MMA News

Adam D Martin - October 6, 2021

Two title fights featuring Francis Ngannou vs. Ciryl Gane and Israel Adesanya vs. Robert Whittaker 2 are being targeted for UFC 270. According to the French outlet “La Sueur,” UFC 270 is being planned to take place on January 22 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight is not official yet, but the UFC plans on having the UFC heavyweight title unified that night between the champ Ngannou and the interim champ Gane. As for the co-main event, the plan is to have to rematch between Adesanya and Whittaker. Overall, with these two title fights at the top of the bill, UFC 270 is shaping up to be a stacked card already. MMA journalist Aaron Bronsteter added the following:

Adam D Martin - October 6, 2021

Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo is taking his talents to Hollywood as he shared the big news in a new video posted to his social media. Cejudo is officially retired from combat sports but he remains in the game in other ways. On Tuesday, “The Messenger” took to his social media to reveal that he is taking his talents to Hollywood. According to Cejudo, he is the executive producer of the new combat sports movie “In Full Bloom,” and the former UFC double champion wants his fans to watch it.

Adam D Martin - October 6, 2021

Former UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem revealed that he is injured and out of the upcoming Rico Verhoeven GLORY kickboxing match. Overeem was set to return to the kickboxing ring against Verhoeven on October 23, but the fight will no longer go down as planned. According to “The Demolition Man,” he has been dealing with an injury for a month. Unfortunately, he has had to pull out of the fight as he is now 100% healthy. Check out the full written statement from Overeem below.

Adam D Martin - October 6, 2021

UFC president Dana White responded to Henry Cejudo’s recent request for a UFC featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. Volkanovski defeated Brian Ortega at UFC 266 last month to mark his latest title defense at 145lbs. Following the fight, Cejudo made it clear that he wants a piece of the champ. “The Messenger” has called out “The Great” in the past for a fight, but until now, White hasn’t taken his calls for the fight seriously. However, Cejudo said that he has a meeting with White this week to talk about the fight, and the UFC president admitted that the two will have a chat about the Volkanovski fight. However, White calls it “a tough conversation.”

Harry Kettle - October 6, 2021

UFC president Dana White has given his thoughts on the recent passing of BKFC fighter Justin Thornton. It was confirmed just a few days ago that Thornton had died due to injuries sustained following his 20-second knockout defeat at BKFC 20. There’s been an outpouring of support from the mixed martial arts community ever since then with many paying tribute to the 38-year-old and what he achieved in the sport.

Drake Riggs - October 5, 2021

Dana White is not a fan of exhibition matches. The UFC boss recently shared his lack of interest in mixed rules bouts after the announcement of ONE Championship matching Demetrious Johnson against Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Well, with the continuing trend of old legends like Vitor Belfort and Evander Holyfield squaring off in boxing exhibitions, White’s not a fan of those either.

Drake Riggs - October 5, 2021

Aspen Ladd was supposed to make her long-awaited return to action this past weekend. Originally booked to face Macy Chiasson in July, Chiasson would suffer an injury thus rescheduling the bout for the start of October. However, Ladd tipped the scales overweight at 137-pounds resulting in the bout’s cancellation – along with critique from fellow bantamweight such as former champion, Miesha Tate.

Cole Shelton - October 5, 2021

Cody Garbrandt says all the unanswered questions around his flyweight move are scaring him but also motivating him. Garbrandt is the former UFC bantamweight champion but has struggled as of late and decided to drop down to flyweight. He will make his flyweight debut at UFC 269 on December 11 against Kai Kara-France and Garbrandt says he’s ready to make a statement.

Cole Shelton - October 5, 2021

Khabib Nurmagomedov believes the only way Dan Hooker beats Islam Makhachev is by a lucky punch. Makhachev is a pupil of Nurmagomedov and was supposed to fight Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 267 in October. Yet, the Brazilian was forced out of the fight and Hooker took the fight on short notice and for Nurmagomedov, he expects Makhachev to maul Hooker.

Adam D Martin - October 5, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer BJ Penn announced that he is running for Governor of Hawaii in a social media post where he explained his decision in full. Penn, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, made the announcement this week that he is running for the role of Hawaiian Governor. As part of his campaign, Penn promised that he will get rid of vaccine passports. He is running on a campaign of getting freedom back for the people of Hawaii. Take a look at the full statement that Penn posted below.

