MMA News

BJ Penn Staff - July 3, 2025

Dustin Poirier has some interesting plans for life after the UFC. Poirier is one of the best lightweights in MMA history, and could well be destined for a spot in the UFC Hall of Fame. Later this month, in the main event of UFC 318 in New Orleans, he’ll fight for a final time, with plans to hang up the gloves win, lose or draw. His opponent will be former featherweight champ Max Holloway.

BJ Penn Staff - July 3, 2025

If you ask Chael Sonnen, Ilia Topuria should already have three UFC titles—not two. Topuria is undefeated at 17-0. His last three wins have been particularly impressive. First, he knocked out featherweight legend Alexander Volkanovski to claim that division’s title. Then he defended the featherweight belt with a knockout o another legend in Max Holloway—who had never been stopped with strikes before. He then vacated the featherweight belt, and moved up to lightweight, where he knocked out a third legend in Charles Oliveira to claim the division’s vacant title.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 2, 2025

Seven years of grinding has led Johanna Persson to this moment. Now she just needs to seize it. The Swedish striker challenges reigning ONE Women’s Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues at ONE Fight Night 33 on Friday, July 11, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. For Persson, the title shot represents the culmination of everything she’s worked toward.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 2, 2025

Confidence isn’t something Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg lacks heading into his next assignment. The question is whether he can back it up. The Mongolian striker faces Filipino prospect Jhanlo Mark Sangiao in bantamweight MMA action at ONE Fight Night 33 on Friday, July 11, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. For Zoltsetseg, the bout represents a chance to silence critics after his recent setback.

Cole Shelton - July 2, 2025

Belal Muhammad believes he did more than enough to beat Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. Muhammad was looking to defend his welterweight title for the first time, but dropped a decision to Della Maddalena. The Aussie was able to land the more damaging shots to get the win. However, after watching it back multiple times, Muhammad feels like he did enough to get the win.

BJ Penn Staff - July 2, 2025

Colby Covington only wants the biggest names possible in the UFC from here. Covington, known as much for his virulent trash talk as he is for his fighting ability, is one of the best welterweights of this generation. However, he has now lost his last two fights, and is 2-3 dating back 2020. Given his recent losses, and the fact that he is now 37, most fans feel his career is winding down.

BJ Penn Staff - July 2, 2025

Bo Nickal is shifting gears after his first UFC loss. Nickal, a decorated amateur wrestler, started 2025 as one of the hottest prospects in the UFC. Then he ran into Reinier de Ridder. De Ridder, a former ONE Championship titleholder, absolutely dominated Nickal when they met in early May, handing the wrestling specialist his first MMA loss with a second-round TKO.

BJ Penn Staff - July 2, 2025

Renato Moicano knows he needs to get better after his UFC 317 loss to Beneil Dariush. Moicano met Dariush on the event’s main card. At the time, Dariush was ranked No. 9 at lightweight, and Moicano No. 11, so it was a big fight for the division. It was also Moicano’s opportunity to rebound from a quick loss to Islam Makhachev in a short-notice title fight earlier this year.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 2, 2025

A former Conor McGregor foe believes he will be making his way back to the UFC. Going into his July 19, 2014 bout, McGregor’s stock was already rising. He had been sidelined for almost a full year following an ACL injury during his meeting with Max Holloway. McGregor’s ended up scoring a first-round TKO finish over Diego Brandao.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 2, 2025

One top-ranked UFC lightweight has pinned blame on Joe Rogan for the staredown between Ilia Topuria and Paddy Pimblett. Topuria is fresh off another stellar knockout victory, capturing the UFC Lightweight Championship in the process. It didn’t take long for “El Matador” to find Charles Oliveira’s chin, scoring the first-round finish. After the bout, Pimblett was brought inside the Octagon for a faceoff with Topuria. The newly minted UFC 155-pound titleholder shoved “The Baddy” before security broke things up.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 2, 2025

A former UFC titleholder believes Ilia Topuria’s run has surpassed Conor McGregor’s. Topuria has dazzled fans with his last three performances. “El Matador” captured the UFC Featherweight Championship by knocking Alexander Volkanovski out. He followed that up by becoming the first fighter to put Max Holloway to sleep. Then, at UFC 317, Topuria scored a first-round knockout victory over Charles Oliveira to become the new UFC Lightweight Champion.

BJPENN.COM Staff - July 1, 2025

Success hasn’t made Shadow Singha Mawynn forget where he came from. If anything, it’s made those memories more vivid. The #3-ranked featherweight Muay Thai contender faces Mohamed Younes Rabah at ONE Fight Night 33 on Friday, July 11, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. For the 25-year-old Thai striker, the bout represents validation of a journey that seemed impossible just years ago.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 1, 2025

Paddy Pimblett had a harsh assessment of Charles Oliveira’s knockout loss against Ilia Topuria. Oliveira and Topuria collided for the vacant UFC Lightweight Championship this past Saturday. A counter elbow from Oliveira early on landed before the fight briefly went to the ground. “El Matador” didn’t appear to be in serious danger when Oliveira grabbed a hold of his leg. When the fight returned to the feet, Topuria unloaded with a right hook, followed by a left to score the knockout win.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 1, 2025

Belal Muhammad isn’t exactly sold that Kamaru Usman wants to fight him. There is history between Muhammad and “The Nigerian Nightmare.” The two were involved in a scuffle during an unaired episode of the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. Since that incident, both men have traded barbs online and through interviews.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 1, 2025

Dustin Poirier has offered his assessment of a clash between Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev. Plans are in place for Maddalena to put the UFC Welterweight Championship at stake against Makhachev at some point in the coming months. While the date hasn’t been confirmed, Dana White admitted to media members that a New York City card in November might be a good landing spot for Maddalena vs. Makhachev.

Harry Kettle - July 1, 2025

UFC flyweight contender Tracy Cortez is disappointed she didn’t get the finish against Viviane Araújo at UFC 317 last weekend. For the longest time now, Tracy Cortez has been seen as a legitimate title threat in the women’s flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, after falling short in an outing against Rose Namajunas, some questioned whether or not she’d ever be able to win the big one.

Harry Kettle - July 1, 2025

Terrance McKinney isn’t fully satisfied despite his quick, impressive submission win over Viacheslav Borshchev at UFC 317. As we know, Terrance McKinney is a pretty interesting prospect in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He’s had some incredible highlight reel moments since first singing for the promotion, but in equal measure, he’s also had his fair share of setbacks.

Harry Kettle - July 1, 2025

UFC bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili has provided an update on the next time he steps into the Octagon. As we know, Merab Dvalishvili is easily one of the best fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship today. He is the king of the bantamweight division and after successfully defending his belt against Sean O’Malley, many have started to call him the greatest bantamweight of all time.