MMA News

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

In the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Houston’ Chan Sung Jung returned from his 4 year absence to fight Dennis Bermudez. The first round starts and Bermudez lands a clean left that tags Jung. Jung stuffs a takedown and lands a combo as he counters a leg kick. Jung clinches and looks for the takedown. He eats a knee as Bermudez breaks the clinch. Bermudez eats a big overhand right and clinches as Bermudez presses him against the cage. Bermudez looking for punches from the clinch as he breaks and stuffs a takedown. Bermudez lands some big shots but Jung remains on his feet. He lands a left hand with three minutes left in the round. Bermudez misses a wild overhand and clinches as he presses Jung against the cage. Jung pressing forward as he lands a right hand. Bermudez fires back and eats a big uppercut. Bermudez goes down and the referee stops the fight.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

In the co-main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Houston’, Felice Herrig and Alexis Grasso stepped into the Octagon for a highly anticipated women’s strawweight fight. Both women look hesitant to exchange as they begin the feeling out process. Grasso lands a switch head kick that lands clean and results in both women on the ground, where Grasso looks for the heel hook. Herrig escapes and they go back to the feet where Herrig lands a clean right hand. Herrig lands a clean right hand. 90 seconds left in the round as Grasso showcases phenomenal head movement. They exchange in the middle of the Octagon, with both landing. Under a minute left as Herrig eats a jab. Herrig with a combo that doesn’t land clean. 10 seconds left as both women exchange a combo. Grasso lands a knee and a clean left hand as the round ends that appear to possibly stun Herrig.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

Lightweights Abel Trujillo and James Vick stepped into the Octagon in a three round scrap between two thrilling fighters. Round one starts as the two men begin the feeling out process, with the fight ultimately ending up on the ground, where Vick appeared to lock in a guillotine. The men return to their feet as Vick lands a solid right hand when Trujillo attempts to close the distance. Vick looks for a guillotine as the round ends.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

At UFC Fight Night: Houston, Volkan Oezdemir stepped into the Octagon for the first time as he faced former interim light heavyweight title challenger Ovince Saint Preux. Oezdemir came out strong, tagging Saint Preux numerous times throughout the first round as Saint Preux continued to back up. In the second round, Saint Preux came out aggressive and hit an early takedown before Oezdemir creates a scramble and gets back to the center of the Octagon, they trade punches, with both men landing several clean shots. Saint Preux landing more strikes this round, however Oezdemir doesn’t seem affected. Saint Preux gets tagged with a counter right, but isn’t affected. Second round ends with both men in the center of the cage. Third round starts and both men begin to open up. Saint Preux clinches against the cage and lands a clean elbow followed by a knee. Oezdemir pressing forward before he stuffs a takedown. OSP looking tired as he lands a big right hand followed by another. OSP with a clean combination that lands. Oezdemir presses forward and lands a combo. OSP with a cross that lands followed by a missed uppercut. OSP lands a left which Oezdemir eats. 90 seconds left as they both look hesitant. Oezdemir remains defensive as he eats a liver shot. OSP with another shot to the body as Oezdemir is hit with a body-head combo. OSP eats a knee as he looks to clinch. 30 seconds left as they both land clean strikes. OSP with a big uppercut and a left hand. OSP pouring on a combination as Oezdemir looks to survive with 10 seconds left.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

To kick off the main card of ‘UFC Fight Night: Houston’, TUF alum Angela Hill made her return to the Octagon to fight #5 ranked strawweight Jessica Andrade after winning the Invicta 115 pound title. The fight started as Andrade pressures forward, pressing Hill against the cage and landing several clean shots that tag Hill. Hill clinches on the cage and escapes. Andrade once again pressing forward as Hill clinches against the cage and escapes. Andrade chases Hill down and press her against the cage. Hill escapes and shakes out her arms with one minute left in the round. Hill eats a combination and escapes to the center of the Octagon again. Hill with a front kick to the body that misses as she then eats several punches and a knee to the body. Hill looks to escape as Andrade lands a clean right hand. Clean knee from Hill as she is once again pressed against the cage.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

In the final fight on the UFC Houston prelims, Curtis Blaydes & Adam Milstead stepped into the Octagon for a highly anticipated heavyweight tilt. Blaydes came out strong, landing several devastating suplex’s before then taking Milstead’s back in the clinch. Blaydes lands another big takedown, marking his 4th in under two minutes. Blaydes lands another takedown and lands some ground & pound as Milstead looks to get back to his feet. Milstead gets back to his feet and Blaydes gets yet another takedown. Milstead back to his feet, appearing to potentially have a right leg injury. Blaydes once again hits a takedown and takes Milstead’s back.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

The action continued in Houston as Chas Skelly stepped into the Octagon with TUF Veteran Chris Gruetzemacher stepped into the Octagon with Chas Skelly. Big knee from Skelly as he presses Gruetzemacher against the cage early. Gruetzemacher escapes and the pair exchange punches, with Gruetzemacher landing a clean left hand. Skelly shoots for a takedown and hits it as Gruetzemacher ends up on his back against the cage. Skelly takes Gruetzemacher’s back as Gruetzemacher defends well. Skelly looking for a rear naked choke but Gruetzemacher once again defends well. Skelly ends up in Gruetzemacher’s guard as he looks to posture up. Skelly passes and ends up in north south after a scramble. Skelly lands a knee and an elbow on the break as the round ends.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

