MMA News

Russell Ess - March 9, 2017

On Thursday, the UFC announced another massive fight scheduled for UFC 211. Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will take on rising star Yair Rodriguez in a featherweight bout. Edgar ranked #2 in the official UFC rankings will look to slow down #9 ranked Rodriguez in his rise up in the featherweight division.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

This weekend, Singapore’s ONE Championship will touch down in sun-soaked Bangkok, Thailand with their latest show, which is entitled Warrior Kingdom. This card, which is stacked with talent from Thailand, larger Southeast Asia, and even further afield, has got fans of Asian MMA very excited. Of all the features of this latest ONE Championship card, however, none are generating quite the same buzz as the main event, which will see 115-pound atomweight champion Angela Lee (6-0) attempt to defend her title against Jenny Huang (5-0). This fight is significant for a number of reasons. For one, it marks the latest efforts of Lee, who is quickly emerging as one of the brightest shining stars in women’s MMA. It’s also significant because it marks Huang’s opportunity to become the first Chinese fighter to win a major world championship.

Russell Ess - March 9, 2017

The sport vs. money fight matchups will be argued time and time again, especially after bouts such as Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre are announced by the UFC. With contenders climbing their way up the rankings their entire careers only to be leapfrogged by a more popular star that will sell a fight more, UFC commentator Joe Rogan understands why money fights are being booked ahead of the sport ranking system. However, that doesn’t mean Rogan is fully supportive of the championship matches being arranged.

bjpenndotcom - March 9, 2017

UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson was set to fight undefeated #1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov for the interim lightweight championship at UFC 209. Unfortunately, the day of weigh-ins, reports began to emerge that Nurmagomedov had been hospitalized prior to the weigh-in, and given IV fluids. Ultimately, Nurmagomedov was pulled from the fight, and the fight was scrapped. Now, Tony Ferguson is speaking out against the UFC for allegedly paying him “less than half” of his reported $250,000 show money. He spoke to MMAJunkie:

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of Bellator 174, Canada’s Julia Budd became the first-ever women’s featherweight champion with a fourth-round TKO of the veteran Marloes Coenen. With this win, Budd extended her win-streak to an extremely impressive eight-straight. Budd’s last loss occurred all the way back in 2011, when she became the fourth victim of Ronda Rousey‘s legendary professional MMA career. In more recent years, of course, Rousey’s career has endured a bit of a downward spiral, as she was first knocked senseless by a Holly Holm head-kick, then took more than a year off, only to return to the cage to be bludgeoned by reigning UFC bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes.

Russell Ess - March 9, 2017

UFC President Dana White and undefeated, retired boxing legend Floyd Mayweather have had quite a long history together. Before White built up the UFC to be the massive success that it is today, he was running around in the boxing world and was even in Mayweather’s circle at one point.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

Seventh-ranked UFC lightweight Michael Chiesa has spent the last few weeks calling for a fight with former champion Eddie Alvarez. Unfortunately, Alvarez “dodged” a fight with Chiesa, and instead signed on for a fight with fellow lightweight talent Dustin Poirier. With this desired Alvarez fight off the table, Chiesa now has his sights set on an even bigger fight. The Ultimate Fighter 8 winner is hoping for a bout with Tony Ferguson.

bjpenndotcom - March 9, 2017

In 2016, Yoel Romero and Chris Weidman both looked to cement their place at the top of the UFC’s middleweight division as they stepped into the Octagon at UFC 205. With the fight tied at one round each, Romero scored a clutch 3rd round TKO, leaving the former champ on the canvas.

bjpenndotcom - March 9, 2017

The last time former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre was in the Octagon, ‘Rush’ was defending his welterweight title for the 9th time as he faced streaking contender Johny Hendricks. St-Pierre ultimately won the fight via split decision, retaining the belt and moving one step closer to the record of 10 title defenses set by middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva. With that being said, many believed Hendricks won the fight. This of course led to talks of a potential rematch, however with St-Pierre’s hiatus from the Octagon, a rematch was never a realistic possibility. Now, with St-Pierre set to return to the Octagon in 2017 at middleweight, and Hendricks currently coming off a win at 185 pounds, many have wondered if fight fans could see St-Pierre vs. Hendricks II four years later.

