MMA News

Justin Golightly - September 21, 2017

Conor McGregor is no stranger to magazine features and covers. Last year, McGregor and his millions he slid into Forbes top 100 highest paid athletes at number 85. This year? In addition to being a GQ cover boy, he rocketed to number 24 on Forbes list. After his fight with Floyd Mayweather, he’s on track to make it into the top 10 of the 2018 edition, no matter if he fights again or not. Recently, it was another magazine that featured Conor McGregor. The brash Irishman just made it into Sports Illustrated top 50 fittest athletes, beating out some very surprising fighters. Sports Illustrated ranked Conor McGregor the 9th-most conditioned athlete in the world. Gennady Golovkin was 11th. Mighty Mouse 15th.

Russell Ess - September 21, 2017

Boxing’s WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder says he is no stranger to the game of mixed martial arts. While speaking with Sports Illustrated, the topic of Wilder fighting Brock Lesnar was brought up and the boxing champion said some interesting things about a potential matchup with the former UFC heavyweight champion and current WWE wrestling star.

Russell Ess - September 21, 2017

UFC fan favorite Matt Brown is set to make his return to the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 120 against another fan favorite, Diego Sanchez as the two are set to fight on November 11 in Norfolk, Virginia. To much surprise, “The Immortal” announced on Thursday via social media that his fight against Sanchez will be his last fight.

Justin Golightly - September 21, 2017

Slated to fight welterweight contender Stephen Thompson at UFC 217, it’s a middleweight that Jorge Masvidal has on his mind. Not just any middleweight, but one he will share that November card with. Michael Bisping ripped up a Cuban flag while watching Yoel Romero’s fight with Robert Whittaker at UFC 213, something Masvidal vented to us about on our BJPenn.com radio show. The desecration of the flag still rubs Masvidal the wrong way, so bad that he’d be willing to fight Bisping for a couple of double cheeseburgers. “That ‘B-tch’-ping Michael [Bisping], whatever, The Count, you know, he’s a little b-tch, he needs to get slapped up, man. He needs to f-cking man up for this sh-t that he did, you know? Ripping my country’s flag for no reason and then saying corny ass sh-t like, ‘well, the flag just happen to be there.’ My ass! You put that sh-t in your pocket and you probably brought it in. He’s such a corny dude. He does corny things like that like, like to another man that’s just finished fighting, you know, that nothing can happen. There’s more security in there than in the White House and you’re acting crazy like that? That’s not man sh-t. I would respect him if he did that on the solo, like in front of Yoel [Romero] or in front of me or anybody that reps that country and did things like that. I mean, he’s just a hoe, man, since even before that, spitting on people’s corners.”

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

UFC 217, which goes down on November 4 inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, is one hell of a fight card. Topped by a trio of title fights, it could even be the biggest fight card of the year outright.  Given the scale of the card, it should come as no surprise that a great many fighters were eager to shoehorn themselves onto the bill. Fourth-ranked UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal, who battles Stephen Thompson on the main card, is one of the fighters that was lucky enough to succeed in his effort to do so. He couldn’t be happier about this fact.

Justin Golightly - September 21, 2017

Right after Conor McGregor hoisted two UFC titles above his head at UFC 205, he put on one of his signature suits and strolled to the post-fight press conference. It was there, celebration whiskey probably still on his breath, that he vowed he was coming back for a piece of the whole company. In the meantime, he ventured outside of the Octagon (while still under contract with the UFC) to have a multi-million dollar boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. A fight that reportedly put $30 million in McGregor’s pocket. This was 10 times the amount McGregor made in the UFC, which was still the highest for a single bout. However, his next fight could be with congress itself, using his powers of influence to change the sport for the better.   

Russell Ess - September 21, 2017

All fighters but one made weight for the UFC Fight Night 117 event taking place in Saitama, Japan on Friday, September 22 (Saturday in Japan).

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 116, rising welterweight slugger “Platinum” Mike Perry authored yet another brutal knockout, this time putting down Alex Reyes with a rocket-fuelled knee against the cage. Reyes, of course, was not supposed to be Perry’s opponent. Perry was originally expected to battle former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves on the card. It was only when Alves was forced out of this anticipated booking that Reyes got the call and agreed to step in against Perry on mere days’ notice.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