In the second preliminary card fight of ‘UFC Fight Night: Houston’ Michinori Tanaka and Ricardo Ramos squared off in what proved to be an extremely thrilling matchup. In the beginning of the first round, Ramos came out aggressive, pressuring Tanaka against the cage in the clinch. Ultimately, Tanaka escapes and lands a big punch on the break. Ramos remains patient throughout the first round, before ultimately dropping Tanaka. Ramos follows Tanaka to the ground and lands some ground & pound shots. Tanaka returns to his feet, where Ramos once again rocks him and lands more ground & pound shots. 30 seconds left in the first round and Ramos remains composed as he pressures Tanaka against the cage as the round ends.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

At UFC 208, #8 ranked middleweight Derek Brunson will step into the Octagon with #7 ranked middleweight, former UFC middleweight kingpin, Anderson Silva. The fight is one that has drawn the attention of MMA fans, who are eager to see Brunson and Silva step into the Octagon for a fight that has the stylistic makings of a thrilling scrap. Since signing with the promotion in 2012, Brunson has been on a tear, going 7-2 over the course of the past five years. In 2014, Brunson suffered the first defeat of his UFC career at the hands of Yoel Romero in a fight he was arguably winning. After out-striking Romero, and taking the Olympic wrestler down three times throughout the first two rounds, Brunson was TKOd in the third round. Fortunately for the All-American Wrestler, he bounced back in dominant fashion, going on a 5-fight win streak that saw him finish four of the wins in the very first round. On the cusp of a title shot in 2016, Brunson stepped into the Octagon with streaking middleweight Robbie Whittaker in a scrap that was promoted to the main event just weeks before the fight. The fight proved to be a thrilling one, however Brunson was TKOd in the first round. While the top ranked middleweight has never made excuses for the loss, he admits that the experience of going from a 3-round fight to a 5-round fight threw him off:

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

This week, UFC President Dana White revealed in an interview that the UFC had offered Nate Diaz a fight, however they hadn’t heard anything back from the Stockton, California superstar. “We just offered Nate Diaz a fight, and we’re waiting to hear back from him, so we’ll see. These guys say they want a fight – I offered Nick Diaz two fights. He turned down two fights. I offered him Robbie Lawler. Robbie Lawler accepted the fight. Then I offered him Demian Maia. Nick Diaz turned down two fights. And then we just offered Nate a fight.”

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

Paul Daley has been the subject of many fight rumors this week, most notably against Michael Venom Page. Paul Daley made a big statement on his Facebook page, teasing a fight against a “marquee name or champion”. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154355394316847&set=a.433550266846.225686.679071846&type=3&theater

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

Randy Brown will be fighting at UFC 208 after the UFC was able to find him a replacement opponent. Palestine’s Belal Muhammad has stepped up and will now fight Brown at UFC 208. After Randy Brown’s original opponent George Sullivan was pulled from UFC 208 due to USADA violation, it seemed all hope was lost for Brown when it came to UFC 208.

bjpenndotcom - February 4, 2017

Following an announcement from UFC President Dana White that the promotion had offered Nate Diaz a fight, inside sources have now leaked the details of the fight.

bjpenndotcom - February 3, 2017

At one point in time, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva looked nearly unbeatable in the Octagon, winning 16 straight fights, including 10 defenses of the UFC middleweight title. While Silva is certainly still considered the best fighter of all time, The Spider has been on a bit of a skid recently, going 0-4 with 1 no contest in his last 5 fights.

bjpenndotcom - February 3, 2017

UFC lightweight superstar Nate Diaz had arguably the biggest breakthrough year in MMA in 2016. At UFC 196 in March, Diaz stepped into the Octagon on just two weeks notice to fight streaking UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor in a fight that was ultimately contested at welterweight. Diaz shocked the world as he not only rocked, but submitted McGregor in the second round. Ultimately after a UFC 200 rematch was scrapped, the pair met in the Octagon at UFC 202, where McGregor avenged the loss as he picked up a majority decision. Since then however, Nate Diaz has remained absent from the Octagon. With that being said, Diaz has stated that he believes the UFC doesn’t want him in the Octagon, and as a result he could be headed to professional boxing:

bjpenndotcom - February 3, 2017

UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson has all but cleaned out the UFC’s flyweight division. With a shortage of flyweight contenders, many have been calling for Johnson to once again move up to bantamweight for a superfight. While talks initially surrounded a potential superfight between Dominick Cruz and Johnson, which would serve as a rematch of their 2011 fight, now Johnson’s name has been mentioned in a potential Cody Garbrandt superfight.

Russell Ess - February 3, 2017

Coming off the biggest win of his career against UFC Hall of Fame legend BJ Penn, Yair Rodriguez is looking to climb to the top of the featherweight division and establish himself as the best in the 145-pound division. Rodriguez recently spoke with Michaela Vernava on Radio Row about his huge win over a Penn, who “Pantera” says he grew up watching fight.

Russell Ess - February 3, 2017

Gator don't play no games @rocketsmascotclutch @supersagenorthcutt pic.twitter.com/JTmYe8G4u7 — Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) February 3, 2017