UFC News

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.

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.

Thomas Taylor - September 5, 2019

Not long after Weili Zhang captured the UFC strawweight belt with a first-round stoppage of Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen, fans began to speculate as to who might provide the new champ’s first challenge. UFC President Dana White seems to be undecided on that. Speaking to ESPN this week, White was asked who might serve as Zhang’s new opponent. The frontrunners would seem to be the undefeated Tatiana Suarez, the former champion Rose Namajunas, or the winner of the upcoming fight between Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Michelle Waterson.

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.

Tom Taylor - September 5, 2019

For a time, it sounded as though former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor might attend the UFC 242 card this weekend in Abu Dhabi, which is topped by a fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. According to UFC President Dana White, however, McGregor will not be attending the card. He will, however, be watching the pay-per-view.

Tom Taylor - September 5, 2019

When Colby Covington defeated Robbie Lawler earlier this summer, he cemented himself as the next man in line for UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. In the subsequent weeks, the bout was linked to the upcoming UFC 244 card, scheduled for November 2 in Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, it now sounds as though this bout in jeopardy. According to ESPN reporter Ariel Helwani, negotiations for this Usman vs. Covington fight have hit a snag, and the UFC is now considering other options.

Natasha Hooper - September 5, 2019

Aljamain Sterling has heard that Dominick Cruz could potentially be next for UFC bantamweight champ Henry Cejudo, and as the division’s top contender, he’s not happy about potentially being skipped over. “The Funk Master” Sterling is ranked No. 2 in the bantamweight division. He has proven himself as a top bantamweight contender by winning his four most recent fights including his last performance, a unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz.

Natasha Hooper - September 5, 2019

Two-division UFC champion Amanda Nunes isn’t afraid to show some skin. Earlier this year, she posed sans clothes on social media to celebrate her UFC 239 win. Not long thereafter, she stripped down for for ESPN’s Body Issue. Photos from her ESPN shoot have now been released. Photos can be found on the ESPN website. You can also seem some samples below.

Natasha Hooper - September 5, 2019

One of the most bizarre MMA stories to come out of 2019 so far was Henry Cejudo’s call-out of Valentina Shevchenko. Cejudo called out the women’s flyweight champion, challenging her to an ‘inter-gender’ bout. The pair went at it for weeks on social media but couldn’t hide behind the Twitter veil when they came face to face in Abu Dhabi. The pair came face-to-face ahead of the UFC 242 card this weekend. They put their supposed beef to rest when they met backstage.

Tom Taylor - September 5, 2019

Nate Diaz made a successful return to action after three years away at UFC 241, defeating Anthony Pettis by decision. After this comeback, he called for a fan friendly showdown with streaking welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal. While pretty much everybody wants to see Diaz and Masvidal fight, UFC President Dana White seems to have no update on this booking. In fact, he doesn’t seem to have any idea when we’ll see Diaz back in action again.

Adam Martin - September 5, 2019

UFC president Dana White has confirmed that Tony Ferguson will get the next lightweight title shot. The UFC bossman the plan is for “El Cucuy” to fight the winner of the UFC 242 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier. As long as he’s healthy, that is.

Cole Shelton - September 5, 2019

In the main event of UFC 242, undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov wil look to defend his belt against Dustin Poirier. Heading into this fight, the champ is a -500 favorite on Bovada, while the challenger is a +350 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The majority are leaning towards Khabib Nurmagomedov, but they think it is a closer fight than the odds suggest.

Cole Shelton - September 4, 2019

Weili Zhang is ready for a fight with current UFC men’s flyweight and bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo. Zhang is the UFC’s new women’s strawweight champion after knocking out Jessica Andrade at UFC Shenzhen in 42-seconds. For Cejudo, he has been calling out a couple of different female fighters and the new Chinese champion just so happened to be one of them.