MMA News

Chris Taylor - November 11, 2016

Earlier today current UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley had a rather intense moment backstage at the UFC 205’s weigh ins. Following their brief stare-down backstage, the UFC champions decided to trade barbs on Twitter which resulted in McGregor calling “The Chosen One” a “Twitter bitch” while Woodley fired back asking “Mystic Mac” why he was afraid to talk shit in person.

Chris Taylor - November 11, 2016

Earlier today news broke that former TUF winner Kelvin Gastelum had missed weight for his scheduled UFC 205 fight with Donald Cerrone, forcing the promotion to scrap the bout entirely from tomorrow night’s historic card in New York. Following the news, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal took to Twitter where he offered to fight “Cowboy” on short-notice.

Russell Ess - November 11, 2016

There was a big surprise in New York at the UFC 205 weigh-ins. In addition to the stacked card of fighters making UFC 205 arguably the greatest card in UFC history, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey made an appearance and had a faceoff with the current champion Amanda Nunes.

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

CAN. NOT. WAIT. @TheNotoriousMMA and @Ealvarezfight weigh in for #UFC205. https://t.co/WM3azbXc5u — FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) November 11, 2016

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:

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

Tomorrow night, on the main card of the historic UFC 205, former Olympic wrestler Yoel Romero will take on former middleweight champion Chris Weidman. In advance of this pivotal showdown, the Cuban contender joined Chris Taylor on BJPenn.com’s Rapid Fire to discuss the bout, and what it could mean for his fighting future. Though streaking middleweight contender Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza is likely to have something to say about it, this Weidman vs. Romero bout is likely to produce the next challenger for reigning middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

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.

Tom Taylor - November 11, 2016

As unfortunate as they are, UFC 205‘s last-minute losses are UFC 206’s gain. First the Toronto card received a Tim Kennedy vs. Rashad Evans bout that was originally scheduled for UFC 205’s undercard. Now, it looks as though the Toronto card will grow by one epic welterweight scrap as Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone is rumored to be taking on Matt Brown at the event. Cowboy, of course, was expected to take on Kelvin Gastelum in the second bout of UFC 205’s main card. When Gastelum was unable to make weight for the bout, however, Cowboy was left without an opponent and forced off the UFC 205 bill.

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.

bjpenndotcom - November 11, 2016

Friday morning the MMA community learned that Kelvin Gastelum had missed weight, and his UFC 205 fight with Donald Cerrone was subsequently cancelled as a result of him being unable to make weight. While Cerrone weighed-in at 170 pounds, Gastelum never stepped on the scale for the fight, withdrawing from the fight before ever attempting to hit the scales. While the MMA community was extremely saddened by the news of the fight being cancelled due to Gastelum’s inability to make weight, welterweight fighter Alan Jouban is currently in New York for the event, and is ready and willing to step in on short notice to fight Cowboy at the event despite the fact that he would have to fight tomorrow evening.

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.