UFC News

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Last Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 230, former Strikeforce middleweight champ and long-time UFC middleweight contender Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza authored an epic knockout victory in a thrilling, short-notice fight with former UFC middleweight champ Chris Weidman. With this win, Jacare rebounded from a razor-close split decision loss to Kelvin Gastelum, who is set to battle reigning UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker for gold at UFC 234 in the New Year. Having done so, Jacare now feels that he’s probably the next man in line for the Whittaker vs. Gastelum winner. In fact, the 38-year-old now plans to wait for a fight with the winner.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Riding high on a fourth-round submission defeat of Conor McGregor, Khabib Nurmagomedov has never been more popular. In fact, he’s become so popular that his manager Ali Abdelaziz now feels that he’s deserving of a $50-$100 million payday in his next fight.  “Ben Askren, [UFC welterweight champion Tyron] Woodley, none of these guys can touch Khabib,” Abdelaziz said in a recent interview with TMZ Sports. “Especially if they’re scared to get tired and these guys, they get tired. Now, I’m not even worried about Tyron or Ben Askren, I’m worrying about somebody bringing $50 million to $100 million to the table and none of these guys can bring $200,000 to the table.”

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Sijara Eubanks has received her fare share of fan backlash over the last few weeks. First, it was when she was briefly linked to a UFC 230 main event flyweight title fight with Valentina Shevchenko. Then, it was when missed weight for the UFC 230 fight she ultimately got, an undercard scrap with former title challenger Roxanne Modafferi. While Sijara Eubanks has of course heard this backlash, she’s not letting it bother her. Instead, she’s embracing it, as she knows her haters will be tuning in to watch her next fight.

Tom Taylor - November 6, 2018

Shaq Takes The Octagon!

Christopher Taylor - November 5, 2018

Conor McGregor was put on blast by Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz during today’s episode of The Helwani Show. The brash fighter manager, Ali, has had a long standing beef with the Irish superstar. If you recall, Conor McGregor went off on Abdelaziz at the UFC 229 pre-fight press conference, calling Ali a “mad rat” and a “terrorist snitch“.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

It looks like we know who “Funky” Ben Askren (18-0) will likely be making his UFC debut against and it happens to be the one guy that he hasn’t called out yet. That opponent happens to be the former UFC welterweight champion, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (28-12) as ESPN’s Brett Okamoto has confirmed with UFC president Dana White that the matchup is targeted for UFC 233 in Anaheim, California on January 26

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

If you haven’t heard, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is back, and welcoming him back will be his old Swedish rival, ‘The Mauler’ Alexander Gustafsson. The two iconic light heavyweight staples will meet for the second time on December 29 in the main event of UFC 232 as they fight over the vacant title.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson’s retirement in April 2017 came as quite the surprise to the MMA community. But like most things, it may not last forever. Since his retirement, Rumble has gotten into bodybuilding and started his own marijuana business.

Drake Riggs - November 5, 2018

The welterweight division has always been one of the most stacked divisions in all of MMA. In 2018, Vicente Luque continues to help show why. At UFC 229 on October 6, Luque added yet another highlight to his already very impressive highlight reel with a first-round knockout of Jalin Turner.

Cole Shelton - November 5, 2018

At UFC 229, Conor McGregor made his long-awaited return to the Octagon to take on Khabib Nurmagomedov. Ultimately, McGregor lost in the fourth-round by submission. Now, however, another fighter similar to Nurmagomedov’s style in Ben Askren has joined the UFC roster. Would McGregor dare to fight Askren? According to the newest UFC acquisition, he knows the answer to that question.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

Given how long it took for Ben Askren, inarguably one of the best welterweights in the world, to sign with the UFC, you would not be faulted for thinking that the promotion’s brass were not fans of his. In fact, given the way UFC President Dana White has previously spoken about Askren, it’d be understandable if you thought he hated the welterweight star outright. Speaking at the post-fight press conference for UFC 230, which Ben Askren attended, Dana White assured this is not the case. In fact, Dana White says he came up with the deal that ultimately brought Askren to the UFC in exchange for Demetrious Johnson.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

On Saturday night, in the opening bout of the UFC 230 main card, long-time UFC middleweight contender Derek Brunson stepped into the cage with red-hot striking specialist Israel Adesanya. Although Brunson had a spot of success with his wrestling early on in this fight, he ultimately became the latest victim of Adesanya’s venomous striking attack, wilting under a storm of strikes in the first round. On Sunday evening, Derek Brunson broke his silence on this tough loss to Israel Adesanya. While he is obviously disappointed, he seems to be taking the setback in stride, as he’s promising to get right back on the horse.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

On Sunday afternoon, BJPENN.COM’s Chris Taylor reported that the UFC is targeting a pair of crucial welterweight contender bouts for the early phases of the New Year. The first, Taylor reported, is expected to pit former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler against ever-dangerous karate stylist Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. The other is expected to pit recent UFC welterweight title challenger Darren Till against former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren, who recently signed with the UFC.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

With a successful UFC 230 heavyweight title defense opposite Derek Lewis now in the books, UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier is now looking to the future. At present, the expectation is that he will next defend his heavyweight title against former champion and current WWE star Brock Lesnar. With Lesnar’s future still uncertain, however, Cormier has a backup plan: Jon Jones.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

Although he had much of the MMA community rooting for him, beloved heavyweight knockout artist Derrick Lewis was not able to defy the odds in his short-notice UFC 230 title fight with the division’s apex predator Daniel Cormier. Instead, Lewis was soundly outwrestled and ultimately submitted in the bout’s second round. That being said, Derrick Lewis’ allure has not diminished. While he generally fights with all the elegance and finesse of a wrecking ball, he is, by the same token, still capable of reducing pretty much anybody to a pile of bones and leather, and could conceivably still capture the UFC heavyweight title in the future, particularly once The Baddest Man on the Planet/ World’s Greatest Dad Daniel Cormier has driven his minivan off into the sunset.

Cole Shelton - November 4, 2018

On Saturday night, at UFC 230, Israel Adesanya had a coming out party of sorts. The rising star defeated Derek Brunson in the first round by TKO. Adesanya looked composed the entire fight, however, in the post-fight press conference, Israel Adesanya revealed his fight against Brunson almost didn’t happen. “I almost pulled out of this fight,” Adesanya said. “Like literally, three days, maybe two days away from pulling out of this fight. I was limping. You can ask Dan Hooker and people at my gym. I had the baddest — I’ll post the video so it makes sense. My knee was so inflamed.

Tom Taylor - November 4, 2018

On Saturday night, in the co-main event of UFC 230, former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman stepped into the cage with former Strikeforce middleweight king and BJJ legend Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Weidman was originally expected to rematch Luke Rockhold on the card, but when Rockhold was forced out of the fight with an injury, he was reassigned to this fight with Jacare. Given that fans have been dying to see Weidman fight Jacare for years, there was not a lot in the way of disappointment when this short-notice matchup was announced. In the end, however, it would not go the way Weidman planned. After two wild rounds that featured several thrilling momentum shifts, the former UFC champ was put down by a thunderous punch that left him supine on the canvas.

Christopher Taylor - November 4, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship revealed it’s first quarter event schedule for 2019 during last night’s UFC 230 broadcast. The first show of the 2019 calendar year takes place January 19 event in Brooklyn, New York. The historic event will be the UFC’s first fight card to air on EPSN and ESPN+.