MMA News

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

The “UFC” and “Ben Askren” have never been two things that have been synonymous with each other. At least not in a positive light… But lately, now that Askren is free of fighting obligations as a “semi-retired” fighter, talks between fans and pundits have heated up, maybe more so than ever before. Including from Askren himself who has stated he wants to fight Georges St-Pierre and that that’s the only fight that could make him come back. Askren even stated recently that he believes the fight will happen by next year.

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

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

After an awesome battle with Luke Rockhold and an even more incredible finish, the worry was that Yoel Romero had a broken leg coming out of the fight at UFC 221. However, the good news is that it is just a deep bruise that is expected to heal rather quickly, which puts Romero back to work on his road to gold. After already being punished for missing weight, he’s expected to face Robert Whittaker later this year. Romero has said he’d like the bout to take place in Miami, but manager Malki Kawa just said UFC 225 in Chicago may be a possibility. “[Yoel Romero] almost pulled out of the fight. The man re-hydrated, went to sleep the next morning, and still he wasn’t feeling the best. He even told me, ‘I’m not 100-percent.’ He could have fooled me. Nobody that I know wants to lose $100,000 over three pounds. The man wasn’t trying to do that. He tried, and he couldn’t do it. He paid the penalty.”

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.

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.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2018

Frank Fertitta – brother of Lorenzo Fertitta – made a killing selling his stake in the Ultimate Fighting Championship last year. Billions and billions of dollars, to be more precise, and that sum was merely added to his already significant pile of gold. In the wake of this insanely massive transaction, Frank has made a number of extravagant purchases, like a $70 million penthouse in Manhattan.

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.”

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

Over the weekend, the UFC debuted in Perth, Western Australia with UFC 221. In the main event of this card, a fearsome Yoel Romero took out former champion Luke Rockhold with a brutal barrage of third-round punches. Shortly after the referee waved off the fight, Romero cornered Rockhold for a brief post-fight embrace – and a quick peck on the cheek that was promptly immortalized as an MMA meme.

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

UFC light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson are no strangers to one another. The two men met in one of the 205-pound weight classes greatest fights at UFC 192. The bout would go the distance and it would be Cormier who came out on top with the split decision victory and his first career title defense. Since the two fought, they haven’t lost. Cormier has gone 3-0 while Gustafsson 2-0. Cormier just recently defended his title against Volkan Oezdemir at UFC 220 and his longtime friend and teammate, Luke Rockhold just very recently attempted to recapture some gold of his own at UFC 221. However, Rockhold was unable to come away with the win and prior to this fight, he had talked about going up to the 205-pound division. A statement that prompted a warning from Gustafsson.

Drake Riggs - February 14, 2018

One of the oldest matchups, if not the oldest matchup in the strawweight division’s history is set to take place and hopefully happen this time. The UFC announced on Wednesday that the perennial top five strawweight contender and former title challenger, Claudia Gadelha is expected to make her return at UFC 225 when she takes on the inaugural UFC champion and former Invicta FC champion, Carla Esparza. JUST ANNOUNCED: @ClaudiaGadelha_ takes on @CarlaEsparza1 in the Windy City at #UFC225❗️ pic.twitter.com/Z6AdLjnpwW