MMA News

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will look to make history at UFC 205 next month when he takes on lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez for the UFC’s first-ever event in New York. “The Notorious”, while primarily a striker, has been brushing up on his wrestling ahead of his showdown with Alvarez, who has a formidable wrestling game and will certainly look to put the brash Irishman on his back during their 155 pound title fight.

Russell Ess - October 26, 2016

UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is ready to shoot his stock up through the roof as he is set to defend his title for the first time in a historic UFC championship fight. Alvarez will defend his lightweight title against the UFC featherweight champion, Conor McGregor. With “The Notorious” still retaining his status as the champion of 145, if he gets his hand raised over Alvarez on November 12 at UFC 205 in New York’s Madison Square Garden, he will become the first fighter in UFC history to hold two divison’s titles simultaneously. However, doing so will be no simple task against Eddie Alvarez.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

MMA veteran Nick Diaz is no stranger to big fights inside the cage. In just his second pro fight, Diaz won the IFC United States welterweight championship by defeating Chris Lytle. Over the course of the neck 15 years, Diaz went on to win the WEC championship, as well as the Strikeforce welterweight championship. With that being said, the UFC championship belt has proved elusive for Diaz. In 2012, Diaz was given an interim welterweight title shot against Carlos Condit in the main event of UFC 143. Ultimately, Diaz lost the fight via controversial decision, with Carlos Condit being awarded the win, as well as the welterweight championship. In his next Octagon outing nearly a year later, Diaz faced welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre for the undisputed welterweight championship, losing the fight via unanimous decision.

Russell Ess - October 26, 2016

An exciting featherweight matchup has just been announced by the UFC. Number 3 ranked UFC featherweight Max Holloway is set to face former UFC lightweight champion and current number 6 ranked UFC featherweight Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 on December 10 at the Air Canada Centre.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

Good news for fans of Fedor Emelianenko! According to a report from Russian journalist Alexey Safonov, the heavyweight legend has returned to training in preparation for an upcoming bout – though the date, location and opponent for that bout do not appear to be clear. Contracts have also not yet been signed. Fedor has started training for the fight. Contract is not signed but there is negotiations. Soon it will be announced. #mma #Emelianenko

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

Over the course of the past several weeks, reports have continued to surface regarding the potential return of former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre. Although St-Pierre had fans excited several weeks ago when he revealed in an interview that news regarding his return would be announced in a few weeks, St-Pierre then revealed in an interview that he had terminated his contract with the UFC, and was now a free agent.

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.

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.

bjpenndotcom - October 26, 2016

Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg is widely believed to be one of the best, if not the best, women’s MMA fighters of all time. With an 11 year professional MMA career, Cyborg has lost just once, her first professional fight, and has gone on to rattle off 17 straight wins over the course of the past 11 years. Despite that, it wasn’t until mid-2016 that the Invicta champ made her UFC debut. When she stepped into the Octagon at UFC 198 back in May, it took Cyborg just over a minute to TKO Leslie Smith, cementing her place as one of the best WMMA fighters on the planet. While she called for the UFC to form a women’s featherweight division, UFC President Dana White remained adamant that there aren’t enough female fighters competing at 145 pounds to warrant the UFC making a division. With that being said, Cyborg stepped into the Octagon once again at ‘UFC Fight Night: Brasilia’ where she squared off against Swedish striking phenom Lina Lansberg. Despite a brutal weight-cut that saw the Invicta champ cut nearly 10 pounds in 24 hours, Cyborg won the fight via 2nd round TKO.

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.

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.

Tom Taylor - October 26, 2016

On November 19, the UFC will return to Belfast, Northern Island with UFC Fight Night 99. Initially, the card looked like it was going to be a great one. Unfortunately, the injury bug has been chowing down on its lineup over the last few days.

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.

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

Earlier this week, it was announced that Dominick Cruz would be defending his UFC bantamweight title against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207. This news confirmed rumors that have been swirling for weeks, and drove fans of the bantamweight division into a frenzy of excitement. Though this December 30 title fight is still a ways down the road, fans are already doing their part to add to its hype by building buzz on social media, putting together their own promotional videos, and creating awesome, fan-made posters.