Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - January 23, 2020

Curtis Millender says he’s been offered a fight with Michael Page numerous times, yet “MVP” has never accepted the fight. Millender is set to return to action against Moses Murrietta at Bellator 238 in his first fight since being released from the UFC. Yet he is not fighting a big name like Michael Page, which he says is because MVP has been ducking him.

Cole Shelton - January 22, 2020

In the main event of UFC Raleigh, Curtis Blaydes will look to extend his winning streak to three when he battles the former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos. Heading into the fight, Blaydes is a -250 favorite while dos Santos is a +195 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The majority believes Blaydes’ wrestling will be the difference-maker and that he will get his hand raised.

Cole Shelton - January 22, 2020

Roxanne Modafferi was the biggest underdog on the entire UFC 246 card, entering the cage for her fight with Maycee Barber at +600. Yet the 39-fight veteran got the job done by unanimous decision winning, every single round including one 10-8 round on one judge’s scorecard.

Cole Shelton - January 21, 2020

Michael Chiesa wanted a ranked opponent after his win over Diego Sanchez but did not expect to get a top-five opponent in Rafael dos Anjos. Chiesa, who moved up to welterweight in 2018, is now 2-0 in the weight class and revealed it was dos Anjos who asked for the fight at UFC Raleigh.

Cole Shelton - January 16, 2020

In the main event of UFC 246, Conor McGregor makes his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon, where he will battle Donald Cerrone. Heading into the fight, the Irishman is a -325 favorite while “Cowboy” is a +250 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. To some surprise, most are going with the underdog Cerrone to upset McGregor.

Alfredo Zullino - January 16, 2020

Whether you are a connoisseur of European MMA or not, you probably know who Nathaniel Wood is by now. The former Cage Warriors title-holder made his UFC debut just less than two years ago and since then he has racked up three victories in three fights, all won by submission. “The Prospect” is now ready to climb up the UFC bantamweight ladder and in order to do that he needs to face, in his own words, his idols, starting with John Dodson.

Tom Taylor - January 15, 2020

Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez was widely expected to blow through the competition in ONE Championship. Timofey Nastyukhin, the man tasked with welcoming Alvarez to the ONE cage back in March of 2019, didn’t get the memo. Instead, Nastyukhin disposed of the decorated MMA champion inside one round, shocking everybody but himself.

Cole Shelton - January 15, 2020

Maurice Greene is confident he will return to the win column at UFC 246 when he battles Alexey Oleynik. Last time out, Greene suffered his first loss inside the Octagon when he was knocked out by Sergei Pavlovich. Although he lost, he says it was a learning experience and knows what he has to do differently now.

Cole Shelton - January 14, 2020

Alexey Oleynik knows he will have a massive advantage on the ground when he takes on Maurice Green at UFC 246, but isn’t sure he will utilize it. Oleynik is on a two-fight losing streak, having recently been TKO’d by Alistair Overeem and then knocked out in 12 seconds by Walt Harris, and knows this fight is crucial. Yet he may not even use his best tool which is his jiu-jitsu.

Tom Taylor - January 14, 2020

Alexander Volkanovski is exactly one month into his reign as the UFC featherweight champion. While he’s still healing up from an arm injury sustained in his title-winning battle, a unanimous decision win over long-time champ Max Holloway, he’s beginning to look ahead to his first challenge as champion. The options for that challenge are plentiful.

Mike Heck - January 13, 2020

Carlos Condit was hoping to get back on track to end 2019 before an injury forced him to withdraw from his scheduled fight with Mickey Gall at UFC Washington, DC. While the exact reason for the withdrawal hasn’t truly been revealed, Condit’s manager Abe Kawa says that “The Natural Born Killer” didn’t suffer a serious injury and expects to make a full recovery.

Cole Shelton - January 13, 2020

Diego Ferreira is days out from arguably the biggest fight of his career. He will take on Anthony Pettis in the UFC 246 pay-per-view opener this Saturday in Las Vegas. With a win, the Brazilian might just enter the lightweight rankings. Although Pettis, who is the former WEC and UFC lightweight champion is a big name, this was not an opponent Ferreira expected to get. Instead, he originally asked for Alexander Hernandez, but is happy with the Pettis matchup.

Cole Shelton - January 10, 2020

Gilbert Burns believes the welterweight division has become stagnant, just like the lightweight division was when Conor McGregor was the champion. When that was happening, Burns had a hard time getting fights or ranked opponents. So, in 2019 he decided to move up to welterweight. Immediately, he got two short-notice fights against Alexey Kunchenko and Gunnar Nelson, and he won both. But, now with a number beside his name, he feels it is hard to get fights at 170 pounds.

Cole Shelton - January 9, 2020

Claressa Shields is looking to make history on Jan. 10 when she battles Ivana Habazin for the vacant WBC and WBO light middleweight titles. Should she win, the two-time Olympic gold medalist would become a three-weight world champion. Not only would Shields become a three-weight world champion like Canelo Alvarez, Vasyl Lomachenko, Bud Crawford, Floyd Mayweather, and Manny Pacquiao among others, but she would be the fastest to do so. This is only Shields’ 10th professional fight.

Cole Shelton - January 8, 2020

Gilbert Burns got his wish as he will indeed fight Demian Maia in the co-main event of UFC Brasilia. Yet, the fight almost didn’t come to fruition. Burns, who is now 2-0 at welterweight with two short-notice wins over Alexey Kunchenko and Gunnar Nelson says mutual friends between him and Maia said the Brazilian legend didn’t want to take the fight.

Cole Shelton - January 8, 2020

Claressa Shields has made it known that she wants to fight Amanda Nunes in MMA and in boxing. If it happens, Shields’ promoter in Dmitriy Salita believes it would be the biggest women’s sporting event of all time. Shields is set to fight on Jan. 10 against Ivana Habazin. If she wins, she would become a three-weight champion.

Cole Shelton - January 6, 2020

Geoff Neal was surprised how the UFC 245 main event between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington played out. It was a battle between two high-level wrestlers, yet there was not one takedown attempt. Instead, they decided to stand and trade until Usman dropped Covington twice in the fifth and earned a TKO win to retain his belt.

Mike Heck - January 3, 2020

After losing the UFC welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235, many began to question the motivation of Tyron Woodley. Was he taking on too much? Has he gone “too Hollywood”? Does he still want to fight? All of these questions have been asked by the MMA community. Those questions didn’t just make Woodley more motivated, it’s made him angry heading into 2020, according to his manager Abe Kawa.