UFC News

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2020

UFC President Dana White has confirmed that No. 1 welterweight contender Gilbert Burns will get the next crack at the division’s champ Kamaru Usman. Usman and Burns were expected to fight in the main event of UFC 251 last weekend, but the fight was nixed when Burns tested positive for COVID-19. Burns was then replaced by Jorge Masvidal, who Usman defeated by unanimous decision.

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2020

UFC flyweight contender Paige VanZant is officially a free agent, and will begin discussing the next phase of her career with the UFC and any other interested promotions. VanZant fulfilled the final obligation of her latest UFC contract at UFC 251, where she took on the streaking Amanda Ribas. Unfortunately for the fan favorite and her legions of supporters, this fight didn’t go as she planned, as she was submitted in the first round.

Adam Martin - July 17, 2020

UFC president Dana White says that welterweight superstar Nate Diaz will “definitely” fight again inside the Octagon, though he doesn’t know when exactly. Diaz is one of the biggest superstars in the UFC but he hasn’t fought since November 2019 when he lost via TKO (doctor stoppage) to Jorge Masvidal in a battle for the first-ever UFC BMF title. There have been rumblings of a potential rematch between Diaz and Masvidal, as well as a potential trilogy fight between Diaz and rival Conor McGregor, but so far nothing has been booked and the Stockton native continues to sit on the sidelines.

Cole Shelton - July 17, 2020

In the main event of UFC Fight Island 2, Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez are having an immediate rematch for the vacant flyweight title. Heading into the fight, the Brazilian, Figueiredo, is a -225 favorite while the American is a +175 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority of the fighters believe Benavidez will finally become a UFC champion and beat Figueiredo in the rematch.

Adam Martin - July 17, 2020

UFC welterweight contender Colby Covington believes he hasn’t been booked for another fight yet because the UFC “hates” him and holds a “grudge” against him. Covington hasn’t fought since UFC 245 last December when he suffered a fifth-round TKO loss to Kamaru Usman in the last round of their epic welterweight title fight. Since then, Covington has remained on the sidelines without an opponent, though a week doesn’t go by where he isn’t busy calling one of the top contenders at 170lbs out.

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2020

UFC President Dana White believes there’s cause for a third fight between Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski. Holloway and Volkanovski have fought twice previously.

Harry Kettle - July 17, 2020

UFC middleweight Kelvin Gastelum believes he is in a good place heading into his UFC Fight Island showdown with Jack Hermansson. In early 2019 there was a whole lot of momentum behind The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner after he beat Michael Bisping and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in back-to-back fights. Unfortunately for him, since then, he’s been on a two-fight skid after losing an epic encounter against Israel Adesanya before falling to a split decision loss against rising contender Darren Till.

Tom Taylor - July 17, 2020

On Saturday night, the UFC will return our screens with UFC on ESPN+ 30, the promotion’s third event in the span of a week. In the card’s main event, Deiveson Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez will collide for the vacant flyweight title. The pair met earlier this year with the same prize on the line, but no champion was crowned, as Figueiredo missed weight, making him ineligible to win the title, and then won the fight via TKO. The hope is that both fighters will make weight and battle to a more decisive end this weekend.

Adam Martin - July 16, 2020

UFC welterweight prospect Khamzat Chimaev says he wants to fight Nate Diaz, Mike Perry, or Robbie Lawler next as he works his way up the 170lbs ladder. Chimaev had a UFC debut for the ages when he absolutely smoked John Phillips at Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 13 card in Abu Dhabi. Chimaev took Phillips down right away and beat him up so badly that one judge even scored the first round 10-7 in his favor, one of the rarest scorecards in all of MMA. In the second round, Chimaev made quick work of Phillips and submitted him with a brutal D’arce choke to pick up his first UFC win.

Cole Shelton - July 16, 2020

Kelvin Gastelum wants to run things back with Darren Till. In the co-main event of UFC 244 last November, Gastelum was looking to get back into the win column when he welcomed Till to the middleweight division. It was a very intriguing matchup where it was the Englishman in Till who edged out a split decision.

Cole Shelton - July 16, 2020

Tyron Woodley has made it clear that he is willing to fight Colby Covington, just not in August. On Wednesday night, Covington posted a signed bout agreement for a fight against Woodley on August 22. Yet, he claimed the former champ turned him down once again. According to Woodley, he says he is not ready to fight then, but will gladly fight him in the fall.

Cole Shelton - July 16, 2020

Urijah Faber is interested in continuing his legendary MMA career and has a name in mind. The UFC Hall of Famer came out of retirement last summer where he scored a first-round TKO win over Ricky Simon. He then fought again at UFC 245 where he suffered a KO loss to Petr Yan.

Cole Shelton - July 16, 2020

When Jack Hermansson lost his fight against Chris Weidman due to COVID-19, he was distraught. Yet, that ended quickly when the UFC offered him a scrap against Kelvin Gastelum. Even before the Weidman fight was booked, Hermansson and Gastelum were calling each other out on Twitter. After that, they went to the UFC to make the fight which is what happened as the two will be the co-main event on July 18.

Cole Shelton - July 16, 2020

In the main event of UFC Fight Island 1, rising featherweight contenders, in Calvin Kattar and Dan Ige were looking to continue their hot streaks. It was a very intriguing scrap, where the winner would likely enter a number one contender bout, or perhaps earn a title shot. Both fighters told BJPENN.com they were planning on breaking the other in there, but that is far from what happened. Both Kattar and Ige kept on coming forward and landing heavy shots. But, it was Kattar who got the job done by decision.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2020

Former UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas believes she’s the next woman in line for the reigning champion Weili Zhang. Whenever the matchup happens, she expects it to be a beautiful display of martial arts. Namajunas discussed this compelling strawweight matchup in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. She says she believes that’s what’s next for her, but concedes that it’s far from official just yet.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2020

Tyron Woodley has issued a response after Colby Covington claimed the former champ ducked him, and provided a signed bout agreement as proof. Covington made this claim about Woodley on Instagram on Wednesday.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - July 16, 2020

Add Kenny Florian to the long list of individuals who believe Max Holloway should’ve been given the nod in his rematch with Alex Volkanovski. Holloway looked to avenge his Dec. 2019 UFC featherweight title loss to Volkanovski. “Blessed” and “The Great” collided a second time in the co-main event of UFC 251 on July 11. After five rounds of action, Holloway fell short via split decision. It was a controversial decision that even UFC president Dana White didn’t agree with.

Tom Taylor - July 16, 2020

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman still wants to share the Octagon with Georges St-Pierre, widely regarded as the division’s greatest fighter ever. Usman is riding high after a lopsided decision win over MMA superstar Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 last Saturday. With his win over Masvidal in the rear-view mirror, he’s now hoping for the chance to mix it up with the division’s former champion, St-Pierre.