Exclusive MMA Interviews News

Tom Taylor - March 30, 2017

Back in January, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal scored a career-altering knockout win over the streaking Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. This win sent the American Top Team staple rocketing up the UFC welterweight rankings. In the wake of this win, Masvidal quickly began calling for a fight with top welterweight contender Demian Maia. While Maia initially seemed reluctant to accept this fight, stating that he would prefer to wait for a shot at the title, he eventually signed on the dotted line. The two welterweights will go at it on the main card of UFC 211 this May 13.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

John Kavanagh, who serves as the head coach for UFC stars like Artem Lobov, Gunnar Nelson, and of course, Conor McGregor, is famous for the expression “win or learn.” He even wrote a book with that title. The idea behind this expression is that, when a fighter enters the cage, there are two possible outcomes: they either win, or lose and learn from that loss. In the case of UFC welterweight knockout artist Mike Perry, this expression rings true. Late last year, Perry experienced the first loss of his pro career, losing a hard fought decision to a crafty Alan Jouban. With this first defeat in the rear-view mirror, the welterweight slugger is determined to learn from the experience. The main thing he hopes to learn from this loss his how to win a decision when the knockout fails to materialize.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

Back in August of 2015, former World Series of Fighting strawweight champion Jessica Aguilar made her long-awaited debut in the UFC’s Octagon. Her opponent in this Octagon debut was top ranked contender Claudia Gadelha. Regrettably for Aguilar and her fans, Gadelha came out on top that night, capturing a hard-fought unanimous decision win. Almost two years later, however, the loss still bothers Aguilar, as she was dealing with a fairly serious injury throughout the fight. Given this unfortunate hinderance to her performance, she’s been eager for a rematch with Gadelha ever since.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

On April 22, when the UFC touches down in Nashville, Tennessee, “Platinum” Mike Perry will test his mettle against one of the welterweight division’s most experienced competitors: Jake Ellenberger. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Perry weighed in on this looming scrap with Ellenberger. Though he acknowledged that Ellenberger has experience on his side, he doesn’t expect the veteran to give him any new looks.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

On April 22, fan favorite slugger “Platinum” Mike Perry will attempt to rebound from his first professional loss. His opponent in this effort will be brick-fisted welterweight veteran Jake Ellenberger. In advance of this fight, Perry joined host Kinch on BJ Penn Radio to give his take on Ellenberger as an opponent. Apparently, Perry had nothing against his upcoming foe until they appeared together on Chael Sonnen’s You’re Welcome Podcast, where Ellenberger let some trash talk fly.

Tom Taylor - March 23, 2017

Jessica Aguilar is an unheralded pioneer of women’s mixed martial arts. The UFC strawweight contender’s career dates all the way back to 2006 – five years before Ronda Rousey made her pro debut. Over the course of this long career, she has amassed an impressive 19-5 overall record, which happens to be the longest record in the UFC strawweight division. Despite the experiential edge she has over her peers, however, she has struggled to gain a foothold in the division. Aguilar explained this difficulty to host Kinch on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio.

Tom Taylor - March 21, 2017

Shortly after his competitive UFC 209 loss to reigning welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, we learned that Stephen Thompson had sustained an injury to his MCL. In an interview with BJPENN.COM’s Chris Taylor, Thompson clarified that, while his MCL was indeed injured, it would not require surgery. He would, however, require surgery for an injured meniscus. “It was the MCL, but the doctors said that injury would heal on its own,” Thompson told Taylor. “I have surgery tomorrow on my right knee. It is nothing too serious, just a torn meniscus.”

Chris Taylor - March 20, 2017

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson suffered a majority decision loss to Tyron Woodley earlier this month at UFC 209 in Las Vegas. The loss marked Thompson’s second unsuccessful attempt to steal the title from Woodley, as the pair had battled to a majority decision draw at UFC 205 this past November in New York.

bjpenndotcom - March 18, 2017

Streaking UFC welterweight prospect Alan Jouban is coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over ‘Platinum’ Mike Perry last year, which extended his win streak to 3 following back to back wins over Brendan O’Reilly and Belal Muhammad. During a recent interview with BJPenn.com, Jouban spoke about a variety of topics, including the highly anticipated return of former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, who will be returning to the Octagon later this year to fight Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship.

