MMA News

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

The official weigh-ins for UFC Vegas 33 took place on Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada, and we had a huge weight miss from Nicco Montano. Montano, who has struggled to make weight throughout her UFC career, came in at 143lbs for her women’s bantamweight bout against Wu Yanan. Montano has not fought in over two years and has had a string of fights scratched. The UFC has officially confirmed that this fight is off.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson says that rival Gilbert Burns was “scared of my striking” during their recent fight at UFC 264. Thompson lost a unanimous decision to Burns in the co-main event of UFC 264 earlier this month. It wasn’t the most exciting fight in the world, and UFC president Dana White later criticized Burns for his grappling-heavy approach to the fight. Still, the Brazilian did what he needed to do to win the fight and to nullify the striking of Thompson, widely considered one of the best standup fighters in the UFC. But if you ask Thompson, the reason why Burns was so content to holding him down is that he was scared of his striking attacks.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

Bellator featherweight champion Patricio Pitbull sent a warning about respect to his upcoming opponent AJ McKee ahead of Bellator 263. Pitbull, the Bellator 145lbs and 155lbs champion, steps into the cage on Saturday night in Los Angeles against McKee in the finals of the Bellator Featherweight World Grand Prix. Pitbull has won seven straight fights heading into this finale, while McKee is undefeated with a 17-0 record in Bellator and in MMA. The son of former UFC fighter Antonio McKee is confident that he can beat Pitbull, and at the press conference ahead of the fight, he told the Brazilian that he would beat him up in front of his wife and kids. Pitbull did not take kindly to the comments and they got into an altercation afterwards, which he explained.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

Uriah Hall is hoping for a future UFC title fight against Israel Adesanya, saying that “I think my style is perfectly matched up for him.” Hall takes on Sean Strickland in the main event of UFC Vegas 33 this Saturday night in a battle of top-15 ranked middleweights. Both Hall and Strickland are riding four-fight win streaks into this fight, so the winner will assuredly be in line for a top-ranked opponent should they win in an impressive fashion. For both Hall and Strickland, the goal is to keep getting their hands raised and eventually get to a title shot against the middleweight champion Adesanya. For Hall, beating Strickland would give him five straight wins at 185lbs, and after beating Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman previously, he is hoping that a big win over Strickland will springboard him to near the top of the middleweight division.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

An exciting bantamweight bout between Jose Aldo and Pedro Munhoz has been promoted to the new co-main event spot at UFC 265. Aldo and Munhoz were previously scheduled to meet in a main card battle, but now that UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena had to be pulled from the card, this intriguing matchup between elite bantamweights has been promoted to the co-main event of UFC 265. TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter was the first to reveal the news.

Adam D Martin - July 30, 2021

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes issued a statement after withdrawing from the Julianna Pena title fight at UFC 265. Nunes tested positive for COVID-19 and her 135lbs title fight against Pena — which was scheduled to take place next Saturday night at UFC 265 in Houston, Texas — had to be canceled. The UFC’s plan is to keep this title fight intact and book it for later this year once Nunes is healthy again. It’s unfortunate that Nunes and Pena had to have been taken off the card, but sadly, this is unlikely to be the only COVID-19 withdrawal coming up given how many people around the world are still dealing with the coronavirus and its variants.

Harry Kettle - July 30, 2021

Jorge Masvidal has claimed that Colby Covington has hired police for his own protection due to his rivalry with “Gamebred”. The former American Top Team friends and teammates have been throwing shots at one another for longer than most of us can remember. Covington hasn’t been afraid to throw his previous friendships from ATT well and truly under the bus, and while his Dustin Poirier feud has been nasty to watch, his encounters with Masvidal have seemingly cut even deeper.

