MMA News

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2023

Dana White has heaped praise on Laura Sanko for her performance in the commentary booth at UFC 293. Sanko became the first female in the modern UFC era to commentate an event earlier this year. She made history once again this past weekend at UFC 293 in Australia, becoming the first female to be a lead commentator of a UFC pay-per-view.

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2023

Valentina Shevchenko is confident she will reclaim her flyweight title on Saturday at Noche UFC. Shevchenko is set to rematch Alexa Grasso on Saturday night in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which is the same place she lost the belt to the Mexican back in March in a massive upset. Heading into the rematch, Shevchenko is still the betting favorite and she has plenty of confidence that she will reclaim her belt.

Josh Evanoff - September 13, 2023

Bellator 301 has been announced, headlined by a pair of massive title fights. The Scott Coker-led company is currently in a bit of a weird spot. For the better part of 2023, there have been rumors that Bellator will be sold to the PFL. As of now, the two appear to still be in discussions over a nearly $900 million dollar deal, which would see the Viacom company sold.

Josh Evanoff - September 13, 2023

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal was recently spotted in New York City. ‘Gamebred’ famously retired earlier this year after suffering his fourth loss in a row to Gilbert Burns. Prior to that defeat, Jorge Masvidal had suffered lopsided losses to names such as Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman. With that in mind, it was an easy answer for the Miami native to hang it up after UFC 287.

Josh Evanoff - September 13, 2023

Former PFL tournament champion Kayla Harrison will return against Julia Budd later this year. The Judoka has been out of action since her trilogy with Larissa Pacheco last November. Despite winning the first two fights with ease, Kayla Harrison suffered the first loss of her career last year. In the main event of PFL 10, she lost by unanimous decision, on the company’s maiden voyage on pay-per-view.

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2023

Sean Strickland was close to not fighting at UFC 293, according to his coach Eric Nicksick. Strickland was headlining UFC 293 in Australia against Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title, in a fight he got due to Dricus Du Plessis not being healthy enough to take the scrap.

Fernando Quiles - September 13, 2023

The UFC middleweight division isn’t short on contenders, and Dana White is well aware of it. At the conclusion of UFC 293, the 185-pound division was turned upside down with one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Sean Strickland defeated Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision to become the new UFC middleweight champion. With how dominant Strickland looked in the fight, it left many to wonder if the UFC would forgo an immediate rematch in favor of a fresh matchup.

Cole Shelton - September 13, 2023

Kyle Nelson wanted a quick turnaround and he got his wish. Nelson returned to the win column back at UFC 289 in Vancouver as he pulled off an upset over Blake Bilder which saved his job. Just over three months later, Nelson is back as he will return at Noche UFC on Saturday against Fernando Padilla.

Fernando Quiles - September 13, 2023

UFC CEO Dana White has made it clear that he is not onboard with a recent statement from a top promotional executive. The UFC-WWE merger officially took effective with the announcement of the TKO sports entertainment company on Tuesday (September 12). UFC EVP and COO Lawrence Epstein told ESPN that one goal of the merger is to make every WWE fan a UFC fan and vice versa.

Fernando Quiles - September 13, 2023

If UFC CEO Dana White truly knows what’s going on with Conor McGregor, he isn’t letting the public know. McGregor has been out of action since fracturing his tibia and fibula in a July 2021 trilogy bout against Dustin Poirier. Since that time, McGregor has exited the USADA testing pool. The “Notorious” one bulked up considerably during his recovery time, and many have wondered if he’ll ever return to the lightweight division.

BJPENN.COM Staff - September 13, 2023

When it comes to confidence, Danial Williams is not short of it. That’s a good thing, too. “Mini T” will need every ounce of self-belief when he challenges Jonathan Di Bella for the latter’s ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title.

Harry Kettle - September 13, 2023

UFC star Sean O’Malley has given his thoughts on Israel Adesanya’s loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293. Last weekend, Sean Strickland shocked the world. He did so by defeating Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision to capture the UFC middleweight championship. While Strickland’s performance was incredible, it’s also worth noting that ‘Stylebender’ looked particularly poor on the night. In the eyes of many pundits, of course, this was due to the great work done by Strickland, but Adesanya’s shortcomings also need to be acknowledged.

