MMA News

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.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

According to an Instagram post from Russian MMA powerhouse M-1 Global, the promotion has signed a deal with The Ultimate Fighting Championship. Apparently, this deal will give M-1 Challenge champions the opportunity to sign with the UFC. From the sounds of it, this deal will also see M-1 scout talent for the UFC.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

“Platinum” Mike Perry and “Super” Sage Northcutt are two of the most interesting characters in MMA. They’re also two of the most exciting fighters in the game. Based on those reasons alone, it’s easy to understand why people want to see them fight. The buildup to the fight would be massively entertaining, and the fight itself would probably be even better. Furthermore, the fight actually makes quite a bit of sense right now. After a few fights at lightweight, Northcutt has settled in the welterweight division — the division Perry calls home — where he recently delivered a big knockout win over Zak Ottow. Perry, meanwhile, is riding high on a bloody decision win over Paul Felder.

Tom Taylor - July 18, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, at a press conference in New York City, Bellator President Scott Coker announced the names of the fighters competing in Bellator’s anticipated welterweight Grand Prix. Yet there was one name that seemed to be missing: Paul Daley. Though Coker assured that he was working on getting Daley involved in the tournament — perhaps even as alternate — he could not confirm the British knockout artist’s involvement at the time.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

UFC 228 is pretty behind on getting itself put together. But in the coming weeks we’ll surely get some more clarity and today we start with the 115ers. Already in the works for the UFC’s return to Dallas, Texas is a strawweight battle between two of the division’s very best in Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

May the MMA Gods answer our prayer! With Bellator featherweight champion Julia Budd’s continued success and solidification as the second best 145 to ever do it, the question that comes with such always becomes, ‘what’s next?’.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

Bellator 204 is just a month away and the full card is starting to shape up. BJPenn.com’s own Drake Riggs confirmed today that a showdown between featherweight prospects Tywan Claxton and Cris “Sunshine” Williams has been added to the main card which takes place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Drake Riggs - July 17, 2018

One of the most discussed decisions of the year took place at the UFC’s first visit to Liverpool, England and many believe that the wrong man won. The fight in reference is the main event which pitted top welterweight strikers Darren Till against the two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson.

Thomas Taylor - July 17, 2018

For kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki, there’s nothing quite like fighting, whether its in the UFC’s Octagon or the kickboxing ring. Though life as a fighter can be tremendously taxing — physically and mentally — it’s also beautifully straightforward. Life outside the cage, however, is not always so black and white.