MMA News

Zain Bando - May 1, 2024

Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC), the UFC’s newly minted featherweight champion, is unhappy after recent comments from UFC color commentator Joe Rogan regarding Topuria’s intention not to immediately rematch Alexander Volkanovski (26-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) at UFC 305 in Australia in August. On a recent episode of “JRE,” the most widely-consumed podcast in the world, Rogan, who has been with the UFC since 2002 after a brief stint in the mid-90s, suggested that Topuria would not fight the former champion in Volkanovski based on rumors he had heard around the community.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

Steve Erceg is expecting a hostile crowd on Saturday when he faces Alexandre Pantoja for the flyweight title in the main event of UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Erceg knows Brazilian fans like to get loud and chant ‘You Will Die’ in Portuguese to the opposing fighters. With Erceg fighting for the belt and being the main event, he’s expecting to get booed. Not only is he expecting to get booed, but Erceg thinks people will be throwing stuff at him after he finishes Pantoja at UFC 301.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

Alexander Volkanovski hails Jose Aldo as the greatest featherweight of all time. Volkanovski defeated Aldo en route to winning the featherweight title, and both are in the conversation of being the greatest ever. However, Volkanovski says he still has to give it to Aldo due to the length of his title reign, and being so dominant in wins makes him the featherweight GOAT.

Zain Bando - May 1, 2024

Michael Bisping is all too familiar with playing the underdog role. Despite Steve Erceg’s (12-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) similar position Saturday at UFC 301, Bisping said he plans to go conservative and pick Alexandre Pantoja (27-5 MMA, 11-3 UFC) to defend his flyweight title in his home country of Brazil. “Alexandre Pantoja, this man’s phenomenal,” Michael Bisping said.  “He’s pretty much gone through the entire flyweight division.  Brandon Moreno, the Royvals, the Kapes.  You name it, he’s been there and done it. He’s got no weak areas.  He’s got a strong mind.  He’s resilient.  He’s got an amazing gas tank.  He can strike.  He can wrestle.  He’s got world-class jiu-jitsu, and he’s a nasty bastard on top of it.”

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

In the main event of UFC 301, the flyweight title is up for grabs as Alexandre Pantoja looks to defend his belt against Steve Erceg. Heading into the fight, Pantoja is a -200 favorite while the challenger is a +154 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the flyweight title fight. The pros are unanimous in thinking Pantoja will remain the flyweight champ as they believe this is too big of a step up in competition for Erceg.

Curtis Calhoun - May 1, 2024

BMF titleholder Max Holloway wasn’t one to hold animosity toward other UFC fighters, until Ilia Topuria claimed the featherweight throne. Holloway earned the BMF belt by knocking out Justin Gaethje with one second left at UFC 300 last month. The win was his first career UFC lightweight victory and opened up many options for his next fight.

Curtis Calhoun - May 1, 2024

Former UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski detailed how Steve Erceg can drop jaws and secure the flyweight belt at UFC 301. Erceg will face UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja in the UFC 301 main event on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. The No. 10 flyweight got the title shot despite a small sample size inside the UFC Octagon, capped off by a recent knockout of Matt Schnell.

Josh Evanoff - May 1, 2024

It appears that UFC light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has better wrestling than Daniel Cormier believed. ‘Poatan’ is fresh off his return to the cage in the main event of UFC 300 last month. In the headliner of the historic event, Alex Pereria faced former champion Jamahal Hill. Ultimately, it took the Brazilian less than a round to knock out ‘Sweet Dreams’. However, Hill later stated that Herb Dean’s refereeing played a role in the defeat.

Cole Shelton - May 1, 2024

Jose Aldo got into a heated faceoff with Jonathan Martinez ahead of his return to the Octagon at UFC 301 on Saturday. Aldo is set to face Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event of UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It marks his first MMA fight since August of 2022 when he lost a decision to Merab Dvalishvili. Since then, the UFC allowed Aldo to take boxing fights, as he had three of them, but he will fight out his contract on Saturday.

Susan Cox - May 1, 2024

David Feldman is confirming that Conor McGregor will have ‘a lot to say’ in future BKFC operations. The announcement came this past Saturday, April 27th during the BKFC KnuckleMania 4 broadcast, that Conor McGregor is now a part owner in the promotion.

Susan Cox - May 1, 2024

UFC flyweight contender Manel Kape is sending a warning to former middleweight title holder Israel Adesanya. Manel Kape (19-6 MMA) is sporting 4 victories in a row, his latest unanimous decision win coming against Felipe dos Santos (8-1 MMA) last September at UFC 293.

Susan Cox - May 1, 2024

Alex Volkanovski is telling Ilia Topuria to step up and start acting like a champion. The undefeated Topuria is the current UFC featherweight champion.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 1, 2024

Excitement is brewing as top-ranked contenders Nico Carrillo and Saemapetch Fairtex gear up to face each other in a thrilling bantamweight Muay Thai showdown. This happens at ONE Fight Night 23 on Prime Video. The event airs live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on July 5.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 1, 2024

Sean Climaco’s face beams with excitement as he gears up for his ONE Championship debut. The Filipino-American sensation makes his maiden appearance at ONE Fight Night 22 on Prime Video this Friday, May 3. There, he squares off against Josue Cruz in a flyweight Muay Thai bout.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 1, 2024

Halil Amir has one goal in mind this Friday, May 3 — to shake up ONE Championship’s featherweight MMA division. The Turkish fighter moves down a weight class to face Akbar Abdullaev at ONE Fight Night 22 on Prime Video. This U.S. primetime event takes place at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2024

Muhammad Mokaev has called out the updated UFC flyweight rankings as Alex Perez jumps above him in the pecking order. As we know, Muhammad Mokaev is a rising force of nature in the UFC’s flyweight division. The youngster fully believes he has what it takes to become a world champion, and with an unbeaten 12-0 record, the future certainly looks bright. With that being said, there’s a lot of uncertainty in the air right now when it comes to the title picture.

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2024

Daniel Cormier has questioned how much of a say Ilia Topuria has in his potential showdown with Max Holloway. Since knocking out Alexander Volkanovski, Ilia Topuria has been enjoying life as one of the UFC’s biggest new stars. He’s a huge name in Spain, he’s the featherweight champion of the world, and he has plenty of fighters calling him out.

Harry Kettle - May 1, 2024

UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria wants to become one of the highest paid athletes in the world next year. Right now, Ilia Topuria is living his best life. He’s the king of the featherweights, he’s a huge name in Spain, and his star power continues to grow every day. Of course, many are currently questioning what’s next for him, especially with talks of a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski dying down.