MMA News

Scott Hernandez - January 4, 2017

Dominick Cruz kicked off 2016 by reclaiming the bantamweight championship he never lost inside the Octagon, before then defending the belt against his nemesis Urijah Faber. Despite that, Dominick Cruz entered 2017 without the bantamweight championship. In the final UFC event of 2016, Cruz stepped into the Octagon against undefeated Team Alpa Male prospect Cody ‘No Love’ Garbrandt for a highly anticipated grudge match. While many believed that Garbrandt was overly emotional going into the fight, he quickly proved to the MMA community that being the less experienced fighter didn’t mean anything.

Russell Ess - January 4, 2017

When you are as big of a star as former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, you will be both praised and criticized by fellow fighters and even celebrities. In this particular case, pop star singer Justin Bieber was involved sending a mean tweet following Rousey’s UFC 207 loss to champion Amanda Nunes.

Russell Ess - January 4, 2017

Catch all the UFC Phoenix results and action from Arizona as we update you live on fight night! Stay glued to this page for live results, and stay tuned to BJPenn.com for recaps of each fight from the event on January 15. UFC Phoenix will feature the return of UFC Hall of Fame legend BJ Penn. The former two-division UFC champion will enter the Octagon for the first time since 2014 and will face the young and talented Yair Rodriguez in a featherweight clash in the main event of the evening.

Scott Hernandez - January 4, 2017

On the heels of UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s majority draw against Stephen Thompson at UFC 205 in November, a five-round contest that saw him retain his welterweight title in the co-main event, there has been much speculation as to who Woodley’s next fight will be against. Given that the fight with Thompson was a draw, UFC President Dana White stated immediately following the fight that the next step would be for the pair to have a rematch. While Woodley was initially open to the idea of a rematch, he then changed his tune after re-watching the fight and coming to the conclusion that the fight shouldn’t have been scored as a draw.

Scott Hernandez - January 4, 2017

2016 was a big year for MMA veteran Nate Diaz as he defeated Conor McGregor at UFC 196 on just two weeks notice. Following the incredible win over McGregor, Diaz once again stepped into the Octagon with the Irish superstar at UFC 202 in August, where the pair fought to a majority decision. Ultimately, McGregor was awarded the win, however the fight was an extremely close one, with many praising Diaz for the fight.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2017

Wondering about the UFC Phoenix start time? BJPenn.com has you covered with all the details you need. Check out the rundown below. The main card of UFC Phoenix is scheduled for a start time of 10:00 p.m. ET, and 7:00 p.m. PT. It will air on Fox Sports 1.

Scott Hernandez - January 4, 2017

Top ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov has been on a tear of the UFC’s lightweight division 8-0 since joining the promotion in 2012. Unfortunately after defeating Rafael dos Anjos in 2014, Nurmagomedov was sidelined for the next two years with injuries. In early 2016, ‘The Eagle’ was set to make his highly anticipated return to the Octagon as he was slated to fight Tony Ferguson at ‘UFC on FOX: Tampa’. Unfortunately, Ferguson was forced out of the fight on short notice, and was replaced by Darrell Horcher. Ultimately, Nurmagomedov defeated Horcher via 2nd round TKO as he advanced to 23-0 over the course of his professional career. Following that, Nurmagomedov stepped into the Octagon against Michael Johnson for a highly anticipated lightweight showdown at UFC 205, where he picked up a dominant 3rd round submission win, complete with trash talk to UFC President Dana White as well as Johnson during the fight.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2017

The official UFC Phoenix fight card has been finalized and will occur in sunny Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday, January 15. Note: that’s Sunday, not the typical Saturday. The card will be headlined by a compelling featherweight showdown between rising Mexican prospect Yair Rodriguez, and our very own BJ Penn.

Scott Hernandez - January 4, 2017

Last month, MMA legend Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic made his highly anticipated return to the ring in Japan where he competed in the Rizin Fighting Federation open weight Grand Prix to close out 2016. In the opening round, Cro Cop defeated Hyun Man Myung via submission in the very first round. The win not only advanced Cro Cop to the next stage of the Rizin FF Grand Prix, but also marked a successful return to MMA after Cro Cop disclosed taking a banned substance and subsequently was handed a suspension from the NSAC, which then resulted in the UFC releasing Cro Cop.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2017

In the summer of 2016, we learned that former UFC middleweight champion and model Luke Rockhold and pop music superstar Demi Lovato had started dating. Though the two were initially fairly hush-hush about their relationship, they were spotted in public multiple times together – including a few appearances at UFC events – and ultimately went public with their relationship in November. Unfortunately, it sounds as though the couple has called it quits. This news comes from TMZ, who first broke the news of their relationship back in the summer.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2017

https://twitter.com/TheNotoriousMMA/status/816647493563752448 It’s no secret that Conor McGregor is one of the greatest fighters on earth. Having won the UFC featherweight title from Jose Aldo in December of 2015, he then went on to clobber Eddie Alvarez to win the organization’s lightweight title in November of 2016. With this defeat of Alvarez, he became the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently.

Tom Taylor - January 4, 2017

Last Friday, in the main event of UFC 207, former women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey stepped into the Octagon for the first time since she was flattened by a Holly Holm head kick more than a year ago. She made her long awaited return against the division’s reigning queen, brick-fisted Brazilian Amanda Nunes.

Russell Ess - January 3, 2017

Cody Garbrandt robot danced his way to victory during his UFC bantamweight championship fight at UFC 207 on Friday.

Scott Hernandez - January 3, 2017

To close out 2016, the UFC hit Las Vegas one final time for UFC 207. The event was an extremely entertaining one which left fight fans with plenty of memories. From Alex Garcia’s first round KO of Mike Pyle on the preliminary card to Cody Garbrandt’s masterful performance against Dominick Cruz in the co-main event, to Amanda Nunes’ brutal 48 second KO of Ronda Rousey, UFC 207 delivered on all marks.

Russell Ess - January 3, 2017

Michael “Venom” Page isn’t letting his foot off the gas pedal following Ronda Rousey’s devastating UFC 207 loss to Amanda Nunes. The flashy Bellator fighter took to social media the day after UFC 207 where he made a song and dance mocking Rousey getting punched in the face with his “Do the Rousey” video. Page went as far as to ask fans to do their best version of the dance and created a hashtag campaign for it all.

Scott Hernandez - January 3, 2017

In one of the final UFC scraps of 2016, undefeated bantamweight fighter Cody Garbrandt put on the performance of a lifetime as he picked apart Dominick Cruz over the course of five rounds to secure the UFC bantamweight championship. In addition to picking Cruz apart, Garbrandt landed several big punches on Cruz that sent the champ to the canvas dazed and confused. Following the fight, Garbrandt presented his friend Maddux Maple with the UFC bantamweight championship belt, many years after he promised his young friend that he would win the UFC championship belt for him, if he beat Leukemia for Garbrandt. While Garbrandt’s performance in the fight was certainly a big moment from the night, it was Garbrandt giving Maple the bantamweight championship belt that really left a lasting impression on the MMA community.

Russell Ess - January 3, 2017

Cody Garbrandt has done what most UFC fighters can only dream of. “No Love” impressively made his debut in the UFC and became a UFC champion in less than two years. On this day in 2015, Garbrandt entered the Octagon for the first time and faced Marcus Brimage at UFC 182. “No Love” put on a memorable performance in his debut, putting away Brimage in the third round by TKO.

Scott Hernandez - January 3, 2017

To close out 2016, undefeated Team Alpha Male prospect Cody Garbrandt put on the performance of a lifetime as he not only defeated former bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz, but picked ‘The Dominator’ apart over the course of five rounds, even rocking Cruz several times throughout the fight. Leading up to the fight, Garbrandt stated several times that he would be happy to give Cruz a rematch when he emerged from UFC 207 victorious. In addition however, leading up to UFC 207, Garbrandt and former teammate TJ Dillashaw exchanged barbs. With both men emerging from their respective UFC 207 fights victorious, many believe the stage had been set for a fight between the two former teammates.