MMA News

Cole Shelton - July 21, 2021

Maycee Barber has been training at a new camp for her UFC Vegas 32 fight against Miranda Maverick. After Barber lost her second fight in a row to Alexa Grasso at UFC 258, she decided to change camps and had to California to train at Team Alpha Male. “The Future” has already been at several gyms like Factory X, Roufusport, JacksonWink, and in Chicago under Mike Valle among others. However, the reason why she made the switch to Team Alpha Male for this fight was due to COVID-19 restrictions among other reasons.

Cole Shelton - July 21, 2021

Randy Costa and Adrian Yanez have one of the weirder fight bookings in recent memory. After Yanez picked up his second UFC win, many on MMA Twitter called for him to face Costa. After the Massachusetts native didn’t respond to fans asking if he’d take the fight, some said he was scared. However, “Zohan” quickly responded saying he’s not scared and he likes Adrian but took a shot at Dr. Pepper which is Yanez’s drink of choice. The Texan dumped on Reese’s which Costa likes and the fight was born.

Adam D Martin - July 21, 2021

UFC women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate praised the “awesome and inspiring” Marion Reneau following her retirement fight at UFC Vegas 31. Tate finished Reneau in the third round of their women’s 135lbs bout at last weekend’s UFC Vegas 31 card. For Tate, it was her comeback to MMA after a five-year layoff where she started a family, while for Reneau, she had announced before the fight that it would be the final walk of her MMA career. Following the loss, which was Reneau’s fifth straight defeat in the Octagon, she lived up to her word and left her gloves in the center of the Octagon.

Adam D Martin - July 21, 2021

The UFC Vegas 31 rankings update has dropped, and lightweight Islam Makhachev moved to No. 4 at 155lbs while Conor McGregor dropped to No. 9. Makhachev was the No. 9 ranked lightweight going into his main event matchup against No. 14 ranked Thiago Moises at last weekend’s UFC Vegas 31 event. After defeating Moises in the fourth round by submission to pick up his eighth straight win, the rankers rewarded the Russian for his long winning streak by bumping him up five spots all the way to No. 4 in the division. With Makhachev moving way up the rankings, someone else had to be bumped down. Tony Ferguson moved down to No. 6, Rafael dos Anjos moved to No. 7, and McGregor dropped all the way to No. 9. There was also a small swap at the bottom of the rankings as Arman Tsarukyan went to No. 14 and Moises fell down to the No. 15 spot.

Adam D Martin - July 21, 2021

Billy Quarantillo plans on celebrating his recent “Fight of the Night” award at UFC Vegas 31 by making a ‘Billy Junior’ on his honeymoon. In one of the best fights of the year, Quarantillo and Gabriel Benitez went back-and-forth for nearly the full three rounds before Quarantillo was able to get the TKO late in the final stanza. For Quarantillo, this was a very important win because he recently had a long winning streak snapped in his last fight with a loss to Gavin Tucker. By beating Benitez in impressive fashion, not only is Quarantillo now back into the win column, but he is also $50,000 richer thanks to earning the event’s coveted “Fight of the Night” bonus award.

Adam D Martin - July 21, 2021

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns reiterated his callouts to divisional rivals Leon Edwards, Jorge Masvidal, and Nate Diaz. Earlier this month at UFC 264, Burns defeated Stephen Thompson via unanimous decision, and then used his post-fight interview as an opportunity to call out Edwards, Masvidal, and Diaz. It’s been a few weeks since then and we haven’t heard any of these other fighters say they will accept Burns’ callout. That’s why “Durinho” took to his social media on Wednesday and once again called out Edwards, Masvidal, and Diaz for an upcoming fight.

Adam D Martin - July 21, 2021

Fellow UFC fighter Anthony Smith blasted Conor McGregor for making excuses following his loss to Dustin Poirier, saying “we are all injured.” McGregor lost via first-round TKO (doctor stoppage) to Poirier in their trilogy match at UFC 264, and afterwards, it has come out that he had a leg injury heading into the fight. Speaking on Sirius XM’s Fight Nation, Smith was asked about the reports of McGregor being hurt coming into the fight. For Smith, being injured is something that all MMA fighters have to deal with, and he believes that it’s not a valid excuse for McGregor.

Adam D Martin - July 21, 2021

UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno promises not to become a jerk now that he is a UFC champion, saying that “I don’t want to be that guy.” Moreno defeated rival Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 263 last month in a rematch to claim the promotion’s 125lbs title. In the lead-up to the fight, Moreno was not complimentary towards Figueiredo, who he accused of changing as a person once he became the champion. Now that Moreno himself is holding UFC gold around his waist, he is promising the fans that he will not change and, in his words, turn into what he calls an “asshole.”

