MMA News

Tom Taylor - August 3, 2017

It has now been more than a year since Cain Velasquez’s last fight, a July 2016 mauling of the ever-dangerous Travis Browne. This, of course, is not for lack of trying. The former heavyweight champ was briefly scheduled for a December rematch with Fabricio Werdum, but unfortunately withdrew from this fight with the latest in the long string of injuries that has marred his recent career. For a time, it sounded as though it could be awhile before the oft-injured Velasquez stepped back into the cage. Apparently, however, he might be back in action quite soon.

Tom Taylor - August 3, 2017

Last weekend, in the co-main event of the blockbuster UFC 214, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley defended his title with a decision defeat of grappling whiz Demian Maia. Unfortunately, this win was not especially thrilling, and it generated some backlash from the MMA community – including UFC President Dana White. Having heard White’s criticisms, Woodley went off on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, threatening to leak sensitive information about the UFC and its president if he didn’t receive a public apology. Luckily, things seem to have cooled off, as Woodley and White have managed to squash their beef.

Jason Kindschy - August 2, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more awesome guests for your MMA fix! 8:15PM ET- First up, arguably the biggest winner from UFC 214 over the weekend, Volkan “No Time” Oezdemir. After dispatching the very dangerous Jimi Manuwa in less than a minute, Volkan is calling for a crack at the Jon Jones or a title eliminator against Alexander Gustafson. We’ll recap the huge win, get his take on the triumphant return of Jon Jones, and discuss what his next move will be as he continues blazing a trail towards the light-heavyweight crown.

Russell Ess - August 2, 2017

It’s now clear that Conor McGregor and Paulie Malignaggi are not in training camp together to build any friendship. In fact, Malignaggi said just that while recently speaking on the Dan Patrick Show with talks of their first sparring session that sounded like it was more of an actual fight than a training session.

Russell Ess - August 2, 2017

Floyd Mayweather made headlines on Tuesday when he posted a challenge to Conor McGregor on social media offering to fight with 8-ounce gloves instead of the 10-ounce gloves that are in their contracted rules. “Don’t believe what you hear in the media. Don’t believe what you hear on blog sites. If it’s not coming directly from me, then it’s not true,” Mayweather said in his post. “I’m telling McGregor, “Let’s fight in 8 oz gloves”. McGregor can fight in any brand he prefers or chooses. I’ll be wearing 8 oz Grant gloves. Whatever advantage McGregor needs to feel more comfortable in the ring, I’m willing to accommodate. Let’s give the boxing and MMA fans what they want to see.”

Russell Ess - August 2, 2017

There has been a lot of buzz on the sparring that took place between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and former world champion boxer Paulie Malignaggi, even though it has only been one sparring session. The two got into the ring as part of McGregor’s camp for his August 26 mega-million dollar boxing match against undefeated great Floyd Mayweather.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

Last Saturday, in the co-main event of UFC 214, Tyron Woodley made a third defense of the UFC welterweight title with a decision defeat of Demian Maia. Unfortunately, Woodley suffered a torn labrum in the bout, which is likely to keep him on the sidelines for at least five months. Though Woodley is likely to be out of action for the latter half of 2017, he has already begun considering the possibilities for his next title defense. Speaking to BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor, the champ explained that there is not exactly a clear welterweight contender out there at the moment. He also ran through some potential welterweight matchups that might produce a clear-cut contender.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley (18-3-1) successfully defended his title this past weekend in Anaheim, scoring a unanimous decision victory over top contender Demian Maia in the co-main event of UFC 214. “The Chosen One” was able to stuff all 21 of Demian Maia’s takedown attempts, and left the Brazilian submission specialist with two badly swollen eyes. Shortly following the UFC 214 event, Tyron Woodley revealed that he had suffered a torn labrum during the opening five minutes of his bout with Maia. On Wednesday, “T-Wood” spoke to BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor about his five-round fight with Maia at UFC 214 and how the shoulder injury affected his performance:

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and transcendent MMA superstar Ronda Rousey has not been seen in action since she was bludgeoned to a first-round TKO loss by reigning champ Amanda Nunes in December. This layoff was preceded by an even longer one, as the former champ spent more than a year on the shelf after her next most recent fight, a shocking, head-kick knockout loss to Holly Holm. While we have seen Rousey return from long layoffs before, it seems unlikely that she’ll return from this latest hiatus. Speaking to ESPN on Monday, UFC President Dana White assured that Rousey is probably done fighting.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

Though he is no longer the UFC superstar he once was, Chael Sonnen has carved out some real success under the Bellator MMA banner. His first fight, of course, was a disappointing loss to the retiring legend Tito Ortiz. In his next fight, however, he rebounded with a dominant decision win over long-time rival and bona fide MMA legend Wanderlei Silva. From the sounds of it, Sonnen’s habit of battling aging legends is likely to continue. In a recent interview with FloCombat.com, the three-time UFC title challenger suggested that his next fight is likely to pit him against former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

On August 26, UFC lightweight champ Conor McGregor will step into the boxing ring with undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. Originally, the pair were expected to battle in 10 oz. gloves, though a recent offer from Mayweather indicated that that could change. Mayweather made his offer on social media, assuring that he was ok with wearing smaller, 8 oz. gloves, which would be much closer to the 4 oz. gloves to which McGregor has grown accustomed as an MMA fighter.