Russell Ess - March 17, 2017

The UFC is going through an interesting time right now. With the debate of sport matchmaking versus the big “money fights,” there is no doubt that the UFC is booking the more lucrative matchups when they feel it is worth it.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has signed a shiny new deal with the UFC, and is poised for a return to the Octagon later this year. His return, however, will not occur in the welterweight division he ruled for so long. Instead, he’ll return to a middleweight title shot against reigning divisional king Michael Bisping. Alan Jouban, who is quickly rising through the ranks at welterweight, thinks he knows why St-Pierre is returning to the Bisping-ruled middleweight division, rather than the welterweight division, which is now ruled by the dangerous Tyron Woodley. He believes that St-Pierre has probably not been training as hard as he says he has been, and that the former champ probably views Bisping as a much simpler puzzle to solve than Woodley.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

The next title fight in the ever-exciting UFC bantamweight division will pit reigning champion Cody Garbrandt against former champion and estranged teammate TJ Dillashaw at a to-be-determined date. Before the two bantamweight stars collide for gold, however, they will star as opposing coaches on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. Garbrandt and Dillashaw’s time on the show, has given their already sizzling beef plenty of time to slow-cook.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

Late last year, featherweight superstar Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino failed a drug test administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Given that Cyborg has had issues with performing enhancers in the past, the MMA community was quick to pick up their torches and pitchforks and accuse her of cheating. In the end, however, Cyborg was granted a retroactive Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for Spironolactone, the substance in question. As such, she was cleared of any guilt, and will be able to continue to compete as normal. While Cyborg was proven innocent, however, many members of the MMA community still question the legitimacy of her legacy of dominance. In the opinion of Megan Anderson, who holds the Invicta interim featherweight title and stands out as one of Cyborg’s biggest rivals, this isn’t exactly just.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

On April 8, the UFC will touch down in Buffalo, New York with UFC 210. In the card’s main event, we’ll see light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier attempt to defend his title against an old foe in Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Cormier and Rumble first met back in 2015. On that night, Rumble nearly took Cormier’s head off in the first round, but was ultimately overwhelmed by his foe’s wrestling and cardio, and submitted with a rear-naked choke in the third round. Given Rumble’s incredible punching power, however, the outcome of this fight could well be different. As such, The MMA community seems to be divided when it comes to predictions for this battle.

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

Megan Anderson, who currently holds the Invicta interim featherweight title, is one of the best female featherweights on the planet today. While there is no indication that she’ll sign with the UFC in the immediate future, she is already being discussed as an opponent for UFC star Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, who is far and away the sport’s premiere female featherweight. On Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio, Anderson discussed this potential clash with host Kinch, explaining that she believes she’d make an excellent opponent for Cyborg based on her skillset, control of range, and size. Her words:

Tom Taylor - March 16, 2017

The next season of The Ultimate Fighter, TUF 25, looks like it should be a good one. The season will be coached by reigning bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt and former champion TJ Dillashaw, who are estranged former teammates and heated rivals. The cast, meanwhile, will be composed of TUF veterans – ranging from Joe Stevenson to Julian Lane to James Krause – each eager to get their career back on track with a TUF tournament win. According to Duane Ludwig, who spent three days a week helping his star pupil Dillashaw coach these veterans, the season also produced some dynamite fights. In fact, Ludwig believes this season of the show produced the best fights in TUF history. He explained this belief on Wednesday’s edition of BJ Penn Radio.

bjpenndotcom - March 14, 2017

Earlier this year, ‘The Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung returned to the Octagon following a nearly four year layoff which saw him serve mandatory military service to South Korea and take time away from the Octagon. In his return fight to the Octagon, Jung faced streaking contender Dennis Bermudez in Houston, Texas. Despite being rocked early, Jung fought back to pick up a 1st round KO win, knocking Bermudez out cold with a perfectly placed uppercut.

Russell Ess - March 13, 2017

Demian Maia is gunning for his chance to fight for the UFC welterweight title but has at least one more fight booked before he gets an opportunity to fight for the belt. Currently ranked #3 in the official UFC rankings, Maia will be taking on #6 ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal and rising welterweight star Alan Jouban spoke with BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor on a recent episode of Rapid Fire about Maia and his journey to another shot at UFC gold.