MMA News

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

It’s been a long and emotional journey for former UFC welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy. In the midst of a 2-fight win streak that saw him KO Duane Ludwig, and then pick up a unanimous decision win over Air Sadollah in 2012, Hardy was surprisingly pulled from his UFC on FOX 7 scrap with Matt Brown in 2013 after being diagnosed with a heart condition. For the past three years, hardy has been working towards fighting once again, in hopes of passing a medical screening and being cleared to return to the Octagon. In that time, ‘The Outlaw’ took up an analyst role with the UFC, as well as a commentary role on UFC Fight Pass events.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

During a Thursday evening interview with Fox Sports’ Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes touched on the clear favoritism for her opponent Ronda Rousey in the promos for their UFC 207 fight. During a Friday morning media scrum in LA, the women’s bantamweight queen elaborated on the inherent Rousey focus in these UFC 207 promos. In her opinion, the UFC is using these one-sided promos to help Rousey rebuild her confidence after her famous 2015 knockout loss to Holly Holm.

Russell Ess - December 23, 2016

Following his historic win over Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in New York, Conor McGregor held both the UFC featherweight and lightweight belts for a short time before relinquishing the 145-pound division title. With stamping his name yet again in the history books of the UFC, “The Notorious” told the media at the post-fight press conference that he would be taking a break from fighting for the birth of his first child and also to negotiate with the UFC.

Russell Ess - December 23, 2016

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes says she has been training her entire career for a fight against Ronda Rousey. Rousey, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion helped put women’s mixed martial arts on the map, opening the eyes to many new fans of the sport but hit an abrupt bump in the road in November of 2015 when she took the first loss of her professional MMA career. Rousey was defeated by Holly Holm in a devastating knockout loss and has been out of competition for over a year.

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

On this episode of American Animals, the animals are thrilled to welcome one of their greatest influences, Enson Inoue (aka, Yamato Damashii) to the show. Enson teaches the guys about Japanese MMA, discusses his willingness to die in the ring, and fills everyone in on the people/causes he is fighting for in Japan. Join us for this episode of American Animals! You can email your questions and comments to info@2americananimals.com and find the show at www.2americananimals.com on the web, on social media at facebook.com/2AmericanAnimals and @2AmericanAnimal on Twitter and @2AmericanAnimals on Instagram.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

In one week’s time, in the co-main event of UFC 207, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will attempt to defend his title against undefeated challenged Cody Garbrandt. Though Garbrandt has yet to beat a top-5 opponent, his incredible punching power and sizzling beef with the champ have most members of the MMA community pretty excited for their fight. That does not include former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, who recently weighed in on Garbrandt’s title shot in an interview with Fox Sports. “Really it’s all just kind of bullsh*t,” Dillashaw said of Cruz’ bout with Garbrandt. “It makes no sense at all how they give the No. 8 guy, who skips over seven guys to get a title shot. It’s kind of whatever the UFC wants to do and they’re letting Dominick Cruz hand select his fights right now.”

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

Since Conor McGregor won the UFC lightweight championship by TKOing Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 back in November, there has been much talk regarding who McGregor will face next as he will have to defend his lightweight title. With that being said, McGregor revealed at the UFC 205 post-fight press conference that he will be taking some time off due to the upcoming birth of his firstborn child in May. That was followed up by a statement from UFC President Dana White, who stated that McGregor would be taking 10 months off from fighting. That was refuted by McGregor this week, who revealed that his ‘break’ could very well just be a Christmas break.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

There is nothing quite like a highlight reel knockout. One well placed punch, perfectly timed kick, or surprise knee, and bam, it’s curtains.

