MMA News

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

Tony Ferguson became the UFC’s interim lightweight champion in the headliner of tonight’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas by scoring a third-round submission victory over Kevin Lee. Here is how the pros reacted to Tony Ferguson’s title claiming victory:

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A interim lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee headlined tonight’s UFC 216 pay-per-view event in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Kevin Lee comes forward and lands a head kick. Tony shakes it off and circles out. Kevin lands a nice right hand over the top. Ferguson with a low kick. Kevin just misses with another right hand. Tony leaps in and lands a kick to the body. Lee charges forward with a right. He lands another right that knocks Ferguson to the floor. Tony pops back up and cracks Lee coming in. Kevin goes down to one knee and then gets back up. Good start to this one. Lee with a nice left hook. Ferguson comes forward with a front kick. Lee shoots in and scores a takedown. Ferguson tries to sweep but Lee winds up on top. Ferguson utilizing rubber guard. He looks for a should lock but Lee escapes and winds up on top and in full guard. Lee with some ground and pound from the top. Lee moves to north-south position. One minute remains. Lee moves to mount and begins raining down some big shots on Ferguson. Huge elbows and now punches from the mount. Lee is all over him. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A flyweight title fight between current champion Demetrious Johnson and challenger Ray Borg served as the co-main event of tonight’s UFC 216 fight card in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Demetrious Johnson is landing some big inside leg kicks to start. He rushes in but Borg quickly steps back and avoids. DJ goes upstairs with a head kick but Ray blocks it. Borg is moving forward. He throws a combination that misses. Johnson returns fire with a low kick. DJ shoots in and gets Borg to the floor. He immediately moves to take the back. Borg scrambles and gets back to his feet. Borg shoots in but Demetrious defends the takedown attempt. Borg is hanging on to a leg. He presses DJ against the cage. Mighty Mouse is working some uppercuts. Demetrious scrambles and take the back of Borg. Ray rolls and Johnson ends up in half guard. Johnson steps over into side control. He is working on a kimura. Twenty seconds remain. Borg scrambles but DJ remains on top. Round one comes to an end.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A heavyweight scrap between Fabricio Werdum and Walt Harris took place during tonight’s UFC 216 main card in Las Vegas. Round one begins and Werdum shoots in for a single leg and gets Harris down to the ground. Werdum immediately moves to full mount. Harris scrambles but gives up his back. Werdum transitions to an armbar and it is in tight. This one is all over. Wow!

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A lightweight scrap between Lando Vannata and Bobby Green took place during tonight’s UFC 216 prelims on FS1. Round one begins and Green lands a nice left jab to start. Lando catches a Green kick but Bobby avoids any counter strikes. Both men are utilizing a lot of movement early. Lando leaps in with a punch. The fighters clinch. They break and Green lands a left. Lando replies with a right hand. Once again the fighters clinch. Green presses Lando against the cage. Vannata pushes Green off and then connects with a head kick. Green circles but Lando presses him against the fence. Big shots from Lando now. He lands a right hand and then another. Vannata goes down. Lando jumps on him with ground and pound. The referee is letting this go. Green tries to get back to his feet. Lando catches him with a knee but Green was down. The referee immediately jumps in. A point is taken from Lando and we restart. Vannata presses forward and lands a right hand. Green shoots and Vannata locks in a guillotine. This is tight. Lando cranks the hold. Somehow Green survives and is able to pull his head out. Green presses Vannata against the cage. He works hard for a single leg takedown but Lando avoids. Once again they clinch and Lando lands a right hand on the break. A good low kick scores for Vannata. He leaps in with a right. Green responds with a jab. Another good low kick from Lando scores. Green fires back with one of his own. Lando shoots in and scores a takedown late in the round. The horn sounds to end the opening five minutes.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

The disclosed salaries for tonight’s UFC 216 main and co-main event fighters were revealed earlier this evening. In the evening’s featured bout, an interim lightweight title fight, Tony Ferguson will take home $250,000 to show and an extra $250,000 to defeat his opponent Kevin Lee (per Adam Hill).

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A flyweight scrap between Marco Beltran and Matt Schnell kicked off tonight’s UFC 216 prelims on FS1. Round one begins and Schnell presses forward with a combination. Beltran throws a kick to the body but Matt moves in and lands a pair of punches. Another body kick from Beltran. Schnell misses with a low kick. Beltran just misses with a front kick to the face attempt. Schnell circles and then come forward with punches. Marco avoids the strikes. Beltran lands a short left hook. Schnell misses with a leg kick. Beltran responds by landing a low kick of his own. Beltran attempts to go high with a kick but it misses the mark. Schnell closes the distance and lands a low kick. He comes forward and lands a right hand over the top. Beltran misses with another high kick attempt. Schnell comes forward with a flurry of punches, some of which find a home. Beltran partially lands a left but Schnell responds with a counter right. Matt with an uppercut inside. The horn sounds to end round one.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A flyweight scrap between Magomed Bibulatov and John Moraga took place during tonight’s UFC 216 Fight Pass prelims in Las Vegas. John Moraga shut down the Magomed Bibulatov hype train tonight in Las Vegas.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

UFC heavyweight standout Derrick Lewis was forced to pull out of his highly anticipated fight with Fabricio Werdum just minutes prior to tonight’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas. “The Black Beast” apparently aggravated a previous back injury and is not barely able to move.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

A key heavyweight fight between former champ Fabricio Werdum and Derrick Lewis has been removed from tonight’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas. According to a report from MMAJunkie’s John Morgan, the Werdum vs. Lewis fight was cancelled after “The Black Beast” aggravated an injury to his back.

