MMA News

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

The official weigh-ins for UFC Vegas 30 took place on Friday in Las Vegas and all 26 of the fighters scheduled to compete have made weight. In the main event, a pair of the UFC’s top-10 heavyweights clash when Ciryl Gane takes on Alexander Volkov. The undefeated Gane has won all five of his fights since joining the UFC and is coming off of back-to-back wins over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Junior dos Santos. As for Volkov, he has been red-hot as of late as well, having won three of his last four fights over Alistair Overeem, Walt Harris, and Greg Hardy. Both Gane at 245lbs and Volkov at 265lbs each successfully made weight for their main event.

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

Jake Paul says Anderson Silva looked “amazing” in his boxing match, saying “this just goes to show that MMA strikers are also great boxers.” Silva made his return to the boxing ring this past weekend when he defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by split decision in a sizeable upset. At age 46 and having not boxed professionally in over 15 years, it was easy to see where there were so many doubters of “The Spider” leading into his boxing match with Chavez Jr. However, Silva shut up the doubters by going in there and beating a pro boxer with way more experience than him.

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

Giga Chikadze blasted his fellow UFC featherweight rivals for refusing to fight him, saying that “everybody is not picking up the phone.” Chikadze is currently the No. 10 ranked featherweight in the UFC. The 32-year-old Georgia native is a perfect 6-0 in the UFC and the last time we saw him, he picked up the biggest win of his career when he stopped Cub Swanson with a body kick in May. Since that fight, Chikadze has made it clear that he wants to get back into the Octagon as soon as possible. He’s spent essentially the last two months calling out nearly every top-10 fighter in the UFC featherweight division, but thus far, no one has picked up the phone to accept the fight.

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

Former UFC fighter Jason Miller shares his thoughts on Nate Diaz’s fighting future, suggesting the route he could take towards a title shot. Miller has been back in the MMA news as of late and during a recent interview, he spoke about the UFC welterweight division and what Diaz has to do in order to get a title shot. Despite the fact that Diaz lost a unanimous decision to Leon Edwards at UFC 263 earlier this month, his star power has never been higher as he nearly came back in the fifth round of that fight, and that’s what all the fans are remembering. So despite the fact that Diaz is currently on a two-fight losing skid to Jorge Masvidal and to Edwards, the fact that he is such a popular fighter is keeping his name in the UFC welterweight title conversation.

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

UFC superstar Conor McGregor bid farewell to his wife and kids ahead of UFC 264, telling them that he is “just going to bust a man up.” McGregor returns to the Octagon on July 10 when he faces off against rival Dustin Poirier in a trilogy match. It’s the first time we have seen both men compete inside the Octagon since their fight earlier this year at UFC 257 in January, which McGregor lost via second-round knockout. The Irishman is now looking to bouncing back and winning the trilogy against Poirier after having originally beaten him by first-round knockout back in 2014.

Harry Kettle - June 25, 2021

Henry Cejudo has issued an amusing response after Khabib Nurmagomedov jokingly suggested Hasbulla Magomedov was going to kill him. For those of you who don’t know, Hasbulla, also known as “Mini Khabib”, went viral after as staredown between him and Adbu Rozik went viral over social media. The video gained worldwide recognition both for good and bad reasons with some finding it entertaining, and others insisting that such a fight shouldn’t be allowed to go ahead.

Harry Kettle - June 25, 2021

Israel Adesanya has lashed out at internet trolls after Megan Anderson revealed she was recently threatened with rape. Adesanya has always been a fighter who stands up for what he believes in and, in this instance, he’s one of many who has recognized the magnitude of these disgraceful comments by keyboard warriors online.

