UFC NEWS

BJPENN.COM News - September 29, 2015

UFC middleweight Uriah Hall is coming off of what is 100 percent the biggest win of his career and probably could be one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, or at least recent memory. This past Saturday, at UFC Fight Night: Japan, Hall shocked everyone when he took out Gegard Mousasi in the second round with a spinning back kick, flying knee combo. In the first round however it was Mousasi who got the better of Hall, taking him down early and keeping him there. However, at one point, while Hall was on his back, he threw up a super fast armbar attempt and for a moment it looked pretty legit. Mousasi was able to get out and continue his top control though.

BJPENN.COM News - September 29, 2015

UFC strawweight Felice Herrig is making headlines for what she’s done outside of the octagon. The fighter’s photo shoot for ‘Muscle And Fitness’ has been making its way around the MMA world, with fans pretty blown away with her photos. Herrig hasn’t been in the octagon since her loss to Paige VanZant back in April, but it looks like she’s been staying pretty busy with other ventures.

BJPENN.COM News - September 29, 2015

Urijah Faber, ‘The California Kid,’ can currently be seen on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ opposite of coach Conor McGregor. The Team Alpha Male fighter has a fight booked with Frankie Saenz at UFC 194 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas, so let’s hope he’s a little more careful leading up to it. In a recent Instagram post, we see the aftermath of Faber’s attempt at jumping a hoverboard.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

UFC 192 Countdown takes you inside the training camps and lives of six stars as they prepare for life-changing matchups at UFC 192. Hard-hitting Johny Hendricks looks to get back to welterweight title contention as he takes on powerful wrestler Tyron Woodley, who has his own dreams of UFC gold. https://youtu.be/bOOTI8_K25M

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Before he chose to make the drop to light heavyweight, Daniel Cormier reigned supreme in the heavyweight division for nearly five years. Despite being outmatched in terms of height against fighters like Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, Cormier remained undefeated and dominated any and all challengers that were sent his way. Now, Cormier is at the top of his game in the light heavyweight division with the gold slung over his shoulder, ready to defend his belt at “UFC 192” in Houston, Texas. Size hasn’t been an issue for Cormier… until now apparently. Alexander Gustafsson is the man who will try to take Cormier’s championship this Saturday at “UFC 192” and is making it glaringly obvious he has plans to utilize his reach:

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Rafael dos Anjos and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone have signed the dotted lines and their championship fight for “UFC on FOX 17” is official. The bout is set to take place on December 19th in Orlando, Florida. “Cowboy” will willing and able to fight on the big stage on any moment’s notice, so performing under pressure is nothing new to the thrill-seeker. However, UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos is convinced Cerrone will choke under pressure wen they finally meet.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson will finally be meeting in the center of the octagon at “UFC 192” on October 3rd to decide the fate of the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this fight when it was first announced as Gustafsson is coming fresh off a loss to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, the man Cormier dominated in order to capture the gold in the first place. It could have been argued that Ryan Bader deserved the shot, but that wasn’t the path UFC brass wanted to take the fight in. Other than Johnson, both men have squared off win former UFC champion Jon Jones and fans were quick to point out “The Mauler” performed better against “Bones” than Cormier did. This, of course, rubbed Cormier the wrong way and he went on a bit of a rant on social media:

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Despite the little amount of fanfare leading up to the event, “UFC 192” will go down as one of the most historic cards in the company’s history. United State Anti-Doping Agency’s IV-bag ban goes into effect on October 1st and fighters will no longer be able to rehydrate utilizing IV bags. This has already forced several fighters to not only change their approach in dieting, but changing their weight classes as well. The majority of fighters were furious when they heard the news broke; Many people believe it is unsafe for it to be banned, while several think it will eventually help the sport grow. This is the goal: Gone will be the days where fighters are drawn out and looking like skeletons on the scale during weigh-ins. The idea is that the ban will force fighters to fight closer to their natural weight, creating a more healthy weight cut session days before fight night.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Despite what the rankings say, it seems as if anybody in the Ultimate Fighting Championship could arguable be two or three fights away from a shot at a title. Bethe Correia was ranked nowhere near the top five when it was announced she would be challenging Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship and the same goes for Holly Holm. While both ladies no doubt deserved it, it should put the rest of the division on notice that if they can make a name for themselves and win in an exciting manner, a title shot isn’t far from grasp.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Demetrious Johnson is easily one of the most dominant champions to step foot in the octagon. Whether fans think his style of fighting is exciting or not is irrelevant; “Mighty Mouse” has handily defeated any and all competition UFC brass put in front of him. Despite defending his flyweight championship seven times, he has yet to clear out the division and there are still a handful of names he has yet to face. One possible future opponent could be the undefeated Henry Cejudo. The Olympian earned unanimous decisions over Dustin Kimura, Chris Cariaso, and Chico Camus to nail a top five spot within his division and the argument could be made he is next in line. However, if Johnson’s next title defense happens to be in Las Vegas, Cejudo will be asking UFC to look for another opponent.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

