MMA News

Justin Golightly - February 16, 2018

Donald Cerrone is in a spot he’s never been before. He’s on a three-fight losing streak going into his fight with Yancy Medeiros this Sunday. Something like will make a man think, which is something the Cowboy has clearly done. In Austin, he’ll make his 35th walk to the cage under the ZUFFA banner from his UFC and WEC fights combined. Imagine all those fight ghosts hollering in your brain. Imagine the feelings compounded by every single one of those weeks, days, hours and minutes leading up to them. In his latest interview, Donald Cerrone lets you walk a mile in his boots by describing what this feels like. “This is a must win for me just because I’m sick and tired of f-cking losing, man. It has nothing to do with setting some record or getting back on track or proving anybody wrong. Just it’s f-cking time. Let’s go. Give a sh-t about keeping my job, or give a sh-t about making a statement to the guys in the upper weight class. Let’s go Cowboy. It’s time to f-cking pony up, b-tch. That’s what this is about. It’s about me and having fun. This is what I love. It’s the scariest, most intense fun feeling. I can’t even explain it to you but, from right now: Can’t sleep at night. Eating is hard. Make the weight. Half the battle is over. Fight day, f-ck. All your friends are like, ‘You’re gonna kill him!’ Uh, no b-tch. I gotta go in there and fight. It doesn’t just go like that.”

Justin Golightly - February 16, 2018

It’s hard to keep track of MMA with everything moving the speed of light, but chances are you were still confused on the UFC’s lightweight title scenario. Dana White seemed intentionally vague about the whole situation, even pissing off one-half of the UFC 223 title fight, Tony Ferguson. The other half of that highly anticipated fight Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t seem phased though. He just recently said his contract states that he’s fighting for the ‘real’ belt: Conor McGregor’s belt. “When is Conor [McGregor] compete last time in MMA? I forget about this. Long time. He’s a  boxing guy. He’s good to stay in boxing, because you have to compete in MMA, like wrestling, grappling, conditioning 25 minutes — it’s like different. It’s very hard to him. [They say he’s going to come back], but when? They talk about a [Floyd] Mayweather fight. I don’t think he gonna come back. We’re going to fight for [McGregor’s] belt.

Drake Riggs - February 15, 2018

The consensus number one ranked female flyweight in the world(at least to those that have been paying attention) has officially and finally joined the UFC roster. Invicta FC flyweight queen, Jennifer Maia made the announcement today on her Instagram page that she is now a UFC fighter.

Drake Riggs - February 15, 2018

No one expected the youngest man in The Ultimate Fighter house on season 17 to end up winning the whole show. In fact, that guy was the underdog in all of his fights. Yet Kelvin Gastelum won them all and continues to look like one of the best young fighters in MMA today. Gastelum won TUF 17 as a middleweight but would drop to welterweight immediately after. He would miss weight twice in five fights before going back up to middleweight, but that stay at 185 would not last. Gastelum would fight once against Nate Marquardt then drop back down to 170 for two more fights before now having his last four all at middleweight.

Drake Riggs - February 15, 2018

  Very few fighters capitalize on opportunities the way that Josh Emmett did at UFC on Fox 26 in Winnipeg, Canada. Emmett was a replacement for former UFC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo who pulled out of his rematch with Ricardo Lamas to fill in for the injured Frankie Edgar against current champion, Max Holloway at UFC 218.

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

All things come full circle. We’ve been awaiting Conor McGregor’s triumphant return to the UFC, but way back before the sweat dried from his boxing bout with Floyd Mayweather, Nate Diaz was expected to be his opponent when he came back. A lot has gone on since then, but now it seems the interest has been renewed along with Diaz’s anticipated return as well. However, there is a catch. While McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh would love a giant conclusion to their trilogy, he says that the winner between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is next in line. “There’s a beautiful relationship between Conor [McGregor] and Nate [Diaz], in terms of there [being] a great back and forth between them outside of the cage and inside of the cage. It’s a lovely fight. His five-round rematch is still one of my favorite fights. That being said, I did assume that Nate would be as busy, or busier, than Conor. You know, Conor’s had an MMA fight and a boxing fight since. We haven’t seen Nate since so I started changing. You could see it among the fans who, I’ve always said and I still do believe, are the most important factor because they pay for the pay-per-views they want to see.”

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

With as many awesome things that happened at UFC 221, it’s still hard to move on from that absolutely egregious eye gouge that Li Jingliang did to Jake Matthews to get out of a guillotine choke. While Matthews was all class about it after the fact, it hasn’t stopped fans, media and other fighters from scolding Jingliang for the foul. Joe Rogan recently spoke up about it on his recent show and wasn’t happy about what he did in the very least. “I thought it was f-cking bullsh-t. You can’t let a guy get away with that, or he’s going to do it again. […] You don’t do it that way. You tap. It’s straight up cheating; it’s not just shady. It’s cheating. They should tell him, ‘If this ever happens again, if you ever think you’re going to do this again, we’re going to kick you out of the league.’ You can’t do that. You can’t gouge someone’s eye when they’re choking you. It felt like the fingers were in long enough for him to know the fingers were in there. The referee f-cked up. The UFC should do something. Someone should do something.”

Jason Kindschy - February 15, 2018

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 9PM ET/6PM PT! 
 9:15PM ET- Our guest tonight is one of the biggest victors coming out of UFC 221 over the weekend, Curtis “Razor” Blaydes. After taking some huge punches from Mark Hunt in the first round, Curtis was able to implement his game plan and dominate the “Super Samoan” for the remainder of the bout. With the win Down Under, Blaydes now cracks the top 5 in the heavyweight rankings and puts himself another step closer to UFC gold. We’ll recap the fight, discuss the show of heart to weather the early storm, the backlash from the fans over the outcome, how he plans to celebrate his 27th birthday, and what’s next for this surging contender. All that and much more with Mr. “Razor” Blaydes!

