MMA News

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

Friday morning in New York, the fighter’s of UFC 205 hit the scales for early weigh-ins ahead of their scheduled bouts. While UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez both weighed-in on point for their lightweight title fight, and UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley & Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson both weighed-in for their welterweight title fight, McGregor and Woodley had a brief but tense moment as they came face to face.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

We’re now less than 48 hours from the main event of the historic UFC 205, which will see UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor challenge lightweight king Eddie Alvarez in a bid to become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles in two weight classes simultaneously.

Russell Ess - November 11, 2016

The brash and quick-witted Conor McGregor may have just been beaten down for the first time in a verbal battle leading into his UFC 205 bout against Eddie Alvarez. During a heated exchange during an interview with FOX Sports, Alvarez told McGregor that he isn’t allowed to talk about money because before he reached his superstardom in the UFC, the Irishman used to collect welfare checks.

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that a fighter’s union had officially been formed. With current and former fighters such as UFC legend Randy Couture, UFC women’s bantamweight Leslie Smith, and MMA veteran Cung Le jumping on-board to name just a few of the fighters. Earlier this week however, top ranked UFC welterweight & lightweight, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone weighed-in on the formation of a fighter’s union during a media luncheon, in which he stated:

Russell Ess - November 11, 2016

https://youtu.be/mM5iE3SwQLM UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor arrived fashionably late to the UFC 205 pre-fight press conference in New York on Thursday.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

Earlier this morning, UFC 205‘s stacked main card took a significant hit when welterweight contender Kelvin Gastelum failed to make weight for his planned bout with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Though weigh-in misses do not typically result in the cancelation of a fight outright, Gastelum’s was severe enough that it forced him off the card altogether, leaving Cowboy without an opponent, and depriving fans of a highly anticipated fight. This weight related slip up is unfortunately not Gastelum’s first. In his eight scheduled welterweight bouts with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the 25-year-old has missed weight 3 times, first for a 2014 bout with Nico Musoke, then for a 2015 bout with Tyron Woodley and most recently for this nixed bout with Cowboy. He also very nearly missed weight for a mid-2016 bout with Johny Hendricks.

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

This week, former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones was handed a 1-year suspension for his random out-of-competition drug testing failure back in June. The failed drug test unfortunately forced Jones out of his UFC 200 headlining scrap with Daniel Cormier just 48 hours before fight night. While things didn’t initially look good for Jones, the pound for pound kingpin maintained his innocence throughout the appeal process. Ultimately, a major breakthrough for Jones and his team came when UFC President Dana White revealed that it didn’t look like Jones took the substances everyone thought he did. White’s announcement was then followed up several weeks later by a report which revealed that Jones failed the drug test due to a tainted supplement. This week, it was revealed that Jones had been suspended for one year retroactive to July.

Russell Ess - November 11, 2016

Prior to the UFC 205 pre-fight press conference, UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley had good things to say about UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

Friday morning, both UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor & UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley hit the scales for their respective UFC 205 scraps tomorrow night. While both men are slated to fight different opponents, one would think the pair are slated to fight each other. Backstage footage showed Woodley walking into the room, and McGregor eyeing him down. When Woodley noticed what McGregor was doing, he appeared to say something to him before walking off.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

Tomorrow night, on the main card of UFC 205, streaking middleweight contender Yoel Romero will collide with former champion Chris Weidman in a bout that could well earn the winner a shot at reigning middleweight champion Michael Bisping. In advance of this pivotal showdown, Romero made an appearance on BJPenn.com’s Rapid Fire to speak with host Chris Taylor. Though Romero is confident that he’s got what it takes to defeat Weidman at UFC 205, he was quite complimentary of his upcoming foe’s skills.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/GrabakaHitman/status/797097797484998656 Now that Eddie Alvarez, Will Brooks and Gilbert Melendez are all members of the UFC roster, Shinya Aoki stands out as one of the best lightweights – if not the best lightweight – outside the organization. Only current Bellator champ Michael Chandler and reigning WSOF lightweight king Justin Gaethje can challenge his reputation as such.

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor had a bit of a heated moment Friday morning in New York during the UFC 205 early weigh-ins. Footage of the moment showed Woodley walking past McGregor, who proceeded to eye down the welterweight champ as he passed by. Woodley recognized the situation and appeared to say something to the featherweight champ before walking off.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/AllThatMMA/status/797100603008749569 In just over 24 hours, the UFC will take over New York City’s hallowed Madison Square Garden with UFC 205. The card stands out as one of the best, if not the best, in UFC history.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

Tomorrow night, the UFC will take of New York City’s hallowed Madison Square Garden with UFC 205. The card, which will mark the promotion’s long awaited debut in The Big Apple, is stacked to the brim with elite UFC talent, and is topped by a whopping three title fights. The first of these title fights see lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez attempt to defend his title against featherweight champ Conor McGregor, who will vie to make history as the first fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously. The second will pair welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, fresh off a first-round KO of Robbie Lawler, with streaking challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. The third will see dominant strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk attempt to defend her title for a fourth time against fellow undefeated Polish fighter Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

Former UFC title challenger Thiago Alves has spent the last few years realizing hot-and-cold success at welterweight. After a savage, 2015 TKO loss to Carlos Condit, the dangerous Brazilian striker opted to head south in search of greener pastures at lightweight. Originally, Alves’ planned lightweight debut was expected to pit him against New York’s Al Iaquinta in the featured Fight Pass prelim of UFC 205. When Iaquinta retired from mixed martial arts to focus on a burgeoning real estate career, however, Alves was forced to shift his focus to a replacement opponent in lightweight veteran Jim Miller.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

https://youtu.be/8DFJR8ATzdI As an inherently violent sport, MMA occasionally produces the kind of freak injuries that leave our stomachs in knots. In 2004,  for example, we watched a Frank Mir armbar snap Tim Sylvia’s forearm like a matchstick. In 2011, meanwhile, we saw Frank Mir dole out another gruesome arm injury, this time twisting Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira’s arm out of position with a first-round kimura. Then, of course, there was Anderson Silva’s 2013 rematch with Chris Weidman, which saw Silva’s leg turn to spaghetti after a kick gone awry.

Russell Ess - November 10, 2016

UFC 205 takes place this Saturday on November 12 with an absolutely stacked card. UFC middleweight Yoel Romero is set to take on former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman on the main pay-per-view card in what could determine the next contender to challenge UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping for his belt.

Russell Ess - November 10, 2016

Khabib Nurmagomedov is still very upset that he received two contracts to fight UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and still has not bout agreement to fight the lightweight champ.