MMA News

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

Earlier this month, Chan Sung Jung – more widely known as “The Korean Zombie” – returned from a lengthy hiatus to score a blistering, first-round knockout win over a game Dennis Bermudez. With this win, the resurgent fan favorite was immediately talked about as a potential featherweight title challenger. Jung, of course, is quite familiar with reigning featherweight champion Jose Aldo. The pair fought back in 2013, in the main event of UFC 163. On that night, Aldo came out on top, capitalizing on a Korean Zombie shoulder injury to earn a TKO win.

bjpenndotcom - February 15, 2017

BJPENN.COM Radio is live at 8PM ET/5PM PT with another great lineup of headliners! 8:15 PM ET- We kick off tonights show with former Bellator light heavyweight champ, Liam McGeary – @liam_mcgeary. Liam breaks down his upcoming bout with Chris Fields at Bellator 173 in Belfast, Ireland next Friday. The submission specialist recaps his first professional defeat at the hands of current champ Phil Davis and explains what he’d do differently in a rematch. We also get his take on the claims of fight fixing and what all his fans should expect from McGeary in 2017.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

In the wake of his November knockout of Eddie Alvarez, which earned him the UFC lightweight title, MMA superstar Conor McGregor announced that he would be taking some time off to father his first child with longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin. Since then, the champ has spent the bulk of his time in his native Ireland, preparing for this new arrival. Recently, however, the Irishman has returned to North American soil. His latest trip stateside will take him to Las Vegas, where he will attempt to put to bed an issue with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and apparently, pick a fight with semi-retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather.

bjpenndotcom - February 15, 2017

This past weekend, in the main event of UFC 208, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm stepped into the Octagon with undefeated kickboxing veteran Germaine de Randamie for a highly anticipated showdown for the inaugural women’s featherweight title. The fight was a competitive one, with De Randamie narrowly out-striking Holm over the course of 5 rounds en route to a unanimous decision win to become the first ever women’s featherweight champion. With that being said of course, the fight wasn’t without some controversy. On two separate occasions, fans booed as De Randamie landed punches after the bell had signaled the end of the round.

bjpenndotcom - February 15, 2017

In 2016, Conor McGregor was granted a boxing license in California, but denied one by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. At the time, it was explained that McGregor’s lack of professional boxing experience was the reason he had been denied a license in Nevada. Despite that, talks of a potential Floyd Mayweather superfight continued to develop, with conflicting reports emerging this week that McGregor and Mayweather were getting close to reaching a deal for a boxing superfight.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

In September of 2016, it was announced that former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans would be making a long discussed drop to middleweight for a fight with Strikeforce veteran Tim Kennedy. The two fighters were expected to face off on the undercard of UFC 205. Unfortunately, this fight was scrapped at the last minute when the New York State Athletic Commission opted not to license Evans, citing an issue with his pre-fight medicals. With this development, the bout was then rescheduled for UFC 206 in Toronto, but unfortunately, the Ontario Commission pulled the plug on it for the same reason.

bjpenndotcom - February 15, 2017

After nearly four years of reports continuing to surface, news has now surfaced that former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre and the UFC have reached an agreement on terms for a new contract, and are currently working to finalize what will surely be a celebrated Georges St-Pierre contract. Over the course of the past year, there have been numerous reports indicating that St-Pierre will be coming out of retirement and returning to the Octagon for the first time since his 2013 decision win over Johny Hendricks that saw him retain his welterweight title for the final time before stepping away from the Octagon.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 208, former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm lost a controversial decision to Germaine de Randamie, failing her bid to become the UFC’s first ever female featherweight champion as a result. With this loss, Holm fell onto a three-fight losing streak, as she has was defeated by Miesha Tate and Valentina Shevchenko in her two next most recent bouts. On this unfortunate skid, Holm will undoubtedly have to do some self reflection. A fourth consecutive loss, after all, could be disastrous for her career, and might even result in her release from the UFC.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

Late last week, a report emerged from Ireland, suggesting that UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and semi-retired boxing great Floyd Mayweather had agreed to a deal for their headline dominating mega fight. In an instant, a fight that has long looked almost impossible was suddenly glimmering with possibility. According to UFC President Dana White, however, there is no real cause for excitement. White, who has long been adamant that this fight cannot happen with the involvement of the UFC, recently told TMZ that the fight is far from done.

