MMA News

Tom Taylor - June 12, 2018

Tonight, in the first episode of the second season of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series, former NFL defensive end Greg Hardy will fight for a UFC contract. The very fact that Hardy is being given a shot at earning a UFC contract, however, has been met with widespread backlash, as he was essentially bounced from the NFL for some truly troubling domestic violence charges. NFL and MMA analyst Jay Glazer even called for the entire MMA community to blackball the former football player. In the lead-up to Hardy’s DWTNCS debut, White himself has been adamant that everybody deserves a second chance — despite assuring in 2014 that “putting your hands on a woman” is “one thing that you never bounce back from.” Hardy is also asking for a second chance. He explained why he deserves that chance in a Monday media scrum.

Drake Riggs - June 12, 2018

After what appeared to be yet another 2018 main or co-main scrapped by injury, that is now looking to no longer be the case. Just last week, UFC President, Dana White announced that Brad Tavares was out of his main event fight with Israel Adesanya at The Ultimate Fighter 27 Finale on July 6th.

Drake Riggs - June 11, 2018

Rather than being granted the spotlight, some fighters have to force their ways into it. And often times they’ll have to break a few hearts along the way.

Drake Riggs - June 11, 2018

It would seem that new UFC interim welterweight champion, Colby Covington isn’t the only one claiming that their UFC 225 opponent used some illegal tactics mid-fight this past Saturday night. Having fought in the second bout of the televised portion of the UFC 225 prelims, former UFC strawweight champion, Carla Esparza, like Covington also believes that she fell victim to her opponent greasing during their fight.

Drake Riggs - June 11, 2018

The original plan for UFC 225 was to have two title fights atop the stacked night of fights. Unfortunately, one ended up not being over a championship but the other went along as planned. In UFC 225’s co-main event this past Saturday, former UFC lightweight champion, Rafael Dos Anjos took on Colby Covington in search of his fourth straight win at 170 pounds and an interim title to boot.

Thomas Taylor - June 11, 2018

Mike Jackson battered CM Punk from bell to bell at UFC 225. Unfortunately, he also drew the ire of UFC President Dana White, who felt that Jackson should have worked harder to finish his grossly outmatched foe. Speaking at the UFC post-fight press conference, White shared his distaste for Jackson’s performance, and assured Jackson’s days in the UFC are over.

Thomas Taylor - June 11, 2018

For all of the self-confidence and bravado Colby Covington exudes, he is very much a part of a team. The polarizing welterweight has been a member of American Top Team since his mixed martial arts career began, and has evolved from a raw, college wrestler into the interim UFC welterweight champion under the world famous facility’s roof. As such, he’s sharing his UFC 225 interim title win over Rafael dos Anjos with his teammates at ATT — most notably, fellow UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal, and ATT founder Dan Lambert.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

Shortly after Rashad Evans was knocked out by Anthony Smith on the undercard of UFC 225, UFC President Dana White summoned him backstage to talk. White considers Evans an MMA legend, but felt a conversation was in order. “When he lost, I had him come back to my room,” White said at Saturday’s UFC 225 post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “We hung out and talked, and yeah, it’s sad. Rashad was on season two of The Ultimate Fighter, so he was around through the whole building of this company. We all get old, man, and this is a young man’s sport. But if you look at what he [did], he won The Ultimate Fighter, he became a world champion, he [built] this team where he was like the guy and built all these young up-and-coming fighters. He’s been in big, huge fights.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

Alistair Overeem’s anticipated return to the cage, which pitted him against rising heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes at UFC 225 last Saturday night, did not go the way he planned. Quite the opposite, in fact. In the third round of this heavyweight attraction, Overeem was pulverized by a series of Blaydes elbows in a bloody display that looked something like a raspberry being crushed by a hammer. It was, without exaggeration, as violent a stoppage as you’ll see in the perilous sport of MMA.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

On Saturday night, in the main event of the stacked UFC 225, UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and fearsome middleweight contender Yoel Romero engaged in a truly incredible five-round fight. Though the title was not actually on the line, as Romero missed weight for the bout, the two middleweight talents fought with the kind of verve and intensity that ensured their battle will never be forgotten. In the end, Whittaker won this jaw-dropping fight via split decision. While not everybody agreed with the judges’ scoring of the fight, Whittaker is confident he deserved the W. The champ commented on the fight in a classy, post-fight statement on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

Shortly after Colby Covington captured the interim welterweight title with a decision defeat of Rafael dos Anjos, he watched his American Top Team stablemate Yoel Romero take on UFC middleweight champ Robert Whittaker.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

Neither Brock Lesnar nor Jon Jones is currently eligible to compete in MMA. That said, UFC President Dana White seems to think the two superstars could meet in a superfight somewhere down the line all the same. “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.”

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

Martin Nguyen, who owns the ONE lightweight and featherweight titles, is currently scheduled for an interim bantamweight title fight with Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon on July 27 in Manila. If he wins this bout with Belingon, he’ll be the owner of a whopping three ONE titles — but don’t expect him to rest on his laurels.

Tom Taylor - June 11, 2018

Shortly after he won the UFC interim welterweight title with a unanimous decision defeat of Rafael dos Anjos, Colby Covington joined a panel of Karyn Bryant, Michelle Waterson, Kenny Florian and Michael Bisping on the FS1 UFC 225 post-fight show. While the new champ probably expected a few typical post-fight questions, what he got instead was some serious hostility from Bisping. 

Drake Riggs - June 10, 2018

The UFC is known as MMA’s ultimate proving ground. And as history has shown, even the greatest and most experienced of athletes enter and can’t find their footing right off the bat. Often targeted as the biggest obstacle one can face entering into the Octagon is ‘UFC jitters’. Something that promotional newcomer, Megan Anderson showed no sign of last night at UFC 225.

Jordy McElroy - June 10, 2018

CM Punk was beaten, battered and bloodied in front of his hometown crowd at UFC 225, but he was never broken. For 15 minutes, MMA fans got a glimpse into the world of a man choosing to live life by his own script. Every ink blot and pen stroke led the former WWE champion back to the UFC after being submitted in the first round of his debut nearly two years ago.

Jordan Colbert - June 10, 2018

Dominick Reyes took home his most recent win against Jared Cannonier at UFC Chile, bringing his UFC record to 3-0 overall and his MMA career to an undefeated 9-0. Following the win, Reyes shot from unranked to #11 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings. Looking to return before year’s end, Reyes hopped on a call for an exclusive interview with BJPenn.com to give us a sneak peek at what lies ahead in the career of one of the most promising light heavyweight fighters we’ve seen in years:  

Jason Kindschy - June 10, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back with a special Sunday edition! The newly-crowned interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington returns to the show with his first exclusive interview since winning the belt at UFC 225 Saturday night. High-pace and pressure on Rafael dos Anjos from bell to bell proved to be successful as Colby took the unanimous decision. We’ll recap the win with “Chaos” and hear his thoughts on the entire experience. We’ll discuss the inevitable unification bout against Tyron Woodley, the possibility of a super fight in the near future, his plans for a trip to the Oval Office with his shiny new belt, and much more. Another can’t-miss interview with Covington!