MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

Josh Emmett says a fight with Brian Ortega “needs to happen”, weighs in on Edgar vs. Holloway. UFC featherweight contender Josh Emmett is coming off one of the most sensational knockouts of 2017 at last month’s UFC on FOX 26 event in Winnipeg.

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

UFC Fight Night 124 loses a bout after fighter slips while exiting bathtub. UFC welterweights Thiago Alves and Zak Cummings will no longer be throwing down this Sunday night in St. Louis.

Chris Taylor - January 12, 2018

Perennial UFC welterweight contender “Platinum” Mike Perry will look to rebound from his recent loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio when he squares off with Max Griffin at UFC on FOX 28 on February 24 in Orlando, Florida. The welterweight knockout artist, Perry, recently sat down with host Kinch from BJ Penn Radio where he discussed his newly announced fight which takes place in his backyard of Orlando, Florida.

Drake Riggs - January 12, 2018

The preliminary numbers for the UFC’s final event of 2017 have been released by Dave Meltzer and they did better than most may have assumed they would. Estimations are around 340,000 to 380,000 buys which…is shockingly the third highest of 2017. The top two being UFC 217 which was headlined by UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping defending against the returning welterweight king, Georges St-Pierre which did 875,000. Following UFC 217 was UFC 214 which featured light heavyweight champion, Daniel Cormier rematching Jon Jones, doing 860,000. Both events featured three title fights. The next highest after UFC 219 was a tie between UFC 209 and UFC 211 with 250,000. 209 was headlined by Tyron Woodley as he defended his title in a rematch against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Heavyweight champ, Stipe Miocic also was in a rematch for his fight when he defended against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 211.

Drake Riggs - January 12, 2018

Everyone was expecting that the highly anticipated welterweight title fight between Rory MacDonald and the champion, Douglas Lima was going to headline their big January 20th show. I mean, the welterweights are even highlighted on the poster as if they are the main event. But just a week before, Bellator has made the change to swap the co-main with the main making the first fight of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix between UFC veteran middleweight and light heavyweight, Chael Sonnen and former UFC champ, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. TheSportingNews’ Steven Muehlhausen confirmed the change via Bellator president, Scott Coker.

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

Ever since Khabib Nurmagomedov put on a dominating performance against Edson Barboza, he’s continued to dominate headlines. From being slated for a high-profile fight with Tony Ferguson, to Conor McGregor’s coach watching footage of his fights, to an epic first-ever Russian UFC card, you can’t look anywhere without seeing Nurmagomedov’s name. Everyone is wondering what is next for the Russian Sambo machine, but it seems like his manager already knows. It looks like the plan is to indeed skip Ferguson and go straight to McGregor, unless the belt is stripped and a fight with Tony is for the true UFC lightweight title. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov]’s next fight, we’re not fighting for no damn interim belt. We want the real belt, or we don’t want nothing. We appreciate everything the UFC has done for us, but it’s time for a real belt. Nobody is interested in fighting for a fake belt. Tony Ferguson has a fake belt. Nobody wants this.” — Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, speaking to MMA Fighting.

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

At the end of December, fans were shocked that Jimmy Smith and long-time employer Bellator parted ways. Although, the silver lining quickly showed itself on Monday when Smith said he’d know about his next job within the week. Sure enough, the news was released today as per an official UFC press release. Jimmy Smith just got picked up by the UFC to join the broadcast team and will be getting to work as soon as possible. “I am honored to join the world’s premier combat sports brand in 2018. It is a privilege to call fights for a living and I can’t wait to join the tremendous UFC broadcast team to call the best fights in the world. “To the UFC fans, I am thrilled to join you for this wild ride. See you all very soon!” — Jimmy Smith via official UFC press release.