Chris Taylor - October 7, 2017

Stay glued to this page for all of tonight’s UFC 216 Live Results. The octagon will return to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tonight for the promotions UFC 216 fight card.

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

The wait is finally over and fight night is upon us. The UFC is putting on a wild event tonight that and as always, we’re her to keep you updated on all the fights and fallout. Just like with the UFC 215 card, BJPenn.com is proud to also partner with FiteTV in order to bring you the livestream of UFC 216 above. That way, you can cast the pay-per-view on the go and be just a click away from all the highlights that we’ll feature here. If that’s not enough to pull you in, Frankie Edgar will be chatting live during the broadcast ahead of challenging for the title at UFC 218.

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

We’ve still got UFC 216 touching down tonight, but yesterday the press conference for UFC 217 blasted off. We mean that more literally than you think. Michael Bisping hit the ground running, digging into his opponent Georges St-Pierre with verbal jabs. St-Pierre, or anyone else for that matter, could barely get a word in edgewise. Of all the things he said, one being calling GSP a ‘lizard’, one statement just glows a little bit brighter than the others. He said that the reason St-Pierre didn’t return sooner, is because Johny Hendrick’s hit him so hard he thought he had a close encounter of the third kind. “[Georges St-Pierre] didn’t want to fight because Johny Hendricks hit him in the head so many times, he thought he’d been abducted by aliens. I’m surprised you’re not wearing a tinfoil hat today to stop the messages coming. Dude, I’m going to hit you so many times, you’re going to think you’re going to disappear on the mothership.” — Michael Bisping to Georges St-Pierre at the UFC 217 presser last night. 

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

No matter how you feel about Tony Ferguson, whether you think he’s ‘weird’ or just don’t  like him, you can admit that he’s just different. If he’s not in workout clothes, he’s dressed like he just walked out of The Continental hotel with a new tactical suit. And what’s the deal with the shades? Then, he starts talking. Conversation jumps from subject to subject, a metaphor might slip out and confuse you, it’s just like his fighting style: All over the place. When asked to comment on his opponent’s criticisms of his style, he spoke like we’re witnessing an evolution.  “It’s very intellectual. The reason why you guys say [my style]’s weird is because you don’t understand it. It’s f-cking genius. Let me tell you, it’s so far past your guys’ heads it’s not even funny, because this is the next stage in everybody’s evolution. I’ve been working on this since 2008; actually, before that. I said I had a double doctorate in athletics, I’m working on my triple.”

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

We’re still a wreck from yesterday but Kevin Lee looks on top of the world. A couple of days ago, it was reported that he had to lose 19lbs in 20 hours. It was a long and stressful cut, but he pulled it off yesterday. Last night after the big ceremonial weigh-ins, Kevin Lee joined Megan Olivi to talk about the whole situation. Thankfully, he was sipping on a drink during the interview. “It’s always a tough weight cut. This is my first time in a title fight, so we just mistimed it a little bit. But, I feel like a million bucks now. I got some hydration in me. I’m going to be the bigger, stronger man out there. I always am. And, like I said yesterday, I ain’t no b-tch. It’s always going to be a tough weight cut, but I’m going to get it done. Tony [Ferguson] already know. It’s no more time for talking. Talking is over. I let him have the media yesterday. I let him get out his little scenarios, his little words, whatever he want to say. The time for talking is over.”

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

Last week, Conor McGregor addressed a crowd waiting to hear what his next move was, but the man didn’t know himself. After reaching the pinnacle of they money fight game, literally fighting ‘Money’ Floyd Mayweather, he has a long list of options to survey for his next MMA fight and at least three UFC cards to watch before he makes his decision. One of seven names that he rattled off speaking at the Glasgow event was former opponent Max Holloway. The featherweight champion isn’t holding is breathe though, Holloway doesn’t feel like McGregor would ever fight him again. That’s why he’s moving on and forging a name for himself, by himself. “The fight with Conor [McGregor], to be honest, I don’t think it ever happens. He simply is just not about that life. Don’t you think it’s funny this guy walks around calling himself the ‘champ-champ’ and only one of his last four fights was a championship fight? It’s only one. People need to sit back, relax and really think of his last four fights. Only one of them was a championship fight. This guy is over here holding onto something he won in 2015 saying that he’s a champ-champ but he’s not fighting championship fights.”

Justin Golightly - October 7, 2017

Demetrious Johnson is now hours away from his attempt to break Anderson Silva’s title defense record, forever cementing him in UFC and MMA history. Even before Johnson reached this peak in his career, fans and media alike have purposed the idea he move up in weight to create new challenges. He was even in talks to fight TJ Dillashaw, before deciding to continue on his at flyweight. The last time Johnson fought in a bigger weight division was coincidentally the last time he lost. It was against former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz. While Cruz has been praised for his own mind for the sport, he returns the favor when it comes to Johnson.  “When I look at [Demetrious Johnson] since we fought, the place he’s made the most leaps and bounds was in his mind. I think DJ had a lot of early-on doubts about how good he was or could be. As he dropped to this division, where he felt he was at his actual weight class, you saw his confidence change. You saw his words change, the way he promoted the fight change. Everything about him kind of changed. That’s just confidence. That’s just knowing he’s the champion and knowing he’s the best in the world at 135 pounds as well. It just changed his mindset.”

Chris Taylor - October 6, 2017

Jon Jones could potentially return to the octagon in 2018 if everything goes his way. “Bones” was stripped of his UFC light heavyweight title shortly following his knockout victory over Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, this after he came back positive for banned substances in a drug test administered by USADA.