MMA News

Chris Taylor - February 1, 2025

The Octagon returned to Riyadh for today’s UFC Saudi Arabia event, an 11-bout fight card headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov. The highly anticipated middleweight main event resulted in a second-round TKO victory for ‘The Sniper’. After a back-and-forth opening round, Imavov was able to drop Adesanya with a big uppercut in the early stages of the second round. Nassourdine immediately pounced on Izzy with ground and pound, which forced the referee to step in and wave off the contest.

Chris Taylor - February 1, 2025

Today’s UFC Saudi Arabia event was headlined by a middleweight contest featuring Nassourdine Imavov taking on Israel Adesanya. Adesanya (24-5 MMA) had entered the contest with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. The former UFC middleweight champion was coming off losses to Dricus Du Plessis (submission) and Sean Strickland (decision) in his most previous Octagon appearances.

Chris Taylor - February 1, 2025

We have you covered for all of today’s UFC Saudi Arabia results, including the main event between Israel Adesanya and Nassourdine Imavov. Adesanya (24-4 MMA) will enter the contest with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. The former UFC middleweight champion is coming off losses to Dricus Du Plessis (submission) and Sean Strickland (decision) in his most recent Octagon appearances. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has gone 2-3 over his past five fights overall, earning wins over Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier during that stretch.

Chris Taylor - February 1, 2025

The Octagon returns to Riyadh for today’s UFC Saudi Arabia event, an 11-bout fight card headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov. Adesanya (24-4 MMA) will enter the contest with hopes of snapping a two-fight losing skid. The former UFC middleweight champion is coming off losses to Dricus Du Plessis (submission) and Sean Strickland (decision) in his most recent Octagon appearances. ‘The Last Stylebender’ has gone 2-3 over his past five fights overall, earning wins over Alex Pereira and Jared Cannonier during that stretch.

Josh Evanoff - January 31, 2025

The newly founded Global Fight League reportedly wanted to sign UFC Hall of Famer Chael Sonnen. The upstart promotion founded by Darren Owen has been making a lot of headlines as of late. While the GFL has no events scheduled, nor an announced broadcast partner, they’re full-steam ahead on an April debut. Earlier this month, fighters were divided into six teams for a “draft” criticized for its runtime and use of AI.

Josh Evanoff - January 31, 2025

UFC President Dana White has offered an update on Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall. ‘Bones’ is just a few months removed from his return to the cage in the main event of UFC 309. Ending a long layoff due to injury, Jon Jones faced former champion Stipe Miocic in the main event of the New York-based pay-per-view. With interim champion Tom Aspinall watching cageside, the light-heavyweight great scored a fourth-round knockout win.

Josh Evanoff - January 31, 2025

UFC featherweight contender Doo Ho Choi wants to teach Bryce Mitchell a history lesson. The ever-controversial ‘Thug Nasty’ is fresh off his return to the cage last month in Las Vegas. Ending a nearly yearlong hiatus, Bryce Mitchell faced Kron Gracie on the UFC 310 main card last month. There, the grappler scored a rare stoppage win, knocking out the Brazilian with a slam after he pulled guard in the opening seconds of round three.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 31, 2025

Paddy Pimblett has explained why he didn’t let go of his choke on Denis Frimpong during their gym scuffle. Footage surfaced of Pimblett and Frimpong having a gym fight that was previously agreed upon. The UFC star sunk in a rear-naked choke that forced Frimpong to tap out. Despite the tap, Pimblett continued to hold onto the choke before fellow gym members broke things up.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 31, 2025

Conor McGregor has fired perhaps his most nasty dig towards Khabib Nurmagomedov yet. McGregor and Nurmagomedov have been at odds for years. Fight fans still haven’t forgotten a UFC media day incident back in 2018 when McGregor hurled a dolly at a fighter bus that “The Eagle” was in. Despite the fact that Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in their UFC 229 clash, the “Notorious” one continues to blast Khabib and his team.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 31, 2025

As if the card for ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang wasn’t big enough, ONE Championship has bolstered its return to Japan with even more striking superstars.   The action goes down on Sunday, March 23, inside Saitama Super Arena. In the main event, Japanese kickboxing megastar Takeru Segawa meets former flyweight Muay Thai king Rodtang Jitmuangnon.  

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 31, 2025

Two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 will defend his bantamweight Muay Thai crown in a unification bout with interim king Nabil Anane.    The pair will square off at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on Sunday, March 23, inside Japan’s iconic Saitama Super Arena. 

Harry Kettle - January 31, 2025

UFC champion Alex Pereira believes he’d be a bigger achievement for Jon Jones than if he defeated Tom Aspinall. As we know, Alex Pereira is an incredibly ambitious man. He is constantly trying to level up and add to his legacy, which is already pretty spectacular. He is, of course, a two-weight world champion in the UFC, but there’s been talk of him potentially going after a third championship at heavyweight.

Harry Kettle - January 31, 2025

Daniel Cormier believes Alex Pereira is making a risky decision by cornering Sean Strickland at UFC 312 next month. As we know, Alex Pereira is someone who likes to complete the occasional side quest alongside his duties as UFC light heavyweight champion. For his latest venture, he is apparently set to corner Sean Strickland for his UFC 312 main event against Dricus du Plessis. It seems crazy in the eyes of many, and yet, ‘Poatan’ is pushing ahead with it regardless.

Harry Kettle - January 31, 2025

The Russian Dumpling defeated Da Crazy Hawaiian this week at Power Slap 11 which went down in Saudi Arabia. As we know, Power Slap has been a real passion project for UFC president Dana White over the course of the last few years. He has been instrumental in trying to grow the sport, even though it still divides opinion more often than not. With that being said, it does seem like there’s a certain level of intrigue involved in the whole thing.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 30, 2025

ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling World Champion Kade Ruotolo has enjoyed a smooth transition into the MMA world. But the road is about to get much rougher.   At ONE 171: Qatar on Thursday, February 20, Ruotolo welcomes unbeaten Argentinian Nicolas Vigna to ONE Championship’s lightweight MMA division inside Lusail Sports Arena.  

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 30, 2025

Former two-weight ONE World Champion Aung La N Sang will be looking for some redemption at ONE 171: Qatar.   “The Burmese Python” meets unbeaten Turk Shamil Erdogan in a middleweight MMA rematch on Thursday, February 20, inside Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena. The stakes will be higher than ever as the victor would take a drastic step closer to challenging for divisional gold.

Cole Shelton - January 30, 2025

Terrance McKinney is ready to prove that he’s a contender at lightweight. McKinney is set to return to the Octagon at UFC Saudi Arabia against Damir Hadzovic. It’s his first fight since May when he was knocked out by Esteban Ribovics. After the loss, McKinney wanted to make sure he was completely healthy and made a change in his camp, which led to a longer layoff.

Cole Shelton - January 30, 2025

Conor McGregor is not happy with Paul Hughes after his recent comments. Hughes is a fellow Irishman who was fighting Usman Nurmagomedov for the Bellator lightweight title. Ahead of the fight, Hughes originally wanted McGregor to be in his corner as Khabib would have been in Usman’s corner. However, with Conor’s sexual assault trial onongoing, Hughes opted not to have the former UFC champ-champ in his corner.