MMA News

BJPENN.COM News - September 3, 2015

Former Bellator MMA middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko has filed a lawsuit against the California State Athletic Commission. The commission suspended Shlemenko following his KO win over Melvin Manhoef, after it was discovered that he failed his post-fight drug test. The commission handed down the harshest penalty it had ever given since regulating MMA, with a three year suspension and a $10,000 fine.

BJPENN.COM News - September 3, 2015

UFC interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor and Team Alpha Male’s Urijah Faber will not fight at the end of the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, where they coach opposite of each other. Instead, McGregor will fight Jose Aldo the day after the Finale at UFC 194 and Faber is still without a fight.

BJPENN.COM News - September 3, 2015

On Tuesday’s episode of Stud Show Radio, ‘The California Kid’ Urijah Faber stopped by and talked a little bit about the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, where he coached opposite of Conor McGregor. Now, Faber couldn’t say much, considering the season has yet to air, but did give a little bit of a tease for things to come.

BJPENN.COM News - September 3, 2015

Is Manny Pacquiao’s boxing career coming to an end? It appears to be. According to Top Rank leader and longtime promoter Bob Arum, who talked to TMZ, the Filipino boxer is looking to retire from the sport in order to focus on a presidential run in his home country.

BJPENN.COM News - September 2, 2015

Former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen is making his way to the World Series of Fighting. The promotion announced the news via a press release, stating that Sonnen would be joining the team as a color-commentator for several events. Sonnen’s first gig as a WSOF commentator will take place on Sept. 18 for “WSOF 23: Gaethje vs. Palomino II”.

BJPENN.COM News - September 2, 2015

‘In the seventh episode of Phuket Dreaming we follow teenage Muay Thai fighters Wayunoii & Phet Dum. Competing as top ranked Rajadamnern Muay Thai fighters. We also check out K-1 sensation Marat Grigorian as he trains at Phuket Top Team ahead of the 70kg K-1 Grand Prix tournament.’ Catch the latest episode of the popular web series, ‘Phuket Dreaming,’ below. You don’t want to miss the seventh episode of the second series!

BJPENN.COM News - September 2, 2015

Let’s be honest, one of, if not the most exciting part of MMA is a one shot KO. Whether it’s from a punch, knee, elbow or kick, when a fighter lands a solid shot that puts their opponents lights out there’s really nothing else comparable. I suppose if you’re a Jiu-Jitsu fanatic then a good submission will do it for you, but the majority of MMA fans can’t wait to see fighters hitting the mat like a sack of bricks.

BJPENN.COM News - August 31, 2015

Floyd Mayweather’s fight with Manny Pacquiao may have shattered pay-per-view numbers, but it left fans of the sport hungry for a fight with more action. Boxing fans rejoiced when Canelo Alvarez and Miguel Cotto finally agreed to terms after months of negotiations to square off at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout is set to take place on November 21st and (Canelo’s) promoter Oscar de la Hoya thinks it COULD break 2,000,000 pay-per-view buys.

BJPENN.COM News - August 31, 2015

Davi Ramos turned out to be one of the top grapplers of the weekend at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship (ADCC 2015) on Sunday. He capped off his gold-medal performance with a submission that will be talked about in the grappling world for years to come. (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

It has been just over a year since Scott Coker marched in to Bellator and turned it into the company it is today. Gone are the days of seasons and tournaments; Bellator operates just like any other mainstream mixed martial arts company would with regular numbered shows and super-cards. Coker recently sat down to discuss his first year with Bellator in an interview you can check out below

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

After Daniel Cormier disposed of Anthony “Rumble” Johnson at UFC 187 for the vacated UFC Light Heavyweight Championship, Ryan Bader confronted the new champion at the post fight press conference. The confrontation caught Cormier off guard and got under his skin and it seemed like his first title defense was set: Cormier vs. Bader. Not so fast, my friend.

