MMA News

Jason Kindschy - August 2, 2018

Drake Riggs - August 2, 2018

Khabib Nurmagomedov has given an update on his proposed #UFC 229 fight with Conor McGregor. And he wants a new contract to fight 'The Notorious'. Full video, which comes via @adamglyn, available here: https://t.co/WiCbbkAGI0 pic.twitter.com/7vpeL8GCYI — Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) August 2, 2018

Drake Riggs - August 2, 2018

The UFC’s next event in Canada has its main event! And it’s a good one as two of the light heavyweight division’s quickest finishers face off. After his very impressive quick destruction of the legendary Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Anthony Smith was vying to fill in for Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 227 against Alexander Gustafsson.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2018

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman was hoping that he would get the next shot at reigning champion Robert Whittaker. Whittaker himself also seemed to be on board with this plan. Unfortunately for Weidman, the next middleweight title shot will instead go to Kelvin Gastelum — who he defeated in his last fight. Whittaker and Gastelum, both Ultimate Fighter winners, will coach the next season of the show against one another, and meet in a title fight thereafter. Weidman, meanwhile, is scheduled for a rematch with Luke Rockhold — the man who ended his title reign — at UFC 230 in New York.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2018

Cub Swanson’s December submission loss to Brian Ortega marked the final obligation on his most recent UFC contract. Despite the fact that this loss depleted the leverage he had when negotiating his new contract, he says he was still able to hash out a favorable new deal with the promotion. That said, Swanson claims he did receive some significant offers from other promotions. Ultimately, however, he decided to re-sign with the UFC, not just because they offered a pay increase, but because of the promotion’s longstanding involvement with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2018

Ahead of TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt’s first fight, which co-headlined UFC 217 in November, there were almost no breaks from their war of words. Heading into their Saturday night, UFC 227 rematch, which will see Garbrandt attempt to reclaim the bantamweight title after being knocked out by Dillashaw, the trash talk has been much scarcer. TJ Dillashaw has noticed a changed in Cody Garbrandt, and he believes he knows why it happened.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2018

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s action-packed UFC Calgary card. As always, these new UFC rankings feature some logical changes, and some that seem to be governed completely by whim. Dustin Poirier, for example, has surged up to the number-three spot in the UFC lightweight rankings as a result of his UFC Calgary knockout of Eddie Alvarez. Yet Conor McGregor, who has not competed in mixed martial arts since August of 2016, has also moved up, surpassing Tony Ferguson to take the number-one spot.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2018

Former UFC bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia was supposed to battle Irene Aldana at UFC 227 in Los Angeles, California this Saturday. Unfortunately, the California State Athletic Commission announced that Correia’s vision wasn’t on point, which prompted the UFC to remove her from the matchup as a precaution. Even though she was cleared by multiple doctors. Speaking in a Wednesday Instagram post, Correia explained her withdrawal from UFC 227. Suffice it to say that she’s disappointed.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2018

Back in November, Cody Garbrandt lost the UFC bantamweight title to TJ Dillashaw. This Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 227, he’ll have the chance to reclaim it when he meets Dillashaw in an immediate rematch. Given that Garbrandt was knocked out by Dillashaw, and that he never defended his title, his being given an immediate rematch with the champ was somewhat controversial among fans. Garbrandt, however, believes he knows why he’s getting this rare opportunity to reclaim his title.

Drake Riggs - August 1, 2018

https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/1024852848561946624?s=19 “I want to fight all the guys in my division. We got new guys comin’ up, Sergio Pettis looked good his last fight, ya got [Jose] ‘Shorty’ Torres…he’s in here now. Shoot, Kyoji Horiguchi’s in RIZIN tearin’ things up. So there’s lots of guys out there but for me, I’m just sort of going one fight at a time.

Drake Riggs - August 1, 2018

With no fights officially announced yet for the UFC’s return to the T-Mobile arena, it looks like we’ll soon be getting our first. As the flyweight title is about to be put on the line a rematch as champion Demetrious Johnson defends against Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, another challenger afterward will be needed at some point.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

Last week, former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez came up short in a high-stakes rematch with Dustin Poirier, succumbing to a storm of second-round strikes. In the immediate fallout of this tough loss, Alvarez was quiet. On Wednesday afternoon, however, the former champion and lightweight great broke his silence with a deep and meditative statement.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

There was a time not all that long ago that Renan Barao ruled over the bantamweight division with an iron first. Since losing his title to TJ Dillashaw, however, Barao has been on a significant downslide. Now, he’s been tasked with welcoming a debuting fighter to the Octagon — which would have been unthinkable at the height of his reign as UFC bantamweight champion. Barao will return to the cage against streaking LFA and CES MMA transplant Andre Ewell at UFC Sao Paulo on September 22. This bout was first reported by Raphael Marinho of Combate.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

There will be no warmup for Nikita Krylov’s return to the UFC. Krylov, who parted ways with the promotion in 2016, is set to return to the Octagon at UFC Moscow on September 15, where he will battle the UFC’s fourth-ranked light heavyweight Jan Blachowicz. This bout was recently made official by the UFC on Twitter.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

There is a special place in the heart of every MMA fan for a good, old-fashioned scrap… Frenetic fights like Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua I, Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald II, and Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, that hammer their way into our memories and never leave. At the end of each month, BJPENN.COM honors the best scraps of the month, from the UFC’s Octagon, to the Rizin ring, to the cages of regional promotions all over the world.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

For a time, it looked as though Demetrious Johnson’s next flyweight title challenger would come in the form of a slimmed down bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw. Unfortunately, the UFC couldn’t lock this fight down. Dillashaw was booked to defend his title against Cody Garbrandt, and Johnson was booked to defend his title against Henry Cejudo — both at UFC 227 this weekend. While this Johnson vs. Dillashaw fight didn’t work out on the first try, Johnson says it’s an opportunity he’s still up for — so long as the UFC makes it worth his while.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2018

Dustin Poirier has earned a UFC lightweight title shot. If there was any doubt about that, he erased it with his UFC Calgary drubbing of former champion Eddie Alvarez. Unfortunately for Poirier, the title situation at lightweight is tremendously uncertain thanks to the potential comeback of former champion Conor McGregor. Should McGregor return, he will undoubtedly jump to the front of the contendership line and get the next crack at lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. All signs point to things shaking out this way — perhaps as soon as UFC 229 on October 6 in Las Vegas.

Drake Riggs - July 31, 2018

Losing fights is never a good thing for all involved. Especially when it’s right in the middle of fight week, making the task of finding a replacement even harder. And for Mexican bantamweight prospect Irene Aldana, no one is going to be able to fill in for her opponent Bethe Correia.