MMA News
UFC rankings update: Jorge Masvidal falls, Petr Yan makes pound-for-pound entrance
Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020
The official UFC rankings have been update in the wake of Saturday’s UFC 251 card in Abu Dhabi, an as expected after such a huge card, there have been some key changes. Most notably, Jorge Masvidal, who came up short to UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in the UFC 251 main event, took a one-spot tumble down the welterweight rankings. He’s found a new home behind England’s Leon Edwards.
Chael Sonnen thinks Max Holloway beat Alex Volkanovski at UFC 251
Fernando Quiles - July 14, 2020
Chael Sonnen doesn’t believe there was a robbery at UFC 251 but he does think Max Holloway deserved the nod over Alex Volkanovski. In the co-main event of UFC 251, Holloway challenged Volkanovski in a rematch for the featherweight championship. Volkanovski captured the 145-pound gold back in Dec. 2019 with a unanimous decision win over “Blessed.” In the rematch, “The Great” had a tougher time with Holloway but was able to secure the split decision victory.
Fabricio Werdum says he gave stitches to Alexander Gustafsson in past sparring session
Adam Martin - July 14, 2020
UFC heavyweight Fabricio Werdum says he gave stitches to Alexander Gustafsson during a past sparring session between the two rivals. Werdum meets Gustafsson in an intriguing heavyweight bout at a UFC Fight Island event on July 25. Gustafsson will be moving up to heavyweight for the first time in his UFC career and will be looking to bounce back from a submission loss to Anthony Smith last June. As for Werdum, he recently returned to the Octagon with a split decision loss to Aleksei Oleinik at UFC 249 in what was a disappointing showing by the former UFC heavyweight champion.
Jessica Andrade is staying on Fight Island in hopes of taking a short-notice fight
Adam Martin - July 14, 2020
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade is staying on Fight Island in hopes of taking a short-notice fight in case someone falls off a card. Andrade lost a split decision to Rose Namajunas on the main card of UFC 251 in an entertaining bout that won her a share of “Fight of the Night” and a $50,000 bonus to boot. Although Andrade lost the decision on the judges’ scorecards, it was a very entertaining bout and it showed that she is still one of the top fighters in the division despite losing back-to-back fights to Namajunas and UFC women’s strawweight champion Weili Zhang.
Dana White reacts to UFC 251 PPV numbers, labels Jorge Masvidal a "massive star"
Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020
UFC President Dana White has reacted to the massive success of the UFC 251 card, which is reported to have done 1.3M pay-per-view buys. The card, which was headlined by a welterweight title fight between champion Kamaru Usman and short-notice challenger Jorge Masvidal, went down last Saturday on the UFC’s much-discussed Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
Sean O'Malley vs. Marlon Vera betting odds released for UFC 252
Adam Martin - July 14, 2020
The opening betting odds have been released for the UFC 252 main card, including the odds for the bantamweight fight between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera. The UFC officially announced the main card for UFC 252 during the UFC 251 broadcast. The promotion’s next pay-per-view event takes place on August 15 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event of the evening features the trilogy fight between UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic and rival Daniel Cormier. The odds for that bout were previously revealed last fall, with that fight opening as a Pick ’em.
Video | Jon Jones is bulking up during UFC hiatus
Harry Kettle - July 14, 2020
UFC’s light heavyweight king Jon Jones is clearly keeping himself in good shape during his time away from the Octagon. Jones, 32, has not fought since he successfully defended his Light Heavyweight Championship against Dominick Reyes in UFC 247’s controversial main event back in February. Ever since then, “Bones” has been embroiled in a feud with the UFC and Dana White regarding fighter pay.
Marlon Moraes tests positive for COVID-19 after accepting Cody Garbrandt fight
Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020
No. 1 UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes and his wife have both tested positive for COVID-19. His children, thankfully, both tested negative. Moraes announced this news to ESPN Brazil. The Brazilian finisher says he began to feel symptoms about 10 days ago.
Petr Yan targets October title fight with Aljamain Sterling
Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020
New UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan knows who he wants to fight in his first title defense, and when he wants to make that defense. The UFC bantamweight title became vacant when Henry Cejudo retired in May. The UFC moved to crown a new champion by booking a title fight between Yan and former featherweight champion Jose Aldo at last weekend’s UFC 251 card. In the end, Yan won this fight with a brutal, fifth-round stoppage, becoming the new bantamweight king.
