MMA News

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.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

Former title challenger Cat Zingano just called out someone for a fight on Twitter, but she’s not a UFC fighter. In fact, the woman Zingano called out doesn’t even train mixed martial arts. Zingano tweeted at WWE superstar Sasha Banks on Tuesday, to the confusion and delight of many.

Russell Ess - October 25, 2016

Who would you pick to win in a mixed martial arts fight between Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar? Lashley, who is under a Bellator MMA and TNA professional wrestling promotion contract spoke with TMZ about a potential matchup with former UFC and WWE contracted star, Brock Lesnar.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

Interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has stirred up a bit of controversy recently as he has continued his very public war of words with the UFC brass. After it was announced that Conor McGregor would be moving up to lightweight to challenge Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight strap at UFC 205 on November 12th, Aldo quickly requested his release from the promotion. UFC President Dana White was quick to deny Aldo’s request, stating that the promotion would be happy to get the interim champ fights in the meantime until Conor McGregor either returns to featherweight, or vacates the 145 pound belt. Aldo shot back however, explaining that he wanted to be released so as to retire from MMA and move on to another professional sport completely.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

Late last week, it was announced that an injury had forced Gunnar Nelson out his bout with Dong Hyun Kim, the planned headliner for the UFC’s return to Belfast, Northern Ireland. This unfortunately left the UFC scrambling for a viable main event on just a few weeks’ notice. Though it can’t have been easy, the organization was able to produce a compelling replacement main event. This new headliner will see top-5 middleweight Gegard Mousasi attempt to avenge arguably the toughest loss of his career against the hot-and-cold Uriah Hall.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

https://youtu.be/VHQT-y6Xk6o Recently, news surfaced that SBG Ireland fighter Gunnar Nelson, who was slated to fight Dong Hyun Kim in the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Belfast’, was forced to pull out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury just several weeks before fight night.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

In mid 2015, the UFC partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Commission (USADA) in an effort to crack down on performance enhancing drug use and clean up the sport. So far, the agency’s efforts to do so have been quite fruitful. It seems that every week, a new fighter is notified of a potential violation, and many of these fighters have been extremely high profile. Unfortunately, USADA has to go to pretty intense lengths to ensure no PED-user slips through their nets, often showing up at fighters’ homes unannounced and at inconvenient hours. While these efforts are undoubtedly for the best in the long run, it should come as no surprise that they can occasionally get a little uncomfortable, too.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPXpvEWDGBA This time last year, Ronda Rousey was still regarded by many as an unbeatable champion. At that stage, she’d simply given us very little reason to believe she could be defeated.

Russell Ess - October 25, 2016

We have not seen UFC heavyweight Mark Hunt compete in the Octagon since his UFC 200 competition against Brock Lesnar back in July where Lesnar became the first fighter in the UFC to receive a shortened window of USADA testing from the UFC. Following their fight where Lesnar was given a “one-off” opportunity from the WWE to compete in the UFC again, the “Beast Incarnate” tested positive for banned substances.

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

Recently, former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre left MMA fans stunned as he revealed that he was officially a free agent in the MMA world. The news came just over a week after St-Pierre informed MMA fans that news regarding his potential return to the Octagon would be coming in ‘just a few weeks’. Following St-Pierre’s announcement, the UFC brass was quick to release a statement in which they refuted St-Pierre’s claims of being a free agent. ‘Rush’ has remained in Las Vegas, while reports of his potential return at UFC 206 against Michael Bisping have continued to circulate despite his claims that he is a free agent.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

Last week, the UFC’s highly anticipated November 19 return to Belfast, Northern Ireland was dealt a fairly severe blow. Just weeks out from fight night, it lost its main event, as Iceland’s honorary Irishman Gunnar Nelson was forced out of his headlining welterweight bout with South Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim. Luckily for the fans in Belfast, the UFC was able to scramble and create a new and compelling main event. The evening’s headliner will now see top middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi attempt to avenge a shocking 2015 loss to Urijah Hall.

Tom Taylor - October 25, 2016

On this week’s episode of The MMA Hour, long-time bantamweight contender Urijah Faber made the somewhat surprising announcement that his recently announced bout with England’s Brad Pickett will be the last of his career. This Faber swan song will occur on December 17 in Sacremento, California – the home of his renowned gym, Team Alpha Male. “I’ve been kind of waiting for this,” Faber said to host Ariel Helwani on the show. “This is actually going to be my last fight. And it just feels right to do it in [Sacramento] in this new arena. It just feels like the right time and the right place. I’ve been waiting for this new arena to be built, I was waiting for that Dominick Cruz opportunity, and I feel like this is going to be an epic event and I can’t wait to do it in front of the people I love.”

bjpenndotcom - October 25, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is currently gearing up for what may very well be the biggest fight of his UFC career when he steps into the Octagon to square off against Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 on Novemeber 12th. Not only is the fight slated to headline what is expected to be the biggest UFC card in the history of the promotion, it also could see McGregor crowned as the first fighter to ever simultaneously hold two title belts in two weight classes. With that being said, UFC President Dana White has remained adamant that should McGregor emerge from the fight victorious, he will be forced to vacate one of the belts. Initially, McGregor remained quite open about the fact that he had no intentions of relinquishing one of the belts, stating that it would take an army for the UFC brass to take one of his titles away. Lately however, he appears to have been softening his stance on the matter, stating that before he relinquishes a title, he wants to get photos of the historic moment when he wins two title belts.