UFC News

Tom Taylor - August 21, 2020

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and his next opponent Paulo Costa had a heated back-and-forth on ESPN’s SportsCenter this week. Ahead of their fight, which will headline the UFC 253 card in September, both fighters are riding victories over the extremely dangerous Yoel Romero. Costa defeated Romero in a wild fire-fight last August, while Adesanya edged by the Cuban in a slow but tense affair in March.

Harry Kettle - August 21, 2020

According to a report from MMA Junkie, Ryan Hall has been forced to pull out of his fight with Ricardo Lamas on August 29. The unique featherweight contender’s reason for withdrawing has not yet been disclosed, with the UFC not yet making an announcement regarding the change to the card. Lamas is still interested in fighting someone else at the UFC APEX event, but due to COVID-19 and the short notice drop out, that could prove to be quite difficult.

Cole Shelton - August 21, 2020

In the main event of UFC Vegas 7, a key bantamweight bout headlines the card as Pedro Munhoz welcomes Frankie Edgar to the division. Heading into the fight, Munhoz is a -265 favorite while the former UFC lightweight champion is a +205 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority believe bantamweight is where Frankie Edgar should’ve been his entire career as he will pull off the upset and beat Pedro Munhoz.

Natasha Hooper - August 21, 2020

Michael Chandler what he views as his perfect matchup. The lightweight champion has teased the possibility of a move over to the UFC after completing his current contract with the Bellator. He criticized the organization’s CEO Scott Coker for not placing an extension on his contract, and wants to fight wherever he is valued.

Cole Shelton - August 20, 2020

Sean O’Malley believes he avoided any major damage to his ankle. O’Malley was entering his co-main event fight against Marlon Vera with a lot of hype behind him. Most pundits were picking him to win, but he fell short, losing by first-round TKO. Yet, he did hurt his ankle in the fight, and according to “Sugar” he says he was complaining about the ankle brace before walking out.

Adam Martin - August 20, 2020

The numbers are in and last weekend’s UFC 252 event drew the fourth-largest pay-per-view buy rate of any UFC event in 2020. According to Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand (via TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter), UFC 252 ranked just behind UFC 251, UFC 249, and UFC 246 when it comes to the most-bought UFC pay-per-views in 2020. The report says that UFC 252 sold 500,000 pay-per-views worldwide and also had 400,000 viewers watch the event on ESPN+ in the United States. Overall, these are solid numbers for the UFC.

Cole Shelton - August 20, 2020

Sean O’Malley has broken his silence on his UFC 252 loss to Marlon Vera. In the co-main event of the card, O’Malley was looking to remain undefeated when he took on Vera. It was an intriguing matchup with “Sugar” telling BJPENN.com before the fight he expected to get another first-round knockout.

Adam Martin - August 20, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Johnny Walker says he plans on following the lead of Jon Jones and move up to the heavyweight division. Walker is one of the biggest light heavyweights in the UFC, standing at 6’6″. At age 28 he is in the prime of his career right now, but as he approaches his 30s the cut to light heavyweight is going to get tougher and tougher. Following back-to-back defeats to Nikita Krylov and Corey Anderson, it makes sense that Walker is re-evaluating his career.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2020

Patricky Freire says he has a surprise in store for former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor at the upcoming Bellator Dublin card. Freire is scheduled to take on McGregor’s teammate Peter Queally at the Bellator Dublin event, which is scheduled for October 3. The card will feature several other members of Freire’s team taking on fighters from SBG Ireland, where McGregor and Queally both train.

Adam Martin - August 20, 2020

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos appears to be in tremendous shape ahead of a return to 155lbs against Islam Makhachev. As first reported by BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor, RDA will move back down to lightweight and he will meet a rising top-15 contender in the form of Makhachev. The two will battle it out on the undercard of UFC 254: Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje, which is set to take place on October 24. The event will likely take place on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Natasha Hooper - August 20, 2020

Marvin Vettori believes Anderson Silva and Uriah Hall should have to forfeit their positions in the UFC rankings after avoiding a possible matchup with him. Anderson Silva will return to the Octagon on October 31 for a middleweight clash against Uriah Hall in the main event.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2020

Jon Jones has responded to accusations that he’s ducking fights with light heavyweight contenders Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz. Jones, the long-time UFC light heavyweight champion, vacated the division’s throne earlier this week, and immediately began teasing a move up to the heavyweight division. As Jones prepares to transition to his new weight class, Reyes and Blachowicz will collide for the vacant light heavyweight title at UFC 253 in September.