MMA News

EVOLVE MMA - May 19, 2017

This article/video was first published on Evolve Vacation. Three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Eduard “Rigatto” Novaes has over 20 years of experience on the mat. He is a third degree BJJ black belt under Master Elcio Figueiredo. He also holds a silver medal at the Brazilian Nationals and is a three-time Sao Paolo State BJJ Champion.

Russell Ess - May 19, 2017

Dillon Danis is one of the most recognizable grappling stars and has crossed over with getting quite a bit of recognition amongst MMA fans with helping UFC superstar Conor McGregor train for his last two fights. Over the weekend, Danis competed in the Submission Underground 4 grappling event against MMA veteran Jake Shields. Shields ended up beating Danis in their match in overtime, displaying his high level of grappling prowess. After a 10-minute round where neither Shields nor Danis could lock up a submission, they went into overtime where Shields was able to pull off a faster escape, taking the win.

bjpenndotcom - May 19, 2017

Earlier this year, former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw learned that he would be stepping into the Octagon to fight his former teammate Cody Garbrandt for the UFC bantamweight title. While the pair coached opposite one another on The Ultimate Fighter, it was revealed recently that Garbrandt would be heading to Germany to undergo a procedure on his back. While UFC President Dana White was confident Garbrandt would be healed due to the fact that he sent ‘No Love’ to his doctor in Germany, the UFC President revealed that a backup plan was in the works. Should Garbrandt be unable to fight Dillashaw on July 8th, the UFC will look to book a flyweight title fight between champion Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw.

bjpenndotcom - May 19, 2017

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is currently gearing up for her second bantamweight title defense against Valentina Shevchenko. Ahead of that fight however, it is no secret that Nunes is looking to ultimately win a second UFC title. While initially, the champ expressed her desire to move up in weight, with the addition of a UFC women’s flyweight division at 125 pounds, Nunes now could very well move down in weight in pursuit of her second UFC women’s title. That of course could make things very interesting given that UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk has expressed her desire to move up to flyweight to pursue her second women’s title. Nunes spoke to MMAJunkie to discuss a move to the women’s 145 pound division, but also a potential move to the newly formed women’s flyweight division, which will see its first champ crowned after a season of TUF.

bjpenndotcom - May 19, 2017

The ongoing saga of the UFC middleweight title has continued to be an extremely confusing one. Although the UFC kicked off 2017 by announcing a middleweight title fight between middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre scrap for later this year, it was then revealed by St-Pierre that he would be willing to fight Bisping any time after October. Given that didn’t fit the initial timeline given by Michael Bisping, UFC President Dana White stated that Bisping would be defending his belt against Yoel Romero instead. Bisping then revealed that his knee was still injured, and that he would be unable to defend his belt this summer anyway.

Russell Ess - May 18, 2017

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has signed his bout agreement for a boxing match against undefeated boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. Now, UFC President Dana White is off to negotiate with Team Mayweather on the terms of the bout and will look to get a signed contract to make this fight that many believed had no chances of happening, including himself.

Russell Ess - May 18, 2017

UFC 211 saw some great fights go down at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas over the weekend. With some top ranked fighters competing on the card, the UFC rankings have been freshly updated.

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2017

On May 28, the UFC will touch down in beautiful Stockholm, Sweden with an exciting night of fights. In the evening’s co-main event, rapidly  rising light heavyweight contenders Volkan Oezdemir and Misha Cirkunov will collide in a bout that has title implications written all over it. In advance of this fight, Oezdemir joined host Kinch on BJ Penn Radio to discuss Cirkunov, and the challenges he presents as an opponent.

bjpenndotcom - May 18, 2017

Last week, at the UFC Summer Kickoff press conference, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes was joined onstage by her UFC 213 opponent, Valentina Shevchenko. The pair will scrap July 8th for Nunes’ belt in a highly anticipated rematch with even higher stakes this time around. While the pair certainly talked quite a bit of trash during the press conference, it was the staredown that followed which made headlines. When the two met in the center of the stage after the press conference ended for a stare down, sparks flew. Amanda Nunes seemingly escalated the situation unprovoked, however now she is looking to set the record straight.

