MMA News

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Chael Sonnen describes his newly signed Bellator contract as a “legends ass-whipping” tour, starting with Tito Ortiz according to Sonnen himself. ‘The American Gangster’ discussed his role in Bellator and threw out some names he’d like to welcome onto this ass-whipping tour during Monday’s edition of the MMA Hour:

Russell Ess - September 19, 2016

Many from the MMA community were shocked to hear that long-time UFC employee Joe Silva was leaving the UFC. MMA insider @TalkMMA initially tweeted about the rumor and followed it up with a confirmation. MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn also confirmed the news of Silva’s departure. Silva, who was one of the UFC’s matchmakers alongside Sean Shelby had been working with UFC President Dana White and the Fertittas ever since Zuffa purchased the UFC in 2001. Many don’t know that Silva was actually working for the UFC before it was acquired by Zuffa, back when SEG owned the company.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Cris ‘Cyborg’ alarmed many when she said she still has a ton of weight to cut before her Saturday night fight as well as discussing her use of birth control for weight loss on Monday’s edition of ‘The MMA Hour’. Cyborg is set to fight at a 140-pound catchweight bout against Lina Lansberg, but admitted to weighing 175 pounds when she began her training camp. MMA insider Dizz tweeted on the matter after discussing Cyborg’s startling weight cut.

Russell Ess - September 19, 2016

The popular Narcos Netflix series has grown in popularity and is running through its second season on the subscription-based entertainment company.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Long Island native Al Iaquinta has dreamed of fighting at Madison Square Garden ever since he became a professional mixed martial artist, but it appears ‘Ragin’ Al won’t be fighting Thiago Alves at UFC 205 as originally thought. Iaquinta explained the situation on Monday’s edition of ‘The MMA Hour’, where he dropped two key pieces of information; the first was that the money wasn’t right for him to compete at UFC 205, and the second being he’s now pursing a career in real estate, and actually just recently received his license to do so.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Thiago Alves is back on UFC 205 according to ‘The Pitbull’ himself. Alves tweeted that he had a replacement following Al Iaquinta pulling out after a contract dispute, and sources are saying it’s none other than Jim Miller. MMA insider Dizz followed up on Alves’ tweet on Monday with news of Miller stepping in to face ‘The Pitbull’ at UFC 205.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

This year, Nate Diaz has made millions of dollars of the course of two welterweight bouts with Irish Superstar Conor McGregor. Of course, Diaz didn’t just stumble into these lucrative bouts. He demanded them in a profanity-riddled diatribe after a 2015 decision victory over Michael Johnson. This past weekend, Johnson returned to the win column with a beautiful knockout win over the streaking Dustin Poirier. On the heels of this win, Johnson appeared on The MMA Hour to weigh in on the victory, the state of his career, and perhaps most interestingly, the massive success Diaz achieved after their fight.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

King Mo Lawal has been a ‘moneyweight’ fighter ever since his humble beginnings back in Strikeforce. The brash light heavyweight has competed several times at heavyweight throughout his career, and appears to be interested in yet another with recently unretired Shane Carwin. King Mo spoke about a potential match-up with the heavy handed former UFC interim heavyweight champ on ‘The MMA Hour’, and the ‘moneyweight’ fighter isn’t afraid to roll the dice against the big men.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Chael Sonnen may have some insider knowledge on if CM Punk will fight again. On Monday’s MMA Hour, ‘The American Gangster’ said he has talked to Punk every day following his UFC 203 loss to Mickey Gall, and believes we may have not seen the last of CM Punk in MMA. “I’ve talked to Punk every day since. He lost that fight on Saturday and was already back in gym that Monday. He wants to fight. This is what he wants to do. He’s got that skill set.”

Russell Ess - September 19, 2016

UFC superstar Ronda Rousey has not fought since losing for the first time in her professional mixed martial arts career, which happened at UFC 193 back in November 2015. Holly Holm shocked the world when she dismantled Rousey in their fight and was able to become the first woman to beat Rousey in MMA, knocking out the once thought invisible women’s UFC bantamweight champion in the second round of their title fight.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

With Chael Sonnen’s new Bellator contract, it definitely won’t pay to fail another drug test. In fact, one failed test under the Bellator banner would leave him without a fight purse as well as a $500,000 fine, according to ‘The American Gangster’ himself. Sonnen discussed his new Bellator contract and went in depth as to what he stands to lose should he fail another drug test:

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

UFC 205, which will mark the UFC’s long-awaited debut in Madison Square Garden, is one of the most anticipated cards in recent memory. As the event draws ever closer, fans are doing their part to add to the hype by creating awesome trailers and fantastic promotional posters. Arguably the best of these promotional posters surfaced this morning on Twitter. You can see this awesome, vintage-style poster below.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

One of the first bouts announced for UFC 205, which will mark the UFC’s debut in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, was a lightweight showdown pairing Thiago Alves with New York’s own Al Iaquinta. This was also one of the first UFC 205 bouts to be cancelled. When news broke that Iaquinta vs. Alves was off, it was immediately clear that the responsibility was in Iaquinta’s corner. Why the New Yorker had withdrawn from the bout, however, was a mystery.

bjpenndotcom - September 19, 2016

Chael Sonnen hasn’t stepped foot into the ring since 2013 when he lost by first round TKO to Rashad Evans back at UFC 167. Now nearly four years later, it’s safe to say that the MMA landscape has changed quite a bit. With Sonnen abruptly signing with Bellator last week, ‘The American Gangster’ says it was ‘pure anger’ at the state of the fight game that caused him to come out of retirement.

Chris Taylor - September 19, 2016

Nate Diaz may be 1-1 with Conor McGregor, but it’s safe to say he took some serious punishment in both fights. During their UFC 202 headlining bout alone, McGregor planted Diaz on his back three separate times with his infamous left hook. However, Diaz says it was all apart of his plan to get Conor to the ground and grapple with him. Brendan Schaub discussed meeting Diaz at a supermarket shortly after UFC 202 on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and Schaub claims Diaz told him he hit the deck on purpose because he knew he couldn’t take McGregor down:

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

2015 was not a great year for Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson. First, he experienced the lone knockout loss of his career at the hands Anthony “Rumble” Johnson – a loss that occurred in front of tens of thousands of loyal, Swedish fans. Then, he came up short in a razor thin title fight with reigning champion Daniel Cormier, which marked the second time he’d narrowly missed UFC gold. On the heels of these losses it was no secret that Gustafsson’s fire was fading. In fact, several of his quotes throughout the year led fans to believe that he was contemplating retirement – and we’re not talking about his 2016 April Fools prank.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

In March of this year, Conor McGregor was submitted by the long-unheralded Nate Diaz in one of the year’s biggest upsets. Given that McGregor has long stood out as one of the UFC’s biggest stars, the organization quickly began assembling a Diaz-McGregor rematch with the hopes of giving their Irish cash cow a shot at redemption.

Chris Taylor - September 18, 2016

According to a new report from MMA insider @TalkMMA, the UFC has some big plans for December’s UFC 207 event in Las Vegas. Dizz recently tweeted that the promotion is targeting a Ronda Rousey vs. Amanda Nunes women’s bantamweight title fight for their annual New Year’s Eve card in Sin City.