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

While Tyron Woodley recuperates from his shoulder surgery, welterweight contenders are pacing back and forth itching at their shot to try and take his gold away from him. Rafael dos Anjos feels like he has earned it with his dominant performance against former champ Robbie Lawler, but Woodley already told him he has other plans. Colby Covington has had Woodley’s name in his mouth since his win over Demian Maia, but T-Wood thinks he doesn’t deserve it. What the UFC welterweight champion wants is to prove he is the best of all time. Something he can only do against Georges St-Pierre. “I’d say that’s my big prediction for 2018. Big prediction for me is I fight Georges St-Pierre on my first fight back. Georges, my shoulder is sore. I can’t even punch. Georges, I can’t even punch. I can’t punch.Georges, it’s hard to sleep. Georges, if you want to fight me brother, this is the time. If you want to get me Georges, it’s right now. He’s a G. He would exit the sport and nobody would give him that much stuff for losing to me.”

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

There is a UFC card in Missouri this Sunday, but the big UFC kick-off to 2018 is just a week away now. UFC 220 goes down in Boston with Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier both defending their titles against young hard-hitting hype machines. As we get closer to the event, tensions get higher and there’s bound to be some verbal jabs before the physical ones. Volkan Oezdemir went straight from a poke to an all-out haymaker to try and get underneath Cormier’s skin, but the UFC light heavyweight champion turned it right back on him. Savage post @volkan_oezdemir but since no one knows or follows you I’ll send it out to the public. 3000 likes for such a good post seems like a waste. quick point tho you’re no Jon Jones and I’m no jimmy Manuwa. And I’m a lot better than Kelly Amunson #tapmachine #bum #ufc220 pic.twitter.com/pvGpoHLE2F

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

Khabib Nurmagomedov and team has said that some big news is in the works. Fans and media alike specualted whether that would be a interim title fight against Tony Ferguson, or if Nurmagomedov would just be able to skip straight to an undisputed title fight with Conor McGregor. No one expected that it may also be a huge card in Russia, but that just became way more of a possibility. First reported by Denis Geyko of RT Sport, the UFC has booked their the first ever fight card in Russia at Moscow’s Olympiyskiy Stadium. “Most likely, this event is going to be connected with us. [Khabib Nurmagomedov] will fight in April first with Tony Ferguson, and then we will receive a date for a fight with [Conor] McGregor. Although I can’t exclude the possibility they will make us wait for Ferguson until September, and there won’t be an April fight.”

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

Kamaru Usman is frustrated to say the least. He’s campaigned for the better part of a year for higher ranked names to test himself against, but the fights never got booked. All of the big fights he’s wanted have either passed him by for some reason or another, or have been taken by Colby Covington. So, make no mistake that going into his fight this Sunday against Emil Meek, he’s going to fight the man who was willing to step up, but he’s not taking his eyes off of bigger things. Sooner or later, he believes he and Covington will have to fight. Not just because the natural progression of the rankings, but because it is written in the book of fate. “It’s a fight that has to happen. It’s a fight that has to happen because I believe this is fate. This fight has been written. How much of a small world do we live in? I was a little boy born in Auchi, Nigera, in a country full of over 200 million people, in a small farm town. To get to the point where I immigrate here, I’m in America, to where I get to college and I cross paths with the people that I have. Let’s just summarize this a little bit: Me and Jon Jones crossed paths senior year of high school. We met at senior nationals, a big wrestling tournament, and after that, we became friends. ‘Hey, I’m going to go to school in Iowa next year.’ He said, ‘I’m going to go to school in Iowa [too].’ That’s great. We stayed in touch.”

Drake Riggs - January 11, 2018

Matchmaking has been a bit all over the place in regards to one matchup for UFC on Fox 28 in Orlando, Florida. First, news broke from each fighter that Sara McMann would be welcoming the Invicta FC bantamweight champion, Yana Kunitskaya to the organization at the Florida event. This was a great matchup and one that didn’t fall apart due to injuries…well…not their injuries. One week before Fox 28, UFC Fight Night 126 in Austin, Texas takes place on February 18 and shortly after McMann vs Kunitskaya was announced, a fight between Marion Reneau and former Invicta champ, Tonya Evinger was also announced. Unfortunately, Evinger was injured out of the fight thus creating the opportunity for McMann to fill in. So it will now be McMann vs Reneau at Fox 28 in Orlando. This had left Yana Kunitskaya without an opponent and put everything in question whether or not she would still be getting a fight or not. That was until she made it very clear that she indeed will still be making her debut at the Orlando event.

