MMA News

Mike Pendleton - September 14, 2018

Chicago is known for some pretty famous athletes. Names like Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, Sammy Sosa, Anthony Rizzo, and so many others have been engraved in the city’s sports history, but what about the female athletes? What about MMA fighters from Chicago? While there are a few climbing up the ranks like Curtis Blaydes, Jose Shorty Torres, and Ricardo Lamas, there has yet to be a female athlete, let alone a female fighter, to put Chicago on her back and show what she is all about. Pearl Gonzalez has been in the UFC before and although her first run in the promotion didn’t work out the way she hoped, like many from “The Windy City” she stayed fighting and is making the most of her second opportunity. Gonzalez’s mindset and attitude that makes her the woman and fighter she is today can all trace back to her Chicago roots, she told BJPENN.COM in an exclusive interview.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2018

UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier has earned a title shot. At this point, that’s pretty much undeniable. With UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov booked for a headline-dominating UFC 229 title fight with Conor McGregor, however, Poirier was left with two choices: wait for a shot at the winner, or take another fight in the meantime. Dustin Poirier chose option B, and accepted a UFC 230 fight with Nate Diaz. If he wins this fight, of course, it will only reaffirm that he deserves a fight with the Nurmagomedov-McGregor winner. Yet there is a real possibility that Poirier loses this fight, which would effectively disintegrate his claim to the next title shot.

Cole Shelton - September 14, 2018

One of the big headlines in the MMA world this morning was that Antonio Carlos Junior is out of his UFC 231 matchup against Elias Theodorou. The first replacement matchup that comes to mind with Carlos Junior on the bench is Eryk Anders vs. Theodorou, given that Anders called out Theodorou after his UFC Fight Night 135 knockout win over Tim Williams. Why Anders wants to fight Theodorou so badly is for one reason and one reason only.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2018

On December 29, in a fight that is expected to serve as the main event of UFC 232 in Las Vegas, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will challenge the fearsome Cris Cyborg for the UFC women’s featherweight title. If Nunes wins this fight, she will become one of just three fighters in UFC history to wear gold in two divisions concurrently — the other two being Conor McGregor, who held the featherweight and lightweight titles simultaneously in 2016, and Daniel Cormier, who currently owns the light heavyweight and heavyweight titles.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2018

When you fire up a UFC fight card on a Saturday night, you’re likely to see Karyn Bryant anchoring the Fox Sports desk, and Megan Olivi conducting interviews with fighters backstage. The two women keep tremendously busy schedules working for the UFC, and from the sounds of it, they’re both about to get even busier. According to a report from MMAjunkie, Megan Olivi and Karyn Bryant will soon begin working as reporters for NFL broadcasts as well.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2018

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn is going to fight again. The UFC Hall of Famer is set to return to the cage at UFC 232 on December 29 in Las Vegas, where he will battle BJJ whiz Ryan Hall. For Penn, who is known for his world class grappling, this is a very interesting matchup, and one that he hopes will excite his legions of dedicated fans.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2018

Shortly after Henry Cejudo dethroned long-time UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227, he called out TJ Dillashaw, who defended the UFC bantamweight title with a first-round knockout of Cody Garbrandt in the card’s main event. Cejudo’s hope, he explained, was to move up to bantamweight and challenge Dillashaw in an attempt at becoming a two-division champion. At first, TJ Dillashaw didn’t seem receptive of this idea. More recently, however, Dillashaw has said he actually does want to fight Cejudo — though he wants to move down to flyweight to challenge Cejudo for his title, not the other way around.

Tom Taylor - September 14, 2018

UFC welterweight prospect Sage Northcutt is currently a free agent. While the peppy 22-year-old has said that he hopes the UFC will re-sign him, he’s also said he’d be willing to take his MMA career elsewhere for the right price. Urijah Faber, Sage Northcutt’s coach at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California, is hoping it doesn’t come to that. He says he’s personally spoken to the UFC and encouraged them to open their check books to keep the young fighter on the payroll.

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2018

Jose Aldo proved to be the best featherweight fighter on the planet for nearly a decade. The Nova Uniao product was the UFC’s inaugural featherweight champion and also the former WEC featherweight champion. From 2006 to 2015, Jose Aldo strung together an incredible eighteen-fight win streak. During that time he beat the likes of Hall-of-Famer Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes, Frankie Edgar and Ricardo Lamas, the who’s who of the UFC’s featherweight division.

Drake Riggs - September 13, 2018

Two of the MMA world’s biggest personalities reside in the welterweight division and it was only a matter of time until they got on each other’s minds.

Drake Riggs - September 13, 2018

https://twitter.com/MMAjunkie/status/1040310393456009218 “It’s been a chain of them (test failures for PEDs), you know… It’s not a good feeling. But I’m honestly excited to be here in Russian, the Russian opening.

Drake Riggs - September 13, 2018

After a failed attempted on the scales during his last time out at UFC 226, The Ultimate Fighter season 15 winner Michael Chiesa is changing divisions. Although he immediately stated after missing the lightweight mark for his last fight, Chiesa is actually going through with his plan to move up to 170-pounds as was confirmed to ESPN.

Drake Riggs - September 13, 2018

If you thought that Nick Diaz’ suspension of five years back in 2015 for marijuana use was a long one…then wait until you hear about this one. The UFC’s first Italian female fighter to win in the organization was flyweight contender Mara Romero Borella. Borella also competed in the second ever flyweight bout at UFC 216 when she came out victorious in dominant fashion by submitting Kalindra Faria in just one round.

Jason Kindschy - September 13, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back, Penn Nation!

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2018

One of the big worries ahead of UFC 228 was that main event title challenger Darren Till might not make the 170-pound limit for his fight with welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. The Brit had missed weight previously, after all, most recently for his May welterweight bout with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. In the end, of course, Darren Till did even better than hit the 170-pound limit for welterweight title fights. He surpassed it, tipping the scales with a pound to spare at 169 pounds, instantly silencing his legions of doubters and skeptics.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2018

Alistair Overeem has long stood out as one of the best heavyweights in the world. That being said, the former Strikeforce, Dream and K-1 heavyweight champion has recently fallen on tough times, having been violently stopped by Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes in his last two fights. Given the recent trajectory of Alistair Overeem’s career, many fans have called for him to retire. Overeem has heard these calls, and from the sounds of it, it’s something he’s thinking about. The time hasn’t come quite yet, however.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2018

Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz’s polarizing trilogy fight is official. Whether you’re on board with the plan, or vehemently against it, it’s happening this November 24 at The Forum in Los Angeles. That’s thanks to boxing promoter Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions, who will use this fight as a segue into the world of MMA. In anticipation of this event, which is sure to be a big one — whether its for the right reasons or not — Golden Boy Promotions has released an official event poster for it. This poster is most definitely a throwback, as it looks like it could just as easily be from an early-2000s UFC card.

Tom Taylor - September 13, 2018

Next month, former UFC bantamweight title challenger Urijah Faber will step onto the mat to compete in Quintet 3, an epic grappling event also featuring Kazushi Sakuraba, Josh Barnett and a number of other stars. While events like this help Faber satisfy his competitive streak after his retirement from MMA, however, he says it’s possible that he’ll strap the four ounce gloves on again in the future. “Could I do some more fights? Absolutely,” the 39-year-old Urijah Faber told reporters at a recent media event promoting the Quintet 3 card (via MMAjunkie). “Could I do years of more fights? Absolutely. Would I maybe do some fights? Very possible. But right now, I’m enjoying having my brain and having a good time.”