MMA News
With contract dispute resolved, Al Iaquinta to return to the Octagon
Tom Taylor - January 27, 2017
Back in November, the UFC made it’s long awaited debut in New York City with UFC 205. Given that this event marked the organization’s first trip to The Big Apple, it unsurprisingly sought to fill the card’s lineup with New York based fighters. One of those fighters was Wantagh, New York’s Al Iaquinta, who was expected to welcome Thiago Alves to the lightweight division on the event’s undercard. Unfortunately, Iaquinta and the UFC did not see eye-to-eye in terms of payment, and so the fighter eventually withdrew from his bout with Alves, and was replaced by New Jersey’s Jim Miller.
VIDEO | Anderson Silva and Jacare Souza training together for UFC 208
Russell Ess - January 26, 2017
Brazilian middleweight stars Anderson Silva and Ronald “Jacare” Souza are set to return to competition in the Octagon at UFC 208, which takes place at the Barcalys Center in Brooklyn, New York on February 11.
AUDIO | Julianna Pena says Ronda Rousey was not allowed to be hit in the face in camp, threatened training partners with $1M lawsuit
Russell Ess - January 26, 2017
https://youtu.be/ytrcJz873vI?t=5m17s #2 UFC ranked women’s bantamweight Julianna Pena is set to fight #1 UFC ranked Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 23 on January 28 in Denver Colorado.
PHOTO | Cody Garbrandt shoves Team Alpha Male success in TJ Dillashaw's face
Russell Ess - January 26, 2017
Newly crowned UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is set to take on former teammate and former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw as the two are coaching the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. The two have had a long history together as they were both on Team Alpha Male. However, an issue with coaching disputes led Dillashaw to split from Team Alpha Male in Northern California and train full time with Duane “Bang” Ludwig with the Elevation Fight Team in Colorado.
Anderson Silva dives into why he wants a fight against Conor McGregor
Russell Ess - January 26, 2017
Former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva wants a piece of the current UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Although technically two weight classes apart as of their last fights, McGregor has fought Nate Diaz twice at welterweight.
Yoel Romero trolls Michael Bisping on social media
bjpenndotcom - January 26, 2017
Yoel Romero is really working for the middleweight title shot! To end 2016, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping made his first successful title defense as he picked up a unanimous decision win over Dan Henderson at UFC 204 in England. Following the win, Yoel Romero was crowned the middleweight #1 contender after picking up a brutal 3rd round KO win over former middleweight champion Chris Weidman on the main card of UFC 205 in November. With Romero declared the middleweight #1 contender, many were wondering when the UFC would officially announce the scrap, however Bisping revealed in a recent interview that he would be sidelined until April or May as he recovered from knee surgery, at which point he would pursue a money fight.
VIDEO | Eddie Murphy's nephew DESTROYS opponent in pro boxing debut
bjpenndotcom - January 26, 2017
Johny Hendricks seriously considering retirement if move to 185 is unsuccessful
bjpenndotcom - January 26, 2017
Ahead of Johny Hendricks UFC 207 scrap with Neil Magny at the end of 2016, the former welterweight champion revealed that he could very well be on his way to retirement depending on how the fight played out. Unfortunately for Hendricks, not only did he miss weight by three and a half pounds, he then dropped a unanimous decision to Magny. The loss made it three straight for Johny Hendricks, who is now just 1-4 since losing the title to Robbie Lawler at UFC 181 in 2014. In addition, Hendricks missed weight for his two most recent bouts, and was forced out of a fight with Tyron Woodley due to an emergency from a weight-cut complication. This has led to UFC President Dana White forcing Hendricks to make the jump to middleweight, where he will fight Hector Lombard on February 19th. Ahead of that fight, Hendricks has revealed that he could very well retire depending on how his move to middleweight goes.
Chris Weidman promises "the old me" in Gegard Mousasi fight
bjpenndotcom - January 26, 2017
This week, news surfaced that former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman would be stepping into the Octagon at UFC 210 in April to fight streaking middleweight veteran Gegard Mousasi in a highly anticipated showdown that will see one man climb the middleweight rankings, while the other will be forced to take a step down in competition. Despite being on a 2-fight skid that saw him lose his middleweight championship to Luke Rockhold in 2015 before then dropping a 3rd round TKO to Yoel Romero at UFC 205 to end the year. While he may be on a 2-fight skid, Weidman is now moving forward and looking towards returning to the Octagon at UFC 210, and looking like his old self.
