MMA News

Drake Riggs - December 27, 2017

Reports and rumors were circulating recently that the Rose Namajunas would be making her first title defense at UFC 221 in Australia…but not in a rematch with the woman she defeated for the title, Joanna Jedrzejczyk but the woman she’s 1-1 with, Tecia Torres. The Orlando Sentinel reports that the February 24 UFC on Fox 28 will be getting a big Strawweight fight between Torres and Jessica Andrade. Torres entered the UFC a part of The Ultimate Fighter season 20 and most recently defeated Michelle Waterson at UFC 218 by unanimous decision, extending her winning streak to three. Her last and only loss came to the champion, Rose Namajunas via split decision in a very close fight. Torres also holds a win over Namajunas from back when they fought in Invicta. A trilogy between the two happening was something that made most sense outside of Joanna getting a rematch. Well, either of those options or Jessica Andrade getting her second title shot.

Drake Riggs - December 27, 2017

Things haven’t quite panned out to this point for Scotland’s most popular fighter, Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood since starring on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter. She was one of the most hyped and promising fighters going into the tournament and one who many thought would definitely become a champion one day. But the path to the title has been a bumpy one with as many mental setbacks coming along the way as there have been physical ones inside and around the cage. One of which including a camp change from her longtime home in Scotland at Dinky Ninjas Fight Tram to the Griphouse to gym highly accomplished TriStar gym in Canada. According to an Instagram post from Calderwood today, it appears that her time with one of MMA’s best gyms is over.

Drake Riggs - December 27, 2017

Prior to the massive upset that turned out to be Rose Namajunas vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Joanna was looking for a fight with Valentina Shevchenko at 135 lbs. Yep…that’s two weight classes above her own! The two have already fought before in Muay Thai but an opportunity arose back at UFC 213 when Amanda Nunes pulled out of the planned rematch against Shevchenko. This prompted a brief attempt from Joanna to make everything work in her favor so that she could save the card with Shevchenko. This obviously didn’t happen, but both were down for the fight and many had been hoping for an eventual super fight between the two at the weight between both of theirs in the Flyweight division. Of course, that’s still possible but it looks less likely now that Shevchenko’s teammate, Namajunas has dethroned Joanna. Shevchenko knows a thing or two about Namajunas as well as Joanna who she defeated three times in Muay Thai. In a recent interview on the MMA Hour, she claims to have predicted the outcome that occurred at UFC 217.

Drake Riggs - December 27, 2017

It appears that UFC Middleweight, Oluwale “the Holy War Angel” Bambgose’s time with the UFC has come to an end…and it will likely stay that way. Today, Bambgose took to Twitter to announce his release from the organization after dropping three straight(two by knockout) and going 1-4 inside the UFC altogether. So its official I am no longer apart of the @ufc organization. Not gonna lie, I fell out of love for it for obvious reasons. One being a target of unfair treatment multiple times & 2nd the organization not taking care of its fighters financially. @danawhite FUCK U! #MmaComeBack💪

Jason Kindschy - December 27, 2017

BJPENN Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you crave! 8:15PM ET- We kick things off  with “The Texicutioner” James Vick. Arguably a future champion in the UFC’s lightweight division and a very tough matchup for anyone at 155 pounds, Vick has gone 9-1 in the UFC and believes he has earned a top-ranked opponent. However, news broke yesterday that Donald Cerrone and Yancy Medeiros are slated to headline UFC Fight Night 126 in Austin, Texas. James went to social media to protest the matchup and the UFC’s decision to snub Vick from the headlining bout on the card. We’ll be discussing the entire situation in depth.

