MMA News

bjpenndotcom - July 6, 2017

Earlier this year, the UFC announced that former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre was coming out of retirement to challenge middleweight champion Michael Bisping for the middleweight title. Despite the fact that the promotion held a press conference for the event, a deal was never finalized, and no date was ever given for the fight. After an eye injury forced Georges St-Pierre to postpone, Bisping then revealed that he was having complications from a knee injury, and would be unable to fight GSP in the first half of the year.

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has knocked a lot of people out. He’s knocked even more people down, some of them multiple times in a single fight. Needless to say, the champ hits incredibly hard. If you ask Woodley himself, he’s probably the hardest hitter in the UFC, pound-for-pound – especially now that the brick-fisted Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has called it a career.

bjpenndotcom - July 6, 2017

This Saturday, fight fans will tune in for a stacked night of fights headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko. In the co-main event, top ranked middleweights Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero will step into the Octagon for a highly anticipated showdown for the interim middleweight championship. With that being said however, the card was initially supposed to play host to a bantamweight showdown between Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw, where Garbrandt was looking to make his first successful title defense. Unfortunately, Garbrandt was forced out of the fight with a back injury.

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

On July 29, in the co-main event of UFC 214, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will attempt to defend his title for a third time opposite Brazilian grappling wizard Demian Maia. Because this fight was just made official last week, there has been widespread speculation that Maia has been short-changed on time to prepare for this rapidly approaching challenge. According to Woodley, however, there’s no reason to feel bad for Maia.

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is not a fan of UFC 213 interim middleweight title challenger Yoel Romero. In fact, the champ has publicly stated that he hopes Romero loses decisively to his UFC 213 opponent Robert Whittaker. “Whittaker, we all know this, he’s on an absolute tear. I’ve got nothing against Robert Whittaker,” Bisping said on a May episode of his podcast. “Fine young man, great fighter, fights hard, got a lot of respect for him. Can’t say the same about Yoel. Yoel is certainly not on my Christmas card list. We all know my thoughts on him. He’s a scumbag, he’s a cheat, and that’s that. So if they do fight I, hope Whittaker beats the brains out of him.”

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

The year is 2016. We are days away from the blockbuster UFC 200, a massive card that is topped by a headline-dominating rematch between light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his arch rival Jon Jones. Anticipation has reached an all-time high, and the violent crescendo we’ve been waiting for has almost arrived. Then, the worst happens. On the 6th of July, Jones is notified of a potential USADA violation stemming from a mid-June USADA test, and he is pulled from the UFC 200 headliner as a result. Months later, in early November, it is announced that Jones is receiving a one-year suspension (retroactive to July 6th) as the result of this failed test.

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

When Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor step into the boxing ring together on August 26, Mayweather is expected to dominate. He is simply far too experienced to be anything less than a massive betting favorite against the Irish mixed martial artist. McGregor of course, will not be without his advantages. He’ll be much bigger than Mayweather. He’ll be longer. He hits harder. He might well be able to throw Mayweather off with an unorthodox approach to traditional boxing. The list goes on.

Tom Taylor - July 6, 2017

Conor McGregor‘s August 26 boxing showdown with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. is quickly approaching, and his training for the bout is now well underway. Unsurprisingly, McGregor’s training camp for the boxer Mayweather is quite different from his training camp for a typical MMA fight, as he’s focused solely on the sweet science, and not on the other facets of MMA.

EVOLVE MMA - July 5, 2017

Every fight starts out on the feet. It doesn’t matter how good a fighter’s ground game is. Whenever that bell rings and the referee tells the fighters to touch gloves, they come out swinging. It’s the natural progression of things in a fight. Which makes Muay Thai so extremely important. With a complete set of Muay Thai skills, anything is possible, ground game or not. And as the two guys in this video have proven, Muay Thai can be an absolute killer.

EVOLVE MMA - July 5, 2017

This video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Muay Thai, and ancient martial art developed by Thailand, is both brutal and beautiful in its artistry. The “Art of Eight Limbs” utilizes the human body’s most potent offensive weapons — the hands, the feet, the elbows, and the knees. With a solid Muay Thai game, fighters can go into battle with confidence.

bjpenndotcom - July 5, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio is back at 8PM ET/5PM PT with another great guest! 8:20PM ET- We kick things off with UFC Welterweight Champ, Tyron Woodley. “The Chosen One” announced last week on UFC Tonight that he would be defending his title against Demian Maia at UFC 214 in Anaheim on July 29th. The champ joins us to discuss the matchup and give us his thoughts on Maia as an opponent. We’ll hear Woodley’s opinion on the newly implemented weight cutting rules by the CSAC and how that will affect him, if at all. Of course, you’ll hear his take on Dana White’s announcement that GSP would face the victor at UFC 214 as well. All that and much more for your weekly MMA fix!

Russell Ess - July 5, 2017

With Max Holloway the new undisputed UFC featherweight champion of the world, the Waianae native is more adamant than ever to have the UFC put on an event in Hawaii. Both Holloway and Makaha’s Yancy Medeiros found success in Brazil at UFC 212 and were greeted back home by a group of fans when they arrived at the airport in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

It’s now been more than four years since Matt Riddle’s last fight in the UFC: a no contest with Che Mills that was overturned when Riddle tested positive for marijuana. It’s been more than three years, meanwhile, since his last mixed martial arts bout, a win over Michael Kuiper under the Titan Fighting Championships banner. So how has the UFC veteran been staying busy and paying the bills since then? By competing as a pro wrestler.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

Bellator MMA has picked up yet another high profile free agent in former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and five-time UFC veteran Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. This signing was first reported by BloodyElbow.com.

Russell Ess - July 5, 2017

Terrible news was released on Tuesday regarding the death of an American Top Team member. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said that 25-year-old Aaron Rajman was killed late Monday after several men entered a home in West Boca, Florida and fired at least one shot at Rajman, according to the Sun-Sentinel. The Sherriff’s Office said that the men entered a house at the 22700 block of Southwest 65th Terrace at around 10:24 pm and had an argument with Rajman, shot him, and then drove away.

bjpenndotcom - July 5, 2017

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey recently said ‘yes’ to hubby Travis Browne when he popped the big question during the pair’s vacation to New Zealand. Prior to the couple going on their vacation however, the pair’s house in Venice, California was robbed by local skateboarders, who were caught on camera. According to Ronda Rousey, Browne quickly headed straight to the skatepark to find the thieves:

bjpenndotcom - July 5, 2017

Wanderlei Silva made his return to the cage last month after a four year long hiatus that briefly saw him handed a lifetime suspension from the NSAC before then being released by the UFC, receiving a reduced suspension, and signing with Bellator MMA. When Silva stepped into the cage in the main event of Bellator 180 against Chael Sonnen, he wasn’t too thrilled with Sonnen’s gameplan for the fight. After dropping a unanimous decision to the former UFC title challenger, Silva criticized Sonnen for his lack of an exciting gameplan.

bjpenndotcom - July 5, 2017

To date, Holly Holm remains the only fighter, male or female, to fine both a boxing world championship, as well as an MMA world championship. Holm was awarded a Guinness World Record for the accomplishment back in 2016 after her defeat of Ronda Rousey to capture the women’s bantamweight title. This of course arguably makes Holm the most qualified person in regards to weighing-in on Conor McGregor making the transition to boxing for his highly anticipated fight with Floyd Mayweather, given that Holm made the transition from Boxing to MMA several years ago, after also having a rather successful professional kickboxing career.