MMA News

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

In the wake of the UFC being sold for $4 billion, Top Rank Boxing CEO Bob Arum decided to take the opportunity to criticize the UFC and it’s fighters for a string of failed drug tests. Prior to the event, Jon Jones was pulled from the card for a potential USADA anti-doping violation, and after the event it was announced that Brock Lesnar failed a pre-fight drug test in June, as well as a fight night drug test the night of UFC 200. Arum also went as far as to accuse the UFC brass of being corrupt.

Russell Ess - July 21, 2016

Former title contender Chael Sonnen tested positive for multiple performance-enhancing drug violations back in 2014 and was suspended for two years from competition. Now that Sonnen’s two-year suspension from competition will be up this Saturday, it surely looks like the current MMA analyst for ESPN may be looking to have another go in the Octagon.

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

Since Conor McGregor captured the featherweight championship back in December from Jose Aldo, there has been much speculation as to when, or if, he would return to the featherweight division to defend his belt. Following the win, McGregor quickly signed to fight Rafael dos Anjos in a lightweight title fight at UFC 196. Unfortunately, dos Anjos broke his foot and was replaced by Nate Diaz. The bout was moved to welterweight, and Diaz ultimately won the fight via 2nd round submission.

Russell Ess - July 21, 2016

When an x-ray revealed that Michael Page fractured Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos’ skull with a vicious flying knee at Bellator 158 over the weekend, the news spread fast. Santos’ ex-wife, Cris “Cyborg” Justino immediately set up a gofundme fundraiser to help with medical bills needed for the insane injury suffered in the MMA fight. However, Bellator MMA warmed people’s hearts when they stepped up and took the responsibility of Santos’ expensive medical bills and additionally awarded the injured fighter his win bonus, even after losing to Page in their bout.

Russell Ess - July 21, 2016

After Brock Lesnar fought Mark Hunt at UFC 200, the WWE star and former UFC heavyweight champion was flagged for a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation. Hunt was upset, to say the least that the news came out after the fight took place and demanded that he receive Brock Lesnar’s fight purse or be immediately released from the UFC.

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

It’s been 7 months since Conor McGregor knocked out Jose Aldo in just 13 seconds to claim the UFC featherweight championship in the main event of UFC 194. Since then, McGregor went up to welterweight to fight Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 196. In addition, the UFC also booked a rematch between the pair for UFC 202 on August 20th.

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

At UFC 200 earlier this month, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar has his 5-fight win streak snapped at the hands of former featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo. Aldo stuffed Edgar’s takedowns, and used his reach to pick Edgar apart while avoiding the strikes of Edgar. Interestingly enough, Aldo revealed this week that he had spies in Edgar’s locker room, which is why he knew not to throw kicks during the fight.

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

On July 14th, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor celebrated his 28th birthday. The champ is currently residing in Las Vegas for training ahead of his UFC 202 rematch with Nate Diaz on August 20th.

bjpenndotcom - July 21, 2016

With just two days to go until UFC 200, UFC pound for pound kingpin Jon Jones was pulled from the event due to a potential USADA anti-doping violation. The following morning, Jones and his manager held a press conference, where they addressed the situation to media members. Throughout the course of the presser Jones was adamant that he didn’t knowingly take any banned substances, and that he would be found innocent. Since then, the former champ has continued to defend himself via social media, telling fans that they shouldn’t write him off just yet. Wednesday afternoon, Jones’ manager Malki Kawa spoke on Chael Sonnen’s “You’re Welcome!” podcast to discuss the situation, and reveal some interesting details:

Russell Ess - July 21, 2016

Alexander Gustafsson is on a mission to get back to a title fight after suffering two losses in a row for the first time in his professional career. Gustafsson fell short in his two UFC light heavyweight title fights, losing to Jon Jones by unanimous decision at UFC 165 and by split decision to current champion Daniel Cormier at UFC 192. Many argue that Gustafsson could have won both bouts, but judges felt otherwise.

bjpenndotcom - July 20, 2016

Back at UFC 193, Holly Holm shocked the world as she knocked out Ronda Rousey with a head kick to become the UFC women’s bantamweight champion in the main event of the thrilling card. Fast forward just 4 months and Holm was submitted by Miesha Tate in the co-main event of UFC 196 on March 5th, losing the title in the 5th round of their scrap.

bjpenndotcom - July 20, 2016

UFC 200 was arguably the biggest event in the history of the UFC. Unfortunately a dark cloud now looms over the event after Jon Jones was pulled from the event during fight week for a USADA violation, and Brock Lesnar was notified of two USADA violations after the event. With USADA handing top ranked featherweight Chad Mendes a two year suspension this week, many are wondering if Lesnar and Jones will both be receiving similar suspensions for their infractions.

Russell Ess - July 20, 2016

Undefeated flyweight Ilima MacFarlane is looking to establish herself as one of the primary names under the Bellator MMA promotion. MacFarlane, who went viral with her destruction of her opponent in her professional MMA debut is now gunning to become Bellator’s first women’s flyweight champion.

bjpenndotcom - July 20, 2016

It’s been nearly a year since former UFC champion Tito Ortiz competed in Bellator MMA. In his last outing, the ‘Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ lost to Liam McGeary via 1st round submission. Now, nearly a year later, there are talks of Ortiz stepping into the Bellator cage to square off against arguably the greatest fighter of all time, Fedor Emelianenko.

Russell Ess - July 20, 2016

The case of Jon Jones’ potential Anti-Doping Policy violation that got him removed from his title fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200 has been a hot topic.

Russell Ess - July 20, 2016

https://youtu.be/W7S6kaNQdd8 UFC 202 is scheduled for August 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada and Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor are set to headline the event in their highly anticipated non-title welterweight rematch. MMA fan @BrattMamley has created another great promotional video featuring Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor that will surely get you excited for the bout.

Russell Ess - July 20, 2016

UFC’s #4 ranked featherweight Chad Mendes will apparently be out of competition from fighting after being suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). On June 10, the UFC announced that Mendes was flagged for a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on May 17, 2016.

bjpenndotcom - July 20, 2016

Rizin FF has continued to keep the ball rolling since MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko made his return to MMA on New Year’s Eve. Since then, the promotion held their official ‘Rizin 1’ event back in April, and will look to build more momentum as we get closer to the end of the year. Earlier this month, the promotion announced that they will be having a 16-man tournament, which will see Mirko Cro Cop make his promotional debut, as well as Wanderlei Silva. The event will go down in Tokyo, leading many to expect an evening reminiscent of the Pride FC days of MMA.