MMA News

Adam D Martin - September 21, 2021

Veteran UFC welterweight fan-favorite Matt Brown returns to the Octagon against Bryan Barberena in a fan-friendly matchup later this year. MMADNA’s Marcel Dorff was the first to break the news of Brown vs. Barberena. The fight is set to take place on December 4. There is no location or venue currently set for this event, though the UFC has held most of its events at the Apex in Las Vegas since the COVID-19 pandemic started, so there seems to be a good chance the event takes place in Vegas. Also on the card is a light heavyweight bout between Jamahal Hill and Jimmy Crute as well as a lightweight bout between Brad Riddell and Rafael Fiziev, in addition to several other bouts.

Adam D Martin - September 21, 2021

UFC analyst Joe Rogan will miss his commentary duties for UFC 266, with former lightweight fighter Paul Felder taking his spot in the booth. Rogan typically is the color commentator for UFC pay-per-view cards, alongside play-by-play announcer Jon Anik and fellow analyst, former UFC champion Daniel Cormier. However, Rogan will not be in the booth for UFC 266 this weekend. According to MMAjunkie.com, Rogan has his annual hunting trip this weekend which caused a conflict in his schedule. Because of that hunting trip, Rogan will not be able to make it to Las Vegas to commentate UFC 266 alongside Anik and Cormier. However, the UFC was able to get an excellent replacement in the form of Felder to slide into the commentary booth at UFC 266.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2021

Jairzinho Rozenstruik had a feeling he would be fighting Curtis Blaydes. After Rozenzstruik knocked out Augusto Sakai, he looked at the heavyweight division and saw Blaydes didn’t have an opponent. He began game-planning for the fight and shortly thereafter, the UFC offered him the fight which he accepted right away.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2021

Dan Hooker finally has a fight after months of pleading with the UFC to get him one. Due to how New Zealand is doing their quarantine, Hooker says if he didn’t fight at UFC 266 he likely wouldn’t have been able to fight for another six months to a year. With that, he knew UFC 266 was his last shot to fight this year. So, after months of asking for a fight, he finally got one as he will face Nasrat Haqparast on the prelims of the card which surprised many. Yet, for “The Hangman” he has no problem with it.

Adam D Martin - September 21, 2021

UFC welterweight superstar Nick Diaz revealed why he was freaked out by Robbie Lawler before their first fight at UFC 47 back in 2004. 17 years ago, Diaz and Lawler met inside the Octagon at UFC 47, and Diaz scored a first-round KO on his rival. All these years later and now these two are set to rematch at UFC 266 this Saturday night in Las Vegas. It’s a rivalry almost 20 years in the making and the rematch is one of the most highly-anticipated fights of the rest of the year for MMA fans.

Cole Shelton - September 21, 2021

The 51st episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC 266. We’re first joined by the eighth-ranked lightweight Dan Hooker (2:01). Next, sixth-ranked heavyweight, Jairzinho Rozenstruik (24:54) joins the show. Fifth-ranked flyweight, Cynthia Calvillo (39:44) then comes on. UFC welterweight, Martin Sano Jr. (54:32) joins the program. Closing out the show is UFC lightweight, Jalin Turner (1:04:31).

Adam D Martin - September 21, 2021

Justin Gaethje took aim at “b*tch” Kevin Lee, saying “that knockout against Gillespie was the worst thing that could’ve happened to him.” Gaethje was recently a guest of UFC Unfiltered and he was asked his thoughts on the rest of the lightweight division. When asked about UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira’s current win streak, Geathje criticized the Brazilian for what he perceives to be a soft schedule of competition. Outside of Tony Ferguson, according to Gaethje, Oliveira didn’t have any good wins during his win streak before he fought Michael Chandler for the vacant title at UFC 262. Well, he says, Lee was a pretty good win too — with a caveat.

Harry Kettle - September 21, 2021

Triller’s Ryan Kavanaugh has confirmed that they are in talks to rebook Oscar De La Hoya vs Vitor Belfort for Thanksgiving weekend. De La Hoya was initially supposed to take on Belfort earlier this month instead of Evander Holyfield, but was forced to pull out of the contest after coming down with a serious case of COVID-19. Belfort went on to demolish Holyfield inside the first round in what many called a “sideshow” fight that never should’ve taken place.

