UFC News

James Lynch - March 28, 2019

If Jose Aldo can’t compete at UFC 237, a former opponent is willing to replace him. Renato Moicano spoke with MMAJunkierecently and said that if Aldo – who was recently admitted to the hospital for a bacterial infection – is forced to withdraw from his fight against Alexander Volkanovski on May 11 that he’d be willing to step up in his place.

Tom Taylor - March 28, 2019

Earlier this month, TJ Dillashaw relinquished the UFC bantamweight belt after one of his recent drug tests turned up adverse findings. In the opinion of former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who discussed the issue on his popular Believe You Me podcast, Dillashaw’s choice to relinquish the belt before the United States Anti-Doping Agency had reached a verdict on his case is nearly an admission of guilt. “I don’t break the circle of trust,” Bisping said (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I don’t speak outside of school. I don’t tell tales outside of f*cking tale-telling time but I’m telling you this, circle of trust or not, no motherf*cker relinquishes their belt out of respect for the rest of the division. It ain’t about the rest of the division, it’s about me. I’m not gonna relinquish my belt once I destroy the competition and become the champion. I’m not gonna relinquish my belt out of respect for the competition. You just wouldn’t do that. So that in itself – and I apologize if I’m wrong – is almost an admittance of guilt. It really is.

Cole Shelton - March 28, 2019

The UFC is heading back to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for UFC on ESPN 2 this weekend. In the main event, Edson Barboza will be taking on Justin Gaethje in a matchup that has Fight of the Year written all over it. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Here’s what they had to say.

Tom Taylor - March 28, 2019

This weekend, in the main event of UFC Philadelphia, former WSOF lightweight champion Justin Gaethje will go to war with fellow fan favorite Edson Barboza. If Gaethje is able to win this fight, he’ll take a big step up the lightweight rankings and open the door to a host of compelling matchups.

Cole Shelton - March 28, 2019

The UFC’s lightweight division will hopefully get a little more organized come UFC 236. In the main event, featherweight champion Max Holloway will move up in weight to take on Dustin Poirier for the interim lightweight championship. However, some fans aren’t thrilled about this matchup, as they thought Tony Ferguson or another lightweight contender deserved the opportunity to fight for gold. American Top Team owner Dan Lambert is not one of those people.

Tom Taylor - March 28, 2019

If you look at the lineup for this weekend’s UFC Philadelphia card, you’ll see that Michelle Waterson is set to battle former strawweight title challenger Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Ahead of this compelling fight, the UFC has been referring to Kowalkiewicz as the “Polish Princess.” She says the UFC made this nickname up for her, and she didn’t find out about it until she saw it in UFC Philadelphia promotional material.

Cole Shelton - March 27, 2019

The UFC made a shocking announcement just over a week ago: all pay-per-views will now be sold through ESPN+ for Americans. Immediately after the news, many fans and fighters took to Twitter to question the move and how it would impact PPV buys.

Drake Riggs - March 27, 2019

One of the featherweight division’s all-time most exciting fighters is without a doubt Cub Swanson (25-10). And after some time off, the veteran is back. First reported by The Toronto Sun and now confirmed by the UFC, the Palm Springs native is set to make his Octagon return at UFC Ottawa on May 4 when he takes on the rising prospect, “Hurricane” Shane Burgos (11-1).

Drake Riggs - March 27, 2019

UFC 239 only has one fight announced for it with the light heavyweight debut of former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold taking on Jan Blachowicz. That was the only bout announced… Until Wednesday afternoon. ESPN has confirmed that UFC 239 will host two big-time title fights on July 6 in the light heavyweight and bantamweight divisions. Meaning the champion, Jon Jones (24-1) will face Brazil’s dangerous “Marreta,” Thiago Santos (21-6).

Drake Riggs - March 27, 2019

With TJ Dillashaw now out of the picture due to his relinquishing of the title following an “adverse finding” in one of his drug tests ahead of UFC Brooklyn, it’s time for a new champion to be crowned. It was practically a foregone conclusion that the next bantamweight title fight would at the very least feature the undeniable top contender, former World Series of Fighting king, “Magic” Marlon Moraes (22-5-1). It was just a matter of who against.

Cole Shelton - March 27, 2019

Jon Jones’ potential move up to heavyweight may be happening sooner than anticipated. If he does move up, the fight that is expected to take place will pit “Bones” against Stipe Miocic. The rumors first started when ESPN analyst and Bellator fighter, Chael Sonnen mentioned the two possibly fighting each other this July.

Nolan King - March 27, 2019

Tuesday morning, UFC Unfiltered featured UFC President Dana White as the lead guest. The UFC don dropped a number of tidbits — one of which being a bout between Ben Saunders was in the works for UFC Sunrise. However, later that evening Ariel Helwani reported a bout between Mike Perry and Alex Oliveira was in the works for the event, while Damon Martin tweeted Ben Saunders would be facing a UFC newcomer.