MMA News

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2017

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson has remained adamant that he wouldn’t fight his friend and former teammate Georges St-Pierre. With that being said however, after dropping a decision to Tyron Woodley earlier this year in a highly anticipated rematch for the welterweight title, Thompson appears to be warming up to the idea.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2017

On July 29th, at UFC 214, former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones will step into the Octagon with light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier for a highly anticipated rematch 2 years in the making. While Jones and Cormier have been slated to fight on numerous occasions, they have stepped into the Octagon together just once, in 2015, when Jones defeated Cormier via unanimous decision, handing Cormier the first loss of his professional career. Ahead of the rematch on July 29th, Daniel Cormier appeared on SportsCenter to discuss the rematch, pleading for Jones to “stay out of trouble” long enough to make it to the fight:

Russell Ess - June 9, 2017

The incident that got physical between Cris Cyborg and Angela Magana at the recent UFC athlete retreat may have had an impact with one of Cyborg’s sponsors. Apparel company GRRRL released the following public statement through their website regarding their relationship with Cris Cyborg following the incident with Magana.

Russell Ess - June 9, 2017

UFC Fight Night 110 takes place on Saturday, June 10 in Auckland, New Zealand.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2017

On July 29th in Anaheim, California at UFC 214, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will step into the Octagon for a highly anticipated rematch two years in the making, as they fight for Cormier’s light heavyweight championship. Ahead of the fight, Jon Jones’ striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn, spoke to Submission Radio to explain why Jones will be making the walk to the Octagon on July 29th:

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2017

Earlier this week, reports emerged from numerous high-profile news sources that indicated UFC President Dana White was no longer negotiating a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather fight. The reports followed the news of White finalizing Conor McGregor’s half of the contract several weeks ago, which was expected to then lead to White finalizing a deal with Mayweather’s team. Since then there have been no updates regarding a potential Mayweather-McGregor fight, however this week a report emerged that WME-IMG executives Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell are the ones negotiating with Al Haymon and Floyd Mayweather’s team, not UFC President Dana White.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2017

Melendez and Rockhold step inside the octagon with the American Animals. On this episode of American Animals, Erik Apple and TJ De Santis are here and ready to bring you the biggest and the best in the world of MMA. Plus, the guys bring you two amazing guests in former UFC Middleweight Champion, Luke Rockhold, and Muay Thai specialist, Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez. Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez (1-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will be making her second mixed martial arts appearance later this month at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Madison Square Garden. She will be taking on Sadie Monseratte Williams (0-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) at Bellator 180 on June 24 in a strawweight affair which is sure to intrigue Bellator viewers. Keri tells the guys about the added pressure and attention placed on her as the wife of former WEC lightweight champion and three-time Strikeforce champion, Gilbert Melendez. Also, Keri tells us more about the responsibilities that go along with being a parent while simultaneously training to fight at the highest level.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2017

While Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia have no date finalized for their highly anticipated welterweight title fight, all signs point towards Maia getting the next welterweight title fight against the champ. That fight has the MMA community torn on their predictions for the scrap, with many wondering stylistically how the pair will matchup given that Maia’s strength is his Jiu-Jitsu, and Woodley’s strength is his impressive wrestling background.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2017

Recently, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier put former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones on blast ahead of their July 29th rematch at UFC 214 for the undisputed light heavyweight title. Ahead of the fight, Cormier made some controversial statements on ‘The Herd with Colin Cowherd’ as he proclaimed that he believes Jon Jones was forced to fight PED-free for the first time when he fought Ovince Saint Preux:

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2017

Top ranked UFC light heavyweight knockout artist Jimi Manuwa has been on a tear of the UFC’s light heavyweight division recently, going on a 2-fight win streak that has seen him knock out both Ovince Saint-Preux, and Corey Anderson. The back to back wins for Manuwa saw the English striker land at #2 on the UFC’s official rankings behind his teammate, #1 contender Alexander Gustafsson. Following UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier’s recent win over Anthony Johnson in April, Manuwa called for a title fight with Cormier. Ultimately, the UFC booked a light heavyweight title fight between Cormier and former light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones for this summer, and booked Manuwa for a UFC 214 showdown with Volkan Oezdemir on July 29th.

Russell Ess - June 8, 2017

https://www.facebook.com/realcombatmedia/videos/1467443759978969/ Boxing legend and current promoter Oscar De La Hoya and UFC President Dana White have been battling on the idea of the potential boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.

Russell Ess - June 8, 2017

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones are scheduled to fight once again at UFC 214, which takes place on July 29 in Anaheim, California.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2017

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson has been absent from the Octagon since his UFC 209 showdown with Tyron Woodley for the welterweight championship, a highly anticipated rematch from their UFC 205 co-main event showdown that saw Woodley retain the belt in a majority draw effort. Following the rematch at UFC 209, Thompson revealed that he injured his knee in his rematch with Woodley. While there has been no word on when ‘Wonderboy’ will return to the Octagon, he spoke to Submission Radio this week to unveil his ideal return plan:

Tom Taylor - June 8, 2017

AJ McKee and James Gallagher are two of the hottest prospects on the Bellator roster and as luck would have it, they happen to compete in the same weight class and have some real issues with one another. Though Gallagher is currently scheduled for a stark test against Chinzo Machida at Bellator 180 on June 24, he and McKee seem to be destined to collide. On the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, McKee explained to host Kinch that he hopes to fight Gallagher, whether the Irishman wins or loses against Machida later this month.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2017

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been competing in the UFC since 2006, eleven years after his first fight in the UFC, Bisping reigns as the UFC middleweight champion. Despite that, there is a bit of uncertainty regarding when Bisping’s next fight will be. While initially the champ was supposed to defend his middleweight strap against Georges St-Pierre in 2017, an eye injury is currently preventing St-Pierre from returning to the Octagon. Similarly, following his first successful title defense over Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping has been sidelined with an injury of his own.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2017

It has now been nearly an entire year since Luke Rockhold has been in the Octagon. After winning the UFC middleweight championship by defeating Chris Weidman at UFC 194 back in December of 2015, Rockhold was set to have a rematch with Weidman at UFC 199 in June of 2016. Unfortunately, Weidman sustained an injury during training camp and was unable to fight at UFC 199, leading the UFC to select Michael Bisping as a last minute fill-in opponent for Rockhold just two weeks before the fight. When the pair stepped into the Octagon for their highly anticipated rematch, it took just minutes for Bisping to knock Rockhold out cold and claim the UFC middleweight championship.

Tom Taylor - June 8, 2017

Last weekend, on the main card of UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Yancy Medeiros stepped into the Octagon with ever-dangerous Brazilian finisher Erick Silva. Despite the scale of this test, the Hawaiian talent defeated Silva in his own back yard, putting him down with a thudding, second-round combo. With this impressive win, Medeiros built on the momentum of a submission defeat of Sean Spencer, and moved to 2-0 since jumping from lightweight to welterweight.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2017

https://youtu.be/a5RiQU4f0O8 On this day in MMA history, heavyweight MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko picked up an impressive 1st round submission win over Kazuyuki Fujita after nearly being finished by ‘Ironhead’ in the opening minutes of the fight.