MMA News

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.

Harry Kettle - September 21, 2021

UFC middleweight Derek Brunson has given his thoughts, in no uncertain terms, on what would happen if he fought Jake Paul. It’s another day in the workroom and another mixed martial artist has opted to call out Jake Paul. It’s become a pretty regular occurrence in the last few months after Paul managed to beat both Ben Askren and Tyron Woodley, two former UFC welterweights, in his last two outings.

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

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.

Cole Shelton - September 20, 2021

Carlos Condit has opened up on why he decided to walk away from MMA. Late last week, Condit announced his retirement from the sport which came out of nowhere due to the fact he last fought in July where he lost to Max Griffin by decision. Since then, he has been radio silent but after the news came out he retired, Condit said in his last fight he thought he was a step too slow so realized it’s time to walk away.

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.

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

UFC welterweight superstar Nate Diaz is “training like he has a fight” coming up, according to his teammate Nick Maximov. Maximov is a training partner of the Diaz brothers and he makes his UFC debut this Saturday night at UFC 266 when he takes on Karl Roberson in a middleweight bout. Nick Diaz, of course, also fights this weekend when he takes on Robbie Lawler, so the whole team has been training hard ahead of the big event. Ahead of his UFC debut, Maximov spoke to MMA reporter James Lynch and was asked about how his training camp is going.

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.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

UFC light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith says he has squashed his beef with Ryan Spann following their recent fight at UFC Vegas 37. Smith finished Spann in the first round of their main event fight by submission after knocking his opponent down twice prior to choking him out. It was an incredible performance by Smith, who was fighting with a lot of emotion in the cage on Saturday night. Heading into this fight, Spann had some negative things to say about Smith, and “Lionheart” was not thrilled with that. At the end of the day, however, Smith got the last laugh when he entered the Octagon and took care of business with his rival Spann.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Sean O’Malley admitted that lightweight prospect Paddy Pimblett is “kind of smart” with his trash talking. Ever since making his UFC debut earlier this month with a KO win over Luigi Vendramini, Pimblett has been a thorn in the side of many other UFC fighters with his trash talking. One of the fighters who he has targeted with his trash talk is O’Malley, who is one of the UFC’s youngest and brightest stars. While one would figure O’Malley wouldn’t exactly be thrilled with what Pimblett has said about him, O’Malley said that he appreciates that he’s trying.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos believes that he is still on Conor McGregor’s radar for when the Irishman returns to action. Dos Anjos is set to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 267 next month in what could potentially be a title eliminator at 155lbs. As for McGregor, he is currently on the sidelines injured after breaking his leg at UFC 264 against Dustin Poirier. While McGregor will be out for up to one year with his injury, he has promised that he will do everything in his power to return to the Octagon, and dos Anjos believes that he will indeed make a comeback.

Harry Kettle - September 20, 2021

Glover Teixeira has given his thoughts on Alex Pereira finally signing with the UFC – and why Israel Adesanya should be afraid. The Brazilian kickboxer, who holds a 3-1 professional mixed martial arts record, is set to debut for the UFC at Madison Square Garden later this year in one of the most anticipated middleweight introductions in recent memory.

Cole Shelton - September 19, 2021

Dan Hooker vs. Nasrat Haqparast is a go for UFC 266. Hooker was campaigning to fight on this card for weeks before and about five weeks out, BJPENN.com reported he would be facing Haqparast. The fight was then confirmed but there have been major hurdles in making it happen due to New Zealand being locked down and Hooker being unable to train.

Cole Shelton - September 19, 2021

Yoel Romero might be getting another title shot off a loss. Romero made his Bellator debut on Saturday night in the main event of Bellator 266 where he suffered a split decision loss to Phil Davis. Although one judge had it for Romero, most thought it was a dominant win for Davis to spoil Romero’s promotional debut.