MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

Nick Newell (14-1), a veteran of the World Series of Fighting cage, and a congenital amputee whose left arm does not extend past the elbow, now has an opponent for his anticipated, July 24 appearance on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. His opponent will be Alex Munoz (4-0). This bout was first reported by MMA Today’s Shawn Bitter, and subsequently announced by UFC officials.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

There is a special place in the heart of every MMA fan for a good, old-fashioned scrap… Those frenetic fights like Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua I, Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald II, and Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi, 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 - July 3, 2018

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson didn’t have to fly across the Atlantic to battle rising prospect Darren Till in his hometown of Liverpool, and he sure as heck didn’t have to fight Till after he missed weight for the fight. But he did, and for that, UFC President Dana White was very thankful. In fact, White even assured post-fight that the UFC would “do everything we can to give [Thompson] what he wants” in return for his sacrifices. Thompson is hoping Dana White and the UFC will keep their word. He’s hoping to cash in the favor he’s owed, and bring the UFC to his home state of South Carolina — an unexplored territory for the promotion. If he can bring the UFC to South Carolina — particularly to the city of Greenville — he’s hoping to battle former champion Robbie Lawler in the main event.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

This Saturday, in the main event of the absurdly stacked UFC 226 card, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will attempt to defend his title against reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. From a competitive standpoint, this is far and away one of the biggest fights of Miocic’s illustrious career. According to the man himself, it’s also the biggest fights from a financial standpoint. This is good news, considering Miocic has been frustrated with his paydays in the past.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

This week, during International Fight Week, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Days later, on the main card of UFC 226, UFC heavyweight contender Derrick Lewis will battle Francis Ngannou. Lewis, of course, has previously expressed his… admiration… for Rousey, who is married to his former opponent Travis Browne. He claims he sent her flowers when he learned she was being inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame, and that he’s nervous she might be watching his fight from cage-side at UFC 226.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

Last week, former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks joined Michal Bisping, Rashad Evans, Ian McCall and Josh Koscheck in the pool of big-name fighters to recently announce their retirement from MMA.  Speaking on Monday’s edition of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, Hendricks explained why he opted to hang up the gloves. From the sounds of it, the former champ, who will now serve as a wrestling coach at Episcopal School in Fort Worth, Texas, simply fell out of love with fighting.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

UFC 226, which goes down this Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be headlined by a bona fide super fight, as UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier moves up to heavyweight to battle divisional champion Stipe Miocic for gold. Yet according to UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway, who battles Brian Ortega in the co-main event, that’s not the only superfight on the bill. Speaking to Yahoo Sports  this week, Holloway explained what it means to him to fight on such a big card, and assured this his fight with Ortega is every bit a super fight too.

Drake Riggs - July 2, 2018

Earlier today, it was announced that Volkan Oezdemir would be backing out of his UFC Hamburg headliner with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Why did he back out? To take a higher profile bout with Alexander Gustafsson at UFC 227 on August 4th in Los Angeles.

Thomas Taylor - July 2, 2018

According to a report from MMA Team Dagestan, a Twitter account that has produced a number of high-profile scoops in recent weeks, the hunt for UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s next opponent is down to two men. The priority, of course, is former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor. If negotiations with the Irish superstar fizzle out, however, the UFC is reportedly planning to announce a fight between Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Either way, the fight will reportedly occur at UFC 229 on October 6. https://twitter.com/MMATeamDagestan/status/1013915310074793984

Drake Riggs - July 2, 2018

Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson’s search for an opponent at UFC 227 on August 4th appears to have come to a surprising end. The perennial top-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender was initially expected to possibly be getting a fight with the former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold at the Los Angeles event. But all possibilities of that fell through after Rockhold injured his leg and needed to get surgery to repair it.

Thomas Taylor - July 2, 2018

Over the weekend, 100-fight MMA veteran Jonathan Ivey stepped into the cage with 300-fight veteran Travis Fulton — a man he considers a personal hero. In the midst of the first round, Ivey sent Fulton crashing to the mat with a punch, then followed to the canvas, where he unleashed a storm of ground-and-pound. But then, in an inexplicable twist, Ivey stood up, and tapped out, essentially throwing away the win. 

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2018

Bellator’s exciting Heavyweight Grand Prix is expected to continue in October, when Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen, and Matt Mitrione and Ryan Bader are expected to meet in a pair of semifinal bouts. No official dates have been locked down for these fights just yet, but they will occur close together on the calendar. This news was first reported by MMAjunkie, who spoke to Bellator President Scott Coker after Bellator 201 in Temecula, California last weekend.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2018

Last year, Junior dos Santos was notified of a potential violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Ultimately, dos Santos was cleared of any wrong-doing, as it was  deemed he’d ingested a tainted supplement — but only after a nightmarish few months of investigations into his case. In the wake of this debacle with USADA, dos Santos is dreading the possibility of the whole situation repeating itself. In his eyes, if it happened once, it could happen again.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2018

It’s happening. Former UFC light heavyweight champions and irrefutable MMA legends Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz are going to fight for a third time later this year, in the first offering from Oscar De La Hoya’s new Golden Boy MMA promotion. A date for the fight, which will air on pay-per-view, has not been set, but both parties have agreed to the fight. News of this fight’s fruition comes from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2018

Riding high on impressive defeats of former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Kelvin Gastelum feels he’s earned the next shot at reigning UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker. Unfortunately, he feels that Whittaker is attempting to steer clear of the matchup. “I know that he’s been offered the fight against me twice and he has not been wanting to fight me,” Gastelum said on a recent episode of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting). “And I think that’s for good reason. I think I give him the most difficult time if we step in the cage and I think he knows that. In my opinion, I match up horribly for him.”

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2018

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy, who has not fought since September of 2012, is still eyeing a return to the Octagon. And having slimmed down significantly in his time away, he feels he’d perform much better than the Dan Hardy of old. The fighter turned color commentator discussed his potential comeback on a recent episode of The MMA Hour.

Tom Taylor - July 2, 2018

Over the last few weeks, middleweight contenders Kelvin Gastelum and Chris Weidman have been verbally sparring over who deserves the next middleweight title shot. Now, UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker’s team seems to have decided for them. According to Whittaker’s manager Titus Day, Whittaker is hoping to defend his title against the former champion Weidman at UFC 231 in November, which is expected to occur inside Madison Square Garden in Weidman’s native New York.

Jordan Colbert - July 1, 2018

Curtis Blaydes cemented himself as one of the top contenders in the UFC heavyweight division at UFC 225 with a dominant and brutal TKO win over Alistair Overeem. Post-win, Blaydes set the record straight. It’s title shot or bust for the No. 2 ranked fighter in the division. In an exclusive interview with BJPenn.com, Blaydes dished on this and much more. Check it out below!