MMA News

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.

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.

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.

Harry Kettle - September 20, 2021

YouTuber turned pro boxer Jake Paul has criticized Vitor Belfort for “disrespecting boxing” in his win over Evander Holyfield. It’s been over a week since Vitor Belfort dispatched of Evander Holyfield in their boxing exhibition and yet despite the time that’s passed, many fans and critics can’t quite get over the disappointment of seeing the fight actually take place.

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.

Adam Martin - September 19, 2021

UFC welterweight fighter Impa Kasanganay issued a statement following his first-round knockout loss to Carlston Harris at UFC Vegas 37. Kasanganay and Harris exchanged big shots during a wild first round of action between the two welterweights, but it was the Guyana native Harris who ended up getting the better of his opponent with the first-round TKO win. For Kasanganay, this loss dropped his UFC record to just 2-2. Coming off of a crazy spinning back kick KO to Joaquin Buckley last year, Kasanganay dropped down to welterweight earlier this year and looked good in his divisional debut as he defeated Sasha Palatnikov by submission. But Harris brought him back to reality with the first-round finish that left his opponent unable to defend himself.

Adam Martin - September 19, 2021

The ongoing Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix got a shakeup with Anthony Johnson out and Julius Anglickas stepping into his place. On Saturday, Johnson took to his social media to reveal that he has been forced to withdraw from the Bellator 205lbs tournament, though he did not disclose the reason for his withdrawal. Johnson was actually set to fight Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov next month as part of the tournament semifinals, but that won’t be happening anymore. Instead of Johnson fighting Nemkov, he is out of the tournament, and Bellator has called upon the tournament alternate Anglickas to fill Johnson’s spot in the tournament. In fact, Anglickas will now fight Nemkov for the Bellator belt next month. Bellator officially announced the change this weekend and Anglickas confirmed it, too.