MMA News

Harry Kettle - June 14, 2025

UFC commentator Michael Bisping has issued a warning regarding Charles Oliveira’s style when he faces Ilia Topuria. As we know, Charles Oliveira will battle Ilia Topuria in the main event of UFC 317. It’s one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year, with the winner being declared the new UFC lightweight champion. The stakes don’t get much higher than that.

Harry Kettle - June 14, 2025

UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes has given his thoughts on Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall and whether or not it’ll happen. As we know, Jon Jones is the UFC heavyweight champion. That’s been the case for a long time now but during his reign, he’s only actually fought twice in the division. The hope, and expectation, is that he will defend his belt against interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. Unfortunately, Jon doesn’t seem to be all too interested in making that happen.

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

We may never see Francis Ngannou in the Octagon again, but the heavyweight star returned to the UFC stage in the lead-up to promotion’s Saturday night card in Atlanta, Georgia. Ngannou is the former UFC heavyweight champion. He never actually lost his belt, but instead vacated the title when he parted ways with the promotion in 2023. That means he’s still the lineal MMA heavyweight champion.

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

Artem Vakhitov didn’t like the offer he received from the UFC, so he rejected it. Vakhitov is an elite kickboxer, and is set to challenge long-reigning heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven in the main event of Glory 100 tomorrow. Before signing his new deal with Glory, he earned a UFC contract with a stoppage win on Dana White’s Contender Series. Despite his massive accomplishments as a kickboxer—which includes a win over former UFC champ Alex Pereira—it was a standard Contender Series contract. In other words, low five figures per fight. Having fought for much greater purses as a kickboxer, he turned it down.

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

Former UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo is considered one of the best fighters in MMA history. One of the many skills that made him so good was his takedown defense. The Brazilian was renowned for his ability to negate his opponents’ wrestling, and famously stopped 16 of 16 takedown attempts from reigning bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili when they fought. That’s pretty impressive, considering how little he actually practiced wrestling at the time.

BJ Penn Staff - June 13, 2025

Darren Till claims Nate Diaz bailed on plans to meet in the boxing ring this August. The good news is that another UFC veteran is allegedly considering accepting the fight at a later date. Till spent most of his UFC career speaking in the welterweight division, where he notably came up short in a title fight against Tyron Woodley. However, he also competed in the middleweight division.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 13, 2025

Belal Muhammad has an interesting stance on Kamaru Usman’s UFC Atlanta main event against Joaquin Buckley. Usman and Buckley will go one-on-one inside State Farm Arena this Saturday. It’s a pivotal clash in the welterweight division. Usman is looking to prove that he’s still an elite 170-pounder at 38 years old. Meanwhile, Buckley is hoping to solidify that he represents a new generation of fighters that are putting the old guard out to pasture.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 13, 2025

Justin Gaethje has detailed his issues with the UFC brass. Gaethje’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently turned some heads during his appearance on Submission Radio. The top MMA manager revealed that Gaethje is considering hanging up his gloves if he doesn’t get a UFC lightweight title shot in his next outing. As it stands, Gaethje is upset that he isn’t involved in the vacant title fight scheduled for UFC 317, which will see Ilia Topuria take on Charles Oliveira.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2025

UFC veteran Michael Chiesa has given his thoughts on the future of Colby Covington in the world of mixed martial arts. As we know, Colby Covington is a pretty controversial figure – and that’s us putting it lightly. He has a tendency to say outrageous things in the name of making headlines and throughout the course of his career, he’s been able to earn a lot of big opportunities off the back of that.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2025

UFC welterweight Sean Brady has given his prediction for the upcoming Kamaru Usman vs Joaquin Buckley showdown. Tomorrow night, Kamaru Usman will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon when he locks horns with rising welterweight contender Joaquin Buckley. While many consider him to be the underdog in this fight, the 38-year-old has the kind of skill and experience necessary to overcome a tough challenge like this one.

Harry Kettle - June 13, 2025

MMA analyst Chael Sonnen has provided a fresh update on the current health status of MMA veteran and wrestling legend Ben Askren. In recent days, it’s become public knowledge that former UFC fighter Ben Askren is currently dealing with a pretty severe health problem. He was admitted to hospital, initially relating to a staph infection, with it later coming out that he was suffering from pneumonia. Ever since then, the mixed martial arts world has been quick to flood his family with messages of support.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 12, 2025

Victory last weekend at ONE Fight Night 32 wasn’t just a return to winning ways for Russia’s Tagir Khalilov. It also meant delivering on his word to his baby boy, Malik. “Samingpri” defeated renowned Chinese striker Liao Shixu by unanimous decision in 140-pound Muay Thai action on Friday, June 6, at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand – a victory he promised his infant son shortly after he was born.

BJ Penn Staff - June 12, 2025

Kris Moutinho took his UFC release hard. Very hard. Moutinho, 32, signed with the UFC on short notice in 2021, when he stepped in for the injured Louis Smolka against future bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley. Moutinho lost that fight—decisively—but weathered an insane amount of punishment from O’Malley, and ultimately survived all three rounds. His toughness earned him a $75,000 Fight of the Night bonus. Usually, those bonuses are just $50,000, which says something.

BJ Penn Staff - June 12, 2025

Mike Perry recently linked up for a sparring session with UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland. Apparently, it was something the BKFC star had been meaning to do for a while.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 12, 2025

Alexander Volkanovski remains out of the loop on his next UFC title fight, but that appears to be changing imminently. Volkanovski captured the UFC Featherweight Championship for the second time when he defeated Diego Lopes at UFC 314 in April. While the general consensus was that Movsar Evloev would be the No. 1 contender, he’s reportedly linked to a bout with Aaron Pico. Ali Abdelaziz, who manages both Evloev and Pico, told Submission Radio that he has yet to receive a contract for the bout.

BJ Penn Staff - June 12, 2025

Former UFC star Ben Askren is continue to battle through a frightening health crisis. Earlier this week, Askren’s wife Amy revealed that he has been hospitalized with pneumonia, and that he was effectively non-responsive. From there, several extremely worrying rumors began to surface.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 12, 2025

One old rival has weighed in on Jon Jones possibly retiring before fighting Tom Aspinall. Much has been made over Jones’ fighting future. “Bones” had long showed more interest in a showdown with Alex Pereira. This is despite the fact that “Poatan” is a light heavyweight. Jones is the UFC Heavyweight Champion, while Aspinall lays claim to the interim gold.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 12, 2025

Kayla Harrison has responded to a warning from one MMA legend regarding a showdown with Amanda Nunes. Harrison competed for UFC gold for the first time in her pro MMA career this past Saturday. She defeated Julianna Pena via second-round submission to secure the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship. After the match, Nunes entered the Octagon and revealed her plans to end her retirement. She then had a staredown with Harrison.