MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 12, 2025

After suffering the first stoppage defeat of her ONE Championship tenure, Anna “Supergirl” Jaroonsak is back and ready to reinvent herself. The Thai striker returns to the ring at ONE Fight Night 34: Eersel vs. Jarvis. She meets Bulgarian standout Teodora Kirilova under women’s atomweight Muay Thai rules on Friday, August 1, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium.

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

Francis Ngannou probably won’t be returning to the UFC anytime soon. Ngannou is the former UFC heavyweight champion. He never actually lost his belt. Instead, he vacated the title when he parted ways with the promotion in 2023. In other words, he’s still the lineal MMA heavyweight champion.

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.

Harry Kettle - June 12, 2025

UFC legend Kamaru Usman has responded to those who have suggested his knees will cause him problems at UFC Atlanta. For the longest time, Kamaru Usman was the man to beat at 170 pounds. Unfortunately for him, a Leon Edwards head kick changed all of that. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has now lost three on the bounce and after a period of inactivity, many are wondering what the 38-year-old has left in the tank in the world of mixed martial arts.

Harry Kettle - June 12, 2025

UFC veteran Ariane da Silva has reportedly been released by the promotion in the wake of her loss to Wang Cong. Back in early 2019, Ariane da Silva made her debut for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Polish sensation came into the company with a great deal of hype but unfortunately, she was never quite able to live up to that. While she made a real name for herself with KSW, she was far too inconsistent inside the Octagon. Still, she had a lot of heart, and that led to her continually getting booked in interesting matchups.

Harry Kettle - June 12, 2025

BKFC star Mike Perry has issued a warning to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr regarding the surprising power of his former foe Jake Paul. As we know, Jake Paul is a pretty interesting character within the world of professional boxing. While many expected him to falter in a big way when transitoning over to the sport, he’s managed to carve out a niche career for himself in the influencer boxing space. Now, we’re at the point where ‘The Problem Child’ is perhaps one of the biggest names in the entire sport.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 12, 2025

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legend Marcelo Garcia has long been regarded as one of the greatest submission artists the sport has ever seen. Even after being forced to retire in 2011, the grappling world had not forgotten him. One of those who has admired the Brazilian submission star is ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong. The promotion’s frontman also holds a black belt in BJJ, having earned it from renowned combat sports icon Renzo Gracie.

BJPENN.COM Staff - June 11, 2025

Taiki Naito looked back to his best at ONE Fight Night 32 this past Friday, June 6. Now he believes he’s once again ready to take on the biggest names in the world. “Silent Sniper” unleashed a counter-striking clinic versus Johan Estupinan inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium, winning by majority decision. In doing so, he served the Colombian star the first loss of his career. He also gave himself a much needed confidence boost.

BJ Penn Staff - June 11, 2025

Who would appear on the MMA version of Mount Rushmore? Every fight fan has their answers, and now UFC legend Jon Jones has shared his. Jones was asked for his MMA Mount Rushmore by a YouTube channel called Vic Blends. The question, which is very common in MMA, essentially boils down to this: Who are the four best—or perhaps most influential—fighters in MMA history?

BJ Penn Staff - June 11, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling are two of the best bantamweights in UFC history. Interestingly, they’re also close friends and training partners. Sterling held the UFC bantamweight belt first. He won it with a disqualification against Petr Yan in 2021, and then defended it three times, against Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo. He ultimately lost the belt to Sean O’Malley, who went on to lose the belt to Dvalishvili.

BJ Penn Staff - June 11, 2025

Rose Namajunas is well aware that a lot of UFC fans are skeptical of her run in the flyweight division. Namajunas is a legend of women’s MMA. Almost all of her pro career has occurred in the UFC. In the Octagon, she is a two-time strawweight champion, with wins over Zhang Weili (twice), Joanna Jedrzejczyk (twice) and Jessica Andrade. She may just be the best fighter in the strawweight division’s history.

Cole Shelton - June 11, 2025

In the main event of UFC Atlanta, a welterweight bout goes down as former champion Kamaru Usman returns to the Octagon to take on Joaquin Buckley. Heading into the fight, Usman is a +210 underdog while ‘New Mansa’ is a -280 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap at UFC Atlanta, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the intriguing welterweight bout. The pros believe Buckley will get his hand raised as they think Usman’s layoff and age will hurt him too much while Buckley is rolling.

Cole Shelton - June 11, 2025

Cody Garbrandt is still interested in fighting Sean O’Malley as he believes it would be a massive fight. Garbrandt and O’Malley are both former bantamweight champions who have feuded in the past. As Garbrandt was dropping down to flyweight, he and O’Malley got into with ‘Suga’ at the UFC 269 press conference, as the two even had a faceoff.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 11, 2025

One streaking UFC middleweight contender believes Joaquin Buckley is no match for Sean Brady. Buckley is preparing for the biggest fight of his pro MMA career. He will collide with former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman. The pivotal 170-pound clash will headline UFC Atlanta on Saturday.