MMA News

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

TJ Dillashaw will still make his UFC return against Cory Sandhagen, it will just happen on a different date. Originally, Dillashaw was set to return on May 8 after his two-year USADA suspension against Cory Sandhagen in a pivotal main event. However, the former champ ended up sustaining a nasty cut and was forced to pull out of the bout and the plan was to rebook the scrap.

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

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.

Cole Shelton - May 18, 2021

Rob Font is ecstatic to be headlining his first UFC show. In the main event of UFC Vegas 27 on Saturday night, Font is set to take on former UFC bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt. After Font knocked out Marlon Moraes in the first round in December, he called out TJ Dillashaw and Jose Aldo, as he thought Garbrandt would be going down to flyweight. But, when he was offered this fight, it was an immediate yes for the New England Cartel member.

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.

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

UFC president Dana White signed two new fighters to the UFC following the Fury FC 46 event in Houston that took place on Sunday evening. White was in Houston for UFC 262 and the next night he was in attendance at Fury FC 46: Lookin’ For a Fight where he was scouting future UFC talent. According to Nolan King of MMAjunkie.com, the UFC leader found several fighters that he was interested in. In fact, White signed two of the event’s winners and invited another to the Contender Series.

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.

Adam D Martin - May 18, 2021

A home video made by UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira from 2009 proves that dreams really do come true for some MMA fighters. After 11 years in the UFC, Oliveira has finally reached the pinnacle of the sport. This past Saturday night at UFC 262, Oliveira defeated Michael Chandler via second-round TKO to become the new UFC lightweight champion. After 28 fights in the Octagon, finally, the Brazilian is wearing gold around his waist. It has been an incredible journey for “Do Bronx” over the years since making his promotional debut back in 2010. But not only has it been an incredible journey for him inside the Octagon, but it’s also been a wild ride outside of it.

Harry Kettle - May 18, 2021

Daniel Cormier believes that Islam Makhachev is receiving the “Kamaru Usman” treatment by suggesting nobody in the top 15 wants to fight him. Makhachev, who is currently riding a seven-fight win streak in the UFC, is set to fight Thiago Moisés this July in a bout that has left many fans confused. While Thiago is certainly a worthy opponent, the popular opinion seems to be that Makhachev could quite easily be booked against someone placed higher up in the 155-pound division.

Christopher Taylor - May 17, 2021

Tony Ferguson has no plans of retiring following his third consecutive loss at last Saturday’s UFC 262 pay-per-view event in Houston. ‘El Cucuy’ had entered his co-main event bout with Beneil Dariush looking to rebound from his recent setbacks to Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje.

Andrew Whitelaw - May 17, 2021

Miesha Tate recently announced that she will be making a surprise return to the Octagon where she’ll take on Marion Reneau in the main event at UFC Vegas 31. Since retiring, Tate has maintained a strong media presence and is often asked for her opinion on MMA news topics.

Cole Shelton - May 17, 2021

Charles Oliveira brought the UFC belt back home to Brazil and got a hero’s welcome in his return. In the main event of UFC 262, Oliveira fought Michael Chandler for the vacant lightweight title. Early on in the fight, the Brazilian had success as he had Chandler’s back, but late in the first, he got dropped and the American was landing heavy ground and pound but Oliveira ended up surviving.

Cole Shelton - May 17, 2021

Tyson Fury vs. Anthony Joshua on August 14 is in jeopardy of not happening. On Sunday, Fury said his heavyweight unification fight was 100 percent official for August 14 in Saudi Arabia. However, on Monday, an arbitrator ruled Fury must face Deontay Wilder in a rematch by Sept. 15, ESPN learned.