MMA News

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

Heather Hardy is an MMA promoters dream. She’s an undefeated champion boxer who wanted to jump ship and she’s down to scrap with anybody. Not only can she talk trash, but she also gives an insightful interview and has an incredible backstory. She won her Bellator debut and will look to continue her successful MMA journey tomorrow night at Bellator 185 against Kristina Williams, but she never expected to be outnumbered at the weigh-ins. Out of nowhere, a women ran up shouting at Hardy who just happened to be one of her former opponents. An altercation between Heather Hardy and an ex-boxing opponent was by far the highlight of #Bellator185 weigh-ins https://t.co/Mows1zAQyq pic.twitter.com/6nLuyIjiZv

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

If your thumbs have gotten a rest from trying to perform Demetrious Johnson’s suplex into an armbar on EA Sports UFC 2, don’t let you callouses soften up too much because there is a new game coming early next year. Throughout the last year and a half, they’ve added new fighters to the previous edition but some still never made the cut. While there is no list currently for all the UFC fighters that will be in the new game, you can bank on Angela Hill being in EA Sports UFC 3. She recently went through a motion capture session and there are tons of behind-the-scene pics. @JeremyMathiesen holding pads for @AngieOverkill pic.twitter.com/oGBU1PfafR

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

UFC 217 is a card that you don’t have to sell, stacked with incredible fights that you don’t need to promote. That’s not going to stop UFC middleweight champion from talking trash to hype up his giant fight with Georges St-Pierre. Not only will it put more eyes on the event, but he’s looking to rent space into St-Pierre’s head. It wasn’t long ago that he brought up Georges St-Pierre’s comments from 2013 talking about aliens. Now, Bisping dug into the vault to bring up drama from UFC 94. Hey @georgesstpierre no cheating this time please 😂😂😂

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

We haven’t got any big announcements for UFC 219 to close out 2017, but we are just now getting some previews of what early 2018 is going to look like. Earlier today, Vitor Belfort announced a fight with Uriah Hall for UFC Fight Night 124 for Januaray 14th. Today Combate.com reported that the UFC will also schedule UFC 220 for January 20th, UFC 221 is slated for February 10th in Brooklyn, and UFC 222 takes place on March 3rd.

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

The speculation and suspense of waiting for Conor McGregor to decide just what he wants to and who he wants to fight is almost as exciting as the fight itself. Disagree or not, it’s definitely become at least intertwined in what we’ve expected in a post-Aldo knockout world. MMA, boxing or just gallivanting around in yachts, McGregor can just do whatever he wants. Wrestling legend Jim Ross thinks that sooner or later, he’ll end up in the pro-wrestling business, courtesy of a huge WWE deal by Vince McMahon. .@JRsBBQ on Conor McGregor and WWE pic.twitter.com/V4Ki2xU0rQ

Russell Ess - October 19, 2017

It sounds like Conor McGregor is making his way back to training following his professional boxing debut loss to Floyd Mayweather. Despite losing by TKO in the 10th round in August, McGregor scooped up the biggest payday of his career and it showed as McGregor was seen partying up after the fight. With Tony Ferguson the newly crowned UFC interim lightweight champion, UFC President Dana White is looking to put together the UFC lightweight title unification bout together. McGregor’s striking coach Owen Roddy spoke recently on the Talking Brawls podcast and commented on the matchup with Ferguson.

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

On November 18, when the UFC touches down in Sydney, Australia, rising UFC featherweight Alexander Volkanovski will take on Humberto Bandenay, who replaces his originally planned opponent, Jeremy Kennedy. If Volkanovski wins this fight, he’ll take another big step up the UFC featherweight rankings, toward the divisional top-10, and perhaps, an eventual featherweight title shot. As one of the featherweight division’s brightest young contenders, Volkanovski will be watching UFC 218’s Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar featherweight title fight very closely. While Holloway is a slight favorite heading into this fight, Volkanovski sees a bit of himself in Frankie Edgar, and as such, believes Edgar has what it takes to pull off the upset.

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

Just a couple of days after his UFC release, flyweight Ian McCall signed on with Japanese fighting organization RIZIN. He recently spoke in-depth to us about him jumping ship to the promotion, which is enjoying a meteoric rise from the ashes of Pride. He’ll be competing in the electric bantamweight grand prix and has his eyes on former UFC fighter Kyoji Horiguchi. Before McCall can get to him though, he’ll have to get through Manel Kape though. His potential remains somewhat of a mystery besides his first round finish of Erson Yamamoto last weekend, but right now it’s his mouth that’s running amok. “Well, I was finally healthy and I just felt like leaving the UFC and where else would I go besides here? There’s no where else I’d rather be. That’s why I’m here. I’m excited to hear about this grand prix and excited to fight these sort of fighters. It’s a good, talented group of people so I’m excited to be here. But specifically you [Kyoji Horiguchi]. I’m coming for you. Everybody else wants you, I want you too. We should have fought in the UFC and he’s very accomplished. He’s very good and I think that he’s got the most steam behind everybody because he’s the best.” — Ian McCall at the RIZIN press conference. 

