MMA News

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2018

On Saturday night — Saturday morning stateside — the UFC will return to beautiful Singapore with an exciting fight card. As always, the promotion has brought a handful of stars along with it to help promote the fights and participate in meet and greets and various other events with the fans. One of those fighters is former WEC champ and MMA pioneer Urijah Faber. Regrettably, Faber’s visit to Singapore is off to a rocky start. Not long after arriving in the country, he got hit by what he’s calling “the only car on the road.” From the looks of it, he escaped with little more than a foot injury, but still… not how you want to start a trip abroad.

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2018

Following his departure from the UFC, Ramsey Nijem received interest from a number of top mixed martial arts promotions. In the end, he decided to sign with the Professional Fighters League (PFL), a new league that is striving to revolutionize the MMA industry with an exciting seasonal format and whopping, million-dollar prizes.

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2018

When Will Brooks took his first steps into the UFC’s Octagon in July of 2016, he did so with a Bellator lightweight belt slung over his shoulder, and the scalps of highly respected fighters like Drew Dober, John Alessio, Saad Awad, Michael Chandler and Marcin Held clutched menacingly in his hand. To say he was hyped would be an understatement. In the eyes of many fans and analysts, Brooks’ earning a UFC lightweight title shot was as inevitable as Dana White’s next profanity-laced meltdown.

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2018

When UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic steps into the cage with light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 226, Curtis Blaydes will be watching closely. He is, after all, arguably the top contender in the UFC heavyweight division, and could well be the next man in line for the winner.

Drake Riggs - June 18, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zVluTcLC7k “[My other problem] The commentators… Joe Rogan, one of my best friends, my brother. And even Jimmy Smith, those guys. When they would go, ‘Mike Jackson has high-level striking’.

Drake Riggs - June 18, 2018

At UFC 225 we were supposed to see an encounter between lightweights, Bobby Green and Clay Guida. Instead, we got Guida vs Charles Oliveira. Green was forced out of the bout with a knee injury making it his 12th fight cancellation in the UFC(a UFC record).

Drake Riggs - June 18, 2018

You know that fighter that is clearly talented but hasn’t quite broken off the cusp of the division’s very best? Those who still have their doubters but are flying under the radar steadily making waves? These are commonly referred to as the dark horses of a division. The ones that may sneak up on everyone else ranked above them when they least expect it and leave their lasting impression. These are the UFC’s top dark horse candidates for each division.

Jason Kindschy - June 18, 2018

The latest episode of BJPENN.COM Radio has arrived, Penn Nation! Our first guest, coming off a devastating third round finish of Alistair Overeem at UFC 225 that likely cemented him as the rightful No. 1 contender to the heavyweight title, Curtis “Razor” Blaydes. We’ll recap the victory in his hometown of Chicago and discuss the heel-hook attempts by Overeem that injured the knee of Blaydes. What’s next for Curtis? He believes it’s the winner of Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic, but he’s also not against taking another fight before reaching the belt.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

The next UFC event on the calendar is UFC Fight Night 132, which will emanate from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore this Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know about this UFC Singapore card. The card will be headlined by a welterweight contender bout between rising Brit Leon Edwards, and beloved MMA veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The bout will mark Cerrone’s opportunity to build on the momentum of a February TKO of Yancy Medeiros, while Edwards will seek to improve his current win-streak to six-straight.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

Late last week, a report out of Russia suggested that a lightweight title fight between undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former two-division champ Conor McGregor could headline UFC 229, this October 6 in Las Vegas. Over the weekend, McGregor’s striking coach Owen Roddy was asked about this possibility. While he assured he couldn’t confirm anything outright, he did say McGregor is training hard, and that the fight with Nurmagomedov is “brewing up nicely.”

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

UFC lightweight contender Al Iaquinta, who will return to the cage to fight Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC Lincoln this August, is one of the many fighters to speak out against Dana White’s choice to end the practice of early weigh-ins. In fact, he might be the fighter to speak out against it most vehemently. Iaquinta went off on White in a recent interview with ESPN, calling the decision to end early weigh-ins “the last straw,” and assuring that he will do everything he can to assure fighters still weigh in in the morning.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

Rising UFC bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley is suggesting he’ll be fighting in the co-main event of UFC 229, which goes down October 6th in the fight capital of Las Vegas, Nevada. O’Malley made this interesting claim in a Saturday Instagram post, which included video of one of his many knockout victories. He did not name an opponent for this possible UFC 229 co-headlining bout.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is now officially retired. The UK MMA pioneer announced his retirement on a recent episode of his podcast Believe You Me. “It ain’t worth it,” Bisping said. “I mean, what else am I going to do? I’ve won the belt, I’ve had tons of wins, I’ve done everything that I set out to achieve. What’s the point in flogging a dead horse? Not that I’m a dead horse, but what’s the point? I’ve done everything that I set out to achieve, and fortunately now I’ve used my platform to open other doors. You know, you’ve got to know when to walk away. I’m almost 40 years old, the time is now. So, I want to say, first of all, thank you to my wife. Without her, it wouldn’t have happened. That’s a fact. She was incredible every single step of the way. My children. My dad. My dad was amazing. And of course everyone in the U.K. and around the world that supported me.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

Yesterday was fathers day, and many members of the MMA community took to social media to show how they were celebrating. Some were being honored by their children. Others, meanwhile, shared heartfelt messages to their own fathers and adoptive father figures. Others still memorialized fathers who have passed away. Our namesake BJ Penn even got some unexpected love from one UFC featherweight fighter! Here are some of the best Father’s Day posts from the stars of the MMA world, including Daniel Cormier, Renzo Gracie, Gina Carano, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Paige VanZant, Michael Bisping and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2018

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen a host of established veterans come up short against rising stars — particularly in the welterweight division. Former UFC welterweight and middleweight title challenger Demian Maia lost to Kamaru Usman. Two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson lost to Darren Till. Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos gave up a decision to Colby Covington just last weekend. And if rising British welterweight contender Leon Edwards gets his way, he’ll take out Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the main event of UFC Singapore this weekend. “The older guys are fading out now,” Edwards told MMA Fighting. “I’m young, I’m just 26-years-old. I think everyone else in rankings is over 30. It’s the changing of the guard for sure, and I’ve got to show that I’m a part of that new movement. That’s what I’m focused in on ahead of this fight. I’ve got to show everyone that I’m a threat in this division,” Edwards explained.

Drake Riggs - June 18, 2018

A lot of the late buzz that surrounded UFC 224 last month came from the event’s weigh-ins. Which of course, is never a good thing. The guilty party, in this case, was the top prospect, Mackenzie Dern. The BJJ wizard, Dern would miss weight for her scheduled 115-pound strawweight bout by coming in at 123 pounds.

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2018

The MVP KO pic.twitter.com/s2V1dsUoYz — Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) June 15, 2018

Tom Taylor - June 17, 2018

Talk of a potential heavyweight superfight between former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has once again started making headlines. This, thanks to some recent comments from UFC President Dana White, who implied that both men want the fight. “I know that Brock’s WWE deal is up at the end of the summer, I think,” White recently told TMZ. “I know he wants to fight so I’m sure we’ll end up getting that figured out.”