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

On Saturday night, Tyron Woodley defended his title with a unanimous decision of Demian Maia. Regrettably, the fight was a bit of a slow one, and it generated quite a bit of backlash from UFC President Dana White. This backlash from White, in turn, prompted a fiery tirade from Woodley, who threatened to leak sensitive information if he didn’t receive a public apology from White. From there, a third party entered the fray in rising UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington. Covington sided with White, telling the UFC boss that he had information about Woodley that could be used in retaliation. Don’t worry boss @danawhite I know some serious dirt on @TWooodley that would ruin his life. #fake https://t.co/MK9SdXRgge

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

Head kick knockouts seem to be en vogue at the moment. Just days removed from Jon Jones’ thunderous UFC 214 head kick of Daniel Cormier (which was followed up with a strafing of ground-and-pound), Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series produced yet another violent head kick finish. This highlight-reel finish was authored by Julian Marquez. His victim was two-time World Series of Fighting veteran and Jackson’s MMA product Phil Hawes. See Marquez’ jaw-rattling KO below:

Tom Taylor - August 2, 2017

Last Saturday, Daniel Cormier lost the UFC light heavyweight title to his fiercest rival Jon Jones, succumbing to a third-round head-kick and followup punches. Shortly after this emotional loss, during his ill-advised Octagon interview with Joe Rogan, Cormier broke down in tears. In the opinion of UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, Cormier should have done his best to hold back his tears until he got backstage. Crying out in the open, Bisping suggested, gave Jones just the revenge he was looking for. “Cormier shouldn’t have done that,” Bisping said on his podcast Believe You Me (h/t Jed Meshew of MMAFighting.com) . “I thought it was bad because – listen, I’ve never cried when I’ve lost a fight, that’s not what I’m saying though. What I’m saying is because how much they dislike one another, and for as classy as Jon Jones could be inside the octagon, don’t tell me that that wasn’t the ultimate f**king revenge for Jon Jones to see D.C. crying. So what I mean is that the way he should have handled that better is to save that for the private moments.

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2017

Over the weekend, Tyron Woodley defended his UFC welterweight title for a third time with a decision triumph over Demian Maia. Regrettably, the slow nature of Woodley’s win generated quite a bit of backlash, the most notable of which came from UFC President Dana White. On Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour, the welterweight champ defended his performance against Maia, and even threatened to leak sensitive information about the UFC boss.

bjpenndotcom - August 1, 2017

With less than a month to go until the Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather superfight set to take place on August 26th, things have taken a rather unexpected turn in the form of details that need to be ironed out. During the first stop of the Mayweather vs. McGregor world tour recently in Los Angeles, Conor McGregor stated that Mayweather was putting restrictions on the rules for eligible gloves for the fight.

Russell Ess - August 1, 2017

Jon Jones was able to get back the UFC light heavyweight championship title from Daniel Cormier on Saturday night, serving “DC” the first KO loss of his MMA career. Jones is the only man who has been able to fight Cormier in a professional mixed martial arts bout and come out the winner. Cormier went into the UFC 214 fight against Jones as the defending champion and earned the highest reported salary from the event with a guaranteed purse of $1 million. Jones’ reported salary from UFC 214 was $500,000. However, Malki Kawa who manages Jon Jones claims that the reported incomes don’t tell the full stories as far as earnings go.

bjpenndotcom - August 1, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir has been absent from the Octagon for over a year now. After having a 2-fight win streak snapped by Andrei Arlovski at UFC 191, Mir looked to bounce back as he faced Mark Hunt at ‘UFC Fight Night: Australia’. Unfortunately for Mir, the fight was rather one-sided as Hunt picked up a first round walkoff KO win over the former champ. Following the loss, Mir was notified of a potential USADA anti-doping violation stemming from his fight night drug test. After a lengthy appeal process, Mir was handed a 2 year suspension retroactive to April of 2016, making him eligible to fight in just eight months from now. Subsequently, the UFC released the former champ from his contract, making him a free agent.