MMA News

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2016

Tyron Woodley and Conor McGregor, who are the UFC welterweight and lightweight champions respectively, have had plenty of memorable exchanges over the last few weeks. Some of them have been on social media, others were backstage in the buildup to November’s UFC 205. One of Woodley and McGregor’s first interactions occurred at a UFC 205 pre-fight press conference, when McGregor attempted to throw a chair at his then-upcoming opponent, Eddie Alvarez. As the chaos unfolded, Woodley busted out his camera to film the ordeal, and later posted the video on social media, accompanied by the caption “how you act when you know someone gone break it up!”

bjpenndotcom - December 7, 2016

In just over a week, MMA veteran Urijah Faber will step into the Octagon for the final time as he squares off against Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett in front of his hometown crowd in Sacramento, California. For Faber, the fight will mark the end of a historic 13 year professional MMA career that saw ‘The California Kid’ fight some of the top names in the sport, including Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo, and Frankie Edgar, to name just a few. While the former WEC champ was never able to capture UFC gold, the impact Faber made on the sport is undeniable.

bjpenndotcom - December 7, 2016

Since the new UFC owners have taken over control of the company, the WME-IMG owners have sparked quite a bit of controversy as they have fired numerous high-level executives, including most of the UFC Canada office. Their most recent firings however, saw none other than UFC Hall of Famers Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes receive their walking papers, much to the dismay of the MMA community.

bjpenndotcom - December 7, 2016

This past weekend in Las Vegas, the UFC hosted the Ultimate Fighter season 24 Finale, which was headlined by a flyweight title fight between flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson, and TUF 24 winner Tim Elliot. In the first round, Elliot left fight fans stunned as he nearly pulled off what arguably could have been the biggest upset in MMA history as he nearly submitted the flyweight champ.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2016

https://youtu.be/5McRtt8Dvg8?t=3m21s Every time Conor McGregor accomplishes a new and massive feat, it leaves fans eager to see him try to one-up that feat. When he knocked out Jose Aldo to win the featherweight title, fans immediately wanted to see him challenge for lightweight gold. When he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to win that lightweight gold, buzz about a potential welterweight title fight with Tyron Woodley quickly began to resurface. And then, of course, there’s the ever-present discourse about McGregor testing himself in a boxing match with boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2016

Edson Barboza, who currently holds the number-5 spot in the stacked UFC lightweight division, is known as one of the best leg-kickers in the game. In fact, he might just be the best leg-kicker in MMA outright. Time after time, the Brazilian has dazzled fans and bewildered his opponents by bludgeoning legs into useless stumps of bruised flesh. Unfortunately, Barboza is starting to think his fearsome leg kick game is scaring off his prospective opponents.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2016

On December 30, in the co-main event of UFC 207, bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will attempt to defend his title against the young Cody Garbrandt. In advance of this bantamweight title showdown, both fighters have pretty clear paths to victory. If Cruz wants to win, he’ll need to avoid Garbrandt’s fight-altering punching power and drag him into the later rounds where he might get tired and frustrated. If Garbrandt wants to score the upset, he needs to plant a bomb on Cruz’s chin early, and avoid a drawn-out war of attrition with the crafty champion.

Russell Ess - December 6, 2016

There has been quite a bit of restructuring with the UFC staff since the new owners WME-IMG took over in the $4 billion acquisition. Dozens of staff members have been let go, including UFC Hall of Fame legends Chuck Liddell and Matt Hughes.

