MMA News

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, one of the biggest stars to emerge from the now defunct Japanese promotion PRIDE, will reportedly be returning to the land that made him famous this September 23. As speculated, the Brazilian legend’s opponent for this UFC Fight Night will be Ovince St. Preux. This report comes from The MMA Kings on Twitter.

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

It sounds like a matchup between two of Bellator’s English welterweight rivals will meet in the cage in 2018. According to Scott Coker who spoke on The MMA Hour, Michael Page and Paul Daley will likely meet in early 2018 due to Daley’s desired fight schedule.

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.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

This Saturday, in the co-main event of UFC 213, surging Cuban contender Yoel Romero will collide with Australia’s Robert Whittaker for the interim UFC middleweight title. Romero will enter this fight with a reputation as one of the best middleweights on earth. He’s on a 10-fight win-streak. This streak has seen him dispatch game opponents like Clifford Starks, Derek Brunson, Brad Tavares, Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and most recently, former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman, who he flattened with a flying knee. He’s a fantastic 13-1 as a pro mixed martial artist.

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.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

When it was announced that UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would next defend his title against Georges St-Pierre – a former welterweight champ who had never fought at middleweight before – there was widespread backlash. Much of this backlash came from the middleweight division’s top contenders, such as Yoel Romero, Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and Robert Whittaker. While this Bisping vs. St-Pierre fight has since been nixed, Whittaker recently reiterated that St-Pierre really had no business fighting for the middleweight title. He explained this feeling in a recent interview with Fox Sports Australia.

bjpenndotcom - July 5, 2017

UFC women’s featherweight contender Cris Cyborg is currently gearing up for her vacant women’s featherweight title fight on July 29th in Anaheim, California, where she will look to capture UFC gold. Ahead of the fight, UFC President Dana White gave a rather interesting interview in which he admitted that the UFC made some mistakes in regards to how they handled Cris Cyborg and her situation when they signed her.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

When the UFC was purchased by WME-IMG in the summer of 2016, there was widespread wonder as to the fate of company staples like Mike Golberg, Joe Rogan, and UFC President Dana White. Goldberg, as we now know, was let go by the promotion, and ultimately landed in Bellator. Rogan, meanwhile, seems to be staying put for the moment. White, however, didn’t give much indication as to how much longer he planned on staying with the promotion.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

Shortly after BJ Penn came up short to Dennis Siver in late June, he was attacked on social media by an undeniably classless Nik Lentz. While Penn chose not to engage Lentz on this one, his good friend Joe Lauzon couldn’t let Lentz’s comments slide. Replying to Lentz on Reddit over the weekend, Lauzon absolutely brutalized Lentz with a fiery comment that challenged the lightweight’s legacy, and reminded him that Penn whooped him during their brief stint training together.

Tom Taylor - July 5, 2017

If a recent Facebook post from British knockout artist Paul Daley is to be believed, Bellator MMA is working on an absolutely dynamite welterweight scrap. In his post, Daley suggested that he had agreed to a fight with former UFC welterweight contender and recent Bellator title challenger Lorenz Larkin, and that he’s just waiting for Larkin to agree to the fight. See Daley’s post, which he shared on his personal account rather than his fan page, below:

Russell Ess - July 4, 2017

Chris Weidman was not happy but also was not surprised when he got the answer to his appeal to the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) regarding his controversial loss to Gegard Mousasi at UFC 210. Speaking on the MMA Hour on Monday, Weidman told Ariel Helwani that he received a letter from the NYSAC saying that his appeal did not go in his favor.

Russell Ess - July 4, 2017

UFC Hall of Fame legend Matt Hughes has been recovering in the hospital after the truck he was driving was struck by a train on June 16 near his hometown in Illinois. The accident happened as Hughes was crossing a train track where an oncoming train struck the passenger side of his vehicle. The former UFC welterweight champion was then airlifted to HSHS St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. Matt’s sister, Beth Ulrici Hughes gave an update on her Facebook page as she stated her brother is no longer on a ventilator.