MMA News

Justin Golightly - March 1, 2018

The kid tested, mother approved Sage Northcutt is no stranger to doing death-defying flips inside the Octagon. We all have grown familiar with his Power Ranger post-fight celebrations and his fruit-crushing outside of the cage. Back in October of last year, he nearly gave us a heart attack hiking with Team Alpha Male, but it turns out he nearly had one himself on another day by himself when he almost reenacted the bear scene from The Revenant. “One of the first times that I was up in Sacramento, California, I was up in the mountains – and this is almost towards the Lake Tahoe area – I’m up in the mountains, I went running and climbed this waterfall by myself. I’m in the middle of nowhere, I climbed about two miles past the waterfall, and all of a sudden everything gets real quiet. Well, I didn’t know at the time, but there’s black bears up there. So I heard something grunting. All I had was a little tiny knife on me just for like protection, just because I need it, but it couldn’t do anything to a black bear, I don’t think. So, what I did was I hid behind the water that was coming out of the waterfall, and it was absolutely freezing. So, I hid for about five minutes. I didn’t move. And when I heard the grunting stop I just took off sprinting.”

Tom Taylor - March 1, 2018

From the sounds of it, UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson’s next title challenger could well come in the form of reigning UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, flyweight contender Sergio Pettis gave his take on this compelling flyweight title superfight. “I mean it’s and interesting fight to make, I think it’s definitely cool for the fans,” he said. “Definitely a super fight.”

Justin Golightly - March 1, 2018

This is Brian Ortega’s moment on Saturday. You can almost hear Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ playing in the background when thinking about the upcoming match-up with Frankie Edgar. At only 27-years old, this may not be Ortega’s ‘one shot’, but it certainly is his biggest yet. Edgar has made a career about being the enforcer who stops any hot prospect from getting a title shot besides him. While he may not know it, Edgar will be doing all he can to stop Ortega from not only getting that fight for the belt, but from moving out of the hood. “I don’t count my chickens before they hatch you know. It sucks man, it sucks. I’m still in the hood, but you know, luckily I got love there and no one messes with me. The goal honestly, the way I see things happening is I beat Frankie [Edgar], then I have some good money, then I fight for the belt and that’s when I take off and buy my own house or whatever. It’s expensive over here in LA, man.”

Justin Golightly - March 1, 2018

When you talk about UFC’s welterweight division, you can’t mention it without bringing up Jon Fitch. He was never able to capture the title, but he damn near came close before falling short against Georges St-Pierre and ending his 16-fight win streak and still maintains a slot as one of the best 170-pounders ever. Eventually, he’d move on and become the PFL (formerly WSOF) welterweight champion, now he’s about to enter yet another chapter. As first reported by MMA Fighting, Jon Fitch has officially signed to Bellator. “Unfortunately, yes [I believe choosing a promotion is like picking your poison] because it’s not a real sport. MMA is not a real sport, it’s a production. There is no meritocracy, there is no if you beat this guy, you do this and you move forward. it’s casting. Their casting roles of TV shows, which is why we’re lobbying to try to get the Ali Act expanded to cover MMA because we’ll have sanctioning bodies, we’ll have an actual third party rankings system, and we’ll have some protections economically with our contracts. Basic, basic stuff that we don’t have.”

Justin Golightly - March 1, 2018

We are finally nearing the end of this next rough chapter in the epic tale of Jon Jones. After his hearing on Tuesday, the California State Athletic commission revoked his license and fined him $205K. He can re-apply for his license as early as August this year, but USADA still has to deal out a suspension on the GOAT candidate. For some fans, like former UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate who spoke about her feelings yesterday, this last set-back was the last straw. Jones has since responded on social media. @MieshaTate I don’t quit when things get tough for me, I get stronger. You just wait and see, maybe you’ll even find motivation in it. Sucks I lost you as a fan. Enjoy retirement sister

Tom Taylor - March 1, 2018

Ever since he defeated former title challenger Demian Maia in October, Colby Covington has felt he is the welterweight division’s number-one contender. Unfortunately for him, the UFC seems to be leaning in the direction of Rafael dos Anjos in the search for champion Tyron Woodley’s next challenger. “I don’t get why UFC wants to do RDA-Woodley,” Covington said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I mean, RDA is 3-2 in his last five. Last five fights, I’m 5-0, so RDA was just getting melted by lightweights last year. Eddie Alvarez. The guy’s a complete bum. He’s just looking to piggy back and get one more fight, then he’s out of the game man. And that’s what these guys don’t understand. I’m the future. These guys are all old, at the end of their careers. I’m just getting started. I’m just getting warmed up. You haven’t even seen my potential yet.”

Tom Taylor - March 1, 2018

Last weekend, on the undercard of the UFC’s exciting stop in Orlando, Florida, Alan Jouban rebounded from a tough, two-fight skid with a beautiful second-round knockout of friend and fellow 10th Planet student Ben Saunders. Now that’s he’s back in the win column, Jouban is ready to take another step up the welterweight ladder. And while he didn’t have any names in mind initially, he does like one idea put forth by the UFC Tonight panel post-fight: Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. The only problem is that he considers Cowboy a friend, and after knocking out Saunders, he’d rather fight somebody he’s not close with. Like Dong Hyun Kim.

