MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2016

Late last month, MMA veteran “Felony” Charles Bennett burst back into the limelight with a seven-second KO of Minoru Kimura at a Rizin Fighting Federation show in Saitama, Japan. He also rekindled an old beef with Wanderlei Silva during his time in the country. In the wake of this headline-generating trip to Japan, the long-time fan favorite took time out of his busy schedule for an exclusive interview with BJPenn.com. During this interview, Bennett offered up his opinion on several of the UFC’s biggest stars.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2016

This Saturday, in the main event of UFC 204, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping will look to defend his crown against a former foil in Dan Henderson. In advance of this middleweight title fight, much is being made of Henderson’s age –and rightly so. The American is, after all, the oldest fighter on the UFC roster at 46 years old. It is worth remembering, however, that Bisping is no spring chicken either. Though he’s substantially younger than his upcoming foe, he is one of the middleweight division’s older competitors at 37 years old.

bjpenndotcom - October 4, 2016

Earlier this month, after it was announced that Conor McGregor would be moving to lightweight to fight Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight championship in the main event of the UFC’s historic UFC 205 fight card, the pair came face to face for their first staredown at the end of the first UFC 205 press conference. While the situation was an intense one that saw UFC President Dana White have to get between the men as they pushed back & forth, Alvarez says that he has never felt as unthreatened during a staredown as he did with McGregor.

bjpenndotcom - October 4, 2016

While Tony Ferguson currently sits at #3 on the UFC’s official lightweight rankings, he is content to partake in fights where title belts aren’t on the line. Ferguson has been on a tear of the UFC’s lightweight division lately, going on a spectacular 8-fight win streak that has seen him finish all but two opponents. Over the course of his 3-year 8-fight streak, Ferguson has finished notable opponents such as Abel Trujillo, and Edson Barboza to name just a few.

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.

Tom Taylor - October 4, 2016

https://youtu.be/G-TVQLtfjRk?t=1m18s Michael Chandler, who currently owns the Bellator lightweight strap, is 1-1 across two bouts with reigning UFC lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez. As such, Chandler’s commentary on Alvarez’s looming title fight with Conor McGregor is especially interesting.

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

Earlier this month, the MMA community was caught off guard when interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo requested his release from the UFC after it was announced that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor would be fighting Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight championship at UFC 205 rather than defending his featherweight championship.

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

Last week, the MMA community was struck by tragedy when news surfaced that UFC middleweight Josh Samman was found unresponsive in a Florida apartment along with another man who was pronounced dead. Details regarding Samman’s situation remained scarce as people who were aware of his situation kept reports quiet in regards to the circumstances surrounding Samman’s condition. Fortunately, an update surfaced Saturday afternoon that Samman was alive, however he was in a coma. During that time, rumors began to fly that the situation was the result of a heroin overdose.

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.