Russell Ess - December 6, 2016

Holly Holm is coming off two losses in a row immediately after winning the biggest fight of her life in devastating fashion. Since beating Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in 2015 to become a UFC champion, Holm lost her first title defense to Miesha Tate at UFC 196 in March and then went on to lose a unanimous decision to Valentina Shevchenko at UFC on FOX 20 in July.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

https://youtu.be/MlThAYmkfss Though the MMA community is quite transfixed on Saturday’s UFC 206 card, which will feature big names like Anthony Pettis, Max Holloway, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Matt Brown, this is actually not the most immediate UFC card on the calendar.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

This Saturday, the UFC will return to Toronto for the first time since September of 2013. It will do so with UFC 206, a card that has been rocked by fighter withdrawals but still stands out as a very exciting one.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

Though Jon Jones stands out as one of the best mixed martial artists ever, he’s had an undeniably rough few years. His recent career has been marred by everything from cocaine use to a hit-and-run involving a pregnant woman. Earlier this year, of course, it looked like a matured Jones might finally be getting his life back on track. Though it was far from his best performance, he made a successful return to action, defeating late-replacement Ovince St. Preux to win the UFC interim light heavyweight title. With this win in the books, Jones was then pencilled in for a title unifying rematch with Daniel Cormier, who has been sitting on the divisional throne in his stead. The two were expected to share the main event honors of the landmark UFC 200 in July.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

Since UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 last month to win the lightweight championship, talks of a potential Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather boxing match have continued to pick up steam. While McGregor will be sidelined until May with the upcoming birth of his child, talks of a McGregor-Mayweather boxing match currently have combat sports fans in an uproar. While some think a superfight between the two is a great idea for combat sports, others believe that given the fact that the two men compete in different sports, a fight should never take place.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

Hawaiian featherweight Max Holloway is currently on a fantastic, 9-fight winning-streak. The last man he lost to is former featherweight champion and current lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Their fight occurred all the way back in 2013. Since then, Holloway has established himself as one of the best fighters on earth – as evidenced by his upcoming interim featherweight title fight with Anthony Pettis. While Holloway is focused on his upcoming battle with Pettis, he’s made no secret of the fact that he’s keen on a rematch with McGregor – even if that rematch occurs at heavyweight.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

Former Bellator MMA CEO Bjorn Rebney recently found himself making headlines recently when he joined former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, former UFC champions TJ Dillashaw & Cain Velasquez, and top ranked fighters Donald Cerrone & Tim Kennedy in announcing the formation of the MMA Athletes Association. While the association mostly received praise form fighters, many questioned the former Bellator MMA CEO’s motives, with UFC President Dana White stating:

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

Since Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg made her successful UFC debut back in May at UFC 198, the arguable pound for pound women’s champ has been campaigning for the UFC to create a women’s featherweight division. With that being said, many fight fans were shocked to learn this week that when the UFC actually offered Cyborg two women’s UFC featherweight title fights, Cyborg turned both down. UFC President Dana White explained that Cyborg informed he and UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby that she would be unable to make the 145 pound featherweight limit on eight weeks notice due to the difficult weight cut she endured several months ago when cutting to make the catchweight limit of 140 pounds for her ‘UFC Fight Night: Sao Paulo’ headlining scrap with Lina Lansberg.

bjpenndotcom - December 6, 2016

This past weekend, in the co-main event of The Ultimate Fighter season 24 Finale, coaches Joseph Benavidez & Henry Cejudo squared off in a highly anticipated flyweight showdown. With the possibility of a fight with flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson on the line, both men gave the fight everything they had. Ultimately, the judges scored the fight a split decision for Joseph Benavidez, with Cejudo being deducted a point in the first round likely playing a major part in the decision swinging Benavidez’ way. Despite that, Cejudo, as well as many members of the MMA community, scored the fight in the former Olympian’s favor. Following the fight, Cejudo texted UFC President Dana White, who replied with an apology over the scorecards.

Tom Taylor - December 6, 2016

It’s now been over a year since former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was knocked out by Holly Holm, and we haven’t seen her in action since. In a few short weeks, however, that will change. Rousey is expected to make her long awaited comeback in the main event of UFC 207 on December 30, when she takes on reigning champion Amanda Nunes. In advance of this fight, there has been widespread speculation surrounding Rousey’s headspace and physical condition. A year on the shelf, after all, can have major effects on a fighter both mentally and physically. Many fans and pundits have wondered whether she’s motivated, and whether she’ll be in adequate shape come fight night.