UFC NEWS

BJPENN.COM News - September 27, 2015

Perennial UFC flyweight championship contender John Dodson underwent a crazy series of events in the hours leading up to UFC 191. Just days before his title shot with Demetrious Johnson, his girlfriend went into labor and Dodson flew home immediately to be there with her and help her through the process. He boarded a flight from Las Vegas to New Mexico and posted the following image on Instagram: Sooooooo. I gotta go back to ABQ cuz @chelily33 is in labor and baby Delilah is being born!

BJPENN.COM News - September 27, 2015

Uriah Hall lit social media on fire when he executed one of the most impressive knockouts of the year at “UFC Fight Night 75”. Gegard Mousasi got some good shots in during the first round, but ate a spinning back kick and a flying knee just twenty seconds into the second round. Hall gave Mousasi no room to breathe and finished him off with some brutal shots. Check out Hall’s post fight interview in the video below!

BJPENN.COM News - September 27, 2015

Josh Barnett and Roy Nelson left it all in the octagon at “UFC Fight Night 75” as the heavyweights went twenty-five minutes. Nelson refused to get finished by Barnett’s catch-wrestling skills and Barnett was able to avoid “Big Country’s” big bombs long enough to pull off a unanimous decision victory. Check out Barnett’s full post fight interview in the video below!

BJPENN.COM News - September 27, 2015

Vitor Belfort is getting ready for one of the most important fights of his storied career at “UFC Fight Night 77” when he collides again with Dan Henderson. Belfort will be making his way back to Brazil for the first time since his 2013 win over “Hendo” that earned him a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship. Belfort was ready to prove he was still championship material at thirty-eight years old when he stepped into the octagon to challenge Chris Weidman at “UFC 187”. Weidman had other thoughts, though, and took Belfort to the ground where he absolutely dominated the fight. Belfort tried his best to make it back to his feet, but Weidman was able to hold him down and implement some brutal ground and pound. Belfort was given every chance to recover, but the referee was forced to save him and wave off the fight less than three minutes into the first round.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

UFC Fight Night: Japan takes place Saturday night, with the prelims starting at 8PM ET on FS2 and the main card airing on FS1 at 10PM ET. The night will conclude with a heavyweight scrap in the main event, between Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett. Both fighters are looking for a big win, after both suffering losses in their last outings.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

In the night’s main event, UFC heavyweights Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett collided in the octagon. In the first round Barnett looked to land a kick to Nelson’s head early, which prompted a takedown from Nelson. He got it and worked from half guard. Nelson stayed there looking to land short punches. After a while of not enough activity the referee stood them up. Barnett landed a nice knee when they clinched. Barnett continued to land nice knees in the clinch, then Nelson broke away. Shortly after that Nelson managed to get another takedown and held top control until the round ended.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

Gegard Mousasi got an early takedown against Uriah Hall. From there it was all Mousasi. He worked from top control, moving to mount a few times, but Hall was able to counter and escape back to full guard several times. Hall threatened with a few submissions from the bottom, including a kimura that looked pretty dangerous at one point, but Moussasi survived and dominated the round. Then things just went nuts in the second round. Right out of the gate Hall landed a spinning back kick that connects right on Mousasi’s chin. Mousasi is hurt and stumbles back. Hall sees he’s hurt and runs towards him. Hall throws a flying knee that connects and drops Mousasi. Hall stays on him and lands some brutal ground and pound. The referee warns Mousasi to fight back several times, than stops the fight after he fails to do so. What a win for Hall. He made his name on TUF with a highlight reel spinning kick KO and just pulled off another great finish with one.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

Chico Camus and Kyoji Horiguchi faced off at UFC Fight Night: Japan. In the first round Camus continually landed nice punches. Camus also found a home for his leg kicks though out the round. The story was really that Camus was doing well, finding his timing, but the speed of Horiguchi still seemed to maybe be too much. Horiguchi connected with a nice punch out of a break.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

Diego Brandao took on Katsunori Kikuno at UFC Fight Night: Japan. This fight stopped almost as soon as it started.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

