Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - June 27, 2019

The Octagon returns to Minnesota this Saturday for UFC Minneapolis. In the main event of the card, Francis Ngannou is taking on Junior dos Santos in a pivotal heavyweight clash. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. In this case, a few believe Ngannou will be able to knock out dos Santos, while the rest think the Brazilian will use his wrestling and experience to win this fight.

Cole Shelton - June 26, 2019

After Alex Volkanovski beat Jose Aldo at UFC 237, he along with many others expected he would the next title shot. Yet, that was not the case. Instead, the Aussie was passed over as Frankie Edgar will next face Max Holloway at UFC 240 for the featherweight title. Obviously, this was disappointing news for the 30-year-old, but he says he will make the trip to Edmonton, Alberta to be on hand for the fight.

Cole Shelton - June 26, 2019

Alonzo Menifield did not want to be on the UFC Minneapolis card on Saturday. He was hoping to fight sooner. The light heavyweight last fought back in January, when he knocked out Vinicius Moreira at UFC Brooklyn. Since then, he has been wanting to fight, but this was the first offer that came. Now, the 31-year-old is looking to go 2-0 in the UFC and he believes he knows exactly how it will happen.

Cole Shelton - June 25, 2019

Eryk Anders did not expect to fight this soon. The 32-year-old is coming off of a brutal decision loss to Khalil Rountree at UFC 236 where he was knocked down several times. But, when the call came to step in on short notice to take on Vinicius Moreira at UFC Minneapolis, it was an easy decision for the former Alabama football star.

Tom Taylor - June 24, 2019

Former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar is currently gearing up for a title fight with reigning UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, scheduled for UFC 240 on July 27. One of Edgar’s main training partners for this fight will be former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez, who is gearing up for a ONE: Dawn of Heroes showdown with former champ Eduard Folayang.  Over the years Alvarez and Edgar have spent as training partners, under the tutelage of legendary coach Mark Henry, they have grown very close. They’ve spent countless hours grinding away, side-by-side, and have seen their efforts in the gym pay dividends in the cage.

Cole Shelton - June 24, 2019

After Elias Theodorou lost to Derek Brunson back at UFC Ottawa, he was released from the promotion. This news came as a surprise as the Canadian went 8-3 inside the Octagon and was an ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner. Yet, that was not enough to keep Theodorou around, as his style was not the most entertaining. He was booed in his last two fights, and the UFC had seemingly seen enough. Although many, like Joe Rogan, don’t understand why the Las Vegas-based promotion released Theodorou, Eryk Anders, who fought the Canadian at UFC 231 believes he knows exactly why.

Cole Shelton - June 21, 2019

After Kamaru Usman beat Tyron Woodley at UFC 235 to become the new welterweight champion, the expectation was that he would soon defend the title against Colby Covington. But there has been little to no talk of the fight since Usman’s big win. Covington expressed interest in fighting during International Fight Week in July, or on the UFC’s August pay-per-view, but those cards are now booked. So, if this fight is going to happen it will be later this year. If the fight finally does happen, UFC welterweight contender and long-time Colby Covington training partner Jorge Masvidal believes “Chaos” will get his hand raised as he is a little better at everything than Usman.

Tom Taylor - June 21, 2019

Alex Volkanovski will be watching Max Holloway and Frankie Edgar’s upcoming featherweight title fight very closely, as he’s more than likely to fight the winner sometime later this year. Speaking on a recent episode of BJPenn.com Radio, Volkanovski divulged that he envisions Edgar giving the champion Holloway some problems in this fight. That being said, Volkanovski believes he’s an even more dangerous test for Holloway than Edgar is.

Cole Shelton - June 20, 2019

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship returns this Saturday for their biggest card to date. In the card’s main event, Artem Lobov welcomes Paulie Malignaggi into BKFC. Ahead of this fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. And, the majority believe the boxer will get it done, but some think Lobov will be too much for Malignaggi.

