MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2016

This Saturday, the Octagon will return to beautiful Manchester, England with UFC 204.

bjpenndotcom - October 4, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor left the MMA world stunned back in April when he took to social media to announce his retirement ahead of UFC 200. At the time, McGregor was slated to fight Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 200 in a highly anticipated rematch. While the MMA community speculated as to whether or not McGregor’s retirement was real, or simply a negotiation tactic, McGregor and his team maintained that he featherweight champ was truly retired. It was only when UFC President Dana White announced that McGregor’s retirement would result in him being stripped of the featherweight title, and would have USADA ramifications that McGregor revealed that he wasn’t retired. Ultimately however, McGregor refused to fly to Las Vegas to do a press conference for the event, and as a result was subsequently pulled from the entire card.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2016

Earlier this week, we saw grisly images of a man just moments removed from fending off a bear attack. Today, the grisliness continues, as pro wrestling star turned mixed martial artist Alberto Del Rio (nee José Alberto Rodríguez) says he recently fended off a knife attack – and shared images of the injuries he sustained in the process. Del Rio detailed this horrific attack in a post on his Instagram page. His statement read as follows:

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2016

Late last week, news broke that Australian mixed martial artist Julian “Julz the Jackal” Wallace had pleaded guilty to assault. Wallace’s charges stemmed from an ugly incident during which he brutalized his then fiancee Jessy Jess – also a fighter – after she brought home a dinner that wasn’t to his liking. Thankfully, Jess was ultimately able to knock her attacker out with a kick and call the police. On Monday, Australian promotion Xtreme Fighting Championship (XFC), who promoted Wallace’s last three fights, released a statement on the incident. Unsurprisingly, the promotion has opted to cut ties with the troubled fighter.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

This past weekend, fight fans tuned in for ‘UFC Fight Night: 96’ which took place in Portland, Oregon. The fight card was a spectacular one from top to bottom, from Curtis Blaydes’ spectacular knockout of Cody East on the UFC Fight Pass Prelims, to Andre Fili’s impressive performance against Hacran Dias on the preliminary card, to the spectacular five round war in the main event between John Dodson and John Lineker, which saw Lineker awarded the split decision win.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

At the end of 2015, it looked as though top ranked middleweight Yoel Romero was poised for a title shot after defeating Jacare Souza on the main card of UFC 194. Following the fight, it was revealed that Romero had failed a drug test. While it was ultimately determined that the failed drug test was the result of a tainted supplement, Romero was still suspended for 9 months after he and the NSAC reached a settlement in the matter.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Julianna Peña has not been quiet about her right to a title shot. ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ has won four UFC fights in a row, Peña seems poised for a shot at Amanda Nunes’ belt, however  with the specter of Ronda Rousey’s possible return to the woman’s bantamweight division, Peña’s path to the belt becomes a bit more complicated. Peña sounded off on the landscape of the woman’s 135 pound weight class and her case for a chance at UFC gold while on Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour:

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz’s names will forever be intertwined after their pair of iconic fights. When UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos withdrew from his UFC 196 scrap with McGregor just two weeks before fight night, Nate Diaz stepped in on short notice to fight the Irish superstar. When the pair stepped into the Octagon, Diaz shocked the world as he rocked, and then submitted McGregor in the 2nd round of their welterweight scrap.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

https://twitter.com/fightsko/status/779401687727415296 Violence and fighting outside of the cage are stupid and worst and criminal at best, but defending yourself against a bully is a different story. Especially when the bully in question is double your size and looking for trouble.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Shortly before his second year as Vice President and general manager of the UFC’s Brazilian operations, Giovani Decker has resigned from the promotion, according to UFC officials. Decker had been the UFC’s top executive in Brazil for nearly 600 days after replacing former VP/GM Grace Tourinho.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2016

If the legends are to b believed, Charles Bennett knocked out Wanderlei Silva in the un-filmed portion of an infamous 2005 backstage brawl. Unfortunately, the lack of footage of this alleged incident rendered this legend impossible to verify. What is possible to verify, however, is that Bennett and Silva’s beef, whatever truth or untruths it’s based upon, is alive and well. Late last month, the two fighters, who compete several weight classes apart, had a run in at the fighter hotel for Rizin Fighting Federation’s September 25 show. As the footage of this incident shows, they very nearly came to blows. Just what started the hotel showdown, however, was not immediately clear.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Woman’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk may share a common nationality with her next opponent, but there’s still no love lost between the two. Jedzrejczyk discussed her upcoming title fight with Karolina Kowalkiewicz during Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour, and flat out called Karolina a phony:

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Recently, interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has been engaged in a standoff with the UFC brass. After defeating Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight championship at UFC 200, Aldo believed he had secured himself a rematch with featherweight champion Conor McGregor, who he lost to in just 13 seconds at UFC 194.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2016

Last week, at the official press conference of UFC 205, Conor McGregor threw plenty of shade Eddie Alvarez’s way, and much of that shade concerned the amount of money Alvarez would earn for their main event showdown. “He’s very lucky to be in the position he’s in,” McGregor said of Alvarez’s pay for the bout. “He understands that. That’s why he took this fight on the money he was on the last fight. That says it all.”

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

The ongoing feud between Ronda Rousey & Cris Cyborg is often reignited when Cyborg steps into the cage. Last month, Cyborg stepped into the Octagon to square off against Swedish striking phenom Lina Lansberg in the main event of UFC Brasilia. Cyborg, who admittedly had a brutal weight-cut throughout the course of the week, cutting the remaining 10 pounds in just 24 hours to make the catchweight limit of 141 pounds, once again stated after defeating Lansberg via TKO that she would not be able to cut down to the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds for a fight with Rousey.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2016

As Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor’s anticipated UFC 205 lightweight title fight draws ever closer, both parties continue to dish out the trash talk. On today’s episode of The MMA Hour, Eddie Alvarez plated the latest steaming servings of trash talk, re-upping on his previous claims that McGregor would be the easiest opponent of his UFC career thus far. When asked by Ariel Helwani why McGregor would be an easier opponent than the Donald Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, Anthony Pettis, and Rafael Dos Anjos, Alvarez explained that he simply believes McGregor doesn’t possess a well-rounded skill set.

Tom Taylor - October 3, 2016

It has now been almost a year since Ronda Rousey relinquished the UFC women’s bantamweight title to Holly Holm, and we haven’t seen her since. In the year the that Rousey has been away from the cage, the division she once ruled has experienced an incredible amount of movement.

bjpenndotcom - October 3, 2016

Dan Henderson’s thunderous knockout of Michael Bisping back at UFC 100 is a highlight that the newly-crowned middleweight champ would like to forget. That fateful right hand replayed for years as one of the most infamous KOs in recent memory, but Bisping will have the chance to flip that script at UFC 204, where ‘Hendo’ and ‘The Count’ will once again do battle. But according to Bisping himself, don’t call it a rematch: