MMA News

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2017

Over the last few weeks, there has been significant buzz surrounding a possible UFC 219 welterweight title fight between champ Tyron Woodley and long-time lightweight contender Nate Diaz. As the time between us and UFC 219 continues to dissipate, however, this fight continues to look more and more unlikely. According to Richard Perez, who serves as Nate Diaz’s boxing coach, if this fight doesn’t get made it will be because the UFC doesn’t want to pay Diaz his asking price.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2017

Speaking on a recent edition of Undeniable with Joe Buck, former UFC welterweight champion and outright MMA legend Matt Hughes shared some criticisms of the modern  UFC. In his opinion, the promotion’s frequent shows – there will be a show every weekend from now until year’s end – are making its product less enjoyable. “I think it’s too commercial,” Hughes said (h/t Tristen Critchfield of Sherdog.com). “They’ve got fights darn near every week (on) one of the three channels they’re on, and I think it’s too commercial. I am so happy that timing worked out for me where I fought when I did. I really think that I fought in the golden ages.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2017

Colby Covington is one of the most talked about fighters in MMA right now. Unfortunately, much of the talk about him has been negative. Public discourse surrounding the welterweight star picked up when he insulted the entire country of Brazil after his recent win over Demian Maia. It reached a boiling point when he had a run-in with Brazil’s Fabricio Werdum in Australia, and got a boomerang thrown in his face in the process.

Tom Taylor - November 22, 2017

While Jose Aldo was surprisingly understanding of Conor McGregor‘s infamous rampage at Bellator 187, Khabib Nurmagomedov is not. Speaking on the Talk and Talker Podcast, Nurmagomedov went off on McGregor for his actions, suggesting he should have calmed down when he was told to leave the cage, and that he never should have gotten physical with the referee.

Adam Conklin - November 21, 2017

For what feels like the past decade, Jon Jones has been making headlines for basically everything in the world of MMA. From car accidents to drug tests and even a ‘successful’ return to former glory (albeit a brief return) Jones doesn’t seem to have to try hard to be the main topic of conversation. That conversation will be prolonged a bit more though as Jones’ upcoming hearing regarding a failed UFC 214 drug test has been moved to undetermined day in February of next year. The hearing was initially scheduled for December 12th according to a report by MMAFighting.

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

Max Holloway wants to make it clear that he has no problem being motivated. It’s hard to think that anyone out there would ever doubt that he isn’t. After all, Holloway went on a 10-fight win streak before finally he was given the chance at the UFC featherweight title. He was up to defend the belt for the first time against Frankie Edgar, but Jose Aldo stepped in to replace the challenger due to an orbital injury. It is what it is. Holloway now has the chance to beat the former division’s king back-to-back, while Aldo claims he’s motivated for his shot at redemption. Max Holloway begs to differ though, questioning why Aldo wasn’t motivated back at UFC 212. “This guy is talking about motivation, how motivated he is for the belt. I have no idea when people talk motivation. [Jose Aldo] was fighting at his hometown as the champion [at UFC 212], and for him to be saying motivation, now he feels way more motivated, fighting for your country and fighting in front of your people, for your belt, is not enough motivation? What’s going on? I’m motivated. The belt is great. You know what comes with the belt? Bigger paydays, pay-per-views, and a lot of stuff, but a belt is a belt and a fight is a fight. I don’t want to go out and get my butt whooped, my ass whooped in front of millions of people watching at home. I can fight this guy 10 times in a row. I’ll be motivated, that’s who I am.”

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

There was mixed reactions to the rumblings of the UFC trying to put together a match-up between Tyron Woodley and Nate Diaz. The bout was agreed to and the contract signed by Woodley but was supposedly left blank by Diaz. This resulted in Woodley talking to every outlet he was featured on to convince the younger Diaz brother to ‘not be scared, homie.’ Other than the UFC welterweight champs energy put in the potential scrap, it looks like it is dead in the water but who knows. Carlos Condit, who will make his return at UFC 219, was asked about the fight and he was confused to say the least. “I just heard about [the possibility of Nate Diaz fighting Tyron Woodley] tonight and I don’t know. It’s strange. I didn’t expect that. I don’t know. Do they have some sort of ongoing Twitter beef or something? Like, where did it come from? Oh, okay. They’re trying to fill out [UFC 219]. They’re trying to get a main event. Alright, y’know. It’s a weird thing. Strange things happen. Whatever. I think there are more deserving contenders at welterweight but I guess they’ve lost to Tyron [Woodley] at this point. So, yeah. It’s kind of a weird place. But hey, I bet those guys [would] put on a helluva fight. honestly. I think that Diaz would push the pace and be in Tyron’s face and Tyron would rise to the occasion and perform like he can perform and i think it’d be a helluva fight. So, if they do it, that’s awesome.”

Jason Kindschy - November 21, 2017

BJPENN Radio returns live at 8PM ET/5PM PT with a special Thanksgiving episode! 8:15PM ET- First up we are joined by UFC welterweight and knockout artist, “Platinum” Mike Perry. With a showdown against Santiago Ponzinibbio approaching quickly, we’ll catch up with Perry as he prepares for yet another highlight-reel knockout in Canada on December 16th. We’ll also get “Platinum’s” reaction to some of MMA’s hottest news and many of the call-outs directed towards him in recent weeks.

