MMA News

bjpenndotcom - June 23, 2016

Good news for top ranked UFC women’s strawweight Paige VanZant! It appears as though ’12 Gauge’ will get her wish, and will be making her Octagon return sooner rather than later. Following her appearance on season 22 of ABC’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ VanZant expressed her desire to return to the Octagon soon given that she took so much time off to film the show following her submission loss to Rose Namajunas.

bjpenndotcom - June 23, 2016

Since former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre announced that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from MMA following his 2013 split decision win over Johny Hendricks, there has been much speculation as to when GSP would return to the Octagon. Following Michael Bisping’s historic win over Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 199, St-Pierre announced that he was ready to end his retirement, and return to the Octagon for a fight with Bisping.

Russell Ess - June 23, 2016

UFC President Dana White is always one to speak his mind.

Russell Ess - June 23, 2016

The UFC officially announced the long-awaited debut of Phil Brooks, who is better known by his WWE name, CM Punk, early Thursday morning. BREAKING: @CMPunk announces on #UFCUnfiltered he'll debut vs @MickeyGall at #UFC203!!!! ➡️ https://t.co/kQZBxHzDcK pic.twitter.com/3jDGUruLVO

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

Since winning the UFC middleweight championship by knocking out Luke Rockhold in the main event of UFC 199, there has been much speculation as to who Michael Bisping’s first title defense would be against. Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman is currently sidelined after undergoing neck surgery, #1 contender Jacare Souza is out after having surgery, Yoel Romero is currently suspended, and Luke Rockhold was just knocked out by Bisping. In on editorial for Champions.co, Bisping broke down the list of middleweight contenders, paying particular attention to Dan Henderson, who holds a highlight reel KO win over Bisping:

Russell Ess - June 22, 2016

Dana White is a little rough around the edges when it comes to his persona.

Russell Ess - June 22, 2016

https://youtu.be/0c2zakWKFCY Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre announced on Monday’s episode of “The MMA Hour” that he is ready to come back and fight again in the UFC Octagon.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

Jun22.2002 14 years ago today,@JoeRogan made his 1st appearance as a commentator for the UFC.

Russell Ess - June 22, 2016

Prior to his first loss in the UFC against Nate Diaz back in March, UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was talking about moving up several weight classes beyond his home of 145 pounds. The new UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was recently asked about how a fight would go between him and McGregor and “The Count” replied in typical Bisping fashion.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

After knocking out Thomas Almeida earlier this month, many wondered what would be next for the undefeated bantamweight prospect, and Team Alpha Male prodigy, Cody Garbrandt. While Garbrandt has done his best to bait UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz into a fight, it appears that the UFC has other plans. According to ADCombat.com, the UFC is reportedly looking to book Garbrandt to fight Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 202 on August 20th.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has certainly become one of the most recognizable faces in sports, in addition to being one of the most popular fighters in the UFC. After a concert with his girlfriend, Dee Devlin, McGregor posed with pop music icon Rihanna backstage. Both stars ended up posting pictures to their social media accounts with kind words about each other.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

UFC 199 was undoubtably an incredible night of fights. On the main card, Dan Henderson mounted an incredible comeback and knocked out Hector Lombard in the 2nd round with a vicious elbow. In the main event, Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold on just 2 weeks notice to claim the UFC middleweight championship. Following the event, there was much talk of a potential Bisping vs. Henderson rematch for the middleweight championship, with Bisping hoping to avenge his UFC 100 loss. While Henderson is not a top ranked middleweight, and is just 2-3 in his last 5 fights, the fight has received quite a bit of attention from fans.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

At UFC 198 in Curitiba, Brazil, Invicta FC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg made her highly anticipated UFC debut against Leslie Smith. The fight was a short one, with Cyborg getting the TKO win over Smith in the 1st round. Following the win, Cyborg expressed her interest in going back to Invicta to defend her featherweight championship. Despite that, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate eyes a future fight with Cyborg.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

The MMA world has anxiously awaited the return of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey following her brutal KO loss at the hands of Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 193. Following the loss, a devastated Rousey headed to Hollywood to film several movies before she returned to the Octagon. While the UFC brass initially hoped that Rousey would return at UFC 200, Rousey’s return has continuously been pushed back.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

Initially, Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor were slated to have their highly anticipated welterweight rematch in the main event of UFC 200 on July 9th. McGregor refused to fulfill his media obligations for the event, and as a result was pulled from the card after briefly retiring. Now, with the pair set to collide in a highly anticipated rematch on August 20th in the main event of UFC 202, the UFC has booked the pair to appear for a press conference prior to UFC 200 during international fight week.

Russell Ess - June 22, 2016

Nate Diaz has spent the majority of his UFC career fighting at lightweight. However, with taking the fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on short notice, Diaz and McGregor agreed on fighting at welterweight. When Diaz caused McGgregor to tap in the second round of the fight, “The Notorious” was described as being “obsessed” with beating Diaz in a rematch under the same exact conditions, which is why their rematch is again at 170 pounds.

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

[ooyala code=”pzbWJiNDE6AD-A24WYJxhp0EsbPZuvxQ” player_id=”bd214e34cfad476984102de4bf5e8da2″ auto=”true” width=”1280″ height=”1280″ autoplay=”true”] UFC featherweight prospect Makwan Amirkhani has quickly become one of the brightest prospects in the UFC. The featherweight standout has amassed a 13-2 record throughout his professional career, including a 3-0 record in the UFC.

bjpenndotcom - June 21, 2016

While Khabib Nurmagomedov may have no intentions of fighting during Ramadan, ‘The Eagle’ isn’t ready to let UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos forget about their fight in 2014 in which Nurmagomedov defeated dos Anjos via decision. The pair often exchange verbal jabs through interviews, however there has been no word yet as to what it will take for Nurmagomedov to get a crack at RDA’s lightweight championship. Ahead of RDA’s title defense against Eddie Alvarez on July 7th, Nurmagomedov took to Instagram to taunt the champ: