UFC News

bjpenndotcom - January 28, 2016

Chael Sonnen’s ventures outside of the world of MMA continue! It was announced recently via Sherdog that Chael Sonnen has officially been cast as a competitor on the upcoming 8th season of NBC’s ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’.

bjpenndotcom - January 28, 2016

It was announced recently that our namesake BJ Penn would be returning to the UFC for yet another fight. News then emerged that Penn had verbally agreed to a bout, however no further details were given. On a recent episode of Chael Sonnen’s “You’re Welcome!” podcast, he was joined by 3-time UFC featherweight title challenger Chad Mendes, who sounded off on the return of Penn.

bjpenndotcom - January 28, 2016

Many MMA fans forget that back in 2011 before the formation of the UFC’s flyweight division Dominick Cruz defeated Demetrious Johnson via unanimous decision. Cruz ultimately was sidelined for several years due to injury and forced to vacate the belt before ultimately reclaiming it earlier this month. Johnson on the other hand competed in the UFC’s inaugural flyweight tournament and claimed the championship belt.

bjpenndotcom - January 28, 2016

Following the flawless performance put on by Holly Holm against Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight championship, Rousey and head coach Edmond Tarverdyan found themselves under fire. Rousey was criticized for her confidence leading up to the fight, while Tarverdyan was criticized for what people believed was an inability to give Rousey helpful advice leading up to, and during, the fight.

Russell Ess - January 28, 2016

MMA is about technical skill, putting on exciting fights and ultimately, winning. However, when you can toss in charisma and looks to the package, you have all the ingredients necessary to produce a star not just in MMA, but in pop culture. Look at how former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has fared with her career outside of MMA. In less than three years since her UFC debut, Rousey has garnered more media coverage and fans than most fighters in the UFC ever will. Do her looks and personality play into that at all?

Russell Ess - January 28, 2016

You have seen the video that went viral right? Where UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor was sparring with 396-pound Hafthór Júlíus Björnsson, also known as “The Mountain” from Game of Thrones? (Video link here) Björnsson was recently featured in GQ and revealed some interesting information from the sparring session with “The Notorious.”

Russell Ess - January 28, 2016

It was kind of a big deal. FOX took it into their own hands to suspend Kenny Florian for failing to cite some quotes that he used while working on an article for the FOX Sports website, which resulted in an act of plagiarism. Dominick Cruz fueled the fire and threw a “friendly” verbal jab after winning the UFC bantamweight title and it caused a lot more people to be interested in the matter and the story between the two FOX analysts.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua are both legends in the sport of MMA, however the pair have never fought despite their lengthy careers in the sport. Back at UFC 128 Evans was set to challenge Rua for the UFC light heavyweight championship, but was forced out of the bout with a knee injury. Evans was subsequently replaced by Jon Jones, who defeated Shogun to claim the UFC light heavyweight championship.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

After it was announced that Cain Velasquez was out of his UFC 196 main event scrap with Fabricio Werdum, the UFC announced that Stipe Miocic would fight Werdum for the heavyweight title. Shortly after that announcement, Fabricio Werdum withdrew from the bout, also citing a back injury. After a brief scramble that saw Nate Diaz offer to fight Anthony Pettis on short notice, the UFC decided to promote the co-main event fight between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson to the main event.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

UFC 196 has now been scrapped and rebranded as ‘UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson’ after Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum both withdrew from their main event scrap for the heavyweight title. After a brief scramble that saw Nate Diaz offer to fight Anthony Pettis in the main event, the UFC promoted the co-main event between Johny Hendricks and Stephen Thompson to the main event, and moved the card to Fox Sports 1.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

Spinning attacks are some of the most lethal techniques in all of MMA. The moves are often high risk high reward. When they land the result is often devastating, however when they don’t the result often isn’t too great for the fighter throwing the technique.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

Jose Aldo has remained mostly quiet since losing his UFC featherweight championship to Conor McGregor at UFC 194 last month. In the meantime, McGregor has booked a fight at lightweight against Rafael dos Anjos for the lightweight championship on March 5th. Leading many to wonder whether Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo will get the next crack at McGregor at featherweight when ‘Notorious’ returns to 145.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

https://youtu.be/u50Y32_tDmk Sometimes short and sweet is just as effective as long and drawn out and full of detail. In Fabricio Werdum’s case he did the later and drew some ‘constructive’ criticism from a fellow heavyweight.

Russell Ess - January 27, 2016

Since the UFC partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in 2015, a lot of fighters are much happier with how things are going in the organization as far as their competition goes. UFC heavyweight “Big” Ben Rothwell is one of them. Rothwell spoke with ESPN recently on how the landscape of the UFC is changing with the increased drug testing, especially in the heavyweight division.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

Ariel Helwani with MMA hour, get the rundown on Cain Velasquez and life as being a UFC champ. Luke Rockhold is living it up and ‘bumping elbows’ with rich and famous after he defeated Chris Weidman at UFC 194.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

That is what made me a fan of @TheNotoriousMMA, he talks yes but he delivers and he always shows respect after https://t.co/UYroqJ4bhN — Miesha Tate (@MieshaTate) January 27, 2016

Russell Ess - January 27, 2016

http://dai.ly/x3oll1e If you haven’t seen this video yet, you are in for a treat. Check out this great clip from the past of UFC color commentator Joe Rogan teaching former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre a thing or two about kicking.

bjpenndotcom - January 27, 2016

Ready for some action packed martial arts? These martial artists use kicking and striking techniques to paint a painful picture that these strikes can be bad for your health.