MMA News

Cole Shelton - June 25, 2021

Julian Lane was up to his usual tricks on Friday night. Lane, who might best be known for his famous line of ‘let me bang, bro’ on The Ultimate Fighter is now competing in BKFC. The 33-year-old has been competing in sans gloves promotions since 2018. On Friday, however, after he weighed in, he confronted his opponent, Jake Bostwick. He got right into his face which Bostwick didn’t like so he slapped the TUF veteran. The two then had to be separated but Lane continued to slap himself in the face.

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

Fedor Emelianenko headlines the first Bellator event in Moscow, boasting that “the Russian fans are excited for Bellator to come to Russia.” It was revealed earlier this week that the legendary MMA heavyweight would be returning to the Bellator cage this fall, and now we have a date and location for the fight. On Friday, Bellator officially announced its inaugural event in Russia. The card takes place on October 23 in Moscow, Russia, and Emelianenko will be the headliner of the event, though his opponent has yet to be determined. The event will take place at the VTB Arena.

Adam D Martin - June 25, 2021

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans says his heart is with Tyron Woodley, but he expects Jake Paul to put up a “tough fight.” Woodley and Paul meet on August 28 on Showtime PPV in what marks the former UFC welterweight champion Woodley’s first professional boxing match. Coming off of a TKO win over Woodley’s longtime friend and training partner Ben Askren, Paul is about as hot of a commodity as there is in combat sports right now, and both he and Woodley are expected to make monster paydays for their boxing match. However, for Woodley, it’s not just about the money, but also proving to all the doubters that he can still win fights at age 39.

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

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 featherweight Justin Jaynes said he is betting his entire $25,000 purse on himself against Charles Rosa this weekend at UFC Vegas 30. Jaynes and Rosa meet in the second fight of the night at Saturday’s UFC Vegas 30 event. For Jaynes, this is absolutely a must-win fight for the man known as “The Guitar Hero.” Jaynes kicked off his UFC career last summer with an incredible knockout victory over Frank Camacho in a fantastic short-notice debut for himself, but since then, Jaynes has lost three fights by stoppage. The UFC is giving him one more fight against Rosa and Jaynes knows that he has to go out there and get his hand raised. In fact, he’s so confident that he is going to get the job done that he says he is betting his entire fight purse on himself.

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

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.

Drake Riggs - June 24, 2021

Miesha Tate is ready to return to MMA action and her hard work looks to be paying off. The former UFC bantamweight champ took to social media to share her progress this week. As Tate puts it, expect “Cupcake” 2.0 on July 17.

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

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

MMA play-by-play color commentator Mike Goldberg revealed his “awkward” encounter with UFC president Dana White after being fired by UFC. Goldberg, who most recently worked for Bellator MMA as its lead play-by-play announcer, worked for the UFC for 20 years between 1997 and 2017 before he was released by the organization and replaced by Jon Anik as the promotion’s top commentator. For Goldberg, being let go by the UFC came as a big shock since the company was doing so well and he was one of the people who were there since the early days. But the UFC and White decided that they needed to make a change and they let Goldberg go back in 2017. According to the longtime mic man, White didn’t bother telling Goldberg why the company let him go.

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

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.