Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - December 28, 2017

On Saturday night, in the main event of the stacked UFC 219, UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg will attempt to defend her strap against former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. At present, the featherweight champ is undergoing her cut down to the fight’s 145-pound limit. While she has endured some brutal cuts in the past, she assured BJPenn.com’s Tom Taylor that her weight cut is right on track for this contest.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

“Sugar” Sean O’Malley is one of the hottest prospects in the talent-rich UFC bantamweight division. Now 1-o in the UFC, having bested a game Terrion Ware in his recent promotional debut, he’s keen to continue his climb up the bantamweight ladder, and perhaps one day, battle reigning champ TJ Dillashaw. While O’Malley hopes to fight Dillashaw one day, he actually has tremendous respect for him, especially after his thrilling December knockout of Cody Garbrandt.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

Having established himself as one of the welterweight division’s top contenders, Colby Covington is now eyeing one of two fights: a title fight with reigning champ Tyron Woodley, or an interim title fight with fellow contender Rafael dos Anjos. Unfortunately for him, neither man seems interested in fighting him at this particular moment. Covington believes he knows why this is the case.

Tom Taylor - December 24, 2017

British knockout artist Jimi Manuwa is one of the best light heavyweight mixed martial artists on earth. And though he is currently riding a tough knockout loss to upcoming light heavyweight title challenger Volkan Oezdemir, he is still only a win or two from his own shot at the belt. While Manuwa has plenty of interesting options in the UFC light heavyweight division – ranging from Mauricio “Shogun” Rua to Glover Teixeira – he has also been flirting with the idea of a boxing match with fellow Brit David Haye.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Last weekend, in the main event of UFC on Fox 26, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos authored a dominant, unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler, asserting himself as one of the welterweight division’s top contenders in the process. This win seemed to impress the majority of the MMA community, but don’t count surging welterweight contender Colby Covington as part of that group. “I thought RDA looked slow,” Covington said of Dos Anjos’ win on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “He looked old, man. He looked like the same guy that I’ve been calling out since [the UFC’s June stop in] Singapore. They had to put him on my undercard when I was on the main card because he didn’t want to fight me, and he’s been ducking me for a while. He knows what’ll happen if we fight. He’ll get a young buck who hasn’t been tested, a guy who hasn’t had all those miles on his chin.”

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Sean O’Malley became an instant hint when he knocked out Alfred Khashakyan on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. When he smoked up with Snoop Dogg immediately after this win, however, he became a viral sensation. Unsurprisingly, this post-fight session with Snoop was an unforgettable experience for the 23-year prospect.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Colby Covington has been at the center of plenty of controversy of late. One of his most controversial moments occured when he took to Twitter with a massive spoiler for the latest Star Wars film. See that spoiler here. While this Tweet created a tidal wave of backlash – and even resulted in some death threats – Colby Covington refuses to apologize for it. In fact, he believes he did people a favor by spoiling the movie.

Tom Taylor - December 21, 2017

Sean O’Malley, the rangy, 23-year-old bantamweight who burst into the limelight with an epic knockout on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series (and by getting high with Snoop Dogg after this win), believes he knows who he’ll fight next. Shortly after his impressive UFC debut, in which he bludgeoned a game Terrion Ware to a unanimous decision win, O’Malley was called out by Andre Soukhamthath, who recently won big with a knockout of Luke Sanders.

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

Currently on a four-fight win-streak, composed of wins over dangerous adversaries in Dominic Waters, Albert Tumenov, Vincente Luque and Bryan Barberena, England’s Leon Edwards in one of the fastest-rising contenders in the UFC welterweight division. Edwards will attempt to make his next leap up the proverbial ladder this March 27, when the UFC touches down in London, England. His opponent will dangerous Polish-German fighter – sorry, Jamaican fighter – Peter Sobotta. While Edwards respects Sobotta, however, this is not really the kind of fight he was hoping for after four-straight wins.

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

When heavyweight veteran Alistair Overeem stepped into the Octagon with brick-fisted puncher Francis Ngannou at UFC 218, he opted to stand and trade with him, and ultimately paid the price, succumbing to a first-round uppercut. Speaking on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio, 9th-ranked UFC heavyweight Curtis Blaydes explained that he does not expect Francis Ngannou’s next opponent, UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic, to make this kind of mistake. Instead, he expects a cautious and surgical approach from the champ. “I was a little surprised [how the fight went],” Curtis Blaydes said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I wasn’t surprised at Ngannou. He did, definitely, what he should have done, [which] was just stand there and chuck [punches at] him, and it worked. I’m surprised that Overeem was so quick to engage in that type of action. Overeem’s a veteran, and him knowing that he doesn’t have the best chin anymore, I was a bit surprised at how eager he was [to trade].”

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

Shortly after Jon Jones knocked out Daniel Cormier to re-capture the UFC light heavyweight title, it was announced that he’d tested positive for turinabol in a pre-fight drug test. With this disappointing turn of events, Jones’ knockout win was overturned, and the light heavyweight strap was returned to Cormier. At present, Jones is undergoing his due process, as the facts are weighed and the evidence is considered. Whatever happens, however, many fans, pundits and fellow fighters are now unsure what to make of Jones and his incredible, greatest-of-all-time level success. File fourth-ranked UFC light heavyweight contender Jimi Manuwa into that group.

Tom Taylor - December 14, 2017

Earlier this month, in the co-main event of UFC 218, surging French-Cameroonian heavyweight Francis Ngannou knocked out Alistair Overeem to earn a shot at reigning UFC heavyweight champ Stipe Miocic. This violent knockout win caused Ngannou’s hype to skyrocket to new and towering heights, but in the opinion of 9th-ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes, the outcome of this fight had a lot to do with Overeem’s surprising game plan. “I mean, I was a little surprised [how the fight went],” Curtis Blaydes said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I wasn’t surprised at Ngannou. He did, definitely, what he should have done, [which] was just stand there and chuck [punches at] him, and it worked. I’m surprised that Overeem was so quick to engage in that type of action. Overeem’s a veteran, and him knowing that he doesn’t have the best chin anymore, I was a bit surprised at how eager he was [to trade].”

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Last Friday, the UFC crowned it’s first ever women’s flyweight champion in Nicco Montaño, who defeated Roxanne Modafferi to earn the inaugural title. While Montaño now owns the belt, however, many expect her reign to be quite short, as long-time women’s bantamweight contender Valentina Shevchenko zeroes in on a drop to flyweight, and most likely, an immediate title shot. In fact, many fans seem to consider Shevchenko the uncrowned flyweight queen. Yet while Shevchenko finds these opinions flattering, she is being careful not to let them get to her head. Overconfidence, after all, is a killer in MMA.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Angela Magana, a veteran of MMA’s women’s strawweight division, is well acquainted with her haters. While she’s got a legion of loyal followers, her outspoken attitude assures she receives plenty of backlash too. That said, Magana has never let her haters get to her. Believing that she’s just a bit misunderstood, she chooses instead to dismiss them and keep being herself.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

On January 20, when the UFC touches down in Boston, Massachusetts with UFC 220, Swiss light heavyweight contender Volkan Oezdemir will attempt to topple the division’s champion Daniel Cormier. Ahead of this fight, the two fighters’ advantages are quite clear. Oezdemir, of course, has established himself as one of the light heavyweight division’s most venomous punchers. Cormier, meanwhile, is one of the most accomplished wrestlers in the division – and in MMA, period.

Tom Taylor - December 7, 2017

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 218, Angela Magana came up short against Amanda Bobby Cooper, succumbing to second-round punches. Unfortunately, Magana feels as though the fight might have been stopped a little early by referee Keith Peterson. “I feel like the fight was stopped early,” Magana explained on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I remember my corner saying 28 seconds, and there were less than 30 seconds. Yes, [Cooper] was bashing the shit out of me, but I was fully with it. I was fully aware of what was going on. As soon as it stopped I was over with the referee just seeing the replay. I put my hands out like what the hell? But that’s his decision. You have to respect his decisions. I felt like if I could have got a third round, and my corner said, ‘whatever you do, don’t go to the ground, stand up [with her].’ I might have pulled something out of somewhere, I don’t know, to be able to win it. Who knows, but it was stopped a bit early. I feel like that’s the thing with women’s MMA. That they always stop us early in comparison to the men.”

Tom Taylor - December 4, 2017

Ever since Georges St-Pierre submitted Michael Bisping to win the UFC middleweight title, we’ve been speculating as to what might come next for him. While a title unifying showdown with Robert Whittaker is certainly the most logical option, his other options include bouts with welterweight champ Tyron Woodley and even lightweight champ Conor McGregor. In the ever-interesting opinion of Chael Sonnen, though, the Canadian champ is likely to land in the cage with Whittaker next. ‘I think that he’ll fight Robert Whitaker,” Sonnen said on the most recent episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I know that it’s done verbally on both sides with no agreement on date, but that was part of the contingency for George to take the Bisping fight. Should you win, you take Whitaker. He said yes. I know things change in this business but I expect George to be a man of his word and I expect him to be at all times and I know Whitaker would take the fight, and Dana White said it’s happening. I think for me to say anything different would be a little bit reckless, but let’s see what happens there.”

Tom Taylor - November 30, 2017

Do not count Chael Sonnen among Colby Covington’s haters. No, “The Bad Guy” has actually become a big fan of his fellow Oregonian, and thinks that other fighters should be taking notes when Covington does his thing. “I think people can learn from Colby,” Sonnen said on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “He’s going to be in that pool by himself, because all these crybabies can’t stand to hear anybody boo them. He’s just being himself and it’s what all fighters should do. We’ll see these fighters come out. They want to act like some religious angel or they’re the world’s nicest guy, when they’re nothing more than a dirty rotten cage fighter.”