MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 20, 2018

Last night, The Professional Fighters League (PFL) took over the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York with PFL 4. This action-packed event featured the final regular season bouts for PFL’s heavyweight and featherweight divisions, meaning that seven fighters in both of these weight classes have now clinched playoffs spots. These fighters will meet in the playoffs later this year, with the winner capturing the divisional championship and a $1 million dollar payday.

Tom Taylor - July 20, 2018

Curtis Blaydes is arguably the top contender in the UFC heavyweight division. Unfortunately for him, it looks like the next shot at reigning heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier will go to former champion Brock Lesnar. Blaydes has previously shared his disappointment with Lesnar’s cutting the contendership line. That being said, he’s starting to get used to this sort of treatment.

Drake Riggs - July 20, 2018

After struggling to find an agreeable date to fight on, it appears that Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and David Branch have found their common ground. ESPN has reported that the two top 10 middleweight contenders have now agreed to fight at UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden on November 3rd.

Drake Riggs - July 20, 2018

After Darren Till’s subtle early morning hinting yesterday, we soon got some truth to the matter. The welterweight division needs a title fight. Till claimed that interim champion at 170-pounds Colby Covington wasn’t going to be able to fight the undisputed champ, Tyron Woodley, where he, in turn, told the champion to ‘accept the fight’ with him.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Long absent former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been training at the WWE Performance Center. Velasquez shared some shots from his efforts at the WWE facility on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

The UFC welterweight division has suddenly been consumed by chaos. According to a report from ESPN, the UFC is considering stripping interim welterweight champion Colby Covington of his title, and promoting an undisputed title fight between champ Tyron Woodley and challenger Darren Till. This report from ESPN follows some strange Tweets from Till last night, in which he told Woodley to “accept the fight,” and claimed Covington was “out.”

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

UFC 227 has taken a major hit. Swiss light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir has been forced out of his main card collision with Swedish star Alexander Gustafsson with an injury. This per ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Earlier this month, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub became the latest in a long list of fighters to butt heads with UFC President Dana White — and boy, did they ever butt heads. According to former UFC lightweight Josh Thompson, Schaub probably won’t be the last fighter to find themselves embroiled in a public dispute with White, either. In fact, Thomson said White could become the latest public figure to be targeted by the #MeToo movement, which supports survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and exposes the perpetrators of these acts.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

UFC Moscow officially has a main event. The September 15 card, which marks the UFC’s long-awaited debut in Russia, will be headlined by a heavyweight contender bout between legendary knockout artist Mark Hunt and submission savant Alexey Oleynik. This bout was first reported by MMA Team Dagestan many weeks ago, and has now been made official by the UFC.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Earlier this month, we learned that the first semifinal bout of Bellator’s action-packed Heavyweight Grand Prix will go down on October 12, when reigning light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader battles Matt Mitrione at Bellator 205 in Uncasville, Conn. As it turns out, the second semifinal bout will occur the very next night, as Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen are set to battle on October 13 inside Long Island’s Nassau Coliseum. This news was first reported by Newsday.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Yesterday, we learned that the United States Anti-Doping Agency had determined that Anderson Silva’s recent failed drug test had been due to a tainted supplement, and that he’d been handed a one-year suspension for his ingesting this supplement. This suspension is retroactive to October, 2017, which means Silva will be able to fight again this October. As always, Silva will have plenty of interesting options in terms of opponents for his anticipated return to the cage. Perhaps the most compelling option of all, of course, would be his long-time rival Georges St-Pierre.

Tom Taylor - July 19, 2018

Alexander Gustafsson wants a rematch with UFC light heavyweight champ Daniel Cormier, who he lost a split decision to in 2015. Unfortunately for the Swede, Cormier is currently stationed at heavyweight, where he recently captured the divisional title with a first round knockout of Stipe Miocic. At present, it looks as though Cormier will defend his heavyweight title against Brock Lesnar sometime in the new year. That being said, he has also claimed that he’d like to drop back down to light heavyweight to defend that title in the meantime.

Drake Riggs - July 18, 2018

With the UFC’s upcoming pay-per-view events beyond UFC 227 lacking headliners, we’re bound to be getting some big announcements any day now. A sign for which champions these announcements could include includes the likes of new lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov who recently told Tass that he has begun his next training camp.

Jason Kindschy - July 18, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back again, Penn Nation! First up we are joined by the UFC’s newly-ranked featherweight powerhouse, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. Coming off a dominant victory against the always durable Darren Elkins at UFC FN 135 in Boise, Idaho over the weekend, Alex is going to recap the fight and give his thoughts on the performance. He’ll also give us an update on his injured ribs and explain how he managed to persevere through excruciating pain to get the win. After the fight, Alex challenged Chad Mendes to a showdown in Australia later this year and he’s got plenty to say about that as well.

Jordy McElroy - July 18, 2018

Brendan Schaub drew a line in the sand with UFC President Dana White last Thursday in what might have been the most visceral social media clap-back of the year. A minor disagreement quickly escalated into all-out war between the UFC boss and former UFC heavyweight. It wasn’t the first time a former or current employee has raked White through the coals publically, and if history has taught us anything, it won’t be the last, either.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Good news for former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and his legions of fans. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has determined that his failed drug test was due to a contaminated substance. As a result, he’s been handed a one-year suspension, retroactive to October 2017. This means he’ll be eligible to fight again this October. This news comes from Ariel Helwani of ESPN.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington has never been shy when it comes to comments on his former roommate Jon Jones. His latest comments on Jones, however, might just take the cake. Speaking on Chael Sonnen’s Beyond the Fight podcast, Covington accused the former UFC light heavyweight champion and his management of bribing the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in order to expedite his return to the Octagon.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Bellator’s anticipated welterweight Grand Prix will be a little different from the other tournament’s Bellator President Scott Coker has promoted in the past. Because Bellator welterweight champion Rory MacDonald will be involved in the tournament, the welterweight belt will be up for grabs starting with MacDonald’s first tournament bout. In other words, the tournament winner will be Bellator’s welterweight champion, and it’s conceivable that the title could change hands more than once as the tournament unfurls.