MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Colby Covington has been at the center of plenty of controversy of late. One of his most controversial moments occured when he took to Twitter with a massive spoiler for the latest Star Wars film. See that spoiler here. While this Tweet created a tidal wave of backlash – and even resulted in some death threats – Colby Covington refuses to apologize for it. In fact, he believes he did people a favor by spoiling the movie.

Justin Golightly - December 21, 2017

No matter how many times we say it, it never sounds less crazy. Georges St-Pierre really did come back after four years away from the UFC and take a belt in a higher weight class. Honestly, he could walk away from the sport just like he vacated the title and no one could question his career. If he does decide to stay and finish out the last three fights on his contract, there simply aren’t a lot of huge options for the former two-division champion. Kenny Florian recently gave his insight on what St-Pierre’s next moves could be and there is no question they’d have to be giant fights. “I think [Georges St-Pierre] who has done it all in this sport, and I think if there’s one guy who deserves the super fight or a mega fight, it’s GSP. And talk about a guy who was old school, who did it the old fashion way of just clearly beating anyone and everyone. He wasn’t a guy who was going, ‘Oh, well this guy, he doesn’t promote himself enough so I’m not gonna fight Jon Fitch, or I’m not gonna fight Josh Koscheck, or I’m not gonna fight,’ he would just fight whoever the hell it was, whoever the UFC had for him is who he would face. So I think that he does deserve a mega fight. […] As far as asking or demanding a fight with Conor McGregor, I don’t think you’ll ever hear it from GSP because being a guy who was bullied when he was a kid, he feels like that’s kind of a bully mentality. You know, you don’t try to pick a fight with someone smaller than you, that’s kind of what has been GSP’s mentality.”

Justin Golightly - December 21, 2017

The Super Samoan has been in the UFC for eight years. That’s nearly a whole career right there, but we’re talking about a combat sports life that dates all the way back to 1998. You name a place and Mark Hunt has probably punched someone there. Chances are, it was also a walk-off knockout. After all this time and his love/hate relationship with the organization, Hunt is finally going to part ways with the UFC after he fights out his contract. “We’ll get that number nine [Curtis Blaydes] and put him away, so hopefully the UFC can give me someone higher instead of giving me someone beneath me. So, it is what it is. I just gotta keep ticking the boxes and just moving ahead with the career. Three fights left, this will be one of them, I got two left and then see you later. For the UFC, yeah. That will be the end of my career in the UFC [after I fight out of my contract]. I have two fights left and that’s it. You probably know the path I’ve had with the UFC, but you know, it’s business.”

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Sean O’Malley, the rangy, 23-year-old bantamweight who burst into the limelight with an epic knockout on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series (and by getting high with Snoop Dogg after this win), believes he knows who he’ll fight next. Shortly after his impressive UFC debut, in which he bludgeoned a game Terrion Ware to a unanimous decision win, O’Malley was called out by Andre Soukhamthath, who recently won big with a knockout of Luke Sanders.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

According to a report from Bartek Stachura of Lowking.PL, Rose Namajunas will defend her new strawweight title at UFC 221 in Perth, Western Australia on February 11. Her opponent will be Tecia Torres, who she has fought twice before. Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres III in the works for #UFC221 in Perth.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

On January 20, the UFC will return to Boston, Massachusetts with UFC 220. Though UFC 220 will be the first pay-per-view of the year 2018, it already looks like it could be one of the best. In the main event of the evening, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will look to make history with a record-breaking third-straight defense of the UFC heavyweight title. His opponent will be hulking French-Cameroonian knockout artist Francis Ngannou, a man widely touted as the next big thing in MMA.

Drake Riggs - December 20, 2017

Retired UFC fighter, Ultimate Fighter season 10 contestant, analyst, comedian and podcaster Brendan Schaub is never short of opinions. Schaub is one half of the Fighter and the Kid podcast with fellow comedian, Bryan Callen but he also has started up his own podcast to talk all things involving the sport he once competed in. On this week’s episode of the Big Brown Breakdown, Schaub discussed the latest news and discussed the recent action as usual. But he also took a moment to talk about the UFC’s often criticized ranking system.

