MMA News

bjpenndotcom - April 29, 2017

This past weekend at ‘UFC Fight Night: Nashville’, UFC welterweight veteran Jake Ellenberger stepped into the Octagon with welterweight prospect Mike Perry for a highly anticipated showdown. For Ellenberger, he was looking to return to the win column following a controversial TKO loss to Jorge Masvidal, where he was declared TKOd after he got his big toe stuck in the cage. For Perry, he too was looking to return to the win column to bounce back from his first professional loss, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Alan Jouban.

bjpenndotcom - April 29, 2017

It may be some time before top ranked UFC middleweight Jacare Souza steps into the Octagon again following his recent TKO loss to Robert Whittaker at ‘UFC Fight Night: Kansas City’ earlier this month. Following the fight, Souza was handed a mere 30 day medical suspension. Now however, it appears as though Souza will be out for longer than initially expected after he was forced to undergo surgery for a ruptured pectoral muscle.

bjpenndotcom - April 29, 2017

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been competing in the UFC for over ten years now. During that time, Bisping climbed the UFC rankings, before ultimately winning the middleweight championship nearly a year ago. Given his familiarity with the UFC, and experience in dealing with the promotion, Bisping feels as though it isn’t wise for UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta to repeatedly put his employers on blast in the media for not giving him a post-fight bonus for his recent ‘UFC Fight Night: Nashville’ scrap.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Following ‘UFC Fight Night: Nashville’ both UFC welterweight Mike Perry and UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta engaged in a rather heated feud. Iaquinta returned to the UFC at ‘UFC Fight Night: Nashville’ following a 2-year layoff, making a statement in his return fight as he knocked out Diego Sanchez in the first round of their three round scrap. Following the event, Iaquinta put his employers on blast for not giving him a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus for the win.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Earlier this month, following the UFC 210 early weigh-ins, UFC women’s bantamweight Pearl Gonzalez was informed that she would be unable to compete the following evening due to her breast implants. Reports from those in attendance at the weigh-ins immediately began to emerge, revealing that Gonzalez would be unable to fight due to the implants. Ultimately, UFC President Dana White took to social media to inform fans that the issue had been resolved following a phone call with Gonzalez’ doctor, and Gonzalez would be able to make her UFC debut the following night.

Russell Ess - April 28, 2017

Ronda Rousey took women’s mixed martial arts to a new level in her rise to stardom in the UFC.

Russell Ess - April 28, 2017

There are a few fighters that have struggled with being bullied growing up. UFC strawweight Paige VanZant says she enrolled in college early to get away from the high school bullying she was going through. UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was bullied during his childhood until the day he stood up to his peer tormenting him. Uriah Hall got to a point during his childhood that he wanted to end the life of the person that was bullying him. Even Anderson Silva was bullied as a kid.

Russell Ess - April 28, 2017

Ryan Bader is one of the noteworthy fighters that jumped ship from the UFC to Bellator MMA recently. With going through the negotiation process between the two major mixed martial arts promotions, Bader ultimately felt like he would be better off changing things up and signing with Bellator. A big factor in Bader’s decision to sign with Bellator surely had to do with the amount of money he could make with his personal sponsorships. With the UFC tied into an exclusive uniform deal with Reebok, many UFC fighters such as Bader lost out on a lot of money from their personal endorsements.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Laying it all on the line… On this episode of American Animals, the Animals are here to bring the latest and greatest in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Erik Apple reviews all the happenings from UFC Fight Night 108 in Nashville, Tennessee, which featured a main event bout between “Cub” Swanson and Artem Lobov. Swanson reigned supreme over Lobov, landing a whopping 209 punches and breaking his hand in the process.  Swanson now looks ahead to the UFC 212 event and hopes to meet the winner of the featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Max Holloway. Plus, the Animals get the opportunity to speak with one of the most popular and well-known sports handicapper’s in the world today, Dave Oancea. Dave shares with us his inspirational story of self-belief and what it really means to “lay it all on the line.” Step inside the octagon with this episode of American Animals!

