MMA News

Russell Ess - June 9, 2016

https://youtu.be/lFSQsjPzWpo?t=23m30s Team Alpha Male’s Cody Garbrandt has his target set on UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

Shortly after stepping in on short notice for Chris Weidman at UFC 199 and knocking out Luke Rockhold to become the UFC middleweight champion, Michael Bisping found himself being put on blast by the man he replaced at UFC 199, Chris Weidman. Weidman called Bisping a “bum” and called for a title fight against Bisping at the UFC’s inaugural New York event. Unsurprisingly Bisping fired back at Weidman via Twitter.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

Just several weeks ago, Chris Weidman pulled out of his UFC 199 title fight against Luke Rockhold due to a neck injury. Ultimately, Michael Bisping stepped in on short notice to fight Rockhold in the main event of UFC 199. Bisping went out on just 2-weeks notice and knocked out Rokchold in the very first round to claim the UFC middleweight championship. In the days after the event, it was revealed that Chris Weidman had undergone neck surgery, and would be looking to return to the Octagon later this year at the UFC’s inaugural New York event.

Russell Ess - June 9, 2016

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is making a return to the Octagon at UFC 200 against KO specialist Mark Hunt. While Lesnar has been waived from the mandatory 4-months of random drug testing by USADA due to an exemption from the UFC, Lesnar is still being tested by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The timeframe of testing before competition is what differs from Lesnar and the rest of the UFC roster.

Russell Ess - June 9, 2016

https://youtu.be/lFSQsjPzWpo?t=20m33s People weren’t “surprised” when they heard Nate Diaz got into a “huge fight” backstage at UFC 199 this past weekend.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

During the UFC 199 broadcast this past weekend, the UFC finally announced the date for the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz rematch would take place at UFC 202 on August 20th in Las Vegas.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

Earlier this month, tragic news emerged that famed YouTube brawler and Mixed Martial Artist Kimbo Slice had passed away from heart failure in Florida at the age of 42. Understandably, the combat sports community was devastated about the loss of Slice, and many members of the MMA community began paying tribute to Slice.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

This past weekend at UFC 199, Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber had their highly anticipated trilogy fight nearly a decade after their first meeting in the WEC banner. Cruz ended up dominating the fight from start to finish, securing numerous takedowns, and even dropping Faber several times. After the fight Faber revealed that while he wasn’t ready to commit to retirement, he was going to take some time away from MMA. In addition, Faber told the world to watch out for some up-and-coming fighters out of his gym, including Cody Garbrandt.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

During the UFC 199 broadcast last weekend, it was revealed that Brock Lesnar would be returning to the Octagon at UFC 199 for one fight. The fight will be Lesnar’s first in nearly 5 years after he retired on a 2-fight losing streak after losing his heavyweight championship, and then being TKOd by Alistair Overeem.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

Good news for former middleweight champion Chris Weidman! After being forced to withdraw from his UFC 199 rematch with Luke Rockhold just two weeks before fight-night, Weidman has now undergone successful neck surgery and is resting at home.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

At UFC 199, Michael Bisping finally got his UFC title shot after nearly a decade in the promotion. Bisping capitalized on the opportunity, despite stepping in on just 2 weeks notice, and knocked out middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in the very first round. With both men at one win each, Rockhold believes that an immediate rematch is in order so he can attempt to reclaim the UFC championship. Bisping doesn’t see it that way, and wants Rockhold to earn another fight, like he had to after their first fight in 2014.

bjpenndotcom - June 9, 2016

It’s been nearly a week since it was revealed that former UFC champion Brock Lesnar would be returning to the Octagon at UFC 200. Since then, it has also been revealed that Lesnar will be fighting fan-favorite heavyweight Mark Hunt, and that he has been granted an exemption from USADA random drug testing. Ahead of the fight, Mark Hunt is rather unhappy with Lesnar being granted a USADA exemption. He spoke to UFC Fight Week on Fox Sports:

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2016

https://youtu.be/EY0c26_rwY8 Wednesday afternoon Muay Thai champion Ilya Grad posted on his Instagram about a recent training session he had with UFC welterweight star Sage Northcutt ahead of Northcutt’s UFC 200 fight.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2016

This past weekend it was revealed during the UFC 199 broadcast that Brock Lesnar would be returning to the UFC to fight Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200 on July 9th. The fight will be Lesnar’s first in nearly 5 years, and while there are many who believe Lesnar will make a dominant return to the Octagon, Frank Mir believes that Mark Hunt is a bad matchup for the former champ.

bjpenndotcom - June 8, 2016

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor never shies away from showing off the ‘fruits of his labor’ on social media, in the form of designer clothes, luxury vehicles, and expensive shopping sprees. The featherweight champion banked his largest payday earlier this year when he fought Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 196 at welterweight. McGregor lost the fight, but managed to break several UFC records with the event.

Russell Ess - June 8, 2016

The news of Kevin Ferguson’s death caught everyone off guard.

Russell Ess - June 8, 2016

Sage Northcutt is set to fight at UFC 200 against Enrique Marin. Northcutt will step into the Octagon for the first time since being handed his only professional loss, where he was submitted by Bryan Barberena back in January. Israeli Muay Thai champion Ilya Grad was brought in to help train with Northcutt for his UFC 200 bout, but left in disgust after Northcutt’s father apparently interfered with their training.

Russell Ess - June 8, 2016

https://youtu.be/51n-6rDGHAY At UFC 199, the rematch between Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor was officially announced by the UFC.