Andrew Whitelaw - September 20, 2021

 At 32 years-old, James Yang has experienced a storied lead-up to his professional debut. The talented featherweight has amassed an impressive 7-0 amateur MMA record and will have Demetrious Johnson in his corner when he makes his bow against Roel Rosauro at ONE: Revolution. He may be a little late to the party, but Yang is fully intent on making a splash in ONE’s featherweight division. Speaking exclusively to BJPenn.com, he said,

Christopher Taylor - September 20, 2021

A highly anticipated lightweight bout between Nasrat Haqparast and Dan Hooker is once again in jeopardy for this Saturday’s UFC 266 event. Haqparast (13-3 MMA) and Hooker (20-10 MMA) are slated to collide on the televised prelims of this weekend’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.

Christopher Taylor - September 20, 2021

Dillon Danis has issued a cryptic message after video emerged of him being detained by police officers in New Jersey. On Monday afternoon a video surfaced on social media (see that here) showing ‘El Jefe’ struggling with security and police before eventually being handcuffed and taken into custody.

Andrew Whitelaw - September 20, 2021

Giga Chikadze has suggested that former featherweight champion Max Holloway would be an easier fight for him than the current champ, Alexander Volkanovski. Currently ranked at #8 in the featherweight division, Chikadze is a rising star at 145lb and is arguably one of the most in-form fighters in the UFC. The Georgian hasn’t lost since getting submitted on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2018.

Christopher Taylor - September 20, 2021

Dillon Danis is apparently facing some trouble after video surfaced of the Bellator fighter struggling while being detained by police. On Monday afternoon a video surfaced on social media showing ‘El Jefe’ struggling with police officers before eventually being handcuffed and taken into custody.

Cole Shelton - September 20, 2021

Nick Diaz believes he’s more dangerous now compared to when he first fought Robbie Lawler in 2004. Diaz will make his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon in a five-round rematch against Lawler at UFC 266. It’s an intriguing matchup due to the fact Diaz has not fought since 2015 but he says he is here to dominate and is confident he will beat Lawler again.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz shared the most painful experience he has ever gone through in a fight. Blachowicz, the UFC’s 205lbs champion, took to his social media on Sunday night to answer a series of questions from his fans during a Q&A session. One of the questions that a fan asked Blachowicz was about what the most painful shot he’s ever taken during a fight was. Considering Blachowicz has 36 professional MMA fights to his name, he has taken quite a few shots during his time in the cage. However, the champ said that it wasn’t a shot he took during an MMA fight, but one he took from a friend in Poland that hurt him the most.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

UFC bantamweight veteran Brian Kelleher says that rising star Sean O’Malley has accepted a fight against him after recently calling him out. Kelleher recently defeated Domingo Pilarte via dominant unanimous decision, and following the fight, he used his post-fight interview as an opportunity to call out O’Malley. We didn’t hear much from O’Malley at first, but after a fight against Frankie Edgar was scrapped when Marlon Vera got the fight instead, O’Malley had to move on and find someone else to fight. With Kelleher being available to fight now and with him already publicly calling out O’Malley, this fight made a ton of sense to book and the UFC has apparently booked it.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

Mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko shared his take on MMA ring card girls, suggesting that they should “dress them more decent.” Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmaogomedov recently had some negative comments to make about MMA ring card girls, essentially saying they don’t add anything to the sport. Since “The Eagle” made those comments, a number of other fighters have reacted to what he said, with some agreeing with what Nurmagomedov said but with many others disagreeing. If you ask Emelianenko, who has been around his fair share of MMA events, he has no problem with the ring card girls. The only thing that Emelianenko hopes is that they could be dressed more decently, as he said in a recent interview about it.

Cole Shelton - September 20, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 37, top-15 middleweights collided as Anthony Smith looked to extend his winning streak against surging contender, Ryan Spann. Smith entered the fight coming off back-to-back stoppage wins over Jimmy Crute and Devin Clark. Prior to that, “Lionheart” had some setbacks as he lost to Aleksandar Rakic and Glover Teixeira. Ryan Spann, meanwhile, was coming off a first-round KO over Misha Cirkunov after a loss to Johnny Walker which had some controversy to it.