Tom Taylor - March 1, 2018

Sergio Pettis now his crosshairs locked firmly on two-time UFC flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez, who he’ll meet at UFC 225 on June 9 in Chicago. Though this is one of the toughest tests of his career thus far, the younger Pettis brother is confident its a fight he can win.

Drake Riggs - February 28, 2018

Invicta FC has lost two consecutive bantamweight champions to the UFC. And they will both have left to fight for the UFC featherweight crown against Cris Cyborg(who happens to be a former Invicta champ herself). First, it was the dominant, Tonya Evinger who finally made her UFC debut at UFC 214 as she fought for the vacant 145-pound title. Cyborg would end up walking away with the title then go on to make her first title defense against Holly Holm at UFC 219 just roughly three months ago.

Drake Riggs - February 28, 2018

“Cat Zingano is a bit unpredictable. She moves forward all the time, always going after the win and that’s why we’re focused and working on trying to counter and catcher her when she’s not expecting. Sometimes she exposes herself too much, so we’re focusing on the physical aspect. I think that age is not a huge factor, but it is a factor that will help me recover quickly in between rounds.

Drake Riggs - February 28, 2018

UFC 225 in Chicago, Illinois looks to be getting a literally massive fight added to it. BJPenn.com’s own Tom Taylor is confirming that top five heavyweights, Alistair Overeem and Curtis Blaydes will potentially be squaring off at the June 9th event. Can now confirm that a heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Curtis Blaydes is being targeted for #UFC225 in Chicago.

Drake Riggs - February 28, 2018

Team Alpha Male has long been one of the very best gyms in the world for lower weight class fighters. They have had multiple head coaches over the years ranging from the likes of Martin Kampmann, Master Thong, Duane Ludwig and most recently, Justin Buchholz. Buchholz was a UFC lightweight before he ever became a coach. He fought from 2008 to 2010 with the promotion and going 1-4 before finishing his career (to this point) at 16-10.

Justin Golightly - February 28, 2018

While we all are still waiting for the final verdict on Jon Jones, some aren’t as eager for him to comeback. There are countless fans who just want what could very well be the greatest fighter of all-time to return to the Octagon, but for every t-shirt wearing ‘Bones’ supporter, there is one who has just been burned too many times. Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate sounds like one of those fans. “The thing is, I don’t really care at this point if [Jon Jones] comes back because I’ve lost the motivation and the interest, and the faith that I have in Jon Jones has been lost. Now maybe in three, four years, if he gets a great suspension [from the USADA], if he gets the book thrown at him and he really does make those changes, maybe he has a chance at restoring [his legacy], but at this point I just don’t care anymore. I don’t care. I’m over Jon Jones. I’m done with it.

Jason Kindschy - February 28, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is live at 8PM ET/ 5PM PT! Kicking things off we are joined by Alan “The Brahma” Jouban. Coming off a highlight knockout over Ben Saunders at UFC Orlando over the weekend, Jouban is happy to be back in the win column and take home another fight bonus. Although Alan did break his foot during the scrap, he’s hopeful that fighting four times this year is realistic, as well as being involved in the title conversation by the end of 2018. We’ll discuss what the win meant for Jouban both in and outside the cage, the struggle of having to fight a friend in Ben Saunders, and who he wants next after his foot heals up.

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones met with the CSAC, where he was handed his punishment for his latest failed drug test. The commission pulled no punches, revoking his license, and fining him 40% of his UFC 214 fight purse. Because Jones is still awaiting a suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), one can be quite confident that it’ll be a long time before we see him back in the cage. Given his status as one of MMA’s true greats, this is undeniably unfortunate.

Justin Golightly - February 28, 2018

After a long back-and-forth, these two top bantamweights are finally fighting each other for real. The whole thing played out in front of us all on Twitter, complete with trash talk and even public contract posting. Jimmie Rivera said he was moving on from Marlon Moraes and concentrating on Dominick Cruz, but it looks like plans have changed. The two will clash in the main event of UFC Utica on the very first of June. Utica, your main event is SET❗

Tom Taylor - February 28, 2018

On April 7, in the main event of the stacked UFC 223, interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and undefeated contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will vie for the undisputed title (which is expected to be vacated by Conor McGregor in the coming weeks). As one of the lightweight division’s fastest rising contenders, Sweden’s David Teymur will be watching this fight closely. Already 4-0 in the perilous lightweight division, he could easily find himself in the cage with the fight’s winner in the future. So who does Teymur expect to win this Ferguson-Nurmagomedov bout? He’s leaning toward Nurmagomedov.

Justin Golightly - February 28, 2018

Dana White has been teasing big things for 2018, which is the UFC’s 25th anniversary year. We’ve already got Stipe Miocic fighting Daniel Cormier in a superfight of all superfights, but now a Brock Lesnar return looms in the distance. Not only did White meet with the former UFC heavyweight champion, but Michael Bisping now is certain that he’ll fight in the UFC. He even knows the opponent and texted it to his host Luis Gomez, who proceeded to freak out. “Brock Lesnar is definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely gonna fight in the UFC. I’m telling you right now, Brock Lesnar will fight in the UFC and I’m hearing — in fact I’m not going to say it. I don’t want to do an Ariel Helwani. But yeah, I’m hearing that he’s fighting in the UFC. I don’t know who. I don’t know that he’s definitely signing, but I’m aware of a potential fight. Somebody wants to fight him, that’s what I’m aware of.” – Michael Bisping speaking on his Believe You Me podcast.