MMA News

Tom Taylor - October 13, 2020

Daniel Cormier had a brief skirmish with some fans on Twitter after suggesting we might see a Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor rematch soon. Nurmagomedov, the undefeated UFC lightweight champion, took on McGregor in October, 2018, successfully defending his title with a fourth-round submission win. The bout registered as the biggest in UFC history, and there’s been much talk of a rematch between the pair ever since.

Cole Shelton - October 13, 2020

The 14th episode of Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com with Cole Shelton is here ahead of UFC Fight Island 6. We’re first joined by the new UFC light heavyweight champion, Jan Blachowicz (2:51). Next, UFC welterweight, James Krause (16:00) comes on. UFC flyweight, Gillian Robertson (29:25) joins the program. Closing out the program is UFC light heavyweight, Modestas Bukauskas (43:09).

Alfredo Zullino - October 13, 2020

A middleweight scrap between Italy’s Marvin Vettori (15-3-1 MMA; 5-2-1 UFC) and Ronaldo Souza (26-8 MMA; 9-5 UFC) is in the works for December 12; Vettori’s personal trainer, Emanuele Lochner announced on his Youtube’s channel, The Scramble MMA SHOW. “The Italian Dream” was previously reported to be squaring off against Russian veteran Omari Akhmedov on December 12 at UFC 256, but the fight was never officially announced.

Adam Martin - October 12, 2020

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov explained why he turned down the opportunity to coach TUF against Conor McGregor. UFC president Dana White recently revealed that the promotion was hoping to book Nurmagomedov and McGregor to coach against one another on its reincarnation of The Ultimate Fighter. The UFC hasn’t filmed a season of TUF for two years now but the promotion has made it known that it is bringing the reality show back, and White and the UFC matchmakers have been looking for the coaches. Nurmagomedov and McGregor would make for great TV, making it a natural fit for them to be the coaches on the show.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2020

Beneil Dariush put his UFC 248 performance bonus to good use. At UFC 248, Dariush scored an insane KO over Drakkar Klose in what was a wild fight. The knockout got him another performance of the night bonus, which marked the third straight fight he has received a $50k bonus. So, the 31-year-old used the extra earnings to fund an orphanage in Haiti.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2020

Dustin Poirier says negotiations are alive for a rematch with Conor McGregor. Recently, McGregor and Poirier have talked about having an exhibition bout. Yet, the fight was then offered by the UFC, and “The Diamond” says the negotiations are alive. The only thing slowing it down is the UFC wanting it to be in 2021.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2020

In the main event of UFC Fight Island 5, a key bantamweight bout headlined the card as Cory Sandhagen took on Marlon Moraes. Sandhagen was looking to get back into the win column while Moraes was looking to secure his second consecutive victory. Ultimately, it was Sandhagen getting his hand raised by second-round TKO.

Cole Shelton - October 12, 2020

Korean Zombie’s striking coach, Eddie Cha, is confident his pupil will be able to knock Brian Ortega out. In the main event of UFC Fight Island 6, Zombie and Ortega will finally settle their differences after months of trash talk. It is a highly-anticipated fight and one even Cha is excited to watch.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

It sounds like we can forget about seeing Darren Till cornering Mike Perry at UFC 255. Perry, one of the more popular fighters in the UFC welterweight division, is set to take on former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler on the November 21 card. Ahead of the fight, he offered up a spot in his corner—alongside his partner Latory Gonzalez—to the highest bidder. Till was quick to respond to this plan from Perry, offering up $5,000 for a spot in his corner.

Adam Martin - October 12, 2020

Bellator welterweight contender Michael Page had an “off night” at Bellator Paris due to ring rust, theorized Bellator president Scott Coker. Page defeated former Cage Warriors FC champion Ross Houston via unanimous decision at Bellator’s debut event in Paris. It was far from the best performance of Page’s career as he wasn’t able to let loose and score a flashy KO as his fans are accustomed to. It wasn’t a bad performance, but it was disappointing considering how talented Page is. In the wake of the fight, fans and media have taken to social media to criticize Bellator and Page for the matchmaking of this fight, suggesting that the Page vs. Houston fight was unnecessary.

Adam Martin - October 12, 2020

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya explained the Paulo Costa humping incident, pointing to homophobia as the reason for backlash. Adesanya scored arguably the most impressive knockout win of his MMA career to date when he finished Costa with strikes in their UFC 253 main event. But what everyone was talking about after the fight was not the knockout, but what happened after. Immediately after the referee stepped in and stopped the fight, Adesanya could be seen humping Costa. He then told Costa’s coach Eric Albarracin that he wanted to ejaculate all over him.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

New UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz is open to defending his title against the promotion’s middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya. If Adesanya does migrate up to light heavyweight, however, Blachowicz sees the move going disastrously.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

Cory Sandhagen’s win over Marlon Moraes sparked a heated Twitter skirmish between bantamweight champ Petr Yan and the division’s top contender, Aljamain Sterling. Sandhagen took on Moraes in a crucial bantamweight contender bout in the main event of UFC Fight Island 5 last Saturday, picking up the win with flashy second-round TKO. With this victory, he rebounded from a submission loss to Sterling, who is expected to get the next crack at the division’s reigning champion, Yan.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

Over the weekend, Scott Coker promoted the first major mixed martial arts event in France with the stacked Bellator 248 card. It took many years for France to formally legalize MMA, but once the country opened that door, Coker and Bellator sprung into action, laying out plans for the first major MMA event in the country.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

New UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz believes Jon Jones left the division to avoid a taste of his “Legendary Polish Power.” Jones ruled over the UFC light heavyweight division for many years, but vacated the throne earlier this year as part of a plan to move up to the heavyweight division in search of new challenges. Not long thereafter, Blachowicz took on Dominick Reyes for the vacant belt. The Polish fighter won that title fight by second-round knockout, showcasing his knockout power once again.

Tom Taylor - October 12, 2020

Marlon Moraes feels his TKO loss to Cory Sandhagen, which headlined Saturday’s UFC Fight Island 5 card, was “probably a little early.” Sandhagen put Moraes down with a spinning kick in the bout’s second round. Moraes, however, feels that the fight was going in his favor until that decisive moment, and that that the referee’s intervention might have been a tad premature.

Harry Kettle - October 12, 2020

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released slow motion footage of Joaquin Buckley’s phenomenal knockout from this past weekend. Buckley’s life changed forever on Saturday night as his incredible win over Impa Kasanganay on Fight Island went viral around the world. It’s been called the greatest knockout in UFC history by many, and at this stage, it’s hard to disagree with that sentiment.

Christopher Taylor - October 11, 2020

Reigning and undefeated UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya finds the recent callouts from former division title holder Chris Weidman “a bit weird”. Despite going just 2-5 over his past seven Octagon appearances Weidman has been doing his best to score a title fight with ‘Stylebender’.