UFC News

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

Natasha Hooper - April 7, 2020

Dana White has confirmed that Joe Rogan will in fact be a part of UFC 249. In a previous episode of the Joe Rogan podcast, the MMA commentator declared he would not work on the upcoming event. Due to fears of coronavirus contagion, he suggested they should host it from a closed and remote location, even somewhere such as an airplane hangar or film studio.

Harry Kettle - April 7, 2020

Dana White has revealed the mishap which caused Khabib Nurmagomedov to be removed from the UFC 249 main event. It’s been public knowledge for a while now that Nurmagomedov would not be able to compete at UFC 249, where he was scheduled to defend his UFC Lightweight Championship against Tony Ferguson with the fight being arranged for the fifth time – and subsequently falling apart for the fifth time.

Adam Martin - April 6, 2020

UFC president Dana White is working on securing a private island for upcoming UFC cards and also said fighters at UFC 249 will be tested for coronavirus. TMZ Sports reported on Monday night that White is close to locking up a private island to host upcoming UFC events. This would not include UFC 249 and UFC Nebraska, which are both tentatively scheduled to move to another location that hasn’t been announced. After the next two months of UFC cards are held in that mystery location, White plans on holding UFC events on a private island every week after that.

Adam Martin - April 6, 2020

UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith said he got into a vicious brawl with a home intruder on early Sunday morning in what he calls “one of the toughest fights” of his life. Smith told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani the whole story about what happened, and it really is as crazy as it sounds.

Cole Shelton - April 6, 2020

UFC 249 will be headlined by an interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje and the full fight card has now been released. Among the fights on the card is Rose Namajunas vs. Jessica Andrade 2, Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Uriah Hall vs. Jacare Souza. The UFC took to social media to announce the full fight card just moments ago.

Cole Shelton - April 6, 2020

Daniel Cormier knows why Stipe Miocic is reluctant to fight him. Cormier and Miocic have fought twice before where they first met at UFC 226. There, “DC” knocked out Miocic in the first round to become the heavyweight champ. They had their rematch at UFC 241 where Cormier arguably won the first three rounds before Miocic earned a fourth-round TKO win to reclaim his heavyweight belt.

Adam Martin - April 6, 2020

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley says that Colby Covington turned down a fight against him for the fifth time at UFC 249. There is no love lost between Woodley and Covington, as they have been talking smack to each other for the better part of two years now. The two have been connected to a fight multiple times in the past but for whatever reason, it’s never been booked.

Cole Shelton - April 6, 2020

Greg Hardy and Yorgan De Castro will indeed fight, but it will now happen at UFC 249. Hardy and De Castro were expected to fight at UFC Columbus, yet that was one of the three promotional events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, sources tell BJPENN.com that Hardy and de Castro will be on this month’s new UFC 249 card at a location to be announced.

Natasha Hooper - April 6, 2020

Ben Askren has poked fun at Paige VanZant for giving her number out to fans on social media. The women’s top flyweight has been hitting headlines this week. She posted a series of partially covered nude photos with her husband and fellow MMA fighter, Austin Vanderford to social media. The 26-year old also gave her number out online to interact with fans. However, she revealed that she received unsolicited “d*ck pics,” that quickly ruined the fun.

Thomas Taylor - April 6, 2020

It’s official: Justin Gaethje has stepped in to fight Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title in the main event of UFC 249, replacing undisputed lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. As expected, this announcement generated a wide range of reactions from fighters, fans, and members of the media alike. See some of the early reactions to this Ferguson vs. Gaethje fight at UFC 249 below.