MMA News

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.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

Derrick Lewis is currently in the midst of a destructive charge through the UFC heavyweight division. The Texas-based big man’s last loss occurred in June of 2015, when he was put down by a second-round Shawn Jordan hook kick. Since then, he has rebounded with six-straight wins, just one of which has seen the judges scorecards.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

Last Saturday night, the UFC returned to the combat sports mecca of Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC 209. Though this anticipated card was rocked by the last minute cancelation of its Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson interim lightweight title co-main event, and criticized for the insipid performances of Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in the main event, it also produced several memorable moments.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

In a few short weeks, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier will attempt to defend his title against absurdly powerful knockout artist Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. The pair’s light heavyweight title showdown, which was originally expected to headline UFC 206 back in December, will instead serve as the main event of UFC 210 on April 8 in Buffalo, New York. Cormier and Rumble, of course, have plenty of history together. The two talented light heavyweights first met back in May of 2015, when the fought for the vacant throne after former champ Jon Jones was stripped of the title. On that night, Cormier weathered a hellacious, first-round onslaught from Rumble to win the fight with a rear-naked choke in the third round.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

UFC 211, which will occur on May 13 in Dallas, Texas, is already absolutely stacked. The card will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champ Stipe Miocic and challenger Junior Dos Santos, and co-headlined by a strawweight title fight between champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and challenger Jessica Andrade. Elsewhere on the lineup, we’ll witness a welterweight showdown between top contenders Demian Maia and Jorge Masvidal, and a lightweight bout between former champ Eddie Alvarez and dangerous contender Dustin Poirier. While the card unfortunately lost a heavyweight fight between Fabricio Werdum and Ben Rothwell when Rothwell was notified of a potential USADA violation, it still looks like an epic one  – and it’s only getting better.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

Your browser does not support iframes. These days, the possibility of a boxing mega fight between semi-retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather and UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor is dominating combat sports headlines. Each week, we’re given new reasons to believe the fight is just a few signatures away, and plenty of other reasons to believe it’s a near impossibility. Whether you believe this Mayweather vs. McGregor boxing match will happen or not, however, you probably have an opinion on the outcome of this potential fight. Nate Diaz – who is arguably more familiar with McGregor than any fighter on earth thanks to their two memorable 2016 battles – certainly  has an opinion.

bjpenndotcom - March 8, 2017

Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre has not fought in over three years now. The last time ‘Rush’ stepped into the Octagon to fight, he was competing against Johny Hendricks in hopes of defending his welterweight title for the 9th time. St-Pierre and Hendricks went to war over the course of 5 rounds before St-Pierre was awarded the split decision win over Hendricks. Immediately after the fight, St-Pierre took an indefinite leave of absence. With speculation arising as to why the 170 pound kingpin was walking away from the sport as such a dominant time in his career, St-Pierre pointed to the UFC’s drug testing policies, expressing a dissatisfaction with the lack of thorough drug testing.

bjpenndotcom - March 8, 2017

Top ranked UFC middleweight contender Ronaldo Jacare Souza has been on a tear of the UFC’s middleweight division. With a controversial split decision loss to Yoel Romero being the only mark on his otherwise unblemished record, Souza remains one of the most lethal contenders at 185 pounds. While Souza is currently set to fight Robert Whittaker on April 15th, it wasn’t that long ago that Souza was set to fight former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Melbourne’. Unfortunately, Rockhold withdrew from that fight, and Souza was left without an opponent. With that being said, ‘Jacare’ was able to close out 2016 with a win as he submitted Tim Boetsch in the very first round.

bjpenndotcom - March 8, 2017

This past weekend, undefeated UFC lightweight Khabib ‘The Eagle’ Nurmagomedov was set to step into the Octagon with streaking lightweight contender Tony Ferguson for a highly anticipated interim lightweight title fight. Unfortunately, the morning of weigh-ins, reports began to surface that Nurmagomedov had been hospitalized. These reports were confirmed shortly thereafter, and Nurmagomedov was ultimately pulled from the card altogether after it was determined that he would not be fit to compete in time. While the UFC initially was looking for a replacement opponent for Ferguson, they ultimately chose to scrap the fight as a whole.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

We now know that former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon at middleweight, where he will take on reigning divisional champion Michael Bisping.

Tom Taylor - March 8, 2017

The biggest ongoing narrative in combat sports today surrounds a potential boxing mega fight between UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor, and semi-retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr. Each week, this prospective showdown seems to generate dozens of new headlines, some suggesting the fight might actually happen, others suggesting it’s a near impossibility. Unsurprisingly, this influx of Mayweather-McGregor stories is starting to grow old for some members of the combat sports community. We know that UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson, for example, is sick and tired of hearing about it – and he’s certainly not alone.

bjpenndotcom - March 7, 2017

The UFC’s lightweight division is going to get much more interesting in Conor McGregor’s absence! While UFC 209’s Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson interim lightweight title fight was scrapped, two other top ranked lightweights will now look to move one step closer to lightweight title contention at UFC 211. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has broken news that former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will step into the Octagon for the first time since his UFC 205 loss to Conor McGregor and fight Dustin Poirier.

Russell Ess - March 7, 2017

The UFC updated their rankings following UFC 209, which took place over the weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was able to jump up a spot to the #8 spot in the pound-for-pound ranks with his majority win over Stephen Thompson. Interestingly, TJ Dillashaw went up a rank in the pound-for-pound ranking over Khabib Nurmagomedov with both fighters not competing over the weekend.

Russell Ess - March 7, 2017

Although former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has hung up the MMA gloves after being suspended for a year after testing positive for banned subtances, “The Beast Incarnate” can still be seen doing his thing in the WWE ring.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2017

https://youtu.be/HKY9GiJgUHw This weekend, former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort will return to the Octagon. He will do so in his native Brazil, where he will be taking on former welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum in the middleweight main event of UFC Fight Night 106.

Russell Ess - March 7, 2017

Former UFC and Bellator fighter War Machine, born Jonathan Koppenhaver, went to trial on Monday with 34 counts against him, which include attempted murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2017

Having been knocked out by Conor McGregor in November, Eddie Alvarez is no longer the UFC lightweight champion. That said, he still seems to have a target on his back, as he’s been called out by several top lightweights over the last few weeks. One of these lightweights has been Dustin Poirier, who recently defeated Jim Miller in a three-round thriller. Another is The Ultimate Fighter winner and number-eight ranked lightweight Michael Chiesa.