UFC News

Cole Shelton - March 7, 2019

The Octagon touches down in Wichita, Kansas for the first time in history this Saturday. In the main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos will be taking on former title challenger Derrick Lewis. Ahead of this heavyweight fight, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions. Some believe dos Santos will be too much for Lewis, while others believe Lewis will land a fight-ending blow on dos Santos. Two others can’t decide at all.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

In the first bout of the stacked UFC 235 main card last Saturday, former UFC bantamweight king Cody Garbrandt stepped into the Octagon with dangerous Brazilian contender Pedro Munhoz. The goal for the fighter they call “No Love” was to rebound from a pair of knockout losses to reigning champion TJ Dillashaw. Unfortunately for the former champ and his throngs of dedicated supporters, things did not go the way he planned. Mid-way through the first round, Garbrandt found himself rattled by an inadvertent head butt, and in a dazed frenzy, abandoned strategy in favor of a wild slug fest. The two bantamweights began strafing each other with massive punches — many of which landed — until Garbrandt was face-down on the canvas.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Former ONE Championship and Bellator welterweight king Ben Askren now has his first UFC victory. He snagged that elusive accomplishment at UFC 235 last weekend, when he submitted former UFC champ Robbie Lawler. Unfortunately, Askren’s impressive victory over Lawler came with a side order of controversy. While it initially looked as though the choke that sealed the deal lulled Lawler to sleep, the replay revealed Lawler might not have been out at all — and there was no tap.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2019

Last weekend, in the opening bout of the UFC 235 main card, former UFC bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt experienced his third-straight knockout loss. Justin Buchholz, who used to serve as Garbrandt’s head coach at Team Alpha Male, believes he knows why. Speaking on The TSN MMA Show this week, Buchholz attributed Garbrandt’s latest setback to subpar coaching at the Team Alpha Male.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

Former UFC lightweight and welterweight champion BJ Penn will return to the cage at UFC 237 on May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he will take on a fellow veteran in Clay Guida. This bout was first reported by Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting. Penn confirmed this news with his website, BJPenn.com.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

Things are complicated at the top of the lightweight division. The reigning champ Khabib Nurmagomedov is adamant that he won’t fight until November, standing instead in solidarity with his suspended teammates. Conor McGregor’s future is as nebulous as ever. Dustin Poirier will battle UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway for the interim lightweight belt in the summer. And Tony Ferguson, the bona fide, irrefutable number one contender? Well.. who really knows? Amid all of the uncertainty atop the lightweight division, Tony Ferguson has been left without an opponent; without any kind of clear direction.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

At UFC 236, which goes down on April 13 in Atlanta, Georgia, UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will hike up to the lightweight division to battle streaking contender Dustin Poirier for the division’s interim title. Given that Holloway has always endured a pretty significant weight cut down to the featherweight division, some fans have wondered if this move up to lightweight could be permanent.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

Ben Askren is now firmly embedded as a member of the UFC welterweight roster, having submitted Robbie Lawler at UFC 235. Unfortunately, his relationship with UFC President Dana White apparently remains strained. Speaking on The MMA Hour on Monday, Askren explained that he still feels quite a bit of disdain from the UFC boss. In fact, he feels White is “repulsed” by him.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

Audra Hughes, the wife of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, recently had a restraining order granted against her husband after several alleged incidents of violence. In documents obtained by MMAjunkie, Audra detailed several of these incidents of alleged violence.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

At UFC 235, former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler was tasked with welcoming former ONE and Bellator champ Ben Askren to the Octagon. In the opening seconds of the first round it looked as though Lawler would spoil Askren’s debut, as he executed a beautiful slam and nearly finished the wrestler with a storm of ground strikes. Miraculously, however, Askren was able to weather this storm and lock up a bulldog choke for the victory.

Drake Riggs - March 6, 2019

Believe it or not, 2016 was the last year that former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor has scored a victory in combat sports. His opponent for his second to most recent win was none other than Stockton, Calfornia’s finest, Nate Diaz. However, that win came in the pairing’s second of two outings. The first coming just a few months prior when the two met at UFC 196 an entire years ago as of yesterday. A bout that saw Diaz pull off the upset on short notice via second-round submission (rear-naked choke).

Cole Shelton - March 5, 2019

When Anthony Johnson announced his retirement from MMA, a fight many fans were disappointed that didn’t happen is ‘Rumble’ vs. Jon Jones. The fight had major intrigue given the fact Jones had looked unstoppable and Johnson had legitimate one-punch knockout power. The two were scheduled to fight at UFC 187 but the fight was called off after Jones was involved in a hit and run. From then on, the fight just didn’t come to fruition and Johnson walked away from MMA without ever getting the chance to fight Jones.