MMA News

bjpenndotcom - June 23, 2016

Every year ESPN holds their annual ‘ESPY Awards’. This year, WWE superstar John Cena will be hosting the awards show, which goes down July 13th. The UFC will be well represented at the awards show, as 3 UFC stars have been nominated for awards at the highly anticipated event. UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has been nominated for not only ‘Breakthrough Athlete’ but also ‘Best Fighter’.

bjpenndotcom - June 23, 2016

Former WWE champion, Hollywood actor, and former collegiate defensive lineman Dwayne Johnson has an extremely impressive resume in regards to his accomplishments. At one point in time, Johnson considered adding ‘UFC fighter’ to the list. During a recent appearance on the first episode of UFC Unfiltered, Johnson revealed that about a decade ago he considered making the jump to the Octagon.

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

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

Russell Ess - June 22, 2016

Valerie Letourneau ran into some issues during her fight with Joanne Calderwood at UFC Fight Night 89 over the weekend. Letourneau was troubled with a wardrobe malfunction after Calderwood’s repeated strikes to her chest, which are completely legal. Now, after hearing Letourneau address the situation, it seems like her Reebok uniform may have played a major factor in her loss even though she clearly states that she isn’t making an excuse for losing the fight.

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.

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

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

bjpenndotcom - June 22, 2016

This past weekend, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in game 7 of the NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship and end the city’s 52 year streak without winning a major sports championship. On Wednesday the city held the championship parade for the team, which was led by none other than Independence, Ohio native and UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, who recently defeated Fabricio Werdum back in May.

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 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

On July 9th, Frankie Edgar will get the chance to avenge his 2013 loss to Jose Aldo for the featherweight championship when the pair face off in an interim featherweight title fight. In addition to winning the interim featherweight strap, the winner of the fight will secure a featherweight title fight with Conor McGregor for the undisputed featherweight championship. He spoke to MMAJunkie to analyze Edgar’s game ahead of their rematch, as well as his own prior to his loss to Conor McGregor, as well as since his loss to McGregor:

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.

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.

Russell Ess - June 22, 2016

A newly released report from FloCombat indicates that the sale of the UFC has gone through with the investment group led by the William Morris Endeavor-IMG agency purchasing the company with a winning bid close to $4 billion. Despite UFC Vice President of public relations, athlete marketing, and development, Dave Sholler’s statement denying the sale of the UFC, FloCombat reports that their sources have told them that the general terms of the deal were agreed upon between Lorenzo Fertitta and CEO of WME-IMG, Ari Emanuel, during a dinner in Hollywood last Sunday. A few UFC and WME-IMG executives were also present at the dinner.