Harry Kettle - July 21, 2021

UFC bantamweight Andre Ewell has told the story of how he saved his friend’s life by stopping a moving car. We tend to hear plenty of crazy stories within the world of mixed martial arts because, well, that’s just the nature of the sport. Some of them are negative but we also get some truly inspiring tales that restore our faith in combat sports as a whole – and the fighters within it.

Cole Shelton - July 20, 2021

MMichael Chandler is aiming to fight Justin Gaethje in his next fight. After Chandler suffered a second-round TKO loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262 for the vacant lightweight title, many thought he should face Gaethje next time out.

Cole Shelton - July 20, 2021

TJ Dillashaw is finally set to return on Saturday night in the main event of UFC Vegas 32 against Cory Sandhagen. After Dillashaw suffered a quick TKO loss to Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title, he was flagged and suspended by USADA for two years for a positive drug test. After the news came public, Dillashaw was honest with what he did and accepted the suspension.

Cole Shelton - July 20, 2021

Jeremy Stephens believes the fight to make is him vs. Conor McGregor. Stephens and McGregor have a history at the UFC 205 press conference where Stephens said he would be the toughest fight because he’s the real hardest hitter at 145lbs. Of course, the Irishman followed it up with the famous, “who the f**k is that guy line” which went viral.

Cole Shelton - July 20, 2021

Ian Heinisch wanted a quick turnaround after he lost to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 258, but that didn’t come to fruition. Following the loss to Gastelum, Heinisch moved down to Florida to start training at Sanford MMA full-time. After a short time there, he was offered to fight Jacare Souza at UFC 262 in Houston. However, he turned it down as Henri Hooft wanted him to just focus on training.

Cole Shelton - July 20, 2021

Kyler Phillips wasn’t too mad when Raphael Assuncao was forced out of their fight and was replaced by Raulian Paiva. After Phillips beat Song Yadong at UFC 259, many expected him to get a ranked opponent next. That ended up being the case as he was set to meet Raphael Assuncao at UFC Vegas 32. Unfortnately, Assuncao got injured which was disappointing news. However, for Phillips, he said his mindset didn’t change at all.

Adam D Martin - July 20, 2021

UFC commentator Joe Rogan revealed his “very weird” encounter with former United States President Donald Trump at the recent UFC 264 event. Rogan was the analyst working the commentary desk alongside play-by-play man Jon Anik and former UFC champion Daniel Cormier. Because UFC 264 was such a big event featuring UFC superstar Conor McGregor and rival Dustin Poirier in the main event, a number of celebrities took in the event, including Trump, who was a personal guest of UFC president Dana White’s. Trump entered the building to a great effect, though the UFC production staff blew it and didn’t get his face on the television, which White called a big mistake.

Adam D Martin - July 20, 2021

Heavyweight MMA fighter Matt Mitrione has been released by Bellator following his third straight knockout loss this past weekend. MMAFighting.com confirmed with promotional officials that Mitrione received his walking papers from Bellator after tapping out to strikes against Tyrell Fortune at last Friday’s Bellator 262 event. In addition to Mitrione, Bellator also confirmed that it has released Ronny Markes and Adil Benjilany. Markes was knocked out at Bellator 262, but Benjilany defeated Johnny Soto, marking his release as a strange one considering he just won.

Cole Shelton - July 20, 2021

The 45th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC Vegas 32. We’re first joined by 10th-ranked UFC heavyweight, Chris Daukaus to preview his fight against Shamil Abdurakhimov (3:14). The fight has since been postponed one week to UFC Vegas 33. Next, 14th ranked bantamweight, Kyler Phillips (17:14) comes on. UFC middleweight contender, Ian Heinisch (34:36) then joins the show. Rising UFC bantamweight contender, Randy Costa (45:37) comes on. Closing out the program is UFC bantamweight, Adrian Yanez (1:03:03).

Adam D Martin - July 20, 2021

Managers Ali Abdelaziz and Wallid Ismail have agreed for their clients in Paulo Costa and Marvin Vettori to have an upcoming matchup. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto spoke to Ismail, Costa’s manager, who said that the fight that his team wants is against Vettori. Not long after the word emerged that Costa is looking to fight Vettori next, Vettori’s manager Abdelaziz responded and said they want the fight.