MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2016

UFC 205, which is scheduled for November 12 in New York City, is still without an official main event. The impression, however, has long been that the the card’s main event spot would be filled by a lightweight title fight between Eddie Alvarez and Conor McGregor.

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2016

In a few short weeks, the UFC will return to Manchester, England with UFC 204. In the evening’s main event, middleweight champ Michael Bisping will look to defend his title against Dan Henderson, avenging a violent, 2009 knockout loss in the process.

Russell Ess - September 21, 2016

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been given a lot of heat ever since being crowned the king of 170 pound divison. Woodley has stated that he has dealt with a lot of criticism, negativity, and racism after he knocked out Robbie Lawler at UFC 201 in July.

bjpenndotcom - September 21, 2016

The only man to ever knock out Nate Diaz came to the Stockton slugger’s defense in Diaz’s pursuit for a third fight with Conor McGregor. Josh Thomson spoke exclusively on BJPENN.com’s Rapid Fire and broke down why Conor got a rematch against Nate at UFC 202, and why Nate probably won’t be getting his rematch against Conor. “I saw it coming from a mile away. I thought Nate was gonna beat him again. If Nate had lost the first fight, they wouldn’t have given him the rematch with Conor. Which is crap for Nate. Everyone wants to see who wins best 2 out of 3. Both fights were entertaining fights. Now they’re moving Conor along to someone else because he got the win last time.”

Tom Taylor - September 21, 2016

UFC 205, which will go down inside Madison Square Garden on November 12, is still without an official main event. Last night, that appeared to be changing, as a series of Tweets from UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez seemed to confirm that his long rumored scrap with featherweight title holder Conor McGregor would headline the card. First, the lightweight champ implored McGregor to enjoy his superstardom while it lasted.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

Last Saturday, in the co-main event of the UFC’s debut in Hidalgo, Texas, streaking middleweight Derek Brunson scored an abrupt TKO win over the once-hyped Uriah Hall. Yet while this victory was undeniably impressive, many fans and pundits were quick to question the stoppage itself, as Hall seemed to be intelligently defending himself, and none of Brunson’s followup ground-strikes appeared to land. On Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour, Brunson gave his take on the stoppage. Though he believed it was fair, he said that, in the end, it doesn’t really matter to him.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

Earlier this month, on the main card of UFC 203, CM Punk’s long journey into the world of mixed martial arts came to an abrupt and violent end. Though his heart was on full display in his long-awaited fight with Mickey Gall, his skill deficit was too, as he surrendered to a rear-naked choke less than two minutes into the affair.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

When news broke this week that Long Island native Al Iaquinta wouldn’t be fighting at Madison Square Garden for the UFC’s first event in New York City, no one had even realized that Iaquinta never even signed the bout agreement. After asking his manager to negotiate his UFC contract to reflect his current position in the lightweight division, Iaquinta was essentially told to kick rocks. He appeared on Monday’s edition of ‘The MMA Hour’ revealing he was pursing a career in real estate, and didn’t appear to confident in the UFC paying him what he feels he has earned since debuting with the promotion back in 2012 and now on the heels of a four-fight win streak.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

UFC President Dana White’s “Looking for a fight” series has produced several UFC stars. Most recently, 2-0 professional fighter Mickey Gall welcomed CM Punk to the MMA world in what was Punk’s UFC debut. Gall stepped into the Octagon and dominated the fight, finishing Punk in the first round via submission after landing a beautiful double leg, which he followed up with ground & pound before sinking in the submission.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

UFC middleweight Alex Nicholson cannot seem to stay out of hot water. In August, Nicholson was reprimanded for racial slurs directed at Hyun Gyu Lim while cornering Mike Perry at UFC 202.

Russell Ess - September 20, 2016

https://youtu.be/HC7peXR1x1I UFC 203 was an odd event. From CB Dollaway having to pull out of his fight with Francimar Barroso after being injured in a freak elevator accident to a near post-fight brawl between Fabricio Werdum’s camp and Travis Browne’s camp.

Chris Taylor - September 20, 2016

Current UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez recently took to Twitter where he delivered the following message to current UFC featherweight title holder Conor McGregor Let's do this @TheNotoriousMMA I'm ready !! Your futures not bright enjoy this one while it last . #ItsAllOver

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

When Phil Davis and Josh Thomson left the UFC as free agents to sign with Bellator, many in the MMA community were completely surprised. After fellow UFC standouts Benson Henderson and Rory MacDonald followed suit, the idea of top 10 fighter’s signing with Bellator became a far more palatable decision for both fighters and fight fans alike. Once former Strikeforce president Scott Coker took over operations for Bellator in 2014, the thought of Bellator as a potential ‘new’ Strikeforce to compete with the UFC seems more and more realistic.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

Earlier this month, it was announced that #13 ranked UFC lightweight Al Iaquinta would be returning to the Octagon following a layoff that saw him sidelined for a year and a half. The layoff came at the worst possible time for Iaquinta, who was in the midst of a 4-fight win streak that had seen him defeat Rodrigo Damm, Ross Pearson, Joe Lauzon, and Jorge Masvidal.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

Bellator lightweight and former UFC lightweight title contender Josh Thomson was one of the first and highest profile fighters to jump ship from the UFC to Bellator last year. Now 2-0 in his new promotion, Thomson spoke exclusively to BJPENN.com Rapid Fire and discussed who he plans on fighting next and why: “I think right now, I’m close to Scott  Coker and Rich Chou, and my personal opinion, I’m gonna fight the winner of Benson (Henderson) and Michael Chandler, probably in San Jose sometime around February or March (2017). Then probably that same night (Bellator) will hold a four or six man tournament at lightweight. I know we have a lot of talent in lightweight division. The fans will see me fight the winner of Benson and Chandler. I came over to Bellator to fight the best they have.”

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

Last month, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor made headlines by bashing nearly every member of the WWE roster in one fell swoop. “For the most part, those WWE guys are p*ssies, to be honest,” McGregor said in a conference call in the buildup to UFC 202. “They’re messed up p*ssies, if you ask me. Fair play to Brock [Lesnar], he got in and fought, but at the end of the day he was juiced up to the f*cking eye balls, so how can I respect that? And then what’s the other guy? The other guy [CM Punk] hasn’t fought yet, so I don’t know about him yet.”

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

When Jon Anik hunkers down at the broadcast booth to call a UFC event, he’s typically joined by one of two fighters. One is former UFC lightweight and featherweight title challenger Kenny Florian. The other is former UFC middleweight Brian Stann. Both are long retired. Today, however, news broke that Anik will be joined by two active fighters in the near future – both of whom happen to be reigning world champions.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

Cris Cyborg’s weight cut leading into her first headlining bout for the UFC has been a deeply contested issue, from revelations of her nutritionist giving her birth control pills to lose weight to the 20 pounds she still needs to shed before Friday’s weigh-ins.