MMA News

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is never one to shy away from voicing his opinion, regardless of whether or not the MMA community will agree with him.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Earlier this month, it was revealed that UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez would be stepping in the Octagon on November 12th to defend his lightweight championship against UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of the historic card. The announcement was followed up by the UFC 205 press conference on Tuesday afternoon, where Alvarez and McGregor came face to face for the first time. During the course of the press conference, Alvarez repeatedly called McGregor’s featherweight championship the ‘little boy belt’ and referred to his lightweight championship as the ‘big boy belt’ due to the fact that their fight at lightweight will be 10 pounds higher than where McGregor reigns over the featherweight division.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

While interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo is currently still under contract with the UFC, the offers have begun to pour in for the former featherweight kingpin to jump to other promotions. After it was revealed that Conor McGregor would hold onto his UFC featherweight championship despite moving up to lightweight to fight Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 in New York, Aldo requested the UFC release him from his contract.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Max Holloway has been on a campaign for a featherweight title shot, both inside and outside of the octagon. And with a nine-fight win streak, the longest in the featherweight division,  you would think the 24-year-old Hawaiian would have earned a title shot already, but with the logjam that is the current state of the 145 pound division, Holloway’s pursuit for UFC gold remains as uncertain as ever.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

While former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre and the UFC are currently still in negotiations regarding St-Pierre’s potential return to the Octagon, news emerged this week that indicates St-Pierre is one step closer to returning to the Octagon. According to MMAWeekly, ‘Rush’ has entered the USADA testing pool and has already been tested. This news comes after it was reported last month that St-Pierre had began the ‘USADA process’ in order to return to the UFC. At that point, St-Pierre had just begun the process, whereas now he has reportedly been tested 4 times according to USADA’s website.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

Interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo’s ongoing saga with the UFC brass could get even uglier if both sides stand their ground. After the UFC announced that Conor McGregor would be fighting Eddie Alvarez for the UFC lightweight championship at UFC 205, and would not be vacating the featherweight championship, Aldo requested that the promotion release him from his contract.

Russell Ess - September 28, 2016

“I can make you rich. I’ll change your bum life. You fight me, it’s a celebration. When you sign to fight me, it’s a celebration. You ring back home, you ring your wife. ‘Baby, we’ve done it! We’re rich, baby! Conor McGregor made us rich. Break out the red panties! We’re rich baby!” That was the notorious statement from Conor McGregor, which he addressed towards the at the time UFC lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos at the UFC’s “Go Big” press conference in 2015.

Russell Ess - September 28, 2016

The buzz surrounding Cris Cyborg’s cut down to 140-pounds for her catchweight fight against Lina Lansberg was one of the most talked about things leading up to UFC Fight Night 95 in Brazil. The Invicta 145-pound featherweight champion eventually made weight and according to a member from Lansberg’s team, rehydrated back up to 170-pounds and got a second-round finish over Lansberg in a dominating performance.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

This Saturday, former UFC flyweight title contender John Dodson will step into the Octagon in the main event of ‘UFC Fight Night: Portland’ to square off against John Lineker in a pivotal bantamweight showdown. Dodson, who made the move to bantamweight after dropping his second loss to flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson, made quite the statement in his last fight when he put the bantamweight division on notice by knocking out Manvel Gamburyan in the first round of their UFC on FOX 19 scrap back in April.

Russell Ess - September 28, 2016

If you’re a fan of the UFC, chances are you enjoy watching “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone perform in the Octagon. What do you think about a fight between the two UFC stars?

Russell Ess - September 28, 2016

Phil Brooks, better known by his WWE wrestling name, CM Punk made his professional mixed martial arts debut at UFC 203 earlier this month. The former WWE star didn’t put up much of a fight against his opponent, Mickey Gall and was submitted after being battered in the first round. Despite his performance against Gall, it hasn’t hindered the former professional wrestler from still wanting to continue his journey and compete in mixed martial arts.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2016

https://youtu.be/xe8aTuP3z8w It’s no secret that Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is one of the hardest hitters in MMA. The top-ranked light heavyweight has showcased his incredible power time and time again, scoring blistering knockout wins over game competition in Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alexander Gustafsson and most recently, Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader, and Glover Teixeira.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

The man with the longest winning streak in the UFC’s featherweight division is losing his patience in getting a fight with interim champion Jose Aldo. Max Holloway (16-3), has won nine UFC fights in a row since dropping a decision loss to Conor McGregor back in 2013.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

Tuesday afternoon, UFC interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo left the MMA community stunned as he requested that the UFC release him from his contract so that he could retire from MMA and move to another sport entirely. Aldo expressed his frustration with the UFC for not making good on their promise to force Conor McGregor to defend his title after his UFC 202 scrap with Nate Diaz. While UFC President Dana White was adamant that McGregor either defend the belt in a title unification fight with Jose Aldo, or vacate the strap, McGregor has now been booked to fight Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight championship in the main event of the UFC’s historic card at the Madison Square Garden.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

#1 ranked UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov has been on quite the rollercoaster ride in regards to getting a fight. After it was initially reported that the UFC was targeting a lightweight title fight between Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez for the main event of UFC 205, UFC President Dana White then stated that it was Nurmagomedov who was being offered the title fight against Alvarez at UFC 205. Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub was quick to explain the situation, revealing that Alvarez demanded too much money from the UFC for a fight with McGregor at the Madison Square Garden, and as a result the UFC gave him ‘The Eagle’ as an opponent instead.

bjpenndotcom - September 28, 2016

Perhaps no man is more deserving of a title shot at middleweight than ‘Jacare’ Souza. The former Strikeforce champ has rattled off six wins in his seven UFC fights, most recently finishing Vitor Belfort with strikes in the first round of their UFC 198 showdown. With number 11th ranked middleweight Dan Henderson getting the first shot at Michael Bispings belt due to some lingering bad blood between the two, ‘Jacare’ discussed the landscape of the middleweight division’s top ten, as well as the ever-elusiveness of a title shot of his own.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2016

Last December, Ireland’s Conor McGregor won the UFC featherweight title by knocking out the seemingly unbeatable Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds. Instead of turning around and defending his newly won title, however, McGregor then set his sights on a lightweight title shot opposite then champion Rafael Dos Anjos. As we now know, McGregor’s lightweight goals would not unfold as he planned. When Dos Anjos pulled out of their planned bout with a foot injury, the Irishman would be forced to shift his focus to a hastily-arranged welterweight bout with Nate Diaz – a fight he would lose by second round submission. This shocking loss was followed by some fairly pungent dirty-laundry-airing between McGregor and the UFC, and ultimately, by a rematch between McGregor and Diaz, in which McGregor would even the score by capturing a hard-fought majority decision win.

Tom Taylor - September 28, 2016

In late 2014, Brazil’s Claudia Gadelha lost a hotly debated split decision to Poland’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk. In July of this year, the two women went at it again, this time with Jedrzejczyk’s well-guarded strawweight title on the line. While Gadelha started strong in this rematch, she ultimately faded down the stretch, and surrendered another decision loss to her Polish rival as a result. Now an unfortunate 0-2 against the strawweight division’s reigning champion, Gadelha finds herself in a bit of a difficult position. That said, the talented Brazilian strawweight appears eager to return to her winning ways, as she has announced she’ll be taking on “Cast Iron” Cortney Casey at UFC Fight Night 100 this November 19 in her native Brazil. Gadelha announced this fight on her Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon.