MMA News
BJ Penn explains choice to reunite with Marinovich for Dennis Siver training
Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017
Ahead of his Sunday night Oklahoma City showdown with Dennis Siver, our own BJ Penn has been training with a familiar face in Gary Marinovich. Alongside his brother Marv, Marinovich helped Penn author his defeats of Kenny Florian and Diego Sanchez – two of the most impressive wins of his career. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, Penn broke down his choice to train with Marinovich in Hilo, rather than remaining with Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in Albuquerque.
Cyborg: "It was a new excuse everyday" with Germaine de Randamie
Tom Taylor - June 22, 2017
Back in February, Germaine de Randamie scored a narrow decision over Holly Holm to become the UFC’s first-ever women’s featherweight champion. The expectation from there was that she would attempt to defend her title against the division’s consensus best fighter, Cris “Cyborg” Justino. Unfortunately, de Randamie went radio silent for some time, and ultimately refused to fight Cyborg outright, calling the Brazilian star a cheater and saying she didn’t belong the UFC.
Oscar De La Hoya rips "disrespectful" Dana White
bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2017
While the majority of the combat sports community was thrilled to hear that a boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather had been finalized for August 26th, Oscar De La Hoya was not. While De La Hoya wrote a lengthy letter in an attempt to prevent the fight from ever happening, he has now shifted gears and is expressing his frustration with UFC President Dana White for booking the McGregor-Mayweather fight just weeks before Golden Boy Promotions has their middleweight title fight between Canelo Alvarez and GGG at the same arena as McGregor vs. Mayweather.
Cat Zingano open to Holly Holm fight
bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2017
While Cat Zingano may currently be on the sidelines recovering from an injury, she has continued to keep her name in headlines for her willingness to fight top ranked contenders. First it was Cris Cyborg, the woman who struggled to find an opponent for months, who Zingano was willing to fight. Unfortunately for ‘Alpha’ Cat Zingano, Cyborg is now set to fight Megan Anderson for the vacant women’s featherweight title at UFC 214, leaving Zingano to wonder who she could fight in her highly anticipated return to the Octagon.
Fedor Emelianenko doesn't consider himself the GOAT
bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2017
While many MMA fans consider heavyweight MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko to be the greatest fighter of all time for his reign of dominance during the Pride FC era of MMA, ‘The Last Emperor’ doesn’t think of himself as ‘the GOAT’. From 2002-2006, Emelianenko terrorized the Pride FC heavyweight division, going on a spectacular 14 fight win streak that saw him claim, and defend, the Pride FC heavyweight championship as he dispatched of numerous top ranked fighters such as Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, and of course, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
VIDEO | Tour of the UFC's new $14M performance institute open to all UFC fighters
Russell Ess - June 21, 2017
There is no doubt that the UFC has helped evolve the sport of mixed martial arts.
GGG & Canelo Alvarez weigh-in on Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather
bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2017
On September 16th, Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin, also known as ‘Triple G’ will step into the ring for a highly anticipated middleweight title fight against Canelo Alvarez many years in the making. Several weeks before however, UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, and undefeated prizefighter Floyd Mayweather will step into the ring at the T-Mobile Arena for a boxing match that is being dubbed the biggest fight of all time. While Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya attempted to prevent the fight from ever taking place, he has now stated that he isn’t too worried about the fight between McGregor and Mayweather drawing attention away from the Alvarez-GGG fight.
Nate Diaz slapped with lawsuit seeking over $1 million in damages
Russell Ess - June 21, 2017
UFC star Nate Diaz may now be in the most costly fight of his career. On Wednesday, TMZ reported that the Stockton native had a lawsuit filed against him by The Ballengee Group, who previously represented Diaz as an agent.
Bellator light heavyweight champ Phil Davis wants to apologize to the fans
Tom Taylor - June 21, 2017
On June 24, in the main event of Bellator 180 (which serves as the undercard of the stacked Bellator NYC event), light heavyweight champion Phil Davis will attempt to defend his title against one of the newer members of the Bellator roster, Ryan Bader. The bout will be a rematch of a January 2015 contest, which Bader won by split decision. This initial fight between the two Bellator light heavyweights, which occurred in Stockholm, Sweden, still stands out as one of the most lacklustre fights in recent memory. For that, Davis wants to apologize.