bjpenndotcom - March 9, 2017

With the new WME-IMG UFC owners, fight fans have noticed some changes coming to the promotion since the purchase of the UFC back in 2016. For Vitor Belfort, who has been competing professionally in MMA for 21 years, with 20 of those years spent in the UFC, he has a rather interesting proposition for the new UFC owners, one that could see him earn a UFC title very quickly.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

https://youtu.be/ZVI3zKsuzJ0 There is no uglier story in mixed martial arts today than the ongoing story of reviled MMA veteran “War Machine” (born Jonathan Koppenhaver), who brutalized his ex girlfriend Christy Mack (born Christine Mackinday) to the point of hospitalization back in August of 2014. During this attack, War Machine also assaulted Mack’s then boyfriend, Corey Thomas.

Tom Taylor - March 9, 2017

Last weekend, Bellator MMA touched down in Thackerville, Oklahoma with Bellator 174. In the card’s main event, we saw Dutch veteran Marloes Coenen and streaking Canadian Julia Budd battle for the historic honor of becoming Bellator’s first ever women’s featherweight champion. Though Coenen demonstrated plenty of heart and veteran savvy over the course of this fight, this one was really all Budd, who thumped her foe to a fourth-round TKO win. With this win, Budd returned to her native Canada with Bellator gold, and a place in the MMA history books as the promotion’s first-ever women’s featherweight queen.

bjpenndotcom - March 8, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with another full lineup of great guests! 8:10PM ET- Kicking things off tonight, Mark Godbeer – @MarkGodbeerUK joins us to recap his victory against Daniel Spitz at UFC 209 over the weekend. Mark gives us a critique of his performance, his thoughts on a second potential booking against Todd Duffee, and recounts the circumstances that led to his retirement and eventual return to action.

Russell Ess - March 8, 2017

It was all lined up for Yoel Romero to get his shot at UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping in his next title defense. However, that all crumbled right before “The Soldier of God’s” eyes when Georges St-Pierre came to an agreement with the UFC to compete again and the former welterweight champion was announced as Bisping’s next opponent. Romero spoke to FloCombat with the help of a translator about the UFC booking Bisping vs. St-Pierre and the Olympic silver medalist said it is all just a matter of time for him.

Russell Ess - March 8, 2017

Many fans were surprised when news came out that the UFC was notified that heavyweight Ben Rothwell was flagged by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a potential anti-doping policy violation. An out-of-competition sample collected on February 6, is what caused USADA to flag Rothwell with the potential violation.

bjpenndotcom - March 8, 2017

While Khabib Nurmagomedov’s last-minute withdrawal from UFC 209 was certainly a surprising move, UFC President Dana White was very open about the fact that he believes Nurmagomedov’s team could have saved the fight had they not gone “rogue” when their fighter began feeling ill. Despite that, Nurmagomedov’s manager recently shed light on the matter, saying that he attempted to call UFC President Dana White, as he usually does when things go wrong with a fighter he manages, however the UFC President was unable to be reached at 4am when Nurmagomedov fell ill.

bjpenndotcom - March 8, 2017

This past weekend at UFC 209, top ranked lightweights Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were set to face off in the co-main event for the interim lightweight title. Unfortunately, the day of weigh-ins, Nurmagomedov was forced to go to the hospital as he was in need of IV fluids. Ultimately, The Eagle was forced out of the fight, and the UFC was forced to scrap the fight as a whole after being unable to find Tony Ferguson a suitable opponent on such short notice. UFC President Dana White then spoke later in the day at a press conference, revealing that the fight could have been saved had Nurmagomedov’s team not gone “rogue”.

Russell Ess - March 8, 2017

Tyron Woodley had another new UFC welterweight champion belt wrapped around his waist on Saturday night. “The Chosen One” successfully defended his title as judges awarded him a majority decision in his UFC 209 championship bout against Stephen Thompson after five rounds of close competition.