Adam D Martin - October 5, 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya took a shot at former UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones following his post with his fiancée. Jones was arrested two weeks ago in Las Vegas after his 2013 fight against Alexander Gustafsson was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Following the HOF ceremony, Jones was arrested on an alleged domestic battery incident that left his fiancée, Jessie Moses, with bumps and bruises on her face, according to hotel security. In addition, Jones was also charged with damaging a police vehicle after reportedly headbutting it. Days after this incident, however, Jones took to his social media to share a video of him and Moses kissing and making up. According to Jones, he and Moses plan on sticking together through the good and the bad. But posting the video has led to him taking shots from his rivals, and Adesanya had no problem taking to his social media to poke fun at Jones for the video.

Adam D Martin - October 5, 2021

The Kevin Holland vs. Kyle Daukaus middleweight rematch has been rebooked for an upcoming UFC Fight Night card after their recent No Contest. Holland and Daukaus fought to a No Contest last weekend at UFC Vegas 38. Early in the first round, Holland and Daukaus clashed heads and it dropped Holland to the mat. He woke back up a split second later but Daukaus was able to get him into a rear-naked choke soon afterward and the fight was stopped due to a submission victory. However, the instant reply was used immediately afterward and the fight was quickly reversed to a No Contest. Thankfully, the UFC has been able to rebook the rematch in short order. According to Brett Okamoto, the rematch will take place on November 13 (via Marcel Dorff).

Cole Shelton - October 5, 2021

Mackenzie Dern had a feeling her next fight would be a main event. Dern submitted Nina Nunes in the first round back in April. After that, she was offered two short-notice main event fights. However, they never came to fruition but Dern had a feeling once Rodriguez beat Waterson she would headline a card opposite the Brazilian.

Cole Shelton - October 5, 2021

Randy Brown wanted to get another fight in this year and he jumped at the chance to take a fight at UFC Vegas 39 against Jared Gooden. Brown is coming off a submission win over Alex Oliveira at UFC 261 and many thought he would get another high-profile name. Yet, that isn’t the case as he will battle Jared Gooden in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 39. For Brown, he says he just wanted to fight and this was a chance to get back in there.

Adam D Martin - October 5, 2021

Michael Bisping explained how former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov took himself out of the MMA GOAT conversation. Nurmagomedov is considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time as he went 29-0 in his amazing MMA career, including 13-0 in the UFC. However, he decided to walk away from the sport following his submission win over Justin Gaethje last year. Despite being only 33 years old, in his prime, and undefeated, “The Eagle” decided that it was time to hang up his gloves. But as far as Bisping goes, Nurmagomedov retiring so early means that he has taken himself out of the conversation for the greatest MMA fighter of all time.

Cole Shelton - October 5, 2021

The 53rd episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC Vegas 39. We’re first joined by one-half of the main event in fourth-ranked strawweight, Mackenzie Dern (2:34). Next, UFC welterweight, Randy Brown (18:3) comes on. Ninth-ranked flyweight, Tim Elliott (33:47) then joins the program. UFC featherweight, Charles Rosa (46:57) joins the show. Closing out the program is UFC heavyweight, Jared Vanderaa (1:03:11).

Harry Kettle - October 5, 2021

Former two-weight UFC champion Henry Cejudo has explained why he’s taking more of a risk by potentially challenging Alexander Volkanovski than when Georges St-Pierre went to middleweight. Cejudo is best known as “Triple C” thanks to his Olympic gold medal, bantamweight title and flyweight title successes throughout his combat sports career. Now, however, he wants to turn his nickname into “C4” by taking the 145-pound belt from current champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Drake Riggs - October 4, 2021

Henry Cejudo is feeling rather confident in his new training partner. Ahead of her upcoming title fight rematch with Rose Namajunas, former champion Zhang Weili has taken her talents to the U.S. where she’s training in Scottsdale. Aiding “Magnum” at the Fight Ready team along the way is none other than the former dual-division titlist in Cejudo.