MMA News

Mike Heck - September 6, 2019

Cheick Kongo has won eight fights in a row heading into his heavyweight title opportunity  against Ryan Bader at Bellator 226, yet has stayed relatively under the radar. That certainly changed as the two headliners for Saturday night’s event went face-to-face for the final time. At the Bellator 226 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday evening in San Jose, the champion and challenger stared each other down on stage and it looked pretty intense. Moments later, Kongo gave Bader a two-handed shove to the chest as shown in the video below, courtesy of Bellator MMA’s Twitter page.

Cole Shelton - September 6, 2019

After Colby Covington beat Robbie Lawler at UFC Newark, all signs pointed to him fighting Kamaru Usman next for the welterweight title. Even UFC president, Dana White said that fight would be next. Yet,  the negotiations between the two reportedly hit a standstill and whether or not they fight is now up in the air. With that said, Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman continue to trade shots over social media.

Chris Taylor - September 6, 2019

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn believes Weili Zhang is the first of many future champions from China. Zhang needed only 42-seconds to finish Jessica Andrade in last weekend’s UFC Shenzhen main event, capturing the promotions coveted 115-pound title in the process.

Cole Shelton - September 6, 2019

Nate Diaz made his highly anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 241 when he took on Anthony Pettis at welterweight. It was his first fight in three years and the fan-favorite returned in a big way as he beat “Showtime” by decision. Now, he is hoping to fight again in 2019. After the fight, Nate Diaz called for a fight with Jorge Masvidal in which “Gamebred” was shown smiling like he had just won the lottery. Yet, the fight has yet to be made, and with the rumored Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington title fight hitting a snag, Masvidal was rumored to step in.

Thomas Taylor - September 6, 2019

Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal are best friends. At least, they used to be.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2019

UFC commentator Joe Rogan feels that the UFC sometimes brings its prospects along too quickly. He worries that by doing so, the promotion sets those prospects up for confidence-shattering losses. Boxing promoters, meanwhile, have the right idea.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2019

UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov was conspicuously absent at UFC 242 media day, which deprived many of the reporters on-scene in Abu Dhabi of the chance to speak with him. Speaking after the UFC 242 ceremonial weigh-ins on Friday afternoon, Nurmagomedov explained why he declined to do interviews on media day. As it turns out, he’s tired of answering the same questions over and over again.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, Dustin Poirier will attempt to become the first man to defeat UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. In order to do so, he’ll have to thwart Nurmagomedov’s stifling ground game. Poirier’s coach, Mike Brown, believes this can be done. Brown has recently helped several of Poirier’s fellow American Top Team fighters prepare for grapplers not unlike Nurmagomedov. He prepped Kyoji Horiguchi for his two battles with Darrion Caldwell, and he helped Jorge Masvidal get ready for Ben Askren, and all of those fights went American Top Team’s way.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2019

Over the last 48 hours, there’s been reason to believe surging UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal could get the next crack at UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman. First, ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported that the expected UFC 244 fight between Usman and Colby Covington was in jeopardy, and that the UFC was looking at other potential opponents for Usman.

Natasha Hooper - September 6, 2019

Long-time middleweight contender Kelvin Gastelum admits he was hesitant to accept a fight against struggling former welterweight Darren Till. The pair are set to clash at UFC 244 which takes place on Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Darren Till has moved up a division and has taken on a dramatic physical transformation ahead of his middleweight debut.

Cole Shelton - September 6, 2019

Edson Barboza will be fighting Paul Felder in the co-main event of UFC 242. In the main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov looks to defend his title against Dustin Poirier. For the Brazil’s Barboza, the fight atop the card is one he is eager to watch for two reasons. First, Barboza fought Nurmagomedov back at UFC 219 in 2017 and lost the fight by decision, and is interested in a rematch. Second and more importantly is the fact that Poirier is Barboza’s teammate and the pair spent a lot of time training together for UFC 242.

Tom Taylor - September 6, 2019

Yesterday afternoon, ESPN reported that the much discussed welterweight title fight between champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington, expected to occur at UFC 244 in November, is in jeopardy. “The Kamaru Usman v Colby Covington 170 title fight is far from done, multiple sources say,” ESPN’s Ariel Helwani wrote. “In fact, negotiations have hit a snag and UFC is now looking at other options, sources say. Those options include a different welterweight title fight and/or a different main event.

Cole Shelton - September 6, 2019

In the main event of Bellator 226, Ryan Bader looks to defend his heavyweight title for the first time when he takes on Cheick Kongo. The champion is currently a -350 favorite at 5Dimes while the challenger is a +250 underdog. Ahead of this Bellator 226 fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. This time around, the pros are unanimous as they all believe Ryan Bader will defend his belt against the 44-year-old Frenchman.

Natasha Hooper - September 6, 2019

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier both made weight for their anticipated UFC 242 lightweight title fight. The Dagestani undisputed champion Nurmagomedov hit the 155-pound mark when he weighed in this Friday Morning in Abu Dhabi. Shortly thereafter, the interim champ Poirier did as well.

Cole Shelton - September 5, 2019

Khabib Nurmagomedov is set to defend his lightweight title this weekend against Dustin Poirier in the main event of UFC 242. Yet, the fight he continues to get asked about the most is a scrap with Georges St-Pierre. Although St-Pierre retired, he has mentioned he wants to fight the undefeated champion in Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now, the Russian says if the fight is to happen, it has to be at lightweight. He will not move up in weight or meet ‘GSP’ in the middle.

Thomas Taylor - September 5, 2019

This weekend, in the main event of UFC 242, Khabib Nurmagomedov will attempt to defend the UFC lightweight title against Dustin Poirier. His more imminent battle, however, will be with the scale. The champion has missed the lightweight limit in the past, and MMA analyst Chael Sonnen worries he might do so again.

Tom Taylor - September 5, 2019

Earlier today, ESPN reported that the much discussed welterweight title fight between champ Kamaru Usman and challenger Colby Covington, expected to occur at UFC 244 in November, is in jeopardy. The Kamaru Usman v Colby Covington 170 title fight is far from done, multiple sources say. In fact, negotiations have hit a snag and UFC is now looking at other options, sources say. Those options include a different welterweight title fight and/or a different main event.

Adam Martin - September 5, 2019

After Weili Zhang finished Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen to become the new UFC women’s strawweight champion, the natural question is to ask who is next in line for a title shot. According to former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the answer to that is it’s her. Jedrzejczyk spoke to Polish news outlet Polsat Sport recently and said that her contract to fight Michelle Waterson at UFC Tampa in October stipulates that the winner of the bout will get the next women’s strawweight title shot.