MMA News

Adam D Martin - May 19, 2021

UFC superstar Israel Adesanya blasted “coward punchers” after his teammate Fau Vake was left in critical condition following an assault. Vake, who is a teammate of Adesanya at City Kickboxing, was allegedly assaulted following a local MMA event in Auckland on Sunday morning, according to Newshub. According to witnesses, Vake was punched from behind and didn’t see the blow coming. Vake has reportedly been admitted to a local hospital in critical condition following the sucker punch. Witnesses said that he was waiting for a taxi when he was punched from behind.

Adam D Martin - May 19, 2021

Former Ultimate Fighter winner Tatiana Suarez has announced her return to the UFC and says she will be moving up to the flyweight division. Suarez won TUF in 2016 and quickly went 5-0 in the Octagon, with wins over the likes of Carla Esparza and Nina Nunes, as she jumped to the top of the women’s strawweight contender rankings. However, Suarez has not fought since June 2019 due to a neck injury, and she was recently removed from the 115lbs rankings due to inactivity. Now that she’s finally healthy again, Suarez is ready to return to the Octagon, only this time she plans on coming back at a higher weight class as she has her eyes set on the flyweight division.

Adam D Martin - May 19, 2021

UFC middleweight Andre Muniz reveals that he had a backstage conversation with Ronaldo Souza following his nasty arm break at UFC 262. Muniz picked up one of the most incredible submission wins we have seen so far this year when he became the first man to tap Souza out in MMA when he broke his arm with an armbar in their UFC 262 middleweight bout. For the 31-year-old Muniz, it was by far the biggest win of his career to date, while for the 41-year-old Souza, it was a terrible way to lose. “Jacare” has now lost four straight fights and his future with the UFC is unknown.

Adam D Martin - May 19, 2021

Tesla CEO Elon Musk hooked up UFC lightweight contender Beneil Dariush with a free rental car following his recent UFC 262 callout. Dariush dominated Tony Ferguson for 15 minutes at last Saturday’s UFC 262 event for the biggest win of his career. During his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Dariush used it as an opportunity not to call out another contender in the division, but rather Musk, the CEO of the Tesla electric car company. According to Dariush, he ordered a new Tesla car for his pregnant wife earlier this year but the car keeps being delayed. It led to “Benny” jokingly calling out Musk in his post-fight interview following the Ferguson win.

Drake Riggs - May 18, 2021

Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira and Beneil Dariush both picked up the biggest victories of their respective careers at UFC 262. Could they see each other in the Octagon next? Directly prior to Oliveira’s vacant lightweight title bout with Michael Chandler, Dariush went out and dispatched of “El Cucuy” Tony Ferguson. The win extended his current streak to seven in a row and launched the Iran native to No. 3 in the UFC rankings.

Christopher Taylor - May 18, 2021

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Dan Hardy was officially released by the promotion last week after requesting his dismissal. ‘The Outlaw’ was granted his release from a nine-year old contract with the UFC, this after his relationship with Dana White and company went sour.

Drake Riggs - May 18, 2021

Rose Namajunas drummed up some controversy ahead of her title tilt with Zhang Weili at UFC 261. For Zhang’s fellow China native and top strawweight contender, Yan Xiaonan, the comments could have been done without. In an interview with Lithuanian-based media before UFC 261, Namajunas would talk about her background and the upcoming matchup with Zhang. Ultimately it led to the now-infamous “better dead than red” comment which was a political insinuation. Yan believes the result of the comments did the opposite of what they should have.

Drake Riggs - May 18, 2021

Paige VanZant has officially transitioned from MMA to bare-knuckle boxing. An unexpected sight for many, her husband, Austin Vanderford, also found it a bit tough to see. Regardless, the rising Bellator middleweight contender still fully supported, and supports, his partner in crime.

Cole Shelton - May 18, 2021

Derrick Lewis stopped an alleged car thief from breaking into his vehicle. Lewis posted on social media a video of him stopping a car thief from breaking his car and the thief later being put into custody by the Houston police.

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

UFC middleweight legend Ronaldo Souza had successful arm surgery and is expected to make a recovery in six months following the nasty injury. Souza was submitted for the first time in his MMA career by Andre Muniz at UFC 262 this past Saturday night in Houston, Texas. It was an incredible moment for Muniz, who picked up the biggest win of his career over one of his heroes in “Jacare.” But for Souza, it was the worst moment of his career as he not only lost the fight but suffered one of the worst broken limbs we have ever seen in UFC history. It was a terrible thing to happen to one of the biggest class acts in the sport, but fortunately for Souza, it appears he will be okay.

