MMA News

Cole Shelton - June 17, 2021

In the main event of UFC Vegas 29, Korean Zombie takes on Dan Ige in a pivotal featherweight clash. It’s an evenly matched fight as the oddsmakers have it as a pure pick’em at -110 apiece. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority of pros believe it will be Korean Zombie getting his hand raised on Saturday night.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

PFL star Claressa Shields says she wants to be the Bo Jackson of MMA and boxing, saying that “I believe I am the greatest woman of all time.” Jackson was an incredible two-sport athlete who is still the only person to ever be named to a Pro Bowl team in the NFL and an All-Star team in MLB. Many consider Jackson to be one of the greatest athletes who ever lived, and many athletes have come up behind him who have wanted to accomplish what he did, which is being great at two professional sports. Of course, it’s hard enough to be an elite athlete in one sport, but Jackson proved you can be elite in two, and that’s exactly what Shields is hoping to do herself.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno listed potential opponents for his first flyweight title defense and Cody Garbrandt on the list. Moreno submitted Deiveson Figueiredo in the third round with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC flyweight champion this past weekend at UFC 263. Given that he and Figueiredo have now fought twice, with the first fight being a draw, there is the chance that the UFC could run the trilogy fight back immediately given how exciting the first two fights have been. But with Moreno making the rematch look easy, there is also the chance that someone else gets their chance to fight for the belt, and Moreno has a few names in mind.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum says Robert Whittaker has a “real chance at regaining that middleweight title” from champ Israel Adesanya. Gastelum has fought both Whittaker and Adesanya so he knows exactly what both men bring to the table. In the wake of Adesanya’s win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 263, which improved his record as a UFC middleweight to a perfect 10-0, the next fight to make for the 185lbs title seems to be Adesanya against Whittaker. And if you ask Gastelum what he thinks about that potential title fight, he thinks there’s a good chance the champ loses.

Adam D Martin - June 17, 2021

UFC welterweight Michel Pereira called out Nate Diaz for a future matchup, suggesting that it would be a “very good fight” for the fans. Diaz is coming off of a unanimous decision loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 263, but he said that he hopes to get back into the Octagon in the next three or four months. If that’s the case, then Pereira would love to stare across the cage from him. Speaking to AG Fight in the days following the Diaz vs. Edwards fight, Pereira issued a public challenge to Diaz.

Harry Kettle - June 17, 2021

Former UFC fighter Erik Koch has been handed an 18-month suspension as a result of a doping violation. Koch, 32, has fought across a stretch of different weight classes over the years with his final bout in the Ultimate Fighting Championship coming in July 2019. On that night he beat Kyle Stewart via unanimous decision but as revealed a few months back, he is now no longer under contract with the UFC.

Harry Kettle - June 17, 2021

UFC newcomer Terrance McKinney has discussed the circumstances surrounding his injury and his actual win from UFC 263. McKinney, on short notice, made his UFC debut last weekend and certainly didn’t disappoint. He went toe to toe with Matt Frevola and while he was known as a dangerous fighter, few would’ve expected that he would knock Frevola out just seven seconds into the first round.

Drake Riggs - June 16, 2021

Sean Strickland admittedly has a hot temper in the gym. Consistently bouncing from location to location, the rising middleweight contender recently went to RVCA for some grappling where he ran into BJJ ADCC world champion, Orlando Sanchez.

Drake Riggs - June 16, 2021

Ramona Pascual continues to put Hong Kong on the map with her goal of reaching the UFC firmly in mind. This past Friday saw the 32-year-old return from a two-year layoff at iKON 7. In doing so, Pascual put her opponent away in two minutes and 50 seconds with an Americana – her first submission win.

Cole Shelton - June 16, 2021

Korean Zombie knows his UFC Vegas 29 main event against Dan Ige is do-or-die for his time as a featherweight title contender. Zombie enters the fight coming off a loss to Brian Ortega on Fight Island in October. Had he won, he likely could’ve gotten a title shot but instead, he will face Ige. According to Korean Zombie, he says he didn’t know who the Hawaiian was until he fought Calvin Kattar but he’s expecting a brawl on Saturday.

