Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Cole Shelton - May 14, 2019

Sijara Eubanks had a whirlwind 10 days back in the fall. Initially, it was announced that she would headline UFC 230 in Madison Square Garden and fight for the vacant flyweight title against Valentina Shevchenko. However, that plan did not come to fruition, and Eubanks was later booked for an undercard rematch with Roxanne Modafferi instead. Now, Sijara Eubanks is getting ready for another rematch, this time at bantamweight against Aspen Ladd. Eubanks lost her first fight against Ladd by decision.

Chris Taylor - May 13, 2019

Former two division UFC champion BJ Penn returned to the octagon for a lightweight fight with Clay Guida at Saturday’s UFC 237 event in Rio. After a good opening round for ‘The Prodigy’, Guida was able to turn the tide later in round two. ‘The Carpenter’ went on to get off the better volume of strikes in round three and was thus awarded a unanimous decision victory over Penn (29-28 x2, 29-27) after fifteen minutes of action.

Drake Riggs - May 13, 2019

Fighters are responsible for a lot more things than perhaps meets the eye. On the surface level, they’re responsible for providing for themselves as anyone is in their profession. Others may argue that they’re also responsible for the entertainment of their audiences as performers and public figures. But it can go much deeper than that whether it be from representing one’s family, country, or gym. When you’re fighting, you’re fighting for a purpose. A select few may have spotlights magnified upon them from the starts of their careers whereas others really have to grind and work their ways into it. Everything is situational and for Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia’s finest in Megan Anderson, it’s almost like a never-ending battle in and outside of the cage.

Cole Shelton - May 10, 2019

Ryan Spann is heading into enemy territory to take on Brazilian MMA legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, aka “Lil Nog,” this Saturday at UFC 237. Spann won his UFC debut by unanimous decision against Luis Henrique Barbosa de Oliveira. Following the fight, the Fortis MMA product wanted to fight “Lil Nog” and asked for the fight — something not many people do. The reason he wanted the fight is simple.

Cole Shelton - May 9, 2019

Diego Ferreira is ready for arguably the biggest fight of his career when he takes on Francisco Trinaldo in the pay-per-view opener of UFC 237. When the Brazilian first heard about the fight he was ecstatic as he knows a win over Trinaldo will most likely put him into the UFC lightweight rankings.

Cole Shelton - May 9, 2019

In the main event of UFC 237 on Saturday, strawweight champion Rose Namajunas will look to defend her title in Brazil against the country’s own Jessica Andrade. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Although Andrade is the slight betting favorite, Namajunas is the favorite to win according to the pros.

Cole Shelton - May 8, 2019

Jared Cannonier is set for arguably the biggest fight of his career this Saturday, in the co-main event of UFC 237. The 10th ranked middleweight will be taking on one of the greatest fighters of all time in Anderson Silva. Learn how to watch UFC 237 here. Although Silva is ranked below him, Cannonier still understands how big of a fight this is. And, with fight week now upon us, the work is done and the 35-year-old middleweight is just ready for Saturday.

Tom Taylor - May 8, 2019

Christian Lee, the younger brother of ONE Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee, has spent the recent years of his career establishing himself as one of the top fighters in the ONE featherweight division. So, when he found himself on the receiving end of a respectful callout from ONE Lightweight World Champion Shinya Aoki, he was a little surprised. “Initially, it came as a shock,” Lee told BJPenn.com. “I wasn’t expecting it — I’m sure no one was expecting it.

Cole Shelton - May 3, 2019

Jon Fitch had his shot to win Bellator gold last Saturday, and many believed he had succeeded by the time the final bell rang. Fitch, who many counted out, came out and took Rory MacDonald down over and over again and dominated him on the ground. He even won one round 10-8 — but even that couldn’t earn Fitch the win. Rather, only one judge had the fight for the 41-year-old, with the other two seeing it is a draw. This means the fight was ruled a majority draw, and because MacDonald was the champion, he moved on in the welterweight Grand Prix.

Mike Straus - May 2, 2019

The days of underestimating Jack Hermansson have passed. The No. 5 ranked middleweight is happy his hard work is starting to pay off. Hermansson did what many pundits thought he could not do at UFC Ft. Lauderdale. That is defeat Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in convincing fashion.

Mike Straus - May 2, 2019

Boxing is in the blood of American Top Team’s boxing coach Dyah Davis, and so is teaching. The former super middleweight pugilist really has taken to this coaching thing. Now semi-retired, Davis, 37, still spends his days at the gym. Albeit in a different capacity for very different reasons. Coaching is something Davis always thought he might end up doing. However, just not so soon in his career.

Cole Shelton - May 2, 2019

In the main event of UFC Ottawa this Saturday, Donald Cerrone is set to take on Al Iaquinta in a fight that promises to bring fireworks. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the fight. The majority believe ‘Cowboy’ will win the fight, but all are unanimous in thinking it will be a fun one.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

Without a doubt, Russia’s ‘Last Emperor,’ Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest mixed martial artists to ever grace the face of the Earth. But despite his incredible success throughout his career and late resurgence through the Bellator heavyweight Grand Prix, it all ended abruptly in January. At Bellator 214, the vacant title was on the line in the tournament’s finals. Standing in Emelianenko’s way on his path to becoming a champion for the first time in 10 years was the current light heavyweight champion of Bellator, Ryan Bader. In the end, 35 seconds was all it took for Bader to sleep the icon with a stiff left hand followed by some on the ground.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

At RIZIN 14 on New Year’s Eve 2018, we saw a massive inaugural title fight that saw two promotions best bantamweight fighters go head to head. Of course, on one side of the ring, there was the Japanese superstar, RIZIN’s Kyoji Horiguchi. On the other side, it was Bellator bantamweight champion, Darrion ‘The Wolf’ Caldwell who fought for the first time out of the United States.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

The end of 2018 marked a new era of sorts when it comes to cross-promotion in MMA as Bellator and RIZIN teamed up like never before. For RIZIN’s annual big New Year’s Eve show, in 2018 that was RIZIN 14, one of their biggest stars, Kyoji Horiguchi would fight for the inaugural bantamweight title. His opponent would be none other than Bellator’s bantamweight champion, Darrion Caldwell.

Drake Riggs - April 26, 2019

Often times when fighters are undefeated, they can understandably be arrogant and perhaps overly confident. The same can be said for champions. So when mixing the two, it’s rare to see that zero stay a zero for all too long. However, despite being both undefeated and a champion, these descriptions wouldn’t be fitting for Bellator’s first and only flyweight queen, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. Similarly, like another undefeated champion in Virna Jandiroba who is also fighting this weekend, Macfarlane manages to stay very grounded and humble on her journey although many others in her position wouldn’t be. And that she attributes to her realistic view of the MMA landscape after having seen others fall before her.

Tom Taylor - April 26, 2019

Under the leadership of CEO Chatri Sityodtong, ONE Championship has signed a host of free agents of late, such as Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Sage Northcutt, and Vitor Belfort. Johnson and Alvarez have already debuted in the ONE cage — with very different results — and Northcutt will do so on May 17 in Singapore. Belfort, however, has not yet been booked for his first ONE Championship fight.

Cole Shelton - April 26, 2019

In the main event of Bellator 220, Rory MacDonald will look to defend his welterweight title against Jon Fitch. Not only will MacDonald be putting his belt on the line, but it will also be the last matchup of the first round of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their picks for the fight. And, they all are leaning one way.