MMA News

Cole Shelton - August 14, 2025

Drakkar Klose will be fighting with his brother on his mind again. Late last year, his brother was murdered, and Klose took his last fight to try and get his mind off of it. However, Klose admits that he wasn’t fully there and needed to take time to grieve. Now, he’s booked to return against Edson Barboza at UFC 319.

Dylan Bowker - August 14, 2025

Alex Pereira has made demonstrable improvements in his anti-wrestling, but a former UFC veteran still doesn’t think it’s enough to make a Magomed Ankalaev rematch play out any differently than their first fight. Pereira vs. Ankalaev 2 is set for UFC 320 on October 4th, with the former looking to claim light heavyweight gold once again from the man who took it from him. Krzysztof Jotko touched upon this UFC 205 pound championship rematch during an interview on Bowks Talking Bouts ahead of his eventual Oktagon 74 win that saw him advance in the Tipsport Gamechanger tournament. Going through Jotko’s X page circa February 2022, Jotko mentioned then that months prior, he had agreed to fight Pereira, only for ‘Poatan’ to end up fighting Bruno Silva towards the end of 2021.

Dylan Bowker - August 14, 2025

Cory Sandhagen is preparing to take on a man that many see as the greatest bantamweight in MMA history. But a training partner of Sandhagen’s sees him emerging with UFC gold in devastating fashion. Cory Sandhagen will do battle with reigning 135-pound titleholder Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 320 in October. Justin Wetzell is a long time training partner of Sandhagen’s and has a chance himself to snag major gold tomorrow night. Wetzell will clash with Marcirley Alves in the PFL 2025 bantamweight tournament finals on August 15th. Justin Wetzell appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts, and when talking about his iron sharpens iron relationship with the upcoming UFC title challenger as gym compatriots, Wetzell said, “Yeah, definitely. I don’t know if I told you this but I’ve told a couple people. When I moved out to Denver, Cory was the very first person I sparred and he beat the s**t out of me. I was like well, I moved to the right place.” “There’s a lot to learn from here. So yeah, he’s been a phenomenal, pivotal part of my career, man. What’s cool is you’re going to see the PFL belt and the UFC belt in the same room in the same year. Let’s go.” When asked about how he sees Cory Sandhagen getting it done against Merab Dvalishvili when they fight in the Fall, Wetzell stated, “I could see a Cory Sandhagen flying knee. I’ll just leave it at that.” Cory Sandhagen being due for one, thoughts on the rhetoric that Merab Dvalishvili is the MMA bantamweight GOAT Referencing Sandhagen’s prior finish of Frankie Edgar inside the UFC octagon while utilizing this same technique, Wetzell quipped,

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 14, 2025

Could Lerone Murphy and Aaron Pico be fighting for a crack at UFC gold? The two will collide in the co-main event of UFC 319 on Saturday. Pico was initially linked to a showdown with Movsar Evloev, but he will instead get another unbeaten contender in Murphy. As far as the stakes of the matchup are concerned, Murphy doesn’t buy into the rankings talk.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 14, 2025

One prominent UFC 319 fighter won’t be doubting Dricus du Plessis any longer if he retains his gold on Saturday. It’ll be a big night for “Stillknocks,” who is attempting to make a third successful title defense. Standing in his way is the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev, who has looked dominant throughout his career with a couple of exceptions. Chimaev is the slight betting favorite going into the bout, as one can never count out his ability to take his opponent down and finish the fight early.

BJ Penn Staff - August 14, 2025

NBA star Kristaps Porzingis is planning on trying his hand at MMA when his basketball career concludes. Porzingis, from Latvia, currently plays as a power forward and center for the Atlanta Hawks. Outside of his career with the NBA, he is a big MMA fan. So much so that he intends to pursue a second career in the sport in the future.

Cole Shelton - August 14, 2025

UFC 319 has taken a hit as Diego Ferreira vs King Green will no longer be taking place. Ferreira informed BJPENN.com that the fight was off, but he isn’t sure why. The Brazilian says he was already at 162lbs and the weight cut was ahead of schedule.

Harry Kettle - August 14, 2025

Dricus du Plessis believes he’ll be getting closer to middleweight GOAT status if he’s able to defeat Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319. On Saturday night, Dricus du Plessis will defend his UFC middleweight championship against Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC 319. While many believe he’s more than capable of picking up the win, they’d also acknowledge that Chimaev is a different kind of beast to anyone he’s fought in the past.

