MMA News

bjpenndotcom - October 1, 2016

At UFC 192, UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier stepped into the Octagon to defend his light heavyweight strap for the first time. Standing opposite ‘DC’ was Alexander ‘The Mauler’ Gustafsson, the man who many believed to have defeated Jon Jones back in 2013. The fight was an extremely close one that went the full five rounds. When UFC announcer Bruce Buffer read the judges scorecards, it was Cormier who was given the nod on two of the three judges scorecards, giving him his first successful title defense after defeating Anthony Johnson for the vacant light heavyweight championship at UFC 187.

bjpenndotcom - October 1, 2016

With Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez currently slated to fight in the main event of UFC 205 in New York on November 12th, it’s understandable that the pair have begun to engage in heated verbal exchanges, with insults being lobbed between both men. It came as a surprise to many however, when Alvarez’ coach, Mark Henry, who also coaches Frankie Edgar, began to throw insults at McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Pride FC icon Wanderlei Silva was released by the UFC earlier this year, and wasted little to no time in signing with Bellator MMA, and with Rizin Fighting Federation. While ‘The Axe Murderer’ currently doesn’t have any fights set with either promotion, he has made several appearances with both promotions. Recently, in Saitama, Japan, Silva appeared at the promotions opening round of their World Grand Prix.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Prior to UFC 200, it was revealed that former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar was coming out of retirement to fight heavyweight veteran Mark Hunt on the main card of the historic event. While Lesnar’s return was generally celebrated amongst the MMA community, it was met with a certain amount of controversy. Ordinarily, before a retired fighter can fight, they must go through a 4-month mandatory testing period with USADA before they are eligible to fight.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Friday morning at the ‘UFC Fight Night: Portland’ early weigh-ins, three fighters missed weight ahead of their scheduled fights Saturday evening. One of the three men to miss weight was UFC bantamweight John Lineker, who will be fighting in the main event of the card against John Dodson. Lineker, who sits at #3 on the UFC’s official bantamweight rankings, now holds the record for the most times missing weight in the history of the UFC.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Unfortunate news surfaced Friday night that top ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson has been forced to withdraw form his upcoming UFC Fight Night 100 headlining scrap against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Earlier this month at UFC 203 in Cleveland, Ohio, former WWE champion CM Punk made his highly anticipated UFC debut against Mickey Gall. Punk’s debut came nearly two years after his signing with the promotion in 2014. During that time, the Chicago native was training at Roufusport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin under the tutelage of Duke Roufus, alongside the likes of the Pettis brothers, and UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

On November 12th, Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez will step into the Octagon in the main event of UFC 205 to square off for Alvarez’ UFC lightweight championship. While Alvarez hopes to play spoiler to McGregor’s plans of becoming a 2-division champion, Mystic Mac has predicted that he will finish the “loopy wrestler with an overhand right” in the very first round. While many consider McGregor’s prediction of a finish over the lightweight champion to be a bold one, fan favorite fighter Donald Cerrone flat out thinks it’s wrong.

Tom Taylor - September 30, 2016

I'm still here to fight. pic.twitter.com/nBQbUf4Ugp — Will Brooks (@ILLxWillBrooks) September 30, 2016

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Tragic news surfaced Friday afternoon that UFC middleweight Josh Samman had been found unresponsive in a South Floridan apartment along with another man, who was pronounced dead. While details are extremely scarce at the present time, a Reddit user broke the news via the MMA section of Reddit:

Tom Taylor - September 30, 2016

Tomorrow night, the UFC will take over Portland’s Moda Center with UFC Fight Night 96. Portland’s main event honors will be held by former flyweights John Dodson and John Lineker, both of whom have recently found new life at bantamweight. Dodson, who twice fought for the title at flyweight, will look to build on the momentum of a recent TKO defeat of Manny Gamburyan, which marked his successful return to the bantamweight division. Lineker, meanwhile, will look to make it 4-0 at bantamweight, having subbed Francisco Rivera, decisioned Rob Font and knocked out Michael MacDonald since leaving the flyweight division.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

In the main event of UFC 205, Conor McGregor will have the opportunity to become not only the third man in UFC history to hold two title belts, but the first to hold two belts simultaneously. While UFC President Dana White has stated recently that if McGregor defeats Alvarez at the Madison Square Garden, he must relinquish one of the belts, McGregor revealed at the UFC 205 press conference that it would take an army for the UFC to take one of his belts away.

Tom Taylor - September 30, 2016

In January of this year, TJ Dillashaw attempted to defend the UFC bantamweight title against returning former champion Dominick Cruz. Unfortunately, Dillashaw’s title defense didn’t go the way he planned, as he surrendered a split decision – and the bantamweight crown – to his foe.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

Leading up to Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping’s UFC 204 showdown on October 8th, Bisping has taken the offensive in the war of words between the two men. When the pair first fought at UFC 100, they did so after coaching opposite one another on ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Team USA vs. Team UK’. At the time, Dan Henderson was granted a Testosterone Use Exemption (TUE) and was allowed to do Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). While Henderson never failed a drug test, and his usage of TRT was completely legal in the eyes of the NSAC at the time, Michael Bisping recently questioned whether or not Henderson actually needed the treatment given that after it was banned Henderson continued to fight, going as far as to call the Pride FC legend a ‘cheater’.

bjpenndotcom - September 30, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor is generally believed to have some of the best striking skills in the UFC’s lower weight classes. McGregor’s combination of fluid movement, and unpredictable strikes have resulted in several highlight reel finishes, with the most recent example being a 13 second KO win over Jose Aldo to claim the featherweight championship.

Tom Taylor - September 30, 2016

Earlier this year, it was announced that the UFC had been sold for more than $4 billion. The organization was purchased by Hollywood talent agency WME-IMG, who would take the reigns from long-time owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta. When news of this massive sale first broke, it was unclear what effect it would have on the company. Today, however, it’s becoming quite clear that WME-IMG plans to push the UFC–and by association, the larger sport of MMA–further into the mainstream sports landscape. The new owners’ latest effort to this end has been the assembly of a group of A-list celebrity investors.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

While Conor McGregor stated at the UFC 205 press conference earlier this week that he believes he is the reason for the UFC’s $4.2 billion value, UFC President Dana White seems to think that former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is a bigger star. While Rousey has been absent from the Octagon for nearly a year following her horrific KO loss at the hands of Holly Holm at UFC 193, reports have begun to surface which state that Rousey will return by the end of 2016. In addition, Rousey’s coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, has stated that Rousey could very well return by the end of the year if negotiations with the UFC brass go well.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

UFC President Dana White caught quite a bit of criticism recently when it was announced that UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor would be moving up to featherweight for a lightweight title fight with Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205. While White stated prior to McGregor’s showdown with Nate Diaz at UFC 202 that ‘Notorious’ would be forced to defend his featherweight championship, or vacate the belt, it was revealed that McGregor will not be stripped of the 145 pound championship despite his fight with Alvarez. Rather, McGregor will only have to vacate a title belt if he emerges from his UFC 205 scrap with Alvarez with the lightweight championship.