On November 4, on the main card of the stacked UFC 217, fourth-ranked welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal will take on the division’s number-two fighter, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. This bout will serve as Thompson’s opportunity to rebound from back-to-back failed title bids opposite reigning champion Tyron Woodley – the first being a majority draw, the second being a majority decision. Though Thompson performed admirably in these undeniably competitive fights, he failed to pull the trigger in either battle, opting instead to hang back and wait for opportunities to counter.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s latest trip to Pittsburgh, brick-fisted welterweight “Platinum” Mike Perry picked up a thunderous knee-induced KO win over Alex Reyes, who stepped in to replace Thiago Alves on short notice. Shortly after this win, Perry made an exciting callout of former UFC welterweight king and fellow knockout artist Robbie Lawler. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio Mike Perry explained the reason for this callout of Lawler.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

Ragin’ Al Iaquinta is one of the best lightweights in the world. Unfortunately, his gripes with the UFC have caused him to question his continued fighting career, and he’s been quite inactive over the last few years. Earlier this year, of course, Iaquinta did step back into the Octagon, dazzling with a thunderous first-round knockout of the notoriously durable Diego Sanchez. Since then, however, he has once again been noncommittal on his fighting future.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2017

Justin Bucholz landed several hard soccer kicks to the body of Marques Facine and the last one went to the head and Facine was done #AFC133 pic.twitter.com/11Tl1Yjo0m — HONKY EXTRAORDINAIRE (@Mr_Honky) September 21, 2017

Justin Golightly - September 20, 2017

The latest news about Paige VanZant isn’t just that the strawweight will be moving up into the new flyweight division at UFC 216. Back in January, VanZant announced she had a new book deal in development and it looks like it has all came together. Rise: Surviving the Fight of My Life, is the title of the UFC fighter’s new book she wrote for ‘all those who got knocked down and came up swinging’. It’s an autobiography that will document her struggles long before she was signed to the UFC.

Justin Golightly - September 20, 2017

The champion is back. Joanna Jedrzejczyk will be one of three title fights on the super stacked UFC 217 card at Madison Sqaure Garden. She’s been undefeated, not just in the UFC, but for her entire MMA career. That’s a ridiculous 16-fight win steak, if you throw in her two amateur fights before making her professional debut. Shes’ well on her way to becoming the most dominant female MMA fighter in the world, and she just added another highlight to her stardom. Glamour Magazine Poland has added Jedrzejczyk to their Women of the Year 2017 list.

Justin Golightly - September 20, 2017

Everyone knows Georges St-Pierre touched down back into the UFC to challenge for the middleweight title against Michael Bisping. He’s gone on record saying that if he wins, he’s contractually obligated to defend against interim champ Robert Whittaker. If he loses, St-Pierre has said he will retire. Win or lose, his teammate Olivier Aubin-Mercier thinks that GSP should call out none-other than Conor McGregor for the biggest UFC fight of all time. “To tell you the truth, I would not [keep fighting], but Georges [St-Pierre] is truly a real fighter, a real warrior, a real inspiration. He may fight again, I’m not sure. I think what would be plausible is to call out Conor [McGregor] after [the fight with Michael Bisping]. That’s what I would do. Call out Conor. I think for the UFC, it’s a really smart fight to do too, since it’s a win-win of them. A win-win kind of, for the short time. If Georges wins, well, he’s the greatest fighter of all time. If Conor wins, he is too. And if GSP wins, I don’t think people would hold it against Conor.”

Jason Kindschy - September 20, 2017

BJPENN Radio is back tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with another awesome guest list for your MMA fix! 8:15PM ET- “Platinum” Mike Perry will be joining us to kick off the show and recap his sensational KO victory over the weekend against Alex Reyes at UFC FN 116. We’ll hear the timeline for Thaigo Alves pulling out of the fight to Alex Reyes becoming the last minute replacement. Also, more about the callout of Robbie Lawler, his well-deserved fight bonus, and the likelihood of becoming a last minute replacement himself if any of the upcoming fights at 170 fall through. What’s next for Perry? Listen to find out!

Justin Golightly - September 20, 2017

When you’re Conor McGregor, the world is your oyster. But sometimes, diving for oysters is dangerous. Sometimes, there are monsters in the deep. All this is just a convoluted analogy for the WWE’s monster-among-monsters, Braun Strowman. He was recently asked about McGregor in an interview ahead of his beastly battle this Sunday with Brock Lesnar, and doesn’t think the UFC lightweight champion wants anything to do with him. https://twitter.com/BraunStrowman/status/882087532539781120

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the UFC’s anticipated stop in Pittsburgh, PA, rapidly rising welterweight “Platinum” Mike Perry returned to the Octagon. Originally, the welterweight star was expected to battle former UFC welterweight title challenger Thiago Alves. Unfortunately, however, Alves was forced out of the competition thanks to Hurricane Irma’s effects on Florida. He was replaced by promotional newcomer Alex Reyes.