Drake Riggs - June 24, 2021

Amanda Ribas has always been one of the nicest fighters in the UFC. The rising Brazilian superstar has been out of action since January but it hasn’t been without a lack of effort. Now, Ribas has a name in mind for a return, and let it be known on Thursday.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2021

Jon Jones has issued a fiery response to Anthony Smith after his former foe claimed he failed every drug test during their fight week. Jones and Smith fought at UFC 235 which was Bones’ first title defense since he reclaimed the belt at UFC 232. Smith, meanwhile, entered the fight undefeated at light heavyweight but throughout the bout, Jones dominated it and won a clear-cut decision aside from throwing an illegal knee and being deducted two points.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2021

Dana White says Fight Island is still a big part of the UFC. Last summer, White revealed Fight Island in Abu Dhabi that caught the attention of the sports world. They held several events there including pay-per-views in July, September, and October. However, since returning for three events in January, they haven’t gone back and there has been no talk of returning. Many have wondered if they will go back but according to White, Fight Island is only getting bigger and remains a big part of the UFC plans.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2021

Kevin Lee is disappointed he won’t be making the walk to the Octagon on July 10 at UFC 264. Lee was set to move back up to welterweight to face Sean Brady in a highly-anticipated bout. Yet, on Thursday, Brady revealed Lee was out of the fight due to an injury which Lee confirmed to BJPENN.com.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 30, Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov meet in a battle of top-five heavyweights. Gane is the -157 favorite while the Russian is a +130 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority of pros believe Volkov will pull off the upset as his striking and range will be too much for Gane.

Adam D Martin - June 24, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated following UFC Vegas 29, and Marlon Vera moved up the ranks while Aleksei Oleinik fell out. Vera beat up Davey Grant to pick up a unanimous decision win and bounce back into the win column after losing a decision to Jose Aldo in his last fight. With the impressive win over Grant, Vera moved up from No. 15 in the UFC bantamweight rankings to No. 13. In turn, Cody Stamann dropped two spots down to No. 15. For Vera, beating Grant this past weekend in a “Fight of the Night” performance and having a previous knockout win over Sean O’Malley from two fights ago puts him in a good position at 135lbs. Vera wants to fight former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz next, but we’ll see what happens.

Adam D Martin - June 24, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Don Frye says he wants to make a comeback in MMA, and he wants to fight UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou next. Frye, who is now 55 years old, has not competed in MMA since a KO loss to Ruben “Warpath” Villareal in December 2011. For the past decade, Frye has mostly spent it out of the limelight, but after taking 10 years away from the fighting, “The Predator” is now hoping to make a comeback in 2021, and he already has his next opponent in mind.

Adam D Martin - June 24, 2021

One of the greatest MMA fighters of all time will fight once again this fall when Fedor Emelianenko makes his return to the Bellator cage. MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reports that Emelianenko will officially announce his return to the Bellator cage on Friday against an opponent that is still to be determined. The fight will take place in October at a location and venue that has yet to be revealed. It will be the first fight for the Russian legend since he defeated Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 237.

Adam D Martin - June 24, 2021

Welterweight veteran Demian Maia wants one more UFC fight, and he told UFC president Dana White that he wants Donald Cerrone or Nate Diaz. Maia lost a unanimous decision to Belal Muhammad at UFC 263 and, following the event, White hinted that it could be the last time we saw the Brazilian inside the Octagon. However, the 43-year-old Maia has made it clear since the fight with Muhammad that he is still interested in fighting one more time, and he’s hoping the UFC gives him the chance.

Adam D Martin - June 24, 2021

UFC lightweight fighter Luis Pena has been accused of punching his girlfriend and breaking her iPhone 11 during a domestic violence incident. According to MMAFighting.com, Pena is accused of the domestic violence incident that allegedly took place on June 14. Police documents revealed that Pena’s girlfriend of one year called the police and said that “Violent Bob Ross” had gotten angry after accusing her of looking at other men’s photos on Instagram and decided to destroy her iPhone 11. According to the woman, whose name has not been made public, Pena also left her face with marks and bruises. She reportedly also had a lump on the top of her head as well.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2021

Ike Villanueva is glad to be fighting back at the UFC Apex as he’s looking for some redemption in Las Vegas. The last time Villanueva fought in Vegas was when he suffered a TKO loss to Jordan Wright which was stopped by cut. Now, he’ll return on Saturday at UFC Vegas 30 against Marcin Prachnio where Villanueva likes the style matchup.