Tom Taylor - June 19, 2019

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of UFC 238 in Chicago, Kyrgyzstan’s Valentina Shevchenko defended the UFC flyweight title with a beautiful head kick knockout of challenger Jessica Eye. Shortly after this dazzling victory, she received a congratulatory phone call from Kyrgyz President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. This isn’t the first this has happened, but it was still a pretty special moment for the flyweight champ.

Cole Shelton - June 19, 2019

Max Holloway will look to defend his featherweight title against Frankie Edgar in the main event of UFC 240 in Edmonton this July. That being said, many thought Alex Volkanovski would get the title shot against Holloway after he beat Jose Aldo. In the end, the UFC decided on Edgar which leaves the Aussie on the sidelines awaiting the winner of the fight. But given the stakes of this featherweight title bout, Alex Volkanovski says he plans on being in Edmonton in case anything happens.

Mike Pendleton - June 19, 2019

In a fight that likely has some title implications in the welterweight division, Jorge Masvidal has a personal goal for his UFC 239 opponent, Ben Askren. Since his arrival into the UFC, “Funky” Ben Askren has gotten under the skin of a lot of fighters, especially in the welterweight division, but Masvidal isn’t here for any jokes or games. Askren is coming off a controversial win over Robbie Lawler at UFC 235, the first fight of his UFC career, after a long beef with Dana White kept him away from the promotion. During a recent interview with BJPenn.com Radio, Masvidal discussed his fight with Askren and said he’d like to break the wrestling specialist’s face “on a personal note.”

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2019

Eddie Alvarez was widely expected to blow through Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin in his ONE Championship debut, which occurred on the stacked ONE: A New Era card in late March. In the end, however, the former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion was stopped by his unheralded opponent in the waning moments of the first round. Despite this setback, Alvarez remains focused on his ultimate goal: the ONE Lightweight World Title. He came to the Singapore-based promotion eager to add a new belt to his crowded trophy case, and he’s still confident he’ll achieve this goal.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2019

Renato Moicano is set to headline his first-ever UFC card this Saturday at UFC Greenville. The Brazilian is taking on Chan Sung Jung, AKA “The Korean Zombie” in a pivotal featherweight bout. Moicano is coming off of a TKO loss to Jose Aldo, which snapped his two-fight winning streak. Although the 30-year-old lost to the former champion, he believes it was a valuable learning experience and will make him better for this fight.

Cole Shelton - June 18, 2019

Montana De La Rosa is set to return to the Octagon this Saturday at UFC Greenville. There, she is taking on Andrea Lee in a battle between two ranked flyweights. De La Rosa is 3-0 in the division so far, and she understands just how important this fight is for her career. Lee is on a six-fight winning streak and has shown she is one of the best fighters in the division.

Tom Taylor - June 18, 2019

The UFC had a difficult time locking down a main event for UFC San Antonio, which goes down on July 20. Eventually, the promotion landed on a welterweight contender bout between Rafael dos Anjos and Leon Edwards, but before that matchup was booked, several others were in consideration. One was a flyweight title fight between champion Valentina Shevchenko and challenger Liz Carmouche. While this matchup failed to come to fruition for the July 20 card in San Antonio, Shevchenko remains hopeful it will be booked soon. She has history with Carmouche, having experienced the first setback of her career against the American, and is eager for the opportunity to even the score. Particularly given the way their first fight ended.

Thomas Taylor - June 14, 2019

On Saturday night, two of the UFC’s top welterweight contenders will step onto the mats for a charity grappling match as Jorge Masvidal takes on Anthony Pettis. Speaking on soon-to-be-released episode of BJPenn.com Radio, Masvidal broke down this grappling showdown with Pettis. He says accepting a grappling match for a good cause was simply a no brainer. He grapplers in the gym most days anyway.

Tom Taylor - June 14, 2019

On Saturday, in the co-main event of ONE: Legendary Quest in Shanghai, China, Agilan Thani will look to spoil the ONE Championship debut of K-1 and UFC veteran Yoshihiro Akiyama — more widely known as “Sexyama.” This massive fight was first offered to Thani in April, at the ONE Elite Retreat, on the sun-soaked beaches of Thailand. At first, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but of course he could not turn the opportunity down.