Drake Riggs - January 11, 2018

It was announced by Invicta FC on their official website today that the UFC’s Bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes would be re-joining their organization! But this time, not as a fighter but as part of the Athlete Development Team. Nunes’ primary responsibilities will be to assist in making matchmaking decisions, therefore leading to intriguing fight card layouts and helping identify future champions, specifically looking at talent from Brazil and the southeastern U.S. Nunes fought twice for Invicta, once in 2012 and once in 2013. She went 1-1, defeating Raquel Pa’aluhi and losing a decision to Sarah D’Alelio. She spoke a bit about Invicta and her new position in this interview:

Drake Riggs - January 11, 2018

It’s definitely not the type of news you would like to receive while preparing for the biggest fight of your career… UFC Flyweight, “Jessy Jess” Jessica-Rose Clark makes her sophomore appearance with the organization this Saturday in a big-time showdown with the returning star from the Strawweight division, Paige VanZant. Unfortunately…today, Jessy Jess received some troubling news. Someone just broke into my house, stole all my housemates stuff, trashed the whole place, stole clothes and shoes from me Wtf man.

Jason Kindschy - January 11, 2018

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT and we are kicking off 2018 the right way! 8:15PM ET- First, we are joined by the No. 4 ranked featherweight in the UFC, Josh Emmett. Following his spectacular KO of Ricardo Lamas in Winnipeg last month, Emmett has catapulted up the rankings and now looks to prove himself amongst the elite of 145. We’ll recap the big win, discuss what’s next for the Team Alpha Male product, and get the inside scoop on a potential matchup with Brian Ortega.

Justin Golightly - January 11, 2018

Khabib Nurmagomedov hasn’t stopped campaigning for a huge fight ever since he dominated the dangerous Edson Barboza at UFC 219. Dana White has said that the next fight will be against Tony Ferguson, but that whether it’d be for the interim lightweight title or the undisputed title, would be up to Conor McGregor. However, things aren’t as clear as they appear. Whether it is a tease or just to stir up some the rumor mill by adding to the trash talk, coach John Kavanagh recorded himself studying Khabib Nurmagomedov fights on his Instagram live.

Justin Golightly - January 11, 2018

Paulo ‘The Eraser’ Costa may be wishing he’d have erased this latest video. On his official Facebook, Costa goes off on transgendered athlete and MMA fighter Fallon Fox. It’s unclear what prompted Paulo Costa to bring up Fallon Fox, considering she hasn’t fought since 2014 and is basically retired from MMA, but he had some very heated and controversial comments to say about her. Refusing to call Fox by her preferred pronoun, he even claimed that he’d fight her for free to ‘protect women’. “[Fallon Fox] was born a man, and he is a man, even though he calls himself a transsexual. It’s absurd cowardice, not only by him, but also by the promoters of any event that has accepted this kind of absurdity. He has simply annihilated the girls who have fought against him.”

Justin Golightly - January 11, 2018

Potentially the biggest fight in Bellator history is just nine days away. Former UFC welterweight title challenger and infamous violence deity Rory MacDonald will challenge Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima next Saturday at Bellator 192. Always in the shadow of the UFC, Lima is looking to come out on the lighter side of an organizational eclipse by beating one of the absolute best in the world. Whether you believe in the rankings or not, the numbers don’t even need to be beside the names to understand that this is a fight to determine the elite of the elite in the division. “I’d love to think [the winner is No. 1 in the world] – I think Rory [MacDonald]’s been on the top for a long time. He beat the guy [Tyron Woodley] who is supposedly the No. 1 right now – he beat him before. So he can be considered the No. 1, and I’ll take that spot when I beat him next Saturday, for sure. I’m honestly not even thinking about that. I’m just focused on the fight. I don’t really care much about rankings. There’s always going to be someone saying something like, ‘He doesn’t deserve to be No. 1.’ So, I’m not really focusing on that.”