Jorge Masvidal rips Donald Cerrone for 'taking money from his table'
bjpenndotcom - January 25, 2017
This Saturday, in Denver, Colorado, top ranked UFC welterweight Donald Cerrone will step into the Octagon against #12 ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal in a highly anticipated showdown. While the two men initially agreed to fight on social media, for Jorge Masvidal, it goes back much further than that. He spoke on UFC Unfiltered:
John McCarthy reacts to allegations of Ortiz vs. Sonnen fixed fight
bjpenndotcom - January 25, 2017
This past weekend, in the main event of Bellator 170, UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz stepped into the Bellator MMA cage against former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen for a highly anticipated grudge match. The fight didn’t last long, as Ortiz quickly managed to secure the takedown and ultimately submit Sonnen with a rear-naked choke. While Sonnen tapped to the choke, viewers were quick to question the legitimacy of the fight, questioning whether or not the fight was fixed after footage emerged of Ortiz appearing to tap Sonnen’s hand, in what many assume was a signal. Ortiz was quick to fire back at critics in an interview:
BREAKING! Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson official
bjpenndotcom - January 25, 2017
Daniel Cormier vs. Anthony Johnson is official! Wednesday evening, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier announced via UFC Tonight that he would be stepping into the Octagon on April 8th in Buffalo, New York to square off against top ranked light heavyweight contender Anthony Johnson. The fight is expected to headline the event, and will mark the first time the UFC has been in Buffalo, New York in over 20 years, with the last event they hosted there being UFC 7 in 1995.
Michael McDonald opens up on financial struggles preventing his return
bjpenndotcom - January 25, 2017
At one point in time, UFC bantamweight Michael McDonald was one of the most highly touted bantamweight prospects on the UFC roster. An 8-fight win streak that ‘Mayday’ rode from the regional scene into the top 10 of the UFC’s bantamweight division had the young prospect fighting Renan Barao in 2013 for the interim UFC bantamweight championship. Unfortunately for McDonald, Barao submitted him in the 4th round of the scrap, putting an end to his 3-year unbeaten streak. McDonald bounced back by submitting Brad Pickett before then dropping a submission loss to Urijah Faber in 2013.
BJPENN.COM Radio Ep. 17 // Tim Elliott | Jorge Masvidal
bjpenndotcom - January 25, 2017
BJPENN.COM Radio returns tonight at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more of what you’ve come to expect; great guests! 8:15PM ET- Kicking off tonights show we are joined by TUF 24 winner and recent title challenger Tim Elliott – @telliott125 . We’ll recap his impressive outing against Mighty Mouse, a performance in which Elliott was able to expose some chinks in the armor of the flyweight champ. Tim will elaborate on the decision to move to bantamweight, what opponent interests him most for his next bout, and give us his opinion on the landscape of that division.
PHOTO | Ronda Rousey delivers supplies for Standing Rock protests battling Dakota Pipeline
Russell Ess - January 25, 2017
It appears as if Ronda Rousey is helping out the Standing Rock protestors that are against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. On Tuesday, Pauline Macias, a fellow Olympic judoka posted a photo with the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion stating that they helped to deliver supplies to the Standing Rock protestors.
VIDEO | Tito Ortiz says he had a WWE moment and nearly took ‘Big’ John McCarthy out
Russell Ess - January 25, 2017
https://youtu.be/lzGu5VrJN34 Tito Ortiz left his gloves in the cage following his first round submission over Chael Sonnen in the main event at Bellator 170 over the weekend.
VIDEO | Ronda Rousey applies for concealed carry permit at Las Vegas gun store
Russell Ess - January 25, 2017
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is getting locked and loaded.
Ben Askren talks Stephen Thompson: I'd do whatever I wanted To him, he'd be my girlfriend
Tom Taylor - January 25, 2017
While a case can certainly be made for Douglas Lima, Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch, it’s very possible that One Championship welterweight king Ben Askren is the best welterweight outside the UFC. Despite his status as such, however, the former Bellator champ has yet to reach a deal with the UFC, and so its impossible to say how he’d fare against the promotion’s best welterweights. That, however, hasn’t stopped him from talking about these potential fights. On a recent episode of Chael Sonnen’s You’re Welcome podcast, Askren offered his thoughts on how fights with the UFC’s two best welterweights would go.