MMA News

bjpenndotcom - June 14, 2017

Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather posted on social media today amidst reports of his boxing match with Conor McGregor being finalized today to reveal that his superfight with Conor McGregor is indeed official. Earlier in the day, the NSAC approved Mayweather Promotions request to promote an unspecified event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on August 26th, which was then followed up by a report from Yahoo Sports that the fight had been finalized.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2017

You read that headline correctly. According to both Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, and Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review Journal, the much discussed boxing mega fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather is a done deal. This fight will reportedly occur on August 26, in Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, though the venue could apparently still change to the new T-Mobile Arena. According to the aforementioned reports, Mayweather will confirm this fight on his social media accounts as early as today. McGregor, meanwhile, can be expected to make his announcements shortly thereafter.

Russell Ess - June 14, 2017

Dillon Danis has been getting a ton of attention ever since joining Conor McGregor’s training camp crew last year. Danis has taken note of McGregor’s success and has been a hot topic of debate with a lot of what he has been saying in interviews and posting to social media.

Russell Ess - June 14, 2017

Many fans were excited to hear that the familiar voices of Mike Goldberg and Mauro Ranallo will be returning to mixed martial arts broadcasts as Bellator announced the signing of the two MMA broadcasting pioneers on Tuesday.

Russell Ess - June 14, 2017

A UFC prospect’s career is in jeopardy after being sentenced in an Ipswich Crown Court in England. English UFC featherweight Arnold Allen was sentenced to five months in prison, which has been suspended for 12 months and ordered to 150 hours of community service, and one-month home curfew. Allen was also ordered to pay his victims a total of £3,250 ($4,160) for assaulting them at Christmas parties on December 23 and 24, according to ipswichstar.co.uk.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2017

Every July, at the climax of its exciting International Fight Week, the UFC promotes a stacked, mega-card in Las Vegas. This year, that card is UFC 213, which goes down on July 8 in the T-Mobile Arena. Though UFC 213 took a real hit when its originally planned main event – a men’s bantamweight title fight between champ Cody Garbrandt and heated rival TJ Dillashaw  – fell through, it still stands out as one of the finest cards of the year thus far.

bjpenndotcom - June 14, 2017

Recently, at the first ever UFC Athlete Retreat, UFC lightweight Kajan Johnson stood up and challenged a Reebok rep during his presentation, voicing the general opinion of fighters in attendance that the Reebok deal was very negative for the fighters. After Johnson’s outburst, the UFC brass spoke with him privately, before then opening up an open session with the fighters to discuss the deal, and what would make them more happy. While the UFC wasn’t happy with Johnson’s method of calling out the Reebok rep mid-presentation, the result was a positive discussion between the fighters and UFC brass.

bjpenndotcom - June 14, 2017

Wednesday morning, Mayweather Promotions request to promote an unspecified boxing event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was put back on the agenda after being removed from the agenda earlier in the week. News surfaced earlier in the week revealing that Mayweather promotions was planning to request the MGM Grand Garden Arena for August 26th for an unspecified event, however their request was pulled shortly after, with ESPN’s Dan Rafael explaining that once Mayweather and McGregor have a deal, they can then request to reserve the MGM Grand. This reaffirmed the fact that Mayweather had not signed a contract to fight McGregor.

bjpenndotcom - June 14, 2017

https://youtu.be/K8FYiWKqCfg UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt was scheduled to fight former teammate TJ Dillashaw in a highly anticipated title fight this July. Unfortunately, while a procedure over in Germany was successful, Garbrandt remained unable to defend his title against Dillashaw in July due to the injury.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2017

Last month, the UFC flew the headliners and co-headliners of its upcoming summer events out to Dallas for a stacked press conference. As is so often the case when too many fired-up fighters are shoehorned into a small space together, a number of heated confrontations occurred.  Of all the blowouts to occur at this press conference, none held a candle to the one involving ranked lightweights Michael Chiesa and Kevin Lee, whose scrap will headline the UFC’s June 25 visit to Oklahoma City. This scuffle began when Lee reminded Chiesa that his mother would be present when they fought. Lee’s mention of Chiesa’s mother caused Chiesa’s blood to boil, at which point he threatened to slap Lee, and stormed across the cage in his foe’s direction. The two lightweights then collided in the middle of the stage, where Lee cracked Chiesa with a punch.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2017

Yesterday afternoon, news surfaced that former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones had lost his mother, who had been struggling with diabetes for some time. In the wake of this tragedy, the MMA community united around Jones, offering their condolences to the former champ, and his brothers Arthur and Chandler, both of whom play in the NFL. Even reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, who stands out as Jones’ most heated rival, took a moment to reach out to the former champion and offer his thoughts and prayers.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2017

Late last year, long-time UFC play-by-play man Mike Goldberg was released by the promotion with little in the way of sendoff or fanfare. He simply called UFC 207, put down his commentator’s headset, and that was that. His long run with the promotion was over. After months of rumors, we learned yesterday that the beloved commentator had found a new home. Goldberg has signed a deal with Bellator MMA – the sport’s second biggest promotion. He will debut behind the Bellator commentary desk during Bellator 180 and Bellator NYC, which compose arguably the biggest event the promotion has ever hosted.

bjpenndotcom - June 13, 2017

Tragic news surfaced Tuesday morning that Camille Jones, the mother of UFC pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones, and Super Bowl champions Arthur Jones, and Chandler Jones, passed away after a lengthy battle with diabetes according to TMZ. Arthur Jones broke the tragic news via social media, with a heartfelt message asking fans to keep his family in their prayers during this difficult time:

bjpenndotcom - June 13, 2017

This past week, MMA legend Wanderlei Silva no-showed a press conference ahead of his ‘Bellator NYC’ grudge match with Chael Sonnen on June 24th. While Bellator was quick to put out the fire for ‘The Axe Murderer’ claiming that he was ill, Silva himself has now shed light on why he decided to skip out on the press conference for what is all-but guaranteed to be Bellator MMA’s biggest card ever. He spoke to MMAJunkie to discuss the situation:

Russell Ess - June 13, 2017

Max Holloway is on a new level now that he is the undisputed featherweight champion and wants to make sure he is being paid like a champion. At UFC 212, the 25-year-old Hawaiian took out Jose Aldo in enemy territory in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was crowned the new king of the 145-pound division.

Russell Ess - June 13, 2017

There have been some outspoken members from the martial arts community that have laughed at the potential superfight between boxing’s 49-0 Floyd Mayweather and MMA’s 21-3 Conor McGregor. Boxing legend turned promoter, Oscar De La Hoya has been one that went as far as to ask fans to not buy into the “circus” matchup, even after campaigning for a McGregor vs. Golden Boy Promotions boxer Canelo Alvarez.

bjpenndotcom - June 13, 2017

Former UFC fighter Urijah Faber is continuing to change MMA despite his retirement earlier this year. The ‘Team Alpha Male’ founder recently revealed some pretty groundbreaking changes for Team Alpha Male. Among the changes were two that could very well revolutionize MMA for fighters, including scholarships for recruiting, and an aviation deal that helps fighters, their family, and teammates all make trips that would otherwise be extremely difficult.

Tom Taylor - June 13, 2017

With UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping on the shelf nursing a knee injury, the UFC’s matchmaking team has opted to crown an interim middleweight champion to keep the division moving in the champ’s stead. This interim middleweight title fight will occur at UFC 213 this July 8, when streaking Cuban contender Yoel Romero collides with surging Australian star Robert Whittaker. Given the tremendous skill of both fighters, many people are having trouble confidently picking a winner for their fight. Bisping, however, doesn’t seem to have any trouble in this regard.