MMA News

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Paul Felder and Edson Barboza are now tied 1-1 across two previous fights. The two lightweight contenders first met in July of 2015, in Felder’s second UFC bout. On that night, Barboza walked away with a unanimous decision win, handing Felder his first pro loss. Both fighters pocketed Fight of the Night bonus checks.

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Now that UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov has vanquished Dustin Poirier, the expectation is that he will fight Tony Ferguson next, or perhaps Conor Mcgregor if Ferguson is unavailable. According to Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, however, neither Ferguson nor McGregor is likely to be next for the lightweight king. Instead, the manager says Nurmagomedov is more likely to battle retired former UFC welterweight and middleweight champ Georges St-Pierre.

Adam Martin - September 11, 2019

A Reddit user has dug deep into the UFC rankings, and has exposed a flawed system that features a number of panelists who do not actually even cover MMA. Reddit user u/kneeco28 posted an in-depth rundown of all 14 panelists on the UFC rankings panel. What he found was that a third of the panelists are not even active MMA media members. Remember, these are the same people who contribute to the rankings, which have an inexorable impact on fighter promotion, matchmaking, salaries and Reebok pay.

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC 242, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov authored another dominant title defense, this time at the expense of the dangerous Dustin Poirier. This victory impressed the vast majority of the MMA community — but not UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington. Covington gave his assessment of Nurmagomedov’s UFC 242 victory on a recent episode of Chael Sonnen’s podcast.

BJPENN.COM Staff - September 11, 2019

The number of eye-popping matchups scheduled for the two ONE: CENTURY cards in Tokyo on October 13 is staggering. There are multiple world championship matches, and Grand Prix finals spread across a morning and evening events.  The lineup of bouts, in three different sports, and the dual cards as part of ONE’s celebration of 100 events, offers a unique presentation of action for fans. It’s a concept that is fairly unprecedented in combat sports. 

Tom Taylor - September 11, 2019

Colby Covington is a proud member of American Top Team. Unfortunately, Covington has become increasingly at odds with many of his American Top Team stablemates — particularly his long-time friend and fellow welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal, and recent lightweight title challenger Dustin Poirier. Over the last few weeks, Covington has taken very public shots at both Masvidal and Poirier, and the pair have not hesitated to fire back. In fact, both Masvidal and Poirier have hinted things could get tense if they encounter Covington at American Top Team.

Natasha Hooper - September 11, 2019

Donald Cerrone has some history with his UFC Vancouver foe Justin Gaethje. Cerrone will be facing Gaethje in the main event of UFC Vancouver on Saturday, September 14. Neither fighter will hold back when the cage door closes, yet Cerrone spoke fondly of his opponent in an interview with James Lynch.

Natasha Hooper - September 11, 2019

Jorge Masvidal is scheduled to get a serious payday for his upcoming fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 244. The welterweight stars will collide on Saturday, November 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. The highly anticipated matchup has been in the works since Nate Diaz called out ‘Gamebred’ following his unanimous win against Anthony Pettis at UFC 241. They will be fighting for the self-devised ‘Baddest Motherf**ker Title,’ which will get chins wagging and paychecks flying.

Adam Martin - September 10, 2019

The UFC’s year-end pay-per-view card this December in Las Vegas, UFC 245, could potentially feature three title fights on it for a true blockbuster end to 2019. ESPN’s Ariel Helwani speculated that the UFC could consider stacking UFC 245 with three title fights. Here’s what the scribe tweeted.

Cole Shelton - September 10, 2019

Ben Askren doesn’t believe that Conor McGregor will ever be a UFC champion again. McGregor, who is the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion was also the first-ever simultaneous two-division champion in the UFC. Yet, according to Ben Askren, he believes the Irishman made too much money to have the desire to train at a world champ level.

Christopher Taylor - September 10, 2019

Former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor has responded to Dustin Poirier’s request for a rematch. After falling short in his quest to dethrone undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 242, Dustin Poirier appeared to be contemplating retirement.

Cole Shelton - September 10, 2019

Jan Blachowicz will not receive the light heavyweight title shot against Jon Jones he so desires. The Polish standout has been campaigning for a shot at ‘Bones’ ever since he knocked out Luke Rockhold back at UFC 239. According to ESPN, Jan Blachowicz will welcome Jacare Souza to the light heavyweight division. The fight will headline a UFC Fight Night on Nov. 16 in São Paulo, Brazil, according to Brett Okamoto, per UFC president Dana White.

Thomas Taylor - September 10, 2019

After his UFC 242 submission defeat of Dustin Poirier, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted the No. 1 spot in the UFC’s pound for pound rankings. Unfortunately, the champ has not gotten his wish. On Wednesday, the official UFC rankings were updated, and while they do feature some interesting changes, Nurmagomedov has not moved from the No. 2 spot on the pound-for-pound list. That spot is still held by UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Chris Taylor - September 10, 2019

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson will return to the Octagon at November’s highly anticipated UFC 244 event in New York. “Wonderboy” will square off with Vicente Luque under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden on November 2.

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2019

On Saturday night, Bellator MMA returned to our screens with Bellator 226. This stacked card was topped by a heavyweight title fight between reigning champ Ryan Bader and Bellator staple Cheick Kongo. Elsewhere on the card, we witnessed four of the quarterfinal bout for Bellator’s 16-man Featherweight World Grand Prix, in addition to a number of other exciting matchups.

Fernando Quiles - September 10, 2019

Georges St-Pierre feels Nick Diaz had the potential to be a UFC champion. Those who witnessed Diaz’s reign as the Strikeforce welterweight title holder certainly haven’t forgotten just how talented the Stockton native was. Diaz had three successful title defenses under the Strikeforce banner, including an epic battle with Paul Daley that ended with just three seconds left in the opening round.

Tom Taylor - September 10, 2019

Cris Cyborg is happy to have parted ways with the UFC and inked a new deal with Bellator MMA. In fact, she says her new deal with Bellator includes a number of important benefits that she was not able to enjoy while fighting for the UFC. Most notably, Cyborg is no longer obligated to wear Reebok as part of the UFC’s athlete outfitting deal. She’s free to pursue her own sponsorship opportunities.

Cole Shelton - September 10, 2019

Marvin Vettori is confident his UFC Vancouver opponent Andrew Sanchez is not on his level. Vettori, who took this fight on short notice, believes Sanchez does not have the cardio to keep up with him. Based on that, the Italian talent is confident he will be able to finish his American foe.