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

With the UFC’ women’s featherweight division still empty – even on the official website – the new women’s flyweight class is actively being built. The season of The Ultimate Fighter brought in talent and crowned their inaugural champion Nicco Montano, meanwhile Paige VanZant and Valentina Shevchenko have made their jump into the division. Now, the UFC has officially signed Invicta FC’s flyweight champion Jennifer Maia as reported by Combate. “Everything in its time. Thanks for the love and messages from everyone, that is what motivates me more and more and makes me see that I am on the right path. Signing a contract with the big UFC organization is an accomplishment and accomplishment of all who are around me, I thank all the team that I have, through my will guide me to show a beautiful teamwork. I am very grateful also to all who gave me the opportunity to build my trajectory. Now, it’s a new beginning.” – Jennifer Maia via her official Instagram.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

This Friday night, Bellator MMA will return to our screens with Bellator 194. On Thursday, the 24 fighters on the card took to the scale to weigh in for the respective battles. Unfortunately, the card’s weigh-ins were not without mishaps, as boxing transplant Heather Hardy missed weighed for her anticipated flyweight bout with fellow boxer Ana Julaton. To make matters worse, this unfortunate hiccup was due to a misunderstanding, as Hardy weighed in and, believing she’d hit her mark, began rehydrating. Only then was she told she’d missed she’d actually weighed in above the flyweight division’s 126-pound limit. Though this unfortunate miss was accidental and minuscule, Hardy will surrender 20% of her fight purse to Julaton all the same.

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Why are MMA tournaments awesome? #Bellator194 headliner and grand-prix participant @roynelsonmma explains. Full story: https://t.co/sk0ip6v0GN pic.twitter.com/WKmJWvo7fb — MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) February 15, 2018

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

The UFC 223 lineup continues to get better and better. This anticipated card, which goes down on April 7 in Brooklyn, New York, has now been improved by a clash of ranked featherweights, as 15th-ranked contender Calvin Kattar will battle Brazil’s Renato Moicano, who is ranked 11th.

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

Just four days ago, Yoel Romero overcame the drama of a suspenseful weigh-in ordeal and rose to the occasion in the main event of UFC 221. He shut down former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold and finished him with an uppercut that looked like it was removed from Mortal Kombat. It’s not surprise that current champion Robert Whittaker was watching this fight and keeping an eye on who could be his next opponent. However, he didn’t just watch it, he absolutely dissected it. “[Yoel Romero] was mentioning a back injury earlier, so we can’t be sure if it was the back injury that’s what prevented him from doing his usual explosive, unorthodox movement patters, or it was a gameplan because it worked so well. He stood at perfect range for [Luke] Rockhold, he predicted all his strikes, all his combos. When Rockhold couldn’t kick – cause he always leads the kick, or tries to, doesn’t really set up his kicks too well – he’d check it. When Rockhold would work with his combos – no more than two or three – he’d block him. Then he’d just explode moving forward, landing punches, not overextending too much.”

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

For a few months, it looked as though former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would partake in the final fight of his illustrious career in the main event of the UFC’s March 17 stop in London, England. At the time, it looked as though his opponent would be a fellow veteran and long-time friend in former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Eventually, however, this plan fell through. Bisping’s retirement plans were moved to the back burner, and Evans was left without an opponent.

Justin Golightly - February 15, 2018

While it’s good for his bank account, some fans despise the idea of another Conor McGregor fight simply for the spectacle of it all. Maybe if he didn’t still hold the UFC lightweight title, they’d be more lenient. Some just want to see him back in the UFC, whether he defends his title or not. No question the organization needs a little McGregor boost, which is why these superfights are being put together. However, coach John Kavanagh may have found a solution. What if McGregor actually fights Floyd Mayweather in MMA, but has a ‘real fight’ later that same night? “I’m kind of reminded of early last year when I was asked about the boxing fight and I was doubtful as anybody, and I actually went as far as to stupidly tweet that I’ll do the Irish river dance naked if Floyd steps in the Octagon. Now, I’m going to be honest, I’m practicing Irish dancing, and I’m getting nervous about that. In all seriousness, it’s a crazy world we live in. The fight that could never happen happened. And now this is a fight [in MMA] that can never happen, and it seems to be getting, I don’t know, there seems to be something forming there. I would absolutely love it.”

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

Such a potty mouth, that @SuperSageNorthcutt! #UFCAustin 😂 A post shared by ufc (@ufc) on Feb 14, 2018 at 8:35am PST

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

Yes, you read that headline correctly. And yes, it is a ridiculous headline. But the fact is that we suddenly live in a world where undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and former professional wrestling star CM Punk might just clamber into the cage together for a weird throwback to the halcyon days of legal groin strikes and one-gloved fighters. Sure, this fight is incredibly unlikely to occur. If it does occur, however, expect CM Punk to walk into the cage as the betting favorite. Yes, despite a 0-1 MMA record, and the fact he’s only been training for a few years, the oddsmakers at sportsbook BetDSI.com believe he would beat the greatest boxer of our generation in a mixed martial arts bout.

Drake Riggs - February 14, 2018

When entering the UFC in 2016 as the 18-1 Bellator lightweight champion, “Ill” Will Brooks had plenty of hype surrounding him(as most champions from outside organizations do). Brooks was on an impressive eight-fight winning streak that included two wins over the former champion, Michael Chandler. Brooks made his debut against Ross Pearson and was able to come away with the unanimous decision victory…and it turns out that it will end up being his only one with the UFC. Brooks announced today on his Instagram account that he has been released by the UFC and will now be joining the Professional Fighters League and will participate in their million dollar lightweight tournament.