Cole Shelton - June 16, 2021

Nate Diaz is looking to fight again this year and is eyeing the trilogy with Conor McGregor his coach, Cesar Gracie revealed. At UFC 263, Diaz returned to the Octagon for the first time in over a year and dropped a decision to Leon Edwards. After the bout, Demian Maia called out the Stockton, native but according to Gracie, he says the fight doesn’t make sense.

Adam D Martin - June 16, 2021

An exciting matchup between bantamweight contenders Marlon Moraes and Merab Dvalishvili has been added to the UFC 266 pay-per-view card. Ray Longo, Dvalishvili’s coach, broke the news on the Anik & Florian podcast that Moraes vs. Dvalishvili is going to take place this fall. The bout has been targeted to take place at UFC 266, which is set for September 25 at a location that has yet to be determined. The fight between Moraes vs. Dvalishvili features two of the top-10 ranked UFC bantamweights.

Cole Shelton - June 16, 2021

Check out the complete betting odds for this Saturday’s UFC Vegas 29 card featuring a battle of top-10 featherweights as Korean Zombie takes on Dan Ige. The UFC Vegas 29 main event sees Korean Zombie looking to return to the win column as he faces rising contender, Dan Ige. Korean Zombie is coming off a decision loss to Brian Ortega on Fight Island. Prior to that, he had back-to-back first-round knockouts over Frankie Edgar and Renato Moicano. Ige, meanwhile, is coming off a 22-second KO win over Gavin Tucker to get back into the win column after losing a decision to Calvin Kattar in the main event of a Fight Island card last July.

Cole Shelton - June 16, 2021

Steven Peterson is happy he beat Chase Hooper at UFC 263 but he did want the finish. Entering the fight, Peterson knew he could hang with Hooper on the ground and thought on the feet there would be a massive gap in skill. That ended up being the case as Peterson even had moments on the ground and just pieced up Hooper on the feet. For the Fortis MMA product, he says he’s pleased with his performance.

Adam D Martin - June 16, 2021

Vitor Belfort criticized Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren for venturing into boxing, saying he thinks “they are the worst representation of MMA.” Belfort was supposed to make his return to boxing this weekend against YouTuber “The Real Tarzann” but the entire Triller Fight Club boxing event was pushed back to later this summer after headliner Teofimo Lopez tested positive for COVID-19. For Belfort, it was disappointing to hear the news that the fight was pushed back, but he is looking forward to stepping back into the boxing ring and showing everyone that MMA fighters can actually box, because as far as Belfort is concerned, what we’ve seen thus far hasn’t been pretty.

Cole Shelton - June 16, 2021

Matt Brown is eager to step back into the Octagon. At UFC Vegas 29, Brown will face Dhiego Lima in what should be a very exciting fight. Although they are fighting in the middle of June, the fight was announced in early March which gives the veteran a ton of notice when he says he asked for.

Adam D Martin - June 16, 2021

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya rocketed back up the pound-for-pound rankings following his win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 263. Following his unanimous decision win over Vettori, Adesanya moved up to No. 3 overall in the P4P rankings, bumping UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovskki down to No. 4. It is a bit surprising to see UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz down at No. 7 given he beat Adesanya at UFC 259 in March, but there’s no doubt that after beating Vettori for the second time that Adesanya has proven him to be among the sport’s elite.

Adam D Martin - June 16, 2021

Colby Covington ripped Leon Edwards following the Nate Diaz fight at UFC 263, saying it “was definitely not of importance to the division.” Edwards won a unanimous decision over Diaz at UFC 263, but he had to survive a frantic fifth round after he got rocked and wobbled with a Stockton slam followed by a Diaz straight left. Edwards managed to hang on and win the fight, giving him a 10-fight unbeaten streak at the moment, and he wants to fight for the title in his next fight against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. But UFC president Dana White has already said Covington is next in line, and “Chaos” agrees that he’s the rightful No. 1 contender.