MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 16, 2016

In January of this year, TJ Dillashaw surrendered the UFC bantamweight title to returning champion Dominick Cruz in a competitive, five-round battle. Having rebounded from this title loss with a nice, decision win over Rafael Assuncao at UFC 200, Dillashaw’s focus is now locked on a rematch with Cruz, and the chance to reclaim the title that was once his. But that doesn’t mean the former champion isn’t looking further into the future. On the most recent episode of The Fighter and the Kid podcast (via MMA Latest), Dillashaw told hosts Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen that, once he’s reclaimed the bantamweight title from Cruz, he’s got his eyes on a flyweight title fight with pound-for-pound king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

While the MMA world awaits news regarding whether or not UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor will return to the featherweight division following his majority decision win over Nate Diaz last month, interim featherweight champion Jose Aldo can’t help but play matchmaker. While many are calling for #3 ranked featherweight Max Holloway to get a fight with Jose Aldo, the featherweight champ wants a fight with former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who recently made his successful featherweight debut.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

This week, news surfaced that former UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen had ended his retirement, and signed with Bellator MMA. Sonnen, who recently celebrated the end of his 2-year suspension, remained adamant over the course of the last 2 years that he is indeed retired. When ‘The American Gangster’ announced that he was ending his retirement, he stated that the reason he lied about his retirement was because “heels lie”.

Russell Ess - September 15, 2016

Former UFC title contender Chael Sonnen has signed with Bellator MMA, according to the Associated Press. The 39-year-old MMA veteran is fresh off a two-year suspension after testing positive for multiple banned substances in 2014.

Russell Ess - September 15, 2016

12-6 Uriah Hall has his own big fight coming this weekend as he takes on 15-3 Derek Brunson in the co-main event of the UFC Fight Night 94 event taking place in Hidalgo, Texas. While Hall is focused on his bout with Brunson, the rising middleweight star commented on his division’s title fight coming up between UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and his rival Dan Henderson.

Russell Ess - September 15, 2016

UFC 203 shook up the UFC rankings a bit with some key fights taking place. 20-1 bantamweight Jimmie Rivera extended his winning streak to an impressive 19 wins in a row, with four of those fights being in the UFC. Rivera outpointed Urijah Faber in “The California Kid’s” first fight since losing a unanimous decision title fight against the UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

Last month at UFC 202, top ranked light heavyweight Anthony Johnson picked up a major win as he knocked out Glover Teixeira in the first round of their UFC 202 scrap. Following the fight, ‘Rumble’ called for a rematch with UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. Cormier verbally agreed to the fight, stating that Johnson deserved a rematch, regardless of whether or not Jon Jones appeal process with USADA goes well.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

New Jersey native Frankie Edgar’s dreams of fighting in Madison Square Garden are closer than ever from coming into fruition. Brazil’s Combate is reporting that Edgar will be taking on Jeremy ‘Lil Heathen’ Stephens in a featherweight showdown at UFC 205 for the UFC’s first event in New York. Growing up and training just an hour drive from downtown Manhattan, Edgar, 34, is one of many New York and New Jersey natives that are filling out the card.

Russell Ess - September 15, 2016

The argument of what has caused “Nick The Tooth” to depart from the “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight” series is going back and forth between Matt Serra and “Nick The Tooth.” Last Wednesday, Serra who is starring in the “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight” series along with UFC President Dana White and now Din Thomas, spoke with Bruce Buffer on his “It’s Time” podcast. On the podcast, Buffer asked why “Nick The Tooth,” who originally started the series, was no longer a part of the crew.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

With both men coming off of victories over Travis ‘Hapa’ Browne, a rematch between former heavyweight champions Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez is now being targeted for UFC 207 in December. Velasquez said on UFC Tonight that he would rather not wait while Miocic takes a break, noting that a rematch with Werdum in December “is personal”.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

The UFC 205 fight card is starting to take shape! Following several reports that former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, and top ranked middleweight Yoel Romero would fight on the card, MMAJunkie has confirmed that the fight has been finalized. While the UFC has yet to formally announce the bout, fight fans can likely expect an announcement shortly.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

Leading up to UFC 200, all signs pointed to former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones and UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier having their highly anticipated rematch in the main event of the bout. Both fighters made it to fight week uninjured, and were taking part in their media rounds ahead of the fight. Unfortunately, just 48 hours before the event, USADA informed the UFC that Jones had failed an out-of-competition drug test back in June. With no other option, the UFC was forced to pull Jones from the bout.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

Roy Nelson doesn’t seem to have much faith in the PED testing process in the UFC. In fact, ‘Big Country’ has already fought two heavyweights who have tested positive in the past in Josh Barnett and Alistair Overeem; his upcoming fight against Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva will be the third. ‘Big Country’ spoke to BJPenn.com about ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, the state of the heavyweight division and the issue of performance enhancing drugs in MMA in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

This past weekend, Bethe Correia made her successful return to the Octagon on the preliminary card of UFC 203, where she defeated Jessica Eye via split decision. The win put Correia in the win column once again, snapping her 2-fight losing streak that saw her get KOd by Ronda Rousey in the main event of UFC 190, and then drop a split decision to Raquel Pennington earlier this year.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

Former UFC welterweight title contender turned UFC analyst, Dan Hardy, had his career unfortunately cut short after being diagnosed with ‘Wolf Heart’ syndrome back in 2013. Hardy was in the midst of a 2-fight win streak which saw him KO striking phenom Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig, and pick up a unanimous decision win over submission ace Amir Sadollah. Hardy was then booked to fight ‘The Immortal’ Matt Brown, however was forced to pull out of the bout and retire from MMA after the diagnosis of his heart condition.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

When Cain Velasquez returned to the Octagon and defeated Junior dos Santos at UFC 155 to reclaim the UFC heavyweight championship, many believed that Velasquez would reign as the UFC’s heavyweight champion for quite some time. Unfortunately for Velasquez, he defended the belt twice before meeting Fabricio Werdum in the Octagon at UFC 188. Werdum dominated the fight, as Velasquez quickly gassed out, and ultimately picked up a submission win to claim the UFC heavyweight championship.

Russell Ess - September 15, 2016

Despite having a staph infection, “Super” Sage Northcutt has been keeping busy on social media. The rising UFC star’s name came up recently after former professional wrestler CM Punk was handed a beating by 3-0 Mickey Gall. Gall called out Northcutt for a fight following his highly watched UFC win over CM Punk and it sounds like the fight will eventually take place. Jonathan Shrager of The Underground got some updates from Northcutt’s dad, Mark, on the staph infection and when asked about the possibility of his son facing Gall in New York at UFC 205, Mark said that they have been held up in training due to the Staphylococcus Aureus.

bjpenndotcom - September 15, 2016

While many fans are happy that the UFC found a replacement for Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 205, Jorge Masvidal does not share their excitement. Masvidal was booked to fight Kelvin Gastelum before Robbie Lawler dropped out of his scheduled fight with ‘Cowboy’, which became the genesis of ‘Gamebred’s’ grievance. Although the 31-year-old American Top Team standout and Gastelum had agreed to a fight last week, Lawler’s absence from UFC 205 took that all away.