Video | George St-Pierre is still in insane shape
Tom Taylor - July 14, 2020
Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre may be retired, but he’s still in truly phenomenal shape. St-Pierre flaunted his rippling physique and jaw-dropping athleticism in a recent post to Instagram, which will no doubt fuel another wave of speculation about his potential comeback.
Bellator veteran Jahreau Shepherd murdered at his 30th birthday party
Adam Martin - July 14, 2020
Bellator veteran Jahreau Shepherd was murdered this past weekend in London, England when he was stabbed to death at his 30th birthday party. Shepherd, known as “The Nightmare,” was celebrating his birthday by having a barbeque with friends and family at The Black Prince Estate in Kennington around 10 pm on Saturday when he was attacked. The Evening Standard reports that paramedics arrived on the scene but were not able to save the life of Shepherd, who was stabbed to death.
Just Scrap Radio Ep. 2 with Calvin Kattar, Dan Ige & Jack Hermansson
Cole Shelton - July 14, 2020
Just like the debut episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com the second show is a stacked one ahead of the July 15 and 18 Fight Island shows. Host Cole Shelton is first joined by sixth-ranked UFC featherweight Calvin Kattar (1:19). Then, 10th-ranked featherweight, Dan Ige (17:13) comes on, and the final guest is middleweight contender Jack Hermansson (38:28).
Video | Jorge Masvidal is back to training following UFC 251: “No rest for the wicked”
Natasha Hooper - July 14, 2020
Jorge Masvidal is already back to business following his UFC 251 loss to Kamaru Usman. In the main event of UFC 251 on UFC Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, the “BMF” winner faced off against the welterweight champion. Usman was originally expected to fight Gilbert Burns, but the title challenger tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced out of the contest.
Jorge Masvidal reacts after UFC 251 reportedly banks 1.3 million pay-per-view buys
Harry Kettle - July 14, 2020
UFC star Jorge Masvidal has reacted to the news that UFC 251 reportedly brought in 1.3 million pay-per-view buys on Saturday night. Everyone knew that the addition of “Gamebred” to the first Fight Island card was going to be big for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but few could’ve realistically imagined that it would be the biggest pay-per-view for the promotion since Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in October 2018 — as reported by The Athletic.
Abdul Razak Alhassan says he wanted "revenge" against rape accusers
Adam Martin - July 13, 2020
UFC welterweight Abdul Razak Alhassan says he wanted “revenge” against the rape accusers who caused him to lose nearly two prime years of his MMA career. Alhassan is one of the top welterweights in the UFC. The 34-year-old native of Ghana has a 10-1 record in his career including a 4-1 mark in the UFC, with all 10 of his career wins have come by knockout. In his last fight at UFC 228: Woodley vs. Till back in September 2018, he finished Niko Price in devastating fashion to jump into the welterweight title mix.
Ali Abdelaziz says he is banning ESPN and TSN from interviewing his fighters
Adam Martin - July 13, 2020
MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz says he is banning ESPN and TSN from any future interviews with his fighters who are part of Dominance MMA. ESPN is the UFC’s official broadcast partner and some of the top journalists in MMA work for the company, including Ariel Helwani, Marc Raimondi, Jeff Wagenheim, and Brett Okamoto. TSN is the top sporting media outlet in Canada and an affiliate of ESPN. Some of TSN’s talent include top journalist Aaron Bronsteter and Robin Black, who was recently nominated for a Fighter’s Only award as the best analyst of the year in mixed martial arts.
John McCarthy explains why Max Holloway was "jobbed" by the judges at UFC 251
Adam Martin - July 13, 2020
Legendary MMA official Big John McCarthy believes that Max Holloway was “jobbed” and should have won the UFC featherweight title against Alex Volkanovski. Holloway lost a narrow split decision to Volkanovski in his bid to re-capture the UFC featherweight crown that he lost to his rival Volkanovski back at UFC 245 last December. It appeared that Holloway had done enough to earn the nod, but two of the three judges scored the rematch in Volkanovski’s favor in one of the most controversial decisions of the year. Since then fight happened, UFC president Dana White, Nate Diaz, Jorge Masvidal, and the majority of media members have come out and said they thought Holloway won.
UFC cuts ties with German fighter due to alleged neo-nazi past
Alfredo Zullino - July 13, 2020
“We are all one”, was a statement used to promote mixed martial arts legend Genki Sudo. Apparently that’s not true to some, as the UFC just released newly-signed German fighter Timo Feucht after some alleged past neo-nazi ties emerged, sources confirmed BJPenn.com following a report from MMA Fighting.