MMA News

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

The UFC on FOX 18 co-main event featured a clash between hard-hitting heavyweights Josh Barnett (34- 8 MMA) and Ben Rothwell (36-9 MMA). Round one begins and Rothwell opens up with punches. Good body kick lands for “Big Ben”. Big right hand scores for Barnett. Josh is pawing with the jab. He’s finding a home for it. Rothwell responds with a leg kick. Barnett replies with one of his own. Good jab to the body by Josh. Ben answers with a leg kick. Another good jab lands for Barnett. Big shot from Rothwell. Nice jab by Josh. Rothwell is bleeding. More jabs from Barnett. They clinch against the fence and then break. Nice left hand from Barnett. Ben smiles at him. Good combo lands for Ben. Nice elbow inside from Josh followed by a jab. Good straight left from Barnett. He tries a front kick but misses. The horn sounds to end round one.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

The second bout of the UFC on FOX 18 main card featured a bantamweight fight between Iuri Alcantara (33-7 MMA) and Jimmie Rivera (19-1 MMA). Round one begins with a touch of gloves. Alcantara opens with a kick to the body of Jimmie. Big shots from both men. Good strikes land for Alcantara. Rivera is pressing forward. Good right hand from Jimmie. Iuri responds with a good knee to the body. Jimmie is struggling to find his range. Good jab from Iuri. Sharp right hand from Rivera. Nice front kick by Alcantara. Jimmie is pressing forward but misses with his attempted bombs. Good body shot from Rivera. Iuri replies with a right hand. Good body kick from Alcantara. Accidental eye poke stops the action. We restart and Alcantara lands a body kick and a left. Big takedown to end round one by Rivera.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

The UFC on FOX 18 main card kicked off with a welterweight tilt between Sage Northcutt (7-1 MMA) and Bryan Barberena (11-3 MMA). Round one begins and Northcutt opens up with a jab. Leg kick misses for Bryan. Northcutt with a big combo and then moves in for a takedown. Barberena stuffs the attempt. Northcutt with a good kick that lands and another. Big right hand from Sage drops Bryan. Northcutt rushes in but Barberena gets up and moves in for the clinch. Good takedown from Sage and he immediately gets on the back of Bryan. Barberena is defending well. Good knee from Northcutt against the fence. Nice left and then a right from Sage. Bryan shoots in for a takedown but Sage isn’t having it. Another big right lands flush for Sage. Bryan is bloodied up. Northcutt has him pressed-up against the cage. They break. Good jab from Sage and then a kick to the body. Northcutt with a takedown attempt but Barberena reverses and winds up on top. Sage gets back up. Good right hand by Bryan. Another good shot from Barberena. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

A welterweight tilt between Tarec Saffiedine (16-4 MMA) and Jake Ellenberger (30-11 MMA) served as the main event for the UFC on FOX 18 preliminary card in New Jersey. Round one begins and Saffiedine opens with a head kick that is blocked by Jake. Good knee in the clinch from Tarec but Jake responds with some excellent shots inside. More good knees from Saffiedine. The fighters trade jabs. Body kick from Saffiedine. Ellenberger is pressing forward but misses with his punches. Decent right hand from Jake. Saffiedine replies with another body kick. Good jabs from both fighters. Excellent leg kicks from Saffiedine. Good jab from Tarec. Huge right hand from Ellenberger. Saffiedine is rocked but clinches up with Jake. Jake is applying pressure. Another good left from Jake. Saffiedine just misses with a high kick. Ellenberger misses with a big left hand. Good combo by Saffiedine. Another leg kicks finds a home for Tarec. Stiff jab scores for Saffiedine to close out round one.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

A middleweight bout between Rafael Natal (21-6-1 MMA) and Kevin Casey (9-4 MMA) took place during tonight’s UFC on FOX 18 prelims in New Jersey. Round one begins and Casey presses forward with left hands. Natal responds with a leg kick. Big over hand right misses for Kevin. Good leg kick for Casey followed by a left hand. Natal shoots for a takedown. Casey stuffs the attempt. Casey now working on a single-leg takedown. Natal shakes him off and they break. Big right hand from Casey misses. He tries an uppercut but comes up short. Rafael Natal shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Casey fights hard and gets back to his feet. Natal shoots again but Casey tosses him and winds up on top. Natal gets to his feet and escapes. The fighters battle in the clinch briefly and then break. Good right hand from Casey. Natal responds with a right hand that sends Casey crashing to the canvas right at the bell.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

A flyweight bout between Dustin Ortiz (15-5 MMA) and Wilson Reis (20-6 MMA) took place during on the UFC on FOX 18 preliminary card. Round one begins and both fighters fire off with low kicks. Good right hand from Ortiz. Head kick attempt by Reis misses. Front kick to the body from Ortiz. Inside leg kick from Reis. Ortiz responds with combo. Nice overhand right scores for Dustin. Good shots inside from Reis. The fighters trade low kicks. Good combo from Reis. He presses Ortiz against the fence and gets a takedown. Ortiz is back up but then right back down. Dustin pops up again and lands a good elbow on the break. Good left from Wilson. Kick to the body from Ortiz. Good knee from Ortiz. Reis is looking for the takedown. Ortiz shakes him off and lands a body kick. Dustin shoots in for a takedown but misses. Reis scores a big takedown to end round one.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

