MMA News

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

Yair Rodriguez and Zabit Magomedsharipov will have to wait a little longer to fight one another. The two have been linked to fighting one another for quite some time, and on Aug. 29 in the main event, they were expected to finally meet. Yet, on Tuesday evening, Mexican outlet Milenio, reported Rodriguez is out of the fight. Dana White later confirmed at the post-fight press conference following the Contender Series.

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.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

Beneil Dariush was looking to be fighting a ranked opponent but unfortunately did not get his wish. Dariush, who is currently ranked 14th at lightweight, is riding a four-fight winning streak and coming off a spectacular KO win over Drakkar Klose at UFC 248. It was a phenomenal finish. Looking back at it, the timing of that fight couldn’t have been any more perfect.

Adam Martin - August 4, 2020

UFC president Dana White is unsure who will be the next opponent for welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev and he isn’t sure it will be a top-15 fighter. Chimaev defeated John Phillips and Rhys McKee in dominant fashion on Fight Island, setting a record for the fewest time (10 days) to collect two wins in the modern UFC era. Chimaev took no damage in both fights and has told White and the UFC that he hopes to fight against in August, potentially at UFC 252: Miocic vs. Cormier 3.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

Red-hot UFC welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev has a bold prediction for a potential fight with long-time contender Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. Speaking to Chael Sonnen in a video posted to YouTube, Chimaev opened up on a potential fight with Cerrone. While he admitted there’s been no discussions about this matchup, he’s confident he’d win it in the first or second round if it happened.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s UFC on ESPN+ 31 card, and as always, there have been some significant changes. Most notably, long-time UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson has taken a nice climb up his division’s rankings after springing the upset on the formerly unbeaten Edmen Shahbazyan in the card’s main event.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

UFC flyweight contender Tim Elliott has issued a statement after testing positive for marijuana on an in-competition for his May 30 fight with Brandon Royval. On Monday, ESPN’s Marc Raimondi reported that both Tim Elliott and Jamahal Hill tested positive for marijuana, and are facing discipline from the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Both have been handed temporary suspensions by the commission, and could ultimately be hit with nine-month suspensions. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), could also issue suspensions, but has not yet decided if it will take action.

Adam Martin - August 4, 2020

UFC president Dana White says his promotion is planning on having five more weeks of events on Fight Island. The UFC just finished its first foray on Fight Island on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi during the month of July and it was a huge success. The UFC held a total of four events within a two-week span, including a massive pay-per-view in UFC 251: Usman vs. Masvidal that did 1.3 million buys. White had been saying for months leading into it that Fight Island would be big for his company, but it was even bigger than anyone could have expected.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

Ali Abdelaziz, the CEO of MMA management firm Dominance MMA, says that undefeated lightweight prospect Usman Nurmagomedov is even better than his cousin, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. Speaking to Andy Whitelaw of Asian MMA, Abdelaziz was asked to identify the brightest prospects he currently represents—prospects like Khamzat Chimaev, who recently burst into the limelight in the UFC.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

UFC President Dana White says he’s completely supportive of his friend, 54-year-old heavyweight boxing legend Mike Tyson, making a comeback for an exhibition fight with Roy Jones Jr. Originally, White was outwardly opposed to the notion of Tyson fighting again.

Cole Shelton - August 4, 2020

The fifth episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC Vegas 6. Host Cole Shelton is first joined 10th ranked heavyweight, Alexey Oleynik (1:38). Next, 14th ranked lightweight, Beneil Dariush comes on (14:22). Then, UFC lightweight, Scott Holtzman (31:03) joins the program. Finally, eighth-ranked bantamweight, Yana Kunitskaya (49:21) is the final guest of the episode.

Tom Taylor - August 4, 2020

Long-time UFC bantamweight competitor Frankie Saenz is not happy about the circumstances of his most recent loss. Saenz competed on last Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 31 card, taking on Jonathan Martinez. Regrettably, Martinez missed the 136-pound bantamweight limit by a whopping 4.5 pounds—enough of a gap for Saenz to consider rejecting the fight, which would have been within his rights.

Harry Kettle - August 4, 2020

Former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier prefers his rivalry with Stipe Miocic to his intense rivalry with light heavyweight king Jon Jones. Back in July 2018 at UFC 226, Cormier shocked the world when he knocked Miocic out in the first round to claim the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Then, 14 months later, Miocic got his revenge by knocking Cormier out in the rematch to reclaim the title.

Natasha Hooper - August 4, 2020

Nate Diaz has a message for his former opponent Conor McGregor: “sit your ass down” until 2021. Conor McGregor announced his retirement from the sport earlier this year. UFC president Dana White is convinced that he will return to the Octagon at some point but doesn’t believe it will be any time this year.

Adam Martin - August 3, 2020

UFC president Dana White once again confirmed Conor McGregor is retiring, saying that he “guarantees” that McGregor will not fight again in 2020. McGregor is the biggest superstar in MMA but he announced that he had lost passion for the sport and would be taking a break. UFC president Dana White has confirmed multiple times that the UFC superstar is retired, but that hasn’t stopped fans and media from speculating he could return. Still, White has remained adamant that McGregor is retired.

Cole Shelton - August 3, 2020

Jon Jones will remain the UFC’s light heavyweight champion according to Dana White. After defending his belt against Dominick Reyes at UFC 247, Jones became frustrated with the UFC. He wanted to move up to heavyweight to fight Francis Ngannou but the UFC didn’t pay what he wanted.