Harry Kettle - August 14, 2025

Carlos Prates believes he’ll be right back in the mix with the top welterweight contenders if he can defeat Geoff Neal. As we know, the welterweight division is absolutely stacked right now. There are so many top guys at 170 pounds and with Islam Makhachev being set to make his debut in the weight class soon, it’s only going to get better. One man who is seen as a pretty interesting contender is Carlos Prates, who most recently fell to a tight loss against Ian Machado Garry.

Harry Kettle - August 14, 2025

UFC boss Dana White has spoken about some of the challenges that the promotion faces for its proposed UFC White House event. As we know, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is very interested in putting on an event at the White House next summer. It’d be done in order to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, and it’s clear that US president Donald Trump is very invested in the idea too. The same, of course, can be said for Dana White.

BJPENN.COM Staff - August 13, 2025

Major championship gold gets unified when Prajanchai PK Saenchai settles his score with Jonathan Di Bella. The strawweight kickboxing rivals receive their long-awaited rematch opportunity after their classic first encounter left questions unanswered. Prajanchai defends his ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title against interim champion Di Bella at ONE Fight Night 36 on Prime Video on Friday, October 3, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium. The event airs live in U.S. primetime featuring the highly anticipated unification showdown.

BJPENN.COM Staff - August 13, 2025

Yodlekpet Or Atchariya refuses to let inconsistency define his career any longer. The Thai veteran believes his last spectacular knockout victory represents a turning point rather than just another highlight. Yodlekpet faces Pompet Panthonggym at ONE Friday Fights 120 on August 15 inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium. The 30-year-old striker enters riding momentum from his ferocious first-round finish at ONE Friday Fights 113 after enduring back-to-back setbacks.

Dylan Bowker - August 13, 2025

Luke Rockhold recently ranted about the sport of bare knuckle fighting with one of BKB’s champions offering up a response to those criticisms from the former UFC champion. Khortni Kamyron prepares to make history and become BKB’s first ever two division champion among women’s fighters. She will get this chance when she battles Paty Juarez in a rematch for the BKB lightweight crown at BKB 44: Denver Brawl V on August 16th.

Cole Shelton - August 13, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis is looking to make Khamzat Chimaev quit at UFC 319 to retain his middleweight title. Du Plessis is headlining UFC 319 on Saturday in Chicago against Chimaev in a highly anticipated fight. Heading into the bout, Du Plessis is the betting underdog, as many expect Chimaev to finish him early. However, the South African has confidence he will be able to outwork Chimaev and tire him out to make him quit.

Dylan Bowker - August 13, 2025

Mike Perry will be making his long-awaited BKFC return after over a year outside of their squared circle. He will be taking on someone who has been in the crosshairs of Conor McGregor a time or two. Mike Perry will headline BKFC’s first event in the state of New Jersey. ‘Platinum’ is set to knuckle up and toe the line against Jeremy Stephens. ‘The King of Violence’ will throw down with Stephens in a clash at 175 pounds. This headlining bout is set for October 4th in Newark. The announcement was made official earlier today during The Ariel Helwani Show. That program featured BKFC promotional figurehead, David Feldman as a featured guest to announce it. Perry embarks on his return to the world of gloveless combat after his last fight for BKFC in April 2024. That outing saw Perry finish former BKFC titleholder Thiago Alves at KnuckleMania IV.

Dylan Bowker - August 13, 2025

Sean Strickland received a suspension from Nevada for a June incident that saw him storm the cage in hot pursuit of a fighter who taunted him and a former UFC opponent of Strickland has offered his thoughts on this situation. Strickland was serving as a corner person for Miles Hunsinger, who he coaches, but when Hunsigner’s opponent Luis Hernandez taunted Strickland, the former UFC middleweight champion encroached into his space to get physical. Krzysztof Jotko appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts ahead of his recent Oktagon 74 fight and touched on this recent suspension that was levied to his former UFC adversary, Strickland. When expounding upon his thoughts on the Strickland suspension situation, Krzysztof Jotko said,

Cole Shelton - August 13, 2025

Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev ran into each other at the fighter hotel ahead of UFC 319. Du Plessis is set to defend his middleweight title in the main event of UFC 319 against Chimaev in a highly anticipated bout. In the lead-up, both have vowed they will finish the other, as both are confident.

Cole Shelton - August 13, 2025

Aaron Pico is continuing to take shots at UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Pico is set to make his promotional debut in the co-main event of UFC 319 against Lerone Murphy. Ahead of his debut, Pico has taken shots at Volkanovski as he’s been confident he will be the one to dethrone the champ.