VIDEO | Floyd Mayweather's last opponent Andre Berto gives surprising prediction for Mayweather vs McGregor
Russell Ess - June 21, 2017
.@AndreBerto, the last man to fight Floyd Mayweather, told @anezbitt why Floyd has to "embarrass" Conor & what makes Floyd so hard to beat. pic.twitter.com/V7R8T7DI10 — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) June 20, 2017
ACB owner refuses Nike sponsorship because brand supports LGBTQ rights
Tom Taylor - June 21, 2017
At a glance, Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) is one of the most exciting up-and-coming promotions in mixed martial arts. Under the magnifying glass, however, the promotion oozes with hatred, bigotry and homophobia. Most of this ugliness can be traced to the promotion’s owner and primary funder, Mairbek Khasiev. The latest example of Khasiev’s bigotry occurred in a recent post to Instagram. In this post, the ACB owner explained that his promotion would not be partnering with sports apparel titan Nike because of the promotion’s support of LGBTQ rights. In this post to Instagram, Khasiev referenced the brand’s refusal to work with Manny Pacquiao after the boxer compared homosexuals to animals in early 2016.
Artist explains the Conor McGregor knocking out Floyd Mayweather mural
bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2017
Ahead of Conor McGregor‘s highly anticipated August 26th showdown with Floyd Mayweather, the champ showed off a massive mural on the wall of his gym which depicts him knocking out Mayweather. The mural instantly drew attention from fight fans due to the level of boldness displayed. However, as it turns out, it wasn’t McGregor who commissioned an artist to create the mural, it was SBG Ireland head coach John Kavanagh, who informed the artists that they needed to complete the mural in a very short amount of time.
VIDEO | Watch Conor McGregor and Dana White meet for the first time
Tom Taylor - June 21, 2017
Check out the first face-to-face conversation Conor McGregor had with Dana White. Today, Conor McGregor is the biggest star in mixed martial arts, and one of the biggest stars in sports outright. It is his status as such that helped him shoehorn his way into a boxing match with undefeated pugilist Floyd Mayweather Jr., which will go down on August 26 in Las Vegas and see both men pocket north of $100 million.
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza relocates to Florida, gives timeframe for Octagon return
Tom Taylor - June 21, 2017
Back in April, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza put his status as one of the top middleweight contenders on the line against the young Robert Whitaker. Unfortunately, this bet didn’t pay off for Jacare, as he wilted under a storm of second-round strikes. Now several months removed from this loss, Jacare is seeking a change of scenery. He has departed from his native Brazil and relocated to Winter Park, Florida. Though this corner of The Sunshine State is not far from American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Jacare assures he won’t be training at the renowned gym.
Michael Bisping: Dana White told me 'GSP does not want to fight'
Tom Taylor - June 21, 2017
For a time, it looked as though UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would next defend his title against former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Yet when St-Pierre revealed he wouldn’t be able to fight until the fall, and Bisping announced that he was recovering from knee surgery, this much-discussed fight was pushed to the back burner. Since then, UFC President Dana White has suggested that, if St-Pierre does return, it will not be to the middleweight division as originally planned, but instead to the welterweight division while he once ruled.
VIDEO | Fighter is hospitalized after one of the nastiest groin shots you'll ever see
Tom Taylor - June 21, 2017
MMA can be a pretty ugly sport. For every slick submission, massive slam, or jaw-dropping knockout, there is an inadvertent eye poke, a clash of heads, or perhaps worst of all, a groin shot.
Sage Northcutt gets new opponent for UFC 214
bjpenndotcom - June 20, 2017
On July 29th at UFC 214, rising UFC prospect Sage Northcutt was initially slated to fight Claudio Puelles, however after Puelles was forced to withdraw from the fight following a successful UFC debut, the promotion was tasked with finding a replacement opponent for Northcutt. Now, news has surfaced from Sherdog regarding the scrap, revealing that Johh Makdessi will be stepping in for Puelles to fight Northcutt at the Anaheim California based-event.
Oscar De La Hoya once again rips "irrelevant" McGregor vs. Mayweather fight
bjpenndotcom - June 20, 2017
On August 26th, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather will compete in what many consider the biggest fight in combat sports history. With that being said however, not everyone shares the same enthusiasm regarding the fight. Boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya even went as far as to pen a lengthy letter in an attempt to prevent the fight from ever taking place. With that being said, De La Hoya recently spoke in an interview, where he looked to discredit the fight, saying: