Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Mike Straus - January 10, 2019

In recent years the sport of jiu-jitsu has exploded in popularity and right at the forefront of the movement is Garry Tonon. A grappler by trade, Tonon recently dove head first into MMA, going 3-0 under the ONE Championship banner. Having competed in countless grappling and BJJ tournaments “The Lion Killer”, as he is known, believes we are just now starting to see the true essence of jiu-jitsu.

Cole Shelton - January 10, 2019

Jason Knight has been released by the UFC. “They cut me after that last loss,” Knight told BJPENN.com this week.

Mike Straus - January 8, 2019

Few fighters entered the inaugural season of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) with better name recognition than Lance Palmer. Palmer, a former Team Alpha Male fighter, has been a champion before. ‘The Party’ is a former two-time World Series of Fighting (WSOF) featherweight champion, Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) 145-pound king, and now the PFL season one champ is a million dollars richer.

Drake Riggs - January 8, 2019

In every sport around the world, there are humans that will perform day in and day out to the best of their athletic capabilities. Of all the incredibly talented individuals, some will be more recognizable than others, but that doesn’t mean they’ll all be as equally impressive as the next just because they’re more well known.

Cole Shelton - January 8, 2019

Jon Jones is once again the light heavyweight champion. He defeated Alexander Gustafsson by third-round TKO at UFC 232 to reclaim the belt. Following the fight, Jones called out Daniel Cormier to fight him at light heavyweight — though he was subsequently booked to fight Anthony Smith at UFC 235 on March 2.

Cole Shelton - January 7, 2019

Jon Jones returned to glory at UFC 232 when he defeated his rival Alexander Gustafsson by TKO in the third round to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title. It was not an easy road back for Jones. The light heavyweight great was coming off of a 15-month USADA suspension and was looking to win back his belt. The pressure was high and some fans believed Jones would suffer from ring rust. Yet for Jones’ coach Mike Winkeljohn and the rest of the team at JacksonWink MMA, that was never a worry.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2019

Russia’s Timofey Nastyukhin (12-4, 6 KOS, 4 Subs) has been competing in combat sports for a long time. He began training in Pankration when he was just a child, and wound up winning a European championship in the sport at a young age. Buoyed by his success in Pankration, he then transitioned into MMA at 18 years old, and after a seven-fight win streak — all stoppages — he was invited to ONE Championship, where he debuted with a jaw-dropping, flying knee knockout of current lightweight champion Eduard Folayang.

Cole Shelton - January 6, 2019

Macy Chiasson is a natural featherweight. She competed at featherweight on The Ultimate Fighter 28, and ended up winning the season at that weight. However, she is moving down to bantamweight for her next fight, which will pit her against Gina Mazany at UFC 235 on March 2. This is a rather interesting move for Chiasson given the fact she has fought her entire career at 145 and won TUF at featherweight. Yet after talking to her coaches and working with the UFC Performance Institute, she decided the timing was right to move down a division.

Tom Taylor - January 6, 2019

On New Years Eve, Sean O’Connell thumped Vinny Magalhaes to a corner stoppage, winning the Professional Fighters League (PFL) light heavyweight belt and a $1,000,000 prize in the process. In the moments after this life-changing win, the ever-entertaining veteran announced his retirement from MMA competition. At the end of his incredible fighting career, which unfurled in the UFC and PFL cages and carried him all over the world, Sean O’Connell has plenty of advice for the next generation of fighters.

Cole Shelton - January 5, 2019

Zak Cummings is a veteran of the sport. He is 34-years-old and has 28 professional fights to his credit. When he joined the UFC ranks in 2013, Zak Cummings spent his entire time at welterweight so that he could be bigger than everyone else. However, after struggling with hard weight cuts for years, Cummings eventually had enough and decided to move up to middleweight.

Cole Shelton - January 5, 2019

Javy Ayala took on former UFC heavyweight champion and mixed martial arts legend Frank Mir at December’s Bellator Hawaii: Salute The Troops event. Many fans and analysts expected that Mir would emerge victorious when his bout with Ayala was first announced.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2019

Sean O’Connell has two black eyes and a couple of scrapes criss-crossing his face. For now, The Salt Lake City resident still has the mug of a prizefighter, but as of a few days ago, he isn’t one. O’Connell ended his fighting career on New Years Eve, moments after he thumped Vinny Magalhaes to win the Professional Fighters League (PFL) light heavyweight title and a million-dollar prize.

Cole Shelton - January 2, 2019

Lyman Good will face his toughest test in the UFC when he takes on Demian Maia in Brazil on February 2. Good used to be the Bellator welterweight champion and CFFC’s interim welterweight champion before signing with the UFC. Since then, Good has has gone 2-1 in the UFC, most recently knocking out Ben Saunders at UFC 230. That win earned him the biggest fight of his career against Maia.

Drake Riggs - January 1, 2019

The Ultimate Fighter reality show has been running since 2005 and just recently wrapped up its 28th season in November. And it’s fair to say that the season may have been the most criticized season yet. The two divisions that were featured on TUF 28 were the heavyweight and women’s featherweight divisions. This was the first time that the heavyweights were showcased on TUF since the iconic season 10 which was only the second other time that they have been on the show (excluding TUF: Brazil 3).

Mike Pendleton - December 29, 2018

If anyone knows Amanda Nunes, it’s her friend Din Thomas, who coaches at American Top Team. Din Thomas isn’t afraid to be honest with his fighters and he doesn’t sugarcoat things when breaking down and evaluating their matchups and opponents. As Amanda Nunes prepares to face women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, a woman that has been labeled unbeatable throughout her recent career, she finds herself in a role that Thomas says fits her best. That role, as an underdog, is the same one she filled when she headlined UFC 200 against Miesha Tate, when she became champion, and again when she faced UFC Hall Of Famer Ronda Rousey, who Nunes put away in the first minute at UFC 207.

Cole Shelton - December 28, 2018

Zak Cummings ended 2018 exactly how he wanted to. The former welterweight moved up to middleweight at UFC Milwaukee and defeated Trevor Smith by decision. Yet winning this fight wasn’t easy.

Tom Taylor - December 27, 2018

20-year-old Japanese kickboxing wunderkind Tenshin Nasukawa is currently gearing up for the experience of a lifetime: a three-round exhibition boxing match with undefeated legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. The bout will top the stacked RIZIN 14 card, which goes down inside the hallowed Saitaima Super Arena, just outside Tokyo, Japan, on New Years Eve. Given that Tenshin Nasukawa and Floyd Mayweather come from two different sports — one that allows kicks, one that doesn’t — it should come as no surprise that the negotiations for this anticipated exhibition match were difficult. The two parties had to agree on a rule-set that would satisfy Mayweather, but also maintain some level of competitive legitimacy.

Cole Shelton - December 26, 2018

Kay Hansen did what many believed was impossible. At Invicta 33, Hansen, who is just 19-years-old, took a short-notice fight against Sharon Jacobson, a very tough opponent. When Hansen took the fight on short notice, she believed Jacobson would fight aggressively. However, that is not what happened. Jacobson switched her gameplan which threw Hansen for a loop.