MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - February 5, 2025

Surging strawweight MMA star Lito Adiwang is looking to turn over a new leaf in 2025 by showing he has what it takes to hang with the very best on offer.   “Thunder Kid” meets #5-ranked contender Keito Yamakita in a strawweight MMA encounter at ONE Fight Night 28: Prajanchai vs. Barboza.  

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 5, 2025

Sean Strickland believes Bryce Mitchell is buying into propaganda, but doesn’t feel he’s a Nazi. Mitchell caught some massive heat from UFC CEO Dana White over his recent comments about Adolf Hitler. Mitchell said that Hitler “was a good guy” and claimed the dictator changed due to meth use. During a recent Power Slap press conference, White slammed Mitchell, saying he was “beyond disgusted” and called the featherweight fighter “stupid.”

Harry Kettle - February 5, 2025

UFC sensation Terrance McKinney has laid out his plans for the rest of the year following his win at UFC Saudi Arabia. Terrance McKinney is one of the most interesting fighters to watch in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He has the kind of “kill or be killed” mentality that is always bound to bring in some new fans. Sure, he doesn’t always get the job done, but you can bet he’s going to be involved in a pretty fun fight every single time he steps into the Octagon.

Harry Kettle - February 5, 2025

UFC champion Dricus du Plessis has praised Alex Pereira as one of the greatest combat sports athletes ever ahead of UFC 312. In the last couple of years, Alex Pereira has blown MMA fans and media members away. He has been on an absolute tear, to the point where he is now known as a two-weight world champion. While he lost his middleweight crown, he’s the current king of the light heavyweight division, and he isn’t planning on surrendering that title anytime soon.

Harry Kettle - February 5, 2025

MMA analyst Chael Sonnen believes Khamzat Chimaev may end up serving as the back-up fighter for the UFC 312 main event. As we know, Khamzat Chimaev is a top contender in the middleweight division. While Dricus du Plessis may be defending the belt against Sean Strickland at UFC 312, we all know ‘Borz’ is waiting for the winner. In addition, many believe he’d be the favorite against either of the two potential champions.

BJPENN.COM Staff - February 4, 2025

American Muay Thai star Sean Climaco has produced a value-for-money fighting style when the bell rings. That, along with his terrifying punching style, earned him entry in ONE Championship.  The flyweight striker knocked out Josue Cruz in his debut to get off to a flying start. However, he then lost a second-round knockout to Johan Estupinan last September at ONE 168. 

BJPENN.COM Staff - February 4, 2025

This weekend, strawweight Muay Thai striker Ellis Badr Barboza has the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream at ONE Fight Night 28.   The British hitter challenges two-sport ONE World Champion Prajanchai PK Saenchai for the strawweight Muay Thai crown this Friday, February 7, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium. 

Cole Shelton - February 4, 2025

Leon Edwards is certain that he is a better fighter than Belal Muhammad. Edwards lost his welterweight title to Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304 in July in England. It was a surprising result as Edwards was a sizeable favorite, but Muhammad fought a smart fight to get the win.

Josh Evanoff - February 4, 2025

Former UFC champion Conor McGregor has found himself in hot water once again. ‘The Notorious’ is going on nearly four years out of the cage. Conor McGregor was last seen in the cage at UFC 264 in July 2021, in a trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier. That night saw the Irishman break his leg in the final seconds of the first round, in a brutal sight. While McGregor promised to make a return by the end of 2022, that failed to come to fruition.

Josh Evanoff - February 4, 2025

Chael Sonnen has revealed Colby Covington will likely face Gilbert Burns in his UFC return. The ever-controversial ‘Chaos’ is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC Tampa in December. Colby Covington famously went on hiatus following his loss to Leon Edwards in late 2023, but he stepped up on short notice to face Joaquin Buckley. ‘New Mansa’ entered his first UFC headliner red-hot, last scoring a knockout win over Stephen Thompson in October.

Josh Evanoff - February 4, 2025

Logan Paul has shared his side of his recent run-in with former UFC champion Conor McGregor. It’s not exactly a secret that ‘The Maverick’ and ‘The Notorious’ were in discussions to fight later this year. Just a few weeks after Conor McGregor was found liable for sexually assaulting a woman in 2018, he revealed plans for an exhibition boxing match with Logan Paul. Reports later confirmed talks between the two, for an April bout in India that would net each man upwards of $250 million.

Josh Evanoff - February 4, 2025

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka knows who he wants next. The ever-entertaining striker is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC 311 last month. Back for the first time since being knocked out against Alex Pereira last summer, Jiri Prochazka met former champion Jamahal Hill. ‘Sweet Dreams’ had also been finished by ‘Poatan’ in his latest appearance, but was determined to earn a rematch with the Brazilian.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 4, 2025

Reigning UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has named the one fight that had him more nervous than any other bout in his career. Du Plessis worked his way up to the top of the mountain, defeating the likes of Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, and Israel Adesanya. There was no easy path for “Stillknocks,” but he has emerged as a UFC champion.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 4, 2025

Sean Strickland has shown respect to Israel Adesanya following “The Last Stylebender’s” third straight loss. The kind words may come as a surprise to fans given that Strickland and Adesanya had a war of words leading up to their September 2023 clash. Strickland won that bout and the UFC Middleweight Championship, which started Adesanya’s slide. The former two-time UFC middleweight champion was then submitted by Dricus du Plessis, and more recently suffered a TKO loss to Nassourdine Imavov.

Cole Shelton - February 4, 2025

The 188th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is live to preview UFC 312. We’re first joined by UFC light heavyweight Jimmy Crute (1:09). We close out the program talking with UFC lightweight Kody Steele (9:26).

Cole Shelton - February 4, 2025

The UFC was in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a solid UFC Saudi Arabia fight night card. In the main event, Israel Adesanya took on Nassourdine Imavov in a pivotal middleweight bout. Adesanya entered the fight coming off a submission loss to Drcius Du Plessis for the middleweight title. Imavov, meanwhile, was coming off a decision win over Brendan Allen.

Harry Kettle - February 4, 2025

UFC legend Michael Bisping has explained why he believes Michael Page should stay in the middleweight division after UFC Saudi Arabia. Last weekend, Michael Page surprised a lot of people. He did so by defeating Shara Magomedov – and doing so fairly decisively. He was able to control the page on the feet, and while Magomedov had his moments, it was the man known as MVP who got his hand raised.

Harry Kettle - February 4, 2025

UFC heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich wants to be back in title consideration after his win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC Saudi Arabia. After bursting into the title picture, Sergei Pavlovich was brought back down to earth by Tom Aspinall. After being finished by the Englishman, he had to go back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, in his next outing, he was beaten again – this time in a fairly one-sided affair by Alexander Volkov.