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

Middleweight Darren Till says he was inspired by Charles Oliveira’s win over Michael Chandler at UFC 262 after being “looked over” for years. Oliveira knocked out Chandler in the second round of their main event fight at this past Saturday’s UFC 262 to become the new UFC lightweight champion. The Brazilian has been in the UFC since 2010 but for years, he struggled to be consistent as he juggled between featherweight and lightweight and couldn’t string wins together. After committing to 155lbs again, Oliviera has been on a roll the last several years and is currently riding a nine-fight win streak. It’s been an incredible journey to the top, especially given all the question marks about Oliveira over the years, with many fans labeling him as a “quitter.”

Cole Shelton - May 18, 2021

Felicia Spencer is just looking to fight and isn’t worried about what happens next. On May 22, Spencer returns to the Octagon against Norma Dumont after she was originally supposed to face Danyelle Wolf. Although she has an opponent change, there was never a time when she thought she wasn’t going to fight.

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

Following UFC 262, the promotion’s official rankings were updated and Beneil Dariush soared at lightweight while Tony Ferguson plummeted. Beneil Dariush absolutely dominated Ferguson for 15 minutes in the UFC 262 co-main event with his grappling en route to a lopsided unanimous decision win. Dariush has now won his last seven fights in a row and appears to be a serious title contender at 155lbs. The UFC rankings panelists have noticed his run, too, as following the win over Ferguson, Dariush made a huge jump in the promotion’s official rankings. He jumped up six spots in the ranking and now sits firmly entrenched in the top-five of 155lbs, ranked at No. 3 now.

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

Michael Chandler issued a video statement following his TKO loss to Charles Oliveira at UFC 262, saying that “The best is still yet to come.” Chandler, the former three-time Bellator lightweight champion, took on Oliveira in the main event at this past Saturday’s UFC 262 pay-per-view event. After a strong start in the first round, which even saw him earn two 10-8 scorecards from the judges, Chandler started to tire and was knocked out by Oliveira early in the second round. It was Chandler’s first loss in the UFC after beating Dan Hooker in his promotional debut earlier this year, and this one hurt because he lost his chance to be the UFC champion, which is his dream. However, Chandler remains positive and promises his fans that he will still hold the gold one day.

Cole Shelton - May 18, 2021

The 38th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC Vegas 27. We’re first joined by one-half the main event in Rob Font (2:33) joins the show. Next, UFC featherweight, Felicia Spencer (17:11) comes on. UFC lightweight, Yancy Medeiros (33:30) then joins the show. Closing out the program is UFC heavyweight, Jared Vanderaa (49:00).

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

Daniel Cormier scolded the Texas judges for their scoring of the Michael Chandler vs. Charles Oliveira fight for two 10-8 rounds. Cormier was sitting Octagon-side along with UFC commentator Jon Anik and analyst Joe Rogan at UFC 262 this past Saturday night in Houston, Texas. The main event of the evening saw Oliveira knock out Chandler in the second round to become the new UFC lightweight champion, but he’s fortunate he was able to finish the fight and now have the judges involved. After the fight was over, it was revealed that two of the three judges gave 10-8 to Chandler in the first round despite Oliveira having his back during the round.

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

Daniel Cormier weighed in on Tony Ferguson’s future following his last loss, saying “Ferguson, as a top-level mixed martial artist, is done.” Ferguson is coming off of a lopsided loss to Beneil Dariush at UFC 262 this past weekend, his third straight loss following a unanimous decision defeat to Charles Oliveira in his last fight and a TKO defeat to Justin Gaethje before that. While Ferguson had a 12-fight winning streak heading into 2020, he has since gone 0-3 and has lost his last 11 rounds in a row. It feels like Ferguson has really lost a step, and there are some suggestions he might be completely done. Cormier is one of those who believes that he has nothing left.

Harry Kettle - May 18, 2021

Former UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo has issued an amusing response to Petr Yan as their war of words continues. Cejudo walked away from mixed martial arts last year in the prime of his career, with many wondering whether or not he’d ever return. The popular opinion is that he will at some point in the future but for the time being, Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan are the two top dogs in the incredibly stacked bantamweight division.