MMA News

Drake Riggs - May 24, 2018

UFC’s first visit to Russia quickly had it’s main event established…and then it was quickly taken away. One half of the initial headliner was former UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum, who just days after the fight was made official, was notified of a USADA violation and is now unable to compete.

Drake Riggs - May 24, 2018

The UFC’s next trio of pay-per-view events is shaping up to be one of the best stretches of events in the organization’s history. Last of the three if UFC 227 on August 4th in Los Angeles, California which has just added a very fun featherweight scrap. After verbal agreements over Twitter to fight each in the recent weeks, the UFC has gone and made the bout official between perennial top-five contender, Cub Swanson and the rising talent, Renato “Moicano” Carneiro.

Mike Pendleton - May 24, 2018

It’s a debut that many have looked forward to and anticipated but it’s not exactly how Jose “Shorty” Torres wanted his UFC debut to happen. Torres, both the flyweight and bantamweight champion for Titan FC has been on the brink of a UFC call-up for some time, and he finally received the call on short notice. When Hector Sandoval had to pull out of his fight with Jarred Brooks at UFC Fight Night 131 in Utica, New York on Friday, June 1, Torres received the call with an offer to step in and face Brooks, which he accepted. While the UFC call is one that Torres has been waiting for, a matchup with Brooks doesn’t exactly excite him inside the Octagon.

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2018

Last Saturday night, during the main card of the UFC’s anticipated debut in Santiago, Chile, undefeated light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes (9-0) authored the biggest win of his career thus far, clobbering the dangerous Jared Cannonier with a rocket-fuelled uppercut in the first round.

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2018

There was a time, not all that long ago, when “Platinum” Mike Perry and Darren Till seemed to be on a collision course. Perry was riding high on the momentum of back-to-back knockouts of Jake Ellenberger and Alex Reyes, while Till had just authored a violent first-round knockout of Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. “I’ve got my eye on Mike Perry,” Till called out moments after he clobbered Cerrone. “You and me were meant to fight!”

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2018

We can now add another name to the list of fighters to call out Artem Lobov: Kyle Bochniak. The all-action American featherweight called out the Russian on Wednesday evening on Twitter. https://twitter.com/KyleBochniak/status/999480036553121792

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2018

Having won his four four bouts in the UFC’s Octagon, Australian featherweight Alex Volkanovski (17-1) has been rewarded with a big step up in competition. He’ll be battling 10th-ranked UFC featherI honestly think I can finish himweight contender Darren Elkins (24-5) when the UFC touches down in Boise, Idaho on July 14, as first reported by BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor. 

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2018

On Friday, Bellator MMA will celebrate its 200th fight card with the aptly-titled Bellator 200. On Thursday morning, the 34 fighters on the bill took to the scales to weigh in for the respective battles. Remarkably, only one of these 34 fighters failed to make their contracted weight, as lightweight Martyn Harris was advised to abandon his cut amid health concerns. Every other fighter on the card hit their mark. That includes middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho and challenger Gegard Mousasi, who were elevated to Bellator 200 headlining honors when Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s anticipated rematch fell through.

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2018

UFC President Dana White is going to sit down with Conor McGregor this weekend in Liverpool, England. The UFC boss will be in town for the compelling, 12-fight UFC Liverpool card. Once that card is in the books, he plans to direct his focus to McGregor.

Jason Kindschy - May 23, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back! We kick off this episode with UFC featherweight powerhouse Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. After campaigning for a ranked opponent in his next outing, Alex has been granted his wish and is set to face Darren Elkins at UFC FN 133 in Boise, Idaho on July 14th. The Aussie will help us breakdown the matchup against and discuss the negotiations that led to Alex signing a contract against the No. 10 ranked Elkins. We’ll discuss the magnitude of this opportunity and what it means for his career, why Volkanovski believes he is too powerful for any of the athletes at 145, and where a dominant win over “The Damage” puts him in the hunt for featherweight gold.

Drake Riggs - May 23, 2018

“I don’t know [why 50 Cent thinks he can take me], man. 50 be drinking too much of that champagne he’s got. I think he’s just talkin’. Who actually thinks that 50 is tryin’ to fight? I just don’t feel like 50’s trying to step in no cage with me.

Drake Riggs - May 23, 2018

https://twitter.com/Chisanga_Malata/status/999393972199084033 “I gotta confess… I was so scared of fighting Nick Diaz so we poisoned his IV. But he survived so I was even more terrified. All the athletic commission was on my payroll so they tricked the weigh in and I made it. And I went through so I was even more terrified. So the alien abducted me, they put the gamma ray to increase my strength like the Hulk. Like performance enhancing drug…and, the fight was still happening! So right before, I put some glass and cement in my gloves to make sure…and still had a crazy hard fight!”

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

Valentina Shevchenko wants a shot at UFC flyweight champion Nicco Montano. That could not be any clearer. Unfortunately for her, the fight has proven a little difficult to put together. This, of course, is not the fault of Montano, who has been recovering from a tonsillectomy. Yet Shevchenko seems to be getting tired of waiting all the same, arguing that if Montano is not healthy enough to fight, she should drop the belt. “Not yet, we are not at that point [of Montano vacating the title],” Shevchenko said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour (transcribed by Peter Carroll of MMA Fighting) “but I think it would be very right to do things like this because if you are not ready to fight, if you don’t want to fight, you have to leave the belt — you cannot hold it.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

It seems like every major fight card is rocked by at least one fighter missing weight. This problem is so prevalent that cards that don’t feature a weigh-in hiccup — like last weekend’s UFC Chile card — feel like a real rarity. When it comes to solutions for the epidemic of fighters missing weight for their bouts, there have been dozens of solutions suggested. Former UFC star and current Bellator staple Chael Sonnen, however, thinks he’s figured out a way to curb the problem significantly.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

This Friday night, in the main event of Bellator 200, former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi will challenge Rafael Carvalho for Bellator’s middleweight championship. The bout was originally expected to serve as the card’s co-headliner, but was elevated to the headlining spot when Roy Nelson and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s rematch was nixed due to injury. Despite the fact that Mousasi will enter this fight more than 50 professional fights behind him, he’s apparently feeling quite nervous about it.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

Earlier this week, news surfaced that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic had sustained a litany of leg-related injuries in training, and forced out of his Bellator 200 headlining rematch with Roy Nelson as a result. Amid the immediate fallout of Cro Cop’s unfortunate injury, Bellator hoped to find a last-minute replacement opponent for Nelson. This per BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

Last weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Santiago, Chile, former middleweight and welterweight title challenger Demian Maia attempted to correct a two-fight losing streak in a short-notice fight with the dangerous Kamaru Usman. This fight began quite will for the BJJ wizard Maia, as he managed to tangle up with Usman early. Regrettably, however, the referee inexplicably separated the two fighters as Maia worked to improve his position and secure back-mount. After this brief moment of success, Maia was dominated for the remainder of the fight, ultimately losing a lopsided unanimous decision.

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2018

The UFC 225 main card is absolutely stacked. Regrettably, there is one aspect of this main card that is a little controversial. Many fans are disappointed that it includes the sophomore MMA fight of former pro wrestler CM Punk, who is set to take on Mike Jackson.  The controversy, of course, is that Punk and Jackson both own 0-1 pro MMA records. While Punk is a huge name — and a figure that is almost certain to boost the UFC 225 PPV revenue — many fans feel he belongs on the undercard.