MMA News

Curtis Calhoun - December 2, 2025

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland declined the promotion’s offer to fight Anthony Hernandez for a bizarre reason. Former UFC champion Sean Strickland is potentially weeks away from making his return to the Octagon for the first time since UFC 312. Strickland lost to Dricus du Plessis by unanimous decision before being served a lengthy Nevada State Athletic Commission suspension due to an incident at a local MMA event.

Cole Shelton - December 2, 2025

Petr Yan expects to reclaim his bantamweight title at UFC 323 on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Yan is set to rematch Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 323 for the bantamweight title. The two fought back in March of 2023, and it was Dvalishvili who dominated Yan en route to a lopsided decision.

Curtis Calhoun - December 2, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili’s two-time rival, Sean O’Malley, believes we could see a massive upset in the UFC 323 main event this weekend. UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will fight in his fourth title defense of 2025 against Petr Yan this Saturday at UFC 323. It’s a rematch of Dvalishvili’s record-setting performance against Yan in 2023, featuring a record number of takedown attempts and successful takedowns.

Curtis Calhoun - December 2, 2025

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley questions whether or not Dana White is still as excited as ever about promoting fights. UFC CEO Dana White’s recent announcements for the first two major events of 2026, UFC 324 and UFC 325, have received mixed reactions from fans and pundits.

Curtis Calhoun - December 2, 2025

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping advised Tom Aspinall on how to handle criticism of his fight at UFC 321 correctly. UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall has been the target of intense criticism since his first undisputed title defense at UFC 321.

Curtis Calhoun - December 2, 2025

UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall finally responded to Jon Jones’s relentless trolling since his UFC 321 title defense. Tom Aspinall’s long-awaited undisputed heavyweight title fight came to a screeching halt in the UFC 321 main event against Ciryl Gane in October. Just minutes into their UFC 321 headliner, Gane accidentally poked both of Aspinall’s eyes, causing vision issues and leaving Aspinall unable to continue competing.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 2, 2025

Sean O’Malley isn’t afraid to poke fun at himself ahead of his UFC 324 clash with Song Yadong. The “Suga” show hasn’t had the best of luck inside the Octagon as of late. He dropped two straight bouts to the current UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili. O’Malley was submitted in his most recent outing against “The Machine.”

Fernando Quiles Jr. - December 2, 2025

A UFC legend believes the promotion he once called his fighting home wants Paddy Pimblett to defeat Justin Gaethje. Pimblett and Gaethje will share the Octagon in the main event of UFC 324 on Jan. 24. It’ll headline UFC’s debut card on Paramount+. The interim UFC Lightweight Championship will be at stake. Main titleholder Ilia Topuria is currently dealing with personal matters.

Cole Shelton - December 2, 2025

The 211th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is live to preview UFC 323. We’re joined by UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney (1:08) to preview his exciting UFC 323 scrap.

Harry Kettle - December 2, 2025

Former UFC champion Brandon Moreno believes he deserves another shot at flyweight gold if he defeats Tatsuro Taira at UFC 323. For the longest time now, Brandon Moreno has been a pretty consistent figure in the UFC’s flyweight division. In addition to being a two-time world champion, he has also been in there against some of the best flyweights that we’ve ever seen in the promotion.

Harry Kettle - December 2, 2025

UFC legend Dominick Cruz has explained why he prefers Merab Dvalishvili’s grappling to Islam Makhachev’s grappling. For the longest time now, Merab Dvalishvili has been seen as one of the best bantamweights on the planet. On the flip side, Islam Makhachev is considered by many to be the pound for pound best fighter in all of mixed martial arts right now.

Harry Kettle - December 2, 2025

Kayla Harrison isn’t too bothered that her superfight against Amanda Nunes isn’t the main event fight at UFC 324. In the co-main event of UFC 324 next month, Kayla Harrison will defend her UFC women’s bantamweight championship against the returning Amanda Nunes. As we know, Nunes is widely considered to be the greatest female mixed martial artist of all time – whereas Kayla is trying to work her way up to that level.

BJPENN.COM Staff - December 1, 2025

ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Fabricio Andrade defends his title against #4-ranked Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu at ONE Fight Night 38 on Friday, December 5, inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Nearly three years into his reign, the 28-year-old Brazilian says he’s no longer driven by the desperation that once pushed him through poverty, struggle, and years of sacrifice. Becoming champion allowed Andrade to mature, reflect, and redefine what truly matters. The Fortaleza native has been honest about how success shaped him as a person who embraces responsibility, stability, and a deeper purpose than the one that fueled him when he first left home.

Dylan Bowker - December 1, 2025

Ariel Helwani is not terribly excited by the UFC product these days and recently offered up his thoughts on some of the marquee matches that have been teed up for next year by the company. It’s worth noting these are also sentiments echoed by not just Helwani but also fans and even former UFC champions alike. During a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, in an excerpt of his show posted to the X account @jedigoodman, the titular figure was responding to some fans who have told him to ‘take a chill pill’ and to just enjoy the fights, Helwani said,

Dylan Bowker - December 1, 2025

Alexandre Pantoja would have been open to attempting a path to becoming a two-division UFC champion if Sean O’Malley held bantamweight gold, but the current titleholder at 135 pounds gives him some pause. That combatant in question is Merab Dvalishvili, who beat the aforementioned O’Malley twice. The Georgian will also defend his title the same night that Pantoja will. The Brazilian standout will look to retain his flyweight crown against the surging Joshua Van while Dvalishvili will defend his bantamweight belt against former UFC kingpin at 135 pounds, Petr Yan in a rematch set for UFC 323 on December 6th.

Curtis Calhoun - December 1, 2025

MMA legend and rising boxing star Cris Cyborg doesn’t think highly of Ronda Rousey’s chances in a fight against Katie Taylor. UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey could potentially be on her way back to combat sports in a boxing match against one of the pound-for-pound greats.

Curtis Calhoun - December 1, 2025

UFC featherweight contender Lerone Murphy shared a brutally honest reaction to the Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2 announcement. UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, less than a year since returning to the throne, will defend the belt against the man he opposed in his title-winning performance. Volkanovski and Diego Lopes, who lost to Volkanovski earlier this year at UFC 314, headline an intriguing card at UFC 324.

Curtis Calhoun - December 1, 2025

Jon Jones gave Khabib Nurmagomedov supreme credit for past comments about his abrupt retirement. UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov shook up MMA when he announced his retirement from the sport following a win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Months removed from the tragic death of his father, Nurmagomedov opted to hang up the gloves, despite being the pound-for-pound best and just scratching the surface of his potential long-term earnings.