Drake Riggs - December 20, 2017

Bellator’s Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament is nearing closer. Kicking things off will be Chael Sonnen, who makes his Heavyweight division debut by taking on former UFC Light Heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson on January 20. The second fight of the tournament’s opening round will be a rematch between favorites to win it all as Matt Mitrione looks to get back the loss that Roy “Big Country” Nelson handed him in 2012. That will take place on February 16. Following that big fight will be another big one to kick off the opening round as two bonafide legends collide when two-time UFC Heavyweight champion, Frank Mir makes his Bellator debut to take on one of the greatest to ever do it across all divisions, Fedor Emelianenko in April. And closing out the opening round is a fight that was very well expected to be current Bellator Light Heavyweight champion, Ryan Bader’s second title defense but I suppose it still could be at some point. Bader will take on former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal in May. Like Sonnen, this will be Bader’s first fight at Heavyweight.

Drake Riggs - December 20, 2017

In the first month of 2018, the UFC returns to Charlotte, North Carolina for the third time.  It will be UFC on Fox 27 and in the main event, we will see a rematch from the Strikeforce days, between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Derek Brunson. Their first fight took place back in 2012 and it didn’t last very long… Jacare walked through the green Brunson, needing only forty-one seconds to get the TKO victory. Since this fight, Jacare has gone 8-2 while Brunson has gone 8-3 and grown tremendously as a fighter since his first encounter with the Brazilian. Prior to today, we already had a handful of good fights on tap(those of which you can see below) but now we’re just getting more! As reported by Guilherme Cruz, a very exciting Featherweight matchup between top 145er Dennis Bermudez and rising Team Alpha Male member, Andre Fili is set.

Chris Taylor - December 20, 2017

Conor McGregor sends Floyd Mayweather a message following UFC discussions. Earlier this week undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather mentioned that he was interested in fighting under the bright lights of the UFC.

Justin Golightly - December 20, 2017

The year 2017 is about to leave us behind and we’re all weary about 2018. Things were so insane this year, what awaits us when the ball drops? Floyd Mayweather already wants to make his UFC debut. Hell, Demetrious Johnson is willing to welcome him. There are two RIZIN cards and UFC 219 all within two days from each other, if that doesn’t make your brain hurt, this sure will. Japanese combat sports and folk hero Bob Sapp may actually be fighting a real live grizzly bear for our entertainment at KYOKUGEN 2017.

Jason Kindschy - December 20, 2017

BJPENN Radio is live at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you crave! 8:15PM ET- First up, one of the most exciting young athletes to join the UFC roster in 2017, “Sugar” Sean O’Malley. Coming off his UFC debut at the TUF 26 Finale, Sean has gone from unknown to someone the MMA community has their eyes on. We’ll recap the victory, discuss what’s next for the bantamweight prospect, what he thinks of the current title picture, and the pressures of having so much hype behind him. Of course, we’ll also hear about his backstage experience with Snoop Dogg.

Justin Golightly - December 20, 2017

Georges St-Pierre waltzed into the UFC after being out for four years and added another ridiculous accomplishment to his career by taking the UFC middleweight title from Michael Bisping. It was a gigantic moment, but UFC 217 somehow seems like a distant memory now, especially after he dropped the title only a month later due to his health issues. As the combat sports year starts to close, Bisping reflects on the controversial aftermath of St-Pierre’s win. The former champ still thinks he’s a prick, but concedes that it was actually a really smart move. “[Georges St-Pierre]’s a prick. He’s a prick, god bless him. I’m gonna be brutally honest here, [him vacating the title is] a double-edged sword. It’s a good thing and a bad thing. By the way, Dana White threw me under the bus when he first found out. He wasn’t happy with Georges and he said, ‘Yeah, well he cherry-picked Bisping.’ That doesn’t do me any favors! He didn’t cherry-pick me, but I did say that. I said Georges wanted to fight me because he thought I was an easy fight and this and that, and he got the win, and then he vacated the belt. Now he vacated the belt because apparently he had to go to the hospital after our fight and he thought he was gonna be paralyzed and he had a bad neck and all this type of stuff. I don’t know. He just doesn’t fancy doing it again.”

