MMA News

Russell Ess - November 30, 2016

With the big announcement of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association on Wednesday, another very interesting bit of news broke late Wednesday surrounding the UFC’s biggest draw, Conor McGregor. MMA journalists Ariel Helwani and Brett Okamoto tweeted news late Wednesday that Conor McGregor has been issued a boxing license in the state of California.

Russell Ess - November 30, 2016

It is Gabi Garcia’s most controversial matchup thus far in her 3-0 professional mixed martial arts career. The female Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt world champion that fights at light heavyweight will be fighting the 52-year-old Japanese judoka, pro wrestler, and MMA fighter Shinobu Kandori at RIZIN 4 on December 31.

Russell Ess - November 30, 2016

Two-time, two-weight UFC champion BJ Penn is busy training for another competition in the Octagon. The UFC Hall of Fame legend will be taking on rising star Yair Rodriguez in the featherweight UFC Fight Night 103 main event on January 15.

Russell Ess - November 30, 2016

On Monday, it was announced in a press release that some major names in the sport of mixed martial arts were going to make a “industry re-defining” announcement on Wednesday. Many were speculating the announcement to have to do with a fighter’s union or association and it was revealed on the media conference call to be just that.

Russell Ess - November 30, 2016

UFC Hall of Fame legend BJ Penn will be making his way back into the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 103 on January 15. The Hilo native is set to headline the FS1 televised event taking place in Phoenix, Arizona against rising star Yair Rodriguez.

bjpenndotcom - November 30, 2016

BJPENN.COM Radio is back at 8PM ET/5PM PT with another great lineup! 8:15PM ET- AJ “The Mercenary” McKee – @AJMcKeeJr kicks off tonights show to preview his fight with Ray Wood at Bellator 166 this weekend. AJ is one of the most promising upcoming prospects in MMA and has impressed the fans thus far, finishing all of his opponents as a pro. We will get his take on the last minute change of opponent, his long-term goals in MMA and life with mentor and father, combat sports veteran Antonio McKee.

bjpenndotcom - November 30, 2016

The MMA community recently received word that former two division UFC champion, UFC Hall of Famer, BJ Penn would be returning to the Octagon in January at ‘UFC Fight Night: 103’ as he steps into the Octagon to face streaking featherweight prospect Yair Rodriguez. Penn announced earlier this year that he was ending his retirement, and with famed coaches Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in his corner, revealed that he was planning to make a run at the featherweight championship. Unfortunately however, Penn’s return to the Octagon was halted when he was forced to withdraw from his ‘UFC Fight Night: Manila’ headlining scrap against Ricardo Lamas due to an injury.

bjpenndotcom - November 30, 2016

MMA icon Nick Diaz is never one to shy away from speaking his mind. From topics such as fighter pay, to matchmaking, Diaz frequently speaks out on matters where he feels he needs to. Earlier this month, at the UFC’s historic inaugural Madison Square Garden event, UFC 205, Conor McGregor made UFC history as he became the first man to simultaneous hold titles in two weight classes as he TKOd Eddie Alvarez in the second round of their highly anticipated scrap.

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2016

UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson have been neck-and-neck atop MMA’s pound-for-pound list for years. Now that Jon Jones is out of competition with a suspension, however, there is little denying that Mighty Mouse is MMA’s pound-for-pound king. According to Mighty Mouse, however, being the pound-for-pound best doesn’t mean all that much. In a recent interview with Fox Sports, Mighty Mouse addressed his place atop this speculative list.

bjpenndotcom - November 30, 2016

I want to see who can Rip some Apples! #SuperSage A video posted by Sage Northcutt (@supersagenorthcutt) on Nov 29, 2016 at 10:46am PST

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2016

Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood, who currently holds the number seven spot in the UFC strawweight rankings, has recently made a home at Montreal’s TriStar gym. As such, she had plans to attend UFC 206 in nearby Toronto, where many of her teammates are fighting. Given her status as one of the best strawweight fighters on earth, Calderwood was under the impression that she might get her hands on a complimentary ticket for the Toronto card. Apparently, however, this will not be the case.

bjpenndotcom - November 30, 2016

Earlier this week the MMA community was stunned when the UFC stripped Irish superstar Conor McGregor of the UFC featherweight championship, and promoted Jose Aldo from the interim featherweight champion to the undisputed featherweight champion. The move came after UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier was forced out of his UFC 206 headlining fight with Anthony Johnson due to a torn groin. With Cormier vs. Johnson off the card, the promotion struggled to find a replacement opponent for Johnson, ultimately leading to the decision to strip McGregor of the belt, and promote Jose Aldo so as to make the co-main event scrap between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis an interim featherweight title fight.

bjpenndotcom - November 30, 2016

Over the course of the past week, the UFC has had to fight several wildfires, on several different fronts. The first situation, was UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier withdrawing from his scheduled UFC 206 headlining bout against Anthony Johnson due to a tear in his groin. The promotion’s initial plan was to find a replacement opponent for Johnson, however given that Rumble has not only defeated, but knocked out, every fighter in the top 5 of the light heavyweight division, they were unable to do so. Several men, including middleweights Gegard Mousasi and Tim Kennedy, offered to take the short notice fight with ‘Rumble’ however Johnson has opted to wait for Cormier unless he can find a heavyweight opponent willing to fight.

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2016

It’s been a banner year for undefeated bantamweight Cody Garbrandt. The 25-year-old kicked off 2016 with a first-round knockout of Augusto Mendes. Next up was another first-round KO, this time over the then undefeated Thomas Almeida. Then, in his most recent bout, Garbrandt delivered a 48-second knockout of gritty Japanese veteran Takeya Mizugaki. If Garbrandt is able to win his next fight, however, it will blow all these other impressive performances out of the water. His next fight is, after all, a championship bout with dominant bantamweight king Dominick Cruz. If Garbrandt caps off 2016 with a knockout of Cruz, he’ll have had one of the finest years imaginable in MMA. In fact, he thinks a defeat of Cruz would be more than enough to earn him 2016’s Fighter of the Year award.

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2016

https://youtu.be/KFs-nnYJGXg  

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2016

Good news for fight fans in Toronto. Despite being dealt a sizeable suspension by the New York State Athletic Commission, Kelvin Gastelum is good to go for UFC 206. The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner will return to the middleweight division to take on Tim Kennedy on the December 10 event’s main card. This news was confirmed by Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com.

Russell Ess - November 29, 2016

Cole Miller: My Strained Relationship with the UFC

Russell Ess - November 29, 2016

Conor McGregor made history at UFC 205 when he beat Eddie Alvarez to become the first fighter to be a simultaneous two-division UFC champion. However, his tenure as the UFC’s double champion did not last very long as it was announced over the weekend that the Irish superstar “relinquished” the featherweight title.