet to see the UFC boss make any meaningful progress on this longstanding mission. Speaking to ESPN this week, White updated on these ‘Zuffa Boxing’ plans. Apparently, the wheels are still in motion.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

Since news of his potential move to the UFC broke, former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren has called out many of the UFC’s top welterweights. That said, he did not initially make a callout of former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who is far and away the biggest star in MMA history. On Friday morning, that changed.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

Originally, Conor McGregor training partner Artem Lobov was supposed to battle Khabib Nurmagomedov training partner Zubaira Tukhugov in the co-main event of tomorrow night’s UFC Moncton card. After Tukhugov got involved in the infamous UFC 229 post-fight brawl, however, he was pulled from his fight with Lobov. From there, the UFC began a frantic search to find a short-notice replacement opponent for Artem Lobov. They ultimately landed on former lightweight contender Michael Johnson, who recently picked up a close decision win over Andre Fili in his second featherweight fight.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

On Friday night (Friday morning in North America) ONE Championship returned to beautiful Yangon, Myanmar’s Thuwunna Indoor Stadium with the action-packed ONE: Pursuit of Greatness card. Like most of ONE Championship’s recent stops in Myanmar, this one was topped by an Aung La N Sang appearance, as the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight title defended his middleweight belt against Lebanon’s Mohammad Karaki.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2018

If former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson does indeed migrate to ONE Championship as expected, he’ll receive a warm welcome from two familiar faces. His long-time head coach Matt Hume is ONE Championship’s Vice President of Operations, while Bibiano Fernandes, arguably the most crucial training partner of his illustrious career, is the promotion’s reigning bantamweight champion. Bibiano Fernandes, who has become one of ONE Championship’s biggest stars, believes that Demetrious Johnson would be a perfect fit for the promotion. ONE, Fernandes reminds, places far more value on performances than it does on things like trash talk and showmanship.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 26, 2018

Former two-weight ONE world champion Martin Nguyen has thrown down the challenge to Eddie Alvarez, declaring he will put his ONE Featherweight World Title on the line. As Alvarez made the game-changing move to ONE Championship — having been offered a lucrative deal by ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong — Australian Nguyen was quick to raise his hand.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2018

UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley believes his friend and teammate Ben Askren would easily defeat the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre. The current UFC welterweight champion, Woodley, has known the former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight title holder, Askren, for a long time. The pair originally wrestled together at University of Missouri, this before once again linking up to train under legendary striking coach Duke Roufus in Milwaukee.

James Lynch - October 25, 2018

Ahead of his featherweight fight this Saturday against Michael Johnson, Artem Lobov can’t escape talking about his teammate Conor McGregor. In an interview with MMAJunkie, Lobov revealed why he believes his friend, former two-division champion Conor McGregor, deserves an immediate rematch against Khabib Nurmagomedov following his loss at UFC 229.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2018

Undefeated welterweight Ben Askren has responded to callouts from a number of different UFC Fighters in wake of his potential trade, but it is undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who has his attention. The former ONE and Bellator welterweight title holder, Askren, is apparently very close to being traded by ONE Championship to the UFC in exchange for former flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson.

Drake Riggs - October 25, 2018

The current UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington knows that Tyron Woodley is next. But he has interest in another champion afterward. Of course, that all depends on Covington getting past Woodley first. But he seems as confident as always that he would make light work of the UFC’s lightweight champion as he told Submission Radio.

Cole Shelton - October 25, 2018

Luke Rockhold was expected to fight Chris Weidman again at UFC 230 in New York, New York at Madison Square Garden. However, Rockhold had to pull out of the fight against Weidman with a leg injury. Ultimately, the former middleweight champion didn’t want to pull out, but he had to. “The leg injury has been a f*cking nightmare, a complete nightmare. It was a misinformed surgery. Unfortunately, I was misguided by a couple of doctors, and I wouldn’t say malpractice, but it was a pretty idiotic move to open me up on the blade of my shin where they did, and everything I learned thus far,” said Rockhold to Submission Radio.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

Earlier this week, UFC President Dana White suggested that Brock Lesnar could be sitting cage-side for the UFC 230 main event, which will see Daniel Cormier attempt to defend the UFC heavyweight title against Derrick Lewis. If Brock Lesnar does attend the event, it sounds like he better be on full alert.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2018

Cain Velasquez (14-2 MMA) is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. The former UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, has not competed inside the octagon since July of 2016, where he defeated Travis Browne via first-round TKO at UFC 200.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

Ben Askren’s move to the UFC is not even official yet, and he’s already put half of the welterweight division on notice While the former ONE and Bellator welterweight champ has already stated that UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington could be the first UFC fighter on his hit list, he’s also recently set his sights on recent welterweight title challenger Darren Till, and long-time top-10 staple Jorge Masvidal.

Cole Shelton - October 25, 2018

Canadian lightweight John Makdessi has called the UFC home for years. He has been fighting for the promotion since 2010. Since he joined the UFC, however, the top Canadian fighter in the Octagon was always Georges St-Pierre. Now that St-Pierre is competing so much less, Makdessi believes the UFC is really trying to push him as the next big Canadian fighter. He has fought inside the Octagon 15 times, and 10 of them has been fights in Canada.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

At long last, ONE Championship heavyweight kingpin Brandon Vera is once again set to defend his title. The Filipino-American striking specialist will do so on November 23 in Manila, The Philippines, where he will battle Italy’s Mauro “The Hammer” Cerilli. This news was first reported by MMA-Today’s Al Zullino, and subsequently announced by the promotion. 

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2018

If Derrick Lewis is going to win his short-notice UFC 230 heavyweight title fight with champ Daniel Cormier, he’s going to need to make sure his cardio is on point. From the sounds of it, he’s very focused on getting his lungs and ticker to the level they need to be at — he’s just doing it his own way.

BJPENN.COM Staff - October 25, 2018

Every current titleholder with ONE Championship has had to battle their way to the top. Some are young and undefeated, others are seasoned martial artists who hit their strides later in their careers.  Today, we look at each of their careers and identified the signature victory in their ONE Championship journey.