Cole Shelton - August 31, 2023

Kurt Holobaugh was surprised to see how little Conor McGregor was truly involved with his team on The Ultimate Fighter. McGregor was coaching TUF 31 opposite Michael Chandler and it was a season of veterans vs. prospects. All the veterans ended up being coached by Chandler which Holobaugh was thrilled about.

Cole Shelton - August 31, 2023

In the main event of UFC Paris, a battle of top-seven heavyweights goes down as Ciryl Gane takes on Serghei Spivac. Heading into the fight, Gane is a -174 favorite while the Moldovan is a +136 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to make their picks for the fight. The pros are leaning towards Ciryl Gane returning to the win column at home by keeping it standing and likely getting a TKO.

Cole Shelton - August 30, 2023

Thiago Moises is excited to fight in Paris, France. Moises is coming off a submission win over Melquizael Costa back in January and after the win, he stayed home in Brazil for a few months. With that, he was looking to return in the fall and was excited when he got the call to fight at UFC Paris.

Cole Shelton - August 30, 2023

Kurt Holobaugh has called out Paddy Pimblett following his TUF 31 win. Holobaugh has already had two stints in the UFC as he lost his debut to Steven Siler at UFC 159 in 2013 and was released. He then earned a contract on the Contender Series, but he lost three straight fights to Raoni Barcelos, Shane Burgos, and Thiago Moises and was cut again.

Cole Shelton - August 29, 2023

Volkan Oezdemir will finally make the walk to the Octagon. Oezdemir last fought back in October when he dropped a decision to Nikita Krylov. It was with the first punch he landed the fight that Volkan broke his hand which hindered his performance. Following the fight, he needed to get surgery as he had been dealing with a nagging hand injury for a while.

Cole Shelton - August 28, 2023

BJ Penn knows firsthand how hard it is for fighters to walk away from the sport. Penn last fought back in May of 2019, where he suffered a decision loss to former Strikeforce title holder Clay Guida.

Cole Shelton - August 28, 2023

Ian Machado Garry has an idea for who will be standing across the Octagon from him in the main event of UFC Dublin. After Garry beat Neil Magny at UFC 292, he called out Stephen Thompson for a fight in November or December, which he believes will happen. Following that, the plan according to UFC president Dana White, is to bring the Octagon back to Ireland for UFC Dublin and have Garry as the main event.

Cole Shelton - August 25, 2023

Ian Machado Garry doesn’t think having so many teammates in the welterweight rankings will make it challenging for him to get fights. Garry trains at Kill Cliff FC alongside the likes of Glbert Burns, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Vicente Luque, as well as Kamaru Usman who trains there part-time. With that, some teammates never want to fight one another, but Garry doesn’t think that will be an issue.

Cole Shelton - August 24, 2023

Mario Bautista had called out Cody Garbrandt for quite some time and finally got his wish. Bautista was booked to fight Garbrandt at UFC 292 in Boston, but a week out, it was revealed the former bantamweight champion was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury. Although he knew he would remain on the card, Mario was happy to learn that a fellow UFC fighter in Da’Mon Blackshear took the scrap.

Cole Shelton - August 24, 2023

Ian Machado Garry says his UFC 292 fight against Neil Magny got personal. Garry was originally supposed to fight Geoff Neal at the event, but just a week out,Neal was forced to withdraw from the bout due to injury and was replaced by Neil Magny. It was a scrap that Ian Machado Garry called for, but in the lead-up to the fight, he had no problem with Magny.

Cole Shelton - August 23, 2023

Fernie Garcia wasn’t sure if he was going to get another fight. After getting signed off the Contender Series, Garcia has lost both his UFC fights by decision to Journey Newson in his debut and Brady Hiestand. It’s been a disappointing time for Garcia as he knows he hasn’t fought to his ability but is excited to get another chance.

Cole Shelton - August 23, 2023

In the main event of UFC Singapore, a battle of top-10 featherweights goes down as Max Holloway takes on Korean Zombie. Heading into the fight, Holloway is a gigantic -1000 favorite while Chan Sung Jung is a +560 underdog on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. To no surprise, the pros expect Holloway to run through Korean Zombie in the main event of UFC Singapore.