MMA News

Russell Ess - December 26, 2016

Catch all the UFC 207 results and action from Las Vegas, Nevada. BJPenn.com has you covered! Stay glued to this page for live results, and stay tuned to BJPenn.com for recaps of each fight throughout fight night on December 30. UFC 207 will feature the return of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in her first fight back in the Octagon since losing for the first time in her professional MMA career. Rousey will face the current champion Amanda Nunes in a five-round main event.

Russell Ess - December 26, 2016

Dominick Cruz is scheduled to defend his UFC bantamweight title against Cody Garbrandt this weekend in the co-main event of UFC 207, taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Going into the fight, both Cruz and Garbrandt have battled back and forth verbally and the banter even involved an exchange with Garbrandt’s girlfriend on social media.

Russell Ess - December 26, 2016

The MMA community celebrated Christmas on Sunday with their families and friends and took to social media to share their holiday spirit with all of their fans. Take a look at some of the Christmas highlights from some of the familiar names and faces from the world of mixed martial arts.

Russell Ess - December 26, 2016

UFC 207 start time is for 10PM EST December 30 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of the evening will feature the long-awaited return of Ronda Rousey as she takes on current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. This will be Rousey’s first fight back in the Octagon since losing the title in her first professional mixed martial arts loss suffered against Holly Holm in November 2015.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

The UFC will close out an action-packed 2016 with a rare, Friday night card in UFC 207. The card, which will emanate from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been hit by a few unfortunate twists of fate, but still stands out as an excellent one. The main event will see women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes take on returning former champion Ronda Rousey. The bout will mark Nunes’ first defense since winning the title from Miesha Tate in July, and Rousey’s first steps into the Octagon since she was knocked out by a Holly Holm head-kick in November of 2015.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

One of the biggest stories of 2016 was Conor McGregor becoming the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

If you’re a Cain Velasquez fan, your Christmas Eve was likely dealt a significant blow this year. As Santa Clause geared up for another trip around the planet, we learned that the former heavyweight champion had been pulled from his planned UFC 207 bout with fellow former champ and recent foil Fabricio Werdum. In the buildup to his planned bout with Werdum, Velasquez made no secret of the fact that he was dealing with an injury. In fact, Velasquez even admitted that he had back surgery scheduled for mere days after the fight. Despite this injury, however, he claimed that he had every intention of fighting, and apparently, even got the OK from his doctor to do so.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

In March, Irish MMA megastar Conor McGregor found himself on the wrong end of one the year’s biggest upsets as he tapped to a second-round rear-naked choke dealt by Nate Diaz. Given his previous dominance and his status as the UFC’s biggest star ever, McGregor was quickly given a shot at redemption against his foil. In preparation for this rematch with Diaz, which was momentarily scheduled for UFC 200 but ultimately occurred at UFC 202 in August, McGregor enlisted the help of Marcelo Garcia black belt Dillon Danis to sharpen his jiu jitsu skill. This, of course, thrust Danis into the MMA spotlight, where he has remained ever since.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

In November of 2015, dominant women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey stepped onto the canvas with a widely unheralded challenger in Holly Holm. Though Rousey was expected by most to blow through her challenger, she was ultimately turned off by a second round head kick in one of the biggest upsets in the history of our sport. She has not been seen in the Octagon since.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

November was an incredible month for the UFC lightweight division. The most important moment of the month, of course, was Conor McGregor’s title-winning destruction of Eddie Alvarez. That said, the month also included huge wins from top contenders Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who defeated top-flight foes in Rafael Dos Anjos and Michael Johnson respectively. Under normal circumstances, McGregor would now have his sights set on a defense against either Ferguson or Nurmagomedov – though it’s difficult to say who of these two talents deserves the opportunity more. Instead, however, the Irish champion is taking a break from competition to start a family with longtime girlfriend Dee Devlin. While McGregor takes this paternity leave, Ferguson, Nurmagomedov, and the lightweight division’s other contenders have been left to squabble amongst themselves while they wait for their absentee champion to return.

Tom Taylor - December 26, 2016

This Friday, the UFC will close the curtains on an unforgettable year with UFC 207. The card is a fittingly stacked one. In the main event, we’ll see women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes take on returning former champ Ronda Rousey. In the co-main event, meanwhile, dominant men’s bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz will take on undefeated challenger Cody Garbrandt. Elsewhere on the card, we’ll witness appearances from former champions like TJ Dillashaw and Johny Hendricks, who will be taking on top talents in John Lineker and Neil Magny respectively. Needless to say, UFC 207 is an excellent card.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

Unfortunate news surfaced Saturday afternoon that former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez had been pulled from his upcoming UFC 207 scrap with Fabricio Werdum just days before the fight due to medical reasons. While Velasquez was quick to refute the reports, stating that as far as he knew, the fight was still on, NSAC director Bob Bennett has now stated on record that Velasquez is medically suspended.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

Unfortunate news surfaced Saturday morning that former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez was pulled from his UFC 207 scrap with Fabricio Werdum on December 30th after the NSAC ruled Velasquez out of the fight for medical reasons. While there has been no official word on the matter, Velasquez being pulled is likely the result of the back injury which has been bothering him throughout camp. In numerous interviews, Velasquez discussed the fact that he was scheduled for surgery just 5 days after his fight with Werdum, and that he had been using CBD Oil to get through his training camp and help him with pain from the injury.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

While former UFC light heavyweight champion, and arguable pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones is without a doubt one of the greatest fighters of all time, Jones’ struggles outside of the Octagon have tarnished his legacy in the eyes of some. While Jones was cleared of any wrong-doing in the case of his failed random out-of-competition drug test back in July that resulted in his being pulled from his UFC 200 headlining scrap just 48 hours before fight-night, ‘Bones’ is still serving a one-year suspension for the situation despite the fact that the failed drug test was the result of a tainted supplement.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

While Tony Ferguson is still holding out on signing his next fight contract in hopes of earning himself more money, ‘El Cucuy’ can’t help but catch the headlines of lightweight title talk. While it was initially reported that Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov would be fighting for the interim lightweight championship, Ferguson then stated that he would be holding out for more money. This then resulted in news surfacing that Nate Diaz had been offered an interim lightweight title fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov. In addition, at the same time, it was being reported that UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo was in talks with the UFC to move up to lightweight for an interim lightweight title fight.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

nothin like USADA deciding to join me on my date night with @mightywife 😎 pic.twitter.com/d5qzLrlszX — Demetrious Johnson (@MightyMouseUFC) December 19, 2016

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

While UFC President Dana White maintains that a boxing match between Conor McGregor and Floyd Maywather will never happen, that hasn’t stopped both men from taking shots at one another in interviews in the media. Following Conor McGregor’s UFC 205 win over Eddie Alvarez that saw the Irish superstar claim the lightweight championship, McGregor and Mayweather began to send shots at one another in the media. This led to McGregor even going as far as to get his boxing license in California, stating in interviews that he was looking into taking other boxing fights in the meantime to prepare himself for a match with Mayweather.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

In this rare video, you can see MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko competing against UFC featherweight Chan Sung Jung, also known as ‘The Korean Zombie’ in a foreign gameshow. While the ‘fight’ is certainly a friendly one, with smiles being exchanged by both men throughout the session, Emelianenko doesn’t hesitate to use his Sambo and throw The Korean Zombie from the clinch whenever he gets the chance. Ultimately, Emelianenko’s size and Sambo experience prove to be the difference maker, as he secures a key-lock armbar on Jung and gets the submission.