Christopher Taylor - July 29, 2021

While the idea of a fight between UFC stars Conor McGregor and Jorge Masvidal may sound appealing, the odds of it coming to fruition are slim. Masvidal (35-15 MMA) and McGregor (22-6 MMA) have shared similar results as of late. Both men are coming off of back-to-back losses, as ‘Gamebred’ has suffered consecutive defeats to Kamaru Usman, while ‘Mystic Mac’ is coming off two stoppage losses to Dustin Poirier.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes has been forced to withdraw from the Julianna Pena matchup at UFC 265 next weekend. ESPN’s Mike Coppinger broke the news on Thursday that Nunes has tested positive for COVID-19 and her upcoming title defense against Nunes has been canceled. It was scheduled to be the co-main event for UFC 265. According to UFC exec Hunter Campbell, the promotion is hoping to re-book the fight for later this year once Nunes is good to go.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

Welterweight contender Ray Cooper III blasted MMA judges ahead of the PFL semifinals, saying “they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.” The winner of the $1 million grand prize in the PFL season two welterweight tournament, Cooper takes on Rory MacDonald in the semifinals of the promotion’s third season in August. The only reason the bracket is the way it is is that MacDonald lost a controversial split decision to Gleison Tibau in his second regular-season fight. It was an extremely controversial call by the judges, and MacDonald has publicly blasted the judges himself. Now, his opponent Cooper is coming to his defense as well following the bad decision.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

UFC middleweight Sean Strickland fired back at his critics after the Orlando Sanchez incident, saying that “people are f*cking dumb, dude.” Strickland and Sanchez got involved in a viral incident last month after a video was released of Strickland hitting Sanchez after the BJJ ace tried to crank his arm. Speaking to MMA reporter James Lynch, Strickland fired back at his critics following the viral incident.

Cole Shelton - July 29, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 33, top-15 middleweights collide as Uriah Hall takes on Sean Strickland. Ahead of the fight, Hall is a +180 underdog while the 11th ranked middleweight is a -220 favorite. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority of pros believe Hall will go the job done by knockout.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington shared his prediction for the upcoming Tyron Woodley vs. Jake Paul boxing match. Woodley and Paul meet on August 29 in a professional boxing match that is expected to be one of the most highly-anticipated fights of the year. Ahead of the fight, one of Woodley’s past opponents in the Octagon, Covington, spoke to MMA reporter James Lynch and offered his prediction on the fight.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

UFC heavyweight Chris Daukaus told the UFC to “pull him from the rankings” after Shamil Abdurakhimov withdrew from their upcoming fight. The heavyweight matchup pitting Daukaus vs. Abdurakhimov was expected to be the co-main event of this weekend’s UFC Vegas 33 card, but the fight was canceled when Abdurakhimov was forced out due to COVID-19 protocols with his camp. For Abdurakhimov, this was yet another canceled fight for the Russian, who hasn’t fought since a TKO loss to Curtis Blaydes at UFC 242: Nurmagomedov vs. Poirier in September 2019. Since then, Abdurakhimov’s last five fights have all be canceled. But despite having not fought in nearly two years, for some reason, Abdurakhimov is still ranked in the top-10.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

Despite their back-and-forth trash talk, Gilbert Burns admitted that he’s a fan of Nate Diaz, saying “I like him. He’s freaking funny.” Burns was critical of Leon Edwards’ performance against Diaz at UFC 263 in June, which led to Diaz taking a direct shot at Burns, referencing his prior KO loss to Dan Hooker in it.

Adam D Martin - July 29, 2021

A women’s bantamweight bout pitting Aspen Ladd vs. Macy Chiasson has been rescheduled following its last-minute scratch at UFC Vegas 32. Ladd vs. Chiasson was scheduled to be the co-main event at last weekend’s TJ Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen card, but the fight was scratched at the last minute after Chiasson suffered an injury prior to her final weight cut. With no time to find a replacement opponent, the UFC was forced to pull Ladd from the card as well, which was a major disappointment for a fighter who hasn’t fought in the Octagon since December 2019.

Harry Kettle - July 29, 2021

The September 4 UFC event that was originally scheduled to take place in London is reportedly moving back to Las Vegas. Sin City has been home to the majority of UFC cards since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic but after more than 16 months away, the promotion had been hoping to make a long-awaited return to London – a city they tend to visit every single year.

Christopher Taylor - July 28, 2021

Daniel Cormier was quick to pick up the phone and check in on his longtime friend Khabib Nurmagomedov following a recent post by Conor McGregor. Earlier this week McGregor took to Twitter with a number of tweets that have since been deleted. During the online rampage, the Irishman not only took aim at Dustin Poirier and his wife Jolie, but also sent out a cryptic message that appeared to be aimed at his longtime nemesis Khabib Nurmagomedov.