MMA News

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2017

When Valentina Shevchenko submitted Julianna Pena with a second-round armbar back in January, she earned herself a crack at Amanda Nunes and the UFC women’s bantamweight title. While the Kyrgyzstani fighter’s title shot has been confirmed, however, the date and location of this fight are still not known. On Sunday evening, Nunes dropped a serious hint to that end, taking to Twitter and asking Shevchenko if she’ll see her on June 3.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2017

This weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s latest trip to London, England, British striking specialist Jimi Manuwa will take on dangerous grappler Corey Anderson. If Manuwa wins this battle in The Big Smoke, it’s conceivable that he’ll earn himself a shot at the winner of Daniel Cormier and Anthony “Rumble” Johnson’s UFC 210 light heavyweight title fight. While this is the biggest fight currently available at light heavyweight, Manuwa recently told SkySports that he’s especially interested  in a fight with Jon Jones, a former UFC light heavyweight champion who never really lost the title, but was instead stripped of the distinction after a litany of troubles outside the cage.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2017

On the most recent Fight Companion episode of the Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan delved into the topic of a possible Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor boxing mega fight – a mega fight that is looking more possible by the day. In this segment, Rogan began by referring to this much discussed Mayweather-McGregor fight as the biggest fight ever.

Tom Taylor - March 13, 2017

If UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and undefeated boxing star Floyd Mayweather meet in the boxing ring, it’ll go down as one of the biggest fights – if not the biggest fight – in combat sports history. Discussions about this fight have been cooking for over a year. For the most part, however, there has seemed to be more reason to believe it won’t happen than there are to believe it’ll actually come to fruition. That is changing.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Mixed martial arts legend Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua scored yet another knockout victory at last night’s UFC Fight Night 106 event in Brazil, stopping Gian Villante in the third-round.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Kelvin Gastelum scored one of the biggest victories of his career last night in Brazil by scoring a knockout win over mixed martial arts legend Vitor Belfort.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Surging UFC welterweight contender Alan Jouban will face the toughest opponent of his young career when he takes on Gunnar Nelson in the co-main event of UFC London on March 18. Jouban recently sat down with BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor where he discussed a number of different topics including the UFC 209 welterweight title fight rematch between Stephen Thompson and Tyron Woodley.

Chris Taylor - March 12, 2017

Surging UFC welterweight contender Alan Jouban will return to the octagon at next weekend’s UFC fight card in London where he will square off with the always dangerous Gunnar Nelson in the co-main event. Jouban, who is currently riding a three-fight win streak, is very excited about the opportunity to fight a guy like Gunnar Nelson, who is ranked in the top-10 of the UFC’s stacked welterweight division.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

When the UFC brass ironed out their differences with former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, and pencilled him in for an immediate middleweight title shot against divisional king Michael Bisping, their hope was clearly for a positive reception. Unfortunately for them, this booking has been met with plenty in the way of backlash, as its been criticized by fighters like Yoel Romero and Kelvin Gastelum, MMA personalities like Joe Rogan, and of course, the sport’s ever-passionate fans. Not everyone, however, is bent out of shape over this booking. Streaking middleweight contender Robert Whittaker, for example, has adopted a laissez faire outlook on the whole ordeal. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor, Whittaker explained that he’s not particularly bothered by the booking, and that he hopes it produces the massive payday both Bisping and St-Pierre are looking for.  He even admitted that he’s excited to watch the fight.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in sunny Fortaleza, Brazil, with UFC Fight Night 106. This card was an extremely stacked one as far as Fight Nights go. In the evening’s middleweight main event, we saw former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum maul former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort to a first-round TKO win. In the co-main event, meanwhile, we saw Pride legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua score a vintage win by clobbering Gian Villante to a third-round TKO. Other highlights of the main card included a nice submission win from Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, and close battles between Bethe Correia and Marion Reneau, and Ray Borg and Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva. In terms of pure spectacle, however, no fight on the card delivered quite like Edson Barboza’s flying knee knockout of Beneil Dariush. Despite this emphatic win, Barboza was actually having difficultly in the early portions of the fight, as he gave up the first round, unable to land his patented offense in the face of Dariush’s ceaseless pressure. Ultimately, however, he found his opening, unleashing the jump knee as Dariush shot in on a telegraphed takedown. And just like that, it was lights out.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Earlier this month, we learned that elite middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza will be returning to the Octagon at UFC on Fox 24 on April 15. The Brazilian grappling specialist will do so against rising Australian contender Robert Whittaker, who recently rocketed into the upper echelon of the division with a dazzling knockout defeat of the dangerous Derek Brunson. While this matchup is an undeniably exciting one, its announcement did catch some fans by surprise. Jacare, after all, is one of the very top contenders in the middleweight division. Though the next middleweight title shot will go to returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Jacare could have easily opted to wait for his shot or, to rematch fellow contender Yoel Romero in an effort to lock down the number-one-contender spot. Instead, the Brazilian has chosen to keep a busy schedule, risking his hard-earned contender status against a ferocious young talent in Whittaker.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Last night, the UFC returned to our screens with UFC Fortaleza, an action-packed, 12-fight card featuring top talent from Brazil and further afield. In the main event, we watched former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum burst into middleweight title contention with a dominant, first-round destruction of Vitor Belfort. In the co-main event, we saw Mauricio “Shogun” Rua deliver a vintage knockout over the game Gian Villante. Elsewhere on the card, finally, we saw impressive wins from lightweight contender Edson Barboza, flyweight contender Ray Borg, and rising welterweight Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Last night, the UFC returned to our screens with UFC Fight Night 106. The card produced plenty in the way of memorable finishes, as Kelvin Gastelum zapped Vitor Belfort in the main event, and aging Pride legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua dazzled with a third-round stoppage of Gian Villante in the co-main event. Of the many impressive stoppages on this card, however, none were quite as jaw-dropping as Edson Barboza’s knockout of fellow lightweight contender Beneil Dariush, which he produced with a rocket-fuelled flying knee to the chin. With this win, Barboza extended his win-streak, as he has defeated former UFC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis and former Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez in his next most recent bouts. Riding high off these wins, Barboza is now eager for a shot at lightweight gold – but not against undisputed champ Conor McGregor, who is currently transfixed on a possible boxing mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in sun soaked Fortaleza, Brazil, with UFC Fight Night 106. This card was a stacked one as far as Fight Nights go. In the evening’s middleweight main event, we saw former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum maul former light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort to a first-round TKO win. Other highlights of the main card included another highlight-reel Edson Barboza knockout, a nice submission win from Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, and close battles between Bethe Correia and Marion Reneau and Ray Borg and Jussier “Formiga” Da Silva.

