UFC News

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2020

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has made no secret of his disdain for UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones. Given the pair’s animosity toward one another, it should come as no surprise that Adesanya has some thoughts on Jones’ recent DWI arrest. Adesanya’s first reactions to Jones’ arrest came in the form of a few memes, but he claims to have measured his public response to the story because he didn’t want to violate his “code.”

Harry Kettle - April 8, 2020

The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) has vowed not to participate in or regulate the upcoming UFC 249 event on April 18. There’s been a great deal of speculation over where exactly the UFC would hold the blockbuster event, with it now being reported that it will be held on tribal land in California. The card is set to be headlined by Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje for the Interim Lightweight Championship.

Tom Taylor - April 8, 2020

Dana White and the UFC will go ahead with the UFC 249 card despite the coronavirus pandemic. The event will go down at the Tachi Palace Casino on tribal land in California on April 18. Given the current global health crisis, the UFC will promote this event and any future pandemic-era shows while adhering to a list of important precautions. Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports obtained those precautions, and Bloody Elbow converted them into a nice, reader-friendly list.

Cole Shelton - April 8, 2020

One of the biggest questions in all of MMA is who is the GOAT? Is it someone who had the biggest impact on the sport or the person who won the most? It’s an interesting debate for fighters and fans alike to have at any time. So, with little MMA on for the foreseeable future, BJPENN.com reached out to several current fighters to ask who the strawweight GOAT is. For many, it still is Joanna Jedrzejczyk but Rose Namajunas is right there.

Natasha Hooper - April 8, 2020

Colby Covington has threatened to end Tyron Woodley’s life, leaving the UFC to “throw his dead body to the sharks.” The former welterweight champion, Woodley was scheduled to fight Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC London last month. The fight was eventually cancelled due to the ongoing threat of coronavirus. Now, “The Chosen One” has found a new target in the form of Covington. Woodley previously volunteered to fight the recent title challenger at UFC 249 on April 18, but claimed that his rival turned down the opportunity.

Cole Shelton - April 7, 2020

It appears the UFC has found the location for UFC 249 and it will be on Tribal Land in California. Although Dana White said he would be securing a private island, UFC 249 will not be happening out at sea. Instead, according to a report from Jeff Sherwood and later confirmed by the New York Times, UFC 249 will take place at the Tachi Palace Casino Resort on Tribal Land in California. It will also serve as the location for the next several UFC events.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber says he is not officially retired and he would consider taking another fight in the Octagon under the right circumstances. Faber last competed at UFC 245 in December where he suffered a vicious knockout loss to Petr Yan. It was Faber’s second fight back after a short-lived retirement, having knocked out Ricky Simon in his comeback fight. But the Yan knockout loss was a huge setback for Faber and the way he lost led to some suggesting he should hang his gloves back up.

Cole Shelton - April 7, 2020

Justin Gaethje knows he won’t be able to go a full 25 minutes against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, but is confident he’ll earn a stoppage win. On Monday it was announced that Gaethje was stepping in on short notice against Ferguson on April 18 for the UFC’s interim lightweight title. The news came as a surprise to many, as “The Highlight” has opted against taking short-notice fights in the past. However, fighting for the belt was too big of a opportunity to pass up on.

Christopher Taylor - April 7, 2020

Justin Gaethje came to the rescue of fight fans around the world by accepting a short-notice contest with Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18. Ferguson was originally slated to challenge undefeated lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov at the event. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘The Eagle’ was left grounded in Russia.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

The sportsbooks have released the full card betting odds for UFC 249 after Dana White announced the new card that will take place at a location TBD. Despite the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world, White has been adamant this whole time that the show will go on for the UFC. Indeed, the promotion announced a full slate of 12 fights on Monday, including a terrific main event for the interim UFC lightweight title between top contenders Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje. No location has been released yet, but White says he has a spot set up that will house the event, albeit with no fans.

Cole Shelton - April 7, 2020

One of the biggest questions in all of MMA is who is the GOAT? Is it someone who had the biggest impact on the sport or the person who won the most? It’s an interesting debate for fighters and fans alike to have at any time. So, with far less MMA on the calendar than normal, BJPENN.com reached out to several current and former heavyweights to ask who their divisional GOAT is. The pros were split between Stipe Miocic and Fedor Emelianenko.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White confirmed that select media members will be invited to be a part of UFC 249 despite the restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. White announced Monday the full UFC 249 card, including an interim lightweight title fight between Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson at the top of the bill. Also on the card is a rematch between former women’s strawweight champions Jessica Andrade and Rose Namajunas, a heavyweight bout between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and a featherweight bout between Calvin Kattar and Jeremy Stephens. The location is still a secret.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White claims that the fighters competing at UFC 249 will be safer than fans sitting at home or going to the grocery store. White made UFC 249 official on Monday, booking 12 fights for the card including an interim lightweight title bout between Justin Gaethje and Tony Ferguson for the main event. The event will go on as planned despite the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world, though White has not yet released a location for the card, instead deciding to keep it a secret.

Adam Martin - April 7, 2020

UFC president Dana White explained why he’s keeping the location of UFC 249 a secret despite the event being less than two weeks away from happening. White announced the full card for UFC 249 on Monday, which includes a tremendous interim lightweight title bout between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje at the top of the card. However, while the UFC announced 12 fights that will take place at the event, one thing the promotion did not reveal was the location of the event.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2020

Justin Gaethje has accepted a short-notice, interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson, arguably the scariest man in the division. The pair will collide in the main event of UFC 249 on April 18. Speaking to TMZ Sports, Gaethje explained his decision to accept this fight with Ferguson — despite being admittedly “terrified” by the situation.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2020

UFC President Dana White isn’t sure what’s next for former two-division champ Conor McGregor, who is far and away the promotion’s biggest star. Things are quite chaotic at the top of the lightweight division at present, as undisputed champ Khabib Nurmagomedov is stuck in Russia due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions, and Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje are set to battle for the interim title in the short-notice main event of UFC 249 on April 18. It’s difficult to say where McGregor, the lightweight division’s biggest name and one of its top contenders, fits into this situation.

Natasha Hooper - April 7, 2020

Fans weren’t the only ones duped by a fake Ariel Helwani account this week, as former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier was also tricked into believing a false announcement about Khabib Nurmagomedov. Over the weekend, a fraudulent account impersonating Ariel Helwani (spelled Helvani) reported some breaking news. The account announced that UFC president Dana White and Vladimir Putin had arranged for UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov to travel the US to fight Tony Ferguson in their scheduled UFC 249 bout. The Twitter account used the same profile picture as Helwani’s official account, so it certainly looked the part.

Tom Taylor - April 7, 2020

Jon Jones had an interesting reaction to Anthony Smith’s story about fighting off a home invader over the weekend.  Smith, who fought Jones last year, shared this harrowing account during an interview with ESPN, going into detail about his tooth-and-nail brawl with the intruder, who reportedly entered his home around 4:00am on Sunday