Exclusive MMA Interviews News
Jairzinho Rozenstruik doesn't think Jailton Almeida brings "anything different to the table," vows to KO him at UFC Charlotte: "I touch him, the fight is over"
Cole Shelton - May 9, 2023
Jairzinho Rozenstruik has a ton of confidence heading into his UFC Charlotte main event fight against Jailton Almeida. Rozenstruik and Almeida were originally booked as the co-main event, but the UFC decided to promote them to headliner status. While Jairzinho isn’t sure why the switch was made, he is glad to be headlining another card as he knows it’s big for his career and star power.
Aung La NSang breaks down fight with Fan Rong: “I don’t see it going to the judges”
Zain Bando - May 5, 2023
Former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Aung La NSang will compete on U.S. soil for the first time in his ONE Championship career. La NSang returns to ONE for the first time since January, as he is coming off a first-round stoppage win against Gilberto Galvão, needing less than two minutes to get the job done.
Ben Rothwell says Josh Copeland is in the top-three "best chins" he's ever fought, eyes title fight against Alan Belcher after BKFC 41: "I'll see you in the ring and show you the truth"
Cole Shelton - May 5, 2023
Ben Rothwell is glad he was able to go a couple of rounds at BKFC 41. Rothwell was supposed to take on Josh Watson after his upset knockout win over Greg Hardy, but unfortunately, that fight never happened. Luckily for Rothwell, Josh Copeland stepped up which he was pleased with as he said it was a more anticipated fight.
Parker Porter plans to take Braxton Smith into deep waters at UFC 288 on the final fight of his contract: "This is absolutely do-or-die"
Cole Shelton - May 4, 2023
Parker Porter knows he’s fighting for his job on Saturday night at UFC 288. Porter fought back in February and suffered a first-round knockout loss to Justin Tafa and just three months later, he is already making his return. Although it may seem quick after the loss, he says he was fully cleared and ready to get the bad taste of two straight losses out of his mouth.
Devin Clark say his real UFC 288 opponent is coach Sayif Saud, expects to finish Kennedy Nzechukwu and face a ranked fighter next: "After I'm in the top-15, I'll start talking my shit"
Cole Shelton - May 3, 2023
Devin Clark has an interesting wrinkle ahead of his UFC 288 fight against Kennedy Nzechukwu. Clark is coming off an upset win over Da Un Jung in February and will now face Nzechukwu in an intriguing light heavyweight fight. Clark is well aware of how dangerous Nzechukwu can be, but he believes the Fortis light heavyweight is overlooking him.
UFC 288 | Pro fighters make their picks for Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo title fight
Cole Shelton - May 3, 2023
In the main event of UFC 288, the bantamweight title is up for grabs as Aljamain Sterling looks to defend his belt against former champion Henry Cejudo. Heading into the scrap, Sterling is -111 while ‘Triple C’ is -115 on FanDuel, making the fight to be a pick’em. Ahead of the fight at UFC 288, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The majority of pros believe Sterling will get it done as many think the time off will be too much for Cejudo to overcome.
Matt Frevola admits he was "surprised" to get Drew Dober fight at UFC 288, vows to be the first person to KO him in the UFC: "He's never been hit by me before"
Cole Shelton - May 2, 2023
Matt Frevola didn’t expect to get a ranked opponent for his next fight, but was thrilled when he was offered Drew Dober at UFC 288. After Frevola picked up a KO win over Ottman Azaitar at UFC 281 last November, he thought he would be fighting someone like Michael Johnson or Clay Guida his next time out. Yet, he was offered Dober and couldn’t be more excited for the matchup.
Khaos Williams expects to add to his highlight-reel with KO win over Rolando Bedoya at UFC 288: "He's going to get put out, it's that simple"
Cole Shelton - May 2, 2023
Khaos Williams will finally be making the walk to the Octagon again. Williams hasn’t fought since May of last year when he suffered a split decision loss to Randy Brown. After the defeat, Williams says the plan was to take time off and just improve on his game, which is exactly what he did.
Luke Rockhold open to UFC return to face "true champion" Israel Adesanya: "I think I present a lot of problems for Izzy"
Cole Shelton - April 28, 2023
Luke Rockhold isn’t ruling out fighting for the UFC again. Rockhold came back last August at UFC 278 after three years away and suffered a decision loss to Paulo Costa. It was his third defeat in a row and after the loss, he said he was retiring from fighting. Yet, after some time thinking, he asked for and received his UFC release, and will now be fighting at BKFC 41 against Mike Perry.