Tom Taylor - March 12, 2017

Last night, the UFC touched down in sunny Fortaleza, Brazil, with UFC Fight Night 106. This card was a stacked one as far as Fight Nights go. On the undercard, we saw some nice wins from talent like Kevin Lee, Joe Soto and Sergio Moraes, as well as the final fight of “The People’s Warrior” Joshua Burkman, who came up short to the dangerous Michel “Trator” Prazeres.

Chris Taylor - March 11, 2017

A key middleweight bout between former UFC champion Vitor Belfort and surging contender Kelvin Gastelum served as the main event of tonight’s UFC Fight Night 106 fight card in Brazil. Round one begins and Vitor lands a good kick to the body early. Gastelum with the pressure early. He lands a nice jab but Vitor respond with a quick left of his own. Kelvin lands a nice combo but Vitor replies with a hard straight left. He lands another. Gastelum continues to press forward. Vitor attempts a flying knee that misses. Gastelum connects with a good jab that draws some blood from the nose of Belfort. Kelvin is pumping his jab here. Vitor partially connects with a spinning kick. Gastelum eats it and then connects with a punch of his own that drops Vitor. Kelvin follows him to the ground and unloads some ground and pound. Vitor scrambles and gets back to his feet. Belfort circles out and lands a nice right hand. Gastelum with a jab but Vitor scores with a right. Kelvin with another hard punch that drops Vitor. He lands a hammer fist and this one is over. Wow.

Chris Taylor - March 11, 2017

A key lightweight tilt between Edson Barboza and Beneil Dariush took place during tonight’s UFC Fight Night 106 main card in Brazil. Round one begins and Dariush throws a high kick that is blocked. The fighters trade low kicks. Dariush with a left hand. Both men landing kicks early. Barboza moving well. He fires a high kick that partially lands. Dariush is landing some good shots. Barboza fires back with a leg kick. He is moving well, but Dariush is chopping away with low kicks and punches. Barboza finally lands a big low kick. Dariush fires back with a big left. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - March 11, 2017

A key flyweight tilt between Ray Borg and Jussier Formiga took place during tonight’s UFC Fight Night 106 card in Brazil. Round one begins and Borg starts out quickly with a combination. That fighters clinch up and both men exchange good knees inside before eventually breaking. Formiga with a hard leg kick. Borg presses forward and lands a left jab. Formiga retreats and then throws a low kick that connects with Borg’s groin. The referee steps in to let Ray recover. He does and we restart. Borg charges forward but misses with a left hand. The fighters clinch and Ray lands a good knee inside. Formiga presses him up against the cage. The fighters exchange knees. They break and Borg is able to connect with a hard uppercut. Formiga circles and Borg presses forward. Jussier connects with a beautiful counter right. Both men lands right hands now. Formiga with a nice combination to close out round one.