MMA News

bjpenndotcom - March 15, 2017

Several times a year, the UFC goes through the process of purging their UFC roster as they remove inactive fighters, and cut fighters who are currently on losing streaks. The latest list of fighters is a rather lengthy one with several well-known fighters on the latest cut-list according to UFC Fighter’s Info: Brandon Thatch Li Jingliang Yusuke Kasuya Felipe Olivieri Chris Avila Jason Novelli J.C. Cottrell Nicolas Dalby Dong-Yi Yang Erick Montano Viktor Pesta Valerie Letourneau Kelly Faszholz Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger

Russell Ess - March 15, 2017

The trial involving former UFC and Bellator fighter War Machine, who legally changed his name from Jonathan Koppenhaver, continues in a Clark County Courtroom. War Machine in on trial for an alleged incident involving his ex-girlfriend, Christine Mackinday, better known by her adult film actress name, Christy Mack, and her then-boyfriend Corey Thomas.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2017

Despite being a tough 1-6-1 in his last 8 fights, former UFC heavyweight title challenger Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva shows no signs of slowing down. Some five months removed from his corruption filled loss to Ivan Shtyrkov in Russia’s Titov Boxing Promotion, the Brazilian heavyweight will once again fight in the country, this time against former Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov, who is far and away the best heavyweight currently competing outside the UFC. The two big men will meet under the Fight Nights Global banner in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 2. Considering the fact that Bigfoot pocketed a whopping $200,000 for his shady loss to the relatively unknown Shtyrkov, his willingness to return to Russia to fight an opponent of Minakov’s standing is understandable. That said, the Brazilian is likely to be a substantial underdog heading into this fight, and rightly so.

bjpenndotcom - March 15, 2017

‘The Ultimate Fighter: Live’ winner Michael Chiesa has proven to be one of the most consistent lightweights in the UFC today. With a UFC record of 7-2, with one of his losses coming by way of doctor stoppage due to a cut on his eyebrow, Chiesa has found himself at #7 on the UFC’s official lightweight rankings. With only a handful of fighters above him, Chiesa is looking to leverage his impressive 3-fight win streak into an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, who recently found himself without an opponent when Khabib Nurmagomedov was forced out of their UFC 209 scrap the morning of weigh-ins.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2017

Back in July of 2016, Eddie Alvarez clobbered the highly regarded Rafael Dos Anjos to win the UFC lightweight title. In November of the same year, Alvarez’s title reign ended as quickly as it began, as he was dominated to a second-round TKO by Irish superstar Conor McGregor. Now scheduled for a bout with fan favorite contender Dustin Poirier, Alvarez is eager to rebound from the tough stretch he endured in the wake of his loss to McGregor. He explained his desire to get back on track on a recent episode of Toe-2-Toe with Brian Stann.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2017

In a few short weeks, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will attempt to defend his title against destructive challenger Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. If all goes Cormier’s way, he’ll then attempt to defend his title against Jon Jones, a troubled former champion and his biggest rival. Beyond bouts with Rumble and Jones, however, it’s hard to say who might next contend for the UFC light heavyweight crown. This, unsurprisingly, is something Cormier has considered. On a recent episode of MMAJunkie Radio, Cormier discussed the top-heavy nature of the light heavyweight division, and outlined his immediate plans as champion.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2017

Yoel Romero has earned a shot at Michael Bisping’s UFC middleweight title – that’s pretty much undeniable at this point. Unfortunately, Romero’s title shot was put on the back-burner by the UFC, as the organization instead opted to give the next middleweight shot to returning welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Romero weighed in on this bothersome situation, telling host Ariel Helwani that he’d be interested in an interim title fight with Anderson Silva as a way to stay busy while he waits for the Bisping vs. St-Pierre winner.

Tom Taylor - March 15, 2017

When Vitor Belfort stepped into the Octagon in the main event of UFC Fortaleza last weekend, he was hoping for a revivifying win over a highly-regarded contender in Kelvin Gastelum. What he received instead was his third TKO loss in a row, as he was thumped to an extremely decisive end by first-round Gastelum punches. In the wake of Belfort’s latest loss, calls for his retirement from competition have grown louder than ever. As he explained in his post-fight interview, however, he has one fight left on his current UFC contract, and he’d like to fulfill that fight, ideally at UFC 212 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 3.

