MMA News

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Video by Youssef Hannoun Earlier this week it was announced that Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez would be squaring off in the main event of UFC 205 for the lightweight champion in the UFC’s historic inaugural Madison Square Garden event.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Earlier this month, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen announced that he was coming out of retirement, and had signed an exclusive, multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA. While Sonnen remained adamant throughout the course of his 2-year suspension that he was indeed retired from MMA, it took just over one month from the time his suspension ended, for ‘The American Gangster’ to sign with Bellator MMA.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Following Conor McGregor’s UFC 196 loss to Nate Diaz back in March, rumors began flying that when McGregor returned to competition, he would be having a boxing match with famed prizefighter Floyd Mayweather. While the fight started out as just hypothetical discussions, things quickly became more serious when both McGregor and Mayweather verbally agreed to a fight. That was followed up by a report that pinned the date of the pair’s boxing match at the end of September. Ultimately however, McGregor signed to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 202 back in August, where he ultimately ended up avenging his UFC 196 submission loss to Diaz.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson has had his own issues with referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy, but ‘Smooth’ says he would never have considered kicking him, as Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson did on Saturday. Following a crushing uppercut that sent opponent ‘Bigfoot’ Silva crashing to the mat, Nelson finished the fight with some ground-and-pound, causing what ‘Big Country’ believed to be a very late stoppage against a personal friend.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

UFC heavyweight Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva is undoubtably one of the most recognizable heavyweights in MMA. With over 11 years of experience as a professional, and notable wins over MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, and MMA veteran Alistair Overeem to name just a few, Bigfoot is a very well known fighter in the MMA world. Unfortunately however, Silva could very well find himself as a free agent following his 1st round KO loss to Roy Nelson on the main card of ‘UFC Brasilia’ this past weekend. The loss to Nelson made it 3-straight for ‘Bigfoot’ and dropped his record to 1-4 in his last 5.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

UFC heavyweight Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga has some of the best knockouts in the history of the UFC’s heavyweight division. A UFC veteran with 23 fights under the UFC banner, Gonzaga has been a staple of the UFC’s heavyweight division since he made his debut in 2005, where he knocked out Kevin Jordan in the 3rd round with a spectacular superman punch.

bjpenndotcom - September 29, 2016

Prior to Conor McGregor’s epic two fights with Nate Diaz, the biggest rumor in he fight world revolved around a super fight between UFC featherweight champion McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.

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

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 29, 2016

Jose Aldo’s future in MMA currently hangs in limbo while he remains adamant that the UFC release him from his contract so he can retire from MMA and play another professional sport. Aldo’s request came after the UFC announced that Conor McGregor would be moving to lightweight to fight Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 for the lightweight championship. In addition, it was revealed that McGregor would not have to vacate his featherweight championship as UFC President Dana White previously stated. The MMA community voiced their dissatisfaction with White changing his mind on making McGregor vacate the featherweight belt if he moves to 155, which prompted the UFC President to reveal that if McGregor wins at UFC 205, he must vacate either the featherweight or lightweight belt.

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.

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

Just days removed from the UFC’s announcement of a Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez lightweight title fight, ‘Mystic Mac’ posted a questionable photograph on his Instagram page. In the photo, McGregor appears to be smoking a suspicious looking hand-rolled ‘cigarette’, with squinty eyes and an overall relaxed demeanor.

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

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.