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

Over the course of this week, reports have continued to surface that fan favorite heavyweight Mark Hunt will be fighting MMA veteran Alistair Overeem at UFC 209. Despite that, Hunt has continued to maintain that he will not be fighting until the UFC agrees to put a clause in his contract protecting him from fighting a fighter who ends up testing positive for PEDs. Hunt has maintained following his UFC 200 loss to Brock Lesnar, who failed two drug tests surrounding the fight, that he would not fight again until the UFC put a provision in contracts protecting fighters from those who fail drug tests.

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

Last month at UFC 205, Khabib Nurmedomedov cemented his place as the lightweight #1 contender when he picked up a horrifically dominant win over Michael Johnson. Nurmagomedov used his grappling skills to repeatedly take Johnson down, and land countless elbows, complete with trash talk to Johnson mid-fight, and a conversation with UFC President Dana White between rounds. Ultimately, in the third round ‘The Eagle’ was able to secure a submission, and get the win.

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

This week, news surfaced that Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg had failed a random out-of-competition drug test on December 5th, and was potentially in violation of USADA’s anti-doping policy. The UFC was quick to release a statement on the matter, which was ultimately followed up by a statement from Cyborg herself on social media, in which she explained that the failure was the result of a prescription, not a performance enhancing drug:

bjpenndotcom - December 23, 2016

Throughout the course of this week, interim UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway revealed that an ankle injury will keep him from fighting Jose Aldo for the undisputed featherweight title at UFC 208 in February. Following that, recently promoted UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo revealed that he was in negotiations with the UFC to fight for the interim lightweight title. With that being said, Aldo also revealed that Khabib Nurmagomedov had turned down the fight, due to pursuing a fight with Tony Ferguson.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

In one week’s time, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will attempt the first defense of her title. She will do so against former champion and transcendent MMA star Ronda Rousey, who will be making her first steps into the Octagon since she was knocked out by Holly Holm more than a year ago. The two will share the main event honors of the stacked UFC 207 on December 30.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

With former UFC light heavyweight title challenger Jon “Bones” Jones currently serving a year-long suspension, MMA’s pound-for-pound debate has typically come down to one man: Flyweight champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. When Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to win the UFC lightweight title in November, however, he made a strong case for a spot atop the pound-for-pound list, as he was already the champion at featherweight, and he had recently won a fight at welterweight against Nate Diaz. In the opinion of UFC President Dana White, McGregor’s recent multi-weight accomplishments make it impossible to deny his status as MMA’s pound-for-pound king. White explained this feeling in an interview on The Michael Kay Show (via MMAFighting.com).

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

In one weeks’ time, women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes will make the first defense of her title. She will do so against former champion Ronda Rousey, who has not been seen in action since she was knocked out by a Holly Holm head kick in November of 2015. In advance of this fight, fans, pundits and fellow fighters are divided on who they think will come out on top. Some picture Rousey reclaiming the throne with a vintage victory. Others imagine Nunes mauling the long absent Rousey to retain the title. Others are unwilling to make a prediction one way or the other.

Tom Taylor - December 23, 2016

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/812066749688385536 2016 has been a banner year for fun fights. The year gave us Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit. It gave us Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi. It gave us Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2, Michael Bisping vs. Anderson Silva, Marco Polo Reyes vs. Dong Hyun Kim, Steve Bossé vs. Sean O’Connell, and so many other unforgettable wars. Yet there’s a whole lot more to remember about the year 2016 than the violence it provided alone.

bjpenndotcom - December 22, 2016

Thursday morning the MMA community woke up to news that Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg had failed a USADA drug test earlier this month. The UFC was notified of the drug testing failure and released a statement of their own. While Cyborg’s team maintained radio silence on the matter immediately, the WMMA vet has now released a statement of her own through Facebook:

Russell Ess - December 22, 2016

Japanese MMA promotion RIZIN has announced that Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Gabi Garcia will be facing a new opponent on the New Year’s Eve card scheduled to take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Garcia’s originally scheduled opponent, 52-year-old Japanese judoka, pro wrestler, and MMA fighter Shinobu Kandori was forced out of the bout due to an injury.