MMA News

Harry Kettle - January 23, 2026

UFC flyweight contender Natalia Silva doesn’t believe Valentina Shevchenko would be able to defeat her if they fought. Tonight, Natalia Silva will go head to head with Rose Namajunas in one of the biggest fights on the UFC 324 card. The expectation for many is that the winner will go on to challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC women’s flyweight championship, and as you can imagine, there’s a lot of excitement over the possibility of Rose getting that shot given her popularity and pedigree in the sport.

Curtis Calhoun - January 23, 2026

UFC bantamweight prospect Cameron Smotherman shared a message with fans after a horrifying incident at the UFC 324 weigh-in. UFC fans have waited weeks for fights, and we’re just hours away from the promotion’s hiatus concluding this Saturday at UFC 324. The card is headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between fan favorites Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett.

Curtis Calhoun - January 23, 2026

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping was at the center of an ironic moment as a scary incident played out at the UFC 324 weigh-in. UFC 324 marks the promotion’s long-awaited return to action after more than a full month’s hiatus. Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will fight for the interim lightweight title in the main event, on a card featuring many top names on the prelims and front end of the main card.

Curtis Calhoun - January 23, 2026

The bad blood between top UFC lightweight contenders Dan Hooker and Paddy Pimblett continues to boil ahead of Pimblett’s fight at UFC 324. UFC lightweight star Paddy Pimblett is hours away from the biggest fight of his career this Saturday at UFC 324. Pimblett and UFC fan favorite Justin Gaethje will square off for the interim UFC lightweight title in the first UFC main event of the year.

Curtis Calhoun - January 23, 2026

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn continued his rivalry with UFC CEO Dana White by predicting a tumultuous first year of Zuffa Boxing. Ahead of the UFC’s return to action on Saturday with UFC 324, Zuffa Boxing will host its inaugural event on Friday night at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas. Dana White has his hands full this week as he balances Zuffa Boxing’s official launch with the UFC’s first event of 2026.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - January 23, 2026

Daniel Cormier could not believe what he was seeing when Charles Johnson stepped on the scale for the UFC 324 weigh-ins. Johnson’s weight certainly wasn’t the issue, as he made the 126-pound limit for his flyweight clash against Alex Perez. Johnson’s opponent couldn’t say the same, as he was over the weight limit and has been forced to relinquish 25 percent of his fight purse.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 23, 2026

ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane welcomed social media superstar IShowSpeed to Senegal the only way he knows how. With sand beneath their feet and drums echoing across the pit. The Senegalese heavyweight linked up with the famous YouTuber during a stop in Dakar. It was part of Speed’s “Speed Does Africa” series touring 20 African nations. The ONE World Champion gave the American streamer a crash course in Mbapatte. It’s the traditional Senegalese martial art also known as Laamb that shaped his path to championship gold.

Curtis Calhoun - January 23, 2026

UFC strawweight veteran Tecia Pennington has reportedly been removed from the roster after losses in three of her past five fights. Women’s MMA has come a long way since UFC strawweight veteran Tecia Pennington made her promotional debut in 2014.

Curtis Calhoun - January 23, 2026

UFC bantamweight prospect Cameron Smotherman was at the center of one of the promotion’s scariest weigh-in moments ahead of UFC 324. UFC 324 is hours away as the first card of 2026 is upon us. In the UFC 324 main event, lightweight contenders Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett will battle it out for the interim lightweight championship amidst Ilia Topuria’s indefinite hiatus.

Cole Shelton - January 23, 2026

Adam Fugitt admits he was surprised he got offered to fight on UFC 324, which is the first card of the Paramount era. Fugitt is set to take on Ty Miller to open up the card in an intriguing fight at welterweight. Given that Fugitt is 2-3 in the UFC, he admits he was surprised he got booked to fight on the Paramount debut card.

Harry Kettle - January 23, 2026

Waldo Cortes-Acosta believes he could earn a spot on the UFC White House card with a win over Derrick Lewis. It’s safe to say that few fighters are as in-form right now as Waldo Cortes-Acosta, especially amongst heavyweight contenders. In 2025 alone, he was able to put together a 4-1 record, which included two quickfire wins in November over Ante Delija and Shamil Gaziev.

Harry Kettle - January 22, 2026

Arnold Allen has discussed the possibility of him getting a world title shot if he can defeat Jean Silva at UFC 324. While he may have been inactive for quite some time through injury, Arnold Allen is still a real player in the UFC’s featherweight division. Of course, he needs to go out there and prove that, which he’ll hope to go out there and do against Jean Silva on Saturday night.

Dylan Bowker - January 22, 2026

Chase Hooper will step back into the cage for a clash on the UFC Seattle card and takes on a former Bellator MMA combatant in what is Hooper’s first fight in his home state in many years. Lance Gibson Jr. will be standing across from Hooper in the cage on March 28th at Climate Pledge Arena at UFC Fight Night 271. This will be Hooper’s first time fighting in the state since 2018 and while Hooper comes from Washington state, Gibson Jr. was specifically born in Seattle. This is despite the Canadian combatant calling British Columbia home. The 9-2 professional MMA fighter will embark on his sophomore walk to the octagon after Gibson Jr. fell short in his UFC debut to King Green by way of a split decision just a few weeks back.

Dylan Bowker - January 22, 2026

Oleksandr Usyk is one of the most prominent names in the world of boxing today. One of the top pound-for-pound fighters within the sweet science may potentially be making moves towards Dana White’s new boxing outfit. As Zuffa Boxing prepares for its official launch effort on January 23rd, a report regarding the prolific Ukrainian fighter having some dialogue with White has emerged. The signing of Jai Opetaia was certainly a declarative statement for ZB’s presence on the boxing free agency market, but someone who has undisputed champion accolades in multiple divisions could shake up the landscape that much more. Many have been pointing out the lack of star power and the general lack of marketing footprint ahead of this Zuffa Boxing kickoff effort, but signing someone like Usyk would certainly bolster things in a big way.

Curtis Calhoun - January 22, 2026

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley apologized to Song Yadong after a controversial attire decision during a past faceoff. UFC 324 features plenty of intriguing storylines this weekend as Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett square off for the interim lightweight belt in the main event on Saturday. Gaethje vs. Pimblett will take place amidst Ilia Topuria’s ongoing hiatus from his title reign due to personal issues outside of the Octagon.

BJPENN.COM Staff - January 22, 2026

Marcos Aurelio carries an 8-0 record into his ONE Championship debut. But numbers mean nothing against what he believes truly matters. The 21-year-old Brazilian faces Filipino knockout artist Carlo Bumina-ang in bantamweight MMA at ONE Fight Night 39. This happens on Friday, January 23, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. The event broadcasts live in U.S. primetime on Amazon Prime Video.

Curtis Calhoun - January 22, 2026

UFC CEO Dana White doubled down on his disinterest in granting Michael Chandler his long-awaited fight with Conor McGregor. Michael Chandler has waited almost four full years since he initially called out Conor McGregor after a loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 281.

Cole Shelton - January 22, 2026

Derrick Lewis doesn’t understand why he’s fighting Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC 324. Although Cortes-Acosta is ranked ahead of Lewis, ‘The Black Beast’ doesn’t think highly of his opponent. Lewis also can’t believe he’s the underdog, as he believes Cortes-Acosta doesn’t even belong in the Octagon with him.