Russell Ess - December 20, 2017

November 12, 2016, was the last time we saw Conor McGregor fight in the Octagon. McGregor became the UFC lightweight champion that night, capturing the belt from Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 and also became the first fighter in history to hold two UFC weight division’s titles simultaneously. Over a year has passed since and McGregor has only competed once and it was outside of the Octagon in a highly lucrative boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, which was the second highest pay-per-view event of all time.

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2017

Derrick Lewis, the UFC’s sixth-ranked heavyweight, is currently scheduled for a stark test, as he’s expected to take on Marcin Tybura when the UFC touches down in Austin, Texas this February 18. While this fight is currently at the forefront of Lewis’ mind, he’s hoping a big win over Marcin Tybura will set him up for a heavyweight title shot, and more importantly, a battle with his rival Francis Ngannou, who battles Stipe Miocic for the title this January 20. Speaking to MMAJunkie earlier this week, Lewis gave his take on this upcoming heavyweight title fight, and shared his hope that Ngannou wins so he can fight him.

Justin Golightly - December 20, 2017

Next year, a huge fight is in the works. UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw is supposed to go down to fight UFC flyweight champion and title-defense king, Demetrious Johnson. It very well could be the most highly skilled MMA fighter in history if the UFC can pull it off. However, there is a fight that could be even bigger. Just imagine Floyd Mayweather stepping into the Octagon across from Mighty Mouse for a historic superfight only rivaled by Conor McGregor. It sounds absolutely insane and it will probably never happen in a million years, but remember when we said that before? @floydmayweather 🐐 vs 🐐 I’ll move up 20 pounds to welcome you proper pic.twitter.com/R400vMz0dX

Tom Taylor - December 20, 2017

Holly Holm’s brutal, head-kick knockout of Ronda Rousey ranks among the biggest upsets in UFC history. Leading up the fight, Rousey glimmered with an era of invisibility. One well-placed kick later, and she was crumpled on the canvas in a dazed heap. Cris Cyborg, who will attempt to defend her UFC women’s bantamweight title against Holm in the main event of UFC 219 on December 30, has a hunch as to why Rousey’s fight with Holm went the way it did. The featherweight champ believes Rousey was looking past Holm – and right at her.

Justin Golightly - December 20, 2017

Tyron Woodley couldn’t get Nate Diaz to come out and speak when they were potentially in talks for a superfight. The only thing Dana White could draw out of Diaz is a social media Stockton slap. At the end of the day, it took hometown battle rapper Okwerdz for Diaz to walk out of the shadows and pick up a mic. …And it didn’t disappoint. In his first all-encompassing interview since May on a special episode of The MMA Hour, Nate Diaz spits more fire than can be contained within the boundaries of this article. He goes off on Conor McGregor, the UFC’s suspect marketing tactics, and being on lockdown preventing his move to boxing. “Conor [McGregor]’s their guy. They just give him what they want to do with him and they build who they want to build and I’m not one of them, but it’s all good now, I’ll build myself. […] Yeah, a lot [of boxing promotions wanted to buy out my contract]. Years ago. They promote him as the money guy and he became bigger than everybody because that’s what they promoted him as. I was the guy bringing all the views and all the numbers. They didn’t announce it as that, so that’s why when they were going to buy out my contract [the UFC] were like, ‘Are you kidding? This is our guy. We just don’t want to tell anybody this is our guy or why because then his value goes up and he gets what he wants and we don’t want to give him what he wants, we want to give little Irish dude what he wants.'”