MMA News

Adam Martin - February 9, 2021

Bellator MMA announced that it will be moving to Showtime, and the promotion revealed multiple fights for its upcoming schedule. Bellator MMA will return to action on Friday nights in April and it will do so on a new network as the promotion will now air exclusively on Showtime, with president Stephen Espinoza confirming the news in a press conference. That’s the same network Bellator president Scott Coker had plenty of success with back in the day when he ran Strikeforce. The hope is that this move takes the MMA organization to the next level. Watch the official announcement below.

Adam Martin - February 9, 2021

Former Ultimate Fighter winner Elias Theodorou makes his return to the cage against fellow UFC veteran Matt Dwyer at Rise FC 6. MMA journalist and Rise FC commentator James Lynch shared news of the bout, which is scheduled to take place at the Songhees Wellness Center on March 13 in Victoria, B.C. Both Theodorou and Dwyer are UFC veterans as well as fellow Canadians so this is the perfect fight for the MMA fans in British Columbia. It’s also a big opportunity for both men in their professional careers, as an impressive victory could land the winner of this matchup a deal with a bigger promotion.

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

The upcoming UFC 258 card has lost an intriguing bantamweight fight between Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera. UFC 258 goes down this Saturday in Las Vegas. Munhoz and Rivera were scheduled to meet on the event’s main card, in a rematch of a 2015 fight that Rivera won by split decision.

Adam Martin - February 9, 2021

Fabricio Werdum and Kayla Harrison are among the fighters in the upcoming PFL season three men’s heavyweight and women’s lightweight brackets. PFL’s third season kicks off in April and the promotion has been busy in the last week releasing the rosters for its light heavyweight, welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight rosters. On Tuesday, PFL released the rosters for heavyweight and women’s lightweight. Among the participants in these tournaments are former UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum and women’s star Kayla Harrison.

Adam Martin - February 9, 2021

Former Invicta FC featherweight fighter Sarah Patterson has passed away at age 36, the promotion announced late Monday. Invicta released the following statement on its Twitter following the passing of Patterson. No details have been given about the cause of death at this time.

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

Top UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier has already responded to a recent callout from his long-time rival, Nate Diaz. Diaz recently partook in an interview with Ariel Helwani of ESPN, which was published on Tuesday morning. During the interview, he expressed interest in fighting Charles Oliveira and Poirier, but clarified that he has no interest in doing so in the 155-pound lightweight division—only at 165 or 170 pounds.

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

It didn’t take long for Conor McGregor to respond to Nate Diaz’s Tuesday morning interview with ESPN. Diaz and McGregor have fought twice previously. They first met at welterweight in March, 2016, with Diaz submitting McGregor in round two. The pair then met in an immediate rematch in August of the same year. In that fight, McGregor evened the score with a hard-fought majority decision victory.

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

Bellator MMA is reportedly plotting an eight-man light heavyweight tournament featuring former UFC stars Yoel Romero, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Corey Anderson, and more. Bellator’s light heavyweight division has been quite strong for awhile now, as the home of fighters like Phil Davis, Ryan Bader, and reigning champion Vadim Nemkov. After the promotion signed former UFC contenders like Romero, Rumble and Anderson, however, its light heavyweight division is better than ever—debatably even better than the UFC’s.

Cole Shelton - February 9, 2021

Maycee Barber plans to remind the world just how good she is. In the co-main event of UFC 258, Barber is set to return after her first career loss and a torn ACL to battle Alexa Grasso. It’s a very intriguing matchup but many fans are surprised this is the fight because both Barber and Grasso are two up and comer prospects.

Cole Shelton - February 9, 2021

The 27th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC 258. var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_22657878", "obj": {"id":"22947","width":"100%","height":"","video":"717044"} });

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

RIZIN CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara has responded to some recent comments from Spike Carlyle, and laid out plans for a Featherweight Grand Prix. Carlyle was recently released by the UFC after going 1-2 in the promotion’s featherweight division. After his release, he expressed interest in migrating to RIZIN because he’s always wanted to fight in Japan, where the promotion is based.

Tom Taylor - February 9, 2021

Nate Diaz has shared his thoughts on what Conor McGregor did wrong in his recent TKO loss to Dustin Poirier. McGregor and Poirier met in the main event of UFC 257 last month, in a rematch of a 2014 featherweight fight that the former won by first-round knockout. In their UFC 257 rematch, Poirier evened the score, mangling McGregor’s lead leg with calf kicks, and stopping him with punches in round two.

Harry Kettle - February 9, 2021

Amanda Nunes has taken note of Jon Jones‘ praise in the latest round of “greatest of all time” discussions on social media. The GOAT debate has been raging for many years in mixed martial arts and with so many of the big names in the conversation still competing, you’d have to imagine that trend will continue for quite some time to come.

Harry Kettle - February 9, 2021

UFC veteran Diego Sanchez has referenced his UFC 107 loss to BJ Penn as evidence for his recent comments about Calvin Kattar. Sanchez has always been fairly outspoken but in the last few years, has had no problem sharing his opinions on social media.

Christopher Taylor - February 8, 2021

Jon Jones believes there is one fighter who comes a “close second” to him in the hotly debated MMA Goat conversation. Fans and analysts are always debating who is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time and the general consensus ends with either Khabib Nurmagomedov or Jon Jones. Many pundits consider ‘Bones’ to be at the top of the list because of his sensational record UFC in title fights. Jones is 14-0, with 1 no-contest, in his fifteen career UFC title fights.

Drake Riggs - February 8, 2021

Everyone loves to fantasy matchmake. That includes lightweight icon Khabib Nurmagomedov who recently shared his all-time top fight to make. Given the possibility of unlimited resources to make any fight happen, “The Eagle” couldn’t help but answer with a fight that surely many others would choose as well.

Adam Martin - February 8, 2021

UFC superstar Jon Jones quoted NFL legend Vince Lombardi while reflecting on the one-year anniversary of his fight against Dominick Reyes. The day after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, Jones used a quote from the legendary football coach Lombardi to discuss his feelings one year after the fight with Reyes. In what was one of the toughest fights Jones has ever had in the Octagon, he won a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards in a fight that many observers felt Reyes should have won. In the months following that fight, Jones announced he will move up to heavyweight. Still, he couldn’t help but take to his social media and comment on the Reyes fight exactly one year to the day it happened. Check out what he wrote on Instagram.

Andrew Whitelaw - February 8, 2021

Patricio Pitbull is enjoying a truly prolific faze in his career. He holds both the lightweight and featherweight titles in Bellator, and is riding a six-fight winning streak and there is a strong argument for the 33-year-old being the best 145-er in the world. Pitbull is often asked about a move to the UFC, but it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon. Instead, the Brazilian suggests that some of his counterparts would be better off coming over to join him in Bellator, namely, Max Holloway.