Tom Taylor - February 15, 2017

Back in July of 2016, in the co-main event of the landmark UFC 200, we watched former heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar step into the Octagon for the first time in some five years. His opponent in this comeback fight was missile-fisted striking specialist Mark Hunt – not an easy fight under normal circumstances, even less so coming off such a sizeable layoff. Despite his long layoff and the skill of his opponent, Lesnar was able to make a successful return, wrestling his dangerous foe to a lopsided unanimous decision win. It was an epic comeback from one of the biggest stars in MMA history.

Russell Ess - February 14, 2017

There is no place for violence out on the streets but that surely doesn’t mean that it won’t ever take place.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2017

Last month, Mexican featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez scored a nice win over UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn. Now several weeks removed from this win, the wild striking specialist explained to MMA Junkie that his defeat of Penn has made him a much more visible celebrity. “To be honest, before BJ, of course people recognized me, but not as much as this time,” he explained. “Now I can see in the United States a lot of people are asking me for pictures, autographs and all that stuff. Before it was just in Mexico and Latin America. Now it’s everywhere.”

Russell Ess - February 14, 2017

Dustin Poirier is fresh off a bonus-winning “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision victory over Jim Miller at UFC 208. Now, the UFC lightweight is looking to climb up the rankings and get back on his way to title contention. Poirier spoke with MMA Junkie Radio recently and said that he has Nate Diaz in his sights but questions what Diaz’s plans are with the UFC.

Russell Ess - February 14, 2017

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has been at war with the #1 UFC ranked middleweight contender Yoel Romero. From battles on social media, to Romero even calling in to Bisping’s podcast show, there has been a lot brewing between the two with no official bout announced. Speaking with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, “The Count” said that all signs are pointing to him defending his belt againt Romero next, unless former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre has any say in it.

bjpenndotcom - February 14, 2017

This weekend, MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko will make his highly anticipated return to the cage when he steps into the Bellator MMA cage against former UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione. Emelianenko will be returning to the cage for the first time since his controversial majority decision win over Fabio Maldonado at EFN 50 back in June, where he picked up his second straight win since returning to MMA in 2015. Ahead of his fight with Mitrione, Emelianenko spoke to MMAFighting to explain why he chose Bellator MMA over the UFC:

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2017

Back in the summer of 2015, 10-year, 25-fight UFC veteran Josh Koscheck signed with Bellator MMA. Some 18 months later, he has still not made his debut with the organization. This weekend, however, that will change.

bjpenndotcom - February 14, 2017

Despite a unanimous decision win, Germaine De Randamie is calling for a Holly Holm rematch. At UFC 208 this past weekend, undefeated kickboxer turned MMA fighter Germaine De Randamie picked up the biggest win of her professional MMA career as she defeated Holly Holm via unanimous decision to claim the inaugural women’s featherweight championship. The fight wasn’t without controversy however, as De Randamie was criticized for punches that landed following the bell, while many wanted to see a point deducted from De Randamie for the incident, referees ‘Big’ John McCarthy and Marc Goddard revealed via social media that while the bell is an indicator that the round is over, the round officially ends when the referee steps in and separates the fighters.

Tom Taylor - February 14, 2017

As the former Vice President of Talent Relations, and new Senior Vice President of Talent Relations for the UFC, Sean Shelby has booked a hell of a lot of amazing fights – from Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi, to Dong Hyun Kim vs. Marco Polo Reyes, to Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gadelha 2. Of all the fights he’s booked however, Shelby says one stands out as his proudest accomplishment – and his pick may surprise you. In a recent interview with SquareMile.com, The UFC matchmaker explained that his crowning achievement was a December 2013 rematch between then women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, and the recently retired Miesha Tate.