Justin Golightly - December 27, 2017

There were no fights. Old Man Winter was nipping at everyone’s ears. The stockings were hung on the mantle. Hopefully, all the shopping was done and you were ready to sip hot cocoa with your loved ones and wait for Santa. That sounds like a great way to spend the holidays. However, some people spent it getting shot at by Demetrious Johnson. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Johnson hooked up with his Mighty Squad and hit PlayerUnknown’s Batllegrounds. From hiding behind doors playing a brutal version of a game from The Price is Right, to sniping people while sporting a Santa hat, Mighty Mouse had his share of literal hits and misses during his festive streams. The highlight of the video is his stand on the bridge, picking off players and they try and drive down it. That is, until he was ran over.

Justin Golightly - December 27, 2017

We are just a few days away from the biggest women’s MMA fight since Holly Holm first took the bantamweight title away from Ronda Rousey back in 2015. Holm will take on Cris Cyborg in a huge main event with the featherweight title on the line. The comparisons to the approaching moment has not been lost on the Jackson Wink fighter or her coaches. A win here not only would make Holly Holm a two-division UFC champion, but also the best female fighter in the world. Even if there was no belt on the line, that’s what means more to her. “I want to do things in this world and in my life that haven’t been done before. If there’s no female that’s done it before, guess what? I want to do it. That’s something that’s always driven me. I’m a driven person. That’s something that really drives me. On the flip side of that coin, I would still want to beat [Cris Cyborg] just as badly even if it wasn’t for the belt. Yes, to be a champion in two divisions is huge but just to win against one of the most highly respected fighters, that’s where the real pride is.”

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

Former UFC strawweight title challenger Claudia Gadelha has not been seen in the cage since she came up short against fellow Brazilian Jessica Andrade in September. Apparently that will soon change. In a Christmas Eve post to Instagram, the top strawweight explained that she’s been taking a bit of time off to deal with a “broken” body, and that she plans to get a fight “very soon.” See Claudia Gadelha’s post below:

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

We can now add another item to former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s long list of accolades, achievements and awards. The striking specialist will carry the Olympic torch for her home country of Poland in the lead up to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Jedrzejczyk announced this news on a recent radio appearance, as reported by sportowefakty.wp.pl.

Justin Golightly - December 27, 2017

Darren Till has still been running hot after his first-round finish over Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone back at UFC Gdansk. The only problem is that the surging welterweight can’t capitalize on it because he’s been unable to get a fight. He’s called out nearly the entire division, but not one has signed on the dotted line yet for one reason or another. Moving into 2018, the Scouser is obviously frustrated and took to Twitter to vent. Kickboxing legend John Wayne Parr saw his post and took time out to show some respect to the young UFC fighter. Rankings rankings rankings… blah blah blah… just fucking fight!!!!!!! Perry, usman, wonderboy all the fucking same… 🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

This Saturday, in the main event of UFC 219, UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will attempt to defend her title against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Though the ever-destructive Cyborg is generally regarded as a sure-thing against most of her opponents, this is not the case leading up to this fight Holm. In fact, Holm is being given a very real chance by many members of the MMA community. Holm’s coach Mike Winkeljohn even believes his student will finish Cyborg.

Justin Golightly - December 27, 2017

We all have some form of PTSD regarding Khabib Nurmagomedov’s weight cuts. It’s not a dig on him, it’s just a simple fact of the matter which Nurmagomedov seems to realize himself. He’s dealt with endless Tweets about tiramisu and trolling memes since March when he was forced to pull-out of his highly anticipated fight with Tony Ferguson. This is where UFC’s nutritionist Tyler ‘Melee’ Minton comes in. We’ve never gotten this close of a look inside Khabib’s cut and it seems like he’s never been in better hands. If the photo that was dropped yesterday doesn’t convince you, just read how Minton breaks it all down. “The UFC wants fighters no higher than 10 percent of their weight class on arrival. Two meals and a lot of water later, Khabib Nurmagomedov weighs in more than a pound under [which puts him at about 170 pounds]. Sorry haters. That’s an extremely easy weight cut considering he’s been drinking two gallons daily and eating a good bit. Muscle holds water. Fat doesn’t. He’s drinking two gallons of water a day and still eating more carbohydrates [250 grams daily] this week than many fighters eat a month out. One gram of glycogen stored in the muscles holds two-three grams of water. Khabib will drink two gallons of water every day this week except Thursday, when he will cut that in half. Then begin drinking again Friday morning. He will never go without water. He’s also normally much heavier than this.” — Tyler Melee Minton via multiple updates on Twitter.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