Christos Giagos believes he saved his UFC career with "flawless victory" over Ricky Glenn at UFC Vegas 71
Cole Shelton - April 27, 2023
Christos Giagos saved his job in a big way on Saturday night. Giagos entered his UFC Vegas 71 fight against Ricky Glenn on a two-fight losing skid and figured he was fighting for his job. He has been cut from the UFC before and even though he was the betting underdog, he had a ton of confidence as he thought he could catch Glenn with a big shot, but admits he was surprised it happened so soon.
Luke Rockhold reacts to footage of Mike Perry picking his nose and wiping it on his sweater: "If I noticed it I would have slapped the s**t out of him"
Cole Shelton - April 27, 2023
Luke Rockhold didn’t notice Mike Perry pick his nose and wipe it on him at their faceoff, but had he there would have been problems. Rockhold and Perry had a press conference to promote their BKFC 41 main event and the two went back and forth throughout the press conference. Then, as the two did a faceoff, Perry picked his nose and wiped it on Rockhold’s sweater as he wasn’t paying attention.
Cody Brundage admits he was hesitant to accept Rodolfo Vieira fight again but is confident he'll TKO him at UFC Vegas 72: "I have more ways to win than Rodolfo does"
Cole Shelton - April 26, 2023
Cody Brundage wasn’t sure if he should accept a fight with Rodolfo Vieira again. Brundage and Vieira were supposed to fight last November, but just before Brundage was supposed to fly to Las Vegas the Brazilian pulled out with an injury. It was disappointing turn of events for Brundage, but he ended up taking a short-notice fight against Michal Oleksiejczuk in December and lost by first-round knockout.
Luke Rockhold believes Mike Perry "bit off more than he can chew" at BKFC 41, plans to only sign one-fight deals for the rest of his career
Cole Shelton - April 25, 2023
Luke Rockhold expects to surprise many people on Saturday night when he headlines BKFC 41. Rockhold announced his retirement from fighting following his decision loss to Paulo Costa at UFC 278. However, after some time off, he requested his release from the Ultimate Fighting Championship so that he could sign a lucrative one-fight deal with BKFC.
Zak Cummings says retiring at home in Kansas City was the "perfect” end to his career: "I don't think I could think of a better way to go out"
Cole Shelton - April 23, 2023
Zak Cummings figured UFC Kansas City would be his retirement fight and that ended up being the case. Cummings finally made his return to the Octagon last weekend, this after dealing with a bad back injury that left him unable to even pick up his daughter. It was a hard few months for Cummings but he finally was able to return at UFC Kansas City and got a third-round TKO win over Ed Herman. Although Cummings believed he would win, he was surprised by how dominant it was.
Brandon Royval "surprised" he was the underdog against Matheus Nicolau, hopes Alexandre Pantoja beats Brandon Moreno for the belt
Cole Shelton - April 20, 2023
Brandon Royval didn’t understand why he was the betting underdog against Matheus Nicolau. Royval entered the fight as a sizeable underdog – which has him perplexed. He knew Nicolau was good, but he thought his style and him being able to push the pace could create openings. What bothered Royval the most was seeing people say online that he was going to get knocked out.
Christos Giagos believes he's fighting for his job at UFC Vegas 71, anticipates a "war" against Ricky Glenn: "This is do-or-die for me"
Cole Shelton - April 20, 2023
After a freak injury, Christos Giagos is finally ready to return. Giagos was supposed to face Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris last September. Yet, just before the fight, as he was cleaning his house, he sliced his pinky open which forced him out of the scrap.
Pro fighters make their picks for Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes
Cole Shelton - April 19, 2023
In the main event of UFC Vegas 71, a battle of top-five heavyweights goes down as Sergei Pavlovich takes on Curtis Blaydes. Heading into the scrap, Pavlovich is a +134 underdog while the American is a -172 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the scrap. The pros believe Blaydes will use his wrestling – similar to what Alistair Overeem did – to beat up Pavlovich and get a ground-and-pound TKO.
Rani Yahya says wrestling is key to success against Montel Jackson, expects to secure Cody Garbrandt fight with stoppage win at UFC Vegas 71
Cole Shelton - April 18, 2023
Rani Yahya is finally set to return to the Octagon. Yahya has not fought since November of 2021 when he beat Kyung-ho Hang by decision. He was then booked to fight Cody Garbrandt twice in 2022, but a neck injury forced him out of both fights. Now, after over a year away, he is finally set to return on Saturday at UFC Vegas 71.