In the first fight on the main card, the ‘Road To Japan’ final took place between Mizuto Hirota and Teruto Ishihara. Teruto came out with a huge body kick, then followed up with another one. Both of these guys looked rally fast. Hirota threw a kick, but Teruto sort of caught it and Hirota went down. He got right back to his feet though. Teruto seems to want to come in with huge punches, than duck out quickly. He showed good movement and landed several massive punches. Hirota was still game though and kept moving forward. It looks like Hirota got dropped right at the end of the round.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

Li Jingliang and Keita Nakamura came out guns blazing in their preliminary fight. It didn’t take long for Nakamura to get the fight down. From there he worked in the full guard and attempted to land some nice ground and pound. Jingliang kept a pretty tight guard and protected himself pretty well on the bottom. The fight stayed in that position for a while, with Jingliang holding tight, keeping Nakamura from posturing up at all. with about thirty seconds left the referee finally stood them up. At the very end of the round Jing was able to land some real nice punches, still the round most likely went to Nakamura.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

Nick Hein took on Yusuke Kasuya in the third fight of the evening. In the first round Hein came out, landed a few nice leg kicks, as did Kasuya. Then at one point they clinched and Hein threw a knee. Kasuya turned away immediately, in pain. He had eaten a groin shot. The referee stepped in and called a time out, Kasuya dropped to the mat. Kasuya looked to be in some serious pain. He stayed on the ground for a while, but eventually got to his feet and walked around. For the rest of the round they stayed on their feet and looked to strike. They both looked pretty even on the feet, looking to get in with a quick burst of one or two strikes, then get out fast. No one really landed anything significant.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

In the night’s first fight Shinsho Anzai took on Roger Zapata. In the first round Anzai came out flashing his jab quite a bit. Zapata threw a big head kick but Anzai ducked underneath and then got Zapata clinched on the cage. Zapata managed to break away but just moments later Anzai got him back on the cage. This time he was able to get Zapata down to the mat. Zapata was sitting up, with his back on the cage, while Anzai worked with Zapata’s legs wrapped between his. Zapata was able to get back to his feet, but Anzai stayed in control and kept him on the cage. They both landed short shots, knees and punches in the clinch. Anzai went for a take down and Zapata grabbed the cage big time. He held himself up and then was able to break free. They exchanged briefly, but then it was again Anzai getting Zapata on the cage in the clinch. Because of the clinching and the takedown it was obviously Anzai’s round.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

UFC Fight Night: Japan goes down on Saturday night at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan and will feature a big heavyweight scrap in the main event, with Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett fighting to get back in the win column, after both losing their last fights. In the co-main event we’ll get to see Uriah Hall take a big step up in competition and take on Gegard Mousasi in what could be a really fun and exciting fight in the middleweight division.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

Looks like UFC heavyweight Frank Mir won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. The vet announced, via his Instagram, that he has signed a new 8-fight contract with the promotion. Mir’s last fight was anything but legendary. He fought fellow champ Andrei Arlovski in a fight that many were expecting to be the fight of the night. With the hype from both of their last fights, Arlovski’s insane war with Travis Browne and Mir’s one-hitter-quitter of Todd Duffee, it was assumed we’d see an all out battle until one of them went to sleep. That’s not what happened. They instead fought for the full three rounds, sort of just plotting around the cage, with no one really landing any real significant strikes.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

UFC lightweight Eddie Alvarez was surprised when he found out that his opponent, Gilbert Melendez, tested positive for exogenous origin of testosterone metabolites after their fight in Mexico City. The former Bellator champion told ‘The MMA Hour‘ that he never suspected a guy like Melendez to be doing anything like that and said he’s pretty bad at knowing if a guy is on something. Alvarez referred to himself as a unicorn in the sport because he doesn’t do anything, as far as PEDs are concerned.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

UFC bantamweight Cat Zingano hasn’t fought since her loss to undefeated champion Ronda Rousey, back in Feb. at UFC 184. The fight shocked a lot of people. Zingano was considered a true threat to Rousey. Going into the fight Zingano was 9-0 with 8 finishes and had destroyed Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes to get a shot at the champ.

BJPENN.COM News - September 26, 2015

The class acton anti-trust lawsuit against UFC will move forward following a ruling from the judge on Friday. A hearing was held and the judge denied a motion to to dismiss the case, set forth by Zuffa’s legal team. Zuffa’s legal team argued that the lawsuit did not show that the companies dealings showed any sign of anticompetitiveness.