MMA News

bjpenndotcom - May 25, 2017

At UFC 194, interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor stepped into the Octagon with undisputed champion Jose Aldo for a highly anticipated showdown that saw McGregor not only win UFC gold, but end the lengthy reign of Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds. Following the loss, Aldo began to campaign for a rematch against his rival. While at one point he toyed with the idea of following McGregor to lightweight in order to contend for the Irish superstar’s 155 pound title, he ultimately fought Frankie Edgar at UFC 200 to win the interim title. Interestingly enough, after McGregor relinquished the featherweight title, Jose Aldo was promoted from interim champion to undisputed champion.

bjpenndotcom - May 25, 2017

While Conor McGregor may currently reign as the UFC lightweight champion, since winning the belt McGregor’s name has been linked to a potential boxing superfight with undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. While Oscar De La Hoya may not be too fond of the potential bout becoming more and more real every day, the combat sports community has. With McGregor’s side of the deal finalized, UFC President Dana White is looking to negotiate Mayweather’s end of the deal and pit these two combat sports icons against one another.

Russell Ess - May 25, 2017

It is too bad that Cody Garbrandt and TJ Dillashaw will not be settling their feud at UFC 213 as originally planned. Garbrandt suffered a back injury and will not be recovered in time to train for the fight by the July 8 event in Las Vegas, Nevada.

bjpenndotcom - May 25, 2017

Former boxing great Oscar De La Hoya is doing everything in his power to stop UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing icon Floyd Mayweather from ever stepping into the boxing ring together. With McGregor’s side of a boxing deal now finalized, a fight between the two alphas of their respective sports is looking more possible than ever before. Something that terrifies Oscar De La Hoya.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2017

Earlier this month, on the main card of UFC 211, red hot featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez hit a road block in the form of Frankie Edgar. Despite some strong moments in the fight, Rodriguez was grounded and ultimately stopped by his experienced foe. Now several weeks removed from this loss, Rodriguez spoke with BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor about the fight. Apparently, losing this fight was his worst fear – though he is certain he will grow from the experience.

Russell Ess - May 25, 2017

Tony Ferguson is campaigning hard for a fight with Nate Diaz. Ferguson took an opportunity on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour to go on a verbal onslaught targeting Diaz. With all of the comments that “El Cucuy” is throwing at the Stockton scrapper, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there is some sort of incident between the two that takes place outside of the Octagon if they ever cross paths, as Diaz is no stranger to that.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2017

One of the hottest rivalries in MMA today is the one shared by reigning bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt, and former champ TJ Dillashaw. As Dillashaw’s coach, Duane Ludwig has been dragged into the middle of this sizzling beef, which has recently been coming to a head on The Ultimate Fighter. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Ludwig explained to host Kinch that he has a hard time coming to grips with all the trash talk and bravado that is produced by rivalries of this kind.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2017

Until recently, former UFC bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw was expected to challenge reigning champ and former teammate Cody Garbrandt for gold at UFC 213 this July 8. Regrettably, Garbrandt has been forced out of this planned title fight with back trouble, which has left Dillashaw without a chance to fight for gold. While the simplest option for Dillashaw would seem to be to wait for Garbrandt to recover, he’s got another plan. The talented bantamweight has recently been campaigning for a shot at Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, who rules the flyweight division 10 pounds south of bantamweight.

bjpenndotcom - May 25, 2017

This week, following much speculation from the MMA community, it was confirmed that UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would not be returning to the Octagon to defend his belt this summer. Subsequently, the UFC announced an interim middleweight title fight between Robert Whittaker and middleweight #1 contender Yoel Romero for UFC 213. While the fight will not be for the undisputed middleweight title, it will pit two of the most dominant middleweights against one another. Whittaker will be stepping into the fight on a 7-fight win streak that has seen him defeat, and finish, numerous high-profile opponents such as Uriah Hall, Derek Brunson, and most recently Jacare Souza. Romero on the other hand has never tasted defeat inside the Octagon,and has gone 8-0, most recently picking up a devastating flying knee KO against Chris Weidman at UFC 205.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2017

When Gegard Mousasi defeated Chris Weidman at UFC 210, it marked the final obligation of his current UFC contract. With this milestone, he and the UFC began negotiating the terms of a new contract. Apparently, however, those negotiations have not been fruitful. Mousasi updated on the situation on the latest episode of UFC Tonight.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2017

On June 3, on the main card of UFC 212, MMA legend Vitor Belfort will take on Nate Marquardt in a fight that will go down as the last of his legendary career – at least, that was the original plan. Since his retirement fight with Marquardt was announced, Belfort has backtracked on his retirement plans, suggesting that while this fight will be his last in the UFC, it will not be his last overall.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2017

Earlier this year, we learned that, despite a decent 1-1 record at featherweight, Renan Barao would be abandoning the division in favor of a return to his former bantamweight haunts. Now, the details of Barao’s bantamweight return have been revealed. The former bantamweight king will be taking on long-time prospect Aljamain Sterling at UFC 214, this July 29 in Anaheim, California. This fight was announced by the UFC on Wednesday evening.

bjpenndotcom - May 24, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio is live at 8PM ET/5PM PT with Duane “Bang” Ludwig! 8:15PM ET- Our guest tonight for this streamlined episode is one of the best coaches in MMA today, Duane Ludwig. With the news of Cody Garbrandt likely being unable to defend his title against TJ Dillashaw at UFC 213, we’ll get Duane’s take on the inevitable cancellation of the fight and what options TJ has going forward. Ludwig and Dillashaw have since been campaigning for a super-fight with pound-for-pound king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, and while UFC president Dana White seems interested in the matchup, it appears the DJ is not so keen on fighting Dillashaw. We’ll be breaking down the potential bout between Dillashaw and Johnson, getting Duane’s take on the portrayal of each respective team on TUF 25 thus far, and we’ll also hear a brief update on Matt Brown. All that and much more from the trainer-extraordinaire!

Russell Ess - May 24, 2017

Many people were extremely disappointed when news broke that the UFC 209 lightweight interim title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson was canceled after Nurmagomedov was admitted to a hospital hours before weigh-ins.

Russell Ess - May 24, 2017

UFC strawweight Angela Magana and former Invicta featherweight champion Cris Cyborg got into an altercation over the weekend at the UFC athlete retreat in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cyborg and Magana were seen arguing in a video released from the incident where Cyborg punched Magana and things were immediately broken up.

bjpenndotcom - May 24, 2017

Former UFC welterweight staple Rory MacDonald recently made his highly anticipated Bellator MMA debut this past weekend when he picked up an impressive 2nd round submission win over knockout artist Paul Daley. Following the win, MacDonald spoke in his Bellator MMA post-fight in-cage interview to discuss the journey he has been on since his last fight in the UFC against Stephen Thompson, until now.

Tom Taylor - May 24, 2017

Over the weekend, the UFC flew some 400 of its fighters out to Las Vegas, Nevada for a special athletes retreat. During the events of the weekend, UFC featherweight star Cris “Cyborg” Justino had a run-in with UFC strawweight Angela Magana, which ended with Cyborg punching and visibly rocking Magana. Since then, Cyborg has been cited for battery for punching Magana. She also shared a lengthy statement on cyber bullying – it was Magana’s cyber bullying of her that led to the incident – on social media. See that statement below:

Russell Ess - May 24, 2017

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is gunning for the biggest fight of his life with the boxing match against undefeated great, Floyd Mayweather.