MMA News

Tom Taylor - August 10, 2018

Undefeated light heavyweight prospect Alonzo Menifield (7-0) did not let his opportunity on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series go to waste. Instead, he laid waste to his opponent Dashawn Boatwright in a mere eight seconds, earning himself a UFC contract in the process. Having earned this UFC contract, Alonzo Menifield is now eagerly awaiting his promotional debut. While nothing is set in stone just yet, he’s hoping to make this debut at UFC 229 on October 6th — perhaps against somebody like Scotland’s Paul Craig or Moldova’s Ion Cutelaba.

Tom Taylor - August 10, 2018

Move over Dominick Cruz, Marlon Moraes, Rafael Assuncao and Henry Cejudo. There’s another contender for TJ Dillashaw’s UFC bantamweight title, and he’s not even a mixed martial artist. Shortly after Dillashaw knocked out his arch rival Cody Garbrandt in the main even of UFC 227 last weekend, he was called out by Floyd Mayweather Jr. protege Gervonta Davis.

Tom Taylor - August 10, 2018

UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has not fought since her first-round mauling of Yana Kunitskaya in March. Since then, she’s been angling for a fight with women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes, but the fight still hasn’t come together, and it doesn’t seem like it will until at least December. To say that Cris Cyborg is getting tired of waiting would be an understatement.

Jason Kindschy - August 9, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back, Penn Nation! We kick off this episode with arguably the most talented prospect awarded a contract from DWTNCS, Alonzo Menifield. Finishing his last opponent in just 8 seconds, Alonzo now hopes to make his UFC debut in October. We’ll recap the victory that landed him a contract, discuss what matchups make the most sense for his debut, and how he plans to build momentum towards the title quickly.

Drake Riggs - August 9, 2018

“I think that UFC is grabbing for straws. I don’t think all the other companies are shutting down for no reason, I think there is a reason. MMA is losing a lot of fans and it’s hurting them. 

Drake Riggs - August 9, 2018

Injuries, weight cut issues, you name it and a fight can be canceled for it. Which is why it’s good to see that the UFC is now starting to have fighters on standby for their main events. We saw it most recently with international fight week wherein the case that a headlining fighter couldn’t go, someone else was ready to step in and replace them.

Drake Riggs - August 9, 2018

After a year and a half away from the Octagon, the first-ever UFC female featherweight champion is now officially back and set to do battle. The Netherlands’ greatest female striker Germaine De Randamie essentially vanished from MMA after her big title win over Holly Holm at UFC 208 to continue pursuing her career as a police officer.

Drake Riggs - August 9, 2018

The day after UFC 229 gets another fun fight in Ovince Saint Preux vs Dominick Reyes, we just get another! This time at strawweight. As the big Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor headlined card continues to take shape, the name value is stacking up.

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2018

One of the frontrunners for the next crack at UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw is former champion Dominick Cruz. In Dillashaw’s eyes, however, Cruz doesn’t deserve this opportunity, as he hasn’t fought since his 2016 loss to Cody Garbrandt, which marked the end of his title reign.

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2018

After winning the UFC lightweight title with a second-round knockout of Eddie Alvarez in November of 2016, Conor McGregor shared his interest in negotiating an ownership stake in the UFC. When McGregor battled Floyd Mayweather in the boxing ring in August of 2017, elevating his stardom to new and unprecedented heights, his bargaining power increased tenfold. Suddenly, his receiving a piece of the UFC pie did not seem like such a farfetched possibility. “They’ve got to entice me now because I came from a billion dollar fight,” McGregor said last year (via MMANytt). “They’ve got to entice me. I want equity. I want ownership. I want to be a true partner, similar in the way I was in the Floyd fight. I was a promoter and I was a fighter, and that must continue for me to continue.”

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2018

Earlier this month, it was announced that fan favorite lightweight contender Nate Diaz will make his long awaited return to the Octagon opposite top lightweight contender Dustin Poirier in the co-main event of UFC 230 on November 3. Since then, however, an ornery Diaz has repeatedly suggested that he’s no longer willing to take this fight. 

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2018

On November 10, when the UFC returns to Denver, Colorado, fan favorite welterweights “Platinum” Mike Perry and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will collide in a fight that has fans salivating. Ahead of this fight, you won’t hear much in the way of trash talk from the often outspoken Mike Perry. And that’s not just because he and Cowboy briefly trained together at Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque.

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2018

Rising heavyweight contender Tai Tuivasa is looking for a fight, and one of the potential opponents he’s had his sights set on of late is former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. On Wednesday, Tai Tuivasa took to Twitter, where he implied that Junior dos Santos had turned down a fight with him. This Tweet then called for a consolation fight with Marcin Tybura.

Tom Taylor - August 9, 2018

As the UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington should be the next man in line for undisputed welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Unfortunately for Covington, the UFC had other plans. When Covington wasn’t ready to battle Woodley at UFC 228 on September 8, the UFC elected to give the next title shot to undefeated Brit Darren Till. Covington, meanwhile, will be stripped of his interim belt the moment the first punch is thrown in this Woodley vs. Till title fight.

Drake Riggs - August 8, 2018

After the big announcement of UFC 229’s main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor, the October 6th card is coming together overall. With the event’s co-main event looking to soon be finalized between Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov, only more firepower is getting added.

Thomas Taylor - August 8, 2018

For a time, one of the biggest super fights possible in MMA was one pitting former Strikeforce and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey against former Strikeforce, Invicta, and now UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg. Regrettably, this fight never came together, and now that Rousey is firmly embedded in the pro wrestling world, it almost certainly never will. That said, Cyborg would still like to compete with Rousey. In fact, she’d even be willing to meet Rousey in the WWE ring — even if the pro wrestling organization wanted her to lose the match.

Tom Taylor - August 8, 2018

Last week, at a press conference in Australia, former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre shared his interest in dropping down to lightweight to battle the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor‘s UFC 229 lightweight title fight (see St-Pierre’s prediction for the fight here). “I would be interested in that fight,” St-Pierre said. “That’s a win-win situation. It’s a legacy upgrade and it’s good money — it’s gonna be a big fight. Yeah. However, I fought at 170, I relinquished a title. I fought at 185, I relinquished a title. I don’t think UFC will let me fight for the title at 155. They will be afraid I relinquish and I left the division in ruins.

Tom Taylor - August 8, 2018

UFC President Dana White is expecting Conor McGregor‘s comeback fight, which will see the Irish superstar challenge undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 229 on October 6 in Las Vegas, to be an absolute blockbuster. Speaking to TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter last week, White shared his prediction for this massive Nurmagomedov vs. McGregor headlined card’s pay-per-view buys.