MMA News

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 24, 2025

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith had a lot to say about Jon Jones’ retirement. When Tom Aspinall witnessed Jones pick Stipe Miocic apart during the UFC 309 main event in New York City, many were hoping that a title unification bout would be next. At the time, Aspinall was the interim UFC Heavyweight Champion, while “Bones” held the main gold.

Harry Kettle - June 24, 2025

UFC star Ilia Topuria has confirmed that he decided to leave the featherweight division before even defending his belt against Max Holloway. As we know, Ilia Topuria will attempt to become a two-weight world champion on Saturday night when he goes head to head with Charles Oliveira. The bout is expected to be an electric affair, with the majority of fans and pundits backing ‘El Matador’ to get the job done.

Harry Kettle - June 24, 2025

UFC lightweight Michael Chandler has made it known that he is interested in a possible stint with WWE at some point in the future. As we know, Michael Chandler is a pretty outspoken guy. In addition to being a real daredevil in the cage, he’s also quite a good ‘talker’ in the sense that he knows how to build interest for a fight. He’s even made an appearance on WWE television before, calling out Conor McGregor in a manner similar to how he has done in the past.

Harry Kettle - June 24, 2025

The rivalry between Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez continues to heat up in the midst of rumors regarding Yair turning down a fight against him. As we know, Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez are both top featherweight contenders. They recently fought on the same card, and while Lopes fell short in his attempt to defeat Alexander Volkanovski and win the belt, Rodriguez managed to pick up a win over the debuting Patricio Pitbull. In the lead-up to fight night, however, the two men were at each other’s throats during the press conference, revealing a bubbling feud that has been developing between them.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2025

The 198th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is live to preview UFC 317. We’re first joined by ninth-ranked UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush (0:55). Next, UFC lightweight Terrance McKinney (12:33) joins the show.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 23, 2025

Japan has a deep history of combat sports, and ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane is basking in it ahead of his World Title defense at ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri in Tokyo. The Senegalese powerhouse revealed that MMA legend Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will be in his corner for his World Title defense versus two-weight ONE MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin at Ariake Arena on Sunday, November 16.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 23, 2025

ONE Championship announced two massive bouts for its second monumental event in Japan this year. The promotion heads to Tokyo’s Ariake Arena on Sunday, November 16, for ONE 173. The main event sees a World Title unification bout as reigning ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion Superbon faces interim titleholder Masaaki Noiri.

Cole Shelton - June 23, 2025

The UFC was in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday for a solid UFC Baku Fight Night card. The main event saw former light heavyweight champ Jamahal Hill take on Khalil Rountree. Entering the fight, Hill was coming off back-to-back losses while Rountree was coming off a stoppage loss to Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title.

BJ Penn Staff - June 23, 2025

Ilia Topuria is busy with his final preparations for UFC 317, but found time in his busy schedule to sneak in a jab at Conor McGregor. Topuria recently vacated the UFC featherweight belt to move up to lightweight and chase a second title. He’ll get his shot at two-division gold in the main event of UFC 317 Saturday, when he takes on Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt.

Cole Shelton - June 23, 2025

Jailton Almeida believes he could be fighting for the heavyweight title next time out. Jon Jones announced his retirement from MMA, which meant Tom Aspinall has been promoted to the heavyweight champion. However, Aspinall’s first title defense hasn’t been announced, and Almeida believes he deserves it.

BJ Penn Staff - June 23, 2025

Dana White will have some competition when UFC 317 goes down in Las Vegas this Saturday. On the same night, Jake Paul is set to meet Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the boxing ring. During a recent appearance at Fanatics Fest, White was asked by MMA Fighting what he thought about competing with a Paul fight. It’s safe to say he’s not especially concerned.

BJ Penn Staff - June 23, 2025

Khalil Rountree picked up one of the biggest wins of his career in the main event of last Saturday’s UFC Baku card. Apparently, he did so with a serious injury. Rountree, a former light heavyweight title challenger, was back in action against former champion Jamahal Hill. He ended up dominating his fellow American over five rounds.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 23, 2025

Shortly after a cryptic social media post from Jon Jones, his legal team has issued a statement on a recent criminal charge. Not long after UFC CEO Dana White announced that Jones retired from pro MMA competition, a report from The Albuquerque Journal surfaced. In the report, it was noted that Jones was facing a criminal misdemeanor charge after allegedly leaving the scene of a traffic accident back in February in New Mexico. “Bones” told fans to not believe everything they read, and he said even the media gets things wrong.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 23, 2025

One well-known MMA analyst and coach thinks Arman Tsarukyan remains in the UFC’s doghouse. Some fans were surprised to hear the news that Tsarukyan will serve as the backup fighter for the UFC 317 main event. Tsarukyan lost his shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship after suffering a back injury hours before the weigh-ins for his planned rematch with Islam Makhachev back in January. Tsarukyan then declined a rematch with Mateusz Gamrot and expressed frustration with UFC matchmakers.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 23, 2025

Khabib Nurmagomedov has reacted to Jon Jones’ retirement with a message for the future UFC Hall of Famer. During the UFC Baku post-fight press conference, Dana White announced that Jon Jones has retired from pro MMA competition. While many were hoping that “Bones” would face Tom Aspinall in a heavyweight title unification bout, it wasn’t meant to be. Aspinall is now the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Harry Kettle - June 23, 2025

UFC lightweight Rafael Fiziev has called out Dan Hooker in the wake of his UFC Baku triumph over Ignacio Bahamondes. Last weekend, Rafael Fiziev finally got back in the win column after three straight defeats. He was able to get past Ignacio Bahamondes and in doing so, he vaulted himself right back into contention in the UFC’s lightweight division. There’s still a long way to go before he can be viewed as a legitimate title challenger, but this is certainly a positive start.

Harry Kettle - June 23, 2025

UFC veteran Kevin Lee has revealed that he had his jaw wired shut following his defeat to Gadzhi Rabadanov last week. As we know, Kevin Lee has done a lot of impressive things in mixed martial arts. Unfortunately, he was never quite able to fulfill the potential that many believed he had. Instead, he’s faltered more often than not, picking up a string of losses in the latter stages of his career. Now, following the aforementioned KO loss to Rabadanov, nobody really knows what the next step will be for him.

Harry Kettle - June 23, 2025

Former Bellator star Aaron Pico appears to be in amazing shape ahead of his UFC debut against Movsar Evloev. For the longest time now, fight fans have been wanting to see Aaron Pico make the move over to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Next month, it’ll finally happen. He will be stepping into the lion’s den as he prepares to go head to head with Movsar Evloev, and if he wins, there’s a very real possibility that a title opportunity will be on the horizon for him at featherweight.