MMA News

Chris Taylor - October 21, 2016

Former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen recently told TMZ that his upcoming Bellator 170 opponent Tito Ortiz was going broke. “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” did not take well to Sonnen’s comments and quickly fired back at Chael by releasing the following video on his Instagram:

bjpenndotcom - October 21, 2016

ONE FC champion Ben Askren is widely believed to be one of the best fighters not currently signed to the UFC. With a 15-0 professional record that has seen Askren not only claim the ONE championship, but also win the Bellator welterweight championship. As if that weren’t enough, Askren defended his ONE FC championship once, and also defended his Bellator championship belt 4 times. Despite that, the accomplished wrestler has never competed under the UFC banner, which has brought him quite a bit of criticism when fans discuss the top welterweights in MMA.

bjpenndotcom - October 21, 2016

Just over a month ahead of ‘UFC Fight Night: Belfast’ on November 19th, the card has now been left without a main event as the Dong Hyun Kim vs. Gunnar Nelson matchup, which was expected to headline the event, has now been pulled from the card for unknown reasons. At the present time, TalkMMA is reporting that Gunnar Nelson injured his foot in training, and ultimately was forced to withdraw from the fight as a result of the injury:

bjpenndotcom - October 21, 2016

In the beginning of October, former Bellator MMA champion Will Brooks stepped into the Octagon for his second UFC appearance on the main card of ‘UFC Fight Night: Portland’. Brooks was stepping into the Octagon against Alex ‘Cowboy’ Oliveira, who was supposed to be making his lightweight debut at the event. The day prior however, when the Portland Athletic Commission opened up the scales for early weigh-ins, Olivera was one of the first fighters on the scale, coming in 5.5 pounds over the lightweight non-title fight limit of 156 pounds. While Brooks was given the option to decline the fight given that Oliveira came in quite a bit over the weight limit, he opted to fight ‘Cowboy’. Unfortunately, when the two stepped in the Octagon, an early knee from Oliveira injured one of Brooks’ ribs. As the fight progressed, the injury became more & more severe, with Oliveira ultimately securing the 3rd round TKO win.

Russell Ess - October 21, 2016

UFC welterweight Alan Jouban is looking to make a big statement in his next fight coming up against the undefeated Mike Perry at UFC on FOX 22 in December. Jouban is confident that with a big win over Perry, he will punch his way into the UFC welterweight rankings.

Russell Ess - October 21, 2016

Georges St-Pierre may be in for the biggest fight of his life and it won’t even be close to taking place in the Octagon. On Monday, the former UFC welterweight kingpin announced on The MMA Hour that he was a free agent after his legal team terminated his contract with the UFC. Later that day, the UFC released a statement saying that St-Pierre was in fact still under contract with them.

Russell Ess - October 21, 2016

Alan “Brahma” Jouban is looking to make a statement to the UFC welterweight division when he meets the controversial and undefeated Mike Perry at UFC on FOX 22 in December. Speaking with BJPenn.com Radio host “Kinch” on Wednesday’s episode, “Brahma” says that he is going to turn some heads with his performance, and that will also finally get him a push from the promotion.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

https://youtu.be/OPKjIVsmuGg Earlier this year, in the main event of UFC 196, Stockton, California’s Nate Diaz shocked the world with a second-round submission defeat of Conor McGregor. Several months later, in the main event of August’s UFC 202, the pair went at it again.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

We’re all familiar with The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC’s trademark reality show, throughout which contestants compete for UFC contracts and sometimes even title shots or championship belts. Though the series has produced a few lacklustre seasons, its also given us UFC stars like Nate Diaz, Forrest Griffin, Diego Sanchez, Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping, TJ Dillashaw, Rose Namajunas, Tony Ferguson, and John Dodson. It’s also widely credited for the UFC’s transformation from a polarizing spectacle on the fringes of the sporting world to a legitimate mainstream sport.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

On November 12, in the main event of the universally anticipated UFC 205, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will challenge Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight title. If McGregor is successful in this attempt, he’ll become the first fighter in UFC history to wear two belts simultaneously. In advance of this high-stakes showdown, the advantages possessed by both men are quite clear. McGregor should have a significant edge in the striking department, while Alvarez should be the better man in the grappling and cardio departments.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva‘s time in the Octagon has come to an end, as the Brazilian heavyweight and the UFC have mutually agreed not to renew his contract. Silva’s contract ran its course after a KO loss to Roy Nelson in September.

Russell Ess - October 21, 2016

With Halloween approaching, the marketing team at The Asylum haunted house in Ireland just issued a great challenge. Following UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor commenting on the recent scary clown hysteria, “The Clown” at The Asylum challenged the UFC superstar to last 15 minutes in their haunted house.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

Yesterday, we reported that UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was being considered as an addition to UFC 206, which is, at the moment, undeniably short on big names. Though Bisping denied these reports, there still seems to be significant reason to believe he could wind up on the card – perhaps against welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre. 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 21, 2016

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm has been on a bit of a skid lately. After picking up a spectacular KO win over Ronda Rousey in the main event of UFC 193 back in November of 2015 to claim the women’s bantamweight championship in an incredibly dominant performance, Holm returned to the Octagon at UFC 196 in March. This time, she was doing so as the champion, and stepping into the cage to fight a very hungry Miesha Tate. While Holm appeared to be en-route to what many believed would be a unanimous decision win, Tate picked up a late 5th round submission win to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

https://youtu.be/Hr1fL22szI0 Earlier this month, reports surfaced that Hollywood megastar Kim Kardashian had been bound, gagged and robbed in a Paris hotel room.

bjpenndotcom - October 21, 2016

The heavyweight rematch fight fans have been waiting to see was made official this week! Over a year after their initial meeting, where Fabricio Werdum shocked the world as he submitted Cain Velasquez to win the heavyweight championship at UFC 188, the pair will once again meet inside the Octagon.

Tom Taylor - October 21, 2016

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that WME-IMG, who recently purchased the UFC for $4 billion, had plans to cancel the organization’s long-running reality television series, The Ultimate Fighter. These reports first came from FloCombat editor Jeremy Botter.

bjpenndotcom - October 21, 2016

UFC 205 will feature several high-profile match-ups and on paper looks to be a blockbuster card. Rashad Evans, who takes on Tim Kennedy in his middleweight debut at UFC 205, spoke exclusively to BJPENN.COM Radio and discussed his predictions for several other fights on the card.