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

The bells of nostalgia are calling and have summoned a Bellator heavyweight grand prix that will drop early next year. Among all of the UFC veterans and MMA legends involved, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will take on the illustrious Fedor Emelianenko. Despite being far removed from his prime and experiencing some devastating losses, Mir believes Fedor is just as dangerous as ever, it’s just everyone else who has changed. “I think [Fedor Emelianenko]’s still extremely dangerous. He did everything he does normally. You see how fast he threw the right hand on [Matt] Mitrione. The difference is everyone else just have gotten a lot better. If Matt Mitrione would fight 10 years ago in Pride, he would have been one of the best fighters in Pride, if we grab Mitrione we are seeing now and put him back there. Back then guys were either good boxers, wrestlers, jiu jitsu guys. You didn’t have a lot of guys who were good at everything. Which Fedor is. He’s good at everything. And now he has to deal with the fact that everybody now is good at everything.”

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

It’s common knowledge now that Daniel Cormier was slated to defend his UFC light heavyweight title against Volkan Oezdemir. There was no official announcement, but the two have both let it slip that UFC 220 in Boston was going to be the date. That was, until an altercation at a bar ended up putting everything in jeopardy for the rising contender. Obviously, this has to hit close to home for Cormier, who opened up about the situation in a recent interview. He’s also ready and willing to defend against anyone else if Oezdemir’s chance has to be delayed. “It’s tough to be going through this type of thing, especially at this time when you’re on the cusp of your biggest moment of your career. I don’t know what happened. You’ve got to not be doing things that are wrong or put yourself in these situations where stuff can go sideways. You’ve got to try to stay out of those positions. […] Maybe it was self-defense but because he is who is is, it’s much worse because he has the ability to sleep dudes that are trying to hit him. You never know what’s happening but even these run-ins, they’re really unneeded, especially when you’re a young guy as Volkan is and you’re on the cusp of something so big for the first time in your career.”

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

When Max Holloway stepped into the cage with former featherweight king Jose Aldo for the first time, he took Aldo out in the third round. Something was missing though, which caused a lot of people to ask, ‘What if?’ Absent were the infamous and thundering leg kicks from the previous champ. It is one of Aldo’s most dangerous weapons, but he wasn’t able to implement them coming into the fight with Holloway due to a leg injury. After Max Holloway spoke up about it recently, Jose Aldo breaks his silence on the matter and vows he’s in perfect condition. “I don’t think there was any cowardice. Every time I’m in there that’s the best Aldo possible. [Max] Holloway was a great fighter that night and was able to win. He deserved it. There’s no excuse. ‘Dede’ [Pederneiras] talked about [my leg injury] because it happened in training, but if I’m in there, that’s the best Aldo available. There’s no excuse. He won because he deserved to win. I’m in perfect condition. There are always small injuries, but nothing that takes any weapon away. I’m kicking, punching, I’m dong everything now. There are no serious injuries. You can expect the best kickboxing, the best muay thai.”

Justin Golightly - November 21, 2017

The much-anticipated return of Conor McGregor won’t go down until April or mid-2018, but good things come to those who wait. For a long while, it seemed like it was nearly a done deal that his opponent when he returned back to the Octagon would Nate Diaz, but those talks slowly went quiet and more buzz around Tony Ferguson heated up. No matter who the Irish double-champ stands across the cage from, coach John Kavanagh wants to let everyone know that they’ll be dealing with an even more dangerous version of McGregor on the feet. “To be honest, some of the things we’ve come away with from the Mayweather fight. When would an MMA guy have a chance to take six months just to focus on one aspect of MMA? Never is the answer, they’re always trying to work on everything. But when he does return to the Octagon, his hands are going to be a lot better than what they were. And I’m excited to see that.”

Tom Taylor - November 21, 2017

Over the last few weeks, surging UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington has been ceaselessly campaigning for a title fight with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, lambasting him at every possible opportunity. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Woodley fired back in a big way.

Adam Conklin - November 20, 2017

The penultimate UFC PPV of 2017 will feature one of the most important featherweight championship fights in history. Defending champion Max Holloway will put his belt on the line for the first time in a rematch against former champ, Jose Aldo. The belt changed hands in their first fight as Holloway escaped early trouble to come back and put Aldo away in the third.

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2017

Over the last few months, Colby Covington has been sharpening his tools not just as a mixed martial artist, but as a pro wrestler. While it’s no surprise that his experience in MMA is translating well into the pro wrestling world, he’s also finding that his forays into pro-wrestling world could be beneficial to his MMA career. “Just slowing everything down,” Covington said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio when asked about the keys to success in pro wrestling. “When you’re out there, in front of a crowd, and you got a camera right in front of your face, you want to just go, go go. But, that’s not how you do it in the pro wrestling. That’s not how it works in that business. You have to be able to slow things down and really sell it. Like, if you’re doing a move, you know, you got to really sell it. You got to sell the expression and the emotion, so, just slowing things down, you know? And, I think that’s going to really help me out for MMA fighting in general, just to be patient and wait for your moment.”

Tom Taylor - November 20, 2017

Earlier this month, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Norfolk, VA, lightweight contender Dustin Poirier stepped into the cage with former champion Anthony Pettis. After two and a half riveting rounds, Poirier earned the win, forcing an apparently injured Pettis out of the fight with a body triangle. While this win stands out as one of the best of his career thus far, Poirier doesn’t regard it as career-changing outright.

Adam Conklin - November 20, 2017

The middleweight division has become as perplexing as it is stacked. Now with former UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre at the helm, and an interim champ working his way back to the cage, the rest of the division continues to sort it self out. Already illustrating this sentiment is champ Michael Bisping, who is making an immediate turnaround to take on #9 Kelvin Gastelum this Saturday night.

Adam Conklin - November 20, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxR6HI70Wxk Before former middleweight champion Michael Bisping captured UFC gold, he was working his way up the ladder like he did so many times before. On that road, Bisping met almost everyone of note in the upper-echleon division, including prolific striker Cung Le.