UFC Fight Night 75 is in the books and some major changes were made to the official UFC rankings! Uriah Hall wasn’t even ranked in the top fifteen walking into Japan, but he catapulted himself into the top ten with his spinning kick/flying knee knockout against Gegard Mousasi. Check out what other changes were made below! Pound-For-Pound
 1. Jose Aldo 2. Demetrious Johnson 3. Chris Weidman 4. Ronda Rousey 5. TJ Dillashaw 6. Robbie Lawler +1 7. Fabricio Werdum -1 8. Rafael dos Anjos 9. Daniel Cormier 10. Cain Velasquez 11. Conor McGregor 12. Anthony Pettis 13. Frankie Edgar 14. Joanna Jedrezejczyk +1 15. Johny Hendricks -1

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

As we near the end of 2015, there are only two states that have yet to legalize mixed martial arts in the United States of America: Alaska and New York. The fight for legalization in New York seems to be a repeated losing and crushing effort for fans and fighters alike, but nobody will be giving up until the UFC can hold an event in Madison Square Garden. Dana White and UFC brass have scheduled a pay-per-view event to take place in Madison Square Garden on April 23rd, 2016 featuring “UFC’s top champions”. This is the first time a professional mixed martial arts event has been scheduled in New York since the ban started in 1997.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Getting a title shot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship is a little more difficult than simply climbing your way up the ranks. One of the most recent head scratchers when it comes to a fighter getting a title shot is actually coming up this Saturday; Alexander Gustafsson will be challenging Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship despite coming off of a loss. Some fighters get looked over even though they feel as if they have earned their shot at grabbing gold and according to UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic, it resembles a high school popularity contest.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson are just days away from meeting in the octagon, but it seems they’ve already started throwing verbal jabs! Cormier will be defending his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship for the first time against Gustafsson who is coming fresh off a loss to Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. In classic Cormier style, he has taken to social media to get under the skin of his opponent this Saturday with some clever trash talk:

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

When you are working toward a specific goal and looking to achieve a dream, only the luckiest of people have moment where everything becomes clear and it all just “clicks”. For UFC strawweight Randa Markos, that moment happened this past weekend when she decided to quit her day job and move to Montreal to pursue her dream of becoming a UFC champion. The Ultimate Fighter alum found brief success on the show, but failed to make an impact at the finale before she quickly turned things around at UFC 186. The opportunity to fight on the card came knocking when Claudia Gadelha suffered an injury that forced her out of the fight with Daly and Markos made the most of it.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Rich Franklin has officially announced his retirement from the sport of mixed martial arts. “Ace” had already been fighting for nearly four years before he first stepped foot inside the octagon. After gathering an impressive undefeated record with twelve wins, the world of Zuffa was introduced to Rich Franklin when he finished the late Evan Tanner in less than three minutes. He would go on to win two more fights in the octagon against Edwin Dewees, Ken Shamrock, and Jorge Rivera before finally challenging for UFC gold.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Ronda Rousey will go down in combat sports history as one of the most dominant champions to ever put her title on the line. Throughout her Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight championship runs, she has successfully defended a title seven times in a row and she is putting that streak at risk at “UFC 193” when she faces Holly Holm. There are people that believe Rousey could take out some of the men’s bantamweight division fighters, but a certain UFC pioneer isn’t buying into the hype. Don Frye is hopping on the bandwagon with Tank Abbot and is saying he doesn’t think Rousey could take a man and should make HIM a sandwich as well.

BJPENN.COM News - September 28, 2015

Jon Jones found himself in some deep trouble with the law earlier this year in April when he allegedly fled the scene of a hit and run. “Bones” apparently caused the accident and only came back to his car to grab money and then run away again. The wreck involved three vehicles, causing one pregnant lady to injure her arm. After Jones turned himself in twenty-four hours later, he was immediately suspended by the UFC and stripped of his championship. Fans are eagerly awaiting the day Jones returns to the octagon and UFC legend Don Frye has an issue with that. Frye doesn’t like the fact that the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Nick Diaz for five years just for smoking pot while Jones will easily be reinstated with the state once he can come back.