A welterweight tilt between George Sullivan (17-5 MMA) and Alexander Yakovlev (23-6-1 MMA) took place on the UFC on FOX 18 prelims. Good leg kick from Sullivan to start. He lands another one to the right leg of Yakovlev. Yakovlev responds with back to back leg kicks of his own. He shoots in and takes Sullivan down. George scrambles and gets back to his feet. Knees land for Yakovlev. The fighters break. Good kick from Sullivan. Big takedown by Yakovlev. He moves to side control and in to full mount. Sullivan gives up his back but defends the hooks. Good knees from Yakovlev. They break. Sullivan with a kick to the body. He misses with a follow-up leg kick. And again. Yakovlev with a leg kick and then a body kick. Both fighters trade leg kicks. Huge right hook from Yakovlev lands and it’s all over.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

The second bout of UFC on FOX 18 featured a featherweight battle between Damon Jackson (9-1-1 MMA) and Levan Makashvili (7-2-1 MMA). Jackson comes out swinging to begin round one. He just misses hitting Levan with a head kick. Nice kick lands for Makashvili. He follows that up with a good right hand. The fighters battle in the clinch. Double under hooks for Jackson but Makashvili responds with some knees to the body. The referee steps in and we start over in the center of the octagon. Jackson throws a combo and immediately shoots in for the takedown. He doesn’t land it but uses the clinch position to land some good knees on Makashvili. The horn sounds to end round one.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

A welterweight fight between Matt Dwyer (8-4 MMA) and Randy Brown (7-0 MMA) served as the third bout of UFC on FOX 18 in New Jersey. Both welterweights start off by trading single shots. Dwyer lands a decent right hook. A leg kick lands for the Canadian as well. Big right hand lands for Dwyer. He’s pawing with the jab and swinging the big overhand. Brown looks tentative to start. He’s struggling to find his range against Matt. Good inside leg kick from Dwyer. Some good front kicks from Brown. He follows up with a jab. Nice leg kick lands for Dwyer and another. Head kick misses for Dwyer. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

A lightweight bout kicked off tonight’s UFC on FOX 18 event in New Jersey as Tony Martin (10-3 MMA) took on Felipe Olivieri (14-5 MMA). Both men start the fight by firing off leg kicks. Solid leg kick lands for Olivieri. And another. Martin rushes in for a takedown and gets it. Felipe gets back to his feet but seconds later Martin forces him down to the canvas. Olivieri scrambles and gets back to his feet but Martin keeps him pressed against the fence. The referee separates the fighters and Olivieri immediately lands a brutal leg kick to the thigh of Martin. Solid elbows land in the clinch position for Felipe. The Brazilian lands a good combo to close out round one.

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

Chael Sonnen hasn’t competed professionally since 2013 after a two year ban was handed down to him for PED usage. Since then the former title contender has made many attempts to make good on his doping violations. One of the ways Sonnen is shinning up the image is donating $250,000 to his favorite charity if he reigns victor at the end of “Celebrity Apprentice” season. There’s no question all the hundreds of hours that Sonnen has invested to the local high-schools and colleges before his suspension was handed down to him.

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

Fight Night 86 is starting to come together as the UFC announced four fights added to the first UFC event in Croatia. With Croatia being the country of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, one would imagine a push to get the former Pride champion back in the octagon one last time for a rubber-match with Gabriel Gonzaga who is one of eight fighters announced on the card.

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

“Super” Sage Northcutt is one of those rare fighters who knew at an early age that he was’cut from a different cloth’ and proves it with some amazing accomplishments in his young MMA career.

Chris Taylor - January 30, 2016

Unable to catch tonight’s action from New Jersey? BJPenn.com has you covered! Stay glued to this page for live results, and stay tuned in to BJPenn.com for all of the UFC on FOX 18 fight recaps. Main card (Fox): Anthony Johnson vs. Ryan Bader – Anthony Johnson defeats Ryan Bader via KO at 1:26 of round 1 Josh Barnett vs. Ben Rothwell – Ben Rothwell defeats Josh Barnett via submission (guillotine choke) at 3:48 of round 2 Iuri Alcantara vs. Jimmie Rivera – Jimmie Rivera defeats Iuri Alcantara via decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) Sage Northcutt vs. Bryan Barberena – Bryan Barberena submits Sage Northcutt (arm-triangle choke) at 3:06 in round two

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

The 2016 World MMA Awards go down February 5th in Las Vegas. The awards show gives fans a chance to show their appreciation for fighters, apparel brands, ringcard girls, promotions, and especially coaches. As MMA fans we have a great appreciation for the fighters that put everything on the line to entertain us, while pursuing their dreams of a world championship. Often the masterminds behind the brilliance of our favorite fighters, the coaches, are not given as much credit as they deserve.

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

We as an MMA community are getting closer to a resolution in breaking down barriers to have mixed martial arts regulated in New York.

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

Trip booked #film @MieshaTate for #ufc196 as well founders of #shootmedia to join Miesha Podcast! @RevoluLab pic.twitter.com/CK3DgS1XPA — SHOOTMedia (@shootmediatv) January 29, 2016

bjpenndotcom - January 30, 2016

Paul Daley vs Andy Uhrich #Bellator148 pic.twitter.com/86KxhugnQC — ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) January 30, 2016