Originally, streaking bantamweight contender Jimmie Rivera was expected to take on former champ Dominick Cruz at UFC 219 on December 30. Regrettably, though, Cruz was forced out of this fight with an injury. From there, Cruz was replaced my the ever-dangerous John Lineker. Yet once again, bad luck struck, as Lineker was forced out of the fight just days ahead of time. With Lineker out, Rivera began a frantic search for a replacement opponent, having trained through Thanksgiving and flown to Las Vegas over Christmas. And while it looked like he might meet fellow bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes at a TBD catchweight, that option is now off the table.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2017

Over the years, former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping has swapped trash talk with many of his peers. One of the latest fighters he’s engaged with is current UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal.  Recently, however, Bisping made an effort to end this beef, after a heated exchanged on Instagram.

Drake Riggs - December 26, 2017

Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez knows a thing or two about fighting. He has been one of the Lightweight division’s very best for the better half of the last ten years. Primarily known as the king of Strikeforce, Melendez defended a Strikeforce title six times overall and was a three-time champion. He also was the very first ever WEC champion. Nowadays, Melendez has been trying his hand as an analyst and has been doing a great job. Since it’s the week of UFC 219 which is headlined by the big Featherweight title fight that pits Cris Cyborg against Holly Holm, Melendez took the time to share his thoughts with ESPN on how Holm can defeat the seemingly unbeatable, Cyborg.

Drake Riggs - December 26, 2017

The last time we saw Tonya Evinger in action it was in the biggest fight of her career. She was making her long-awaited UFC debut at UFC 214 where she took on the unstoppable, Cris Cyborg for the vacant UFC Featherweight championship. Evinger was leaving behind her Invicta FC Bantamweight title in an attempt to capture UFC gold against a woman she was interested in fighting since the time they were both Invicta champions. The UFC title fight was Evinger’s first fight at 145 lbs as she is regularly a Bantamweight and one of the world’s best to boot. As Invicta FC champion, Evinger defended her title twice and went undefeated with the organization at 7-0 and finished her opponents in five of them.

Drake Riggs - December 26, 2017

The UFC’s biggest star from Switzerland, Volkan Oezdemir burst onto the scene at 205 lbs this year when he quickly defeated the likes of Ovince Saint Preux, Misha Cirkunov, and Jimi Manuwa to earn himself a title shot next month. Unfortunately for Oezdemir, he’s in a bit of some trouble as of late in regards to a battery charge that he was arrested for on November 19. According to  Oezdemir’s attorney, Bruce A. Zimet, the Coconut Creek, Florida resident, Oezdemir was not the incident’s aggressor and therefore his actions were justifiable. Oezdemir, a Switzerland native, surrendered his passport to the court temporarily and he plead not guilty on November 29. The details of the incident are that of such: Oezdemir inflicted injury/harm or disability, which is a second-degree felony. Since then this has been reduced down to felony battery inflicting great injury/harm, a third-degree felony. Accusations towards Oezdemir are that of him striking and knocking out a Fort Lauderdale bargoer(male) outside the bar in August.

Justin Golightly - December 26, 2017

Welterweight is absolutely insane right now, with Tyron Woodley as the undisputed king and Colby Covington causing chaos at every turn. Former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos upset former welterweight belt holder Robbie Lawler, supposedly earning a title shot. However, that’s not the direction the UFC is going in according to Chael Sonnen. It looks like the report of Woodley possibly coaching the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter along with Covington is still going around, giving Covington the shot he’s rallied for relentlessly.