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

In 2016, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returned to the UFC, after over a year away from the Octagon following her UFC 193 KO loss to Holly Holm, to fight Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title she once held. While Rousey hoped to return to the win column and reclaim the bantamweight title from Nunes at UFC 207, it took just 46 seconds for Nunes to TKO Rousey and retain the bantamweight title.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Back in 2013, UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre stepped into the Octagon against Johny Hendricks for a highly anticipated showdown that served as his ninth title defense. The fight was an extremely close one, which saw the judges award St-Pierre with a split decision win, marking his ninth successful title defense. The decision was undoubtably a controversial one, and St-Pierre ultimately ended up vacating the belt and taking an indefinite hiatus from the UFC in the days following the fight.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Two of the most talked about topics in MMA at the present time are performance enhancing drugs in MMA, and the dangers of weight cutting. While the UFC has partnered with USADA to crack down on the number of active fighters who use and abuse performance enhancing drugs, the question of what the UFC and athletic commissions can do about the dangers of weight cutting has remained one that has gone relatively unanswered.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

While talk of a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing superfight has the entire combat sports community talking, updates regarding the potential scrap have continued to pour out. As of late however, updates have become less and less frequent in regards to the potential scrap. With Conor McGregor’s newborn son’s due date is rapidly approaching, many fans are wondering what the UFC superstar’s next move will be. While all signs pointed to a McGregor-Mayweather showdown being made official, a new update from Showtime Sports executive Stephen Espinoza to discuss the bout, and why negotiations have hit a standstill.

bjpenndotcom - April 28, 2017

Former UFC champion Vitor Belfort has been on quite the skid as of late. The MMA legend went into 2016 hoping to build momentum on a 1st round KO win over Dan Henderson, however back to back TKO losses to Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Gegard Mousasi resulted in Belfort going winless in 2016. Following his loss to Mousasi, reports began to emerge that Belfort would be retiring from MMA. ‘The Phenom’ posted a lengthy status to Instagram, however he then revealed in a separate interview that he would not be retiring from MMA just yet. To kick off 2017, Belfort stepped into the Octagon with Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Fortaleza’, where he dropped a 1st round TKO to the streaking contender. Following his fight with Gastelum, Belfort confirmed that his next fight would indeed be his last.

bjpenndotcom - April 27, 2017

Recently, at UFC 210, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman stepped into the Octagon with Gegard Mousasi in hopes of snapping a 2-fight skid and returning to the win column. After going undefeated throughout his professional career, which included winning the UFC middleweight title, Weidman dropped back to back losses to Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero. While Weidman hoped to return to title contention with a win over Mousasi, it was Mousasi who walked away with the win, picking up a TKO win after Weidman was declared TKOd by referee Dan Miragliotta in what turned out to be an extremely controversial incident.

bjpenndotcom - April 27, 2017

Following news that the WSOF has closed its doors and is now under new ownership, operating under the name of Professional FIghter’a League, it is now being reported that former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje has signed with the UFC. Gaethje, who holds a professional record of 17-0, won the WSOF lightweight championship in 2014, and defended the belt 5 times over the course of the past three years, defeating notable opponents such as former UFC lightweight Melvin Guillard, and Luis Palomino.

Chris Taylor - April 27, 2017

Jessica Eye vs. Aspen Ladd set for July in Las Vegas A women’s bantamweight scrap between Jessica Eye and Aspen Ladd has been added to July’s “The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale” event in Las Vegas.

Russell Ess - April 27, 2017

Two rising prospects are set to meet in the Octagon as Marc Diakiese will take on Drakkar Klose at The Ultimate Fighter Finale on July 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Diakiese is undefeated with a 12-0 professional MMA record and turned a lot of heads with his last knockout performance against Teemu Packalen at UFC Fight Night 107. With his flashy style and knockout power, many fans are excited to see what the “Bonecrusher” will bring in his next UFC appearance.