bjpenndotcom - May 18, 2017

Throughout the course of the history of MMA, Brazil has continued to produce not only successful MMA fighters, but also successful MMA coaches. Nova Uniao head coach Andre Pederneiras is one of those coaches. The man who coached UFC champion Jose Aldo through his UFC career has trained countless Brazilian MMA fighters and coached them through the UFC ranks. Given that, it may come as a shock to many to hear that Pederneiras is encouraging his fighters to leave Brazil and come to America. He spoke to AG Fight to discuss why he encourages his fighters to leave Brazil, and the difference in national support for athletes:

Russell Ess - May 18, 2017

Robbie Lawler vs. Donald Cerrone are set to throw down in the middle of the Octagon at UFC 213. We are surely excited to see this one. Are you? Well, you better be, or “Cowboy” has a little message for you.

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2017

On June 17, Colby Covington will step into the Octagon in far-off Singapore, where he will battle South Korean star Dong Hyun Kim in the starkest test of his career thus far. Despite the scale of this test, the American Top Team staple is confident he can beat Kim decisively. Covington broke down this high-stakes showdown on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio:

bjpenndotcom - May 18, 2017

Recently, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier, and former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones appeared alongside a slew of popular fighters at the 2017 UFC Summer Kickoff press conference. While the press conference was certainly a heated affair for the two men, footage emerged of the pair backstage before the press conference getting into a war of words which resulted in Cormier throwing his water bottle at Jones before security held the champ back. During the press conference, Cormier appeared extremely comfortable on the mic, never shying away from a verbal showdown with his nemesis. With that being said however, many wondered if Cormier crossed the line when he called Jones a “junkie” during the press conference.

bjpenndotcom - May 18, 2017

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson has earned the reputation as one of the most polite and well spoken UFC fighters on the roster today. Johnson, who rarely engages in any form of trash talk, seemed to really come out of his shell during a recent interview when he didn’t hesitate to give former Ronda Rousey some tough love. Rousey lost the women’s bantamweight title to Holly Holm at UFC 193 nearly two years ago, marking the first defeat of her professional career. Following the loss, it was revealed that Rousey even went as far as to momentarily consider suicide immediately following the bout. While Rousey attempted to avenge the loss be reclaiming the belt over a year later, she was handed a one sided loss from Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2017

What a wild ride this Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather business has been. At first, the much-discussed boxing mega fight seemed like a downright impossibility; a veritable no-go. As the months have passed, however, this strange but undeniably compelling spectacle has begun to look more and more likely, as various road blocks and red tape have been bushwhacked.

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2017

While at the UFC Gym Huntington Beach grand opening, UFC Gym President Adam Sedlack went on camera to discuss the importance of staying active as you age. His only error was using former Pride champion and long-time UFC contender Dan Henderson as an example. Mid-way through his comments, Sedlack was interrupted by a jarring Henderson overhand – the legendary “H-Bomb” – which sent him careening to the mat.

Tom Taylor - May 18, 2017

For the last few weeks, former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has been operating under the assumption that he’ll be fighting reigning champ Cody Garbrandt at UFC 213 this July 8. Recently, however, news surfaced that Garbrandt is having some issues with his back, putting the pair’s UFC 213 fight in jeopardy. While this is obviously unfortunate news for Dillashaw, the former champ was quick to come up with a backup plan, suggesting that he’d be willing to drop to 125 pounds to challenge dominant champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson for flyweight gold.

Russell Ess - May 17, 2017

When you step into the ring or cage to fight, you are ready to go to war and getting bloodied up usually just comes as a part of the game. However, it’s unfortunate that sometimes fighters end up with some really gruesome, devastating injuries.