MMA News

BJ Penn Staff - May 7, 2025

Jake Paul has thrown his support behind UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. On Tuesday, Pereira shocked fans by lashing out at the UFC, and threatening to retiring from combat sports altogether.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 7, 2025

Belal Muhammad insists he has zero concern about Kamaru Usman. Muhammad and Usman haven’t been cordial with one another over the past year. Usman blames the dissension on Muhammad’s trash talk after winning the UFC Welterweight Championship from Leon Edwards in 2024. There is also the now infamous unaired “Pound 4 Pound” podcast episode featuring Muhammad, where things apparently got quite testy between the two.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 7, 2025

Jose Aldo was never known for being a trash talker, but he doesn’t shy away from throwing out a zinger or two. Aldo is already a UFC Hall of Famer, but he still competes inside the Octagon. While Aldo hasn’t tasted UFC gold in quite some time, he still believes in his ability to put on a show. While wins over Marlon “Chito” Vera, Pedro Munhoz, Rob Font, and Jonathan Martinez proved Aldo still has some juice left in the tank, losses against Merab Dvalishvili and Mario Bautista frustrated the UFC legend.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 7, 2025

A one-time UFC champion has come to the defense of Bo Nickal. Fans witnessed the first pro MMA loss in the young career of Nickal this past Saturday. Nickal took on the experienced de Ridder in the UFC Des Moines co-headliner. Things certainly didn’t go the way Nickal planned. The once unbeaten prospect couldn’t handle the pressure of the former two-division ONE Championship titleholder, and he crumpled after receiving a knee to the body in the second stanza.

BJ Penn Staff - May 7, 2025

Charles Radtke will be looking for revenge at UFC 315. UFC 315 goes down this Saturday in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Radtke will be back in action on the undercard, taking on Canadian welterweight contender Mike Malott.

BJ Penn Staff - May 7, 2025

UFC fans have been waiting to see Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev fight for months. From the sounds of it, the wait is almost over. South Africa’s Du Plessis is the reigning UFC middleweight champion. He won the belt with a close decision win over Sean Strickland last year, and has since defended it twice. First, he submitted former champ Israel Adesanya. Then, he defeated Strickland with a far more decisive decision win in a rematch.

Harry Kettle - May 7, 2025

UFC champion Julianna Pena has accused Kayla Harrison of using steroids as the countdown to their UFC 316 fight continues. As we know, Julianna Pena is a pretty controversial figure when it comes to MMA fans. While she’s a two-time bantamweight world champion in the UFC, she has a tendency to rattle people with some of the comments she makes. It’s often because she’s trying to get under the skin of her opponents, and that’s certainly the case with her upcoming UFC 316 clash with Kayla Harrison.

Harry Kettle - May 7, 2025

UFC contender Reinier de Ridder has not been moved further up the middleweight rankings despite his win over Bo Nickal. Last Saturday night, Reinier de Ridder really arrived in the UFC’s middleweight division. While he’d already picked up a couple of wins prior to his triumph over Bo Nickal, this was the time for him to really test himself against one of the most hyped fighters in the entire sport. He passed the test with flying colours, dominating Nickal from pillar to post before finishing him with a nasty knee to the stomach.

Harry Kettle - May 7, 2025

UFC champion Dricus du Plessis has responded to some recent trash talk and threats from contender Khamzat Chimaev. As we know, Dricus du Plessis is the king of the middleweight division. The 31-year-old won the belt by defeating Sean Strickland and since then, he’s successfully defended it against both Strickland and Israel Adesanya. Now, the expectation is that he will take on Khamzat Chimaev in his next outing, although there’s been no confirmation as to when this fight is going to happen.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 6, 2025

Reigning ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Champion Tye Ruotolo took a clear stride forward versus Dante Leon at ONE Fight Night 31, dispatching the Canadian combatant across 10 dominant minutes. The 22-year-old held onto his gold by unanimous decision in the co-main event this past Friday, May 2, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium, settling the score in their trilogy at 2-1.

BJPENN.COM Staff - May 6, 2025

Former two-weight ONE MMA World Champion Reinier de Ridder rose to the top of ONE Championship, becoming a formidable force. He’s been terrorizing the world of MMA long before his UFC tenure began, and that only highlights the depth of ONE’s MMA realm. “The Dutch Knight” carved out his third consecutive stoppage win in the UFC this past Saturday, 3 May, dispatching surging UFC star Bo Nickal in round two.

Cole Shelton - May 6, 2025

Modestas Bukauskas is expecting a wild and explosive fight against Ion Cutelaba at UFC 315. After Bukauskas and Cutelaba both won at UFC Seattle, he called for the fight as he thought it would be exciting and would make sense. The UFC agreed and made the fight quickly as the two will fight not even three months later.

BJ Penn Staff - May 6, 2025

Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. The same can be said of his close friend and training partner Islam Makhachev. According to long-time UFC commentator Joe Rogan, there’s a reason for that. Rogan got to talking about Khabib and Islam during a recent episode of his popular podcast.

Cole Shelton - May 6, 2025

Belal Muhammad believes his pace and pressure will be too much for Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. Muhammad is looking to defend his welterweight title for the first time when he takes on Della Maddalena on Saturday in Montreal. Entering the fight, Muhammad is a sizeable favorite, and he has confidence he will be able to not only beat Della Maddalena, but will finish the Aussie.

BJ Penn Staff - May 6, 2025

Petr Yan will be taking a huge step down in competition for his next UFC fight — unless his fellow contender Cory Sandhagen agrees to a matchup. Yan is the former UFC bantamweight champion, and is ranked No. 2 in the weight class at present. He is currently riding back-to-back decision wins over Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo. Ordinarily, that might be enough to warrant a title shot. There’s just one problem. Yan has already lost to champion Merab Dvalishvili, as well as No. 1 contender Sean O’Malley, who will challenge for the belt at UFC 316 in June.

BJ Penn Staff - May 6, 2025

The UFC is set to return to Montreal, Quebec, Canada this Saturday. The card may not be the home run the promotion hoped for. UFC 315 features two title fights, and appearances from a handful of decorated veterans and promising prospects. Given how rarely the promotion visits Canada, you might assume tickets are flying off the shelves.

BJ Penn Staff - May 6, 2025

UFC middleweight prospect Bo Nickal got his first taste of defeat in MMA last Saturday, suffering a devastating TKO loss to Reinier De Ridder. He is not shying away from the experience. Nickal met De Ridder in the co-main event of the UFC’s debut in Des Moines, Iowa. It was the wrestling standout’s chance to improve to 8-0 as a pro and vault into the middleweight rankings, but it was not meant to be. Instead, Nickal was dominated by De Ridder in round one, and finished by a knee to the body in round two.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - May 6, 2025

Kamaru Usman and Belal Muhammad aren’t even close to squashing their beef. Usman and Muhammad have been at odds since “Remember the Name” captured the UFC Welterweight Championship in 2024. The two agreed to air out their grievances on an unreleased episode of the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, but things boiled over between the two.