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

In the latest episode of his “Beyond the Fight” series, UFC veteran and current Bellator star Chael Sonnen shared his belief that former UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre should not be counted out in his UFC 217 showdown with Michael Bisping. “People think Bisping is going to kill him,” Sonnen said of widespread perceptions that St-Pierre will lose this fight. “Luke Rockhold, one of the best middleweights of all time, former champion, Luke Rockhold’s opinion matters. He says it’s not even a close fight, that Michael Bisping runs him over.”

Justin Golightly - October 19, 2017

Just a couple of weeks ago, Tony Ferguson reached the peak of his career so far by winning the interim UFC lightweight title. He perplexed us with his talk, his training methods, and his perpetual-shade wearing. Ferguson tried to convince us he is on a different level, something that he proved at UFC 216. If finally having a world title around his waist wasn’t enough, Eddie Bravo just presented him with the highest honor he could give anyone: A 10th Planet black belt. It wasn’t just something Bravo ordered from the internet though, this belt is truly one of a kind.

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

Ian McCall was recently released from his UFC contract, ending a long stint in the promotion’s flyweight division. Just days later, the flyweight star found a new home in Japan’s Rizin Fighting Federation, and was quickly plunked into the promotion’s exciting bantamweight Grand Prix. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, McCall explained how he wound up in Rizin’s Grand Prix. Apparently, the first offers he received came from Russia. Rizin, however, simply came to the table with the best offer.

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

According to a Thursday-morning Instagram post, MMA legend Vitor Belfort’s next fight is booked. In his post, Belfort claims he will fight flashy striking specialist Uriah Hall at a UFC event on January 14th, the location of which has not yet been announced. See Belfort’s post below!

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

On November 4, in the main event of the stacked UFC 217, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will return from a lengthy layoff to battle Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title. Since this fight was announced, the odds have fluctuated quite a bit, and now, some outlets are listing the former champ St-Pierre as an underdog.

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

Over the last few weeks, UFC undisputed lightweight champ Conor McGregor and interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson have each shared some Grand Theft Auto inspired pictures to their social media channels. McGregor was first to do so. In his post, he appeared to address Ferguson by using the simple caption “Tony.”

Tom Taylor - October 19, 2017

On November 4, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 217, UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt to defend his title against his arch rival TJ Dillashaw. While Garbrandt is focused on this monumental showdown with Dillashaw, he is also already looking forward to the future, where he believes lucrative showdowns with champions from other weight classes could exist. In particular, he’s interested in scraps with flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and lightweight champ Conor McGregor. “I’ll go in there and knock Conor the f— out in boxing,” Garbrandt told ESPN this week. “Let’s be honest. There’s no difference in a southpaw [McGregor’s fighting stance] or orthodox. That guy could come out and fight on his hands for all I give a f—. I would knock him out, and that’s it.”

Justin Golightly - October 18, 2017

With as many fights as there are toward the end of this year, it’s hard to keep track of all of them. Even on UFC 217 alone, a card full of great fights are buried under three incredible title fights. Despite sharing the spotlight with names like Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, Joanna Jedrzejczyk still shines. One by one they’ve all come and they’ve all come up short. Jedrzejczyk is one of the most dominant champs in the sport, yet even she still has detractors. The UFC strawweight title holder says that Rose Namjunas challenging her will not be any different than the rest of the women who have failed. “Everyone before the fight — you know how many comments and messages I receive saying ‘Hey Rose [Namajunas] is going to submit you, Rose is going to beat you up’? I’m like, text me or send me a message or comment on my victory picture after my fight, and we will see who is right. Anything can happen in the fight, I’ll always say that. One punch, one submission, one blink can finish the fight, but I always make sure I’m ready and I don’t watch so many fights. I focus on what I can do better. How can I escape from them because I know they are coming for my belt, my goals, my dreams. This is my life, so I must make sure that I surprise them. I don’t worry about how they’re going to surprise me — I always surprise them. Believe me, I will surprise her in this fight.”

Justin Golightly - October 18, 2017

Colby Covington is going to fight wise grappling wizard Demian Maia before October ends at Fight Night 119, but that’s not stopping him for picking fights with any other fighter. He’s on a mission to let everyone know it’s his division. Darren Till is out here just minding his own business, about to trade shots with Donald Cerrone on Saturday, until he’s dragged into this tweet by Covington. Hide your top five, hide your top 10, because everyone is trying to fight everyone around the welterweight division.

Jason Kindschy - October 18, 2017

BJPENN Radio is back tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you crave! 8:15PM ET- Kicking things off we are joined by UFC featherweight, Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski. Following the news that Jeremy Kennedy would be unable to compete on November 19th in Sydney, there was a brief moment of uncertainty for Alex. However, it was quickly announced that Humberto Bandenay would replace Kennedy and Volkanovski would still be competing for his fellow countrymen. We’ll discuss the timeline of events from Kennedy withdrawing to Bandenay stepping in, and we’ll get the Aussie’s breakdown of the matchup. We’ll also get his thoughts on the removal of Mark Hunt from the card, where Alex fits into the featherweight rankings, and what he’d like next with a big win on November 19th.