UFC News
Tyron Woodley opens as betting underdog for UFC London bout with Leon Edwards
Chris Taylor - December 28, 2019
Tyron Woodley will return to the Octagon this March to take on Leon Edwards in the headliner of UFC London. The former welterweight kingpin, Woodley, has not competed since surrendering his title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235.
Manager says Conor McGregor is reignited and prepared for big season in 2020
Chris Taylor - December 28, 2019
Audie Attar, the manager of UFC star Conor McGregor, says the Irishman is “reignited” and ready for a big year in 2020. ’Mystic Mac’ will return to the Octagon in the headliner of next month’s UFC 246 event for a welterweight bout with Donald Cerrone.
Tyson Fury confirms he will train MMA with Conor McGregor
Adam Martin - December 27, 2019
Heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury has confirmed that he will soon be heading to Dublin to train MMA with UFC superstar Conor McGregor. Fury is one of the best heavyweight boxers on the planet but in recent months has teased a future move to mixed martial arts. Fury has been training his MMA skills recently with UFC middleweight star Darren Till. UFC president Dana White has also admitted he’s interested in seeing Fury in the Octagon one day.
Greg Hardy returns at UFC Columbus against undefeated Yorgan de Castro
Cole Shelton - December 27, 2019
Greg Hardy has his first fight of 2020 booked. The former NFL pro-bowler is set to return to the Octagon on March 28 at UFC Columbus against Yorgan de Castro.
Chael Sonnen: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson winner is 'the best ever'
Tom Taylor - December 27, 2019
Chael Sonnen believes that the winner of the upcoming lightweight title fight between champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and challenger Tony Ferguson will stand out as the best fighter in the lightweight division’s history. Sonnen gave his take on the matchup in a recent interview with Drake Riggs.
Conor McGregor donates $27,000 worth of toys to children in need
Tom Taylor - December 27, 2019
UFC superstar Conor McGregor took the opportunity to give back this Christmas, donating a whopping €25,000 ($27,000) worth of toy vouchers to a charity in Ireland. The charity organization Inner City Helping Homeless announced this generous donation from McGregor and his partner Dee Devlin on social media on Tuesday.
Jorge Masvidal sends a message to Kamaru Usman after 'who?' remarks
Harry Kettle - December 27, 2019
Jorge Masvidal has sent a very clear and direct message to UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman in the wake of some recent comments from “The Nigerian Nightmare”. Masvidal is coming off the best year of his career in 2019 after he was able to finish Darren Till, Ben Askren and Nate Diaz in impressive fashion. Now, with 2020 looming large, there’s a very good chance that “Gamebred” could be the next man in line to fight Usman for the Welterweight Championship.
Korean Zombie isn't happy with his spot in UFC rankings
Harry Kettle - December 27, 2019
Chan Sung Jung, AKA “The Korean Zombie”, isn’t happy with the current state of the UFC featherweight rankings. The popular Korean star is coming off of a huge first round win over Frankie Edgar at UFC Busan. Jung was scheduled to go one on one with Brian Ortega, only for an injury to force “T-City” out of the running and give Edgar a chance to get back in the win column.
Report | UFC revenue for 2019 could be near $1B
Tom Taylor - December 27, 2019
UFC President Dana White recently took to social media to proudly claim that 2019 has been the biggest year ever for the company. https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/1209275582627774464
Darren Till DMs Israel Adesanya requesting middleweight title, champ responds
Natasha Hooper - December 27, 2019
All Darren Till wants for Christmas is the middleweight belt. On Christmas Day, the recent addition to the middleweight division sent an Instagram DM to the 185-pound champion. He wished Israel Adesanya a Merry Christmas, but on the condition that he hands over the middleweight gold. The king of memes (and the division) responded with a meme from The Anchorman film, egging Till on.
UFC rankings update: Justin Gaethje passes Conor McGregor
Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019
The official UFC rankings have been update in the wake of last weekend’s UFC Busan card, and as expected, there have been some interesting changes. Most notably, UFC Busan main event winner has climbed up the featherweight list after knocking out Frankie Edgar.
Donald Cerrone understands why Conor McGregor could get title shot before Justin Gaethje
Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019
On January 18, former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor will return to the Octagon for a welterweight fight with Donald Cerrone. Ahead of this fight, UFC President Dana White has stated that, if McGregor wins this welterweight battle, he could get the next shot at lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. This possibility has troubled some members of the MMA community for a number of reasons. First, McGregor’s fight with Cerrone is at welterweight, not lightweight. Additionally, McGregor experienced a decisive loss to Nurmagomedov just over a year ago. Lastly and perhaps most controversially, lightweight contender Justin Gaethje is on a three-fight win-streak, and is arguably far more deserving a title shot than McGregor, at least in terms of rankings.
'Jacare' returns to middleweight for fight with Uriah Hall
Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza has decided the light heavyweight division is not for him. After losing a controversial and frankly forgettable decision to Jan Blachowicz in his light heavyweight debut this fall, Jacare has elected to return to his native middleweight division. The Brazilian is now scheduled to meet Uriah Hall in a middleweight bout at UFC 249, which is scheduled for April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. ESPN, the official broadcast partner of the UFC, was first to report this matchup. MMA Fighting subsequently confirmed that report.
Khabib Nurmagomedov hails Jon Jones as pound-for-pound king
Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019
UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is viewed by many fans as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. If you ask the man himself, however, that lofty title belongs to UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Nurmagomedov, a friend and training partner of Jones’ arch rival Daniel Cormier, was asked who he considers the sport’s pound-for-pound king at a recent press conference in Russia.
The biggest MMA stories of 2019
Natasha Hooper - December 26, 2019
2019 was a rollercoaster ride for the world of MMA, featuring plenty of ups and downs. As the year draws to a close, BJPENN.com looks back on 10 of the biggest MMA stories of 2019, from the good to the bad to the downright ugly.
Multiple UFC fights announced on Christmas Day
Tom Taylor - December 26, 2019
Here’s your Christmas present from the UFC, fight fans: a whopping five fights were announced on Christmas Day, including appearances from stars like Rachel Ostovich, Elizeu Zaleski Dos Santos and Kai Kara-France. Here’s a rundown of the new UFC fights announced on Christmas Day, via Marcel Dorff on Twitter.
Top-10 MMA fighters of the decade
Adam Martin - December 24, 2019
Check out BJPenn.com‘s list of the top-10 MMA fighters of the decade, featuring the likes of Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Ronda Rousey, Demetrious Johnson and Cris Cyborg. The first thing to note is that this is a very subjective and difficult list to come up with. There were so many fighters who could be included in the discussion, but ultimately we had to leave many of them off since it’s just a top-10. But before we do that, here’s a list of some honorable mentions that just missed the list.
Patrick Cummins announces his retirement from MMA
Tom Taylor - December 24, 2019
Patrick Cummins, the UFC light heavyweight contender who famously left his job as a barista to fight Daniel Cormier on short notice, has announced his retirement from MMA. Cummins made his announcement on Instagram on Tuesday afternoon.