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

Rousimar Palhares claimed to have turned a new leaf when he inked a deal with World Series of Fighting in 2014. He made his promotional debut against Steve Carl and, of course, held the inverted heel hook a bit too long. He followed that performance with a WSOF Welterweight Championship defense against Jon Fitch where he cranked the hold too quickly, barely giving Fitch a chance to submit. Palhares had once again gained the reputation of a dirty fighter and Jake Shields was going to take it upon himself to punish him for it. Instead, their fight at “WSOF 22: Palhares vs. Shields” was surrounded by controversy instigated by Palhares’ actions throughout the fight. An investigation proved that Palhares poked the eyes of Shields several times throughout the fight before holding on to the final submission attempt in the third round too long, causing Shields to submit and scream in agony.

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

Melvin Guillard has had issues picking up momentum since getting released from the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2014. After a controversial split with World Series of Fighting earlier this year, “The Young Assassin” signed with Bellator with hopes of picking up lightweight gold. Guillard will have to wait until his hand recovers in order to do that, however, as he suffered a ‘shattered’ right hand during a split decision loss to Brandon Girtz at Bellator 141. Bellator officials have since confirmed that Guillard will be undergoing surgery later on this week for his broken hand. Check out the picture of his hand moments after the fight below. The content is graphic!

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

Brandon Halsey is ready to square off with Rafael Carvalho at “Bellator 144” for the championship he never truly lost in competition. Earlier this year in May, Halsey was all set to defend his Bellator Middleweight Championship with Kendall Grove at “Bellator 137”. However, the day before his defense Halsey missed weight and was stripped of the title. The stipulations of the fight the following day were changed so that Grove would take home the championship in the event of a victory, but Halsey ended up knocking the Hawaiian out in the fourth round of the catchweight bout. As a result of his victory, the middleweight championship has since remained vacant. Bellator President Scott Coker recently appeared on “The MMA Road Show” and announced that any issues the company had with their former champion have since been resolved and he will be meeting Rafael Carvalho for the title at “Bellator 144”.

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

History will be made in September at “Dynamite” when Bellator and GLORY join forces to bring fans one of the most stacked cards of the year at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, USA. Before the event takes place, fans will have the opportunity to shake fans with some of the most legendary names of the sport! Fans have been invited to the Bellator Fan Fest the night before “Dynamite” takes place. The meet and greet will take place at 7:00 PM on September 18th at the Dave & Busters, located in Milpitas, California.

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

Bellator and GLORY’s first joint event is set to go off with a bang in September as “Dynamite 1” will feature a one night, four man light heavyweight tournament. UFC veteran Phil Davis, Emanuel Newton, Linton Vassell, and Muhammed Lawal will battle for supremacy and possibly the right to face the winner of Ortiz/McGeary for the light heavyweight championship. One night tournaments are a tricky thing in the world of mixed martial arts as the company runs the risk of getting one of the participants injured in their opening round fight. In the event that Davis, Newton, Vassell or Lawal get injured or are not cleared to compete by the athletic commission in the finals of the tournament, Bellator has set up an alternate fight between another octagon vet in Francis Carmont and Philipe Lins.

BJPENN.COM News - August 30, 2015

The undefeated king of professional boxing is set to make his return to pay-per-view when he squares off with Andre Berto in what is expected to be “Money’s” final fight. The bout is set to take place on September 12, 2015. Go behind the scenes of both fighters’ training camps by watching the following episode of “All Access”! In the most recent edition of “All Access”, one of Mayweather’s employees finally got his wish to grace the ring with his presence during a training session. The employee, Jesse Mack, claimed to be a former mixed martial artist who retired back in 2004. Well, he got served in the boxing ring that day as he fell to the mat VERY quick. Check out the replay in the video below!

BJPENN.COM News - August 29, 2015

Even though Ronda Rousey’s next opponent is already lined up, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is not backing off the trash talk. Tito Ortiz has chosen to keep quiet on trying to make Rousey/Cyborg happen, but “Cyborg” knows a payday when she sees one. After Rousey’s quick disposal of “Pitbull” Bethe Correia at UFC 190, fans and fighters alike were clamoring for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion to finally fight “Cyborg”. After almost two weeks of speculation and rumors, UFC President Dana White laid the rumors to rest that the fight would take place at “Cowboy’s Stadium” in Dallas, Texas; Ortiz’s previous claims that it was happening were false and White didn’t even have the stadium booked.