MMA News

bjpenndotcom - March 24, 2017

Top ranked women’s bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko recently picked up a dominant 2nd round submission win over Julianna Pena at ‘UFC Fight Night: Denver’ earlier this year to cement her place as the women’s bantamweight #1 contender. The win made it 2-straight for Shevchenko, and secured her a rematch with Amanda Nunes, this time for the women’s bantamweight championship. With that being said, there had been no official date set for a potential Nunes vs. Shevchenko II showdown, leading many fight fans to wonder when the fight will take place.

Russell Ess - March 24, 2017

Cris Cyborg has quite a schedule lined up as she was recently invited to the Brave 4 event taking place in Abu Dhabi on March 31. Cyborg was invited as an ambassador for WMMA by none other than the 1st King of Bahrain, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

bjpenndotcom - March 24, 2017

While conflicting reports have continued to emerge regarding a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather scrap, one many has reportedly confirmed that a fight is indeed official. Chael Sonnen recently took to social media to announce that a fight between McGregor and Mayweather was indeed “on” leaving fight fans confused and skeptical as to where the info came from. While Bob Arum recently revealed that the UFC is the biggest obstacle in securing a deal for the fight, Sonnen has now revealed his source for the report that McGregor vs. Mayweather is official.

bjpenndotcom - March 24, 2017

UFC featherweight Artem Lobov has been gearing up for his upcoming main event scrap with Cub Swanson in April, where he will face the biggest test of his professional MMA career as he looks to crack the featherweight top 10. Ahead of the fight, Lobov has generated quite a bit of controversy as he has called out fighters with padded records for being “pussies”. He then took aim at UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo for accepting the featherweight title after Conor McGregor vacated the belt to serve as the UFC lightweight champion.

bjpenndotcom - March 24, 2017

Boxing promoter Bob Arum has continued to be very vocal in regards to a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match. The Top Rank promoter initially believed that UFC President Dana White was simply using the rumors of a potential superfight to establish his control over McGregor given that McGregor is a UFC employee. He spoke to TMZ over two months ago, saying:

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

The war of words between former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, and former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum has picked up steam this week after Rockhold called out Werdum for a heavyweight scrap on UFC Tonight, saying: “Everyone’s steaming over this new fight I brought up. I think me and Werdum got some old beef from Strikeforce. He’s a guy I’ve always wanted to fight. I’ve thought it through and I like the style matchup.

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

MMA veteran Urijah Faber may currently be retired from MMA, however the former top ranked bantamweight revealed recently that he will be competing once again, however it won’t be in MMA. Faber dropped 2 straight fights in 2016, the first being a trilogy fight with Dominick Cruz at UFC 199, where he dropped a unanimous decision in the highly anticipated grudge match. He then dropped a 2nd loss via unanimous decision to Jimmie Rivera at UFC 203. Following the fight, Faber announced that he would be fighting once more in his retirement fight. Faber then fought in his hometown of Sacramento on the main card of ‘UFC Fight Night: Sacramento’, where he picked up a unanimous decision win over Brad Pickett.

Russell Ess - March 23, 2017

On March 28, 2014, Dennis Munson Jr. made his amateur kickboxing debut at an event promoted by Roufusport at the Eagles Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

John Kavanagh, who serves as the head coach for UFC stars like Artem Lobov, Gunnar Nelson, and of course, Conor McGregor, is famous for the expression “win or learn.” He even wrote a book with that title. The idea behind this expression is that, when a fighter enters the cage, there are two possible outcomes: they either win, or lose and learn from that loss. In the case of UFC welterweight knockout artist Mike Perry, this expression rings true. Late last year, Perry experienced the first loss of his pro career, losing a hard fought decision to a crafty Alan Jouban. With this first defeat in the rear-view mirror, the welterweight slugger is determined to learn from the experience. The main thing he hopes to learn from this loss his how to win a decision when the knockout fails to materialize.

