MMA News

Cole Shelton - August 5, 2020

Stipe Miocic believes a fight between Jon Jones will happen. For quite a few years now, many fans have called for Jones to move up to heavyweight. Yet, he has been reluctant to do until recently when he called for a scrap against Francis Ngannou. The UFC did not want to pay Jones what he wanted and now he said he will sit out for a couple of years if that is needed.

Cole Shelton - August 5, 2020

Scott Holtzman is looking to be the latest fighter to knock out Beneil Dariush. On the main card of UFC Vegas 6, Holtzman is getting the chance to fight a ranked opponent in Beneil Dariush. It is an interesting matchup and “Hot Sauce” believes it is the perfect next step after beating Jim Miller last time out.

Cole Shelton - August 5, 2020

Zabit Magomedsharipov is not happy with Yair Rodriguez for pulling out of their scheduled main event scrap on August 29. Magomedsharipov and Rodriguez have been linked to a fight for quite some time and were finally expected to meet on August 29 in Las Vegas. Yet, on Tuesday evening, Dana White confirmed that Rodriguez is out of the fight citing the Mexican having a high ankle sprain and a fracture.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

UFC middleweight Marc-Andre Barriault has tested positive for ostarine, but maintains he didn’t knowingly ingest the banned substance. Barriault failed a drug test surrounding his June 20 knockout win over Oskar Piechota.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Birmingham’s Leon Edwards has set his crosshairs on fellow welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal, pegging the potential pairing as “the only fight that makes sense” if he’s not given a title shot. Edwards called for a fight with Masvidal on Instagram on Wednesday afternoon.

Adam Martin - August 5, 2020

Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza admitted that she’s interested in fighting current champ Weili Zhang for the belt. Esparza is coming off of four straight wins over Marina Rodriguez, Michelle Waterson, Alexa Grasso, and Virna Jandiroba. She is 8-4 overall in the UFC and is a former TUF winner and was the first-ever UFC women’s strawweight champion. But since losing her belt to Joanna Jedrzejczyk back in 2015, Esparza has essentially acted as a gatekeeper at 115lbs. After reeling off four straight wins, “The Cookie Monster” now wants that to change.

Adam Martin - August 5, 2020

The full betting odds have been released for all 12 fights scheduled to take place this Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 32: Lewis vs. Oleinik event. In the main event, the No. 4 ranked heavyweight Derrick Lewis takes on No. 10 ranked Aleksei Oleinik. Lewis has won two straight fights over Ilir Latifi and Blagoy Ivanov, while Oleinik is coming off of back-to-back wins over Maurice Greene and Fabricio Werdum. Lewis is a knockout artist and Oleinik is a submission master, meaning this is a true two-outcome fight. It should be interesting to see what happens in this fun heavyweight main event.

Adam Martin - August 5, 2020

UFC president Dana White explained why he is giving light heavyweight Dustin Jacoby a second chance to fight in the Octagon. Jacoby defeated Ty Flores via lopsided unanimous decision in the main event of Tuesday night’s Contender Series, winning the fight with scores of 30-26, 29-27, and 29-27. White usually only hands out contracts to fighters on the show who get the finish, so it was perhaps a bit of a surprise when he announced that Jacoby would be given a contract. Along with Jacoby, lightweight prospects Jordan Leavitt and Uros Medic also earned deals.

Cole Shelton - August 5, 2020

In the main event of Bellator 243, Michael Chandler and Benson Henderson are having a rematch nearly four years in the making. The first fight took place in 2016 where Chandler won a split decision. Heading into the rematch, Chandler is a -235 favorite while the former UFC champion is a +185 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros believe the three-time Bellator lightweight champion in Chandler will get his hand raised again.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Jorge Masvidal and Cody Henderson had an interesting staredown ahead of their Cornhole League showdown, which goes down tonight on ESPN 2. See the pair come face-to-face—with a guest appearance from Masvidal’s son—below.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who is now 1-5 in his last six fights, knows he needs a win when he fights Omari Akhmedov at UFC Vegas 6 this weekend. Speaking to MMA Fighting ahead of this high-stakes bout, Weidman opened up on his recent struggles.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson is now firmly embedded as a member of the ONE Championship roster, but he’s still routinely called out by UFC fighters. Most recently, Johnson was called out by Deiveson Figueiredo, who captured the vacant UFC flyweight title with a win over Joseph Benavidez in July.

Natasha Hooper - August 5, 2020

Ed Herman is ready to punch Kevin Holland in the face for his comments regarding their possible last-minute fight. The middleweight veteran Ed Herman could’ve fought Kevin Holland at UFC Vegas 5 last weekend after Holland’s opponent, Trevin Giles, fainted and the bout was called off. Likewise, Herman’s fight against Gerald Meerschaert was canceled because his opponent tested positive for COVID-19. Despite the apparent possibility of a matchup, “Short Fuse” revealed that he was told by that they couldn’t find a replacement.

Tom Taylor - August 5, 2020

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) will bring the action closer to fans once again with the release of a brand-new OTT platform. The premium content service—which will be free—was announced by the promotion on Tuesday, providing fight fans around the world with hundreds of hours of viewing from the first organization to offer MMA through a regular season, playoff and championship format.

Natasha Hooper - August 5, 2020

Paulo Costa recently proved it isn’t just his striking power that Israel Adesanya needs to look out for, it’s speed too. The middleweight standout proclaimed “I’m a beast now” as he stepped up his training ahead of his title fight against Adesanya at UFC 253 on September 19. With the help of his Muay Thai coach Felipe Reis and his boxing coach Edvaldo Badola, the top contender showcased his speed and power as he uncorked 23 kicks in 12 seconds.

Adam Martin - August 4, 2020

UFC featherweight contender Calvin Kattar has offered to step in on short notice and fight Zabit Magomedsharipov later this month. Magomedsharipov was expected to fight Yair Rodriguez in a potential No. 1 contender fight in the UFC featherweight division in the main event of a UFC Fight Night event on August 29. Unfortunately, this fight seems cursed. The UFC has tried to book it in the past but for one reason or another, it hasn’t come to fruition, and it won’t this time, either. On Tuesday, UFC president Dana White revealed that Rodriguez is injured and out of the fight.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Conor McGregor is not a fan of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s strategy for his upcoming bout against Justin Gaethje. Nurmagomedov is returning to the Octagon at UFC 254 on October 24 to take on the Gaethje. It is a fascinating fight where many believe “The Highlight” poses a big threat to the undefeated Dagestani champion.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Daniel Cormier makes it clear he is not trying to poke Stipe Miocic in the eye on purpose. In their first fight, Cormier got the KO win shortly after a break due to an eye poke. And, in the second bout, there was a couple of eye pokes as well. So, many fans have called him a dirty fighter and Miocic already said he will tell the ref to watch out for them.