UFC News

Tom Taylor - August 21, 2020

Rafael dos Anjos will be training with a fellow MMA legend in Jose Aldo as he prepares to return to the lightweight division, where he was once the champion. Dos Anjos has spent the last few years of his career competing in the welterweight division, picking up big wins over Tarec Saffiedine, Neil Magny, Robbie Lawler and Kevin Lee, but coming up short against top-flight foes in Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman, Leon Edwards and Michael Chiesa.

Tom Taylor - August 21, 2020

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and his next opponent Paulo Costa had a heated back-and-forth on ESPN’s SportsCenter this week. Ahead of their fight, which will headline the UFC 253 card in September, both fighters are riding victories over the extremely dangerous Yoel Romero. Costa defeated Romero in a wild fire-fight last August, while Adesanya edged by the Cuban in a slow but tense affair in March.

Harry Kettle - August 21, 2020

According to a report from MMA Junkie, Ryan Hall has been forced to pull out of his fight with Ricardo Lamas on August 29. The unique featherweight contender’s reason for withdrawing has not yet been disclosed, with the UFC not yet making an announcement regarding the change to the card. Lamas is still interested in fighting someone else at the UFC APEX event, but due to COVID-19 and the short notice drop out, that could prove to be quite difficult.

Cole Shelton - August 21, 2020

In the main event of UFC Vegas 7, a key bantamweight bout headlines the card as Pedro Munhoz welcomes Frankie Edgar to the division. Heading into the fight, Munhoz is a -265 favorite while the former UFC lightweight champion is a +205 underdog. Ahead of the fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their prediction for the scrap. The majority believe bantamweight is where Frankie Edgar should’ve been his entire career as he will pull off the upset and beat Pedro Munhoz.

Harry Kettle - August 21, 2020

Former UFC two-weight world champion Henry Cejudo continues to troll Alexander Volkanovski and campaign for a shot at the Featherweight Championship. While Cejudo may have retired in the wake of his win over Dominick Cruz earlier this summer, it’s clear to see that “Triple C” is still very much interested in the prospect of becoming the first fighter in UFC history to win a title in three different weight classes.

Cole Shelton - August 20, 2020

Sean O’Malley believes he avoided any major damage to his ankle. O’Malley was entering his co-main event fight against Marlon Vera with a lot of hype behind him. Most pundits were picking him to win, but he fell short, losing by first-round TKO. Yet, he did hurt his ankle in the fight, and according to “Sugar” he says he was complaining about the ankle brace before walking out.

Adam Martin - August 20, 2020

The numbers are in and last weekend’s UFC 252 event drew the fourth-largest pay-per-view buy rate of any UFC event in 2020. According to Sports Business Journal reporter John Ourand (via TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter), UFC 252 ranked just behind UFC 251, UFC 249, and UFC 246 when it comes to the most-bought UFC pay-per-views in 2020. The report says that UFC 252 sold 500,000 pay-per-views worldwide and also had 400,000 viewers watch the event on ESPN+ in the United States. Overall, these are solid numbers for the UFC.

Cole Shelton - August 20, 2020

Sean O’Malley has broken his silence on his UFC 252 loss to Marlon Vera. In the co-main event of the card, O’Malley was looking to remain undefeated when he took on Vera. It was an intriguing matchup with “Sugar” telling BJPENN.com before the fight he expected to get another first-round knockout.

Adam Martin - August 20, 2020

UFC middleweight Trevin Giles will return to the Octagon in November, his first fight back since recently fainting at a UFC Las Vegas event. Giles was set to fight Kevin Holland at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Shahbazyan earlier this month. However, while making the walk to the Octagon, Giles fainted and the fight was called off on the advice of doctors. It was a scary incident and Giles was sent to the hospital for further tests on his heart. He recently posted videos of himself training so it appears that Giles is now OK despite the recent health scare.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2020

Patricky Freire says he has a surprise in store for former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor at the upcoming Bellator Dublin card. Freire is scheduled to take on McGregor’s teammate Peter Queally at the Bellator Dublin event, which is scheduled for October 3. The card will feature several other members of Freire’s team taking on fighters from SBG Ireland, where McGregor and Queally both train.

Adam Martin - August 20, 2020

Former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos appears to be in tremendous shape ahead of a return to 155lbs against Islam Makhachev. As first reported by BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor, RDA will move back down to lightweight and he will meet a rising top-15 contender in the form of Makhachev. The two will battle it out on the undercard of UFC 254: Nurmagomedov vs. Gaethje, which is set to take place on October 24. The event will likely take place on Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.

Natasha Hooper - August 20, 2020

Marvin Vettori believes Anderson Silva and Uriah Hall should have to forfeit their positions in the UFC rankings after avoiding a possible matchup with him. Anderson Silva will return to the Octagon on October 31 for a middleweight clash against Uriah Hall in the main event.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2020

UFC light heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes has a theory about why Jon Jones is moving up to the heavyweight division. Reyes, who came up short via a controversial judges’ decision in a February showdown with Jones, will fight Jan Blachowicz for the division’s vacant throne at UFC 253 in September. Jones, meanwhile, has been teasing a move up to heavyweight after vacating the light heavyweight title earlier this week.

Natasha Hooper - August 20, 2020

Israel Adesanya has accused his upcoming opponent Paulo Costa of using steroids and being “juiced up to the gills” ahead of their UFC 253 fight. In the main event of UFC 253 on August 26, the middleweight champion will face-off against his rival, Costa.

Harry Kettle - August 20, 2020

UFC lightweight contender Dustin Poirier has shown interest in potentially fighting Tony Ferguson or Nate Diaz in his next bout. While Poirier may have come up short in his attempt to capture the UFC Lightweight Championship against Khabib Nurmagomedov last year, he was able to bounce back in a big way back in June when he scored a unanimous decision victory over one of the division’s rising stars Dan Hooker.

Harry Kettle - August 20, 2020

UFC light heavyweight king Jon Jones wants an artist to paint a portrait of himself, Stipe Miocic and Anderson Silva – the “mountain goats”. Jones, who recently announced that he will be vacating the Light Heavyweight Championship in order to pursue a potential move up to heavyweight, has never been afraid to rustle a few feathers on social media.

Cole Shelton - August 19, 2020

Dominick Reyes knows Jan Blachowicz will not be an easy out. In the co-main event of UFC 253 on September 26, Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz will be fighting for the vacant light heavyweight title. On Monday, Jon Jones announced on Twitter he would be vacating the belt and the UFC swiftly promoted the Reyes vs Blachowicz matchup to be for the vacant title.

Cole Shelton - August 19, 2020

Marlon Vera had no doubt in his mind he would be the first person to beat Sean O’Malley. In the co-main event of UFC 252, O’Malley was looking to remain undefeated against Vera. It was an intriguing matchup with many pundits thinking it would be “Sugar” getting his hand raised.