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

At UFC 207, UFC bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz stepped into the Octagon with Cody Garbrandt for a highly anticipated grudge match. The pair had traded barbs in numerous interviews throughout the buildup of the fight, and were nearly involved in an altercation backstage at another event, which was fortunately broken up by UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. When the pair stepped into the Octagon, many expected Cruz’ experience to be the difference maker, however Garbrandt showed excellent composure as he managed to out-strike the champ, while avoiding Cruz’ strikes. In addition, Garbrandt even managed to drop the champ on numerous occasions, leaving fight fans stunned at his masterful performance.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

Back in August of 2015, former World Series of Fighting strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar made her long-awaited debut in the UFC’s Octagon. Her opponent in this Octagon debut was top ranked contender Claudia Gadelha. Regrettably for Aguilar and her fans, Gadelha came out on top that night, capturing a hard-fought unanimous decision win. Almost two years later, however, the loss still bothers Aguilar, as she was dealing with a fairly serious injury throughout the fight. Given this unfortunate hinderance to her performance, she’s been eager for a rematch with Gadelha ever since.

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

On April 22nd, SBG Ireland’s very own Artem Lobov will have the biggest fight of his professional career as he fights #4 ranked featherweight Cub Swanson in a highly anticipated main event showdown. Ahead of the fight, Lobov, who holds a 13-12-1 professional record, and is currently on a 2-fight win streak, found himself criticizing fighters with padded records during a recent appearance on Submission Radio.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

On April 22, when the UFC touches down in Nashville, Tennessee, “Platinum” Mike Perry will test his mettle against one of the welterweight division’s most experienced competitors: Jake Ellenberger. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Perry weighed in on this looming scrap with Ellenberger. Though he acknowledged that Ellenberger has experience on his side, he doesn’t expect the veteran to give him any new looks.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

Jessica Aguilar, who is the former World Series of Fighting strawweight champion and the most experienced fighter in the UFC strawweight division, is looking for a fight – specifically, a fight at UFC 211, in her native Texas, on May 13. Unfortunately, the 13th-ranked strawweight has had an incredibly difficult time locking down an opponent for this card, and with the date drawing ever closer, she’s getting desperate.

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

The Ultimate Fighter winner Kelvin Gastelum may have been forced by UFC President Dana White to go up to middleweight after being unable to make the welterweight limit of 170 pounds on several occasions, however he has future plans at 170 pounds. In Gastelum’s middleweight debut in December, he picked up an impressive 3rd round TKO win over Tim Kennedy, who was returning to the Octagon for the first time since his first professional loss. Gastelum then picked up momentum at 185 pounds as he picked up a 1st round TKO win over Vitor Belfort this month in Fortaleza.

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

Former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum recently found himself called out by former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold this week. Rockhold explained on a recent podcast appearance that he and ‘Vai Calvao’ had unfinished beef from the Strikeforce days, and as a result, he would be willing to move up to heavyweight to settle that beef. He explained the situation on UFC Tonight, saying:

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

On April 22, fan favorite slugger “Platinum” Mike Perry will attempt to rebound from his first professional loss. His opponent in this effort will be brick-fisted welterweight veteran Jake Ellenberger. In advance of this fight, Perry joined host Kinch on BJ Penn Radio to give his take on Ellenberger as an opponent. Apparently, Perry had nothing against his upcoming foe until they appeared together on Chael Sonnen’s You’re Welcome Podcast, where Ellenberger let some trash talk fly.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

Jessica Aguilar is an unheralded pioneer of women’s mixed martial arts. The UFC strawweight contender’s career dates all the way back to 2006 – five years before Ronda Rousey made her pro debut. Over the course of this long career, she has amassed an impressive 19-5 overall record, which happens to be the longest record in the UFC strawweight division. Despite the experiential edge she has over her peers, however, she has struggled to gain a foothold in the division. Aguilar explained this difficulty to host Kinch on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.