MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

It’s now been almost a year since Ronda Rousey’s shocking, knockout loss to Holly Holm, and the former bantamweight champ has not been seen since. Given the length of her layoff, it’s been widely speculated that her fighting days are done; that the loss not only shattered her perfect record, but extinguished her competitive spirit. Recently, however, rumors of a Rousey return have begun to swirl. Several reliable sources have suggested that the former champ is poised for a comeback at UFC 207 this December, where she would take on reigning women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

When Stephen Thompson defeated long-time welterweight contender Rory MacDonald back in June, he seemed like a shoo-in for a shot at the winner of Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley’s looming welterweight title fight. When Woodley stole Lawler’s belt with a first-round KO, however, Thompson’s immediate future became somewhat nebulous. Right off the bat, the new champ Woodley began demanding his first defense be a “money fight” with a star like Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz, rather than a fight with a hard-working number-one-contender in Thompson. Indeed, there was a stretch when it looked like Thompson would be passed over the title shot, even in spite of his incredible, seven-fight win-streak.

Tom Taylor - September 20, 2016

In early June, aging Pride legend Dan Henderson scored a career-revivifying knockout win over former Bellator champ Hector Lombard. Later that same night, England’s Michael Bisping won the UFC middleweight title with a shocking knockout defeat of Luke Rockhold. Under normal circumstances, the first shot at Bisping’s title would have gone to a streaking contender like Yoel Romero or Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, or a former champion like Chris Weidman or Rockhold. Instead, however, the next shot was awarded to Henderson, based solely on the fact that he knocked Bisping silly in 2009, and that Bisping wanted a shot at revenge before Henderson hung up the gloves.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

The rumors of Ronda Rousey facing champion Amanda Nunes for her comeback fight did not settle well with fellow woman’s bantamweight contender Julianna Peña. Since Rousey lost the belt, three other women have held it. First, Miesha Tate defeated Holm by submission at UFC 196, who in turn dropped the belt to Nunes by first round TKO at UFC 200.

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.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

20-year-old lightweight Sage Northcutt is known not only as an incredibly talented prospect, but also as an extremely polite young man. Despite his manners, however, Northcutt frequently finds himself on the receiving end of trash talk and call-outs from his fellow fighters. The latest of the call-outs came from 24-year-old welterweight Mickey Gall, who demanded a fight with him after he spoiled the UFC debut of WWE star CM Punk. Apparently, Gall’s call-out worked, as a welterweight scrap between the prospects is now in the works.

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.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2016

This weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s return to Brasilia, Brazil, Cris “Cyborg” Justino will take on the debuting Lina Lansberg in a 140-pound catchweight bout. Apparently, the Brazilian slugger is having a difficult weight cut – though this news is not much of a surprise. Cyborg discussed her cut to 140 with Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. In her interview with Helwani, Cyborg explained that she began this camp at a whopping 175 pounds. So, the first thing she was offered the fight was consult the calendar to see how much time she had to drop the necessary weight.

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

This weekend, the UFC returns to Brasilia, Brazil with an exciting night of fights. The card will be headlined by a 140 lb. catchweight bout between reigning Invicta featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino and debuting Muay Thai specialist, Lina Lansberg. The reason this bout is being contested at a catchweight is simple: Cyborg can’t make the 135 lb. cap of the bantamweight division, which is the heaviest women’s division in the UFC. Of course, we know the cut to 140 is no picnic for her either…

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: