UFC News
Jake Paul accuses Dana White of "doing everything he can to hurt the Anderson Silva PPV"
Ryan Harkness - October 21, 2022
Jake Paul is set to box Anderson Silva on October 29th in what is undoubtedly Paul’s greatest challenge to date. According to ‘The Problem Child,’ he’s not just having to prepare for Silva in the squared circle, he’s also having to deal with sabotage attempts from UFC president Dana White. Paul took to Twitter on Friday morning to accuse White of messing with his upcoming event.
Alexander Volkanovski says UFC contacted him "late last night" about his weight: "Someone was struggling"
Ryan Harkness - October 21, 2022
Alexander Volkanovski came all the way to Abu Dhabi to serve as a backup for the UFC 280 lightweight fight between Islam Makhachev and Charles Oliveira. And while in the end both fighters made weight and his services don’t look like they’ll be needed, it sounds like there was a moment the night before weigh-ins that the UFC thought they might need him. Charles Oliveira weighed in at 154.5 pounds, as did Islam Makhachev. Alexander Volkanovski stepped on the scales at 155 with no problem as he’s used to getting down to 145 pounds. Immediately after weighing in he spoke to BT Sport and revealed there had been concerns someone wasn’t going to make weight.
UFC 280: 'Oliveira vs. Makhachev' Weigh-in Results: Two title fights official, one fight scrapped
Chris Taylor - October 20, 2022
The Octagon returns to Abu Dhabi for Saturday’s UFC 280 event, a thirteen-bout fight card headlined by Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev. Oliveira (33-8 MMA) will be looking to reclaim the UFC’s lightweight title when he takes to the Octagon on Saturday evening. ‘Do Bronx’ was most recently seen in action at May’s UFC 274 event, where he extended his current win streak to eleven in a row with a first-round submission victory over Justin Gaethje (see that here). However, because he missed weight by half a pound, Oliveira was forced to vacate the title and was ineligible to take it home that evening in Phoenix.
Petr Yan roasts Sean O’Malley over his physical appearance at UFC 280 press conference: “Just look at him, he's like a whore on the side of the road”
Zain Bando - October 20, 2022
Petr Yan hasn’t taken too kindly to “Suga” Sean O’Malley ahead of their fight at UFC 280 Saturday in Abu Dhabi. Yan, the former UFC bantamweight champion, is looking to move one step closer toward regaining his belt, while O’Malley faces his toughest Octagon test to-date starring across from the Russian superstar. Yan is coming off a close, controversial split decision loss to the current titleholder, Aljamain Sterling, this past spring at UFC 273.
AJ Dobson expects a "three-round war" against Armen Petrosyan at UFC 280: "I'll surprise him with my speed"
Cole Shelton - October 20, 2022
AJ Dobson knew he needed to get healthy before he took another fight. Dobson earned his way into the UFC with a win over Hashem Arkhagha by submission on the Contender Series. In his UFC debut, he suffered a decision loss to Jacob Malkoun but he wishes he never took the fight. Dobson explained that he was fighting injured in his last three outings as he needed knee surgery to fix a torn meniscus, a surgery which he finally got after the loss to Malkoun.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk argues against UFC Hall of Fame induction anytime soon: "I don't think I'm ready to be a grandma"
Josh Evanoff - October 20, 2022
Former UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk wants to go into the Hall of Fame, but not yet. The Polish fighter has been out of action since her rematch with Weili Zhang in June. In their first outing two years prior, it was a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender. In March 2020, it was Zhang who won the five-round war by a split decision.
Beneil Dariush opens up about losing title shot to Alexander Volkanovski, top lightweights avoiding him: "It’s all as crappy as it gets"
Josh Evanoff - October 20, 2022
UFC lightweight contender Beneil Dariush has opened up about losing his possible title shot to Alexander Volkanovski. UFC 280 will be headlined by a lightweight title fight between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev. Well, that’s the hope anyway. In the event that anything goes wrong with the headliners, the promotion has enlisted a backup fighter.
Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa added to UFC 284 in Australia
Josh Evanoff - October 20, 2022
Ranked middleweights will collide during the UFC’s return to Australia. UFC 284 is currently set to head back to Australia next February. The pay-per-view card is set to take place at the RAC Arena in Perth, and it’ll be the promotion’s first trip back to the country in three years. The last card was headlined by Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya in October 2019.
Bobby Green's sudden removal from the UFC roster has MMA fans freaking out
Ryan Harkness - October 20, 2022
Was Bobby Green released by the UFC? A recent update to the popular UFC Roster Watch website certainly implied that was the case. UFC Roster Watch automatically tracks changes to the UFC’s rankings ballot. When a fighter is released by the UFC, it’s one of the first places that gets updated. That makes the Roster Watch twitter account one of the fastest ways to learn a UFC athlete has retired or been cut.
Petr Yan shoves Sean O'Malley during UFC 280 press conference, 'Suga' responds
Ryan Harkness - October 20, 2022
Things got physical at the big public UFC 280 press conference this morning when Petr Yan laid his hands on Sean O’Malley during a faceoff, shoving ‘Suga’ across the stage. Yan had been doing his best to get under O’Malley’s skin through the entire press conference, hitting him with savage zingers. At one point he said Sean “looked like a whore on the side of the road.”
Beneil Dariush believes Charles Oliveira is "definitely" the champion ahead of UFC 280
Andrew Whitelaw - October 20, 2022
Beneil Dariush has shed light on Charles Oliveira’s infamous weight miss at UFC 274. The Brazilian was over by half a pound and was stripped of his lightweight title despite putting Justin Gaethje to the sword with a first round submission. ‘Do Bronx’ will fight Islam Makhachev for the vacant belt in the main event at UFC 280 this weekend.
UFC 280 | Pro fighters make their picks for Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev title fight
Cole Shelton - October 20, 2022
In the main event of UFC 280, the vacant lightweight title is up for grabs as Charles Oliveira takes on Islam Makhachev. Heading into the fight, Oliveira is a +128 underdog while the Dagestani native is a -164 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The pros believe Oliveira and his experience fighting top competition will be the difference as they expect the Brazilian to get the win.
Ben Askren recalls first memories after Jorge Masvidal knockout: 'F***, that's Luke Rockhold. That means I'm in the hospital'
Andrew Whitelaw - October 20, 2022
Ben Askren has become synonymous with Jorge Masvidal after he suffered a 5 second knockout at the hands of ‘Gamebred’ in 2019. The former ONE and Bellator welterweight champion shot for an early takedown but was caught by a flying knee. It was an iconic finish for Masvidal. The stoppage that launched a thousand memes. In reality, it was probably a lot more that that. The moment was so significant for Masvidal that he even got it tattooed on his shoulder and turned into t-shirts.
The UFC parts ways with three more fighters
Christopher Taylor - October 19, 2022
The UFC has parted ways with another three fighters according to recent reports from @UFCRosterWatch on ‘Twitter’. It should also be noted that it has not been confirmed if all of these moves were outright releases or simply contracts which were not renewed.
Former UFC champion Dominick Cruz not a fan of self-appointing himself as the bantamweight GOAT: "My results speak for themselves"
Josh Evanoff - October 19, 2022
Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz isn’t a fan of calling himself the GOAT. This Saturday at UFC 280, the bantamweight title will be on the line in the co-main event. While the reigning champion Aljamain Sterling is on his road to creating a great legacy, he’s not yet in the greatest of all-time discussion. The other half of the title fight certainly is.
T.J. Dillashaw explains EPO use that cost him his bantamweight title: "I was a shell of a man"
Ryan Harkness - October 19, 2022
T.J. Dillashaw continues to take a lot of heat over a failed NYSAC drug test in 2019 for the performance enhancing drug EPO. Even after a two-year USADA suspension and another year and a half away getting knee surgery, MMA fans continue to hound Dillashaw with accusations that he was and probably still is a cheater. Dillashaw is currently set to face Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight belt at UFC 280. It’s the same belt that Dillashaw held until his failed drug test. And in a new interview with BT Sport, Dillashaw explained how that EPO ended up in his system and why he took it.
Video | Charles Oliveira booed mercilessly in Abu Dhabi during UFC 280 open workouts
Ryan Harkness - October 19, 2022
Charles Oliveira knew he was coming into enemy territory when he agreed to fight Islam Makhachev in Abu Dhabi. Now he’s getting some real-world experience in what that’s all about during the UFC 280 open workouts. Oliveira arrived at Yas Mall with his teammates to run through some Brazilian jiu jitsu training for the crowd of assembled fans. But from the moment the champion without a belt stepped onto the stage, the crowd erupted in boos. And not just a few. A solid portion of the crowd jeered at ‘Do Bronx’ for several sustained minutes, which seemed to throw off Oliveira’s typically cheerful vibes.
Petr Yan downplays comparisons between his fight with Sean O'Malley and Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo: "He is a UFC project and Conor wannabe"
Josh Evanoff - October 19, 2022
Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan isn’t a big fan of comparisons to UFC 194’s main event. ‘No Mercy’ returns to action this Saturday night against Sean O’Malley. It’ll be Yan’s first bout since his rematch with Aljamain Sterling in April. In that outing, the Russian lost his interim bantamweight strap by a hard-fought split decision.