MMA News

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 13, 2025

British Muay Thai icon Liam Harrison possesses encyclopedic knowledge of the art of eight limbs in the United Kingdom. The veteran striker believes the moment is right for ONE Championship to make its debut on British shores. Over the past five years, ONE Championship has recruited exceptional talent from across the UK. Athletes like ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Haggerty, Nico Carrillo, and George Jarvis have established themselves as elite competitors on the global stage.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

The PFL announced they have parted ways with bantamweight champion Patchy Mix. Mix won the Bellator bantamweight title in 2023 with a submission win over Sergio Pettis and has defended it once. Yet, after the PFL-Bellator merger, Mix only fought once and expressed his frustration with his lack of fights on social media.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

UFC CEO Dana White has plenty of confidence that Jon Jones vs Tom Aspinall will happen. White announced the UFC 317 and UFC 319 main events, and neither is Jones defending his heavyweight title. Many fans were hoping Jones vs Aspinall would headline the International Fight Week on June 29 in Las Vegas, but that won’t happen as White announced the main event would be Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

UFC CEO Dana White has officially announced Ilia Topuria will take on Charles Oliveira at UFC 317. International Fight Week is always one of the biggest events of the year, but the promotion had yet to announce the headliner. A key reason why was that Islam Makhachev, the lightweight champion, wanted to see how the main event played out, as if Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad, he would be moving up to welterweight.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis believes Bo Nickal gave up and was broken mentally against Reinier de Ridder. Nickal suffered his first career loss to de Ridder by TKO, as he was hurt by knees to the body. Although de Ridder landed several heavy shots, Du Plessis believes Nickal should have been able to survive those, but instead just took the easy way out.

BJ Penn Staff - May 13, 2025

If Islam Makhachev moves up to the UFC welterweight division, he will find himself in the crosshairs of most of the weight class’s top fighters. That includes former champ Kamaru Usman. Makhachev is currently the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC. He earned that lofty position as the promotion’s lightweight champion. He won the belt with a submission over the great Charles Oliveira in 2022, and has since defended the belt four times: twice against Alexander Volkanovski, and later against Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano.

BJ Penn Staff - May 13, 2025

UFC legend Vitor Belfort has some big dreams for his life after fighting. Brazil’s Belfort debuted with the UFC way back in 1997. He enjoyed several prominent runs with the promotion. His final run came to an end after a knockout loss to Lyoto Machida in 2018. Highlights of his resume include a light heavyweight title win in 2004, multiple title challenges, and victories over stars like Luke Rockhold, Dan Henderson, and Michael Bisping.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

Jack Della Maddalena doesn’t expect Islam Makhachev to be a welterweight for long. Della Maddalena became the UFC’s welterweight champion on Saturday with a hard-fought decision win over Belal Muhammad. After the fight, Makhachev confirmed he would be moving up to welterweight to try and get the second belt and become a champ-champ.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 13, 2025

Jon Jones has something to say to those who think he’s ducking Tom Aspinall. Many fans have grown tired of the delay in crowning an undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. Jones has held the gold since March 2023, while Aspinall has been the interim champion since Nov. 2023. Both Jones and Aspinall have successfully defended their titles once, yet a matchup between the two has yet to be made official.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 13, 2025

One longtime UFC veteran will keep his 15-year run intact. Not every fighter in MMA can remain competitive, regardless of their placement on the card. This is especially true in UFC, where a couple of bad performances, along with other factors, can lead to a release. In the case of one fan favorite, who won his most recent outing, his old contract expired and many wondered if this marked the end of the business relationship.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 13, 2025

Islam Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez thinks Islam Makhachev will prove that Jack Della Maddalena simply isn’t on his level. Makhachev is the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, and he might get to try his hand at double-champ status. Jack Della Maddalena defeated Makhachev’s training partner Belal Muhammad to capture the UFC Welterweight Championship this past Saturday. This now leaves the door open for Maddalena vs. Makhachev.

Harry Kettle - May 13, 2025

UFC legend Kamaru Usman has claimed that he feels indifferent towards Belal Muhammad’s title loss at UFC 315. One thing we know to be true about Kamaru Usman is that he was a great welterweight champion. He enjoyed some incredible wins throughout the course of his title reign and now, he’s attempting to climb back to the top of the mountain. While his primary focus right now is on his main event clash with Joaquin Buckley next month, the former champ was also keeping an eye on the main event at UFC 315 between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena.

Harry Kettle - May 13, 2025

UFC president Dana White praised The Korean Zombie’s new regional promotion and even joked that they may have better referees. As we know, Dana White has never particularly trusted the judging or refereeing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While they may be the world leader in mixed martial arts, many poor judges and referees have been part of the UFC family at one point or another. Of course, due to the commissions, the promotion doesn’t really have much of a say in who gets the nod at these big events.

Harry Kettle - May 13, 2025

UFC fighter Modestas Bukauskas has responded to those claiming his win was a “robbery” at UFC 315. Throughout the course of his career, Modestas Bukauskas has been through his fair share of ups and downs. From big losses to horrific injuries and beyond, he’s had to overcome some real adversity. Now, though, he’s starting to put the right pieces in place, and the 31-year-old is beginning to look like a promising rising contender in the light heavyweight division.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

The 195th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with host Cole Shelton is live to preview UFC Vegas 106. We’re first joined by UFC middleweight Jack Hermansson (1:00). UFC lightweight Thiago Moises (14:32) then joins the show. Julian Erosa (24:02) closes out the program.

Cole Shelton - May 13, 2025

The UFC was in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on Saturday for a solid UFC 315 card. The main event saw Belal Muhammad defending his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena, while the co-main event saw Valentina Shevchenko defending her flyweight belt against Manon Fiorot. Ultimately, it was Della Maddalena who pulled off the upset as he beat Muhammad by decision to become the new welterweight champion. Shevchenko, meanwhile, edged out a decision win over Fiorot to defend her belt. Following UFC 315, here is what I think should be next for the stars of the event.

Cole Shelton - May 12, 2025

Conor McGregor has plenty of praise for Valentina Shevchenko after she defeated Manon Fiorot at UFC 315. Shevchenko defended her flyweight title with a hard-fought decision win over Fiorot. It was a great performance from Shevchenko, and after the win, Conor McGregor took his Instagram story to heap praise on the champ.

BJ Penn Staff - May 12, 2025

Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski is closing in on 50 years old, but he’s not done fighting yet. He’s now set to debut with BKFC. Arlovski, now 46, enjoyed two lengthy stints with the UFC. In fact, he has the second most fights in Octagon history, at 42.