Russell Ess - March 14, 2017

A massive UFC middleweight title fight is scheduled to take place between the champion Michael Bisping and former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who is coming off more than a three-year break from fighting. This will be Bisping’s second title defense as he became champion at UFC 199 by defeating Luke Rockhold and then making his first successful title defense against Dan Henderson at UFC 204.

Russell Ess - March 14, 2017

A fight that has the potential to really shake up the 145-pound division is set as #2 UFC ranked featherweight Frankie Edgar takes on #9 ranked Yair Rodriguez on May 13 at UFC 211. Edgar, a former UFC lightweight champion has much more to lose currently sitting near the top of the featherweight division while Rodriguez has everything to gain in their competition. However, Edgar talking with Jon Anik and Kenny Florian on their Anik and Florian podcast said he was game as always didn’t have any issues with taking on the flashy rising star.

bjpenndotcom - March 14, 2017

This month, news surfaced that former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre had signed a new multi-fight UFC contract, and would be returning to the UFC for a middleweight showdown with UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping later this year. While top ranked UFC welterweight Demian Maia may currently be booked to fight Jorge Masvidal in a fight that many believe could potentially see Maia crowned the welterweight #1 contender, Maia is thankful that St-Pierre chose to return at middleweight, rather than cutting to the front of the line for a welterweight title shot.

Russell Ess - March 14, 2017

Tragic news has hit the kickboxing community as it became known that 14-year-old kickboxer, Scott Marsden passed away. Marsden was competing in a national title bout in Leeds, England on Saturday when he collapsed during the bout and was taken to the hospital where he later died.

Tom Taylor - March 14, 2017

Over the last few months, UFC welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley has generated some controversy among fans by suggesting that he deals with racism, even as a UFC champion. “If you look at the history of our sport – and it’s not even our sport, the history of the American culture – certain things are subliminally embraced that are racist,” Woodley said on a January episode of The MMA Hour. “When you say to me ‘Tyron, you are well spoken’, what does that mean? Does that mean I’m well spoken comparable to all the mixed martial artists, the 500 UFC fighters on the roster? Or does that mean as a black male in America?”

bjpenndotcom - March 14, 2017

At UFC 209 earlier this year, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rasahd Evans made his highly anticipated UFC middleweight debut after several setbacks in his drop to middleweight. Entering into the Octagon at UFC 209 against Olympic Judoka Dan Kelly, Rashad Evans was riding a 2-fight skid that saw him drop back to back losses to Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira, with the second one being a rather vicious knockout loss.

Russell Ess - March 14, 2017

https://youtu.be/hsUCFh34do4 Earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nevada, many fans and members of the MMA community were in town for the Fighters Only World MMA Awards and UFC 209 event.

bjpenndotcom - March 14, 2017

To close out 2016, Paige VanZant looked to capitalize on her August 2016 win over Bec Rawlings as she stepped into the Octagon with ‘The Karate Hottie’ Michelle Waterson for a highly anticipated UFC Sacramento main event showdown. While many expected Waterson to look to use her elite level striking to pick VanZant apart, while looking for the finish, Waterson instead opted to take the fight to the ground and finish VanZant with a rear-naked choke in the first round to cement her place at the top of the UFC’s women’s strawweight division.

Tom Taylor - March 14, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_Or9ZJ–oU This weekend, the UFC will touch down in beautiful London, England with an exciting looking night of fights. This event, which will air entirely on UFC Fight Pass, will be headlined by a light heavyweight showdown between England’s own Jimi Manuwa, who currently holds the number four spot in the light heavyweight rankings, and American wrestler Corey Anderson, who sits at number seven in the divisional rankings.

bjpenndotcom - March 14, 2017

Throughout the course of the past several weeks, the combat sports community has tuned in for updates regarding the trial of MMA veteran Jon Koppenhaver, also known as War Machine. Throughout the course of the trial, Mack has delivered harrowing details regarding her abusive relationship with Koppenhaver which ultimately escalated to the point of the 2014 assault which landed War Machine in jail on 34 felony counts, including attempted murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault. Of course, War Machine plead not guilty to all charges, and in the eyes of the United States legal system, is innocent until proven guilty.