MMA News

Russell Ess - October 26, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has the biggest fight of his life ahead of him. “The Notorious” will have his chance to realize his dreams of becoming the first two-weight UFC world champion that holds two division’s titles simultaneously. The task at hand is no walk in the park as the Irish superstar will face Eddie Alvarez for his lightweight strap in the main event of a stacked UFC 205 card.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

MMA veteran Urijah Faber recently announced that his upcoming bantamweight fight with Brad Pickett at ‘UFC Fight Night: Sacramento’ would be his final fight before stepping away from the Octagon and retiring from MMA after nearly 15 years competing as a professional in the sport. Faber, a veteran of the sport, is certainly one of the best fighters in the UFC to never win a UFC championship, the former W.E.C. featherweight champion has remained at the top of the bantamweight division since making his UFC debut back in 2011.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

https://youtu.be/X5De-fIlwvg On November 12, in the co-main event of UFC 205, Tyron Woodley will attempt to make the first defense of his UFC welterweight title. He’ll make this attempt opposite talented karate specialist Stephen Thompson, who will enter the cage with seven-straight wins in his wake.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

Another edition of BJPENN.COM Radio returns at 8PM ET/5PM PT with more great guests and some familiar voices! 8:15PM ET- Dan “The Beast” Severn is set to drop by the show again and run back our previous interview. Dan was attending the wedding of his son while on air with us last week and felt he wasn’t himself. While we thought Dan was great, we could never pass up an opportunity to speak with the always entertaining and insightful UFC Hall of Famer.

Russell Ess - October 26, 2016

Matt “The Immortal” Brown has had the bitter taste of defeat before but has always bounced back from adversity. Coming off a devastating loss to Jake Ellenberger at UFC 201 in July, Brown has taken some time off to recover and ensure that he minimizes any risks of brain injury but will be back in the Octagon at UFC 207 on December 30 to face Tarec Saffiedine. The main event of UFC 207 will feature the return of former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, who has been out of competition ever since losing the belt to Holly Holm at UFC 193 back in November 2015. Rousey will be getting a chance to get the title back as she takes on the champion Amanda Nunes in a five-round title fight.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

While interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has continued his ongoing feud with the UFC brass, claiming that he still has no intentions to fight, the former featherweight kingpin has returned to training this week, potentially indicating his return is in the works. Aldo has taken to social media twice this week to post pictures of himself post-training at Nova Uniao in Brazil.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

The UFC has long flirted with the idea of promoting an event inside a massive European football stadium. Perhaps the most notable discussions to this end occured when Conor McGregor announced his desire to headline a card inside Dublin’s Croke Park. As it turns out, however, McGregor may instead find himself headlining a show inside Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, Spain – home to Real Madrid.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

At UFC 205 on November 12th, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor and UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez will step into the Octagon in what will be just the second champion vs. champion fight in the history of the UFC. In addition to headlining a historic card, the fight will give McGregor the opportunity to make UFC history as the first man to hold two UFC championship belts simultaneously. With that being said, UFC President Dana White has remained adamant that McGregor will indeed be forced to vacate one of the championships if he emerges from the historic scrap victorious. While McGregor was initially very reluctant to give up one of the belts, stating that the UFC brass would need an army to take one of them from him, he has since softened his stance, stating that before there are talks of him vacating a belt, he wants the world to see the historic photos of him victorious at UFC 205 with two title belts.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

Since the UFC announced their apparel partnership with Reebok, fighters and fans have continually criticized the brand. In the early days of the apparel deal, Reebok made quite a few errors when designing clothing for fighters, calling Anderson Silva “Anderson Aldo” on one of their shirts, and putting a United States patch on the sleeve of Conor McGregor’s fight kit to name just a few of the controversial errors the company made.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

In March of this year, women’s MMA veteran Miesha Tate submitted Holly Holm with a fifth-round rear-naked choke. This win would earn her the coveted women’s bantamweight title. Unfortunately, Tate’s long-awaited time atop the bantamweight throne came to an abrupt just months thereafter, when she was battered and submitted by a ferocious Amanda Nunes in the main event of July’s UFC 200. In the weeks after this emphatic title loss, it was unclear whether we’d ever see Tate in the Octagon again. She’d hinted at retirement before her bout with Holm, when she was riding a four-fight streak. After her loss with Nunes, this early retirement seemed even more probable.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

Back in 2008, Jon Fitch stepped into the Octagon against UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. Fitch had been on a tear of the UFC’s welterweight division, going on an 8-fight win streak that saw him defeat notable opponents such as Thiago Alves and Diego Sanchez. Fitch, who was widely regarded as having some of the best grappling in the UFC, ultimately dropped a unanimous decision to St-Pierre at UFC 87. Following the loss, Fitch rattled off 5 straight wins before going to a draw with BJ Penn. Following his draw with Penn, Fitch went 1-2 in the UFC before making the jump to World Series of Fighting.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

On December 10, in the main event of UFC 206, Daniel Cormier will defend the UFC light heavyweight title against Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. As significant as this bout is, however, it will have a shadow cast over it by one man: former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Jones won the divisional crown in early 2011 with a third-round TKO of light heavyweight legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. From there, he cut through the division like a buzzsaw, fending off game challengers in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira and Cormier, experiencing only a few moments of adversity along the way. By the time he’d defended his title against Cormier, he stood at as not only the greatest light heavyweight ever, but also one of the greatest fighters ever – period.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

It’s unfortunate, but it’s true: tension between the UFC and its fighters is at an all-time high. After weeks of failed negotiations, welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre recently made the claim that he’d terminated his UFC contract and that he’d be testing free agency. Featherweight great Jose Aldo has asked to be released from his UFC contract so he can leave the sport altogether. Top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Julianna Peña have both recently flirted with UFC departures after being stiffed on title shots. Featherweight veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri has asked to be released from his contract. The list goes on and on.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

Mike Perry has only fought twice in the UFC, but “Platinum” has certainly made his presence felt. With two knockouts in as many octagon appearances, Perry took to Twitter to stir the pot with Alan Jouban, who will take on Perry at UFC on FOX 22 on December 17.

Chris Taylor - October 25, 2016

Earlier this week, BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor reported that current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was being targeted for a fight at December’s UFC 206 event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I spoke to one of Michael Bisping's coaches who told me thatthe UFC is targeting the champ to return at #UFC206 in Toronto, Canada.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva may have been released from the UFC last week, but he won’t be out of work for very long. The former heavyweight title challenger will be heading to Russia to take on Ivan Shtyrkov (4-0), an undefeated prospect who’s ended all four of his victories by first-round finish.

Chris Taylor - October 25, 2016

Earlier this week Chris Taylor of BJPENN.com reported that current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was being targeted to fight at December’s UFC 206 pay-per-view event in Toronto. I spoke to one of Michael Bisping's coaches who told me thatthe UFC is targeting the champ to return at #UFC206 in Toronto, Canada.

Russell Ess - October 25, 2016

Mackenzie Dern is well-known in the world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. The BJJ black belt has a long list of accolades that include ADCC Champion, World Champion, World Pro Champion and No Gi World Champion. Now, the daughter of Wellington “Megaton” Dias is getting into mixed martial arts and holds a 2-0 record, fighting under Legacy FC. However, Dern is eyeing a UFC debut perhaps as early as 2017.